Forgotten (65 page)

“
The Goddess was watching
out for you, all right,” Sylvan said. Just then the little machine
he’d been watching so intently made a soft,
ding!
“Ah, here we go…let’s just
see…”

Kate tensed up as she watched him reach into
the machine’s slot. What if that first test they had run on her had
been wrong? What if the results were some kind of a false positive?
What if…?

“
Here you go.” Sylvan
handed her a flower—a pink one.

Kate looked at him blankly.

“
I don’t understand—what
does this mean? I thought you guys said I was having a boy. But
this—”

The machine dinged again. “And here’s
another,” Sylvan said, giving her another flower—a blue one this
time.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

“
Uh-huh.” Olivia shook her
head. “I knew it—twice expectant.”

“
So…twins?” Kate asked,
smiling a little. “Goodness, I don’t know how I’m going to manage
that!”

Just then the machine dinged a third time.
This time Liv looked at it.

“
Uh, Kate, hon?” she
asked, reaching into the small slot. “What
exactly
were you and Rone doing last
night that made you too busy to come and see us right
away?”

“
I…well…” Kate felt
herself blushing but then Olivia handed her the third flower—a blue
one this time.

Kate looked it in dismay.

“
Are you serious?
Triplets?”

“
What would that be?
‘Thrice expectant?’” Sophie asked.

“
It’s not completely
unheard of in Wulven couples,” Sylvan said. “But since the period
for conception is an entire solar week starting from the time of
the first breeding, I must advise you not to have any
more—
ahem
—intimate relations until that time period is up.”

“
Unless you want to wind
up with a whole bouquet,” Liv said, grinning.

“
No, we don’t want that,”
Kate said hurriedly. “That’s what started all this in the first
place—sniffing that damn bouquet that was meant for
Emily!”

“
Well this is a different
kind of bouquet.” Rone took the three small blossoms from her
carefully. “One that will bring us joy.”

“
I’m happy too—don’t get
me wrong,” Kate said. “This is just…scary. Three at
once?”

“
Just wait until you meet
our best friend, Kat,” Sophie told her, laughing. “She had three at
once so she can give you a full breakdown of what to
expect.”

“
Well, I guess we’re
definitely hanging around now,” Kate said. “There’s no way I’m
getting too far from a doctor when I’ve got
three
buns in the oven!”

“
I’d say that’s a good
choice,” Sylvan said. “You can tether the Finder to the Mother ship
for the duration of the pregnancy. That way you can either stay
aboard your ship or move into one of the guest suites.”

“
That sounds perfect,”
Kate said gratefully. She looked at Liv. “Do you guys really have a
friend that has triplets? Because I’m definitely feeling in need of
some advice right now.”

Liv laughed. “Come on—Kat’s been dying to
meet you and so has everyone else.”

“
I’ll Bespeak Lauren and
ask her to bring cupcakes,” Sophie said. “If you’re anything like
the rest of us, you’re going to grow a serious sweet tooth now that
you’re preggers with a Kindred baby—babies, I mean.”

“
Mmm…” Kate smiled.
“Actually, a cupcake sounds
really
good right about now.”

“
Do you want me to come
with you?” Rone asked and she felt a surge of protectiveness come
through their link.

“
No, honey—I’ll be fine.
This sounds like a girl thing so why don’t you and Commander Sylvan
work out the details of our new living arrangements?”

Rone nodded. “All right. I
love you.”
“Should I tell him?”
he added through their link.

“
I love you too.” Kate
smiled at him
. “Yes—now’s the perfect
time.”
Standing, she gave him a peck on
the cheek and turned to her new friends. “Okay, lead the way and I
really hope one of the cupcake choices is chocolate.”

“
I’m pretty sure it will
be.” Sophie hooked her arm through Kate’s. “And let me tell you,
you haven’t
lived
until you’ve tasted our cousin Lauren’s deep, dark, Devil’s
Food chocolate cupcakes.”

