“Are you sure?” The insidious grating of the AllFather’s voice in his mind was implacable. Slowly but surely Baird could feel himself losing all sense of reality, losing his sanity. Everything was upside down. Every precious memory was warped into something hideous and strange and wrong. He told himself to resist, tried to keep his mental shields strong. But there was nothing the AllFather couldn’t distort. Nothing except…
Olivia… Her mind had found his in the dark pit where the Scourge had chained him. To Baird it had been like looking up into a pitch black sky and seeing the light of a single, brilliant star shining down. He began to dream-share with her, watched her go about her day. The normalcy of her life and her radiant beauty fed him and helped him control the intense pain he felt when the AllFather focused on him. Helped keep his shields strong so that he never let them all the way in, never broke completely. Watching Olivia, feeling her mind linked to his was all that kept him sane.
Baird knew she was seeing him too—he could feel her compassion through their mind link when she saw what was being done to him. And he knew then that he had to escape, had to get away from the Fathership or he would never meet her. Never hold her in his arms and claim her as his bride.
He saw himself waiting for the perfect opportunity. Watched as he ripped the wires that were sucking the life out of him from his skin and used them to strangle the guard who had gotten too close. The desperate game of hide and seek he had played with his captors until he was able to steal a ship and fly away, get back to the Kindred ship where Sylvan waited anxiously, wondering if he would ever be able to function again. Few escaped the clutches of the Scourge and if they did, their minds were usually full of holes and broken memories afterwards. Almost none of them was able to resume their place as a fully functioning member of society.
But Baird had been lucky—he’d had Olivia to pull him through. Because of her he had never given up hope. Because of her he had retained his sanity, his strength. And now that he was free, he needed her. Needed her in his arms, in his bed.
He watched as their claiming ceremony played out, saw the entire last week of his life in fast-forward as he pursued his new bride and she resisted and retreated. He relived the feel of her in his arms, the delicious sensation of having her under him, the heat her soft fingers had raised in him as she caressed his shaft and mating fist. And then their fight, his pain when she refused to let him touch her. Olivia, I love you…Need you so much…my life, my mate, my bride…
And suddenly he was back in the sacred grove kneeling before the priestess of the Mother of Life, knowing she had seen it all.
She drew in a deep breath and removed her fingers from his temple. “You have suffered much, Warrior. Why did you not come to the temple for healing after your escape from the Scourge?”
“Because I don’t like this,” Baird said honestly. “The feeling of somebody else inside my head—I had enough of that with those slimy bastards. Not that it’s as bad when you do it, your holiness, but still, a male should have privacy inside his own mind.”
The priestess frowned. “I understand your reluctance, Warrior, but you should know that delving into the mind of another is no more comfortable for me than it is for you. Some of my sisters call it a curse—the ability to see within a male and know his true thoughts and actions. It is why so many of us choose to dedicate ourselves to the Mother of Life instead of finding a mate. Your memories especially are terrible—some of the worst I have ever seen.”
“I’m sorry.” Baird didn’t know what else to say. He’d had no idea that the process was as uncomfortable to the priestess as it had been for him.
“Do not be.” She patted him on the shoulder. “We each act for the will of the Mother. It is she who decides the fate of us all.”
Baird looked at her eagerly. “And can you see my fate? What will happen with my bride—with Olivia?”
The priestess looked grave. “I wish I could tell you that the way before you is smooth, Warrior. But I fear you have some trials ahead of you.”
“Trials? What trials? What am I supposed to do?”
She closed her green-within-green eyes, a frown crossing her face. “I see a choice you will have to make. A terrible sacrifice. And danger—so much danger.” She opened her eyes and they were troubled. “I fear for you.”
Baird felt a shadow pass over his heart. “What do you fear? It’s not danger to Olivia, is it? I don’t care what happens to me as long as she’s safe.”
“There will be danger for both of you, I am afraid.”