Forgotten Read online

  “Well, technically Kate is the patient, not me,” Rone pointed out uncomfortably. The hunger was a very personal issue—one a Wulven would normally only discuss with his mate.

  “She won’t be the only patient soon if we are unable to restore her memory and lessen her fear of you,” Sylvan said sternly. “Her problems directly affect you. It has already been six solar months since you last touched your mate so I ask you again, Brother—how is your hunger? You need have no shame in telling me—I have only your welfare at heart.”

  Rone sighed heavily. “I’m burning,” he admitted in a low voice. “It’s not very fucking pleasant but I’ll be all right for a little while longer.”

  Sylvan nodded. “And your Beast?”

  “In control,” Rone said tightly. “I would not come aboard the Mother Ship or allow myself to be in such close proximity to the female I love otherwise.”

  “Of course not. Forgive me.”

  Rone shook his head. “Nothing to forgive. I don’t blame you for asking—I know how many of the other Kindred look at Wulvens. You’re very tolerant to even allow me to board the ship in this condition.”

  “I’m trusting you,” Sylvan said evenly. “I know that the hunger makes your Beast restless but I trust you to control it.”

  Rone lifted his head. “I have never once had an uncontrolled change,” he said. “And I don’t plan to start now.”

  “Good, I believe you,” Sylvan said. “Is there anything else you want to tell me before I begin my examination of Kate?”

  “Only that our bond…” Rone pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think how to put it. “Our bond,” he tried again. “It seems to be broken. Or if not broken, then almost completely buried somehow. At any rate, it’s totally inaccessible. I can’t bespeak Kate and she cannot bespeak me. It’s almost as if we were never bonded in the first place.”

  “That is very strange and troubling,” Sylvan said, looking worried. “I can only imagine how painful it must be to have your mate right in front of you and be unable to touch her either mentally or physically.”

  “Very fucking painful,” Rone assured him in a low growl. “Which is why I really hope you can give me some answers soon.”

  “I hope so too,” Sylvan said quietly. “And I assure you we will do everything in our power. But in the meantime, you might consider a trip to the Sacred Grove. One of the priestesses there may be able to cool your blood.”

  “I will…consider it.” Rone nodded grudgingly. He didn’t like to ask for help of the priestesses—they often wanted to “see into” a male before agreeing to help. It was a painful, invasive process not unlike mental exploratory surgery. But if there was no other way to cool his blood and ease the growing hunger, he might have to resort to it.

  Sylvan seemed to understand his reluctance.

  “It’s not a pleasant experience but sometimes it is necessary,” he said quietly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Kate’s scan started.”

  * * * * *

  “Well…the good news is we didn’t find any tumors or masses or abnormalities of any kind,” the blond Kindred doctor said.

  “I think I hear a ‘but’ coming up,” Kate said. She was sitting on the gurney attached to the complex scanning machine which seemed to consist of a vast, round glass bubble filled with swirling colored vapors. Sylvan had explained that the vapors “read” the brain waves and formed pictures of the anatomy at the same time.

  Even more interesting, he had told her the colored vapors were sentient creatures the Kindred had discovered on one of their many missions to find new genetic trade partners. Of course, they couldn’t form a trade with beings so very unlike themselves, but the sentient vaporous gasses were intelligent and extremely curious. Many had agreed to come with the Kindred in exchange for a constant flow of new information and stimulation. It was a symbiotic relationship on both sides and it made for a much more comfortable scan than the ones she’d endured back on Earth.

  Kate vividly remembered the grinding and clanking of the MRI machines she’d been subjected to when she was younger, as well as the tight, confined space she’d been shoved into. It was a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare—being shut up in a tight, dark tube while your ears were assaulted by a noise as loud as a freight train bearing down on you.

  The Kindred’s scanner was nothing like that—the sentient vapors made a soft, musical humming that was very soothing and the space inside the scanner was light and airy. All Kate had to do was lie still inside the vast glass ball, watch the swirling colors go by, and listen to their gentle music. It was so relaxing she had almost fallen asleep and she was rather sorry when it was over.

  In fact, the only thing she didn’t like about the whole experience was that the hospital gown she had to wear opened at the back. She was always self-conscious when she had to wear anything that showed her scars so she’d done her best to wrap the gown around herself, hiding almost everything.

  Now she was sitting alertly on the edge of the gurney, waiting to hear what was wrong with her. But according to Doctor Sylvan the answer was…nothing.

  “So?” she said again when he didn’t answer immediately. “You didn’t find any tumors but what’s the bad news?”

  “Well, that’s both the good news and the bad news. Believe it or not, a brain tumor isn’t a bad thing to us—we have very advanced surgical techniques to treat even the most stubborn growth.” Sylvan sighed. “Finding a mass in your brain would have explained everything and it would have been an easy fix—for us, anyway.” He shrugged. “We knew it was a long shot but it was necessary to rule out even the possibility of a physical abnormality before looking for other answers.”

  “So if there’s no physical problem wrong with my brain, what’s causing my memory loss? And the way…” Kate cleared her throat uneasily, glad that Rone was in the other room, outside the glass wall between the scanner and the control area. “And the way I feel when I get too close to Rone?” she finished, in a low voice. “Is it those, flowers he says I sniffed?”

  Sylvan spread his hands. “We don’t know. We’re analyzing the Dream Blooms you smelled which started this in the first place. Hopefully we’ll find some answers there. In the meantime, you don’t have to hang around here. You’re free to get dressed and go back to your suite to wait.”

  “Um…okay, but I don’t know where that is,” Kate pointed out.

  “Of course you don’t—I’m sorry.” Sylvan shook his head. “Forgive me for forgetting you don’t know your way around the Mother Ship anymore.”

  “Is Sophia still around?” Kate asked hopefully. “Maybe she could show me.”

  “I’m afraid she had to go pick up our twins from the day care,” Sylvan said gently. “But Rone can show you the way, I’m sure.”

  “Right, of course,” Kate said tightly. She wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed, trying to calm her nerves. Although she knew the big Kindred was supposed to be her husband, she still didn’t want to spend any more time alone with him than she had to. That panicky feeling she got when he was too close was so uncomfortable.

  Sylvan seemed to know what she was thinking because he leaned down and looked at her directly.

  “I don’t understand the reason you feel the way you do when you’re around Rone, Kate, but I do know that he loves you with his whole heart. He would die before he would hurt you.”

  “I know that.” Kate shifted again. Of course she knew cognitively he wouldn’t hurt her. But when every nerve in her body was on high alert and every instinct was shouting that she was in danger, that she had to run, it was hard to remember that she was actually okay.

  “You’ll be all right.” Sylvan patted her shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll get to the bottom of this—I promise.”

  “Okay. Thanks, I guess. Um…how is Rone taking it?” She looked at the tall figure of the Kindred warrior on the other side of the glass again. To her discomfort, she saw that he was looking back at her. Hastily, Kate dropp