Chained (Brides of the Kindred) (23 page)

Chapter Nineteen

The Kindred Mother Ship—6
months later

Sees Truth was striding along the winding
corridor that led to the guest suites with his head down, a frown on his face.
As a dark twin of the Twin Kindred, he had an intense and sometimes bleak
personality to match his raven black hair. His eyes, however, were an atypical
pale, almost white-gray with a single thin black ring around the iris. The light
eye coloring was rare in a dark twin. Then again, nothing about Truth was typical—and
hadn’t been from the moment of his birth.

Truth was lost in thought—so deep in
contemplation that he nearly ran straight into a male who was coming in the
opposite direction. The two males bumped shoulders hard, nearly knocking them
both down.

“Oh, sorry, Brother,” the male he’d run
into said.

“Apologies,” Truth muttered in reply. Then
he happened to look at the other male’s face.
“You.”
He said the pronoun
as though it was curse.

“Yes, me.” The other male frowned. He was
about Truth’s height—six foot seven—and had dark blond hair. His eyes, though,
were purest black—an unusual combination. He was, in fact, Strays Far, Truth’s
twin brother—not that Truth would acknowledge him as such.

“What are you doing here, Far?” he
demanded, scowling at the other male. “Have you come to bother Becca again?”

“I came to see Commander Sylvan,” was the
stiff reply.

“Give me your hand,” Truth demanded.
Without waiting for ascent, he grabbed his twin’s hand and squeezed it hard,
looking into the other male’s eyes.

Far returned the look without flinching
and refused to squeeze back, even when Truth’s crushing grip had to be hurting
him. At last Truth released him with a sneer.

“You
did
come to see him and not
Becca. Why?”

“He is on the Council, as you know. I saw
something…something I thought I should tell him.”

“Had another little vision, did you?”
Truth raised an eyebrow at him. “Like the time you saw that girl floating in a
pool of blood?”

“The same girl who went missing the next
day?” Far arched an eyebrow at him. “I stand by that vision—it was at least half
true. All my visions are.”

“Too bad fifty percent accuracy is the
best you can do,” Truth remarked. “I never have such problems—I can always see
when someone is lying.”

“I’d be lying now if I said you weren’t an
arrogant bastard,” Far said coldly.

“And
I’d
be lying if I said I gave
a damn what you think,
Brother.”
Truth shrugged. “I don’t have time for
this—I’m going to see Becca.”

“Why don’t you leave her alone?” Far
demanded, his normally cool features tensing with anger. “She’s had enough of
your wooing, don’t you think?”

“At least I’m honest about what I want,”
Truth shot back. “And what I want is Becca.”

“A pity she doesn’t want
you
,
then,” Far remarked coolly. “Everyone knows dark twins are too miserable and
angry to live with alone. Without a light twin—without
me
to lighten you
up—it would be like Becca resigning herself to having bitter berries for first
meal every day for the rest of her life.”

“I don’t need you in my life—to lighten me
up or do anything else,” Truth growled. “Becca doesn’t either. She—”

The door to the suite they were arguing in
front of slid open with a soft
whoosh
.

“She’s not going to choose either of you
if you continue to stand here in front of my suite and argue at the top of your
lungs,” Sylvan said, frowning at both twins. “And speaking of twins, my own
pair are napping right now. If you wake them you’ll have
me
to answer
to.”

“Apologies, Commander Sylvan,” Truth
muttered. “I only wanted to see if Becca was here visiting your spouse.”

“And I wanted to talk to you about
something else,” Far put in. “Something I think may affect the entire Mother
Ship.”

Sylvan sighed. “I am sorry to disappoint
you but Becca isn’t available at the moment. And before you ask, Truth, no, I
don’t know when she will be. Far,” he said, turning to the light twin. “I have
to be to the Med Station in five minutes but if you care to walk and talk, I’ll
hear what you have to say.”

“That suits me.” Far turned to walk with
Sylvan and Truth watched them leave with a scowl on his face. Finally, he left
too, going in the opposite direction.

Inside the suite, a collective sigh of
relief came from three separate girls.

“Oh my God!” a very pregnant Kat
exclaimed, fanning herself. “Seriously, Worst…Twin Kindred…Ever.”

“They
are
pretty bad,” Sophie
admitted, coming back from checking her twins who had been born a month
earlier. Kara and Kaleb were sleeping peacefully in the same crib as always.
Though they were fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, they always cried if
separated. She and Sylvan found it easiest just to let them stay together.

