"Merrill, don't do this to me."
"You saw all of this, didn’t you? Only you knew I’d fight you if Lissa was mine and you treated her this way."
"I don’t want to lose what we have. We’ve been brothers all these years," Griffin begged.
"Griffin, how would you feel if that were Wyatt? Or Amara?" Merrill flung a hand toward the hospital bed. "Or do Lissa and your granddaughters mean so little to you?" Merrill went to the bed and lightly brushed fingers against one of Lissa's hands. "It's Daddy Merrill, sweetheart," he whispered. "Everything is going to be all right." Merrill turned back to Griffin. "If you had told me brother, when it was time, it would have been easy enough for me to come and make the turn instead of that half-wit rogue, Sergio."
Griffin sat down heavily in the only chair inside the room and wiped his face with a hand. "Things wouldn't have turned out the same, would they, Griffin?" Belen appeared inside the room. "Our Lissa still had to be knocked around and Merrill, as her true sire and lover would never have allowed it. I'm not arguing with the outcome, only the methods," Belen held up a hand. "Don't you think it's time for a little support from her father?"
"She hates me," Griffin muttered. "I brought harm to her and to Roff."
"Yes—the innocent in all this," Belen nodded at the mention of Roff's name. "It is one thing to use your daughter and granddaughters, but another to deliberately bring harm to such as Roff, or his son. You took his memories, Griffin, and now his son is a stranger to him. What do you think your punishment should be?" Griffin lifted his face to the Nameless One.
"I don't know," Griffin turned away—he couldn't face the accusation in Belen's eyes.
"I am taking Wyatt's immortality," Belen said. "That is your punishment. If he gains it back, he will have to earn it."
"No," Griffin whispered as Belen disappeared.
Chapter 10
Henri, Gervais, Robert and Albert stood before me. "Thank you for coming," I said. "We have three rogues out there somewhere, and I intend to track them down. I'd like your help doing it." I'd sent for the misters and mindspeakers, who now worked for Flavio in the city guard. "If you agree to go," I told Henri and Gervais, "I now have the ability to pass on my misting talents—of turning to mist immediately. Would you like that?" It still took two minutes for them to go to mist, so it remained a weapon of stealth for them. I could change that, if I wanted.
"Lissa, that would be extraordinary and more than we deserve," Henri offered a polite bow.
"You know not to do that," I gave him the best smile I could, although it felt weak and watery. I was determined to get the last of Davan's killers, and doing something about it myself was probably better than sitting on top of my palace dome and crying my eyes out. "I want Robert and Albert with me," I said. "But I want you two to go with me as mist. Take those bastards out as quickly as you can—you'll be able to form hands and claws only, if you want."
"I'm ready," Gervais agreed immediately. Henri had already decided. I put my hands on both of them; afterward they experimented, turning to mist in a blink and then coming back to corporeality.
"That worked," I patted their shoulders. "Let's go, before my palace guard and my army find out what we're doing." I folded them away.
When we found them, the three rogues had almost reached Casino City. They were bent on grabbing hostages and causing general mayhem as they attempted to get away from Le-Ath Veronis. They were about to get a surprise. Lissia was the only city on Le-Ath Veronis surrounded by a wall; there was no wall around Casino City and our three rogues were about to reach the shops and eateries on the outskirts.
It was an easy place to grab hostages, I knew, and if they touched any of my comesuli, I'd kill them myself. I didn't have to, though; we were hovering over them as mist. I dropped Robert and Albert first, and as soon as they started fighting with the rogues, I released my misters, who performed above expectations. The rogues never expected to have their heads removed from behind while Robert and Albert distracted them by attacking in a frontal assault.
"Nice work," I commended my small vampire army, appearing beside them. Robert had a torn sleeve, but that was all. The dead vampires, now turning to ash, hadn't had much fighting experience, I could tell.
