Then, I gathered power about me, smiled into the wind and reversed time for Le-Ath Veronis.
* * *
Lissa's Journal
Breanne has disappeared. I searched for her, but Connegar, Reemagar and Conner tell me it's futile to do so. Conner, her eyes filled with stars, informed me that I'd have to wait for signs or other indications to discover where my sister had gone.
Something that looked like joy lay on her face, too, but I didn't ask about that. I was too afraid I either wouldn't get an answer or wouldn't like the answer I got. I'd sent a message through Erland shortly after that, and he'd delivered it for me. Griffin now sat in my study, curious as to why I'd summoned him but too afraid to ask.
Griffin hadn't been inside my study since he'd helped save me, Rigo and my children from a Ra'Ak and Zellar on Hraede. He'd been upset, then. He was wary now.
"I wanted to talk to you about Breanne," I said.
"I met her." He looked away from me. "I understand she's missing. I hope you don't want me to help look for her."
Breathing a sigh and reining in my temper, I waited a few seconds for my sight to clear. I'm sure my eyes had gone red in anger—at least temporarily. "Tell me why you did it," I finally muttered.
"Did what?"
"Got another woman pregnant. I wasn't your only daughter, as it turns out."
"Yes you are." Griffin's head had swiveled quickly, his angry gaze landing on my face.
"Maybe you didn't intend for her to be pregnant, but she was. Oh, don't worry," I held up a hand, "Belen assures me the woman was murdered in a sour drug deal after she got out of prison. I think Belen knows why you had sex with her, but he wouldn't tell me. Somehow, the information is blocked and I can't get to it. Tell me why, Griffin."
"What? When?" Belen's name apparently made him sit up and take me seriously. I gave him the date when he'd made another woman—a human woman—pregnant.
"Fuck." Griffin raked fingers through his hair in furious frustration. "I Saw her get an abortion. I Looked to make sure of it."
"She didn't. I hear she got arrested shortly after that and was sent to prison for manufacturing drugs. Why did you do it, Griffin? Tell me why?" I was almost in tears by that time.
"I had to make sure what I'd done worked," he growled. "I had to use everything at my disposal to ensure that I could make your mother pregnant. The Saa Thalarr were supposed to be sterile—you know that. I expended a great deal of power to change that, and I didn't want Thorsten to learn of it. I traveled into the future a few years and found a woman who was at the proper stage to become pregnant, as a test run. I knew she was pregnant when I left her, but I Looked, Lissa. She would get an abortion. I Looked!"
"Guess what? Your Looking skills didn't work. Maybe your brain was in your pants, how am I to know? Breanne is my half-sister. Get out, Griffin. I see neither of your daughters make a damn bit of difference to you. Just so you know," I added as he rose to leave, an expression of shock on his face, "Breanne appears to be the Vhanaraszh and a Q'elindi. The Larentii have confirmed it."
Griffin's face nearly crumpled as he folded away. For some reason, I didn't want him to know what else my sister was. Let him find out on his own and then weep at the realization that neither of his daughters would give him the time of day.
* * *
Epilogue
Lissa's Journal
Merrill goes to bed naked. He'd shown up seconds after Breanne Changed What Was and nobody stood in his way when he gathered me up, held me against him and murmured words of love as he carried me to my suite.
Did any stand against him and tell him no? Of course not. You don't tell The King Vampire that he has to back away from his Queen. Frankly, too, his kisses were something I'd longed for, and they didn't disappoint.
Now, as I watched him wander from the bathroom naked, toweling off his black hair and smiling at me with piercing blue eyes, I sighed with contentment. Did I think about destroying the M'Fiyah a second time after Breanne released it? Yes. For all of two seconds. Until Merrill kissed me, and then I was lost forever. Kiarra and I, too, have become as close as sisters, which is how it should have been in the beginning. Griffin has cost me so much through the years.
"My darling, will you leave that fucking journal for a moment and come to bed with me?" Merrill sat on the dressing bench beside me and planted a kiss on the back of my neck.
"What should I write about Breanne?" I blinked up at him instead. Carefully, he reached over and closed my journal.
"Let Breanne write her own story. Let her release the hurt inside her by writing about it, sweetheart. We love her. She just doesn't know we love her." Merrill sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "The Vhanaraszh has given me everything," he opened his eyes again and smiled crookedly at me.
"I had no idea what I was abandoning when I gave you up, my love. Breanne gave you back to me." He leaned in and kissed me. I felt a tiny prick as his fangs touched my lower lip. After that, we allowed our bodies to do the talking—for a good, long while.
The End
The God Wars continue in Book 2, Blood Trouble.
* * *
About the Author:
Connie Suttle lives in Oklahoma with her patient, long-suffering husband and three cats. For information on forthcoming titles, please visit Connie's website at www.subtledemon.com, her blog at subtledemon.blogspot.com or find her on Facebook—Connie Suttle Author. She is also on twitter: @subtledemon.
Blood Double (God Wars, Book 1) Page 25
