High Demon 3 - Demon's King

by Connie Suttle

  "Could she have killed Zellar?"

  "She would have. All she needed was to be within arm's length. He would have died before he knew she'd cut his throat."

  "She's that cruel?" Jes' hands went to his throat.

  "No. Not cruel. Just well-trained and efficient," Teeg sighed. "She's been forced to be what she is. Besides, what sort of death would you wish for Zellar? He killed your home planet, Jes. She would have given him a quick death. He wouldn't have felt the bite of the blade, I don't think. It would have been merciful."

  "But we blew him up with a ranos grenade."

  "The grenade was the only thing we had to penetrate his shields, my friend. If I'd known Reah was coming after him, I would have sat back and watched the vid-feed for years to come."

  "You had cameras there, didn't you?"

  "Yes, and I wasn't watching, someone else was. They didn't recognize Reah, I did. When it was too late. Now we have to get her back on her feet and in fighting condition before I can take her hunting."

  "Do you really have the one she asked about—what was his name?"

  "Gavril?"

  "Yes."

  "Oh, yes. I have him all right." Teeg jerked his head toward his study door. Jes knew the conversation with his employer was over.

  * * *

  "I want to hear from Gavril." I'd had time to think about this. How could Teeg stoop this low? How? He'd seemed such a good man when I'd first met him. Before he became what Arvil and the Hardlows had been. Teeg had come by to supervise the washing of my hair—had brought in a hairdresser, no less.

  "Then stay quiet and let Treesa do your hair. Behave yourself and I'll move you into a suite." I was still locked in my cell. I don't know what Teeg thought to accomplish; I was still as weak as a newly-hatched nestling. My mindspeech still wasn't working and several attempts at skipping only gave me a terrible headache.

  "You're telling me to behave myself? Child-snatching jackass," I muttered. I wasn't expecting Teeg to burst out laughing. Treesa pulled my wheeled chair up to the portable shampoo bowl and went to work.

  "This is your natural color?" Treesa asked. I wasn't about to ask her the same thing—she had green and purple streaks running through the black of her hair. Her fingernails matched.

  "Trust me—it's natural." Teeg was still chuckling.

  "Nobody has hair this color," Treesa muttered as she washed my hair.

  "Reah does." Treesa knew not to push Teeg. She washed my hair several times; it had been a while since it had been clean. Then, under Teeg's watchful gaze, Treesa combed it out and dried it. I asked to have it braided, Teeg refused. "I want it down, just as it is," he demanded. I wasn't able to braid my hair with the cast still on my left arm, so he got what he wanted. What I wanted was to hit him before it was over. Treesa took her equipment and left.

  "I meant what I said about a suite," Teeg said. "I'll move you into one when you promise not to misbehave."

  "Get me a message from Gavril so I know he's all right and you'll get it," I muttered. Ever since I knew that Teeg had Gavril, I woke from my sleep hyperventilating. What was Teeg hoping to gain from Lissa or the Alliance? What?

  "I'll have a message for you tomorrow." Teeg walked out. The doctor was walking in almost at the same time.

  "I think we can get these off in the next few days," he tapped my arm cast. "You can call me Jes—Master San Gerxon said I could give you my name." The doctor had run the scanner over the breaks in my arm and legs to check on their progress. "How are the headaches?"

  "They'd be better if I knew my friend was all right," I muttered.

  "He said he'd bring a message tomorrow. He usually keeps his word."

  "What I want to know is how easy he finds it to kill." I did want to know that. Would Chash survive Teeg's blackmail? It frightened me to think about it.

  "That is something you shouldn't be worrying your pretty head over." Jes plumped the pillows on my hospital bed. "I can bring a vid-screen for you—you can watch vids if you want. Or, I can bring you a comp-reader. We have several here with just about anything you want to read loaded in."

  "Comp-vid?" I asked.

  "Not unless I want to die."

  "Ah. Do you?"

  "No."

  "Can I have both?"

  "A vid-screen and a comp-reader?"

  "Yes."

  "Of course. You just can't tire yourself out. Go ahead, tell me I sound like your mother." Jes was looking at me hopefully.

  "I don't know what my mother sounded like. She died when I was born."

