Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (48 page)

She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest like an exhausted child.

“Stav, please—get us
out
of here.”

“I’ll try,” he said grimly.

Rising easily, he shifted her slight weight so that she was pressed against him. He couldn’t carry her like a child—the black corridors of the Temple of Regret were too claustrophobically narrow for that. And yet, he didn’t want to put her down—didn’t want to risk losing her again.

Charlotte seemed to understand the problem which she solved by wrapping her legs around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. Stavros put a hand under her bottom, supporting her, and wrapped the other arm across her back. She gave a little moan of pure weariness and closed her eyes.

“Let’s go,” he said and began the long walk to try and find his way back through the maze.

* * * * *

It seemed like they were walking forever. Or rather, Stavros was. Charlie knew she ought to ask if he was tired and wanted to put her down but honestly, she didn’t feel like she could walk on her own right now. She was too emotionally spent. Experiencing Missy’s death all over again had drained her completely. She literally had nothing left.

The big Kindred marched on tirelessly, following twists and curves in the confusing hallways without hesitation which Charlie hoped meant they were slowly but surely getting to the end of the horrible maze inside the temple.

But their progress was impeded several times when they were stopped by scenes from his past. Charlie saw him in school as a kid and watched the first time the other children saw his mark and found out he was Cursed. They mocked and shouted at him and when he got into a fight with a boy much larger than him, it was Stavros who was punished and sent him in disgrace even though the other boy had started it.

Then she saw other scenes from his childhood—more subtle but just as hurtful. His mother refusing to hug him, his father keeping him at arm’s length. The terrible loneliness and isolation he felt until he at last was old enough to go out to the Mother Ship and leave his home planet of Tranq Prime. Other Kindred didn’t care so much about his Sin Eater status and for the first time he was able to have a more or less normal life. Well, other than feeling the pain of everyone around him all the time, that was.

Even as emotionally worn out as she was, Charlotte couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He’d had a crappy childhood too—just like she had. Growing up marked as a Sin Eater hadn’t been easy for him, especially when he hadn’t had much support from home. At least she’d had Missy—Stavros had had no one. No one at all.

Every time a scene from his childhood happened Stavros stood still for a moment and she felt him taking deep breaths. Then he muttered under his breath, “Not real. It’s
not real.”

After a moment of tense concentration in which she felt his whole, muscular body shiver against hers, the scene would fade and they were able to continue on their way.

Thankfully, the Temple didn’t show Charlie any more of her own past though she half expected to see her mother’s heart attack or her father’s slow death by lung cancer. But neither of those had hurt her as badly as Missy’s suicide. Presumably the temple knew it had thrown the worst thing it had at her and now it had no more ammunition. Or maybe it could sense that she had no more emotion to spend, no matter what it showed her.

Charlie tried to feel something…anything…but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t even summon guilt that she was letting a Kindred warrior hold her close and carry her this way. She knew she ought to be angry with him—with all of them for what had happened to Missy. And she ought to hate herself for feeling comforted by Stavros’s strong arms around her. But she couldn’t feel any of that—she was just numb. So numb she began to wonder if she would feel anything ever again.

At last she heard the big Kindred give a hoarse exclamation.

“Look!”

Lifting her head wearily from his shoulder she saw a bright line of light—like a crack in a door—at the far end of the hallway they were currently traversing.

Oh please, oh please…
Charlie thought fervently. She had a terrible fear that the Temple was just teasing them—holding out false hope which would be snatched back at the last moment.

Stavros must have had the same thought because he started to walk faster and faster until soon he was almost running. He burst from the Temple of Regrets with Charlie clinging to him, her heart beating like a jackhammer. She blinked, finding even the dim light hard on her eyes, but as the familiar blue hallways that surrounded the spooky tunnel-like entrance to the temple came into view, she knew that they were truly out at last.

“Out. We’re
out,”
Stavros said hoarsely, echoing her thoughts. He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Thank the Goddess, I didn’t think we would make it.”

“You didn’t?” Charlie looked at him. “Then why did you keep going?”

“I had to,” he said grimly. “I knew if I gave up and let myself stop, we’d never get out. We would’ve been eaten alive in there by the temple—by whatever it is that makes bad memories into visions.”

Charlie shivered. The idea that the temple was alive in some way hadn’t occurred to her and she was glad it hadn’t. It made her feel like she had escaped from a living haunted house—a sentient monster that wanted to feast on her feelings.

Well it should’ve had enough from me to keep it full for a month,
she thought dully.
I don’t know what else it could do—what else it could make me feel. Right now I’m just exhausted.
Then it occurred to her that Stavros probably was too. He’d been hauling her around for over an hour through that house of horrors—he was probably dead on his feet.

“Thank you for carrying me,” she said stiffly. “You’re probably really tired. I should get down now.”

She started to unwrap her legs from around his waist but he held her by the waist, not letting her go.

“It is all right,” he rumbled softly. “I am not tired. But you still look fatigued—let me hold you awhile longer.”

Charlie bit her lip. “Why…why would you want to? I must look a mess right now.” After sobbing her heart out inside the awful Temple of Regrets she was sure her eyes were red and her hair was crazy—in other words, she wasn’t going to be winning any beauty pageants right now.

Stav sighed. “I confess I am…reluctant to let you go. Knowing as I do that you will certainly never let me hold you again.”

