Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (47 page)

Six frowned, not liking the word
‘deviance.’

“What am I to do about it? As I
said, I do not invite the dreams—they just come. And I cannot make them go, no
matter how I try.”

“Tell me about the girl.” One
leaned back in his chair, his black oculars cycling lazily. “The one you are
sharing with. What does she look like?”

“Small…frail…unable to protect
herself.” Six frowned. “I always feel she may be in some kind of danger and
that I should do something about it. But…I don’t know what.”

One nodded thoughtfully.

“You feel protective of her. Not
really an emotion—simply another Kindred trait.”

“I feel
nothing
for her,” Six protested, his heart speeding up for some
reason. “I feel nothing at all.”

“Of course not. No one accused
you of feeling,” One said gently.

“Two did.” Six frowned. “Why
else would he instruct his pet sniffer to inspect me?”

“Two…is Two.” One shrugged as
though it was of no consequence. “I didn’t call you here to talk about him—I
called to talk about your dreams.”

“Do you want me to have my
emotion damper inspected?” Six asked. “I could ask the Tolleg who installed
it—”

“No. I want you to claim her.”

It took a moment for One’s words
to sink in. When they did, Six stared at him uncertainly. If he could have felt
anything, his emotion would have been shock.

“What did you say?”

“I said I want you to claim
her—go and claim the girl you are dream sharing with.”

“Claim her and do what with
her?” Six demanded. “I have no frame of reference when it comes to females.”

“Untrue. You had a female parent
and a female sibling—a sister I believe it is called—before the Red Plague
claimed them.”

“The Red Plague…” Six shut his
eyes briefly.
Blood leaking from their
eyes and ears…oozing in crimson rivulets from Kaylee’s nose, the corners of her
mouth. “Kill me, Jax. I want you to kill me…it hurts so bad…”

“…Claiming Period here.”

“What?” Six’s eyes flew open.
“Forgive me—I did not quite hear your words.”

“Which is why you should get an
acoustic implant—at least on one side.” One frowned disapprovingly. “I said
that you can spend your Claiming Period here on Zeaga Four.”

“But I don’t know what a Claiming
Period entails,” Six protested. “And the girl is completely unenhanced—I can
see that much in the dreams. Also, she is a Feeler.”

“You can study the rules of the
Claiming Period as you journey to claim her,” One said. “As for enhancements,
she can get one or two simple ones aboard one of the medical barges before you
come to the surface.”

“And her emotions?” Six asked.
“What if she doed not choose to get an emotion damper as one of her
enhancements? What then?”

One sighed. “A special
dispensation will be granted. Though if you keep her and she stays here for the
long term, an emotion damper
will
become necessary.”

“Of course,” Six said numbly. He
stood up. “But…why? Why do you want me to do this, One?”

The older organic, which Six had
come to regard as his mentor, sighed and rubbed one hand over the smooth,
see-through skull cap.

“Officially I will say only that
it is the will of the Collective.
Unofficially,
I will tell you that events are in play that can affect all of Zeaga Prime.
I cannot tell you more than that.”

Six frowned. “I will do it if
you ask it of me, of course. But I still do not understand.”

One looked up at him. “I know
you don’t and I know this is a risk for you, Six, but I believe you can do it.
Your character is strong, your logic unimpeachable. You will not allow yourself
to fall into Feel-crime, no matter what influence this human female has on
you.”

“She has no influence,” Six
said, frowning again. “None at all.”

But against his will he
remembered the sheer, silky white garment which showed her small, perfect
breasts…the fear in her eyes…her soft, sweet voice when she begged him not to
hurt her…
Someone needs to protect her,
a
voice whispered in his head.
She’s too
tiny, too delicate—defenseless.

“I know she doesn’t. And I know
you will stay strong.” One’s voice broke the strange reverie he had somehow
fallen into.

“Oh, of course. Of course, I
will, One.” Six nodded.

“Good.” His mentor stood and
nodded at Six. “When you have her, bring her back to me and let me inspect her
enhancements. I will grant you a personal dispensation for her emotions so you
won’t have any problems.”

“Thank you.” Six made a formal
bow which One returned with a nod of his head. “I will do as you ask.”

