Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (42 page)

“Can
you reach your blaster?” Far asked his twin.

“It’s
in the other room. I didn’t think they’d do anything like this.” Truth sounded
grim. “It’s just the two of us, Brother, against them all.”

“Let
them come,” Far snarled, sounding more menacing than Becca had ever heard him.
“They’re of small stature. We can take them all if need be.”

“Only
if they stay in their first forms,” Truth said. “Be wary if you see one start
to shift. A full grown
dr’gin
can be deadly. You have to—”

But
just then door to the guest room burst open and chaos reigned.

Chapter Thirty-seven

Later,
Becca could only recall a nightmarish jumble of images. She was huddled behind
Far and Truth, looking through their legs when a hoard of Rai’ku males poured
into the little room.

“Look!”
one of them shouted. “The three of them are here together, engaging in
depravity.
Sharing
a female!
”

“What
we do in our host’s home is not your business,” Far snapped.

“And
what of the laws of privacy?” Truth demanded. “Are they suddenly worth
nothing?”

“Nothing
to an outsider like
you!”
another Rai’ku male spat. “You were never a
true Rai'ku, no matter what you tried to pretend." He raised his voice.
"Get the
wrex!
She is corrupted—her very presence taints us all.”

“Get
back! Get out!” Garron was insisting, as he pushed his way through the mob.
“You have no right!”

“We
have every right!”

“I
notice it is only Rai’ku of the pack who have come tonight,” Truth snarled. “Is
that because the Kindred of this settlement refused to be party to this…or were
you afraid to ask them?”

“Kindred,
faugh,”
one spat. “We never should have let you interlopers into our
world in the first place. They didn’t come because they do not dare to oppose
us.”

“We
dare.”
Far stepped forward, still keeping his body angled to block access to Becca.
“This female is our mate. You should know by now that threatening a Kindred warrior’s
bride is more dangerous than confronting a
tragon
in his den.”

“My
brother is right.” Truth’s voice was a low, menacing growl. “Touch a hair on
Rebecca’s head and all of you will die tonight.”

“You
dare to threaten us?” one of the Rai’ku scoffed. “You who are nothing but a
foreigner—an outcast among us?”

“Truth
has always been faithful to the Rai’ku ways—he has kept your laws,” Garron
protested. “Even now he has done nothing publicly to cause you anger.”

“Untrue!”
A male in a red robe with a long black beard stepped forward. He seemed to be
some kind of leader. Or maybe it just seemed like that because he was taller
than the rest of them, which wasn’t saying much. As far as Becca could tell
none of them was over five foot five. If only there weren’t so
many
of
them she would feel better. After all, Far and Truth and Garron were all well
over six foot six. It would be no contest at all if more and more of the angry
Rai’ku didn’t keep crowding in.

“He
has defiled the elder trees!” someone shouted.

“Not
so,” Truth said. “I have made very certain not to harm the tree I have been
working around.”

“My
brother speaks the truth. Go and see for yourself if you do not believe him,”
Far said.

“We
have no more time for your lies.” Suddenly the ringleader rushed at the light
twin.

Far
stepped to meet him, his big body, clad only in the dark blue sleep trousers,
poised for combat.

To
Becca, still watching from the floor, it looked like no contest. The Rai’ku
male was a full head and shoulders shorter than the massive Kindred. Surely the
light twin was going to break him in half.

Then
everything changed. The Rai’ku, rushing forward, seemed to transform from one
step to the next. One moment he was a diminutive man in a flowing red robe with
a long black beard that reached his waist. The next, he was a strange dark red
beast with glaring black eyes and a huge leonine head.

The
creature reared up above Far, its maw gaping to reveal teeth like steak knives,
its talons spread wide. Its head brushed the wooden ceiling and when it roared
the sound was something like a lion mixed with the loudest warning claxon Becca
had ever heard. The sound made her eardrums bulge, threatening to burst from
the noise. She clapped her hands to her ears and tried not to scream.

