Bonded by Accident: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  But I’m tied to him—I can’t get away from him. Not really, she thought as she ran into the bank and pushed her way into the public bathroom. Fumbling her way into a stall, she sank down on the closed toilet seat and buried her face in her hands. As the hot, stinging tears filled her eyes she admitted to herself she was bonded for life to a savage, murdering ex-con.

  What was she going to do?

  Chapter Twelve

  “I fucked up,” Slade muttered and downed another shot provided by the mechanoid bartender. “Fucked up big time and there’s no fixing it.” He was sitting in a bar not far from the Docking Bay after his latest shift, trying to drown his troubles in Borathian Fire Ale. So far it wasn’t working very well.

  “What’s that you said, Brother?” A Beast Kindred with golden eyes and wild black hair sat down beside him. “Say, aren’t you that hybrid prisoner Dr. Lathe brought back with him from BleakHall?” he asked, motioning to the mechanoid for a drink.

  “Yeah, that’s me—why the fuck should you care?” Slade snarled, glaring at the other male.

  “Hey, take it easy.” The Beast Kindred raised his hands. “I just wanted to meet you. I’m Baird—my brother Sylvan told me about you when Dr. Lathe brought you aboard the Mother Ship.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Slade recognized the name. The Beast Kindred was actually in charge of the entire Mother Ship fleet. Better be fucking polite, he told himself morosely.

  “Look, if you don’t feel like talking I’ll leave you alone,” Baird remarked. “But I heard rumors that you had some, uh, trouble at the Puppet House and you look like you could use an ear.”

  “Trouble? That’s a Goddess-damned understatement.” Slade laughed harshly. “I got bonded by accident to a human female who was pretending to be a Pairing Puppet—that’s more than a ‘little trouble.’”

  “Agreed, Brother.” Baird nodded sympathetically and gestured for the mechanoid bartender to bring them two more drinks. “So what happened? You got bonded to her and found you couldn’t care for her?”

  “No, the exact opposite.” Slade downed the fresh drink and nodded his thanks. “I got bonded to her and then I let myself fall in love with her. Only I didn’t realize that until it was too late—until I’d lost her for good.”

  “Too late?” Baird frowned. “I don’t understand—how could it be too late?” His voice dropped to a hushed whisper. “She didn’t…die did she?”

  “No, thank the Goddess for small favors.” Slade sighed. “She didn’t die, she just…found out about my past. In fact, she somehow saw a memory of mine through our link. And now she thinks I’m a crazy murdering felon on the run from the law and ready to kill anyone who looks at me the wrong way.”

  “Well, is she wrong?” Baird asked reasonably.

  Slade glared at him. “If I wasn’t so drunk I’d pound you for that—head of the Fleet or not.”

  “I’m just asking because I know Sylvan looked into your history before allowing you to stay aboard,” Baird said evenly. “He weighed your past deeds carefully and decided you weren’t a risk or a threat. Was he wrong?”

  “No, he wasn’t Goddess-damned wrong!” Slade slammed his empty glass on the bar counter, knowing he wasn’t making the best impression but not really caring anymore.

  “Tell me then,” Baird urged. “The whole story. Go on—get it out.”

  Slade wanted to punch the other male…but somehow he found himself talking instead.

  “I was a fighter on the Blood Circuit for years—a slave but happy nonetheless. Happy because I had a female I loved—another slave called Cinda. We were never able to bond which didn’t surprise me. I’m a hybrid—we usually can’t.” He shook his head. “Don’t know what the fuck happened at the Puppet House and how I formed a bond with Brandi but whatever…Anyway, I was happy with Cinda—until our master sold her and her new master raped and killed her.”

  Baird sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry, Brother. That’s fucking horrible.”

  “I went a little crazy,” Slade admitted. “I killed my master and burned down his house. Then I took the same revenge on Cinda’s master. After that, I was caught and slated to be killed myself, but I was bought—bought by a mistress who liked the idea of fucking a dangerous slave.”

  “Sounds like one of those crazy females on Yonnie Six,” Baird remarked.

  “She was from Yonnie Six—she’d just moved to my home planet for business,” Slade explained. “Anyway, she wanted me to fuck her but I’d made a vow after Cinda died that I’d never be with a female again. My mistress didn’t like that very much. After injecting me with a lust-enhancer, she shipped me off to prison because I still wouldn’t give her what she wanted.”

  “Yup, sounds like a female from Yonnie Six, all right.” Baird nodded. “Then what?”

  “I spent about five years in CellStone prison—not as bad as BleakHall but almost,” Slade told him. “That was where I got my nickname—The Beast.”

  Baird raised his eyebrows. “Do I wanna know how you got that name?”

  Slade shrugged. “I twisted a male’s head off in a fight. Unfortunately, that was the memory that Brandi somehow picked out of my brain.” He shook his head. “Of all the things she could have seen. I mean, I had some bloody battles in the arena too. But for sheer rage and aggression…”

  “So she was actually able to see your memory?” Baird looked surprised. “I’ve never heard of a bond-link that strong before. I mean, sometimes I can send my mate, Olivia, images and we can feel each other’s emotions or catch stray thoughts from time to time but—”

  “I know—it’s fucking bizarre,” Slade growled. “I’m a hybrid—I’m not supposed to be able to bond at all. But now I have the strongest bond I’ve ever heard of with this little human female who wants nothing to do with me. And I know, because I can hear her thinking exactly that half the time. The other half she’s just feeling bad and upset she let me into her life at all.”

  “What, all the way from Earth? She is still on Earth, right?” Baird asked.

  Slade nodded. “And that’s where she’s going to stay. She sure as hell doesn’t want to come up to the Mother Ship and be anywhere near me.”

  “You need to get her to give you a second chance,” Baird said, frowning. “If she was able to see one memory, she should be able to see others. Don’t you have any good ones to show her?”

  The idea caught Slade off-guard.

  “Hey…” He frowned and nodded. “You know, that’s not a bad idea, Brother.”

  “I’ve been known to have a few decent ideas from time to time—according to my mate.” Baird grinned.

  “The problem is, getting Brandi to see me and look into my memories in the first place.” Slade ran both hands through his hair. “She fucking hates me now. Well, not hates exactly—it’s more like she’s afraid of me and she fears for her young one too.”

  “Oh, she’s a mother, is she?” Baird shook his head sympathetically. “That does complicate things.”

  “You’re telling me,” Slade growled. “Her little girl adores me but her mother is sure I’ll hurt her.” He took another drink and squeezed his hands into fists on the bar. “I would never hurt a female—especially not a child. That little one is the sweetest little thing—she calls me ‘Daddy-man.’” He sighed. “Wish I could live up to the name but Brandi isn’t having it.”

  “You know, there was a time, during our Claiming period, when my mate, Olivia hated my guts,” Baird remarked. “I mean, she couldn’t fucking stand me.”

  “Really?” Slade was intrigued. Most Kindred were able to call a mate without too many problems. It was unusual to hear of a bonding where one mate hated the other—which was one reason he felt so isolated and alone.

  “Oh yeah.” Baird nodded matter-of-factly. “But the Goddess brought her around. It took a pretty traumatic event to do it but, well…” He shrugged. “Here we are, years later and I love her more today than I did at the beginning. Everything worked out.”

&nbs