Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series (8 page)

Aunt Abby closed her eyes for a moment as
though holding back tears. “Yes, I heard about that. I can’t
believe I never got to say goodbye to her. I always thought there
would be time but I was afraid, so afraid she wouldn’t want me back
in her life. And now it’s too late. She’s gone and Lauren is
gone…I’ve lost everything. Everyone.”

“What do you mean ‘she’s gone’ and ‘Lauren’s
gone’? Lauren was our mom’s name,” Sophie protested.

“And it was the name of my daughter too. The
one who disappeared. Look.” She pressed a button and suddenly her
face was replaced with the image of a lovely girl with creamy mocha
skin and eyes the same amber color as Aunt Abby’s. The girl was
laughing, her long silky black hair being whipped in the wind and
the sun shining through palm trees behind her. She was wearing a
pink striped bikini top and shading her eyes with one hand. There
was something about the picture that bothered Sophie but she
couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“She’s beautiful,” Liv said when their aunt
reappeared again. “She has your eyes.”

“And her father’s skin,” Aunt Abby said
grimly. “Which is why your grandparents decided to kick me out when
they found out I was pregnant. I didn’t know they’d told your mom I
was dead, though.”

“They said you died having her—having
Lauren.” Sophie spoke through numb lips. “Mom never liked to talk
about it much. It made her too sad.”

Aunt Abby shook her head. “Your grandfather
paid me a great deal of money to sever all ties with my family. I
took it and did well with it—I’m a wealthy woman now, for all the
good it does me. I was carrying twins, you know, when I first got
pregnant with her. And then I lost Lauren’s sister when I gave
birth. But I told myself as long as I had Lauren…” Tears began to
leak down her cheeks. “And I don’t even have her now. I don’t know
where she is or even if she’s alive.”

“Oh, Aunt Abby, I’m so sorry!” Sophie wished
she could give the woman a hug. “What happened? Is there anything
we can do to help?”

“I hope so.” Their aunt wiped her eyes with
a tissue. “I only tracked the two of you down a month or so ago. I
was going to contact you first and see if you were interested in
having some kind of relationship before I told Lauren. She always
wanted to have more family.” She sniffed. “But I’m contacting you
now for a different reason. I was hoping that since you’re both
with the Kindred, maybe you might be able to help locate her in
some way.”

Sylvan and Baird had been standing quietly
in the background but now Sylvan stepped forward. “Tell us about
the circumstances of her disappearance and we’ll see what we can
do.”

“All right.” Aunt Abby sniffed again. “She
disappeared from her shop almost a week ago. It’s the strangest
thing—the police can’t find any blood or hair or fibers that might
lead to the…to the attacker at all.” She cleared her throat,
obviously forcing herself to continue. “In fact, there was nothing
but a pile of clothes in the bathroom. But the way they were
layered on top of each other, the clothes on the shoes… It wasn’t
like she’d taken them off—more like she’d just…
disappeared
right out of them.”

Sophie felt her breath catch in her throat
and she saw Sylvan’s face tighten.
The molecular transport beam.
Could it be?
“Aunt Abby,” she said. “Could…could you show us
that picture of Lauren again?”

“Of course.” Their aunt’s image disappeared
to be replaced with the laughing picture of Lauren in the pink
striped bikini top.

“There,” Olivia said, striding up to the
viewscreen and pointing. “Right there. Do you see it? Between her
breasts?”

“The star shaped birth mark,” Sophie
breathed.
That
was what had been bothering her about the
picture. She looked at Liv. “The prophesy,” she whispered, aware
that her aunt could still hear them if they spoke too loud. “The
Scourge prophesy.”

“Lauren is the one.” Liv’s face was pale and
she was whispering too. “Oh my God, the poor girl!”

“Should we tell her?”

Sylvan shook his head. “Not yet,” he
murmured. “Let’s see if we can do anything first.”

“Sylvan’s right. There’s no point it giving
her news like that until we look into it and make sure,” Baird said
in a low voice.

Aunt Abby appeared once more. “Well?”

“We’ll do everything in our power to help
you.” Sylvan put a hand over his heart. “Any kin of our mates is a
priority with us. You can believe that, Ms. Jakes.”

