Nightshine: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl

home.”
    Samuel knew just enough Spanish to translate the name of the villa. “The Seventh House.”
    “That’s not all he said.” Her voice went flat as she told him the rest.
    “So if we follow the rules, become lovers, and don’t attempt to escape, we will want for nothing.” Sam seemed bemused by the bizarre demands. “May I ask you a personal question?”
    She folded her arms. “I don’t care what the jerk said or how many pearls he puts in my hair; I’m not sleeping with you.”
    “I never presumed that you would.” He glanced down at her arms. “Charlotte, by any chance were you adopted as a child?”
    Of all the things he could have asked her. “This is not the time to play ‘Let’s Get to Know Each Other.’ ”
    He gave her a direct look. “Answer me, please. It’s rather important.”
    “No, I wasn’t adopted.” Honesty made her add, “Not legally, anyway. I was abandoned when I was little. An older couple found me and took me in.”
    “I know this is none of my business,” he said carefully, “but can you tell me how you came to be with your new family?”
    She didn’t have to tell him what had happened before she’d met the Marenas. “I was hungry, and my parents caught me in their backyard stealing tomatoes and peppers from their little vegetable garden. They didn’t have any family or kids, so they took me in and pretended I was theirs. They’d just moved to San Francisco, so none of the neighbors questioned it.”
    He nodded. “Why didn’t they turn you over to the police?”
    “At the time, INS was having one of their crackdown sweeps through the city. Mama thought I might be a migrant kid, and was afraid I’d be deported and end up in a Mexican border orphanage.” She looked down and nudged a piece of conch shell with her toe. “They didn’t have much, but they spent every penny they had to get me papers and stuff so I could stay with them and go to school.”
    “Where are they now?”
    “Planting tomatoes and peppers in heaven, I hope. Papa died of a massive stroke my second year of college.” She took in a deep breath. “Mama’s heart gave out a few months later.”
    “I’m so sorry.” His hand moved up to her shoulder. “I have one last question, and then I’ll stop prying, all right?”
    When she nodded, he asked, “When your parents found you in their garden, you had been tattooed, hadn’t you?”
    She felt sick. “Yeah.”
    “May I see it?”
    She stepped back until she broke the contact between them and looked at the body ink curling over his collarbones. “It’s not as pretty as yours.” She shrugged off the white lace wrap and turned her back on him, showing him the dark purple oval and the six blunt triangles inked on her shoulder. “Most people think it’s a lopsided sun.”
    “It’s a turtle.” He traced the center oval with his fingertip. “It’s actually quite adorable.”
    “Glad you like it.” She pulled on her shirt and faced him. “Now tell me how you knew that I’ve had it since I was a kid.”
    “We are not random strangers abducted purely by chance,” he said. “I believe we were deliberately targeted, although I don’t know how he could have known where we would be.” He saw her confusion. “My parents also adopted me, Charlotte.”
    “And when your parents got you, you had that bird tattoo on your chest.” Suddenly it all made sense. “Oh, no.”
    “Don’t be afraid.” He tried to put his arm around her shoulders.
    She shook her head, backing away from him. “He knew what we are.” Wildly she looked around. “They’ll be coming for us. We have to find a place to hide.” Her stomach surged, and she stumbled away, falling to her knees as she heaved.
    Sam knelt beside her and pulled back her hair, bracing her with his other arm as she emptied her stomach into the water. When the last of her heaving subsided, he dampened the hem of his shirt and used it to wipe her mouth. “It’s all right, my