“’Ware
the claws!” Truth shouted at his brother. “The poison can be deadly if you
haven’t been inured to it as a child!”

The
creature roared again and came at Far who stepped to meet it although it seemed
to Becca that he might as well try to fight a full grown grizzly bear. He
managed to get a punch in but then the creature evaded his next swing. It
seemed to glide through the air in some way—moving with a deadly grace that
belied its apparent bulk. Frozen with terror, Becca stared at it, mesmerized.
How
is it doing that? Moving that way?
Its flowing motions seemed to defy the
laws of physics.

Truth
turned to help his brother but then another of the Rai’ku changed. This one
became a yellow and black creature, not quite as big but still just as deadly.
It came for Truth, who ran to meet it. He seemed to know something about how to
fight it because instead of punching it as Far had done, he grabbed the thing
around the middle, tucked his head down, and squeezed as hard as he could.

By
this time, Becca was backed up against the far wall of the small room. She
wanted to help but she didn’t know what to do. If only Truth hadn’t left his
blaster in the living area! She didn’t really know how to use a gun but she was
certain she would have learned quickly if she only had a chance.

There
was another deafening roar and a searing tug of pain from somewhere inside her.
What…? The bond!
she realized. It jerked her attention away from Truth’s
grappling battle with the black and yellow beast and back towards Far.

To
her horror, Becca saw that he was on his knees, one arm hanging useless by his
side. Blood covered half his body and dripped from his limp fingers…as well as
from the creature’s teeth and claws. Crimson spatters matted his long blond
hair and streaked the pale skin of his bare chest and back. Still he tried to
fight. Staggering to his feet, he used his unhurt left side to block the thing
from getting to her.

But
while both her men were busy with the beasts the Rai’ku had become, several
others who hadn’t transformed ran around the perimeter of the room and grabbed
her by the arms.

“No!
Stop—leave me alone!” Becca protested as they dragged her to her feet. She
lashed out, catching one of them squarely in the crotch with the heel of her
foot. He groaned and crumpled to the ground, proving that the Rai’ku kept their
family jewels in the same place as Earth guys. But three more were suddenly
there to take his place and she couldn’t kick them all—not that she didn’t try.

Her
blood was pumping, a scream of panic rising in her throat. Becca swallowed it
grimly. She knew very well that she might be fighting for her life and she had
no wish to die tonight. But however much she twisted and turned and fought and
kicked, she couldn’t get free.

“No!
No, stop! How dare you lay hands on another male’s mate?” Garron shouldered his
way through the crowd and grabbed one of the men holding her by the shoulder.

“Get
back,
O’ahn,”
the man spat contemptuously. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“It
most certainly
does
concern me—this is my home and these are my guests.
I am sworn to protect this female or die trying.”

Garron
tried again to get to her but there were simply too many of the angry Rai’ku
men in the way. They swept Becca up and carried her out of the room and then
out of the lodge, into the bitterly cold night.

The
edge of the wooden platform the lodge was built on was suddenly there, not two
feet from her. Becca had a vivid mental image of the angry mob throwing her
over to break her neck on the frozen ground below. She reached out, looking for
anything to grab onto but though there were many hands holding her, she
couldn’t seem to catch hold of any of them.

The
world tilted and Becca screamed, her breath coming out in a long white plume.
She was going over, going down…

But
not falling. It took her a moment to realize that she was
flying
somehow. One of the men holding her had transformed and she was on his back,
clinging for dear life to something that felt like a cross between fur and
feathers with scales underneath—scales so hot she barely felt the frigid air as
it rushed past her face.

She
saw the ground slide under her at a dizzying pace but her stomach barely had
time to lurch up to her throat before they were diving downward and landing
none too gently in the middle of a cleared spot of land somewhere in the
forest.