"Lissa, would you like to explain to us exactly what it is that you're doing?" Gavin demanded. Gavin, Tony, Winkler, Drake and Drew showed up after half a minute had passed. While they were busy glaring at me, Garde, Karzac and Erland arrived. I think Connegar and Reemagar came in after that just to referee, if needed. Gavin looked angry enough to chew nails and spit tacks, so I was glad to have Larentii backup. I'd sneaked out of the palace without telling anyone so I could track the rogues. I didn't want multiple arguments with my mates, first.
"Robert and Albert took care of things initially, allowing Henri and Gervaise to take heads from behind," I said. "I was never involved." Gavin, arms crossed tightly over his chest, wasn't convinced.
"There's something else," Erland said. "You must come back to the palace with us immediately."
"What is it?" I turned to him. Erland looked worried.
"Lissy, your dad and stepmother are at the palace, and your stepmother is about to have a meltdown," Tony said. "That's the only reason we started looking for you, and we had to ask Reemagar to track you down since you went AWOL and we couldn't find you."
"Oh, lord, what's wrong?" I asked, beginning to get shivery and sick to my stomach.
"You must come, little mate," Connegar said. "It concerns your brother."
"Oh, no," I muttered, too terrified to Look.
"Kiarra, Adam, Merrill, Pheligar, Flavio and Kyler have also come, and Cleo is on her way with Rhett and Harvel, I think," Winkler added. Well, this was looking worse by the minute.
"Let's go," I said, trying to keep the quaver from my voice. "Robert, Albert, thank you. Same to you, Henri and Gervaise." I wanted them to know how much I appreciated their help. I think the Larentii folded us back to the palace. I nearly breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Wyatt in Amara's arms, but that relief was a bit premature. Wylend folded in and he wasn't happy, I could tell that right away.
"What the blazes do you mean, his immortality has been removed?" Wylend thundered. Oh, dear God.
"Belen handed out punishment for Griffin's premeditated mistreatment of Roff and Toff," Kiarra was at my side immediately.
"There is only one way out of this," Belen appeared in a flash of light. He had everybody's attention immediately. Thurlow had slipped in, and I hadn't seen him enter the room in a conventional way. Using a bit of his power, now, I suspected.
"And what is that?" Wylend forced himself to be respectful to Belen. Belen was the one who'd removed his heir's immortality, after all.
"Lissa has the power to restore Wyatt's immortality or allow the sentence to go forward," Belen said. "If the sentence is allowed to stand, Wyatt will either have to earn his immortality or die after a normal lifespan. If an accident does not take him first."
I was looking from my father to Amara to Belen. Griffin refused to meet my gaze; Amara's dark eyes were begging me silently for a reprieve. "Get Roff for me, please," I sighed. A few minutes passed while Winkler went to fetch Roff.
"Roff, honey," I said when he came to stand beside me, "I need your help. Belen here removed Wyatt's immortality, as Griffin's punishment for taking your memories and for setting Toff up to be kidnapped. Belen says I have the power to restore Wyatt's immortality, if I want. Otherwise, he'll either have to earn the immortality back or die as he normally would."
Roff was now staring at Griffin, his face set. He was learning that his memories had been deliberately removed, rather than having lost them after the attempts on his life. "You took away the memories of my children, and my love for Lissa," Roff rustled his wings. He was beautiful and angry at the same moment.
"I have no excuse," Griffin muttered. He wasn't able to look at Roff. Amara wept and Wyatt began to snuffle.
"My anger is directed at
you, father of Lissa. You have not treated your child well at all. Have you?" Roff was coming into his own—I hadn't failed to see it these past few weeks. Amara sobbed. "I have no anger for your mate, or your youngest child," Roff went on. "And it appears that they stand to be harmed the most by this. If Lissa wishes, I will not stop her from reversing the judgment." Roff had gone to stand in front of Griffin, handing my father a hard stare.
"Whatever she decides, Griffin," Merrill spoke up, "our relationship as it was is at an end." I blinked at Merrill—he was handing out a judgment of his own, it appeared. His handsome face was set and he was angry. "I thought of you as a brother for so long. Thought you were providing assistance or favors because you cared for me in that way. I see now it was all a lie." Merrill disappeared in a blink.