“See that you go at once,” One
said. “Take your fastest shuttle and have the tertiary medical barge fold space
for you. Its energy source is the strongest.”

“Of course.” Six nodded again
and turned to go.

“Six?”

“Yes?” He turned back to see a
strange, unreadable expression on One’s face. Then again, it was odd to see
any
expression on the normally blank
countenance of his mentor.

“May Fortune favor you,” One
said formally. “Now go. I will see you next when you have the girl with you.”

Six nodded again and left. But
as he stepped from One’s domicile into the dim daylight of Prime, he wondered
what reason his mentor could possibly have for him to claim the human girl.

And what would Six do with her
once he had, in fact claimed her? What did one do with any female? A quick
vision of tiny, perfect breasts and huge, lovely eyes flashed before his mind’s
eye and was gone just as quickly.

He lifted his chin and headed
for the shuttle docks. There was much to do and much to learn.

It was time to claim his bride.

Can’t get enough Kindred? Don’t
worry, Enhanced will be coming soon… And if you happened to read this book out
of order, the first four novels of the Brides of the Kindred are now collected
in one volume you can find at
http://www.evangelineanderson.com
.

 
 
Brides of the Kindred
Glossary

AllFather
—the
evil head of the Scourge, a race that are the byproduct of a failed genetic
trade. The AllFather is one of the Old Ones and has the power to reach into a
person’s mind to harvest emotional pain and trauma. He lives for the
fulfillment of the Scourge Prophesy.

Ancient
Ones—
beings which live in the Deep Blue—the darkest and most inaccessible
part of the Rageron jungles. They are sentient but not related in any way to
the Kindred. Each Ancient One has two forms—a bipedal form which resembles a
human or Kindred and a beast form which can be deadly and they can change
between forms at will. The Ancient Ones predate even the First Kindred and
revere the
skrillix
plant, which they
guard jealously.

Bespeak
—to
contact someone mentally using a Think-me device. It is considered rude to
bespeak someone you don’t know intimately.

Beast/Rager
Kindred
—come from Rageron—a jungle planet full of beautiful but deadly
flora and fauna. They have dark hair, golden eyes, and hot tempers but their
most defining characteristic is the mating fist. The mating fist is an area at
the base of the Beast Kindred’s shaft which engages fully only during bonding
sex with his chosen mate. When engorged it swells to keep the Beast Kindred and
his bride locked together until she is completely bonded to him. This ensures
sex that is both extremely long lasting and multiorgasmic for both partners.

Blackness
between the Stars—
another name for the Hoard or
Grimlax,
an ancient enemy of the Kindred. These beings have no
souls and so are considered demonic by the Kindred.

Blood
Fever—
a condition suffered by unmated females on Tranq Prime, the home
world of the Blood Kindred. Blood Fever or Burning Blood as it is often called,
is caused by a parasite living on the icy world that affects only women. The
parasite—found in the
fleeta
or blood
beetle—reacts with a compound in the Tranq Prime water supply to cause the
fever. Symptoms include chills, increased sexual need and the feeling of the
blood heating in the veins as well as increased coloration of the nipples and
sex. If the fever is not treated in forty-eight hours, it will result in death.

Once a Kindred
male has had a female’s blood, he forms a natural antidote to Blood Fever which
he can pass on by sharing body fluids with her. The most effective way to get
the antidote into the female’s system is for a Blood Kindred to bite her,
thereby injecting it along with his essence. However, it is also possible to
pass along the healing fluid through sex.

Blood Fever used
to be very common on Tranq Prime which is what prompted the cold, proud natives
to initiate a genetic exchange with the Kindred in the first place. A recent
vaccine has nearly eradicated the disease, however, and the original
inhabitants of the ice bound planet have little reason to continue the trade. A
faction calling themselves Purists are against any further trade with the
Kindred.

Blood/Tranq
Kindred
—are blond with pale blue eyes and come from Tranq Prime where ice,
snow, and arctic-like temperatures are the norm. To combat the severe weather
conditions, the Blood Kindred have higher than normal body heat with double the
human amount of red blood cells. They have developed specific biting rituals to
share their supercharged blood and take the blood of their mates during their
own version of bonding sex. They have a set of double fangs located where a
human’s canine teeth would be. These fangs do not develop fully or become sharp
enough to pierce flesh until a Blood Kindred is with a woman he wishes to mate
and bond with.

