Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (36 page)

Chapter
Thirty-two

“Report, Garron. What did you
learn?”

Commander Sylvan’s face filled
the viewscreen of the small ship which Garron was piloting quickly and
efficiently.

“Several things about the past
of Zeaga Four,” Garron said smoothly. “There is much to be learned of the Dark
Kindred simply by knowing their history…”

He proceeded to tell everything
they had heard from Yipper in a cool, robotic voice while Tess sat silently in
the passenger seat.

Sylvan nodded as Garron talked.

“I knew that everyone who went
to the planet’s surface was required to have some kind of enhancement but I
didn’t know emotions are against the law there,” he said thoughtfully.

“Clearly it is to keep the
peace,” Garron said. “A most logical solution. Elimination of emotions also
eliminates the threat of war.”

“You don’t have to worry about
any of this, anyway,” Tess said, speaking up for the first time. “I met the Kindred
the girl is dream sharing with—his name is Six.”

“You met him?” Sylvan leaned
forward, his face getting larger in the viewscreen. “What did he have to say?”

“Just that he’d seen a girl like
me in his dreams. Only she was thinner, of course,” Tess said wryly. “And she
has long, straight black hair and she wears glasses—he called them oculars.”

Sylvan was nodding. “Yes, that
sounds like Mei-Li—the senator’s daughter.”

“Well then, there you go.” Tess
shrugged. “But don’t worry—he says he’s not coming after her. He doesn’t want
her—probably because he’s completely emotionless.”

“It is best that he has no
emotion to cloud his judgment,” Garron said. “His decision not to pursue a
relationship that has no value to him is completely understandable.”

“Given the political situation
with Earth right now, it
is
good news
that he doesn’t intend to pursue her, but…” Commander Sylvan cleared his throat
and frowned. “Garron, if you don’t mind me asking, you sound…different.”

“He got an emotion damper,” Tess
said dully. “Just like the Dark Kindred. Like that Six guy I was telling you
about.”

“Oh?” Sylvan raised an eyebrow
at Garron. “And that…took care of your problem?”

“It was the only viable solution
and so far it has worked well,” Garron acknowledged. “I no longer feel the
threat of my
dr’gin
rising within me.
It is as if…as if the damper has put it to sleep.”

“Well then.” Sylvan nodded.
“Excellent. And you’ll be back to yourself after the threat is past? Truth told
me that tomorrow is your name day but after that…”

“It’s
permanent
,” Tess said harshly. “This is Garron now. He’s always
going to sound this way—
be
this
way—from now on.” She cleared her throat, trying to hold back tears. She didn’t
need to cry in front of the Kindred commander.

“Oh…” A look of compassion came
over Sylvan’s face. “I am sorry, Tess.”

“That’s all right.” She looked
away, biting her lip.

“Clearly it’s not,” Sylvan’s
voice was gentle, even over the viewscreen. “Should I try again to get the ban
against you lifted so the two of you can come back to the Mother Ship? I know
the other females would welcome you and it seems to me you could use what my
mate Sophia calls some ‘girl time.’”

“Thank you for your concern but
we have unfinished business on Earth,” Garron said, before she could answer.
“After it is settled, I will of course return to the Mother Ship.”

“Of course,” Tess said dryly.
“Because what reason would you have to stay on Earth?”

“None, once I am assured of your
safety,” Garron said, clearly oblivious to her sarcasm. “I have employment and
living accommodations aboard the Mother Ship—that is where I belong. But not
until I discharge my duty to you.”

“Don’t do me any
favors
,” Tess snarled, unbuckling her
seat belt. She couldn’t stand this anymore. All the way from the medical barge
and through the rift in space, Garron had been acting like some kind of a
freaking robot. It was as though someone had sucked his soul out and left
nothing but an empty shell. It
hurt
to see him this way. Hurt so much she had to get away from it.

“You really should not unfasten
your harness at this juncture,” Garron said, frowning. “We will be descending
to Earth’s orbit very shortly. It is safer to be—”

“Screw that.” Tess was up and
out of her seat.

“Tess…” Commander Sylvan’s voice
on the viewscreen stopped her. When she turned back to it, the look of sympathy
on his strong features almost made her lose control.