“It’s not their fault.” Becca Malone, the
girl Truth and Far had been arguing over sighed and put down the baby booties
she was knitting. The booties were for Kat’s still to be born twins—Becca herself
was still untouched. Well, maybe untouched wasn’t quite the right word—not
after what had happened after she’d eaten a slice of Kat’s bonding fruit
wedding cake and found herself in dire sexual need. But she still didn’t have
any worry that she might “board the baby train” as Kat put it, for which she
was profoundly glad.

“How is it not their fault?” Kat demanded.
“They’re
awful.”

“Not always.” Becca pushed a curly lock of
reddish brown hair behind her ear. Her father had been pure blooded Irish and her
mother was African American which gave her an exotic beauty. She had creamy light
brown skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose and bewitching clear
green eyes. With such unusual and lovely looks she might have been a model or
an actress but she wasn’t. To Becca what mattered was inner beauty, which was
why she had been about to take her vows as a nun at the Order of the Pierced
Hearts convent in Sarasota, Florida.

Before the incident with the bonding fruit
cake and Truth and Far, that was.

Now she found herself in a kind of limbo.
She didn’t feel ready to take her vows—honestly, she didn’t know if she would
ever
feel ready. But she still wasn’t
sure she could let go of everything she’d worked so hard for and dedicated her
life to.

Only one thing was certain—she wasn’t
about to start living with two men at once. Becca didn’t stand in condemnation
of anyone else and she thought her new friend Kat’s three-way marriage worked
remarkably well. But she had been raised in a strict Catholic household and
both her parents had been devastated when she announced that she was putting
off taking her vows as a nun. Becca wasn’t about to devastate them further by
entering into a three-way union.

Not that her unwillingness to be with two
men at once was a problem with Truth and Far. They were the only Twin Kindred
Becca had ever heard of who had absolutely no interest in being together and
sharing a woman. In fact, as far as she knew, the only time they had ever
cooperated on anything was when the two of them had found her in the Sacred
Grove, half out of her mind with bonding fruit lust. They had worked together
then in ways that made her blush to remember but it seemed to be a one time
thing. As far as Becca could tell they hated each other and couldn’t stand to
be around each other. Which was a problem since both of them seemed to have
fallen in love with her.

“They aren’t bad when you talk to them
separately,” she said thoughtfully, adding another little stitch to the
miniature sock. “There isn’t so much…tension then.”

“Oh?” Kat raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never
seen them except when they were together and arguing. What are they like
one-on-one?”

Becca frowned, concentrating. “Truth is
very intense and very direct—he sees something he wants and he goes right for
it. The way he looks at me…it’s like he can see me without my clothes.”

“He wishes,” Sophia murmured with a little
smile.

“Probably. He, uh…he told me almost
immediately that he wanted to bone me.” Becca blushed, her creamy cheeks
getting rosy. “Um, wanted to
bond
with me, I mean.”

“No, no—” Kat was laughing. “I think you
got it right the first time, doll!”

“And what about Far?” Sophie asked.
“What’s he like?”

A soft smile formed on Becca’s mouth.
“He’s cooler than Truth—a little more standoffish. But once you get to know
him, he’s got a lot to say. He’s very insightful—and very gentle.”

“Sounds like together they would make the
perfect man,” Sophie remarked.

“They
would,”
Kat said, frowning.
“They’re
supposed
to—that’s the whole point of Twin Kindred. But to meet
a pair that want nothing to do with each other…” She shook her head. “It’s just
wrong.”

“It’s because they were separated at
birth,” Becca said. “They never met each other until that very day when they
also, uh, met me.” She blushed again.

“Well that was my fault, hon and I’m
really sorry,” Kat said. “But you really don’t need to blush like that. It
sounds to me like you didn’t do hardly anything worth blushing over.”

“She was a nun—or
almost
a nun,”
Sophie pointed out. “They’re not even supposed to
think
naughty
thoughts, let alone…do anything else.”

“You’re right, Sophie.” Becca laid down
her needles. “You know, my Mother Superior says everything happens for a
reason. I’m still trying to see what the reason is here, though. At first I
thought it might have to do with Far’s visions. They seem to get clearer and
more accurate when he’s with me.”

“Like that vision he had of Maggie
floating in the pool of blood,” Kat said somberly. “I still can’t believe she’s
gone.”

“Aren’t they still looking for her, though?”
Sophie asked anxiously. “Poor Maggie—I was so worried something would happen to
her and then it actually
did
.”