“You think I’m still mad at you?” Charlie asked. “Because…”

“Because of what happened to your sister,” he said gently. “Charlotte, I saw everything. Forgive me for intruding on your privacy but I could not help it—the scene played out in front of me and I was worried about you.”

Charlie gave a broken little laugh that felt more like a sob.

“That’s all right. I saw crap from your past too, if you recall. I guess…I guess there’s no hiding anything in there.” She nodded over her shoulder at the Temple of Regrets.

“That is certainly true,” he said grimly. “But I wanted you to know I understand your point of view now. I know why you hate my people—why you hate
me
. And I do not blame you.”

Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t…don’t hate
anybody
right now. I just feel…numb.”

“You’re in shock,” he murmured. “Having to re-live such traumatic events is wearing to the emotions.”

“Wearing is right.” She sighed and let her head rest on his broad shoulder again. God he smelled good—that was nice. “I’m all worn out,” she whispered.

“Of course you are.” He rubbed her back soothingly with one big hand. “What you need is a hot bath and a long rest.”

“Which is exactly what you are
not
going to get.” The familiar voice ringing out behind them made Charlie jump. It occurred to her belatedly that she hadn’t seen the Joined One since they had exited the temple. Where they hell had the freakish thing gone to?

Her questions was answered by a sudden rustling at the far end of one long blue corridor. Out of it stepped the Joined One, a cruel smile playing on both its faces. It was surrounded by armed guards—
Hossans
who clearly hadn’t spent much time in the cleansing pool. For though their hair floated above their heads and their eyes glowed, their skin was a milky, opaque white, like freshly poured milk, hiding their veins and arteries. This should have made them look less freaky than the
Hossans
with transparent skin but somehow it didn’t.

“Take them,” the Joined One commanded, pulling Charlie’s attention away from the weird guards. “Take them to the Circle of Oneness immediately—they have much to answer for.”

Chapter Thirty-one

“What are we charged with?” Stavros demanded, glaring at the Joined One. He had been summarily scanned, both eye and hand, and he and Charlotte had been brought into the inner circle to stand some kind of trial as far as he could tell.

The large circular room which he had only seen in the dream he shared with Charlotte looked different. It was no longer bare with only the burnished gold cylinder in the center for decoration. A high platform had been added—a kind of stage, he thought—with a large throne-like chair placed in its center. In the chair sat Ya’ha’Na’ho, the Joined One, obviously sitting in judgment of him and Charlotte.

They, of course, were standing in front of the platform, forced to look up into the two faces of the Joined One, both of which were scowling critically down at them. The large golden cylinder was to their left and they were flanked on all sides by the armed
Hossan
guards.

“You are accused of being imposters here—would-be thieves of our most precious artifact—the Heart of Love,” the male face of the Joined One declared.

Stavros felt his stomach clench. How the hell had they known? Was it revealed when they scanned either himself or Charlotte? But why had the Joined One not made the accusation at once?

“Who says such things about us?” he asked, keeping his voice level and steady. “Who dares defame my character and that of my lawful mate?”

“She is not your mate but only an associate—another spy sent along with you to create the illusion that the two of you were a couple in need of help,” the female face said. “We have been told everything—there is no need to lie.”

“Who said those things?” Charlotte demanded, speaking up for the first time. Stavros was glad to see that her chin was high and her eyes were flashing. Plainly she was intending to fight to the end—good, they would need to back each other up to get out of this.

“We were contacted by one who has been observing you and could not be silent about your treachery any longer,” the male face said sternly.

“So someone has been
spying
on us?” Charlotte asked. “Who?”

“Yes, are we to be allowed to meet our accuser or not?” Stavros growled.

“You may, if you wish.” The Joined One made a motion with one hand and suddenly the soft pink glow in the room faded leaving everything in near darkness. The side of the golden cylinder suddenly lit up and a face that Stavros recognized from his briefings with the Kindred Council suddenly appeared.

“
Greetings, oh exulted ones,”
Two, the Dark Kindred Commander said in a deep, inhuman voice. He bowed low but strangely, only the left side of his body seemed to work so the bow was lopsided. Still, when he straightened up, Stavros could see the malevolent gleam in his left eye—the other was covered by a metal prosthetic scope—one of his enhancements.

He was grinning—but only on the left side—which exposed silver metal teeth and part of his brain was exposed and visible through a clear plasti-glass dome that covered his skull.

“This is Two, the commander of the Enhanced Ones,” the Joined One said, unnecessarily. “I believe that you are one of his soldiers, Stavros? One who has broken ranks and deserted without permission.”

“That is a lie,” Stavros said clearly. “This male is not my commander. He is the leader of the Dark Kindred—also known as the Enhanced Ones. They are seeking a way to take over Earth—a planet that the Kindred are currently protecting. Why he was watching me, I do not know, but I
do
know that he is a liar.”

“Was he lying about the two of you not being a couple?” the Joined One asked, raising all four eyebrows. “I think not. From the first you and Charlotte have not displayed the proper demeanor of two souls joined as one. Admit it—you are simply spies who have no emotional connection, sent here to steal the Heart of Love!”

“That’s not true,” Charlotte said before Stavros could answer. “We
are
a couple.” She grabbed his hand in hers, entwining their fingers hastily. “We came to seek the wisdom of the Heart of Love just like everyone else here.”

“
They lie!”
boomed the voice of Two.
“They must be turned over to me immediately for punishment.”