Switched: Brides of the Kindred 17 (35 page)

“
And so you laid this trap?” Jorn demanded incredulously. “To
try and trip him up just because he’s Kindred? I am sorry you
cannot see Commander Volx for what he truly is. He’s more than just
a Kindred—he’s an excellent Commander who leads his people well and
almost never loses a warrior in combat.”

“
Oh, I
do
see
Commander Kerov Volx for what he is.” Tlox’s purple-black eyes
glowed malevolently. “Or rather, for what he is
not.
What you may not know, Commander Jorn, is
that
belii
slugs have another
function, besides being delicious. They also, when taken internally
by a Kindred, will show without a shadow of a doubt, whether he is
a
Jumper
or not.”

“
A
Jumper? Able to jump into another’s body?” Jorn frowned. “There
hasn’t been one of those for over a century, Brigadier.”

“
That’s what they’d
like
you to think. All those filthy Kindred
Switchers
and
Jumpers
.” The light in his dark eyes was verging on fanatical now.
“But the
belli
slugs
tell the truth—they
always
tell
the truth!”

Dios,
Frankie
thought.
He’s
crazy! Some kind of fanatic on a quest to get all the
Kindred.
And
unfortunately it seemed like Kerov was at the top of his hit
list.

Unsteadily, she rose from the table and took a stumbling step
back. If only she didn’t feel so
weird.
Like she was melting from the inside out… There was something
cold and wet running down the sides of her face, just under
the
chunnel.
Frankie tried to wipe at it and almost fell.

“
Kerov?” Jorn was on his feet at once, reaching out a hand to
help her.

“
I…don’t feel so good,” Frankie muttered, clutching at his
arm.

“
You don’t
look
so good
either, Commander.” Tlox was grinning now—an ugly expression on his
angular features. “In fact, if what the
belli
slugs are telling us is correct—and I am sure that it
is—you’re not only a Switch Kindred—you’re in the middle of a
Switch right now.”

“
What? What are you talking about?” Jorn demanded, his voice
echoing in the now empty banquet hall.

“
I’m talking about this.” Tlox reached up and swiped at the
side of Frankie’s face. His fingers came away covered in green
slime which he held out for her and Jorn to examine. “See this?
Only the essence of another person reacting with the Kindred host
body could cause such a reaction. Otherwise, the slime-sweat would
be clear.”

“
Slime-sweat?
Seriously?”
Frankie’s indignant question came out as more of a
croak.
Dios,
she
felt bad—
terrible.

“
Look at him!” The Brigadier wiped the green slime off on the
tablecloth and pointed an accusing finger at Frankie. “During the
banquet, he didn’t know what utensils to use, he doesn’t know any
of the correct dining protocols, and he speaks strangely!
There
must
be another person within
that body of his!”

Jorn looked at her
with a question in his eyes and for a moment Frankie thought he was
going to abandon her and join with Tlox in condemning Kerov. But
then Jorn frowned and shook his head.

“
I’m sorry, Brigadier,” he said formally. “But Kerov is my
best friend and has been for years—if there was something different
about him, I would notice it. And, for the record, I have not
noticed a thing. I think the problem lies in the fact that he was
nervous about attending this banquet tonight, which made him just a
little bit clumsy and forgetful of dining protocols he has studied
but never used.”

“
You may be able to explain away his awkward behavior but
you
cannot
explain away the green
slime-sweat,” Tlox insisted.

“
Actually, yes I can,” Jorn said flatly. “The slugs
are
certainly detecting another person
beside Kerov in his skin but it’s not because of any ridiculous
switching or jumping ability he has—it’s because he’s wearing the
former Commander Slubgum’s
chunnel.”

Frankie looked at him uncertainly. Earlier, it had seemed that
admitting to wearing another male’s
chunnel
was the worst thing she could do. But apparently Jorn
had assessed the situation and decided it was a lesser evil than
admitting that Kerov had the reviled Switching ability.

“
He
what?”
Brigadier Tlox’s sharp features wrinkled with
disgust.

“
It’s true,” Jorn said steadily. “Kerov forgot his own
chunnel
back at his quarters and
there was no time to retrieve it. So he was forced to wear
Slubgum’s to the banquet. That’s why it’s so loose.”

“
He’s right,” Frankie somehow managed to say. She felt so sick
now she didn’t even know how she was still standing. Only Jorn’s
grip on her arm was keeping her upright.

Tlox looked back and
forth between them, his face a mask of revulsion.

“
This…this is…I…” He seemed unable to form the
words.

“
Ugh…” Suddenly the contents of Frankie’s stomach decided to
eject themselves. Leaning forward, she puked for the second time in
twenty-four hours.

Only this time I have to actually
feel
it,
she thought miserably as everything she’d had for dinner came
up along with a writhing mass of black slugs. Because this
time
she
was the one in the host
body so she wasn’t immune to the effects of the substance she’d
unknowingly swallowed. Just as Kerov had suffered the effects of
drinking too much wine the night before, now she was paying for
eating the
belii
slugs.
Frankie thought dimly that Kerov had gotten the best of that
deal—puking up Thai food and wine was infinitely better than
vomiting slugs.

Tlox shouted and
jumped back in disgust as she puked, narrowly missing getting
splattered with the mess.

“
Well,” he said, brushing fastidiously at his still clean
trousers. “I think this is a matter for the disciplinary review
committee. In fact—”

Just then the too-loose
chunnel,
which was covered in the green slime-sweat, fell off Frankie’s
head and landed with a flat
splat
in the middle of the pile of sick.

