“N-no…” Cassie shook her head weakly, wanting to make him understand. “No, the pain…it’s finally going away. It doesn’t hurt anymore, Stone…or not as much.”
“I’ll give you more essence,” he said and bit her again. And then again and again. And again the cool rivers ran inside her, damping the last embers of pain. At last, he pulled back and looked into her face again. “Is it gone? All gone this time?”
“Yes.” Cassie nodded. “Thank you, Stone. I know…know you didn’t want to do that but thank you for doing it anyway. It hurt so much.”
His face looked stricken.
“I know I hurt you, sweetheart and I am so fucking sorry. If I could take the pain I caused you on myself instead, I would.”
“Better now,” Cassie assured him. “Really, Stone, don’t be upset—I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” he said fiercely. “But I’m going to take you back to the Mother Ship for healing.”
He started to untie the black leather thongs that held her in place, cursing under his breath when the knots gave him trouble.
“Can I help, Kindred?”
Looking up wearily, Cassie saw it was one of the guards—not the one who had slapped and injected her. Stone looked at her too, giving her a distinctly unfriendly glare.
“You helped us kill our captor,” the girl told him. “Many of us have been here for years, longing to be free from the Slimerian’s horrible penetration. Please, allow me to help you free your partner.”
Stone’s expression softened somewhat.
“All right, if you would. I cannot get these knots free.”
“Here—there is a trick to it.” The guard’s small fingers were nimble and quick and before she knew it, Cassie found herself untied and cradled in her partner’s strong arms.
“Thank you,” Stone said to the guard. “Your help is much appreciated.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” the guard asked him.
“That one.” Stone nodded down to what remained of The Beast. “I need to bring him—or it—back with me for trial, if it still lives. Can you carry it to my ship? I do not want to leave my partner.”
“Of course.” The guard hefted The Beast’s strange shape and tossed it easily over her shoulder. “Lead the way—I will bring him to your ship for you.”
“Thank you,” Stone said again. He looked down at Cassie, who looked up at him.
“Stone,” she whispered wearily. “Let’s go home.”
“Yes, sweetheart.” Gently, he kissed her forehead. “That’s exactly where we’re going.”
Fifty-Eight
Cassie was in and out of consciousness during the flight home. She had a vague memory of Stone buckling her in and covering her with a warm blanket to conceal her torn dress. She heard him calling to the Mother Ship to open the fold in space that would take them home and then she slipped into darkness.
When she woke, gentle hands were loading her onto some kind of floating gurney. She could feel it bobbing under her as she looked up and the Docking Bay of the Kindred Mother Ship swam into focus.
“We have two for the Med Center and one to be locked away in a secure cell,” she heard Stone’s deep voice saying.
“I see,” Commander Sylvan returned. “I can tell that your partner is one for the Med Center and the strange creature cuffed to your back seat must be The Beast, who we will, of course, put in a secure cell. But you look unharmed yourself, Commander Stonev.”
“I am the one you must lock away,” Stone said harshly. “I am the one who hurt Cassandra. As for The Beast, he must have medical treatment, if he still lives—I shot him with a blaster just as he was transforming.”
Cassie wanted to protest that it wasn’t true—that Stone wasn’t to blame. But when she tried to speak, her voice came out as a whisper and no one heard her. In fact, she couldn’t even hear herself.
“You hurt your partner?” Commander Sylvan sounded doubtful. “Why, Stone?”
“I did not want to,” Stone said stolidly. “Nevertheless, I did. She has also been injected with a serum made from the Amaryllis Fatalis plant. She needs a full exam including…” He swallowed hard and his voice went harsh and low. “Including a rape kit.”
This time, Cassie did manage to speak up.
“Stone, no!” she croaked, her voice harsh and painful from all the screaming she’d done earlier. “He didn’t,” she managed to get out, looking at Commander Sylvan. “Stone didn’t…”
“All right. All right, Officer Steel.” Commander Sylvan leaned over and took her hand in his. “It’s all right,” he told her soothingly. “Clearly a lot has happened to both of you and there are some…problems to be ironed out. But don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“Thank you,” Cassie managed to husk out. And then the blackness took her and she didn’t wake up again until much later.
“She’s been through a lot,” an unfamiliar female voice was saying. “Her blood work looks like chemical soup!”
“Poor thing!” another female voice answered, but this one sounded familiar. “I wonder what happened to her?”
“Kat?” Cassie croaked, opening her eyes, which felt like they had lead weights tied to them. “Kat, is that you?”
“Yes, doll—it’s me.” Kat sat on the side of her bed and took one of Cassie’s hands in both of her own. She peered anxiously into Cassie’s face. “Are you all right? My friend, Liv, here says it looks like you took a beating!”
“Not exactly a…a beating…” Cassie coughed harshly, her throat was still raw.
“Oh, here—I know your throat is a mess. Now that you’re awake, we can take care of it.” The owner of the unfamiliar voice who Kat had called, “Liv,” was a pretty woman with blonde hair and silvery-gray eyes. She held a cup with a metal straw in it up for Cassie to sip, which she did.
Something cool and sweet rushed into her mouth and the minute she swallowed, it seemed to coat her ragged throat with a healing chill. Also, she began to feel more awake and alert.
“Oh!” Cassie widened her eyes in surprise and took another sip. She finished the entire cup and when Liv pulled it away, she put a hand to her throat. “It doesn’t hurt anymore!”
“That’s Kindred medicine for you,” Liv said, smiling as she tapped the empty cup. “Isn’t it great? You know, I had so many cases of strep throat when I was a kid—I would have killed for this stuff!”
“I bet.” Cassie coughed experimentally and nodded. “Yeah—it’s really all better.”
“Well, that’s more than we can say for the rest of you,” Kat said, eyeing her critically. “What happened to you, doll? It’s clear somebody hit you in the face more than once and there are bruises all over your hips and thighs.”
“Whatever it is, you can tell us.” Liv patted her arm comfortingly and lowered her voice. “Your partner said that you needed a rape kit done? If that’s the case—”