  "Ah. Well. I'll go get those things for you." Jes pointed through the doors of my cage. That's what it was—a cage inside a larger room that held nothing except my bed. A few windows lined one wall, but all of them were covered in privacy film. I could only see muted light and nothing else.

  Jes brought both promised items when he returned, followed by someone else; a woman in her thirties and likely a servant.

  "This is our cook, Ardalin," Jes introduced the woman. Ardalin carried a drink with a straw in it. Until then, I'd been getting clear broth to eat. It was bland and certainly wasn't anything I would have made for myself.

  "Thank you," I took the drink from the cook. She didn't look happy to me. Perhaps Teeg was forcing her in some way, too. I rested the glass on the arm of my wheeled chair until I could lift it to take a drink. It consisted of berries blended with fruit juice and was quite decent. I was hoping Jes would leave the glass with me—I wanted to fling it at Teeg's head the next time he came in, but Jes took it with him after I was done. I was tired of using the small, fizzy teeth-cleaning tabs too. Jes brought one every morning and every night.

  I settled in to read a book I'd picked out, falling asleep eventually with the comp-reader on my stomach.

  * * *

  "Shhh, go back to sleep, sweetheart." Reah's eyelashes were dark against her pale skin. Teeg worried over the dark circles under her eyes. He'd taken the comp-reader out of her hand and set it aside, almost waking her. She wasn't recovering as fast as he'd like—the ranos grenade had hit her full-on, blasting her through the window opposite Zellar's room and onto the roof of a nearby building. Anyone else would have died. Reah had come very close.

  This wasn't supposed to happen. Zellar's body had practically disintegrated in the blast and he'd held a shield around himself. They'd found bits and pieces of him. Teeg's heart had almost seized in his chest when he'd seen Reah on the vid-screen, kicking in Zellar's door. Astralan had folded him to Kareed; Teeg had almost been crazy after watching Reah get hit.

  Now that she had her voice and senses back, all she wanted to do was fight with him. He'd hurt her more than he'd intended. His hope had been that she'd forgive him a little when he found her again. Now his ring was missing from her finger and he wondered what she'd done with it. He'd sealed his fate with her for the moment, telling her he'd taken Gavril. Teeg brushed silky white hair away from Reah's face. "My pretty baby," he crooned softly.

  * * *

  "Here's what you asked for." Teeg handed the comp-vid to me. I almost wept at the image on the screen. Chash was there, holding up a similar comp-vid with the day's news from an Alliance world. The date was clearly visible at the top of the news video.

  "Is he safe? Are you treating him well? Is he scared?" I wiped tears off my cheeks. I wished there were a way I could get this to Lissa and Gavin. More than likely, they were still terrified for their youngest child. Teeg decided to be awful about the whole thing.

  "That's none of your concern," he snapped. "Do I have your promise—not to do anything stupid and not to harm anyone inside my home? You won't escape, I've already seen to that. We did an implant, Reah. Right here." Teeg pointed to a spot on his collarbone. "It's inside the bone, Reah, and Jes tells me the bone has formed around it. No more mindspeech or skipping unless I turn this off." He held a small transmitter in his hand. I stared at him, completely speechless. "I told you I hacked your records. Two years ago, in fact." How could he be so ha
rd? How?

  "I want to kill you," I muttered.

  "You're still my wife, Reah. I have the papers to prove it. Where's my ring?"

  "If I thought you wanted it back, I wouldn't have tossed it in the ocean on Le-Ath Veronis." I had. I'd asked Aurelius to take me sailing and I'd dumped the thing the moment we couldn't see land any longer. Who knew where it was, now?

  "I'll get you another ring."

  "I won't wear it. You see this?" I turned the comp-vid around so he could see Gavril's image. "As long as you have him, I won't wear it."

  "Don't make promises you can't keep," Teeg warned. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but then he might take back the promise to let me out of my cage. He looked angry and frustrated, his dark hair rumpled, a deep frown marring his handsome features. "Jes, release the brakes on that stupid bed and bring her."

  That's how I got a ride to the old bedroom that Teeg and I had shared. That now seemed a lifetime ago, with a different person. He'd taken my freedom away and kidnapped Chash. Now he wanted to get me another ring. Logic no longer seemed a part of him.