“The Kindred search team has looked
everywhere but she just disappeared. The couple she was supposed to be
with—Ferna and Ratner—said she called from a strange location—some spa on one
of Yonnie Six’s moons. They were supposed to come pick her up but when they got
there she was gone. And now they can’t find a trace of her anywhere,” Kat said.

“I have my sisters back on Earth praying
she’s found,” Becca said quietly. “I think we just have to hold on and in the meantime,
I keep hoping and praying Far will have another vision.”

“If these two little guys would ever come
out we could do a Seek and Find for her.” Kat patted her rounded belly. “Too bad
Truth and Far aren’t seeker finders like Deep and Lock.”

“They might have been—or something like
it—if they’d formed a proper bond,” Becca said. “They still have gifts though,
even separately. Far has his visions—which aren’t always clear but still…”

“And Truth?” Sophie asked.

“Just like his name says—he can instantly
tell someone’s true intentions just by touching them. That makes it hard to
tell him to back off,” Becca confessed.

“Mmm-hmm, because part of you doesn’t
want
him to. I hear you.” Kat nodded.

“Yes.” Becca was blushing again. “But I
like Far too. He’s easier to be around—at least when you get him talking. When
he’s around Truth he tends to just clam up.” She shook her head. “I don’t know
what to do.”

“Well, don’t give up,” Sophie said. “I know
you’re confused, Becca, but if there’s any chance that Far might have a vision
that points us toward Maggie…”

“I know.” Becca nodded. “I only met her
for a minute when she came to apologize about the mixed up signs on the cakes
but she seemed like a really sweet girl. She’s the reason I’m still hanging
around instead of trying to get on with my life down on Earth.”

“I’m sure she would appreciate it if she
knew,” Kat said gently. “It’s good of you not to give up on her, Becca.”

Becca looked down at the half finished
knitting in her lap. “I have a lot of people who haven’t given up on me. How
can I do any less for Maggie?”

“I still believe they’ll find her,” Sophie
said, but her voice wobbled. “She has to be
somewhere—
right?”

“Somewhere, sure,” Kat muttered. “But I
doubt it’s anywhere any of us would want to be. I just hope someone will find
her and bring her safely home.”

Chapter Twenty

“Wakey-wakey, my dear. I’m sure you’re
wondering where you are.”

The nasty voice was horribly familiar but
Maggie couldn’t place it right away. She struggled to open her eyes and see who
was talking to her but it felt like someone had tied lead weights to her
eyelids—she was
so tired.

“Give her some more stimulant,” the nasty
voice snapped. “I want her awake for this—it’s time to show her what her little
adventure at my expense has bought her.”

Something sharp and cold poked into
Maggie’s upper arm. She felt a jolt go through her and her eyes popped open.
Unfortunately, she still couldn’t see anything but a dim room populated by two
multicolored blurs—where were her glasses?

“My glasses,” she croaked. “Where…?”

“You ask the same thing every time.” The
nasty voice sounded irritated. “For the last time your oculars are
gone
.
Which is a good thing, really—they detracted from your already somewhat limited
appeal. How do you expect to fetch a good price at the Flesh Bazaar with those
ugly things perched on your little snub nose?”

Maggie was beginning to wake up more and
more. “Flesh Bazaar? What are you talking about?”

“You’ll find out, very soon.” One of the
multicolored blurs leaned forward and Nola Pope’nose swam into focus. “Since my
good friend Zamir is going to be selling you there tomorrow.”

The other blur leaned closer, revealing a
lean alien face with green skin and two mouths. Or was one a mouth and one a
nose? It was really hard to tell.

Maggie struggled to clear the cobwebs from
her brain—she felt like she’d been sleeping for months. “You can't do this to
me—I’m with the Kindred! They’ll be looking for me.”

“Yes, they
have
come looking, those
filthy males.” Lady Pope’nose made a face. “They were deflected nicely. I told
them I never even met you. Imagine their distress when they realized that you
must have wandered off with some strange male into the great city of Opulex where
anything
can happen.”

“But I never…”

“Of course not but your little friends don’t
know that. They’re probably still scouring the city for any trace of your silly
little self—if they haven’t given it up as a bad cause yet.” She leaned closer
to Maggie. “And speaking of wandering off with a strange male, if you’re
wondering where Korexiroth is, he’s long gone and he hasn’t shown his face
around here once since I brought you back to Yonnie Six.”

Maggie’s heart sank. “Kor didn’t…didn’t
even come looking for me?”

“Not
once.”
Lady Pope’nose scowled.
“Why do you think I’ve kept you around so long, hoping to lure him back in? Unfortunately,
it appears he was just using you to get away from me. Males are like that, you
know my dear—nothing but untrustworthy canines. That’s why they’re best kept
subjugated and enslaved.”

