Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“Tiny!” Bard shouted again. “Come!”

He almost never had to call the big Ya’greer twice and for a moment, he feared he had lost him to the wild jungle pack. But then Tiny took a step back and shook himself, as though shaking off the wild fury that had consumed him, the way Bard had shaken off his own Rage earlier.

He stepped further back from the flailing Trollox and, very deliberately, bowed his head and wiped his muzzle on the trampled grass. Then he came trotting over to Bard and gave a short, sharp rouf! as though to say, All right, I’m ready—let’s go!”

“Good boy,” Bard told him. “Lead the way—we need to get Makenna back to the Mother Ship.”

And this time, he vowed to himself, he was never letting her go.

36

Makenna had been saved from the horrible, disgusting Trollox…but she was still going to die.

She felt the certainty creep into her bones as the Fever began to take hold.

Her fear had been so extreme while she was running through the Deep Blue and struggling with Biter, that she had almost forgotten about her ripening. But the moment she was safe in Bard’s muscular arms, the Emptiness came back full force, twisting her belly. Her womb ached for a male’s seed, causing her to bite her lip in pain to hold back a low, agonized cry.

“What’s wrong, baby girl? You don’t look so good.” Bard looked down at her in concern as he put her gently into the passenger seat of his shuttle and strapped her in.

Makenna shook her head weakly. What was the point in trying to speak? There was no way she could make him understand what her problem really was. She closed her eyes and tried not to think as the shuttle took off, headed back to the Kindred Mother Ship.

By the time they docked and Bard was carrying her through the long, silver corridors, she could feel The Emptiness lessening, but that was no comfort because the Fever was growing.

I’m going over-ripe, she thought, as Bard brought her back to his suite. Soon it will be too late for me.

Bard seemed to notice something was wrong because he looked at her anxiously as he carried her over to the couch and settled onto it with her cradled in his lap.

“Makenna, baby,” he murmured, “what’s going on with you? Are you still scared? Because I promise, I won’t send you away again. I was a damn fool to do it in the first place—I’m so fucking sorry.”

Makenna shook her head.

“Not…afraid,” she said weakly. “Makenna…sick.”

“Sick?” Bard put a hand to her forehead and his eyes got wide. “Gods, baby girl—you’re burning up! We need to get you to the Med Center right away!”

He rose with her in his arms and Makenna felt a great wave of hopelessness wash over her. Now he would take her to the House of Healing and she wouldn’t even have the comfort of dying in his arms! She only wanted to be with him—to breathe in his warm, comforting scent and spend her last moments with the man she loved. But even that was going to be denied her.

“Bard, no,” she said, trying to sound forceful and failing, since her voice came out in a whisper. “Not take Makenna. Please, not.”

“But baby girl, you’re sick—you said so yourself,” he rumbled, looking worried. “I have to take you where they can heal you.”

You’re the only one who can heal me but you won’t because you can’t understand what I need! Makenna wanted to shout. But she couldn’t—couldn’t form the words into coherent sentences for him. She shook her head in pure frustration.

Oh please, I don’t want to die this way…

Suddenly, a warm, comforting presence seemed to settle around her and a voice whispered in her ear,

“Enough, daughter—I will remove the barrier. Speak and be understood.”

Makenna’s eyes opened wide. The warm presence and the voice were gone as quickly as they had come, but she felt…different. It was as though someone had lifted a block that had been standing between her mouth and her brain.

“Bard!” she said, looking up at him. “I don’t need to go to the Med Center—all I need is you! You’re the only one who can heal me—please, help me!”

The big warrior looked at her, his golden eyes wide in shock.

“Baby girl, you can talk,” he blurted at last. “The translation bacteria must have finally kicked in!”

Makenna didn’t know what translation bacteria was, but she did know she had a limited amount of time to explain her situation.

“Listen to me,” she said urgently. “Among my people, the women undergo cycles of fertility called ‘ripening’. During that time, if we don’t have a male’s seed to bathe our womb, we can die. And that’s what ‘s happening to me now—I’ve already gone through The Emptiness and now the Ripening Fever has me in its grip. If you don’t guide me through my ripening, I’m not going to make it.”