Divided Read online

  “Stop!” Tess put up a hand. “Please, I don’t want to think about it. I have enough nightmares as it is.”

  “Sorry,” Di said sympathetically. “Are you really still having bad dreams?”

  “Not all bad.” Tess frowned. “And not all about Pierce either. Lately, I…never mind.”

  “Lately what?” Di probed.

  “Nothing. It’s just this weird dream I keep having but I can’t remember it when I wake up.”

  “Then how do you know it’s the same dream?”

  Tess shrugged. “I just know.”

  “It’s probably just stress.”

  “Probably,” Tess agreed. “Look, don’t you think you should be going? The hour of free time you gave your tour group to wander around the parklands is almost up.”

  “Oh, you’re right!” Di glanced at her watch. “It’s almost time to get them to the Sacred Grove.” She looked anxiously at Tess. “Will you be okay here? Think you can manage?”

  “I’ll…be fine.” Tess wished she could swallow the uneasy lump that had risen in her throat but she tried to smile like noting was wrong. “You just…go on.”

  “I’ll visit you on my next tour,” Di promised. “Just lay low for a while and take it easy. After a few weeks maybe we can figure something else out.” She nodded at the old fashioned bookshelf. “Maybe you can catch up on your reading.”

  “I guess I will.” Tess nodded and tried to smile. She hugged her friend tightly. “Thanks, Di. I can see you went to a lot of trouble to find this spot for me. I…I really appreciate it.”

  “Anytime, honey.” Di gave her a squeeze. “Okay, I’m going to scoot now. You just make yourself at home.”

  “I will.” Tess smiled and hugged her again. “Good bye.”

  “Good bye and good luck. See you on tomorrow’s tour.” Di gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. Then, after peeking through the crack in the door to make sure the coast was clear, she left.

  Tess looked around the kitchen and then sank down into one of the too-large chairs with a sigh. The thought of Goldilocks came back again.

  “Who’s been sitting in my chair…eating my food…sleeping in my bed?”

  “Me,” murmured Tess. “I will be. I guess I’m Goldilocks.” She sighed. “I just hope like hell the three bears don’t find me out…”

  Brides of the Kindred Glossary

  AllFather—the evil head of the Scourge, a race that are the byproduct of a failed genetic trade. The AllFather is one of the Old Ones and has the power to reach into a person’s mind to harvest emotional pain and trauma. He lives for the fulfillment of the Scourge Prophesy.

  Ancient Ones—beings which live in the Deep Blue—the darkest and most inaccessible part of the Rageron jungles. They are sentient but not related in any way to the Kindred. Each Ancient One has two forms—a bipedal form which resembles a human or Kindred and a beast form which can be deadly and they can change between forms at will. The Ancient Ones predate even the First Kindred and revere the skrillix plant, which they guard jealously.

  Bespeak—to contact someone mentally using a Think-me device. It is considered rude to bespeak someone you don’t know intimately.

  Beast/Rager Kindred—come from Rageron—a jungle planet full of beautiful but deadly flora and fauna. They have dark hair, golden eyes, and hot tempers but their most defining characteristic is the mating fist. The mating fist is an area at the base of the Beast Kindred’s shaft which engages fully only during bonding sex with his chosen mate. When engorged it swells to keep the Beast Kindred and his bride locked together until she is completely bonded to him. This ensures sex that is both extremely long lasting and multiorgasmic for both partners.

  Blackness between the Stars—another name for the Hoard or Grimlax, an ancient enemy of the Kindred. These beings have no souls and so are considered demonic by the Kindred.

  Black Planet— a mysterious planet made of pure titanium dioxide where a hoard of demonic beings live. These beings are always seeking new physical hosts and may find their way inside an unmated male if he is exposed to shadow stone, the essence of the Black Planet.

  Blood Fever—a condition suffered by unmated females on Tranq Prime, the home world of the Blood Kindred. Blood Fever or Burning Blood as it is often called, is caused by a parasite living on the icy world that affects only women. The parasite—found in the fleeta or blood beetle—reacts with a compound in the Tranq Prime water supply to cause the fever. Symptoms include chills, increased sexual need and the feeling of the blood heating in the veins as well as increased coloration of the nipples and sex. If the fever is not treated in forty-eight hours, it will result in death.

  Once a Kindred male has had a female’s blood, he forms a natural antidote to Blood Fever which he can pass on by sharing body fluids with her. The most effective way to get the antidote into the female’s system is for a Blood Kindred to bite her, thereby injecting it along with his essence. However, it is also possible to pass along the healing fluid through sex.

  Blood Fever used to be very common on Tranq Prime which is what prompted the cold, proud natives to initiate a genetic exchange with the Kindred in the first place. A recent vaccine has nearly eradicated the disease, however, and the original inhabitants of the ice bound planet have little reason to continue the trade. A faction calling themselves Purists are against any further trade with the Kindred.

  Blood/Tranq Kindred—are blond with pale blue eyes and come from Tranq Prime where ice, snow, and arctic-like temperatures are the norm. To combat the severe weather conditions, the Blood Kindred have higher than normal body heat with double the human amount of red blood cells. They have developed specific biting rituals to share their supercharged blood and take the blood of their mates during their own version of bonding sex. They have a set of double fangs located where a human’s canine teeth would be. These fangs do not develop fully or become sharp enough to pierce flesh until a Blood Kindred is with a woman he wishes to mate and bond with.

  Bonding Ceremony—a wedding-type ritual which takes place after the Claiming Period if the bride chosen by a Kindred warrior has allowed him to have bonding sex with her and joined her mind to his.

  Bonding Sex—the extra step a Kindred warrior takes to bind his bride to him permanently during intercourse. For the Beast Kindred, it is the use of the mating fist. For the Blood Kindred, bonding sex means sex during penetration. Twin Kindred bind a bride to themselves by entering her and coming in her at the same time.

  Claiming Ceremony—a sort of engagement service that takes place when a bride is first claimed by a Kindred warrior. He declares his intentions toward her and she vows to obey the laws of the Claiming Period.

  Claiming Period—women who are drafted are required to go up to the Kindred Mothership and spend a thirty day “claiming period” with the warrior who has chosen them. If, at the end of that time, they have managed to resist the charms of their Kindred mate, they are allowed to go back down to Earth and resume their normal life. However, if they succumb to their Kindred male’s seduction, they are mated for life and must move to the Kindred ship to live, leaving everything else behind and seeing their family and friends on Earth only infrequently. Of course, many women are unwilling to give everything up at the drop of a hat, draft or no draft. But the Kindred have a secret weapon—devotion to their female’s pleasure and attention to detail during incredibly hot sex.

  Claming Period Rules—The Claiming Period lasts for four weeks during which the Kindred warrior attempts to seduce his chosen bride and she tries to resist him:

  The Holding Week: the Kindred warrior may hold his bride.

  The Bathing Week: the warrior and his bride bathe together and he is allowed to massage her with scented oils and make her come.

  The Tasting Week: the warrior is allowed to perform oral sex on his bride.

  The Bonding Week: sex is allowed but it is completely up to the bride whether she will take things a step further and allow bonding sex which is a spe