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  “She’ll be here in a minute,” Sophie said laughing. She turned to Brynn with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind but since you and your guy are staying aboard the Mother Ship, Liv and I wanted to introduce you to some of our other friends.”

  “We have a lot,” Olivia added. “It’s kind of like a Kindred wives club. We all get together once in a while for girl days.”

  As she spoke, more women started coming in through the front door of her suite.

  “Let me introduce you,” Sophie said. “That’s Lauren, the girl with the big tray of cupcakes—she runs a bakery here you’ll really want to visit. And there’s Frankie—her husband is a Switch Kindred which means they can jump into each other’s bodies…and that’s Elise—she and her hubby are usually out gallivanting around the universe but they’re back at the Mother Ship for a little while. And this is Kate—don’t get her confused with Kat. They both have red hair but Kate’s is curly and she’s itty bitty.” She smiled. “And that’s Mei-Li—her hubby was a Dark Kindred but he’s not anymore. And here’s…”

  She went on introducing people as more and more women crowded into the suite. Brynn was certain there was no way she’d be able to remember them all—there were almost twenty of them! But she nodded and smiled and everyone seemed extremely friendly. Apparently they’d all made their way to the Mother Ship one way or another and Olivia and Sophia had welcomed them all and made them feel at home.

  Brynn decided she liked them and liked being one of them. One of the brides of the Kindred, she thought and smiled to herself. She would have to tell Varin later. For now she was just happy being in her new home with her new mate and feeling safe and secure.

  And why shouldn’t she feel secure? Sovereign X'izith was dead and without him the Hive had no direction. They would probably die off since there was no longer an evil king to implant grubs in hapless girls and make more of them.

  Just the thought made her shudder and she pushed the mental images away. It was time to forget those awful thoughts—time to heal. Time to love and be loved now that she and Varin were safe here aboard the Mother Ship.

  And that was exactly what Brynn intended to do.

  Epilogue

  The sentient healer which had been wakened from hibernation by the alarm scent checked again on the healing cocoon. It hung, dark gray and throbbing, like a huge, malignant fruit, from the ceiling of the healing chamber in the center of the Hive’s ship. It pulsed slowly, fed upon Blood Honey and the special healing mixture the healer himself secreted into it from time to time.

  Within the layers of the cocoon something stirred. The healer twitched his antennae—perhaps the healing was nearly complete? It was time to check.

  Peeling back layer after dry, papery layer he uncovered the bulbous head of the Sovereign. One eye was blank and blind—an empty socket—but the other moved alertly and the mandibles clicked inquiringly.

  The healer clicked his own mandibles in return and secreted a healing paste which he regurgitated onto the blind eye socket. The eye would probably not recover full vision, although the limb the Sovereign had lost might be regrown in time.

  The abdomen had been the most delicate area to heal—luckily the reproductive organs were higher up, in the thorax, so most of the damage had been simply to the soft tissue. The breeding barb was intact but future implantations would probably be severely painful, due to the twisted scar tissue growing over the wounded abdomen.

  Such grave injuries would normally have spelled the end of a Sovereign of the Hive. But there were no royal grubs to take his place—and no leader capable of implanting females to form them either. Sovereign X'izith must be preserved, at least until he could implant a grub that would grow to take his place.

  The curving mandibles opened.

  “What…Where…?” Sovereign X'izith buzzed weakly.

  “You are in the Hive’s main ship, my Sovereign,” the healer hummed, replying to the half-formed question. “You are healing.”

  “And the ship itself?”

  “Hidden from the Kindred within the Blind while we wait for your orders, my Sovereign,” the healer answered promptly.

  “The girl…my Breeding Queen…”

  “Lost, I am afraid, my Sovereign.” The healer bowed his head. “According to your designated worker she and the Kindred retreated to the Kindred Mother Ship which is nearly impregnable.”

  “No!” The Sovereign gnashed his mandibles together angrily. “Do you know how long I searched to find her? To find one with the right DNA to become the host of the royal grubs? What am I to do now? How is my lineage to carry on? How can the Hive thrive and prosper when I am gone?”

  “As to that, my Sovereign, there is some good news.” The healer groomed the Sovereign’s blind eye gently, smearing the healing goop into the empty socket with his antenna.

  “What news could possibly compensate me for the loss of my Breeding Queen?” the Sovereign demanded. The cocoon shivered with his agitation.

  “Do you remember the small blue and green world the Kindred of the Mother Ship are protecting?” the healer asked.

  “Yes, of course—a world of fleshers, is it not?”

  “Yes, they call it “Earth.” While you have been healing, we sent some of our smaller drone scouts to test the inhabitants and sample the atmosphere.”

  “And? Do not keep me waiting!” Sovereign X'izith exclaimed peevishly.

  “My Sovereign…” The healer paused for dramatic effect. “We found one of the Earth females who has the correct DNA for breeding. Not only that, there are probably more like her—maybe even many more.”

  “For breeding common grubs, I take it,” X'izith grumbled. “What good is that to me? We need sentient workers to carry on the work of the Hive and we need a royal grub to become the new Sovereign after I am gone.”

  “My Sovereign, you do not understand. What I meant was, the Earth female has the correct DNA to host royal grubs! And we conjecture there are many more like her—we just have to find them. As there are seven billion fleshers on the planet and over half of them are female, our odds of finding more Breeding Queens for you are extremely good.”

  “What? Are you certain?” Sovereign X'izith’s antennae waved wildly in agitation.

  “Beyond certain, my Sovereign. Each and every one of the almost four billion females can conceivably play host to common grubs and many more may host the royal ones. It is an embarrassment of riches!”

  The healing cocoon rattled and shook with the Sovereign’s excitement.

  “Think of the possibilities! No longer will the royal grubs have to fight and consume each other to see which one will control the Hive! With many Breeding Queens, we could colonize—there could be multiple Hives throughout the universe!”

  “Truly it is an awesome thought,” the healer buzzed. “And my Sovereign—we have already found the perfect place to build a base while we wage war on the Kindred for control of the Earth. The fourth planet from the sun, the red one the Earthlings call “Mars” is cold and dry with perfect rock formations to tunnel into.”

  “We can construct a base and keep it hidden until we are ready to attack.” Sovereign X'izith clicked his mandibles eagerly. “But first, I must implant a new brood of royal grubs. We must abduct the suitable female you have found that I may implant them in her.” His high, buzzing laughter filled the room. “We need only snatch her when the Kindred are not looking.”

  “It shall be done, my Sovereign.” The healer bowed obsequiously, grooming his antennae. “The female shall be taken for implantation. That the Hive shall live forever.”

  “The Nameless Ones, Gods of Nothing, grant it shall be,” X'izith said, his blind eye flashing in the dim light. “That the Hive shall live forever.”

  The End…?

  Ha—nope, there’ s always another Kindred coming. Look for Kindred 20 later on this year. And if you've enjoyed this book, please take the time to leave a review where you bought this. Good reviews are like gold for an au