“Water is…all I want,” Gaze panted, looking at her appealingly. “And…give some to my…brother too. Please?”
“Of course.”
Turning, as well as she was able with the dark Kindred’s head in her lap, Lexi dug out a couple of bottles of crystal-pure water and handed one to Gaze.
“Thank you.” He took it gratefully, pulled out the stopper at the neck of the bottle, and drained the entire thing in several long swallows. When he finished, he swiped the back of his hand over his mouth and nodded. “That’s good! I’ve never tasted water so pure before.”
“Yes, it cost a ridiculous amount because it’s supposedly distilled from the meltings of a holy glacier on some exotic moon somewhere in the Ha’gobath system,” Lexi told him distractedly. She had removed the stopper from her own bottle and was trying to get some of the water between the dark Kindred’s lips without spilling it everywhere.
“I guess I don’t dare ask how much it cost—especially after the price you paid for us back there,” Gaze said cautiously. “I have to tell you, Mistress, that it’s probably going to take Bound and me some time to pay you back. We have our own shipping business but we don’t have the kind of credit you seem to have.”
“It’s Alexa, not Mistress,” Lexi told him crisply. “And don’t worry about how much I paid for you—you can’t put a price on saving a life.”
“That’s very generous of you,” Gaze told her. “I never thought when I prayed to the Goddess for help that she’d send Bound and me such a beautiful Elite to save us,” he added in a low voice.
“No compliments of a sexual nature, please,” Lexi told him, though she couldn’t help feeling her cheeks get a bit warm with his praise. Not that she cared if a male thought she was beautiful—that was ridiculous, of course. “I’m from Zetta Prime—we don’t believe in females allowing themselves to be penetrated by males,” she told him, lifting her chin. “So while I’m willing to help you, I don’t appreciate remarks on my looks—that kind of talk is inappropriate between us—between any male and female.”
“Ah, I see.” He nodded gravely. “If I have offended you, then I am sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” Lexi told him. “Now, why won’t he open his mouth?” she muttered to herself. She was still trying to get the Dark Kindred in her lap to accept some water. He was still alive—still breathing—she could feel that. But his lips stayed stubbornly closed. “Come on,” she muttered, still trying to put the bottle between his lips. “Come on now…”
Suddenly the big Kindred’s eyes opened. They were green, Lexi saw, as she looked down into them. The deep, forest green of an evergreen grove at dusk. Those green eyes focused on her and a dreamy expression came over the big Kindred’s face.
“Angel,” he muttered hoarsely, looking up at Lexi. “The Goddess sent an angel. So…fuckin’…beautiful.”
“No, no, Brother,” Gaze told him quickly. “This is the Lady Alexa—not an angel. And she doesn’t wish us to compliment her on her beauty!”
A stubborn look came over the Dark Kindred’s face.
“Angel,” he insisted. “Nearly fuckin’ dead—must be an angel!”
“I’m not an angel and we’re going to get you some medical attention,” Lexi told him firmly—though where she was going to do that, she didn’t know.
There was certainly no reputable hospital here on Yonnie Six that admitted males as patients. Supposedly there was a secret clinic that helped wounded males somewhere in Opulex—run by a former Mistress, or so Lexi had heard. But no one would tell her where it was and she didn’t even know if it really existed.
“Angel,” Bound muttered again, gazing up at her with those distractingly beautiful forest green eyes. He had very masculine features—a straight nose and a strong jaw that was evident under his neatly clipped black beard. But his lashes were surprisingly long and dark for a male, making his eyes hard to look away from.
Lexi forced herself to look away, though.
“You’re just thirsty,” she told him, frowning, though her heart fluttered strangely in her chest at the way he was looking at her. Trying to ignore the unfamiliar sensation, she offered him the bottle again. “Here—drink.”
She put the bottle between his lips and this time Bound swallowed thirstily. He drank the whole bottle and when he finished, he made a noise of satisfaction—“Ahhhh!”
But when he opened his mouth to sigh, Lexi saw something that made her breath catch in her throat. Something that made her blood run cold and brought back all the strange and ominous things Mistress Crueltongue had been hinting at.
The big Kindred had fangs.
EIGHT
“What…what are those?” Lexi peered at the double set of fangs on either side of the dark Kindred’s strong, white teeth. They were placed just where a regular male would have his canine teeth, she thought. “What’s wrong with his teeth?” she demanded, looking up at Gaze, who had a troubled expression on his face.