Sought(55)
He raised an eyebrow. “For the duration of our little ‘quest’ as Lock puts it?”
Kat nodded. “Yes. Will you agree?”
Deep shrugged, a look of apparent unconcern on his face. “If you like. Though fighting with you is much more amusing than fighting with Lock.”
“None of us ought to be fighting,” Lock said in a low voice. “We’re going to need to stick together when we get to the continent—if we ever want to get off of it again, that is.”
That sounded ominous to Kat. Like we’re going to the dark side of the moon or something. It’s all on the same planet—how bad can the ‘continent’ be?
She was afraid she was going to find out.
Chapter Sixteen
“Kat! You look wonderful!” Liv was so glad to see her friend’s face on the viewscreen she nearly squeed with joy. Beside her, Sophie was practically hopping up and down with excitement.
“Kat-woman! We miss you so much!”
“I miss you guys too. You have no idea how much.”
“I’m so sorry we let you go alone,” Sophie said breathlessly. “We didn’t want to but pregnant women can’t go through folded space.”
Kat looked startled. “So you’re pregnant too?”
“No, no.” Sophie shook her head rapidly. “But at the time I thought I might be. Because Sylvan and I had been…you know, practically every spare minute and my period was late.”
“Well don’t worry about it, I forgive you.” Kat smiled at both of them.
“But you’re okay?” Liv asked her. “You’re managing, right?”
Kat made a shooing gesture. “Don’t worry about me, girls. There’s nothing on Earth I can’t handle if I put my mind to it. Or on Twin Moons, either.”
“You look good,” Liv said, not quite truthfully. Honestly she thought Kat looked tired and not quite herself. But at least she was up and about instead of passed out on the floor—which was the state she’d been in the last time they’d seen her.
“How do you feel?” Sophie wanted to know.
“Better than I did,” Kat said. “But still not a hundred percent. The headache is gone at least.”
“That’s a start,” Liv said firmly. “So when are you coming home? Just say the word and Baird will get them to fold space.”
Kat grimaced. “If it was up to me I’d be there yesterday but…unfortunately, I can’t come back for a little while yet. There’s something I have to do—have to get—before I can leave Twin Moons.”
“What?” Liv and Sophie chorused together.
Kat laughed. “It always cracks me up when you guys do that—say the same thing at the same time. Well, it’s kind of a long story…”
“And we’ve got nothing but time,” Liv said. “C’mon, Kat—spill.”
Kat sighed and raked a hand through her long auburn hair. “God, how do I put this without sounding crazy…?”
“Don’t worry about the crazy part—that’s a given when it comes to the Kindred,” Sophie ordered. “Just talk.”
“Fine.” Kat took a deep breath. “Apparently joining with Lock and Deep the way I did, to act as their focus, ‘fractured my spirit.’ And the only cure for a fractured spirit is to form a soul bond with a willing Kindred…or two. So…”
“Oh my God!” Sophie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You mean you’re bonded to Lock and Deep?” Liv demanded.
“Not entirely,” Kat said quickly. “Only about halfway, if that makes any sense.”
“Not a bit,” Liv said. “But go on.”
“Well, with Twin Kindred the bond comes in two halves—the soul bond which is kind of a spiritual connection—and the physical bond. Which is what you get when you have bonding sex.” Kat made a face. “And girls, you would not believe how the Twin Kindred do it.”
“One at a time?” Sophie guessed.
“One in the front and one in the back,” Liv said.
Kat shook her head. “Nope. I met a new friend here by the name of Piper who comes from Houston. And as Piper so charmingly put it, they put ‘two poles in the same hole.’”
“No!” Both Liv and Sophie were aghast. “Jillian never told me that,” Liv protested.
Kat shrugged. “Well, it’s true.”
“But that’s barbaric,” Sophie protested. “Unless they have…do they have really tiny equipment?”
“From what I’ve seen and felt, they’re every bit as endowed as all the other Kindred warriors,” Kat said dryly. “Remember how we used to joke that all Kindred were hung like Clydesdales?”