Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23 Read online

  Nikki bit back a gasp. The olive skin of his back and shoulders was covered in scars from what could only be from multiple vicious beatings. When he turned back to her, his bronze eyes were glowing—actually glowing—with anger.

  “Not only that, you keep us all in endless chastity.” He nodded between his legs at the metal cage affixed to his equipment. “We are never allowed a sexual release unless you are particularly pleased with the meal—which you never are—or if you want to put on a show for your friends at a banquet. Do you know or even care how demeaning it is to stroke myself off for the amusement of a bunch of rich, heartless females on command?” He glared at her. “I will never do that again—not even if you whip me until I die!”

  For a moment, Nikki was speechless. She couldn’t imagine treating anyone the way this man had been treated. Her evil twin really was evil, she realized. Mistress Hellenix clearly had no regard for anyone but herself and if what he was saying was true, she actually enjoyed inflicting pain and humiliation on the slaves she owned.

  What a horrible person!

  And she’s in charge of my house and my kids while I’m here. I have to get home! Nikki told herself. She was pretty sure that the dominatrix wouldn’t hurt her boys—that would certainly violate the contract the E’lo stones had set up between them when they first switched. But she still didn’t know what effect the other woman might be having on her home. After seeing what she was capable of, she just wanted to get back to Earth before any long-term damage was done.

  As for the head chef who was glaring at her with glowing bronze eyes, Nikki wished she could apologize to him and to all the kitchen staff and set them all free. But Malik had said she couldn’t do that. Still, something needed to happen to Mistress Hellenix, Nikki thought resentfully. It wasn’t right that she should get away with all the misery she’d inflicted.

  In the meantime though, she had to deal with the matter at hand.

  “Well, slave,” she said, trying to make her voice sound strong and arrogant, like the real Hellenix. “I have no plans to whip you this time—your punishment shall be more severe than a simple whipping.”

  There was a muffled gasp from some of the other assembled kitchen staff and Nikki heard one of them mutter,

  “Now chef’s done it—Mistress is going to chop off his shaft!”

  It was a horrific thought but it gave her an idea about how to play this.

  “In fact,” she went on, “You will never have to worry about pleasuring yourself for me and my guests ever again—I’ll make sure of that before I send you off to the Mor’bath mines!” There was a meat cleaver lying on a wooden chopping block on the burnished copper countertop beside her. Nikki picked it up and brandished it menacingly as she spoke.

  There were more gasps and some murmurs of sympathy and Nikki knew her words had struck home. Good—that should at least keep anyone else from trying to kill her in the short time she had left before she and Malik left for the Pain Banquet and the side trip to Uriel Two. But she still wanted to have a word with the head chef, who was glaring defiantly at her, before she sent him off in the ship that was waiting to carry him away.

  “Malik,” she murmured, stepping back to make use of the privacy bubble and speak to him without anyone else hearing. “I want to talk to this man alone for a moment before we send him off.”

  “As you wish, Mistress—as long as I’m there with you to be certain of your safety,” he said, frowning. “Even with that cleaver in your hand, I wouldn’t give a fake credit for your chances of survival otherwise. For a Kindred warrior to go against the principals of the Goddess and try to kill a female, he must be deadly certain of his purpose. Either that or he’s accepted that he will spend eternity in one of the Seven Hells for his sins and he hates Mistress Hellenix so much he counts the punishment as worth the crime.”

  Nikki shivered at the thought that the man hated her—or the woman he thought she was—so much that he was willing to risk his eternal soul to get rid of her. But it only increased her desire to speak to him.

  “All right,” she told Malik. “Is there a place I can speak to him privately?”

  “One of the pantries should do. But first, dismiss the other kitchen staff.”

  “All right.” Stepping forward, Nikki raised her voice. “Let this slave’s fate be a lesson to the rest of you. Mistress Hellenix does not tolerate disobedience or attempts on her life. Now go about your duties.” She thunked the blade of the cleaver into the wooden chopping block for emphasis and saw most of the slaves wince.

  There, she thought to herself as the kitchens staff began to silently disperse. That should get the point across. Also, appearing to speak about herself in the third person was a nice, villainous touch, she thought.

  “Come, slave.” Malik took the head chef by the arm and led him through a side door, into a room filled with boxes and cans with labels that made no sense to Nikki.

  Channa scum, read one and another said, fillip tails. A third read simply, tongue paste. Was it paste you smeared on your own tongue or paste made of the ground up tongues of some unknown creature? Also, did it have anything to do with the tongue oil she had bathed in when she first appeared in Mistress Hellenix’s house?

  Nikki decided she didn’t want to know. Looking at the containers filled with strange foods, she put a hand to her stomach. Ugh! Presumably these were ingredients for future dinners. She just hoped she wasn’t the one to eat them.

  “Now then,” Malik said, after making certain the door was firmly fastened. “What is it you wish to say to this slave, Mistress?”

  Nikki stepped towards the huge slave with his glowing bronze eyes but she hardly knew where to begin.

  “What’s your name?” she asked at last, tilting her chin up to look him fully in the face. He and Malik were both so tall she felt a little like a kid between two adults. Yet, she was the one in charge here, she reminded herself sternly.

  The slave looked surprised.

  “Why do you ask me now, when you’re about to send me to my doom?” he demanded. “You bought me five years ago and you’ve never given a damn for anything but my cooking skills and the size of my shaft. Do you want to know what to put on my death record when the mines kill me?”

  “Just answer the question,” Malik growled. “We have limited time.”

  “Tell me your name, please,” Nikki said gently, using manners even though Malik had warned her not to.

  The slave looked even more surprised but at last he answered.

  “I am called Dark,” he said warily. “Though I still don’t know why you wish to know.”

  “So I can speak to you as a person instead of a slave,” Nikki told him. “Look, I want you to know you’re not really going to those awful mines, wherever they are. You’re going to be given a small ship and you can go your own way—anywhere you want. So you’re going to be okay.”

  “What?” Dark blinked, clearly not believing her. “What lies are you telling me? And why are you bothering to tell them?”

  “No lies,” Nikki said quickly. “Look, I’m not who you think I am.” She cast a glance at Malik. “I think I can tell him—after all, he’s going away. It’s not like he can tell anyone else.”

  He shrugged. “As you wish, Nicole.”

  “Nicole?” Dark frowned. “Who is Nicole?”

  “I am—I’m not Mistress Hellenix. She and I got switched by some shiny purple M&Ms…” Nikki shook her head, realizing how crazy that sounded. “Anyway, look—it’s a long story but the main thing is, I’m not mad at you for trying to poison me because I understand why you did it. Mistress Hellenix has abused you horribly and if it was up to me, I’d set all the other slaves free along with you. But I can’t because that would violate the contract,” she finished in a rush.

  “What?” Dark looked truly startled now. “What are you saying? How can this be?”

  “She speaks the truth, Brother,” Malik growled. “There is ancient magic at work here. Nicole comes from an