Page 42 of Wicked and Wild

Pushingaway from the mirror, she ran back to the main room of her apartment and grabbed for her purse.Shescrambled madly in it until she found what she was looking for—a thin, golden wire that was meant to fit over the temples.

Itwas aThink-me—an ingeniousKindreddevice that made telepathic communication possible.Hanna’sAuntLunahad given it to her, instructing her to use it in case of emergencies.Wellthiswas an emergency, all right—possibly the worst one she’d ever had!

Hannaclosed her eyes and concentrated, picturing her aunt as she always saw her.AuntLunahad platinum blonde hair which she dyed blue and purple and she only wore clothes that were black or white or a combination of the two.NowHannareached out to her aunt, sending out a plea for help.

Afterwhat felt like an eternity, she finally heardAuntLuna’ssoft, calm voice in her mind.

“Hanna, is that you?”

“Oh,AuntLuna!Please, you have to help me!”Lunasent to her.“Please,I’min so much trouble—Ican’t stay here onEarthone more night!Ineed to come see you—Ineed to get away.Please!”

“Mydarling girl, what ever is the matter?No—don’t try to tell me now,”AuntLunasent back.“Youjust come right to theHuman/KindredRelationsbuilding in downtownTampa.Youknow where it is, right?”

“Yes—SamandIsaw you andUncleBruinoff there for your honeymoon, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right.Socan you get there?”

“Yes,IthinkIhave enough gas,”Hannasent, thinking of her nearly empty fuel gage.Butshe didn’t care if it used up the last of her gas to get to theHKRbuilding—she would do anything she had to in order to escape the fate theDarkEntityhad planned for her.

“Good—you get there as fast as you can.UncleBruinandIare going to come and get you and take you back to theMotherShipwith us.Youcan tell me all about it there, once you’re safe.”

“Allright,”Hannaagreed.Earliershe’d been worried about disturbing her aunt’s domestic bliss, but now she was concerned with the fate of her immortal soul!Shehated to barge in on them, but she knew her aunt loved her and would do anything to help her.Andright now, she needed that more than anything—someone to care for her and keep her safe and protect her.

Someoneto drive away theDarkEntitywho stalked her.OhGod, she hoped thatAuntLunacould help her.Otherwise, what would she do?

5

WRAITH

Wraithdrifted around theDockingBay, looking for something to do.Well, not something todo,really, since he couldn’t actually interact with anything in the physical world.Butsomething or someone new toseewould be nice.

Anythingnew would be welcome.Inthe century since he’d been killed and left to wander theKindredMotherShipalone, sometimes he felt like he’d seen everything there was to see.Andnone of it mattered because he couldn’t change any of it.Everythingwas the same for him, no matter what.

Ofcourse his people, theKindred, had grown and changed in the time since his demise.He’dseen so many warriors come and go, always searching for their brides.Andthen, about ten or twelve years ago, something new had happened—theMotherShiphad come to protect a small, blue and white planet calledEarth.

Wraithwished he could go explore theEarth—its inhabitants were certainly interesting.Buthe was stuck aboard theMotherShip.Everytime he tried to seat himself on a shuttle that was about to take off, he found himself sucked through the walls and drifting just above the floor of theDockingBay, back aboard the place where he had died, as usual.

Eventuallyhe had stopped trying, but he still liked to go and see the new people who arrived on a daily basis.Usuallythe new arrivals were brides fromEarth, coming to do theirClaimingPeriodwith theKindredwarrior who had called them.TheEarthfemales were beautiful inWraith’sopinion—they came in so many lovely shades and shapes and a lot of them wereElites, which he loved.

Sometimeshe saw uncertainty on their faces when they came to meet their new mates, but mostly it was joy and excitement.Itwas nice to watch the way the new brides and their warriors reacted to each other, even thoughWraithknew he would never have a bride himself.

Noone saw him watching, of course.Theylooked right through him.Sometimestheywalkedright through him if he didn’t get out of the way fast enough.Thatresulted in a cold shiver for them and an uneasy feeling of drifting apart for him, soWraithtried to avoid it.

Hewasn’t expecting anything different today, but he knew a shuttle full of new brides was expected in about an hour and he liked to see them as they first stepped off the ship.Sohe was surprised when an unexpected shuttle came through theAtmosphereBarrierand landed in theDockingBay.Thiscouldn’t be the brides—it was too early.Sowho was in the shuttle?

Wraithdrifted closer to look.Hewished sometimes that he could just walk—he would have paid a million credits to feel his boots make solid contact with the metal floor of theMotherShipagain.Butthat was impossible—he couldn’t make contact with anything or anyone.Indeath, he was doomed to be nothing but an observer.

Ashe watched, the door of the shuttle opened and the steps unfolded.Firstout wasCommanderBruin, a middle-agedBeastKindredwho was a member of theHighCouncil.Wraithapproved of him—he often sat in onHighCouncilmeetings, just to have something to do, and he thought the male had solid judgment.

Nextout of the shuttle wasBruin’smate, a middle-agedEarthfemale who went by the name ofLuna,Wraithbelieved.Shewas a lovely, if somewhat enigmatic woman and it was clear thatBruinwas devoted to her.Shewas wearing a black and white outfit as always, since those were the only colors she ever dressed in.She—

Buthis stream of thought was cut off when he saw the third and final passenger coming out of the shuttle.

“Gods!” he muttered hoarsely—though no one could hear his voice but him.Still, he couldn’t help the exclamation.

Thefinal passenger was a human female who looked to be a little younger thanLuna.Shewas anElite—a female theGoddesshad blessed with extra full curves—and she wasbeautiful.

Long, golden brown hair flowed in waves down her back and her large, lovely eyes looked silvery-green—though that might have been just because they were filled with tears.

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