Dark and Light (A Kindred Tales Duet)

He licked his thick lips with a shockingly red tongue and Alli felt her stomach do a slow, forward roll of disgust.

He’s no better than a serial murderer or serial rapist, she thought, fighting to keep her expression neutral. He rapes women and then savors their agony! Horrible!

“Well, maybe you’re the one I smelled that I thought was an Immune,” he said to Alli and straightened up with a frown. “So she’s never had Calm at all, Kane?” he asked, throwing the question over his shoulder.

“Never,” Kane growled shortly. “But she’s mine.”

“Of course she is.” Turning, the Overlord slapped him on the shoulder. “How long are you feeding from her? A few days? A week?”

“A solar month,” Kane said. “But after I’m done with her, I have promised to return her to her home.”

“Is that so?” The Overlord looked at Alli with a lecherous gleam in his black and red eyes. “What a shame. Well…” He sighed and shook his head. “It seems you’re off-limits, my dear,” he said to Alli. “Truly a pity—we could have had such fun together.”

Alli resisted the urge to gag. The idea of “having fun” with the Kru’ell One Overlord turned her stomach. But thank goodness it seemed like he was going to leave her alone and not pick a fight with Kane. She felt like she’d had a very narrow escape—and she wasn’t out of deep water yet. Still, she could breathe a little easier without his eyes watching her so intently and his strange, rotten-sour stench blowing in her face.

The Overlord started to turn away. From the corner of her eye, Alli saw the high, tight set of Rachel’s shoulders slowly relax.

“Well, if I can’t have you, then I guess I’ll have to have to settle for your pretty friend,” he said. And turning back, he struck like a snake, so quickly his huge body was a blur.

In a moment, he had his long fingers wrapped around the hapless girl’s arm and was dragging her up to face him.

“Well, well,” he said, giving her an evil smile. “Look what we have here.”

Twenty-Eight

Rachel gave a frightened gasp, unable to hold the blank expression on her face in such circumstances. Still, she said nothing, though Alli could see the fear in her large, dark eyes.

“I knew it,” the Overlord growled. Leaning down, he pressed his face to the side of Rachel’s neck and inhaled deeply. When he pulled back, his eyes had gone a pure, blood-red. “I knew I smelled an Immune in here somewhere. You’ve been holding out on me, girl.” He shook Rachel and glared at her fiercely. “You have, haven’t you? Admit it!”

“I…I…” Rachel was clearly striving to keep her face neutral. “I don’t know what you mean, Sire,” she said in a trembling voice.

“Yes, you do—you’re lying to me even now! Well, never mind.” A slow, cruel grin spread over his coarse features. “I have you now, girl, and there are ways to punish you for your deception. Oh yes, so many ways…”

“Please!” Rachel’s voice was a choked sob. “Please don’t—please, just let me go,” she whispered.

“Yes, let her go!” Alli’s legs stood up under her and she found that she was glaring the huge Overlord in the face. “You have no right to hurt and abuse her!” she exclaimed, her own voice shaking with rage.

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room—well, everyone who wasn’t Calmed anyway, Alli thought—and Kane was suddenly at her side.

“Allisandra, no,” he growled, taking her by the arm.

“No, no—it’s all right.” The Overlord looked at Alli with some interest. “You might be wearing a Peace Cloak, my dear, but that doesn’t mean you should press your luck with me. I am, after all, the Overlord.”

“You’re nothing but a bully!” Alli snapped, still glaring up at him.

She knew her temper was getting the best of her but she couldn’t help herself. On Earth, before she had joined the Kindred team, she’d often taken pro bono cases, defending abused women from the husbands or boyfriends who wanted to hurt them. She couldn’t just stand by and watch as Rachel was dragged away by the huge asshole to be tortured and raped!

The amusement in the Overlord’s red eyes died.

“Enough.” His voice was low and angry as he looked at Kane. “Control your concubine, Kane, or I’ll control her for you.”

“Come on, Allisandra.”

Kane took her by the arm and dragged her towards the elevator. As they left, Alli heard the Overlord saying, “I’ll take this one, Matron of the Harem. Have her things brought up for the feast and after that, take her to my private chambers.”

“Oh yes—yes, indeed, Sire!” The grandmotherly lady fluttered busily around, collecting Rachel’s personal belongings from another room while Rachel herself sobbed with fear.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Alli exclaimed as Kane all but forced her into the elevator and punched the single button which now had an up arrow on it.