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“I thought I might have some problems with you, Kindred,” Mistress Mirabella snapped, glaring at him. “And since you’d seduced my daughter, I surmised that she might have disabled your pain collar. I’m not surprised to see that I was right—it’s a good thing I brought the Obedience Skin with me.”
“Obedience Skin?” Karn frowned. “What the fuck is that? These metal plates all over me?”
“Exactly. The metal plates which now control how your muscles can and will move—according to what I say,” Mistress Mirabella snapped. “Now come with me—we’re getting out of here before anyone else enters the conception center and sees us.”
To his horror, Karn found his legs obeying her orders. Though he wanted to protest, he found that the metal plates around his limbs moved his arms and legs whether he wanted to move them or not. It didn’t do any good to fight them, either—it was like fighting with a plastisteel wall. The smart metal of the Obedience Skin just kept going, even when he tried to stop it.
He felt fucking horrible as he walked unwillingly behind Lilli and her mother. Lilli’s head was down, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Could what she said be true? Could she actually be pregnant with his child? With his son?
The thought made his heart soar and plummet at the same time. Deep down, he’d always wanted a mate and a son—a family like other Kindred warriors had. But he’d never admitted it to himself because he thought it was impossible. Now it had proved to be not only possible but a reality—he had gotten the woman he loved pregnant!
But in doing so, he had betrayed her in the worst way possible.
“How could you, Lilliana?” her mother demanded as she stalked stiffly down the corridor. “How could you degrade and debase yourself so far as to let a male penetrate you?”
Lilli’s reply tore at Karn’s heart.
“He…he said he loved me,” she whispered in a broken voice. “And he claimed he couldn’t…couldn’t get me pregnant!”
“I didn’t think I could!” Karn protested. “Lilli, please—I would never—“
“Silence!” Mistress Mirabella made a gesture at him and suddenly one of the thin metal plates grew over his mouth.
“Mmmph! Mmmph!” Karn protested, but he couldn’t get another word out—not a single one.
“That’s better,” Mistress Mirabella snapped as they stepped out of the conception center. “You can rant and rave all you want once you get to the Diluthian mines but you’ll not say a single word more to my daughter!”
She nodded at the curb, where two different transports were waiting. One was the fancy, sleek, silver one they had driven in on the way to Opulex earlier that day. The other was an ominous dull black and it had guards waiting outside of it, holding heavy-duty stunners and pain prods.
“What are you doing out of your transport?” Mistress Mirabella hissed at them. “Do you want everyone to talk?”
“Sssory, Mistresss,” one of them hissed and Karn saw they were Horvaths—green, scaly, lizard-like humanoids which the Yonnites often used for distasteful duties they didn’t want to undertake themselves.
Like transporting prisoners to the Diluthian mines, apparently, whispered a little voice in his head. How long do you think you’re going to last there, Karn? Probably not more than a week.
But it wasn’t the thought of going to the mines that upset him the most—even though it would certainly mean his death. No, what was killing him was that Lilli thought he had betrayed her and hurt her on purpose.
I love you! he wanted to shout, but there was no way with the damn metal plate practically welded to his mouth.
“We thought he might possse a danger to you, Mistresss,” the other Horvath guard hissed, breaking his miserable train of thought.
“I can take care of myself. I came prepared, as you can see,” Mistress Mirabella snapped.
“I sssee.” The first guard sounded impressed. “I didn’t know a fine lady such asss yourself had accesss to an Obedienssse Sssskin.”
“I have access to anything I want,” Mistress Mirabella said shortly. “Except an heir I can be proud of,” she added, glaring at Lilli.
“I’m sorry, Mother. So sorry.” The words were a low sob and they twisted Karn’s heart. “I…I thought he loved me,” she whispered again.
I do! he wanted desperately to shout, but of course he couldn’t. He could only stare at her, hoping she would lift her head and meet his eyes.
“You little fool!” Her mother sounded both disgusted and exasperated. “This is one reason I wanted you to have a quick-grow heir! I thought if she grew fast enough, I might be able to replace you with someone who actually had a decent head for business on her shoulders. But I never dreamed you’d do something like this!
Lilli absorbed her words like a physical blow, her steps staggering for a moment as though her mother had actually struck her. Karn felt a murderous rage sing through his veins. If only he could get out of this damn metal plating, he would show Lilli’s mother exactly how much she had hurt her daughter. He would—
