Book 16: Forgotten(13)

With a ragged gasp, she jumped away, curling her fingers into a fist as though she’d been shocked or burned.

“What is it?” Rone looked at her with obvious concern. Kate could see the wish in his eyes to go to her but to his credit, he must have realized that would only make things worse so he stayed where he was.

“I…I touched you.” Kate put a hand to her heart, trying to still the drumming. “I…I don’t know why I feel like that when I touch you. Like…like I’m having a freaking panic attack.”

“I don’t know either.” He shook his head somberly. “Maybe someone on the Mother Ship will, though.”

“The Mother Ship?” She frowned. “As in, the Kindred Mother Ship that orbits the moon? Why would I go there?”

“To find out why your amnesia is lasting so much longer than it should,” Rone said patiently. “The Dream Blooms—”

“Back up.” Kate made a motion with one hand. “You said something about that back in your car but I didn’t understand it. What are Dream Blooms and what do they have to do with what happened to me?”

Rone took a deep breath. “It’s a very long story but the gist of it is you fell into a trap meant for another. You breathed in the fragrance of the Dream Blooms, which were planted in the wedding bouquet of a friend of yours, and you immediately seemed to forget me. At least, when I reached for you, you drew away. Then you were taken—abducted in a split second by a molecular transfer beam. It takes only living tissue and leaves everything else behind. All that remained was the clothing you’d been wearing and these…” He lifted the two rings which lay against his chest and gripped them tight in one big fist. “I’ve been searching for you ever since, certain you were dead or being tortured somewhere…”

“I’m so sorry.” Kate shrugged helplessly. “But six months is about how long I’ve been here in Florida. My friend Mimi found me naked in a park in Sarasota—about an hour south of here. She let me move in with her and then I got a job and things just began to seem…well, normal I guess.”

“Normal.” He gave a hollow laugh and scrubbed one big hand over his face. His palm made a whispering sound over his whiskers. “Gods, how can this be normal? You not knowing me…not remembering anything about our life together…”

“I can’t help that. I told you,” Kate said sharply. “And I wish you’d stop talking about all these memories we made and things we did—it makes me uncomfortable. It’s weird to hear about when I feel like I just met you for the first time when you jumped me in that hallway at the mall two hours ago.”

“I did not ‘jump you’,” the big Kindred said with dignity. “I wanted to find a quiet place to speak to you alone. I thought you might be being watched—thought the ones who had stolen you away were using you to bait a trap of some kind. I tried to speak to you through our mind link but you didn’t hear me—maybe because of the building materials the mall is made from. So I had no choice but to try and speak to you privately.”

“Wait a minute…” Kate couldn’t let some of this pass. “Okay, I understand you thought I might be in danger or there some kind of trap but what was that other thing you said? You tried to talk to me through what kind of link?”

“The mental link that all bonded Kindred share with their mates,” Rone said patiently. “Listen…” He closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes, obviously concentrating hard as he stared at her. Clearly he was trying to communicate to her and just as clearly, nothing was happening.

After a long moment of this Kate shook her head.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to do but if it’s some kind of telepathy thing, it’s not working. I don’t hear a thing.”

For the first time since she’d met him and began to believe his story, Rone looked completely stricken.

“Truly?” he asked hoarsely, staring at her. “You heard nothing?”

Kate shook her head. “Was I supposed to?”

“Yes! Yes, of course…” He took a deep breath. “You try. Think something at me as hard as you can—don’t hold back.”

Kate did as he commanded, though it seemed sort of foolish to her. Looking straight at him, she thought, “This is weird. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be thinking. But anyway, hi, I guess.”

After a moment, the big Kindred shook his head and a look of despair came into his blue eyes.

“Gods,” he muttered hoarsely. “Our bond—it’s gone. Broken. Or else buried so deeply it might as well be broken. How could this happen?”

“Um…I don’t understand,” Kate said. “What bond?”

