Soulless, Xairn thought. That’s what Lauren thinks of them. Maybe they are. Maybe the vat grown are devoid of real consciousness. Or else they hide their emotions even better than I do.
Of course, up until a few hours before, he hadn’t had any emotions to hide. Now he was full of them—some old, hatred for his father, despair for his joyless life—but some new as well. When he remembered how Lauren had looked, naked and defiant as she offered herself to him, feelings stirred inside him which didn’t bear thinking about.
If Father finds out I have feelings again, that he can feed on me… Have to get away from him. Get away and stay away as much as possible.
It was his only thought as he watched the AllFather descend from the ship, aided by his Alpha guard. He still seemed stiff and weak but the moment he stepped foot on the ground, he lifted his hooded face and took a deep breath of the dank, fetid air. “Home at lassst.” The words hissed from his lipless mouth and he turned glowing red-on-black eyes to Xairn. “Sssee to the girl. Do not bother me unlesss I sssend for you.”
“Yes, Father.” Xairn nodded briefly and was relieved when the AllFather turned to go.
“Xairn.”
He jerked as his father hissed his name. “Yes?”
“The control wand. Give it to me.” One skeletal hand emerged from the shadowy depths of the AllFather’s robe, palm up. “Just in case you get any ideasss.”
Struggling to maintain a blank expression, Xairn did as he was told. Pulling the tiny silver control wand from the instrument panel, he dropped it into his father’s hand. Without it the ship could not be started or steered—without it, he was stuck on this planet with no choice but to do his father’s will. Of course I’m going to do his will. What else would I do? Take Lauren and fly away with her? Xairn shook his head. Just the fact that he’d even had such a thought proved that he was becoming more and more unstable.
The Allfather’s burning crimson eyes narrowed. “Are you well, my ssson?”
“Perfectly, Father.” Xairn stared straight ahead. “Hadn’t you better get to your Souda?”
“I ssshall indeed. And I will keep thisss with me at all timesss.” The silver control wand disappeared into the folds of the AllFather’s shadowy robes. Then, surrounded by his four huge guards, he glided away.
Xairn gave them plenty of time to enter the Complex, watching as the massive plasti-steel doors rolled inward silently and then shut behind them. When he was sure they were gone, he sighed in relief. At least now that his father was out of the immediate vicinity, he could stop worrying about the AllFather sensing the new emotions churning in his gut.
Emotions he could neither defend nor deny—and all of them centered on Lauren.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Deep was suspiciously quiet during their flight to the Scourge home world. He barely spoke except to warn Kat to be sure she was buckled in safely when they went through the deep red fold in space. And since Lock was too sunk in misery to say anything and Kat wasn’t feeling too chatty herself, their journey was mostly silent. She still had the nagging feeling that there was something she ought to know or remember and every time she glanced at Deep, it grew stronger. But whatever it was, it stayed in the back of her mind and refused to come forward.
At last Deep broke the silence as he piloted the ship into the smoggy atmosphere of the gray-green planet. “Here we are—Zlicth.”
“What?” Kat asked, as the oily black ocean whizzed by under their ship. “What’s a zlickt?”
“Zlicth, is the name of this planet in the ancient tongue of the Scourge,” Lock explained as the ship left the water behind and landed on a brown beach. “The same way you call your planet ‘Earth.’”
Oh,” Kat said as they all unsnapped their safety harnesses. “But if this is their home world, why did they abandon it?”
“Take a look outside and you’ll see.” Deep pressed a button and the door of the shuttle slid smoothly open.
Kat stepped out onto the metal steps descending from the small silver craft to survey the planet. Standing on the topmost step, she looked out across a beach of grimy brown and gray sand and put a hand to her nose. “Ugh, what’s that smell?” It was like a combination of car exhaust, sulfur, and a cat box that badly needed to be changed.
“The sweet smell of Zlicth, of course,” Deep said with a touch of his old sarcasm. He came to stand behind her. “The Scourge weren’t terribly particular about the welfare of their planet, as long as there was a profit to be turned.”
“They ruined their world for gain,” Lock explained. “This planet contains vast quantities of verinium—which gives tremendous amounts of energy when burned.”