Kate smiled back at her, feeling a little
guilty. But the knowledge she needed Rone to impart was for
Commander Sylvan alone. Shooting her mate one last significant
glance, she left the room with Sophie and Olivia.

* * * * *

“
Well…let’s see what kind
of accommodations we can offer you,” Sylvan said as soon as the
females were gone. “Personally, I’d rather have the two of you as
close to me as possible. Kate is very small and carrying three
Kindred babies…well, it probably won’t be easy.”

“
I’d appreciate that,”
Rone said sincerely. “But before you start making any calls, I need
to speak to you about a private matter.”

“
Of course.” Sylvan raised
an eyebrow. “What is it? Does it have to do with the message you
gave me from Two?” Rone had already filled the Kindred Commander in
privately about everything the Dark Kindred had said to him and
Kate when he’d trapped them in the glade on the night of the full
moons’ convergence.

“
I don’t know,” Rone
answered. “Last night, after Kate and I finally got to bed she had
a Knowing dream.”

Sylvan frowned. “I think I remember you
talking about this before—it’s when her sixth sense intervenes and
gives her some knowledge she couldn’t know any other way, correct?
A prophesy of sorts?”

“
In a way.” Rone shifted
uneasily. “Part of it seemed prophetic but there was also a message
for you.”

“
For
me?”

“
Yes.” Rone sighed. “Let
me just tell you what Kate saw. Actually, I saw it too—through our
link.”

“
Really?” Sylvan asked. “I
didn’t think that was possible.”

“
It wasn’t, before,” Rone
explained. “We have a much deeper bond now, ever since Kate tamed
my Beast. Anyway…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Kate saw the
Mother Ship—specifically the park around the Sacred
Grove.”

“
I know the area you
mean.” Sylvan nodded. “Go on.”

“
All right. Well, everyone
aboard the Mother Ship was gathered there—a huge throng of people.
All the warriors and their brides and children.”

“
That would be rather
crowded but I think it could be managed,” Sylvan said,
nodding.

“
I don’t think that the
dream was meant to say everyone
should
gather together,” Rone said.
“I think it was more supposed to symbolize everyone on the ship…and
something that might happen to them.”

“
Like what?” Sylvan asked
warily.

“
Well…” Rone shifted
uneasily. “In the dream, a huge hand came out of nowhere and
reached for the sun.”

“
You mean the green,
artificial sun which hangs over the Sacred Grove?” Sylvan asked,
frowning. “The Mother Ship’s power source?”

Rone nodded. “The huge hand grabbed it and
squeezed it until it went out. And the whole time you could hear
him laughing…”

“
Him?” Sylvan frowned.
“Him
who?”

“
This is the strange
part…Kate said she thought it might be the AllFather. You know, the
Scourge overlord?”

“
I’m not likely to forget
him,” Sylvan said dryly. “But he’s dead.”

“
I know—which is why this
doesn’t make any sense.” Rone shook his head. “But Kate’s Knowing
dreams are never wrong.”

“
Hmm.” Sylvan frowned. “Is
the dream saying the AllFather will return and cut off the Mother
Ship’s power supply? I don’t see how that could happen. Aside from
the fact that he’s dead, we’ve also destroyed the Father Ship of
the Scourge. After we found out that Two, the Dark Kindred, had
used the molecular transfer beam to steal Kate away from you, the
decision was made that it had too many dangerous tools lying around
to just leave it derelict. We did of course get the blessing of
Xairn—who is the last living Scourge. He’s actually mated to
Sophie’s kin, Lauren.”

“
Speaking of that, what
about Two?” Rone asked. “Do you still want me to track
him?”

Sylvan shook his head. “Not now that your
mate is thrice expectant. I will find someone else to do that
particular job. Two has already attempted to harm you personally—I
don’t want any more of his malice directed against you or your
family.”

