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  For a moment Kat forgot her growing headache in the pleasure of their positive emotions for each other. The love that flowed between the brothers spilled through their three-way link and flowed over her skin like the warm glow of a fire on a chilly night. Wow, she found herself thinking. See, if they felt like this all the time, I wouldn’t mind sharing their emotions at all. It’s really kind of nice.

  It was so nice, in fact, that she didn’t notice the large green bush with vivid pink flowers that was creeping up behind her. Nor did she see the hand holding a knife with a strange, clear blade until it was at her throat.

  By the time she felt the sharp prick on the side of her neck, it was too late. “So still—not moving. A frightened creature ensnared. Lovely prisoner,” whispered a throaty voice in her ear.

  “What?” Kat started to look around in panic but the sharp point dug deeper into her neck.

  “Goddess of full curves. I do not wish to harm you. Be still in my arms,” the voice commanded as a hard arm encircled her waist.

  “Deep?” she gasped, holding perfectly still. “Lock? Guys, I think we have company.”

  The twins turned in unison and she saw their faces change from happiness to worry and rage. “You dare…” Deep took a step toward her and her unseen captor, his eyes turning red and his huge hands balled into fists. “You dare touch our female? Take your hands off her now or suffer the consequences!”

  “Deep, no!” Lock put a restraining hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Going into rage won’t help.”

  “It can’t hurt, either.” Deep took another step forward. He was looking over Kat’s shoulder, clearly addressing the male who was holding her captive. “Let her go now and I might let you live.”

  “This elite beauty. Sunfire hair, throat so white. One wrong step kills her,” hissed Kat’s captor.

  Despite her terror, Kat couldn’t help wondering about his speech. Is my convo-pillar acting up again or is this guy actually speaking in haikus? If she hadn’t been so afraid it would have been funny. Oh well, better haiku than iambic pentameter, she thought, feeling slightly hysterical. I always sucked at that whenever we did Shakespeare in class.

  Deep advanced on her captor, a low growl rising in his throat.

  “Deep, stop!” Lock sounded desperate now. “He has a crystal knife—they dip them in shagra venom. One scratch could be fatal to the lady Kat.”

  Deep’s eyes narrowed and he took a step backward with obvious effort. “All right, fine.” His voice still sounded rough with barely suppressed fury. “Tell us what you want and then leave us alone.”

  “This holy meadow. You trespass here un-asking. Death is your reward.” The knife at Kat’s throat poked a little harder but somehow it still didn’t break the skin. From the corner of her eye she could see a strange sight—the bushes they had seen in the small copse of trees where Deep had wanted to camp for the night were all moving toward them. As they came closer, people emerged from behind them—strange looking people with mottled pinkish skin and large, golden-pink eyes. Their hair was black with a purple tinge and they had thin lips and delicate, pointed ears that made her think of elves or fairies. They were all wearing leaf loincloths and every single one was short—none of them was even as tall as Kat’s own five foot six.

  With their diminutive stature and strange, jewel-like eyes, Kat thought they looked an awful lot like Mother L’rin. And their leaf couture reminded her of the wise woman’s huge and silent attendant, Doby. But their appearance didn’t worry her nearly as much as the fact that there appeared to be about fifty of them and all of them were armed with long, clear knives.

  Oh my God… She felt faint and queasy. Is this how it ends? Killed by angry alien natives who speak in haikus? I never should have left Earth…

  But then Lock began speaking rapidly, saying something that her convo-pillar couldn’t even begin to translate. He gestured at Kat and then made a pleading motion with both hands, his palms outstretched. Kat didn’t know what he was saying but slowly, the male holding the knife at her throat relaxed and finally he withdrew the sharp point all together.

  Kat nearly cried in relief but from the look on Lock’s face, they weren’t out of trouble yet. He was still talking for all he was worth, gesturing eloquently, as though trying to make a point. The male behind Kat, who was holding her arm, replied but she got the feeling that Lock wasn’t convincing him to let them go.

  Her feeling proved to be justified when her captor came around in front of her and looped a thick strand of rough rope around her wrists.

  “Lock,” she asked, careful to keep her voice low and nonthreatening. “What’s going on?”

  “I’d like to know as well,” Deep growled. He was eyeing the short, stocky male who had captured Kat in a most unfriendly way and the pupils of his eyes were still more red than black.

  “They’re taking us to meet their chief,” Lock said in a low voice. “Apparently we stumbled into their holy meadow and the usual penalty is death. But I told him the lady Kat was a lost sun goddess looking for Moons blossoms to cure her illness.”

  “Very poetic of you, Brother,” Deep said, frowning. “But a sun goddess?”

  “She has sunfire red hair and she’s an elite,” Lock shot back. “It was the best thing I could think of at the time.”

  “So that’s it?” Kat asked as the natives bound both Lock and Deep’s wrists with the same rough, faded pink rope. “We’re just going to go with them?”

  “I’m afraid we have little choice, my lady,” Lock said ruefully. “They all have poisoned knives. One scratch will introduce a neuro-toxin into our systems so deadly we would never get home alive.”

  “All right.” She nodded and swallowed hard, trying not to think of how close the knife point had come to cutting into her throat. “But what will they do to us when we get to their chief?”

  “I think I’ll be able to talk to their chief,” Lock said. “They seem impressed that I know the Elder Tongue. Hopefully I’ll be able to make some kind of bargain.”

  “Hopefully,” Kat echoed faintly. When I get out of this, I’m going to have some story for Liv and Sophie.

  She just hoped she lived to tell it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They threw Kat into a cave. Not just any cave, either—a dark, dirty cave full of very sharp rocks. The only light was from some glowing blue fungus that grew on one wall. There was a large flat boulder not far from the luminescent wall and Kat dragged herself to it and collapsed on it.

  Oh God, my head…my head. The pain was back, just as Mother L’rin had predicted and this time it felt even worse than Kat remembered. She wished now that she hadn’t been too proud to tell Lock and Deep what the wise woman had said and ask for help. Stupid…I’m so stupid. But it was too late to be sorry. The brothers had been taken somewhere else and she was on her own.

  Kat tried to think about escape but really, where would she go? Even if she could bear to stand upright and try to sneak past the guards at the mouth of the cave, what then? Of course, a heroine in one of her favorite romance novels would have been feisty and smart enough to hatch a plot to save both of her guys and get them all away to safety. But I’m not smart, Kat thought with a groan. Or I would have told Deep and Lock what was going on to begin with. And I’m pretty much the exact opposite of feisty right now. I’m miserable and weak and drained.

  She didn’t know how long she lay on the cold, flat boulder. The pain in her head and the weakness that had come over her were so debilitating she could barely move. Her consciousness seemed to come and go in waves and the glowing blue wall at her side flickered in and out like a bizarre kind of neon sign.

  “Kat?” The deep voice echoed in the darkness some unknowable length of time later. “Kat? I know you’re in here—I can feel how upset you are.”

  “Here,” she managed to whisper feebly. “Who…?”

  “It’s me.” Deep came suddenly into view, picking his way toward her over the fallen rocks. “Lock