“Jillian Marks? That you?” The man had a thick, New York accent and a beefy red face. His bushy black eyebrows shaded small, beady eyes.
“Um, yes?” Jillian wasn’t sure what to make of this. “Who are you?”
“Jimmy Moreno—used to have dinner at The Palms sometimes,” the man told her. “You made the best fuckin’ steak I ever ate—never forgot it, honeybee! The place is a dump now, without you. New chef they hired can’t cook to save his fuckin’ life!”
“Oh, that’s right!” Jillian remembered him now—he had always been seated in the high-roller’s section, often with Brad. “Um, how are you?” she asked politely.
“I’m just fine, but I’m afraid Brad’s in some trouble. That’s why I was sent to come get you,” Jimmy told her. He opened the door of the limo. “Get in.”
“What?” Jillian looked at him in confusion. “But I was told that Brad was in the hospital and that it was a life and death situation.”
“Nah, honeybee, you were told to come to the hospital.”
Jimmy was out of the limo now. He was a big guy—not Kindred big, but big enough that he loomed over her in a somewhat simian manner. Jillian thought—as she had when she’d seen him at The Palms—that the big man looked like a gorilla someone had shaved and put into an expensive suit.
“We just wanted to give you a landmark you’d know,” he went on, taking her by the arm to help her into the limo’s plush interior. “Brad’s somewhere close by, in a private facility. He’s safe—for now.”
“But I don’t understand,” she protested, even as she got into the long black car.
“That’s okay—you will,” Jimmy assured her as he closed the door behind them. “Get comfy, honeybee—we’ve got a little ride ahead of us.”
And with that, the limo sped off, taking Jillian with it.
44
“Warrior, your female is in danger.”
The strong, feminine voice in his ear startled Kalis so much his hands jerked on the steering yoke of the shuttle he was flying. The ship made a little jump and stopped dead, when he pulled back hard.
“What…who…?” He looked around uncertainly. He was alone in the shuttle—he was sure of it. Commander Sylvan had given it to him and thanked him again for defusing the situation with the Nebrian ambassador before he left the Mother Ship.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Brother,” he said formally, offering his arm for a warrior’s clasp before Kalis climbed into the ship. “And please know that you are always welcome aboard the Mother Ship.”
Kalis had thanked him and then flown the shuttle through the red fold in space, back to the Colubrian System, where the off-season home of the Blood Circuit was. He had just been trying to decide which of his old Mistress’s business contacts to get in touch with about fighting again, when the voice had spoken in his ear.
“Warrior,” it said again. “I tell you, you must go back. The female that I sent you to protect is in danger—she may die if you do not reach her in time.”
This time Kalis understood to whom he was speaking.
“Goddess,” he said reverently, bowing his head. “Forgive me, but the female doesn’t want me. She cannot accept my Ursus, who is part of me.”
“Be that as it may, you must return to her now,” the Goddess said sternly. “She has been lured down to Earth and is in the hands of evil ones. It is your Ursus that she will need before the night is through.”
“I don’t understand.” Kalis shook his head. “What evil ones? And how could she need my Ursus? And how will I find her?”
“I will guide you,” the Goddess informed him, answering only his last question. “But you must go now or it will be too late. Hurry, Warrior!”
“I will!” Kalis agreed, his heart thudding in his chest. “I’ll go right away, Goddess. Only I have to call the Mother Ship and ask them to fold space for me again.”
“There is no time for that. Here, I will open a way.”
Suddenly, a spinning blue vortex opened in the blackness of space right in front of his shuttle. Kalis recognized what it was at once.
“A wormhole,” he breathed, staring at the viewscreen.
“Take it,” the Goddess commanded. “It will lead you straight back to Earth. From there, I will take the controls and guide your shuttle myself. We must hurry—Jillian is in grave danger!”
“Yes, Goddess!” Kalis pushed on the steering yoke, guiding the shuttle straight into the swirling blue vortex. He had no idea what was happening to Jillian—he only knew he still loved her with all his heart and he would do anything in his power to save her.
Even if it meant his own death.
45
“What is this place?” Jillian asked, as they stepped out of the limo in front of a deserted warehouse.