“Every Kindred male forms a mental and emotional connection with his bride when he bonds her to him. Ours was very strong, even if it was incomplete. I would have sworn that nothing but death could break it.”

Kate was tired of apologizing for something she could do nothing about.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “Um, would you like some coffee or tea?”

He shook his head. “No. I want nothing. Nothing except you, Lalli.”

There it was—that word again. The nickname that made her so uncomfortable for some reason. As if the intense way he was looking at her wasn’t making her uncomfortable enough. His piercing blue eyes looked like they could burn a hole right through her.

“Well, I…” Kate shifted uneasily.

Just then the apartment door bust open and she heard Mimi rush in, shouting her name.

“Kate—Kate? Are you here?”

Kate ran out of the kitchen to meet her roommate. “I’m here. I’m fine,” she said, putting her hands on the other woman’s arms. She didn’t want Mimi to see Rone just yet.

“Oh, Kate!” Mimi hugged her tightly, her tall, gangly frame trembling against Kate’s much smaller one. “The police said there was an attempted robbery and you’d been abducted! By this huge man with dark hair and blue eyes and they said there was no way he would take you back home but something just seemed to tell me I should look here and…Oh, Kate, I’m so glad you’re all right!”

“I’m fine,” Kate tried to reassure her. “Really, I am.”

“But they said the man that took you was really dangerous. How did you get away?”

“Well…” Kate began, trying to think how to explain.

“Hello.” Rone came around the corner suddenly and Kate felt her friend stiffen in her arms.

“Oh my God,” Mimi said faintly. “It’s him—it has to be! He matches all the descriptions.”

“It’s all right,” Kate tried to reassure her. “I mean, he’s all right. And he didn’t exactly abduct me. He just sort of…took me out of the mall. While I was unconscious.” She sighed. “Okay, he kind of abducted me. But he seems to have a good reason for it.”

“I am Kate’s mate—her husband,” the big Kindred said quietly, looking intently at Mimi, who was still clutching Kate tightly.

“Her what?” Mimi eyed him skeptically.

“I can see you need proof for which I don’t blame you.” Rone dug the small coin-sized projector out of the pocket of his tight leather trousers and pressed the tiny button. At once, the holo of him and Kate in their wedding clothes popped up.

“Oh my God—that’s you!” Mimi exclaimed, looking at Kate. “And look at that gorgeous gown!”

“It was Vera’s Wang,” Rone said seriously.

“It was what?” Mimi giggled. “Do you mean a Vera Wang? It was a Vera Wang gown?”

“Yes, forgive me. Apparently it’s a very famous Earth designer. Kate thought it was too expensive but I wanted her to have her Joining Ceremony exactly as she had always imagined it.”

“Oh…” Mimi pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s so romantic.”

“It was a beautiful day. The happiest of my life,” Rone said quietly. “And here’s one from our honeymoon…” He flipped through the images, showing them to Mimi who exclaimed over them eagerly. He was keeping half an eye on Kate—she could feel him watching her—as he showed the images. She wondered if he was hoping that seeing them again would jog something loose but it was no good—she still couldn’t remember a thing.

At last Rone put the small projector away and looked at Mimi.

“I have been searching for Kate for these past six solar months,

he said seriously. “I understand you found her and sheltered her all this time—for that I am beyond grateful.”

“Oh, well…” Mimi smiled shyly at Rone. “I was just doing what any decent person would do.”

“That’s not true, Mimi,” Kate said. “Anyone else would have probably had the crazy naked girl locked up in the funny farm or at least just dropped me off at the Salvation Army as somebody else’s problem.”

“Stop it…” Mimi was blushing now.

“You protected my mate and gave her shelter and clothing and food when another might have turned her away or taken advantage of her,” Rone said seriously. “For that, I am deeply in your debt. Kate is everything to me—she is my heart.” He thumped his broad, bare chest. “I’ve been half out of my mind with worry and fear. Thank you for all you did for her.” He held out his arms to Mimi who stepped forward uncertainly.