“I…” Maggie didn’t know what to say. Her strength
was returning now and her head felt clearer. She tried to sit up but something
prevented her—her arms and legs were chained down to the table she was lying
on. “Let me up!” she demanded.

Nola Pope’nose gave a very unpleasant
laugh. “I don’t think so, my dear. Not until your button is activated.”

“My what?”

“Your button. The implant I’ve been
growing in you for the past six solar months.”

“Six months?” Maggie shook her head. “I’ve
been out for
six months?”

Lady Pope’nose shrugged. “In and out of
stasis. That’s how long it takes for the creature to grow to maturity inside a
living host.”

Maggie began to feel sick. Being a sci-fi
freak she’d seen the old
Aliens
movies more times than she could count.
Had Nola Pope’nose put a facehugger on her and implanted her with some kind of extraterrestrial
larva while she was out cold and helpless?

“What are you talking about?” she
demanded. “What creature? What host?”

“Unchain her arms but not her legs,” Lady
Pope’nose said to the strange alien with two mouths.

“To hear is to obey,” the bottom mouth
said. There was a
snick
and suddenly Maggie’s hands were free.

She sat up on the table and felt a strange
pulling in her midsection.

“That’s right, my dear—look down at your
new best friend.” Lady Pope’nose had a nasty grin on her thin face. “Denari
Eroticus—a very fine specimen indeed, and its hardware is top of the line.”

Dreading what she would see, Maggie
reached down with a trembling hand and lifted the ragged, dirty remains of the
red velvet gown which she was still wearing.

There, lodged firmly in her belly button,
was a small dark object that looked like a ruby.

“What’s this?” Maggie stared at it,
uncomprehending. “I thought you put some kind of freaky mutated organism in me
and all you did was pierce my belly button.”

“Oh, it’s more than a piercing, my dear.
Much
more.” Nola Pope’nose looked at the green two-mouthed alien. “Go
on—activate it.”

A long thin green hand with three fingers and
two thumbs on it came into Maggie’s limited vision. It was holding something
that looked like a white plastic wand. Before she could twitch away, the tip of
the wand pressed firmly against the ruby embedded in her belly button.

A shock of pure energy ran through her.
Maggie gasped and went rigid as every nerve in her body lit up like she was
being electrocuted.

“Ahh!” she cried but even before the sound
had passed her lips, the sensation was over. The shock ended as abruptly as it
had started.

“Perfect.” Nola Pope'nose was smirking
with delight. “It’s activated—look at it glow!”

Looking down, Maggie saw that the little
ruby had lit up and was blinking slowly with a bright red light.

“What…what is this thing?” she demanded,
looking up at Lady Pope’nose. “Some kind of pain collar implant or something?”

“Oh, no—quite the opposite, my dear.” Lady
Pope’nose grinned evilly. “I think you’ll find it quite a bit more inconvenient
than a pain collar.”

Maggie looked back down at the blinking
jewel in her belly button. “But…what does it do?”

“Should I tell you?” Lady Pope’nose put a
finger to her boney chin, pretending to deliberate. “No, I don’t think I will.
I like the idea of you finding out the hard way. Let’s just say it will make
you a more
willing
slave for your new master—whoever he may be.”

“You were serious about that?
About…sending me somewhere to be…to be sold?”

“Most serious, I assure you.” Nola
Pope’nose gave her one final evil smile. “I hope you enjoy being a slave.” She
turned to the green two-mouthed alien. “Oh, and Zamir—be sure you sell her to
the absolute
worst
male you can find. The crueler and more heartless,
the better. I want little Miss Slave-snatcher here to live out the rest of her
very short life in abject misery.”

“But—” Maggie began.

“Goodbye, my dear. I would say good luck
but I’m afraid your luck has deserted you. A week from now you’ll be Goddess
knows where servicing some male you’ve never seen before. Won’t that be nice?”
She laughed. “Of course it won’t—that’s the whole point. Zamir, put her under.”

Something hard and sharp jabbed her upper
arm again and the world faded to black.

* * * * *

She woke up in a cold, unfamiliar place on
a hard surface. At first she couldn’t remember where she was or what was
happening. Then she felt a pulling in her naval. Looking down she saw a bright,
blinking red light, right in the center of her midsection. Suddenly everything
came rushing back—Lady Pope’nose, the strange implant—whatever it was—the fact
that she was apparently going to be sold as a slave.

