Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
The shadowy robes the Scourge Overlord wore slowly went flat and the skeletal body inside seemed to crumble away until the only thing left was a little pile of gray dust.
The AllFather was no more.
SIXTY-FIVE
NATE
Nate looked around in surprise as the enormous Scourge warriors began dropping to their knees…and then falling flat on their faces.
“What…what’s going on?” Lan’ara asked beside him in a trembling voice. She’d been holding herself rigid, trying to block out the waves of negative emotion the AllFather had been emitting like a poison cloud—Nate could still feel the tension in her.
“Don’t fucking know, sweetheart” he growled. “Maybe the AllFather was what kept them going. At least we won’t have to fight our way out.”
“I can’t believe you came for me!” Lan’ara said, looking up at him. “When I left the Mother Ship, you were nearly comatose!”
“The Kindred Goddess woke me up—she told me you were in danger. She told Sonya the same thing,” he added, nodding at Sonya, who had let go of his arm and was wrapped in Davrik’s embrace. The big Kindred was so much larger than her, he had gone to one knee to gather her into his arms. Sonya had her arms around his neck and the two of them were just breathing each other in.
“Nate? Big brother?” It was Madison’s voice and when he turned back, he saw his little sister looking at him with wide eyes.
“Maddy!” he exclaimed, gathering her close with his other arm, so that he was hugging both of his girls at once. “I’m so fucking glad to see you!”
“Not half as glad as I am to see you!” There were tears in her big blue eyes as she hugged him back. “Your, uh, wife came to rescue me but then we all got caught,” she added, looking at Lan’ara. “Um, you are his wife, right?”
“I am his mate because we are Bonded but we have not had a Joining ceremony,” Lan’ara told her.
“Not yet, anyway. But we’re going to have a wedding and get married. And you can be my best man,” he added, looking at Maddy.
“What? I don’t think so!” she scoffed, but there was laughter in her eyes. “Maybe I’ll be one of the bridesmaids—if Lan’ara wants me to, that is,” she added shyly.
“I would be pleased to have you stand with me during my Joining to your brother.” Lan’ara gave her a fond smile and Nate was glad to see there was already affection between the two of them.
“How did they do that, though?” Maddy asked, looking over at Davrik and Sonya, who were still wrapped in a tight embrace. “I mean…it was like they were singing lasers or something.”
“Has to do with this thing on my back.” Nate turned around and hitched up his shirt to show them. “It’s called an ESR—Emotion Sonic Resonator,” he explained. “It needed me and Sonya both to operate it because it was too heavy for her to carry and you have to sing in order to make it work.”
“But you can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” Maddy protested.
“Yeah, I know that, squirt.” Nate tweaked her nose playfully, just as he used to when they were kids. “That’s why Sonya came along to help. And also because she wanted to get Davrik back,” he added.
“All of you appear to be happy now.”
The new voice came from the gray girl—the one who had actually stabbed the AllFather and finished him off.
His daughter, Nate thought. He remembered her saying that the AllFather would never feed on her pain again and felt sick. Had that fucking bastard really mind-raped his own daughter? If so, he’d deserved every damn thing he got and more!
“I suppose you’ll all go back to the Kindred Mother Ship now,” Xairna said dully. There was a mute longing in her red-on-black eyes that hurt Nate’s heart.
“You can come with us, if you like.” Lan’ara detached herself from Nate’s side and put a tentative arm around the Scourge girl. “You’d be very welcome.”
“Even though I’m Scourge? Even though I’m your enemy?” the girl demanded.
Lan’ara smiled warmly.
“I’m an Empath Kindred and I can tell you don’t mean us any harm. I don’t see an enemy—I see someone I would like to call my friend. Will you come with us?”
Hope filled Xairna’s face and she looked at Lan’ara uncertainly.
“You really mean that?”
“With all my heart. I know Commander Sylvania will let you come aboard if I vouch for you—which I’ll be happy to do.”
Lan’ara drew her in for a hug. For a moment, Xairna was stiff in her arms. Then, slowly, her arms came up and she tentatively hugged Lan’ara back.
It occurred to Nate that this might be the very first hug the Scourge girl had ever gotten and he was surprised to feel that his eyes were stinging. He cleared his throat, trying to push back some of the emotion.