Free Pursued by Evangeline Anderson

her, not quite touching her but close enough that Elise could feel the heat of his big body against her back. It was both a comforting and somehow unnerving sensation. Ever since their conversation aboard his ship she was award of strange, new feelings toward him. Feelings she’d never expected to have for any man. Not since…
    No, put it in the vault. She pictured the familiar old-timey bank-vault door closing tightly and the tumblers falling into place with a definite click . There. Much better. Except… it worried her that it was no longer so easy to dismiss or hide her darker thoughts and memories. More and more often they seemed to be slipping through the once-impenetrable barrier she’d built in her mind and coming to the surface, like the corpses of murder victims floating to the top of a clouded, murky lake. Still, there was nothing she could do but keep suppressing them, keep putting them back in the vault when they escaped.
    “…has to do with your being in stasis for an extended time with no breaks,” Sylvan said and Elise realized he was talking to her and she’d missed the first part of his statement.
    “I’m sorry, what?” she asked uncertainly.
    “It’s called the hunger ,” Sylvan said. “And it’s part of stasis sickness. You see, when you’re in stasis too long without a break, your soul’s link to your physical body can become weak and tenuous—”
    “Excuse me,” she interrupted him. “Your soul? Do Kindred believe in that? I mean, because we humans aren’t really sure such a thing even exists.”
    “The soul or spirit is a very real part of you,” the Kindred doctor said seriously. “It’s what allows you to bond to another person and it’s the basis of the male/female bond between a Kindred warrior and his mate. Oh, yes, we definitely believe in it.”
    “All right.” She nodded skeptically. “So you’re saying my soul detached from my body?”
    “Almost,” Sylvan said. “It was in the process of detaching both times you were awakened from stasis. The first time, Merrick put you back into the stasis tube just in time. The second time, he picked you up and held you.”
    “Damn right I did,” Merrick growled. “It was what she needed—I could tell.”
    “You’re right,” Sylvan said seriously. “If you hadn’t picked Elise up just at that time, her soul might have detached completely and she would have died. Her body wasn’t strong enough to hold it here in the physical realm.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, although you saved her life, your actions have certain…side effects.”
    “Side effects? What do you mean?” Elise asked.
    “The long time in stasis had weakened you physically and spiritually—your soul was lost, seeking an anchor,” Sylvan began, obviously choosing his words carefully. “When Merrick picked you up, your soul found him and clung to him, forming an artificial bond—one that wouldn’t naturally occur between the two of you.”
    A cold dread crept over Elise’s heart. “An artificial bond? What exactly does that mean?”
    Sylvan frowned. “Your soul has put down roots into Merrick’s, causing an instant reciprocal relationship to develop. You need to be near him—need to touch him in order to stay healthy and well. You crave his presence and physical contact with him—which is the basis of the hunger I told you about. Merrick, in turn, can sense your well-being or illness through the artificial link between you. He feels your distress and it forces him to come to you and try to ease your pain.”
    “So…” Elise swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. “So you’re saying that everything I’ve been feeling, all these emotions I’ve been having for Merrick and all the feelings he’s been having for me…they’re all fake? Just a part of this…this artificial bond we somehow formed?”
    The Kindred doctor gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid so.”
    “Bullshit!” Merrick burst out angrily.