Maggie shook her head.
This can’t be
real. It must be a bad dream and I’ll wake up any moment now.
But the hard,
cold surface she was chained to in the dark room screamed otherwise. There was
nothing dreamlike about where she found herself—unless she was having a
nightmare. She pinched herself, hoping the pain would snap her out of the
dreadful dream but nothing changed. Slowly, she began to accept the fact that
the situation she found herself in was real…horribly,
horribly
real.

She could barely believe it. She had
advanced degrees in Xenobiology and Xenobotany—she was supposed to be on Gaia
right now, studying and cataloguing new and exciting alien life forms. Not on
her way to some slave bazaar to be sold! How had her life gotten so off track?

It’s because of Kor.
Because I rescued him and listened to him when he said we had to stay together.
And then he left me—how could he leave me alone like this? How could he not
even come looking for me?

Maggie felt tears rise to the surface and a
soft sob escaped her. She had never felt so alone, so abandoned in her life.
And at that moment, it wasn’t Donald she wished for—what could he do for her
except get captured and sold as well? No, the man she wanted to rescue her was Kor.
If only he were here—if only he would come for her. Maggie was certain he could
break the chains that bound her to the hard, cold table and carry her away to
safety.

He doesn’t care
enough to come, Lady Pope’nose said so,
a nasty little voice in her head reminded her.
He’s
gone and like he said when he left, it’s a trillion to one chance you’ll ever
see him again.

Hot tears filled her eyes and Maggie
sobbed again, louder this time.

“Hey, do you mind keeping it down over
there?” a low, irritated voice asked.

Maggie jumped, surprised. She had thought
she was all alone in the dark room.

“Who…what are you?” she asked hesitantly.

“Name’s Sura—for now, anyway. Suppose
they’ll change it to whatever they want when we’re sold tomorrow.” The other
voice—which sounded female—was tired and resigned.

“Sold where?” Maggie asked. “Lady
Pope’nose said something about the Flesh Bazaar but I…I’ve never heard of that
before.”

“Sure, it’s in Dominus Two—the Hub,” the
voice replied. “More illegal slave trading going on there than anywhere else in
the galaxy. You one of those rich bitches from Yonnie Six? It’ll be a change
for you, being the slave instead of the mistress, I guess.”

“I…I’m not really from there. And I don’t
want
to be a slave.”

“Looks like somebody wants you to be,
though—why else would they take the time and trouble to implant you with a slut
button?”

“A
what?”

“The implant you’ve got. Could you cover
it up? The light is keeping me awake.”

“Um…” Maggie put a hand over her belly
button, trying to hide the blinking light. “What do you know about it—the uh…”

“Slut button. All I know is it’s a
bio-mechanical implant that makes you more willing to give your master what he
wants—if you know what I mean.”

“I
don’t
, though,” Maggie
protested. “What exactly does it do?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Sura’s low voice
was grimly amused.

“But…how?” Maggie explored the strange
thing in her naval with her fingertips. It seemed to pulse like a second
heartbeat and when she touched it her fingers tingled. As she concentrated on
her body, she became aware of another strange sensation. With every pulse of
the ruby like thing, she felt an echoing pulse of desire between her legs. It
was almost as though there was an invisible vibrator pressing against her most
sensitive areas and pulsing in time to the ruby.

What the hell…?
Glad that the room was pitch black, Maggie reached
between her legs only to encounter…nothing. It was as though her entire lower
pelvic area had gone to sleep. When she tried to touch herself, it was like
touching someone else—none of the sensations of her fingers pressing against
her skin seemed to register in her brain.

“I’m…I’m numb,” she whispered into the
darkness. “I can’t feel myself when I…when I…”

“When you try to relieve the need?” Sura
asked bluntly.

Maggie felt her cheeks get hot with a
blush. “I wasn’t trying to, uh,
touch
myself if that’s what you’re
implying. I mean, not like
that
anyway.”

The other woman laughed. “No, but you
will
be. Especially when that thing really gets going. I knew someone who had
one—a girl called Maran. We were owned by the same master in the Jeta Quadrant.
She was high class all the way—cost more credits than the rest of us slags put
together. Bred for pleasure, finest pedigree and all that—but she was frigid. ”

“Frigid?”

“Sure. Didn’t jump with joy when the
master wanted to be serviced. Oh, she did her duty but you could tell she wasn’t
really into it.” Sura clicked her tongue. “Big no-no. If the master wants you,
you’d better show a little damn enthusiasm, not just lie on your back and stare
off into space.”

Maggie felt sick. “What…what happened to
her?”