That thought made her a little uneasy but Kara shoved the feeling away. It was probably only dangerous for male Blood Kindred and since she was female it should be no problem.
She hoped.
“Kara?” Kaleb was looking at her worriedly and she realized she’d taken too long to answer.
“I’m…moving out for a little while,” she said, which was technically true. “It’s time, you know?”
“I’ve been thinking that too,” Kaleb admitted in a low voice. “So, do you want to get a suite together?”
“Oh, uh…” Kara swallowed hard. She ought to have anticipated that her twin would make such an offer. Most sisters and brothers wouldn’t care to live together but Kaleb was more than her brother—he was her best friend and closest confidant.
“Kara?” he asked again, frowning.
“I’m sorry,” she said as gently as she could. “But…I think I want my own space for a little while. Do you understand, brother?”
“Oh…oh, yes of course. I just thought…” Kaleb shook his head. “Well, I’ll help you move your stuff if you want,” he said, a bit stiffly.
“Not that much to move,” Kara said brightly. “You know all the suites come fully furnished. And I’ve never been much of a clothes horse like Ziza.”
Their second cousin was a fashion icon—with her creamy brown skin and gold-on-black eyes she was a striking beauty and she made the most of it.
No one ever says Ziza is deformed or strange, Kara thought, suppressing a surge of resentment. Her eyes are way more visible than my fangs but nobody ever makes fun of her.
Of course, Ziza had a natural flair that seemed to carry her through life. And she had an added advantage—her father wasn’t the head of the Kindred High Council. Plus, she liked being the center of attention.
Whereas I just want to blend into the crowd, Kara thought ruefully. Well, soon enough she would. She’d be on her way to Tranq Prime to take care of her pesky fangs once and for all.
“Well…okay, I guess.” Kaleb’s face, which still looked worried and uncertain, brought Kara back to the present.
“Love you, brother,” she said and gave him another hug and a swift peck on the cheek. “But now I have to pack. Oh, and…” She bit her lip. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
He gave a confused-sounding laugh.
“You sound like you’re moving to a different galaxy, not just half-way across the Mother Ship.”
“No, of course not,” Kara hastily denied, but she couldn’t meet her twin’s eyes while she lied. “I’ll just…miss living close to you and Mom and Dad—that’s all. But…it’s time I left.” She took a deep breath. “Past time. You know?”
“I know. You take care of yourself too then, Kare-kare,” he murmured, squeezing her tight. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you. I love you; you know that—right?”
“Of course I do. I love you too.” Kara squeezed him back and then extracted herself from his embrace. She had to hurry if she was going to be ready to go when the cadre of trader ships left for Tranq Prime.
“See you later, brother,” she said, smiling wide enough to show her fangs. Next time he saw her, they would be normal sized and regular-looking, she was certain. Next time Kaleb saw her, she would be a whole different person.
She had no idea how right she was or how scary her journey to “normal” was going to be.
Six
“All ships, you are cleared for take off. The Fold is open. Repeat, the Fold is open and you are cleared for take off,” came the voice of the Flight Controller from her ship’s com.
“That’s my cue,” Kara muttered to herself. Making certain she stayed in the center of the cloud of trade ships as they lifted off en mass, she pulled on the steering yoke, bringing the little shuttle smoothly up to hover in midair.
To her left, she caught a glimpse of a big black ship with red markings—Raak’s vessel. She’d seen him boarding it as she was choosing a shuttle to borrow and had been immediately tempted to go tell him she was also going to Tranq Prime. But two things stopped her.
First, she didn’t want to seem desperate. What if Raak thought she was only going to Tranq Prime because he was going there as well? What if he thought she was throwing herself at him when they barely knew each other? Kara didn’t want the big warrior to think she was some kind of stalker chick, crazy to be with him for life when they’d only had a few hours together.
Her dignity demanded that she keep her distance so no matter how fiercely her fangs throbbed when she saw his muscular form, she kept quiet and stayed to the shadows so he wouldn’t see her.
The second reason she didn’t seek Raak out was because she’d told Kaleb that this time she was taking away from her family was for her—and that was absolutely true.
She was a grown woman who still lived in her parents’ house, was still a virgin, had never had a long-term relationship, and had never been on any kind of adventure. When she thought about it, Kara decided that was kind of pathetic. She listened to her mother and her Aunt Liv and Aunt Kat and Aunt Lauren talk about the amazing things they had done when they were Kara’s age. Why, Aunt Kat and Aunt Lauren had actually met for the first time on the Scourge home world! And her own mother had been to First World and Tranq Prime and…well, the list went on and on.
Kara had never been anyplace but the Mother Ship and Earth, which was boringly tame compared to some of the