  "Now, Reah, I'm going to offer something else if you promise to do what Jes tells you. I need you back on your feet and ready to fight Zellar's spawn quickly before they scatter so far we'll never find them." Teeg had allowed Jes to transfer me to the bed. He'd called a servant to push my hospital bed out of the spacious suite. More than anything, I wanted to hobble to the bathroom and soak in a tub of hot water. The casts were still on so that was out of the question.

  I wasn't about to ask him what he was offering now. I didn't need to; Farzi and Nenzi walked into the room. Teeg knew which buttons to push. This had upset me more than anything, when he'd taken Farzi, Nenzi and their brothers away. I'd been planning to take them to a jungle world that held little population so they could live as they pleased. Two of Teeg's warlocks had folded them away at Teeg's bidding. I still wanted to slap all of them for that.

  "Farzi? Nenzi? I was sobbing now. Nenzi rushed in, Farzi right behind him.

  "Be careful of her broken," Jes' words went unheeded as Nenzi nearly flung himself on the bed beside me, hugging me as hard as he dared. Farzi sat next to both of us.

  "Our Reah," Farzi reached out to touch my hair. "Your hair quite long now."

  I sniffled and wiped tears off my face. "This was how it was supposed to be. Before it was whacked off to make me look like a boy. Farzi, are your brothers all right?" I wanted to ask if they still lived—all of them—but I was afraid to.

  "Our brothers do fine." Nenzi answered my question, pulling my head against his shoulder. "Nenzi misses Reah. Teeg says he cannot find. Now she is ours again." I didn't upset Nenzi by telling him that Teeg had kidnapped me. Gavril, too. I brushed Nenzi's dark hair off his forehead instead.

  "Nenzi, I really missed you. And Farzi and all your brothers."

  "We not find another good cook," Nenzi smiled at me.

  "But Ardalin is here," I said.

  "She isn't the same," Farzi pointed out stiffly. That told me right then that Ardalin didn't like the reptanoids. Only their eyes were different—on the surface of things, anyway. No reason to mistreat my people.

  "Ardalin is superstitious," Teeg cleared his throat.

  "Then send her to one of your many casinos," I snapped. "There is no reason anyone should mistreat Farzi, Nenzi and the others."

  "I was hoping you'd help interview potential replacements." Teeg lifted an eyebrow at me.

  "Uh-huh. And go take care of rogue wizards and help you with whatever you want to blackmail the Alliance over. My schedule is full, Teeg."

  "Reah, not fight with Teeg. Please?" Nenzi's eyes were begging.

  "Only for you, Nenzi." I hugged him with my good arm.

  "Should have brought him in, first thing," Teeg muttered.

  * * *

  Two days later, with Nenzi, Farzi and six other reptanoids looking on, I got my casts off. My skin looked pale and shriveled when they were removed. "Now you can take a shower, but you probably need help," Jes said. He looked hopeful but Teeg, who was also there, frowned. Jes didn't offer his help. Farzi and Nenzi ended up helping me. They held me up when I didn't think I could stand and I washed myself. I don't know why I didn't worry about them seeing me naked but I didn't. I'd seen all of them naked before, when they'd turned to lion snakes. Nudity was completely natural to them, and held no embarrassment. Honestly, I thought of them as family. Perhaps they saw me the same way.

  Farzi helped wash my hair—I wasn't thrilled about Treesa coming in again. Teeg, though, was there when I came out of the shower, dressed in the robe Farzi had helped me slip on. Nenzi was still fussing over me when Teeg picked up the comb and wordlessly started working on my hair. I tried to fend him off, but he stopped me with a sentence. "Gavril will be better off if you let me do this." Was he threatening both of us? I shivered at the thought. Teeg went back to working on my hair. When he finished combing it out, he lifted strands of it to his nose.

  "It smells wonderful," he murmured. "Reah, your friend will be fine as long as you treat me well. Treat me as you did before, Reah. When you loved me, still."

  I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked a little. What did he want? To go to bed with me?

  "No, Reah, you're still recovering. I won't expect that just yet." Teeg got up and walked out of my bedroom. Farzi and Nenzi stared after him.

  "Reah, he not harm you—I know this," Farzi sat on the bench beside me.

  "Farzi—he's already brought harm. Here." I touched my chest.

