“Your destiny was chosen for you from the moment of your birth,” Tornk snapped. “To be the wife of a worthy Goshan dignitary such as myself. And here you are—dressed in some obscene foreign get-up doing the Gods know what with an alien male! If the Monarch could see you now he would order you stoned at once, you little slut!”
“I will not be shamed by you!” Dani snapped. “I went with Kyron because I love him—because he doesn’t treat me like a pet or a piece of property. I don’t regret my actions one bit.”
Ignoring her completely, Tornk took her by the shoulders and stared into her face. Then he grunted and nodded his head in apparent satisfaction.
“At least your eyes are still unchanged. Lucky for you, Princess. You have a wedding to look forward to instead of a stoning.”
“I told you before, I’ll never marry you—I’d rather die.” Dani struggled but the two guards took her by the arms and dragged her, kicking and fighting, towards the squat, black Goshan craft.
“You might as well relax, Princess Dannella,” Tornk said with a nasty sneer as they shoved her into the ship and strapped her down. “You’re coming home with me and then we have our wedding to plan.”
“No…no! Let me out of here—let me go!”
But the guards had strapped her arms to her sides and there was no getting loose, no matter how she kicked and wiggled. She had to watch as the ship rose off the ground and listen to Councilor Tornk’s evil laughter from the seat ahead of hers as the sliver ship got smaller and smaller in the viewscreen.
“You old bastard,” Dani snapped, glaring at the back of his head. “You think you’ve won but you haven’t—Ky will come for me!”
“I don’t think so my dear. In fact, let’s just make certain he won’t, shall we?” Turning to the pilot, Tornk made a motion with one hand. “Blast the Kindred ship to pieces.”
“What?”
For a moment his words hardly registered—they were too awful, too final to be believed. Dani simply couldn’t wrap her head around the concept. But she saw the pilot flipping switches on his console and finally the idea of what Tornk had ordered crashed in on her.
“No!” she screamed as the pilot gripped his steering stick and positioned his thumb over a large, red button. “No, you can’t! He’s in there—you’ll kill him!”
“That’s the idea, Princess dear.” Tornk turned his head and smirked at her. “This way we don’t have to worry about ever seeing him again. We can’t have your Kindred lover ruining our wedding—now can we?” He nodded at the pilot. “Fire when ready.”
“No! N—” But her voice was cut off by a roaring sound from the engines. Suddenly, bright red beams of energy arrowed down and hit the silver Kindred ship.
For a moment, the silver glowed red—as though it was being heated like metal in a forge. Then it burst apart in a spectacular explosion of silver and black charred fragments. They blew into the air and rained down, covering the gray, featureless landscape in a blanket of twisted metal.
“No!” Dani tried to shout again but this time the sound was no more than a whisper. She could feel her throat closing with tears—tears of disbelief and horror. How could it have happened so quickly? How could her entire life be ruined and the male she loved killed in the blink of an eye?
I never even told him I loved him, she thought numbly. And now he’s gone forever.
“There—that should put any fantasies you might have of rescue to rest,” Tornk said briskly. “Now let’s go home, shall we?” He nodded to the pilot. “Mind you take the correct precautions before we go through the homeward wormhole.”
“You…” Dani finally found her voice and she spoke in a low tone filled with hatred. “Tornk, you’d better kill me,” she told him.
“Eh? What’s that?” He turned his head to see her again and frowned. “What did you say?”
“I said, you’d better kill me, not marry me.” Dani’s eyes blazed and she clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “Because if you give me even half a chance, I’m going to murder you…slowly.”
Tornk’s eyes widened for a moment, then he laughed dismissively and shook his head.
“Very funny, Princess. Always the jokester.”
“I’m not joking,” Dani said in that same, flat voice. “I’ll kill you and do you know what else, Tornk?”
“What?” he asked, frowning.
“I’m going to enjoy it,” Dani told him, glaring at him. “You got my mother killed and you murdered the only male I have ever loved. Oh yes, I’m going to really enjoy getting my revenge.”
