Unbondable(Kindred Birthright #1) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,16

“Now you rub that on your fangs twice a day for two weeks and they should shrink back down to the size of normal teeth.”

“And the…urges? The way I want to bite someone so badly?” Kara imagined herself asking.

“Why, the medicine will take care of those,” the imaginary physician said, smiling. In Kara’s daydream she was a kindly, gray haired old lady. “You won’t have to worry about a thing—you’ll be perfectly normal in just a little while.”

“Oh thank you—thank you!” Kara imagined herself hugging her and thanking her over and over, tears of gratitude in her eyes. “You’ve changed my life forever,” she would say.

And the kindly gray-haired physician would smile and tell her to go have a beautiful, normal life and everything would be all right.

The vision was so strong in her head that Kara wasn’t even looking where she was going. She nearly ran head-long into Kaleb, who was standing in the hallway directly between their two rooms.

“Oof!” she gasped as she careened into her twin brother’s broad chest.

“Hey, watch where you’re going.” Kaleb grabbed her by her upper arms to steady her. “Where are you going anyway? Did the talk with Dad go that badly?”

“No.” Kara shook her head. “No, he was mostly understanding.”

“Then why the rush?” He frowned. “I watched you—you ran out of his office like your hair was on fire and your ass was catching.”

It was an expression they’d heard from their Aunt Kat on occasion and it usually cracked Kara up. This time, however, she could only muster a small smile.

“I just…wanted to get away. He…” She cleared her throat. “Dad wanted to talk to me about my fangs. About how they give you…” Her voice dropped. “Urges.”

“Oh…” Kaleb let go of her, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “He had that talk with me too—but years ago.”

“Yeah, well…he seemed to think it was long overdue for me.”

“So…um…” Kaleb didn’t seem to know what to say. Looking up at her twin, Kara realized that if she followed her plans, she would be leaving him for the first time. They had never been apart before—not even for a day. And now she would be gone for who knew how long when she left for Tranq Prime.

On impulse, she hugged him.

“Hey…” Kaleb’s arms came around her and he squeezed back uncertainly. “What’s that for?”

“Because I love you. And…” Kara cleared her throat. “And I’ll miss you.”

“Miss me? What do you mean?” Kaleb’s green eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Where are you going? You’re not chasing after that Unbondable are you?”

“No, this has nothing to do with Raak,” Kara said firmly. “It has to do with me—something I have to do for myself.”

“What?” Kaleb sounded mystified. “What do you have to do?”

Kara hesitated for a moment—should she tell him? Normally she could always trust Kaleb to keep her secrets but she knew that if he thought she was in danger; her twin would tell her father and mother for no other reason than to keep her safe. And her father had said that the treatment on Tranq Prime was dangerous.

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.