Becca
was clinging as tightly as she could to the creature that had flown her to this
spot. But the minute they touched ground, it shook like a dog trying to get
water out of its fur and she went flying off. She landed with a bone jarring
thump and her head hit something hard and sharp. At once the world went gray
and she felt her whole body go limp.

When
she next opened her eyes, she had a spitting headache and her left temple
throbbed miserably. Touching the spot that hurt very carefully, she felt
something wet and sticky in her hair.

Blood?
Is that blood? Where am I? What’s going on? Where are Far and Truth?

She
tried to sit up but the world spun around her and she had to sink back down to
the ground. Her vision doubled, then trebled, showing her flashes of blue and
green light. Her stomach heaved and she was certain she was going to puke.

Oh
no—no, please. I can’t be sick right now. I have to get out of here—I can’t
afford to be sick!

Becca
closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, willing the contents of her
stomach to stay down. When at last she opened them again, she was only seeing
one of everything, which was a vast improvement.

She
forced herself to focus and saw that someone had built a fire in the middle of
the little clearing. Its blue and green flames flickered and danced,
illuminating the angry faces of the Rai’ku who had invaded Garron’s lodge.

Speaking
of Garron, she saw him standing across the fire from her, supporting Far, who
looked on the verge of collapse. It was clear from his pale face that the light
twin had lost a lot of blood and more was still leaking in a steady flow from
his wounded arm. His eyes were closed and his chest seemed to rise and fall
irregularly, as though he was having trouble breathing. Garron was tending him,
trying to stop the bleeding, but the light twin was just standing there, doing
nothing to help.

Instinctively,
Becca reached for him through their partial link. Concern spiked through her
when she could barely feel his emotions at all.

Fear…regret
that he couldn’t save me…concern and love for both Truth and me…

The
feelings made her wonder about Truth—where was he?

Becca
dared to raise her head again and was grateful when everything didn’t go double.
Her stomach seemed more willing to cooperate too, so she carefully lifted
herself into a sitting position—a vast improvement from lying on the freezing
cold ground—and looked around.

The
firelight filled her vision and she wished she was closer to its flames. She
was still only wearing the fur bikini and nothing else. Now that she was awake
and alert, the cold suddenly seemed to hit her.

Shivering,
she drew her knees up to her chest. Where was Truth and what was wrong with
Far? What were the Rai’ku planning to do with them?

She
didn’t have long to wonder because suddenly a struggling, swearing Truth was
shoved into the small clearing, his face distorted with anger in the flickering
blue and green firelight.

“Let
me go, you cowards! Where is Rebecca? What have you done to my brother?”

His
eyes fell on Far and grew wide.

“Far?
Far!”
Becca could feel him reaching for his twin through their link but
nothing was happening—apparently Far was now beyond reach.

“He’s
all right, Truth.” Garron muscled his way through the angry Rai’ku, dragging
the half-conscious Far with him. “Or he will be if we get him out of here
soon,” Becca heard him say. “But I don’t know if that’s going to be possible—I
think you’re here for a judgment.”

“A
judgment? As though we were common criminals?” Truth’s gray eyes flashed
dangerously but then he shook his head. “Never mind that now—where’s Rebecca?”

“H-here,
Tr-Truth.” Becca’s teeth were chattering with cold but she lifted her voice and
somehow forced herself to crawl out of the shadows and closer to the fire.

“Rebecca!
Thank all the gods that ever were.” Truth held out a hand to her. “Come here!
Quickly.”

Becca
started to run to where they were holding him, but a hard hand caught her hair from
behind and yanked. She stumbled backwards with a cry of pain and landed on the
ground again.

“I
don’t think so,
wrex,”
hissed a soft, hateful voice that was vaguely
familiar.

“Who…?
What…?” Becca tried to move her head only to have her hair yanked again until
her scalp throbbed.

“Stay
where you are, unclean one,” her attacker demanded. “It sickens me to touch you
but I won’t have you near your lovers. They deserve no such comfort.”