The silence that came after Merrill's announcement was profound. Griffin hung his head—I knew he truly thought of Merrill as a brother and somehow, he'd managed to fuck that up, too.
"Well, then," I said. "Well." I glanced at Thurlow, who stood against a back wall. Rigo had come in quietly and now leaned against a wall nearby. Garde, Shadow and Kifirin had also come. "Before I give my decision, I want to talk about pain," I sighed, turning back to Griffin. "Pain we inflict on others or they inflict on us, intentionally or not. I think all of us here have had a little of that, from time to time. Some more than others."
I focused for a moment on my nieces, Cleo and Kyler. Kyler nodded slightly, as did Cleo. "I think I can speak for my nieces as well as myself, regarding this matter," I went on. "Whenever I've seen a child suffer, after suffering myself, well, I always wanted to take that suffering away. Speaking from experience, I know just how devastating it can be. When I was small and lying in my bed at night, in pain after being beaten by a jealous, sadistic man, I wished that someone would come and take me away from him. My mother was too weak and frightened to do it, so she and I both suffered. Griffin," I turned to my father. He looked up at me, finally.
"Do not make me regret doing this. Bear in mind that I'm doing this mostly for Wyatt and Amara. Least of all for you. Even though you've walked away from me, taken from me and mistreated those I love, you are still my father and I can't bear to see you suffer." I dropped my corporeal body and gathered power around me, pulling it in until I was shining too brightly even for my overly large ballroom to contain. I loosed my power, then, giving Wyatt back what had been taken away. I could have been vindictive and made Griffin suffer for his interference. I'd had enough of suffering, I think. I was learning, too. Griffin might not be able to blindside me again. Ever.
Amara was still crying, but these were tears of joy, now. Griffin had the oddest look on his face but no words, for either Roff or me. "Honey, let's get out of here," I took Roff's hand and folded away.
* * *
"Brother, your daughter is better than you," Jeral informed Griffin and folded away.
"My heir is immortal again?" Wylend wanted to make sure and attempted to lift Wyatt from Amara's arms. She allowed it. Wylend checked the baby over himself, grunting with satisfaction after a few moments.
Belen came to stand before Griffin. "I am still passing judgment upon you," he informed Griffin. "From this time forward, you will be unable to Look into Wyatt's future. You are blinded to his life path. I do this in retribution for your treatment of Lissa and Roff. As for Toff, you must find a way to compensate him. I will be watching and waiting to make sure this is accomplished. If you have not discovered it for yourself, yet, know now that your daughter will sacrifice herself before she will sacrifice any other. But you should know that about her already. As any father should." Belen folded away.
* * *
"Lissa, where are we?" Roff hadn't ever been to the cemetery where Don's body was buried. He'd been close by—in Oklahoma City, but never here.
"This is where my first husband was buried," I said, leading him toward Don's grave. I was shocked to find not only that my name was listed on the other side of the double headstone, but a date of death as well; it corresponded to the day Griffin had taken me into the future. I learned that Winkler, Weldon and Bill Jenkins had done this. On my side, too, was an inscription—part of a quote from Theodore Roosevelt. It read, Far better is it to dare mighty things.
"My father was buried on Kifirin," Roff said, tucking his wings tightly against his body as we stared at the gravesite. After three hundred years, the stone was worn but the inscriptions could still be read.
"Would you like to go there?" I asked, turning to Roff. "Where is your father buried?"
"I took his ashes to Baetrah, when I was pregnant with Toff," Roff said softly. "He died shortly before my two-month came. I decided to visit the volcano then, leave his ashes there and ask Kifirin to take us to Le-Ath Veronis."
The two-month that Roff spoke of was the two months that every comesula was granted at the end of their pregnancy, so they wouldn't have to work before their child came. They were subsidized by the crown on Kifirin, if necessary—one of the few benefits they actually received.
"Well, let's go, then, but first let's get some flowers." We found a flower shop on Kifirin and I Pulled in a few gold coins to pay for the bouquet Roff selected. I then folded Roff to Baetrah an Hafei, the city below the volcano on Kifirin. We were joined by Kifirin as we began the long walk up the volcano's side.
