“Would you like the first turn in the bathing pool?” Lock asked courteously.
Kat sighed and gave up the hopeless quest. Whatever it was, it would come back to her if it was important enough. Right now she had to get ready to go. “Yeah, I’ll go first,” she said, nodding. “But I warn you, I have nothing to wear. Not that I can even begin to guess the correct dress code for exploring an abandoned alien planet and getting a double divorce.”
Lock winced and she was sorry she’d been so snarky. “Wear whatever is comfortable and practical, my lady,” he said in a low voice. “We’re likely to be walking through some dark and dirty areas and the entire planet is polluted.”
“Got it.” Kat sighed. “Wading through polluted muck. So I guess my favorite pair of kitten heels is out.”
Lock gave her a wan smile. “I wouldn’t recommend them. Unless you want me to carry you the whole way. I wouldn’t mind.”
Kat straightened up and lifted her chin. “Thank you, Lock, but I think I’ve had enough of the damsel in distress routine for a little while.” I got myself into this mess, and I guess I can get myself out of it. But she didn’t speak the thought aloud—she couldn’t bear to see the sorrow and loss on Lock’s face again. Couldn’t stand the thought that by this time tomorrow, she would no longer be bonded to him or to Deep.
Deep…that was it. It was something about him. Something I was supposed to remember…But though it seemed terribly important, the memory eluded her as she showered and dressed.
Kat sighed. The only thing I need to remember about Deep is to steer clear of him until we get this damn soul-divorce. Then he can do whatever he wants and we can all go our separate ways—which is what I wanted in the beginning.
She only wished it was what she wanted now.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“Land usss in the hidden passageway of the Command Complex,” the AllFather directed as their ship approached the dark gray-green world that was the Scourge home planet.
“As you wish,” Xairn said tightly. He was struggling to keep his emotions in check—at least until he could get away from his father. After Sanja’s death, he had felt hollow inside—empty…emotionless. And he had assumed he would never feel anything ever again. But after his last exchange with Lauren, something was stirring within him—something dark and sinister. Something too frightening to face.
Then don’t face it. Push it down. Ignore it!
Trying to follow his own advice, Xairn piloted the ship through the layers of atmosphere until they were just skimming over the surface of the black, oily sea. Once, so he’d been told, this immense ocean had been teeming with life—from tiny, delicate fire fish no bigger than a fingernail to the huge purple-green leviathans, larger than the Fathership. But they were all gone—extinct for hundreds of years. Nothing lived in the vast oily waste now but a few hearty strains of algae that had adapted to the chemicals and pollutants which had poisoned the rest of the marine life.
Finally the brown shore of the beach came into view and shortly after that, the old battlefield and the towering edifice of the Command Complex. Xairn knew the dirty gray towers soaring into the soot-smudged sky were mostly for show. The majority of the Complex was located underground, in a sprawling warren of tunnels.
Xairn had been to the home world—called Zlicth in the Scourge tongue—only once before in his life. But he remembered the visit vividly and had no problem finding the hidden passageway around the back of the Complex. It was so well camouflaged that a person walking on the ground would have fallen into it before they saw it. Xairn guided the ship in smoothly and flew through the tunnel until he came to the back entrance of the large building.
“Very good.” The AllFather nodded. “When we disssembark, lock the girl in a holding cell in the medical wing.”
“What of you, father? What of your peak?” Xairn hoped his voice didn’t come out sounding strained. He didn’t want the AllFather to have any idea of the newfound emotions churning inside him.
“It isss not yet upon me. I must ssspend time in my Sssouda. A few hoursss or perhapsss a little longer and I ssshall be ready to breed her.”
Xairn’s hands clenched into fists but he only nodded his head. “As you wish. I will see to the girl but what of your guard?”
“They ssshall come with me.” The AllFather nodded to the four massive soldiers who were crammed into the back of the ship. They had been crouching there, unmoving for hours in what looked like extremely uncomfortable positions, but none of them had complained. In fact, none of them said anything at all. They just sat there, staring straight ahead with dead black eyes.