For a moment Tornk looked at her uneasily. Then he laughed, a little too heartily, Dani thought.
“Threaten all you want, Princess. The fact is, you’ll be my wife by next week. We’ll see how ‘vengeful’ you feel after I chain you to my bed and change the color of your eyes.”
Dani didn’t pay any attention to his words or repeat her threat. Instead, she watched in the viewscreen as the blackened and fragmented Kindred ship slowly dwindled to nothing.
She felt as though her heart had dwindled with it.
* * * * *
Ky was deep inside the Hive’s lair when he heard the screaming. He’d been caught up in exploring the horrible place—led on by a kind of fascinated revulsion from chamber to chamber as he deployed the scanner-ball over and over, collecting images and data.
The ground underfoot was mushy and spongy and the scent in the air was an indescribable sweet stench—like rotting meat mixed with honey. He had only intended to use the scanner ball once and then call it back to him and go back to the ship. But the strange things it showed him when he called up the 3-D holo scan convinced him to go further and further in.
There was a stinking pit filled with rotting meat…walls lines with skulls…a chamber of horrors where ledges held the remains of the poor females who had been kidnapped and impregnated with the Hive’s grubs…
Somehow he made his way back to the far end of the huge complex. By the time he heard the screaming and ran all the way back to the entrance, it was too late to stop what was happening. Before he could so much as draw his blaster, Dani had disappeared into the blunt, snub-nosed Goshan ship and it had lifted away, into the dank gray atmosphere.
Dani—no! How in the seven hells did they find us and how did they get here? Thought that worm hole we went through was one-way!
Could it be that it was actually one of the rare two-way holes that worked in reverse to return a ship to its starting origin when it entered from the end-spout? Or was there another, homeward hole he'd missed somehow? Whatever the case, Ky intended to follow and get Dani back. And if that bastard Tornk, who must be the older male he’d seen shoving her into the ship, laid a single hand on her—
He started to leave the Hive’s lair but he paused for just a second to call the scanner ball. It was a good thing he did. The next moment, his ship exploded and the air was filled with deadly shrapnel.
Ky gasped and ducked as a sharp-edged piece of the silver hull, now blackened and twisted, flew at him. It barely missed his head and clanked against the stone walls of the Hive’s lair.
For a moment he scarcely knew what had happened. Then it came to him slowly but surely—Dani had been kidnapped and his only way to get her—hell, his only way home—had just gone up in a smoking fireball.
What in the Seven Hells was he going to do?
Chapter Seventeen
“It’s your wedding day, my sweets! Both my sweet princesses getting married in the same ceremony this very evening! How wonderful is that?”
Yana was trying to put a happy face on things but it probably wasn’t easy for her. Lavi wore a face of woe and couldn’t stop crying while Dani herself was still in shock.
Over and over she kept seeing Ky’s ship being blown to smithereens—a slow-motion explosion that wouldn’t stop happening behind her eyes every time she closed them.
Gone, whispered a voice in her head. He’s gone and I never even told him I love
him. Gods above, I want to die.
But that option had been taken from her. Apparently anticipating some kind of desperate gesture, her father had ordered that all sharp implements should be removed from the women’s quarters. Also, Yana and Geora were keeping a constant watch on herself and Lavi to prevent any “accidents.”
Dani didn’t care what they did—they couldn’t watch her forever. Somehow, after the wedding was over, she would find a way to get her hands on a knife or a blaster or some other weapon.
The minute she was alone with Councilor Tornk, she would kill him.
She would doubtless be stoned for such an act—she knew that. But now that Ky was gone, she didn’t want to live anyway. And killing the male who was responsible for the death of both her beloved mother and the male she had loved was worth it—worth any death the court could think up, no matter how painful or protracted.
“Come now, come now,” Yana coaxed, trying to get Lavi to stop crying. “You can’t cry through your whole wedding, my pet! You must be beautiful for your new husband!”
“I don’t want to be owned by Warro,” Lavi cried passionately. “He already has enough wives! Why does he need me too? Why can’t I be with Jontu?”
