“Let’s talk and walk, then,” Deep suggested. He was being infuriatingly calm about the whole thing—as though he and Lock bonding her to them against her will was of no importance whatsoever. Which of course made Kat suspicious.
“Please understand, my lady—we were saving your life,” Lock pleaded as they all left the house and headed for the waiting shuttle. It had taken the form of a smallish car, as all Kindred shuttles did when not in use for flight. “Mother L’rin told us it was necessary. Your spirit had fractured—forming a bond with you was the only way to mend it.”
“I don’t know if I believe that,” Kat snapped as she climbed into the back of the shuttle.
Deep turned from the driver’s seat, his dark eyes narrowed. “Are you calling us liars?”
“Well, it’s not like you can actually prove what you’re saying,” she pointed out. “I mean, if I’d broken my arm and woke up with a cast on it, I could buy that. But this whole ‘fractured spirit’ thing—”
“Came straight from Mother L’rin herself,” Deep said, frowning. “She can explain all about it when we get to the Healing Gardens. Until then, don’t call us liars until you know what you’re talking about.”
“Deep, please, I’m sure the lady Kat didn’t mean to offend,” Lock said quietly from the passenger seat. “She’s just upset, that’s all.”
“Damn right, I’m upset.” Kat glared at both of them. “After all that high-sounding talk about how you would ‘never bond an unwilling female to you…’”
“We meant a physical bond,” Deep growled. “Which we could have formed last night if we’d wanted to instead of—”
“Don’t start.” Kat lifted her chin. “I told you I didn’t want to talk about…about what we did last night.” In fact, she preferred not to think about it either. Stupid bonding fruit! She’d been completely out of control, letting the two of them fuck her with that huge wooden dildo. It made her cheeks hot with shame just remembering it. Don’t think about it, she told herself. Just put it behind you and never let it happen again.
“Don’t want to talk about it, hmm?” Deep’s eyes were angry in the rearview reflector. “Why not, little Kat? Don’t you want to discuss the way you spread yourself for us? The way you gave it up so sweetly while Lock fucked you—”
“That’s enough!” Lock’s voice was almost a shout. Kat and Deep both stared at him, surprised. “Why,” he continued in a lower tone. “Can’t the two of you just get along for two minutes? Why can’t you stop fighting and admit that you care for each other the way…the way I care for both of you?”
“Because we don’t,” Deep said coldly, before Kat could answer. “I know you have this sweet, pathetic fantasy that the three of us are going to end up together, Brother but it’s not going to happen.”
Lock shook his head. “Don’t,” he said in a low voice. “I thought after last night…”
“You thought wrong.” Deep’s eyes clashed with Kat’s in the rearview again and then he turned his attention back to the curvy, winding road.
“I’m sorry, Lock.” Kat reached up to put a hand on his broad shoulder. “I didn’t think—”
“And you don’t care, either.” Deep’s eyes were still angry and the emotions coming from him were like a black cloud, filling the interior of the car. Filling Kat herself with hurt and anger and misery.
“Deep…” Lock’s voice held a warning note but Deep shook his head.
“She doesn’t, Brother—not the way you want her to. So leave it alone. The sooner we get to Mother L’rin and have her dissolve our partial bond the better.”
Kat couldn’t have agreed more. But she still felt horrible as the little car made its way to the Healing Gardens. I never wanted it to be like this, she thought miserably. Never wanted to care for either one of them. I don’t know how my life got so screwed up. Well, it was about to get straightened out, she comforted herself. According to Deep and Lock, this Mother L’rin person could fix everything.
Kat just hoped they were right because at the moment, a lot more than just her spirit felt broken.
* * * * *
“Looking better today, you are.” The wizened old woman with strange, jewel-like eyes and pink-tinged skin circled Kat slowly, watching her sharply as though looking for some invisible defect. “But deceiving appearances can be.”