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Brian had the grace to look at least a little ashamed at that point and had agreed to this one very basic ground rule. And that was when Andi had started looking for another job.
She’d found one aboard the Kindred Mother Ship. Though it hurt to leave her home, she couldn’t bear to be around Brian any longer, knowing that he was cheating on her so blatantly. She came back to Earth on the weekends and brought her daughter to stay with her in the Mother Ship as much as possible.
Lindsey stayed summers with her as well and though she was heartbroken over her parents separating, she was a good kid and Andi had never had any problems with her. Her grades had suffered for a single semester and then they had come back up after she realized that both her parents were still there for her, even if they weren’t in the same house anymore.
Of course, after about six months of trying out the “open marriage” concept, Brian had realized it was a bust. He must have thought he’d have women falling all over him but the coworkers he tried to proposition—presumably the ones that had been calling him a “silver fox”—had complained to the HR department of his company. The result had been a demotion and a formal reprimand.
Brian hadn’t had any luck on the dating aps either—apparently there were a lot more horny, middle-aged men out there than women who had any interest in dating them. The result was, he ended up getting a lot less sex than he had back when he and Andi were together.
As soon as he realized this, Brian had come running back, begging Andi’s forgiveness. But she had already moved on to a life without him and had no interest in going back. She’d told him so, in no uncertain terms, and had the bitter satisfaction of having the last word.
Andi was single now—and she intended to stay that way. She wasn’t going to give any other man a chance to hurt and betray her the way Brian had. As sunny as her personality was, that pain was one she couldn’t quite get over.
“So you finally did it—you severed your Bond,” Thrax remarked, drawing her back to the present.
“Yes, I did it. But it wasn’t really a Soul Bond—not like you Kindred form,” she pointed out. “It was a marriage and at least fifty percent of those end in divorce.”
Thrax shook his head.
“I still don’t understand how you humans can just leave your mates. I mean, I get not being able to form a Soul Bond—I can’t myself, since I’m a fucking Hybrid. But just leaving when you don’t like each other anymore—dissolving the whole relationship…” He shook his head.
“Well, it wasn’t my choice to dissolve it,” Andi pointed out. She’d told her partner the reasons behind her divorce—in a limited way. “He wanted to sleep around and I didn’t.”
“See, that’s something else I don’t understand. How can you leave the female the Goddess sent to you and try to find another female instead?” Thrax asked, frowning. “It would be like cutting off your hand or pulling out an eye and hoping you could find something better to take its place—which of course you couldn’t. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
“Well, tell that to my husband. My ex-husband,” Andi said dryly. “Look, it’s actually good news—I’m finally free of him.”
“How does Lindsey feel about it?” Thrax asked, frowning. He was extremely fond of Andi’s daughter and Lindsey liked him too. She told Andi once that having Thrax around was like having a “big, scary uncle—but in a good way.”
Andi had passed this on to her partner, who had roared with laughter. But despite his amusement, the big Hybrid took his role as her daughter’s “scary uncle” seriously. Once, when Lindsey was getting bullied, he had gone to her school and hunted down the group of jocks who were bothering her.
“I understand you’ve been saying some fucking nasty things to my niece, Lindsey Peterson” he’d growled, cracking his knuckles as he talked. “I know what disgusting things you’ve been saying and the way you’ve been harassing her. And I know all your names—Jonathon Brayton, Chris Tager, Greg Tanner.” He pointed to each of them in turn. (Andi knew all these details because one of the other students in Lindsey’s school had filmed the whole encounter and put it on social media.)
“We didn’t mess with her—much,” one of the bullies protested. He was obviously trying to be macho because he stepped up and stood toe-to-toe with Thrax and glared into the big Hybrid’s golden eyes—though he had to look up to do it.
“Well guess fucking what? Now you’re not going to mess with her at all.” Thrax had gripped the kid by his shirt and hoisted him up until his feet left the ground.
“Hey! Put me down, man!” the bully yelped.
“Not until I’m sure you understand me,” Thrax told him. “You’re not going to talk to Lindsey and you’re not going to talk about Lindsey and you’re sure as hell not going to touch Lindsey or even go anywhere near her. You’re not going to post about her on your pathetic little ‘Internet’ either. In fact, as far as you’re concerned, Lindsey is so far off limits she might as well be on the fucking moon! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
He roared the last words in the bully’s face and his deep, rumbling voice was so loud it hurt Andi’s ears—even though she was watching the whole thing on her phone.
The bully’s face crumpled and he flinched back as much as he could, though Thrax was still holding him up so his feet dangled off the floor. He was starting to cry and there was a big wet spot on the front of his jeans.
“All right, man—all right!” he’d exclaimed. “I get it—we won’t bother her any more—I swear!” The other boys had nodded and agreed, their faces pale.
“Good.” Thrax had set the bully on his feet and straightened his wrinkled shirt thoughtfully. “Because you know, the World Council has ruled that a Kindred warrior can’t be prosecuted for maiming or killing a male who hurts a female that’s under that warrior’s protection. Did you know that?”
“Yeah, sure m-man. I g-guess so,” the bully stammered.
“Fucking excellent. Because I consider Lindsey Peterson to be under my protection,” Thrax had continued. “In case you didn’t know.”
“I know now!” the bully exclaimed. “I won’t mess with her anymore—I swear it. None of us will!”
“That’s good to hear,” Thrax had rumbled. “So now, if we have an understanding, I’ll let you go. But if Lindsey tells me that any of you little assholes bothered her again—in any way—I’m coming back. And if you see me coming, you better fucking run, because you’ll be fucking sorry if I catch you!”
The three bullies had rushed off down the hallway and none of them had ever said a single word to or about Lindsey ever again. Of course, Lindsey had later complained that none of the boys in her school would say anything to her after that, but Andi couldn’t bring herself to be too upset about that.
