Found(155)

“Forever,” Xairn echoed in her head and she knew she would never be alone again.





Chapter Forty





“I’m so glad Lauren and Xairn are moving up to the Mother ship.” Olivia sighed happily as she started on her last pregnant lady surprise cupcake. They were all relaxing in her suite and sharing out the latest gift from the Sweet Spot which Lauren had sent up that morning. “This is where they belong—up here with us.”

“Well, they couldn’t stay down on Earth now that Xairn has gone back to looking Scourge,” Sophia said practically. “It causes too many questions.”

“Besides,” Kat added, “she needs to be close to a constant source of bonding fruit. There’s no way they can do the nasty without it. You know, I thought I had it bad being with Twin Kindred but the Scourge have got a double whammy—two for the price of one equipment and the whole D/s thing going on.” She shook her head and laughed. “It’s crazy but apparently Lauren loves it.”

“So you’ve gotten yet another poor soul hooked on ‘the fruit.’” Liv raised an eyebrow in mock disapproval. “Honestly Kat, you’re such an enabler.”

“You mean the way you’re hooked on Lauren’s cupcakes?” Kat shot back, grinning. “I swear you must be eating for more than two the way you suck them down.”

“Uh-uh, you’re the one who’s going to be having twins, remember?” Liv smiled sweetly and finished off the last bite of cupcake.

“Not for a long time yet, I hope.” Kat shivered. “I’ll leave the pregnancy thing to you two.” She looked at Sophia. “You and Sylvan are still trying, right?”

Sophia nodded and looked down at her hands. “Yeah. I was hoping to surprise Sylvan for Christmas but so far…nothing.”

“It’ll happen, womb-mate.” Olivia patted her twin’s arm comfortingly. “Don’t worry. Just keep trying.”

Sophia gave her a small smile. “Trying is half the fun.”

“More than half.” Kat grinned and picked up a normal, strawberry and cream cheese frosted cupcake. “Hey, where’s Nadiah? I thought she was coming.”

“She went down to the HKR building in Sarastota to meet with Detective Rast again. He has some clothes from the AllFather’s last victim and he wants her to touch them and see if she can get anything on her location.” Sophia shook her head. “It’s so sad that she’s still missing. I can’t believe they didn’t find her when they searched the Fathership.”

“Baird went looking for her personally,” Liv said. “He found the wires she was hooked up to and saw some of her memories the AllFather had recorded on that huge viewscreen thing he used to torture people.” She shivered. “But no Elise.”

“Elise? That was her name?” Kat asked.

Liv nodded. “Elise Darden. She was a tiny little thing with long black hair, just like Lauren’s. And according to Baird, she’s had it rough even before the AllFather snatched her. He said watching her memories nearly broke his heart.”

“But it doesn’t make sense.” Sophie frowned. “If he took her and never sent back her body like he did the first one, then she has to be on the Fathership somewhere. Maybe she’s hiding and she’s afraid to come out.”

“They searched everywhere,” Liv said. “They even checked the life pods. One of them had been deployed so they scanned it to see if any of the Scourge were trying to escape.”

“Were they?” Sophia asked.

Olivia shook her head. “Nope. There weren’t any life forms aboard, just some old equipment. So the officer in charge let it go on out into deep space.”

“That poor girl. Maybe she is still on board. Maybe the AllFather disposed of her body some way instead of sending it back to Earth,” Kat said softly. “Deep and Lock told me while they were searching they came across these horrible tanks, filled with black slime. They found bones and…and body parts in them. So far it’s only been animal parts but—”

“Oh my God, Kat! Stop right now unless you want me to lose every single cupcake I just ate right in your lap.” Liv looked green. “And I ate a lot of them,” she added.

“Sorry.” Kat shook her head. “I’m just saying we may never find her. It’s sad but what can you do?”

“Keep looking according to Detective Rast,” Sophia said. “Nadiah says he never gives up until he finds his man. Or woman, in this case.”

“Hmm, Detective Rast, huh?” Kat looked thoughtful. “You know, he seemed like a real jerk at first but it seems like Nadiah’s warming up to him some.”