He
knows. He can tell what’s wrong.
Her
eyes flicked over to Garron, who was sitting there piloting the ship with a
completely impassive look on his face.
Commander
Sylvan knows, but look at Garron—he has no clue. He’s
never
going to have a clue. He doesn’t care. He’ll never care
again.

“I have to go,” she said in a
choked voice. “I’m sorry, Commander Sylvan.”

“I’ll tell Sophia or one of her
friends to call you,” he promised. “And I’ll try again to get the ban against
you lifted.”

“Why bother?” Tess swiped at her
eyes. “I have no reason to want to go to the Mother Ship now. I never will
again.”

She turned and ran towards the
back of the shuttle. She didn’t care what happened to her when they hit Earth’s
orbit—she just had to get away for awhile.

* * * * *

“Truly, I do not think it is
wise for you to go back to Tampa
right now.” Garron frowned at her as they climbed into the cab of the Earth
vehicle called a truck outside the Asheville HKR building. “We established that
your ex-mate is probably there waiting for you—waiting at the medical care
facility where your friend is recuperating.”

“I don’t care about that,” Tess
said stubbornly. “The nurse said that Di was awake for a few minutes and that
she was calling for me. I have to go see her.”

Garron sighed. Why was she so
illogical? She seemed to feel that the emotions she had for her friend
outweighed any safety issues. He knew it was his duty to protect her—he had
sworn himself to do it and it must be done. But her irrational insistence on
putting herself in danger made it much more difficult.

“All right,” he said. “We will
go back. But not tonight—the journey is too long.”

“What are you talking about?”
Tess’s voice was sharp and brittle and the set of her shoulders was stiff. “We
just traveled twenty thousand light years. What’s a few hundred miles?”

“I am fatigued.” He frowned at
her. “And you are emotional. Neither of us is fit to drive this vehicle for a
long period under these conditions. After a good night’s rest, we will be in
much better shape.”

“But—” she started to protest.

Garron held up a hand to stop
her.

“The medical attendant said that
your friend was out of danger—correct?”

“Well…yes,” Tess said
grudgingly.

“Then a few more hours for a
good night’s rest will not make any difference. We will go back to the cabin
and sleep. In the morning, we will make the journey. Agreed?”

“Fine,” she muttered, crossing
her arms over her chest and looking out the window at the passing scenery.
“Take us back to the cabin.”

“Certainly.” Garron nodded. It
was the right decision, even if she couldn’t comprehend it with her
emotion-clouded judgment. They would rest and tomorrow head back to her home.
There he would confront her ex-mate and either kill or incarcerate him. After
that, he would be free to go back to the Mother Ship where he belonged. Tess,
of course, could get back to her life here on Earth.

Somewhere deep down inside, so
far down he could barely feel it, something stirred at the idea of leaving her.
Hadn’t he promised they would be together forever—that he would stay with her
no matter what?

Garron shook his head. Where was
the logic in that? He would keep his promise to make certain she was safe.
After that, well, Tess had her life and he had his. It was better to keep them
separate.

He maneuvered the truck smoothly
through the late afternoon traffic and got into a turning lane. Dimly he
remembered that Tess had been surprised at how quickly he had been able to get
the hang of driving an Earth vehicle but he didn’t see why—it was exceedingly
easy, especially after the complexity of piloting one of the Kindred shuttles.

Four car lengths back on the
other side of the road, a gray, unmarked sedan suddenly made a U turn to get
into their lane.

Garron didn’t notice. Tess’s
shoulders were shaking and he was wondering if she was crying again. If so, was
there any way to stop such an illogical display of emotion? It made him…uncomfortable
for some reason. Even though it made no sense he didn’t like to see her
unhappy.

Deep inside him, the unrest
stirred again. Something with sharp fangs and claws like knives uttered a low
growl of protest and turned over in its drugged sleep.

Garron shook his head, ignoring
the sensation. It was foolish to worry. They would get a good night’s rest and
start back to Tampa
tomorrow. And then everything was going to be fine. Just fine…

Chapter
Thirty-three

“Yup, that’s him all right.” The
red-haired clerk at the Piggly Wiggly had nodded vigorously when Pierce had
showed her the picture of the big Kindred with the blue-green eyes. A stab of
triumph that went bone-deep pierced through him. He’d known he was on the right
track when he found the pawn shop where the big bastard had sold his shirt. But
now he was so close he could
taste
it.