Vomit, green slime,
and writhing slugs sprayed up, coating Tlox’s high black boots and
immaculate uniform trousers.

“
Argh!” Tlox stared down at himself, apparently speechless
with rage and disgust.

Great,
Frankie thought hazily.
That’s the second asshole I’ve puked on in the past
twenty-four hours. Maybe I’m starting a new hobby or
something…

“
If you’ll excuse me, Brigadier, I need to get Kerov some
medical attention.” Jorn’s voice cut through her blurred thoughts
and she looked up to see that he was still holding her
arm.

Brigadier Tlox was
glaring at them both, his angular face white with fury.

“
This isn’t the end of this matter!” He stabbed a finger at
them. “I’ll be watching you—
both
of you.”

Then he turned and
hurried away, slipping and almost falling in the slimy slug-vomit
as he went.

“
Whew…” Jorn looked down at Frankie and shook his head. “Well
that’s not good. We’d better get out of here—can you
walk?”

“
I…I think so.” Ejecting the slugs seemed to have lightened
the load in Frankie’s belly considerably. But she still felt floaty
and light-headed.

“
Good. Come on.” Still holding her arm, Jorn towed her out of
the Ministry of War and out to his waiting vehicle.

They left the base
and Frankie wondered where they were going. But before she could
ask anything, Jorn did something to the controls of the huge tank
he drove and turned to her.

“
All right—we’re on auto-drive,” he said steadily, looking at
her. “Now tell me—who are you and where is Kerov?”

Chapter Fifteen

The
dravik
burst
with an immense, bloody splatter, coating the walls of the
Souda
with gooey crimson. Its job was done.
From the shredded, gory remains stepped a tall figure with spiky
blond hair and pale, piercing blue eyes.

Two left the
Souda
and
strolled naked to the 3-D viewer mounted on the wall of his private
chambers—the chambers which used to house The AllFather, back when
the Scourge were still a viable force.

“
Yes,” he murmured in a deep, powerful voice, examining himself
from all angles. “Yes, perfect. Just
perfect.”

Given access to all
of the Scourge technology, some might suppose that Two would have
chosen to recreate himself in the form of the AllFather
himself—that terrifying being who had ruled the Scourge for
centuries with an iron fist until he was brought down by his own
son. And, indeed, Two had considered it. After all, he was on the
Scourge home world—he could certainly have found some of the fallen
overlord’s DNA to use.

But the visage he currently wore was infinitely better suited
to his purposes. And besides, it was so much
prettier
than the cadaverous AllFather had been.
Prettier and more useful too—for gaining entry to the Kindred
Mother Ship and doing what had to be done.

“
You’ll never manage it,”
whispered a weak voice in the back of his
head.
“What are
you going to do—fly over and hail the Mother Ship on the
viewscreen? Questions will be asked—your duplicity will be found
out immediately.”

Two frowned in
irritation.

“
Are you
still
in
there, Y? I was certain the pain of my transformation would have
killed you.”

There was a weak
laugh that sounded more than half mad.

“
Apparently not. I suppose as the original owner of this body,
I cannot be killed. At least, not unless you die as well. Which you
will if you attempt to board the Kindred Mother Ship in that
form.”

“
Which is why I am
not
going to
just fly up and hail them!” Two made an exasperated sound. “Give me
some credit for being a
little
more cunning than that, Y. There is, after all, more than one
way onto the Mother Ship.” He looked at himself in the mirror and
ran one large, well-shaped hand through his spiky blond hair. “And
once I’m there, I will make them pay for all they’ve done to
me.”

“
How?”
Y
demanded weakly.
“By forcing them to endure your company? That is surely
punishment enough for any offense—I should know!”

Two made an irritated hissing sound from between his even,
white teeth. “I really wish the pain would have killed you—it was
amusing to have your commentary at first but now it is simply
annoying. However, since you ask, I have something much more
nefarious
planned for our Kindred
friends. And I’m not using that word lightly, you know. Soon they
really
will
be friends—those that
survive the process of transformation, that is.”

“
What? What in the Seven Hells do you have planned for those
poor bastards?”
Y
demanded.
“You
can’t get them all into the Souda—they wouldn’t fit. And there are
too many of them for you to force them.”

“
Who said anything about transforming their
outer
appearances?” Two demanded, grinning. “I’m
talking about a complete change which will happen from the inside
out. And as for forcing them, that will not be necessary, my dear
Y. They will
willingly
take what I provide. And then they will change…all of them
will change completely…”

* *
* * *

“
So how was your day at Victoria’s Suckret?” Lacy gave Kerov a
friendly smile as she steered her little vehicle around a curve in
the road. She had shown up at Frankie’s domicile barely minutes
after he’d gotten back from work, much to his chagrin. She had then
insisted on accompanying him to the family gathering at Frankie’s
mother’s house for “moral support” whatever that meant.

Kerov had been
unable to think of a way to dissuade her so now they were on the
way to meet Frankie’s family, though after the encounter with her
mother on the phone that morning, he thought battling The Swarm
with no battle armor would be preferable.

“
It could have been better,” he growled shortly.

In fact, it had been
one of the worst and most awkward days he could remember. One might
think that handling lacy underthings and helping beautiful females
to try them on would be any male’s dream. And it would be—in a
fantasy. But as Kerov quickly found out, Frankie’s job was no
fantasy.