"Here to ask the god for a favor?" He was smiling at me.
"Hi, honey. We're here to leave these flowers for Roff's father," I said.
"Then I will come with you," he said. We walked up a well-worn path that switched back often to make the climb easier. "Roff, did you make this climb while you were pregnant?" The path was quite steep in places.
"I did. Many pregnant comesuli came, to ask Kifirin for favors of this kind or that," Roff smiled. "Mine was granted."
"Lissa had much more to do with that than I," Kifirin said. We reached the top after a while. Baetrah was mostly dormant at the moment, with only a bit of steam and smoke coming from the center of the large caldera.
"Where would you like to drop these, Roff?" I asked, pointing to the flowers in his arms.
"In the center, there, if possible," he said.
"Of course it's possible," I told him, and turned us both to mist. We allowed the flowers to drop away beneath us once we were over the right spot, and watched as a tiny tongue of flame consumed them when they fell. Roff and I misted back to Kifirin's side after that.
"Do you have a wish, Avilepha?" Kifirin folded his arms around me.
"Nothing that can be granted," I sighed.
* * *
"You're telling me that one of those three scum is related to the royal family on Twylec?" Garde was angry and let everybody know it. Aurelius wasn't pleased; neither was Flavio, Gavin or the others. One of the three humanoids they'd captured at the casino—the ones behind the attack at New Hesperia—was a cousin to the Queen of Twylec and she demanded that he be returned to her. After being given diplomatic immunity, of course.
"We have a confession, and she's still asking for this?" Tony fumed. Gavin was stone-faced and angry. Drake and Drew were having a furious mental conversation with their father. Winkler sat at the opposite end of the conference table from Gardevik—if the High Demon went Thifilathi, Winkler didn't want to be anywhere near it. He was all for providing some sort of accident in the dungeon, but as a member of the Saa Thalarr, he couldn't be involved.
"What is the Alliance's stance on this?" Aryn had come and was now asking Thurlow for a ruling.
"It is never a good idea to damage relationships between worlds," Thurlow's words were ambiguous. "The Five-Year Conclave is approaching and we have not had the opportunity to gather allies. As the newest member of the Alliance, Le-Ath Veronis is in the minority and vulnerable."
"Fuck the Conclave," Garde growled.
"The Conclave is next month. Perhaps other arrangements may be made." Rigo had been patiently standing in a corner, listening to the debate.
"What other arrangements
?" Gavin had been keeping his eye on Rigo. The vampire took his word seriously.
"It will involve some trust on your part. We will make arrangements to ship him to Twylec, with the royal blessing. And then," Rigo paused for a moment, "nature will take its course."
Garde stared at the vampire. Lissa had told him that Rigo, once Rigovarnus I, was eleven thousand years old and a King on Hraede before the turn. Now, he and five other vampires watched over the crown on Hraede, providing careful guidance and subtle interference when necessary. Hraede was stable and prosperous as a result—notoriously so.
"I am inclined to offer that trust," Gavin nodded to Rigo. Garde almost stopped in his tracks—Gavin would never trust lightly. Ever.
"Then I will go with Gavin's judgment and trust," Garde nodded.
"We trust this will not go straight to the Alliance?" Drake and Drew folded to either side of Thurlow, pointing their question at him. He was obligated, after all, to send regular reports to the Defense Minister.
"I hope I can earn your trust as well," he said. "My allegiance is with the Queen."
"Very good," Drake said. "Do not betray that trust, or place Lissa in danger."
"No fear, young Falchani," Thurlow replied with a nod.
"Do you need help?" Erland sidled up to Rigo.
"Perhaps, Warlock," Rigo smiled slightly at Erland. "I haven't failed to notice from the vid feeds that some of the enemy either disappeared recently or were found dead by an unseen hand."
"Maybe three hundred or so," Erland offered one of his best, heart-stopping smiles.
"Impressive," Rigo nodded respectfully to Erland. "And many from the highest echelons. Such a shame. Shall we pay a visit to Satris of Twylec, who languishes in his dungeon cell?"
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