“Thank you.” Aunt Abby looked like she was
going to cry again. “You can reach me through the HKR building in
Sarasota, Florida. That’s where Lauren was living when she was…was
taken.” The last word turned into a sob and suddenly the viewscreen
went blank.

“What can we do?” Sophie looked at Sylvan
frantically. “The Scourge have her, Sylvan—I just know it. Oh that
poor girl!” She and Liv both knew first hand what it was like to be
captured and interrogated by the evil AllFather. Sophie wouldn’t
have wished it on her worst enemy.

Sylvan looked grim. “I don’t know if there’s
anything we
can
do, short of attacking the Fathership to
take her back by force.”

“And I don’t think the High Council is gonna
go for that,” Baird rumbled, frowning. “Not unless we get some kind
of incontrovertible proof that they have her and that’s where she’s
being held.”

“Where else could she be?” Liv demanded.

“Anywhere.” Baird shook his head. “The
Fathership isn’t the only Scourge stronghold, you know,
Lilenta.
They have a home planet too. It’s a Deadworld
now—they killed it with their greed and pollution. But they still
have impregnable fortresses there they can go back to in a
pinch.”

“So you’re saying we just have to
leave
her there?” Liv was beginning to cry. “Leave her with
that…that
monster?”

“I’m saying let us talk to the Council first
before you go gettin’ all upset.” Baird stroked her shoulders
soothingly. “This news has a bigger impact than just the fact that
your kin has been kidnapped.”

“Baird is right.” Sylvan nodded. “If the
Scourge have finally found the key to their prophesy, something big
may be about to happen. The Council will want to consider all
complications and repercussions before they act.”

“Which means she’ll be dead or as good as
dead by the time we get to her,” Liv said dully. “
If
we get
to her. Oh, poor Lauren.”

“Poor Lauren,” Sophie echoed. Putting her
arms around her sister, she held her tight and prayed for the
cousin neither one of them had ever even known they had.
Let her
be strong. Let her be able to stand whatever the AllFather throws
at her.

But she knew from experience how terribly
difficult that could be.

Kat woke up feeling weak but rested. She was
glad to find herself alone in bed—and, it seemed, alone in her own
head, at least for awhile. Either Lock and Deep were far away, or
neither of them was having any really strong emotions at the
moment. Whatever the reason, Kat was glad to have some peace and
quiet inside her skull for once.

Sitting up she stretched and yawned. God,
she was starving! Was there anything to eat around here? The area
she found herself in didn’t appear to have any food. It was a
bedroom, from the look of it, with white walls and a green wooden
floor. The huge Twin Kindred bed which dominated the entire center
of the room was low to the ground. The spread was a warm green and
gold that matched the floor and the sheets were a pale off-white
color and softer than any linen Kat had ever felt. She pulled one
of them around her as she got out of bed, because she had no idea
where her clothes were.

Walking slowly, she made her way to the huge
rectangular window across from the bed. It was covered with an
indigo shade that gave the shadows in the room a bluish purple
tinge Kat rather liked. She wanted to see out the window but the
shade wouldn’t move and was firmly anchored in all four corners of
the window.

“Stupid thing,” Kat muttered to herself,
reaching high to run her fingers over the topmost edge of the
shade. “How the hell does it open?” Just as she was about to give
up, her seeking fingertips encountered two small buttons. “Okay,
let’s just see what these do.”

She pressed the top button but instead of
opening slowly, the shade suddenly snapped up sharply, leaving the
entire window bare.

“Oh!” Kat stepped back as a flood of
brilliant pinkish-gold sunlight bathed the room. She was
momentarily blinded and had to shade her eyes with one hand while
she clutched the white sheet to her chest with the other. Finally
her vision adjusted and she was able to look out and see what was
going on.

Kat had never been to Europe but she’d seen
plenty of docu-dramas about it on TV. Now, looking at the narrow,
crooked streets and tall, leaning buildings of the Twin Moon’s
settlement, she couldn’t help thinking that it looked a lot like a
quaint European town. It seemed to have an old world charm that was
lacking in her home town of Tampa.