“You know why, my sweet—because that is not what your Royal father, may he live forever, has decided is best for you.”
“You mean it’s what that nasty old Councilor Bray-bray has decided!” Lavi exclaimed. “Oh, I hate him! He is the one who made the deal with Warro, he’s the reason I can’t be with the male I love. I know—Jontu told me so.”
“Now my pet, you haven’t been sneaking around speaking to that Jontu, have you?” Yana sounded nervous. “You’re engaged to another male now—to Warro. If you’re caught even looking at another male you could be in very serious trouble indeed.”
“I don’t care—let them stone me,” Lavi said, her tears starting to flow again. “My life is over anyway. I don’t want to live if I can’t be with Jontu,” she added, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of the delicate pale yellow wedding gown she was wearing. Dani was dressed similarly but her gown was a pale, shimmering lilac. Both gowns were sheer enough to be see-through, as befitted their status.
I wish I was wearing Ky’s shirt instead. Wish we were back in the bed chamber on his ship, loving each other, Dani thought and nearly started crying herself. But they had taken the big Kindred’s shirt from her when she returned home. Taken it and burned it, right before her eyes.
Tornk had done it with a mean smile pasted on his hateful face as he lit it up and watched it burn. Councilor Tornk…Councilor Bray-bray—their old funny nickname for him. But Dani found nothing funny about him now. He was disgusting—lecherous and greedy and deceitful and evil.
She wished him dead in the most painful way imaginable and she hoped to make that death a reality herself before too long.
* * * * *
“Here—over here! Hey! Help!”
Ky waved his hands frantically, hoping that the ship hovering in the dull gray sky of the Hive world could see him. It didn’t look exactly Kindred but he was desperate at this point. He’d been stuck on this gray world for days with nothing to eat. There was nothing to drink either, except for a stream of pinkish, sweet-tasting water that wound through the Hive’s lair. Ky hadn’t wanted to touch it but after a few days his thirst had grown too great and he’d been forced to sip from it.
The water made him feel strange—full of rage. Or maybe it was just the situation he found himself in that enraged him so. He was stuck here—marooned on a dead planet while the female he loved was being given to another.
The thought of that Councilor Tornk—that old bastard—putting his hands on Dani, hurting her…taking her… It was enough to curl his hands into fists as he imagined squeezing the other male’s throat until his breath stopped and his eyes bugged out.
I’ll kill him—kill him if he hurts her, if he takes what she isn’t willing to give!
It had been days of those thoughts, days of rage and worry and fear for Dani. But now, finally, here was a ship. If it would only see him…
The ship hovered lower and then landed, bringing a hoarse shout of joy from his lips. Thank the Goddess!
The door to the ship opened and a huge male—even by Kindred standards—climbed out. He was well over seven feet tall with skull cut hair and strange mismatched eyes—one blue and one gold. He had the look of a Beast Kindred about him but when he opened his mouth, the fangs of a Blood Kindred were apparent.
A hybrid.
Ky didn’t care what the male was or how many types of Kindred DNA swam in his blood—the strange warrior represented hope—if only he would help him get to Dani in time.
“Hey, Brother, are you Kyron of the Touch Kindred?” the male asked in a deep, gravelly voice.
“Yes!” Ky came forward eagerly. “Thank the Goddess! Are you from the Mother Ship?”
“Sort of. It’s not my home—I live on my space-hopper. But I was back there touching base with my old friend Sylvan and he told me how you were lost out here. Apparently your ship sent out a burst of scrambled data and then went dead. The Mother Ship thought you might have left the Hive world and been caught in some kind of temporal storm—nobody could pinpoint your location. Got a lot of pilots out there fucking tryin’ though. I’m Merrick, by the way.”
“I’m so glad you found me,” Ky exclaimed. “I just hope there’s still time. I have to go back—I have to get to Dani before he hurts her!”
“Whoa—go back where?” The male frowned. “Slow down, Brother.”
