Chained (Brides of the Kindred) by Evangeline Anderson Page A

admit, I was setting your slave free. But the way you were
treating him—”
    “Is nothing to what I’m going to do to you.” Without warning, Lady Pope’nose strode forward and slapped her hard, across
the face. “How dare you?” she hissed. “How dare you touch another
woman’s slave?”
    Maggie opened her mouth to answer—although
she had no idea what she was going to say—but just then she became aware of a
low, rumbling sound in the room. Looking to one side, she saw it was Kor—he was growling. Even worse, his formerly pale blue eyes were glowing a hot,
burning red.
    What the hell? What’s
going on with him?
    “Leave her the fuck alone. If you touch her again, you die.” Kor’s voice was deep
and menacing, filled with the warning of a wild beast about to attack.
    “Shut your mouth, slave—I’ll deal with you
later,” Lady Pope’Nose snapped dismissively. Apparently she was so focused on
Maggie she hadn’t noticed either his eyes or the fact that his collar was gone.
Pointing a finger at him while still looking at Maggie she said, “Trab!”
    “That doesn’t work on me.” Kor took a step
toward his former mistress, towering over her. “Not anymore.”
    “What?” She finally looked at him and when
she did, her eyes went wide. “You fool,” she gasped at Maggie. “You removed
both his pain collar and his inhibitor? Do you have any idea what you’ve
done? Any idea of how dangerous he is? He’ll kill us both!”
    “No.” Kor’s deep voice was deceptively
mild but his eyes were burning again, hotter and redder than ever as he stared
at Lady Pope’nose. “Just you, my lady,” he said to her.
    “Kor, what—” Maggie began but just then a
beam of pure red energy shot from both his eyes.
    Acting without thinking, Maggie pushed
Lady Pope’nose aside just in time. The skinny Yonnite sprawled on the floor and
Maggie fell on top of her.
    “What is wrong with you? Get off me!”
sputtered Pope’nose.
    “In a minute,” Maggie said distractedly.
She was busy looking back. On the spot where Lady Pope’nose had been standing,
there was a deep hole carved into the rock. It looked like someone had taken a
laser and blasted a trench in the solid stone. “My God,” she whispered, staring
up at Kor. Maybe Lady Pope’nose was right about him after all. He wasn’t just
big and strong and violent—he had freaking laser beams for eyes.
    “Maggie…” He took a step toward her. His
eyes had gone back to normal but she shrunk back anyway. “Maggie, what the
hell?” He shook his head. “You know that wasn’t meant for you. I’m not even
sure where it came from.”
    “It came from your eyes, you
monster!” Lady Pope’nose spat helpfully. “I swear if I had known how truly
dangerous and demented you are I would have let them kill you!”
    “You nearly did kill me with your constant
torture and your fucking verium,” he growled and to Maggie’s horror, his eyes
were glowing again.
    “I should have killed you,” Lady
Pope’nose proclaimed. “All I can say is that I overpaid for you by quite a
lot!”
    “Shut up!” Maggie hissed at her,
elbowing her in her boney side. “You’re not helping yourself here—can’t you see
he’s getting mad again?”
    Indeed, Kor’s eyes were glowing so
brightly they seemed to light up the dim room. “Maggie,” he growled. “Step away
from this murderous bitch. It’s time she got what she deserved.”
    “No!” Maggie lifted her chin and stayed
where she was. “No,” she repeated.
“She may be a sadistic witch but I don’t believe in the death penalty. And
besides, I’m already committing Grand Theft Slave—I don’t need to add murder to
my list of crimes!”
    “You don’t know the things she’s done. The
slaves she’s tortured and killed.” His voice was a low, menacing growl.
    Maggie looked at him, trying not to let
the fear show in her face or shake her voice. “You know, that’s pretty much
what she said about you. But I came