Yes!
Got you, Princess. Got you now!

“And he had a girl with him?” he
had asked, frowning. “This girl?” He had shown a picture of Tess and the clerk had
nodded again.

“Yes, that’s her—poor girl. I
think her man’s reaction kind of upset her—even if he was just trying to
protect her. Not that nobody needs much protection from RayJay. He’s just an
old drunk that likes to look at pretty ladies.”

“I’m sorry—her
man?”
Pierce just couldn’t let that
pass.

“Well, yeah…” The clerk looked
confused. “Ain’t they a couple? They sure
seemed
like it. I mean he was ranting and raving that she was
his
woman and RayJay better not lay a hand on her or some such. I
just assumed…”

“Actually, we have reason to
believe that he kidnapped her,” Pierce lied smoothly. “He’s also wanted for
beating another woman to death.”

At least he was
pretty
sure that cunt, Di was dead. If
she wasn’t it wasn’t for lack of trying on his part. Bitch had point blank
refused to give him any information on Tess’s whereabouts. It was only after
he’d broken most of her ribs, her arm and her jaw with the bat that she’d
mumbled something about “Ashville.” Then she’d lost consciousness and nothing
he could do would bring her back. Damned inconsiderate of her, as far as Pierce
was concerned. But what the hell—was he a detective or wasn’t he? He’d sniffed
around, followed their trail, and now he was so close he could almost smell
Tess’s perfume…

“He…he beat her to
death?”
The clerk’s eyes had been wide
and horrified. “But…isn’t he one of them Kindred? I thought they didn’t hit
women.”

“This one does.” Pierce had put
an appropriately grim look on his face. “Listen…” He waved the picture of Tess
again. “This woman might be in serious danger. Did you hear them say where they
were staying?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” She
brightened. “But I
can
tell you what
they were driving. It was an old Ford pick-up, just like the one Old Man
Jackson used to drive. He was this old feller who lived up in a cabin on the
mountain for, oh…just ages. Until he got the cancer and had to go down to be
with his niece in Tampa.”

Pierce had been in the process
of tuning the silly bitch out but this got his attention again.

“In Tampa, did you say?” he had asked, frowning.
“Tell me, did you ever see his niece—I mean, did she ever visit? What was her
name?”

The clerk had pursed her lips.
“Let me think, it’s been years…” Her face brightened. “Oh, yes—Dianna—that was
it! And he called her Di for short.”

“I see…” Pierce had nodded, his
pulse pounding with excitement though he never showed it. “And can you tell me
where this cabin he used to live in is?”

“Oh, sure I can—I pass it every
day on the way to work. It’s…”

He had taken the directions but
the cabin had been a dead end. Though it was clear someone had been there
recently, it was deserted. An APB on the truck also turned up
nothing—apparently it wasn’t out on the road, at least not around Asheville.

Pierce had staked out the cabin
all night but neither Tess or the big Kindred she was currently fucking had
come anywhere near the place. At last he had concluded that they must have
moved on.

He was pretty certain they must
have continued their little road trip but before he left town, he wanted to
check the HKR building in downtown Ashville. After all, the bastard with Tess
was a Kindred. He could leave the entire planet with her if he wanted to—but
Pierce didn’t think he would. Tess wouldn’t leave until she’d checked in with
Di. And when she found out what had happened to her nearest and dearest friend,
she would insist on attending the funeral.

I’ll
catch you there, Princess, even if I don’t find you here,
he’d thought. He was certain of that. Still,
he’d decided it couldn’t hurt to take a pass by the HKR.

And low and behold, what had he
seen as he was on his way there? A beat-up old Ford truck with two passengers.
One of them was a Kindred with bright blue-green eyes. And the other was…Tess.

Pierce had made a U turn to follow
them and now they seemed to be headed back to the cabin.

Oh,
Princess,
he thought, a
grim smile growing on his face.
You don’t
know it but you’re in so much trouble…you’re in for such a punishment tonight…