There were some differences, of course.
Instead of being whitewashed, the buildings were made of some
pinkish-gold stone and the streets weren’t paved with cobblestones.
In fact, they seemed to have some kind of short pink and green
vegetation growing in them—an idea that was reinforced when she saw
several Take-mes grazing on the edge of the road. The two-headed
animals were a pain to ride but if she remembered correctly, Liv
had told her that they were native to Twin Moons. Although why
anyone would want to domesticate something that looked like the
push-me/pull-you from the Doctor Dolittle books was beyond Kat.

Far beyond the quaint, crooked houses she
saw something that looked like a vast sheet of undulating gold. It
took her a moment to realize it was water—an ocean in fact.
An
ocean of golden water. Beautiful…
The sight took Kat’s breath
away. There were small wooden boats with red and blue sails rocking
on the glassy, gold surface of the water and people walking up and
down the docks. Despite her fair skin, she’d always loved a day at
the beach. She made a mental note to get Lock to take her as soon
as possible.

Dragging her eyes from the enticing sight of
the seashore, Kat looked down at the street outside her window and
saw vendors selling some kind of meat on a stick and others selling
fruit or bread.
Wonder what that long purple looking thing
is?
she thought, stepping closer to the window for a better
look. Was it a fruit? Some kind of Twin Moons pastry? Whatever it
was, it was shaped like a banana but as large as a watermelon. Just
the thought of ripe, juicy melon made Kat’s mouth water and she
realized for the first time in ages that she was actually
hungry.

She was just about to look around for some
clothes so she could go find something to eat, when the vendor
selling the purple banana thing looked up and saw her. He shaded
his eyes and then a broad grin broke over his face as he waved at
her. He nudged the vendor beside him and
he
looked up and
waved as well.

Smiling, Kat waved back.
What nice
people. I wonder if it’s some kind of custom to greet newcomers
even if you don’t know them?
A handful more of the vendors and
a few shoppers were waving at her now and she felt she had to wave
back in order to be polite. She held her sheet firmly in place for
modesty’s sake and waved until her arm was sore. She started to
wonder how long the welcome ritual lasted.

“Okay, people,” she said under her breath
when her stomach started growling and her arm felt like it was
going to fall off. “I don’t mean to be rude but I have to get going
and find something to eat before I fall over.” Nodding and smiling,
she backed away from the window and went to find something to
wear.

There was a long, low box in one corner of
the room that could double as a bench if you had really short legs.
Kat opened it up and found a green shirt with a blue and pink
pattern depicted in short, shiny feathers. “Very
fancy
,” she
murmured, picking it up. It was obviously made for a very large
man—probably it was some kind of Twin Kindred dress clothing. She
looked around but didn’t see any pants to match it or any other
clothing options.
Looks like it’s this or the sheet.
Shrugging, Kat put on the shirt, which fell almost to her knees.
Well, at least she was decent, unless the Twin Moons inhabitants
frowned on women showing their bare legs. In which case, too bad.
She was hungry.

Rolling up the sleeves, she made her way out
of the bedroom and down a long hallway with the same green wooden
floor. There was a spiral staircase on the far end of the corridor
which led directly down into a sunny food prep area. All the
standard Kindred appliances were there—the glass-front refrigerator
and the Kindred stove called a wave. Liv had showed her how to use
it, but Kat was still afraid she might burn some fingers off if she
messed around with the alien appliance. Then she noticed the
kitchen was occupied.

A tall, slender woman with light brown hair
was standing in front of the sink. She was wearing a pink
toga-looking garment and washing some juicy blue-green fruit about
the size of large grapes. Kat had eaten those before—they were twin
fruit. You couldn’t eat the outside though—it was bitter and sour.
You pealed the succulent looking outer flesh off and ate the nut
inside which tasted kind of like peaches and pecans mixed together.
The woman appeared to be engrossed in her task and hadn’t heard Kat
come down the stairs.

Kat cleared her throat, trying not to
startle her. “Um…hi,” she said hesitantly.

The woman looked up at once and smiled at
her. “Veelash abra boolash,” she responded pleasantly.