  "Reah, Teeg not—he not do—he not mean," Nenzi couldn't think of the words. I couldn't really tell if he were saying that Teeg wasn't mean or if he didn't mean it. Either way, I silently disagreed.

  Both of them helped me into bed. My legs were still shaky and I felt worn out just from bathing. Jes had said he was starting rehab the next morning. I hoped I could get to sleep so I'd be rested; Teeg wanted me on my feet quickly. More than anything, I wanted to contact Lendill and let him know that Zellar was gone but his trainees might be scattered and already causing havoc. If any of them knew what they were doing, they could already be passing their secrets off to others. It was a frightening prospect. I wanted to get that remote away from Teeg, but Gavril's life might hang in the balance.

  "Sleep, our Reah," Farzi turned out the light and he and Nenzi silently left my room.

  * * *

  "You can make it." Who knew that Jes could be such a slave driver? I walked down the hall to the elevator and then to the kitchen with little or no help. I think I was drenched in sweat and trembling by the time I got to the kitchen. Ardalin and an assistant were there cooking breakfast. Ardalin was making a great deal of racket, banging her pots and pans. She wasn't much of a cook if she treated good cooking utensils that way. The eggs she served me were terrible and I found bits of shell in them. I picked it out and ate what I could. Teeg came in with Astralan and the other three warlocks.

  "Reah, I hope I get to eat one of your meals again someday," Astralan grinned. Well, he'd just made my life worse, as far as Ardalin went.

  "You know," I said, pointing my fork at him, "I ended up on a non-Alliance planet once because the master cook for the Governor of the Realm was so jealous of me he locked me in an escape pod during a drill and reprogrammed the thing. I think if Ardalin had an escape pod, I'd be on my way back to the Alliance right now." Ardalin stiffened at the mention of her name. Well, I wasn't about to get killed or nearly killed again because of my cooking skills. I hadn't failed to notice how Ardalin looked at Teeg when he came in or the fact that he got the best of what she was serving.

  "You cooked for a governor?" Stellan asked.

  "The Governor of the Realm on Tulgalan. Do you know who Addah Desh is?" Ardalin perked up at the mention of that name. She knew if the others didn't.

  "I know he owns the best restaurants on Tulgalan," Stellan was smiling at me.

  "My birth name was Reah Desh. Addah Desh is my grandfather. I thought
he was my father for the longest time, but as it turns out, my oldest brother raped my mother and then he and his mother arranged for my mother to be killed when I was born. My older brother turned out to be my father. Is that fucked up or what?" I was telling Teeg my family history if he hadn't gotten that from hacking into my records as he said he did.

  "Addah sent me to Edan when I was eight because he had DNA tests run, proving that Edan was my father. Edan, who should never be allowed to have children, beat me from the moment I arrived. He broke several bones and sent me to the hospital many times when I was between the age of eight and seventeen. When the Alliance conscription notice came, I was more than happy to get away from my abusive family. By that time, I'd made Desh's number two famous for my cooking, though Edan took all the credit. Too bad that all went straight to hell the moment I left. Ardalin, these eggs are awful. If you don't serve good food, it's your own damn fault." I slid off my barstool and hobbled out of the kitchen.

  * * *

  "Now, that sounded like a master cook talking." Celestan guffawed. Jes was staring after Reah, wondering if he ought to follow her.

  "Ardalin, I think you just got insulted by the best cook I've ever seen, and I've been from one end of the universes to the other," Galaxsan pushed his plate toward the gaping woman. "If you'd tried, she wouldn't have said a word. Reah doesn't miss. Not while shooting or while watching people. If you were interested, you might have learned from her. Too late for that now."

  "Then I quit," Ardalin ripped off her apron. Secretly she was hoping Teeg would call her back. He didn't. She stalked out.

  "Make sure she gets out of the gate and tell the guards not to let her back in," Astralan was already on his communicator.

  "She served eggs with bits of shell on Reah's plate; I saw her picking it out," Jes offered.

  "Fuck," Teeg rubbed his face with both hands.

  "I'd like to learn from anybody whose last name is Desh," the assistant said timidly. Teeg lowered his hands to look at the man.

  "Her last name isn't Desh anymore—she had it legally changed to Nilvas. And since she's still married to me, her last name is officially the same as mine." Teeg stood. "I'll take your offer to her and see what she says."