Bonding
Ceremony
—a wedding-type ritual which takes place after the Claiming Period
if the bride chosen by a Kindred warrior has allowed him to have bonding sex
with her and joined her mind to his.

Bonding
Sex
—the extra step a Kindred warrior takes to bind his bride to him
permanently during intercourse. For the Beast Kindred, it is the use of the
mating fist. For the Blood Kindred, bonding sex means sex during penetration.
Twin Kindred bind a bride to themselves by entering her and coming in her at
the same time.

Claiming
Ceremony
—a sort of engagement service that takes place when a bride is
first claimed by a Kindred warrior. He declares his intentions toward her and
she vows to obey the laws of the Claiming Period.

Claiming
Period
—women who are drafted are required to go up to the Kindred
Mothership and spend a thirty day “claiming period” with the warrior who has
chosen them. If, at the end of that time, they have managed to resist the
charms of their Kindred mate, they are allowed to go back down to Earth and
resume their normal life. However, if they succumb to their Kindred male’s
seduction, they are mated for life and must move to the Kindred ship to live,
leaving everything else behind and seeing their family and friends on Earth
only infrequently. Of course, many women are unwilling to give everything up at
the drop of a hat, draft or no draft. But the Kindred have a secret
weapon—devotion to their female’s pleasure and attention to detail during
incredibly hot sex.

Claming
Period Rules
—The Claiming Period lasts for four weeks during which the
Kindred warrior attempts to seduce his chosen bride and she tries to resist
him:

The Holding Week
:
the Kindred warrior may hold his bride.

The Bathing Week
:
the warrior and his bride bathe together and he is allowed to
massage her with scented oils and make her come.

The Tasting Week
:
the warrior is allowed to perform oral sex on his bride.

The Bonding Week
:
sex is allowed but it is completely up to the bride whether she
will take things a step further and allow bonding sex which is a special and
specific process to the three different types of Kindred males. (Most women
have given in well before this point but a few do resist.)

The only way out before the
claiming period is up is a breach of contract. This can happen if the Kindred
warrior does not strictly follow the rules and tries to skip forward in the
order of allowed events or by breaking one of the rules laid down by the
Kindred High Council. These rules—mostly to do with restrictions on communication
with Earth—are for the safety of everyone aboard the Mothership and are
nonnegotiable. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking them and will result in
immediate termination of the claiming period.

Convo-pillar—
A
half inch long insect which resembles a brightly colored caterpillar.
Convo-pillars were genetically engineered by traders on the fringe colonies
around Rageron to translate alien languages by communicating via thought waves
to their wearer’s brain. They have been outlawed by the Kindred High Council
because their notoriously unreliable translations cause more conflicts than
they solve.

Dark
Kindred
–also known as
Enhanced Ones—
this
faction of the Kindred race broke off centuries ago when there was a shortage
of viable females to call for brides. Vowing to overcome their sexual urges,
the Dark Kindred made a genetic trade with the cyborg-like residents of Zeaga
Four who are ruled by a group of sentient machines called the Collective. Since
all emotion is prohibited on Zeaga Four, the organic inhabitants get emotion
damper implants to keep them from committing Feel-crime. Anyone found guilty of
Feel-crime without a special dispensation from the Collective may be summarily
purged.

Deep
Blue
—the darkest and most inaccessible part of the Rageron jungles

Dream
Sharing—
occurs when a Kindred warrior’s mind aligns with that of his bride
and they begin to see each other’s day to day activities and memories in their
sleep. However, the alignment of the two (or three in the case of the Twin
Kindred) minds can take several forms and is not limited to sleep.

Fireflower
Juice
—an alcoholic beverage made from the Fireflower plant native to
Rageron. It resembles milk in appearance but has the flavor of honey, vanilla,
lavender and blueberries.

High
Councilor
—the rightful ruler and defender of the Kindred home planet, First World. Only the High Councilor may sit upon the
throne of wisdom and see with the eye of foreknowledge. Without a High
Councilor in place, First World and the rest
of the Kindred race cannot be adequately protected against the evil
machinations of the Hoard.

