Submitting to the Shadow (Kindred Tales #27) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,4

but she’d begun to wish she had invested in a pair of noise-cancelling earphones before coming up to the Mother Ship.

So, though she loved Meg to death and would always be grateful to her friend for offering her shelter when things got scary, she wasn’t sorry to be moving to her own place.

“Maybe you can get a suite in our same corridor,” Meg suggested brightly. “And Berik can go back down to Earth for your stuff—he won’t mind.”

“If he really doesn’t mind, that would be wonderful. I’ll have my Aunt Vicky pack it all up,” Sammi said. “I just…don’t feel safe down there right now.”

“Of course you don’t!” Meg said indignantly. “Down there all by yourself with some crazy stalker chasing you! I can’t believe the police weren’t more help!”

Sammi shrugged uneasily.

“They said he covered his tracks too well and without an identity, how could the court issue any kind of restraining order?”

“Still, somebody should have helped you,” Meg grumbled.

“They did. You did,” Sammi reminded her. “You brought me up here and let me stay with you and even got me a job.”

“No, you got the job. Which reminds me all over again—why aren’t you happier? I thought this was supposed to be a feather in your cap, working with the super-respected researcher and scientist, Commander Roark.”

“It will be. And I am happy—don’t get me wrong. It’s just…” Sammi bit her lip, not wanting to complain.

But Meg wasn’t having it.

“Just what? Come on, Sammi—spill. You know you always do.”

“Well, it’s just that Commander Roark is kind of…kind of strange,” Sammi admitted. “I mean, I shouldn’t say anything about him at all—he did give me the job,” she rushed on. “But he’s just…”

“He’s just weird, right?” Meg said so nonchalantly that Sammi stared at her.

“Well, yes. But how do you know about him?”

“I don’t,” Meg said. “But I do know that he’s a Shadow Twin.”

“A what?” Sammi shook her head. “Is that a special kind of Kindred or something?” Come to think of it, she had wondered what kind of Kindred Roark was. He didn’t have fangs like a Blood Kindred or golden eyes like a Beast Kindred or a twin like a Twin Kindred—at least none she’d seen hanging around.

“A shadow twin,” Meg repeated. “It’s what happens sometimes when a woman who’s mated to Twin Kindred gets pregnant. It’s a one in a million kind of thing but every once in a while instead of two babies, she’s carrying three.”

“So she has triplets instead of twins, right? What’s so strange about that?” Sammi asked.

“Nope—they’re not triplets. Two of them are regular Twin Kindred,” Meg explained. “But the third—the Shadow Twin—is kind of a loner. They don’t have a twin to bond with or help them along so it’s kind of rough for them. Also, they have really dramatic coloring.”

“Well, I noticed that at least,” Sammi remarked. “Roark has such black hair. And those pale eyes—I’ve never seen anything like them!”

“Well the thing is, they don’t start out that way,” Meg said. “They’re actually born with white hair and black eyes. Then when they hit puberty, it switches. Isn’t that strange?”

“Wow…” Sammi shook her head. “That is weird. So…is that the reason Commander Roark is so, uh, stern and demanding? Because he’s a Shadow Twin?”

“Ooo, stern and demanding? Sounds sexy!” Meg fluttered her eyelashes and put one hand to her cheek. “Oh, Commander Roark…what’s that you say? You want to chain me to the bed and spank me? Oh dear, I suppose if it’s part of my job, then I can’t refuse…”

“Stop it!” Half laughing/half serious, Sammi gave her friend a playful nudge. “It’s nothing like that!”

“Oh? What is it like, then?” Meg raised an eyebrow.

Sammi found herself strangely reluctant to disclose the details of the contract she’d agreed to sign—even to her best friend.

“He just wants my exclusive and undivided attention, that’s’ all,” she said uneasily. “He said there were going to be a lot of early mornings and late evenings—that kind of thing.”

“Well, that’s nothing new for you, though,” Meg objected. “I mean, I remember how hard it always was trying to pry you away from the lab! I could hardly ever get you to go out!”

“Because when I did, I wound up falling down drunk,” Sammi laughed.

Meg giggled.

“You never did have a head for any kind of alcohol. Remember that time back in grad school when you danced on the table and sang The Star Spangled Banner at One-eyed Joe’s?”

“Hey—you were right up there with me!” Sammi reminded