Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“I know the sad story of your mother’s capture, V’rex,” he said seriously. “For my own Sire was married to a Beast Kindred female for a time—this was when I was only a child—and my half-brother, Baird, was born on Rageron. But as I heard it told, your mother’s brothers went searching for her but never found her, though they never gave up the search.”
“I don’t believe you,” V’rex sneered. “The Kindred abandoned my mother—and me—to the tender mercies of a Kru’ell One. You pretend to be so good and honest and yet you won’t even defend a female in need!”
“Again, that isn’t how I heard the story,” Sylvan said in a low voice. “May I ask who told it to you? Was it your mother?”
“No. My Sire,” V’rex snapped. “He loved to tell it because it made my mother cry.”
Penny’s heart ached for the big Hybrid all over again. What a terrible childhood he must have had! Was it any wonder he’d grown up to be on the wrong side of the law when he hated both sides of his heritage so much?
“Let me do some research into your story,” Sylvan said at last. “As Head of the High Council, I have plenty of contacts. I’ll send my half-brother Baird, who is a Beast Kindred himself, to investigate personally.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” V’rex waved a hand, as though shooing away an inconsequential fly. “What’s done is done. I’m just letting you know why I hold you all in contempt. But it doesn’t matter how I feel about you—I’m focused on Penelope now.” He glanced at her and then looked back at Sylvan, intently. “I want to protect her during this mission and I swear by the Goddess I will.”
Sylvan nodded reluctantly.
“You are willing to give me your oath as a Warrior?”
“I am.” V’rex nodded and lifted his chin. “I swear by The Mother of All Life that I will guard Penelope until the last breath leaves my body,” he said formally. “I will shield her from harm or danger. The first drop of her blood shall not spill unless the last drop of mine has been poured out upon the floor as I die defending her.”
“It’s a good oath.” Sylvan nodded in approval. “Strong. You may be called upon to live up to it. The more we learn about the Eye of Ten’gu, the deeper our unease grows. It is an evil artifact—filled with the malice of the Cruel Father himself.”
“I heard stories of the Cruel Father from my Sire,” V’rex said steadily. “I’m not afraid.”
“I can see that you’re not. Very well.” Sylvan nodded, clearly having made a decision. “We’ll send a new team to pick Penelope up, but in the meantime, you can accompany her on the mission. Just remember,” he said, turning to look at Penny. “The Eye must be handled with care and it must not awaken. Keep it away from direct sunlight—that’s very important.”
“I understand.” She nodded. “Will you send me all the coordinates and details again, please? I’m afraid everything we had is still locked away in the long-range shuttle with Riva and Y’lla, engulfed in the time bubble.”
Sylvan frowned.
“Of course, I will. I’d like to say we’re looking into a way to free Commander Riva and Y’lla from the temporal anomaly, but as far as I know, there’s no known way to get anyone in or out of an anomaly. You just have to wait for the time bubble to move on.”
“That’s what I’ve heard too,” Penny said. She thought of poor Granny Two-two, going to visit her perpetually young parents, trapped forever in a party that never ended.
“Please be careful, doll,” Kat said, sticking her head into the frame with Sylvan. “It would be awful if you got stuck in one of those anomalies too!”
“Don’t worry—my ship has the latest in temporal sensors,” V’rex said. “Nobody else is getting stuck in a time-suck.”
“That’s good to know.” Sylvan nodded at him formally.
“There’s something else,” V’rex said. “If you want to prove your honor and that the Kindred give a damn about other people, there are over a thousand poor bastards trapped on Yown Alpha in a Compound in the middle of the Deadly Jungle.”
Sylvan frowned. “Would that be the, uh, ‘cult’ that Penelope told Kat about? The one that captured you both?”
“Exactly.” Penny nodded eagerly. “They capture people and brainwash them using hypno-whispers. They…” She almost choked on the words. “They force them to breed until they can’t produce any more babies and then they recycle them.”
“Recycle?” Sylvan frowned questioningly.
“They fucking chop them up and eat them,” V’rex said bluntly.
“I lost a friend that way.” Penny struggled to keep the tears out of her voice when she thought of poor Claudette. “She was the only other one there immune to the hypno-whispers aside from V’rex and me. I wanted to bring her out with us but just before we escaped, the cult killed her.”