“
That’s kind of you,” Rone
said. “But even though his actions worked out for good in the end,
he meant them to cause malice. When you
do
track him down, I have a matter
to settle with him.”

“
Several of us do,” Sylvan
said grimly. “But back to Kate’s dream—what else did she
see?”

“
Oh, yes.” Rone cleared
his throat. “After the vision of the AllFather snuffing out the
light of the Mother Ship, she heard a voice speaking in the
darkness. A female voice—maybe even the Goddess.”

“
Go on,” Sylvan said
gravely. “What did she say?”

Rone closed his eyes, concentrating to get
all the words exactly right, just as he had heard them through
their link as Kate dreamed the night before.

“
An old threat made
new

In the silent dark grew

Can only be solved

By one who jumps True

She into he and he into she

Unless they are one

Apart they’ll not be

Exchange of the souls

A switch of the roles

But jumping between

Will take a harsh toll.”

Rone shook his head. “I know that doesn’t
make much sense either…”

“
No, it doesn’t.” Sylvan
frowned. “One who jumps true?”

“
Does it mean anything to
you?” Rone asked.

“
No…wait! She into he and
he into she…” Sylvan snapped his fingers. “Remember we were talking
earlier about Trader or Switch Kindred? Well, they’re also called
Jumpers. But a True Jumper…well, I don’t think there has been a
reported case of one of those in over a century.”

“
What is a True Jumper?”
Rone asked.

“
A Switch Kindred who is
able to not just inhabit his mate’s body but to jump into anyone
else’s.” Sylvan shook his head. “But as I said, the Switch Kindred
interbred with a race of people who considered Switching or Jumping
as it’s sometimes called, a shameful ability. They found a way to
inhibit and eventually get rid of it all together.”

Rone sighed. “So then, none of the dream
makes sense. It warns about a threat that’s already been
neutralized and offers a solution that isn’t possible because it
doesn’t exist.”

“
I would never discount a
message from the Goddess,” Sylvan said gently. “But…do you think
it’s possible that Kate just had a nightmare?”

“
No.” Rone shook his head.
“No, absolutely not. I saw the dream, remember? I’m certain of its
veracity.”

“
All right then.” Sylvan
sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You also said there was a
special warning for me? What was it?”

“
That came at the end of
the dream, when Kate was waking up, so I didn’t get to see it as
she did,” Rone admitted. “I woke up right before her and I was
holding her—she gets so cold during a Knowing dream—it scares the
crap out of me, as she would say.”

“
It does sound like a
frightening event,” Sylvan acknowledged.

“
So, as I was holding her
in my arms, she kept murmuring, ‘Tell Sylvan he’s not safe…tell him
to beware his twin. His twin is evil… his twin is
danger.”

Sylvan shook his head.
“But…I don’t have a twin. I
do
have several brothers, all of whom live aboard
the Mother Ship, but none of them is my twin or indeed, even my
full brother.”

“
I don’t know.” Rone
lifted his hands helplessly. “I don’t know what any of it means.
But Kate and I felt like you ought to know. Do with it what you
want.”

“
I’ll have to consider
it,” Sylvan said. “And bring it before the Council. In the
meantime, we’ll be extra vigilant about security and continue the
hunt for Two.”

“
After the way he lured
Kate out to meet my Beast and trapped us in that clearing, I’d say
he’s a legitimate danger,” Rone said seriously. “I just don’t want
anyone else to get hurt—especially not you.” He cleared his throat.
“Kate and I decided it would be best to tell you privately about
the last part of the dream—the part concerning you. We didn’t want
to worry your mate.”

“
Thank you for that,”
Sylvan said gravely. “Sophia has enough to worry about already with
our twins. I’ll keep this to myself.”

“
I thought as much.” Rone
nodded. “Well…I guess there’s nothing else to do but remain
vigilant. And whoever you get to track Two, please let them know
I’ll do everything I can to help.”