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“We think it will make the High Priestess feel better,” Neen’ya said. She yawned. “I’m going for a wash in the communal shower room. Do you want to come?”
The idea of a hot shower was incredibly tempting, but Sky shook her head. “That’s okay—I’ll stay here and keep watch while you’re gone.”
“Suit yourself.” Neen’ya flickered her tongue. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
Sky nodded at her and then went to sit on the edge of the stone cot with its thin mattress. She felt tired—she’d had several very long days in a row with little to no sleep, unless you counted the time she’d spent passed out from blood loss on Yonnie Six. But she also felt too miserable to sleep.
All she could think about was Torin—how had the big Kindred managed to worm his way into her heart so quickly? And how long would it take her to forget him, since he clearly didn’t give a damn about her?
I should have let him penetrate me instead of me penetrating him, she thought, lying back on the thin mattress which couldn’t conceal the hard, cold stone beneath it. I just didn’t understand what a big deal it is with Mammalians—who penetrates who. What a silly thing to get upset about!
As she lay there, the weariness of several days on her feet settled on her slowly. She continued to think about Torin, picturing him in her head. What if they stayed together but took turns at penetration and domination? What would the big Kindred think about that?
Sky really thought she could go either way. She enjoyed being in charge in the bedroom, but she was curious to try it the other way too. She wouldn’t mind letting Torin dominate her…or penetrate her…
Without knowing it, her eyelids drifted closed. She was tired, so tired. She would just rest her eyes for a little while…
“Daughter, wake—you must wake!”
The warm, feminine voice in her ear reminded Sky of her mother. But no, her mother was dead. She’d died of the deadly Scarlet Plague when Sky was only little and then they’d moved her to the orphanage with the other Serpentine hatchlings that had lost their parents…
“Daughter, wake! Your life and the lives of those you guard are in danger!”
A sudden picture flashed in her mind’s eye. She saw the huge Serpentine guard, Lunk’or, melting into a puddle of black goo. And as she watched, the poisonous ichor began oozing under the door, finding its way into the place where she and the acolytes were sleeping…
Sky opened her eyes and saw that the acolytes’ chamber was silent and dim. Beside her on another one of the stone cots, Neen’ya was sleeping peacefully and to her right, the other acolyte—a Serpentine girl of the Viper Clan by the name of Soon’ya—was hissing softly in her sleep.
I must have been asleep for hours, Sky thought, looking around blearily. She’d only meant to close her eyes for a few minutes, but she’d been so tired…
It was a nightmare—she must have had a nightmare, she told herself. What a crazy idea—Lunk’or melting into a puddle of goo and oozing under the door! She almost went back to bed—she could certainly use a few more hours of sleep—but something made her get up instead.
I’ll just have a look and if everything is okay, I’ll go back to sleep, she promised herself.
Sky moved slowly and softly—she was still wearing her soft-soled boots, since she hadn’t undressed before she drifted off. The chamber was silent, lit only by a single glow globe high in the corner of the room, near the door. Everything seemed to be fine…
Until she saw the puddle of black ooze that was slowly forming under the bottom edge of the door…
FORTY-SIX
TORIN
Torin landed right in front of the Shrine, his heart in his mouth. He grabbed his hand-cannon and jammed it in the holster and was about to depart his ship when a strong, feminine presence suddenly filled the cabin and a voice said,
“You will not defeat him in that way, Warrior.”
“What? Who’s that? Who’s there?” Torin looked around him anxiously. Was he so upset he was hallucinating? Was he hearing things now?
“It is I, the Mother of All Life,” the voice told him. “Long have I been absent—striving against the Cruel Father who seeks to enter my territory. But he has been overcome for now—there remains only to catch his scion, which is still running loose and doing damage.”
“Goddess!” Torin gasped. “That’s who I’m after now—the killer—the scion! I’m afraid he’s after Sky’lar!”
“So he is, but if you go after him wrongly prepared, you will only die with her,” the Goddess told him sternly. “Your usual weapons will not work on him. You cannot kill him—you can only cage him. You must think of what he is made of—and how best to imprison him.”