Hoard—
an
ancient enemy of the First Kindred also known as the
Grimlax
or the Blackness which eats the Stars, they are evil,
demonic beings with ravenous appetites and a desire to conquer, devour, and
destroy every living thing in the universe. They are divided into tribes with
the lowest echelon being the most numerous and primitive. The elite or upper
echelon tribes are more sophisticated and intelligent but also much more
dangerous. They are notoriously manipulative and able to change their
appearances using a technique called “shadowing” to look like anyone or
anything they choose.

Kindred
—a
race of genetic traders who have traveled the universe for centuries looking
for viable matches to expand their gene pool. Since a genetic anomaly ensures
that their population is ninety-five percent male, they are specifically
looking for women.

The three genetic trades the
Kindred have already made have resulted in three very specific types of men.
But though they take on some of the physical characteristics of the race they
are trading with, the Kindred gene always ensures three things: physical
prowess, extremely large and muscular body structure, and undying loyalty to
the female of their choice.

Krik-ka-re—
a
Scourge tradition in which the mind life of one being may be traded for or
ransomed by another.

Kusax—
a
special knife made from the tainted metal at the core of the Scourge home
planet. One scratch can be deadly as it infects the wounded person with a soul
poison which ensures a slow, agonizing death.

Law
of Conduct—
the
Kindred law which
says every warrior is responsible for the good behavior of his bride and gives
him the right to punish her—within reason. Often the “punishment” is sexual in
nature and some brides become serial offenders simply to experience their
Kindred warrior’s particular form of discipline. ; )

Luck
Kiss
—a kiss performed by the best man and maid of honor at a Kindred
Bonding Ceremony in order to bring the happy couple good luck.

Mate
of my kin
—the way Kindred warriors refer to the brides chosen by their
brothers. It is analogous to the English term sister-in-law.

Marks
of Possession—
the Scourge way of marking a female as their mate. The Marks
of Possession include a close-fitting collar, piercings in the nipples and
clitoral hood, and a brand on the inner hip or the top of the buttocks. Scourge
with Kindred blood also desire to scent-mark their mates but they require the
traditional marks of their kind to really feel bonded to the female of their
choice.

Mother
of All Life
—the main Kindred Deity, a kind and benevolent goddess whose
teachings include respect and reverence for all things female.

Numala—
a
Blood Kindred name which means “liquid pussy.” It refers to a female who
produces more than the regular amount of lubrication when aroused.
Numalas
are much prized by the Blood
Kindred and sought after as mates because they are more likely to be able to
accommodate a Blood Kindred warrior’s larger than average cock.

Psychic-Knife—
a
torture device developed by the Scourge which is able to break the mental and
emotional bond between a Kindred and his bride.

Rage—also
Protective Rage or Berserker Rage—
a state of altered consciousness that
comes over a Kindred warrior when his bride is threatened. It floods the
bloodstream with endorphins and causes such intense anger and aggression that a
Kindred in this state becomes a killing machine who will die to protect the
woman he has claimed.

Sacred
Grove
—an area of green and purple trees that houses the temple of the
Mother of All Life. The Kindred Mother ship has been equipped with an
artificial green sun like the one on their home world in order to allow these
holy trees to grow and flourish.

Scourge
—a
genetic trade gone wrong, these menacing outsiders have twisted desires and
sexual needs fierce enough to frighten away even the most adventurous. Their
need to dominate and possess their women completely has led to a strange
prophesy that they must fulfill…or die trying.

Scourge
Prophesy
—“One of two, alike and yet different—the double fruit of a single
womb from the third planet of a yellow sun. She shall be marked with a white
star between her breasts.” These words were spoken by Mee’ah—the last living
female of the Scourge race who was believed to be a great seer. The Scourge are
a dying race, forced to create new members in artificial wombs called flesh
tanks or vats because they have no females. Yet, because they have some of the
same genetic characteristics as the Kindred, they are able to create only male
children and each new generation is weaker than the last. The prophesy refers
to the woman the Scourge believe will be able to mate with the AllFather and
bear only daughters to rejuvenate their race.