“Merrick? Is everything all right? Is it him?” A female climbed down the ship’s steps and came to stand at Merrick’s side. She was a tiny little thing, Ky saw—maybe even smaller than Dani—with pale skin and long dark hair.
“Yeah, this is him, baby.” Merrick put one muscular arm around her. “Kyron, meet Elise, my mate,” he said formally.
“Nice to meet you,” Ky said. “But please, we need to get going before it’s too late. I’ve been trapped here for days already. If he’s hurt her…if he’s raped her…”
Merrick’s mismatched eyes narrowed at the ugly word.
“All right, come on board and start at the beginning. You look half starved—you can have some protein stew while you talk.”
Ky followed the huge Merrick and his tiny mate into their ship. Once inside Elise served him a bowl of tasty-smelling stew and Merrick poured him a tall drink of Kribbian ale.
He drank thirstily but Ky had no time for eating. Instead he spoke rapidly, explaining his time spent as a prisoner, his escape with Dani’s help, and the way she had been recaptured while he was busy scanning the Hive’s lair.
“I never should have left her alone in the ship—not for a minute,” he finished, running a hand through his hair. And now it might be too late. If that bastard Tornk has hurt her…”
“You can’t blame yourself for the evil of others,” Elise said softly, reaching across the small table to pat his arm.
“I do though—it’s my fault. All my fault she was taken.” Ky looked up at the two of them, sitting across from him and listening sympathetically. “Please—can you help me? I wanted to go back with a whole squadron of warriors but there’s no time.”
Merrick nodded slowly, as though thinking.
“You know, Sylvan’s orders were to bring you back to the Mother Ship immediately. He wants a full report on what happened before we do anything else.”
Ky fought to keep his rage and worry under control.
“But that will take too much time. Going back to the Mother Ship, doing a debriefing, getting the Council’s permission to bring back a squadron to Goshan Prime…”
“Yeah, that’s a lot of fuckin’ red tape to go through,” Merrick growled. “And you need to get to your female now before something really bad happens to her.”
“Exactly!” Ky looked at him hopefully. “So…will you help me?”
The big hybrid grinned.
“Tel
l you what, Kyron of the Touch Kindred, you’re damn lucky I’m the one who found you and not any of the others out looking. Any other warrior in the fleet would take you back to the Mother Ship—gotta obey orders, you know?”
Ky nodded. “Yes, but—”
“Don’t worry—I’ve never been much for the fuckin’ rules.” Merrick’s grin widened, showing his fangs. “And we don’t have to go through that fucked up worm hole and get picked off in Goshan Prime air space either. I’ve got a worm hole generator on my space-hopper that’ll let us show up exactly where we need to be and cloaking tech to keep us invisible once we get there.”
“Thank you,” Ky said hoarsely. “ But I don’t know exactly where that is—I hope Dani's still in the Palace but I don’t have any idea how we’re going to get to her.”
“We’ll find a way,” Elise assured him. “Is there anyone besides Dani you can trust there? Anyone who might help us get to her?”
“No, no one. I—” Ky stopped. “Well, now that I think of it, there might be someone…”
He hoped.
Chapter Eighteen
Maybe I can cut off Tornk’s scepter before I kill him, Dani thought, fantasizing again of the way she would murder her husband-to-be. It might be a blood-thirsty way to pass the time until her miserable wedding began, but it was better than letting herself think about Ky’s death. Better than remembering she would never see the only male she had ever loved again…
A knock at the door interrupted her morbid thoughts.
“Now then, now then,” Yana said, bustling to open it. “I do believe it is the Valued Attendant, come to lead the two of you to the ceremony.”
It was to be a double wedding, with Warro marrying Lavi as Tornk married Dani at the same time. The palace was buzzing with excitement—both Royal princesses married at once! Such a double wedding was new and unheard of.
Usually when two sisters married in the same ceremony, they were wedding the same male, as had been the case with Dani and Lavi’s mothers when they wed the Monarch. To have two such highborn ladies wedding two different males at the same time was causing quite a stir.