Divided Read online

  Brides of the Kindred

  Book 10: Divided

  Evangeline Anderson

  KINDLE EDITION

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Evangeline Anderson on Kindle

  Brides of the Kindred

  Book 10: Divided

  Copyright © 2014 by Evangeline Anderson

  Kindle Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Author’s Note #1— First of all, please no piracy. It's not a victimless crime—I have a family to support so please, buy your own copy and encourage friends to do the same so I can keep writing these books for everyone's pleasure.

  Author's note #2—Most of you know I'm writing another series as well as the Kindred now—a set of paranormal books called Born to Darkness. If you haven't checked them out yet, they are on Amazon, Smashwords, and All Romance. The first book is Crimson Debt and the second one is Scarlet Heat. And yes, I'm still working on Ruby Shadows. I got about 30,000 words in and my muse abruptly demanded to write Chained instead. Then my muse wanted more Kindred so I wrote Divided. And now...*sigh* she appears to be intent on still MORE Kindred so I am working on Devoured, Kindred 11. Sorry guys, please don't hate me! I promise to get back to Ruby Shadows eventually. But I have learned from years in this business, that a book NEVER comes out well when there is another book my muse really wants to be writing waiting on the backburner. Hopefully when I finish Devoured, I can get back to the Born to Darkness series.

  Author’s Note #3—This is the tenth book in the Brides of the Kindred series and there are at more to come. I recommend that you read Claimed, Hunted, Sought, Found, Revealed, Pursued, Exiled, Shadowed, and Chained before beginning Divided or you are going to be completely lost.

  Hugs and Happy Reading to you all!

  Evangeline Anderson

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Epilogue

  Kindred 11: Devoured Excerpt

  Kindred Glossary

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  “So Maggie is making a full recovery?” Kat ate another bite of donut. “Mmm, delicious.”

  “You say that about everything you eat,” Olivia said with a laugh.

  “Just feeding my boys.” Kat winced and put a hand to her very round belly. “Settle down, you two! I’m eating as fast as I can.” She looked at Liv and shrugged. “See? Can’t help it—they want Krispy Kreme donuts. So—Maggie?”

  “I’ve been keeping a good eye on her at the Med station and she’s getting better every day. It’s a miracle, really. There were some recording devices stationed in the town square and I saw what happened to her—she should have died of those injuries. All she had was some blood loss.”

  “According to her, she did die,” Becca Malone said quietly. “She claims she was brought back for a purpose.”

  “I believe it,” Kat said, looking uncharacteristically somber. “The Goddess spared my life too, you know—she did it for Deep when he offered to switch places with me and die in my stead.”

  “That’s exactly what Maggie said Kor told her that he was thinking…or praying or whatever, when Lissa started channeling the Goddess,” Liv said.

  “The Goddess recognizes and rewards self-sacrifice—especially when it’s between a bonded pair,” Kat remarked. She looked at Becca. “Hey, you were almost a nun—what do you think about all this?”

  “I think Maggie is a lucky girl but she’s brave too—she went out to face the demon knowing it could kill her,” Becca said. She sighed. “I only wish I could be that brave. Sometimes I think my whole life has been about taking the safest paths and making the decisions I thought would ruffle the least feathers.”

  “Speaking of decisions…” Sophie put a hand to her temple and winced. “I’m afraid your own personal decision is headed our way, Becca. Sylvan just bespoke me and said that Truth and Far are both on their way to our suite.”

  Kat groaned. “Not both at the same time? There’s always so much tension around those two—it’s like being caught in the middle of a lightning storm when you have to be in the same room with them.”

  “Do they still expect you to choose between them?” Liv asked.

  Becca nodded. “Ever since I finally announced that I was giving up my calling to the Church, they won’t leave me alone.”

  “Oh, so you definitely won’t be a nun?” Sophia asked sympathetically. “That must be hard.”

  “Harder on my family than me.” Becca sighed. “My mother cried for days and my father threatened to disown me. But I just…” She looked down at her hands, trying to think how to put it. “After what I experienced in the Sacred Grove that day with Truth and Far…it’s like…like a part of me was woken up. A part I didn’t know I had, but now that it’s awake I can’t put it back to sleep again.”

  “That part wouldn’t happen to be your sex drive, would it?” Kat asked frankly.

  “Maybe.” Becca felt her cheeks getting hot. “I just can’t take a vow of celibacy now that I know—at least in part—what I’d be missing. It wouldn’t be honest to myself or to God. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “You have to do what’s right for you,” Liv said. “Don’t let your family or Truth or Far or anyone else dictate your life—you choose what you want and who you want to be with.”

  “But speaking of that, how can she possibly just choose one?” Kat protested. “That’s like saying you’ll choose which half of your body to keep.”

  “It might seem like that to you, Kat. But I…” Becca shook her head. “I can’t be with both. It’s already killing my family to know I failed to take my vows. I can’t tell them I want to be with…with two men at once on top of that.”

  “I used to feel the same way.” Kat nodded. “I was worried about my grandmother—she’s really strict.”

  “Not as strict as my parents, I bet.” Becca looked down. “You know they sent me away to convent school when I was just seven? I never even saw a boy who wasn’t my brother until I was eleven or twelve.” She sighed. “That was because my father wanted to keep me pure. And he thought he had succeeded. Until now.”

  “Oh, hon…