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“All right, all right…” He held up his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Listen, you have to understand—prison is a whole different world. It’s kill or be killed and I didn’t fucking want to be the one getting killed.”
“Just let me out, please?” Brandi’s voice shook and she realized she was right on the edge of tears. “Please, I can’t…can’t be near you after I saw that.”
“I’ll drive you back to your work place right now,” Slade promised, sliding into the driver’s seat. “But please don’t get out in the middle of dark parking area like this. It’s not safe.”
You’re not safe. Brandi swallowed the words but she could tell he heard her thinking them anyway because his shoulders got tense as he started the shuttle. He didn’t say a word about it though, just drove out of the parking garage and headed for the bank.
Brandi looked straight ahead, wrapping her arms around herself and holding herself in a tight little bundle as far from the big Kindred as she could. Over and over the bloody scene she’d watched in his mind played itself out behind her eyes. She felt sick, her stomach churning with fear and distress.
How could I fall for the same kind of man all over again? And he’s even worse than Earl! Earl never ripped anybody’s head off!
She tried to keep her thoughts “quiet” but she wasn’t even really sure how to do that and she didn’t think she was doing a very good job. She could see from the corner of her eye that Slade’s face was set like granite, his big hands clenched on the steering yoke. Was he upset with her now? Would he hurt her?
“I told you, sweetheart—I will never hurt you.” His voice came through their link sounding tight and unhappy, just as he pulled up beside the Bank of Tampa’s downtown branch. “You or Emmie—I only want to keep you safe. To protect you and provide for you both.”
Brandi rounded on him, her hands balled into fists.
“You leave Emmie out of this! And stay away from us—both of us. Understand?”
“Yes.” Slade’s mismatched eyes were hard. “I understand.”
He did something with one of the dashboard controls which caused Brandi’s door to pop open somehow. She scrambled out as fast as she could, falling to her knees on the sidewalk in the process.
“Brandi!” Slade made as if to go to her but Brandi was already up and running, not caring that her knees were bloody, not caring about anything but getting away from the awful things she’d seen in his mind.
But I’m tied to him—I can’t get away from him. Not really, she thought as she ran into the bank and pushed her way into the public bathroom. Fumbling her way into a stall, she sank down on the closed toilet seat and buried her face in her hands. As the hot, stinging tears filled her eyes she admitted to herself she was bonded for life to a savage, murdering ex-con.
What was she going to do?
Chapter Twelve
“I fucked up,” Slade muttered and downed another shot provided by the mechanoid bartender. “Fucked up big time and there’s no fixing it.” He was sitting in a bar not far from the Docking Bay after his latest shift, trying to drown his troubles in Borathian Fire Ale. So far it wasn’t working very well.
“What’s that you said, Brother?” A Beast Kindred with golden eyes and wild black hair sat down beside him. “Say, aren’t you that hybrid prisoner Dr. Lathe brought back with him from BleakHall?” he asked, motioning to the mechanoid for a drink.
“Yeah, that’s me—why the fuck should you care?” Slade snarled, glaring at the other male.
“Hey, take it easy.” The Beast Kindred raised his hands. “I just wanted to meet you. I’m Baird—my brother Sylvan told me about you when Dr. Lathe brought you aboard the Mother Ship.”
“Oh, sorry.” Slade recognized the name. The Beast Kindred was actually in charge of the entire Mother Ship fleet. Better be fucking polite, he told himself morosely.
“Look, if you don’t feel like talking I’ll leave you alone,” Baird remarked. “But I heard rumors that you had some, uh, trouble at the Puppet House and you look like you could use an ear.”
“Trouble? That’s a Goddess-damned understatement.” Slade laughed harshly. “I got bonded by accident to a human female who was pretending to be a Pairing Puppet—that’s more than a ‘little trouble.’”
“Agreed, Brother.” Baird nodded sympathetically and gestured for the mechanoid bartender to bring them two more drinks. “So what happened? You got bonded to her and found you couldn’t care for her?”
“No, the exact opposite.” Slade downed the fresh drink and nodded his thanks. “I got bonded to her and then I let myself fall in love with her. Only I didn’t realize that until it was too late—until I’d lost her for good.”
