Demon's Dream (High Demon Series #6)

by Connie Suttle

  DEMON'S DREAM

  A Novel by

  CONNIE SUTTLE

  The Author's contact information can be found at the end of this book.

  For Walter, Joe, Sarah S., Lee D. and Dianne J.

  Many thanks!

  And for Reah's fans everywhere—your support is gratefully acknowledged and much appreciated. Thank you.

  Demon's Dream, copyright © 2013 by Connie Suttle

  All rights reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents portrayed within its pages are purely fictitious and a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons (or vampires, werewolves, High Demons, Greater Demons, Lesser Demons, Larentii, shapeshifters, Ra'Ak, wizards, warlocks, witches, Saa Thalarr or gods) living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This book, whole or in part, MAY NOT be copied or reproduced by mechanical means (including photocopying or the implementation of any type of storage or retrieval system), without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  Other books by Connie Suttle:

  (Blood Destiny Series)

  Blood Wager

  Blood Passage

  Blood Sense

  Blood Domination

  Blood Royal

  Blood Queen

  Blood Rebellion

  Blood War

  Blood Redemption

  Blood Reunion

  (Legend of the Ir'Indicti Series)

  Bumble

  Shadowed

  Target

  Vendetta

  Destroyer

  (High Demon Series)

  Demon Lost

  Demon Revealed

  Demon's King

  Demon's Quest

  Demon's Revenge

  Demon's Dream

  (God Wars Series)*

  Blood Double*

  *Forthcoming

  Chapter 1

  "Bring everything out that you have taken." Gavril had to be held back by Aurelius; the full force of his compulsion might have torn the woman's mind apart. Her husband stood nearby, restrained by Garde and Jayd.

  Reah had been folded away by Nefrigar, and multiple attempts at reaching the Larentii Archivist via mindspeech yielded no results. Lissa, expressing her extreme anger at Gardevik and Kifirin, insisted that they do what they could to retrieve Reah's things. Now, all those who'd gathered at Baetrah's rim stood outside the cottage Reah had occupied for more than twenty years. The new grove supervisor's wife cowered before Gavril in the tiny front yard.

  "My wife didn't tell me that she found anything of value in the house," the supervisor denied any part in the theft.

  "Lie," Jayd said casually. "Garde, did you even interview these before you hired them?"

  "Not nearly long enough," Garde blew smoke. The woman, frightened by Garde and Teeg's anger, rushed inside the cottage and returned quickly with a small, carved box.

  "Here's the jewelry, but I sold some of it," the woman's hand trembled as she offered the box to Gavril.

  "What is missing?" Aurelius demanded.

  "My ring," Gavril muttered angrily, searching swiftly through the box. "You will tell me what you did with it," he snapped.

  "This is ridiculous," Lok growled. He'd been silent until then, settling for pacing back and forth and casting black looks at Kifirin.

  "It didn't look real, so I sold it for two credits," the woman wept.

  "It's Tiralian crystal," Aurelius said, "and worth millions. Where is it?"

  "One of the hands bought it for his daughter's wedding."

  "Bring them in," Garde snapped. "Bring all the employees in. Now."

  * * *

  "This was hers? I never saw her wear it," a man brought the ring forward with shaking hands.

  "Because you don't wear Tiralian crystal to repair the sprinkler system," Gavril said dryly. "Here. As compensation for the ring. There should be ten thousand credits on the chip." He handed a chip bracelet over.

  "Thank you. I'll buy a replacement for my daughter," the man nodded respectfully and backed away. "I was hoping Reah would come back. Those two over there are terrible. I only bought the ring because they offered it to me."

  "Reah won't be back. We'll try to find someone else who will be better than these," Jayd jerked his head toward the overseer and his wife. "Those two are going back where they came from."

  * * *

  "I know it looked that way to Reah." Jayd paced while Tory sat and watched. His father, Garde, stood off to the side. Tory was angry. With both of them. "Garde said we could give the girls the best of everything here at the palace, so he told Reah that this is where they'd stay."

  "So Kifirin waves his fingers and everybody worked together to keep the girls away from Reah, and to keep her poor and in the groves."

  "I didn't know how bad it was. I get complaints every day from the disabled, asking where their medications or their socks or their new blankets are," Jayd sighed. "And of course they complain about the food they're being served."

  "I thought we were doing what was best for the girls," Garde offered.

  "Dad, that's bullshit. Mom said you were pissed at Reah. She said you blamed her for my disappearance. We both know who was responsible for that, now don't we?"

  "And we were only listening to what we wanted to hear." Glinda walked into Jayd's study. "We wanted those girls as close as we could get them, so we didn't argue with whatever Garde did to get them here. The truth is that Reah should have been here, too. We left a precious High Demon female out in the groves on the Southern Continent, alone and unguarded. Anything could have happened out there. Admit it."

  "Something almost did happen. Today." Tory stood. "What would you do, Dad, if Reah had taken that last step? Would this be your chance to do what you wanted to do all along, and hand all the rights to my girls over to Jayd and Glinda?"

  "Son, it isn't quite like that," Garde said.

  "Then how is it? How's Mom, Dad? She okay? What if that had been her out there about to kill herself?" Tory skipped away.

  "You fucked up," Jayd turned to Garde.

  "We all did," Glinda pointed out.

  * * *

  "Again." Lok gestured for Drake to come after him. Drake obliged, both blades flying. Sweat poured off Lok's body, the dragon tattoos glistening in the early twilight. Aurelius stood nearby, watching both Falchani spar. Drew stood next to Aurelius, who wasn't doing very well.

  "He's trying to punish himself, isn't he?" Drew said.

  "Yes. But not all of us have such a convenient outlet."

  "How close was it?" Drew asked. He wanted to gauge how upset Aurelius was.

  "A few inches, if that. If the Larentii hadn't come, she'd be gone."

  "I heard Kifirin showed up, too."

  "He almost drove her to it. Nefrigar stepped between them. The rest of us just stood there, too stunned to move, I think. We're having a meeting later tonight. Everybody mated to Reah will come, except Nefrigar, I think. We still don't know where he took her."

  "Would you mind if some of the rest of us come? We know Reah, too."

  "I don’t mind, but if the others reject outsiders," Aurelius shrugged.

  "Then we'll either plead our case or leave," Drew agreed. "I don't believe it was only her mates who were blinded for the past twenty-five years. If we thought about Reah, it's as if the thoughts slipped away and we forgot again. When Kifirin removed the mute, it felt as though we'd been asleep all that time."

  "I think that is an apt way to put it," Aurelius agreed. "Farzi and Nenzi turned and went hunting, earlier. I'm not sure anything they came across lived over the encounter. Lendill went off with Norian to q
uestion more prisoners. I wouldn't want to be those prisoners, right now."

  "Lissa says that those controllers even convinced that young Surnathan's mother to shoot one of those things into his neck and then ordered him to kill all those workers at the electronics plant."

  "And then to kill himself," Aurelius nodded. "Dantel Schuul was twisted, as was his daughter. Lendill told me that father and daughter were lovers, likely since she was ten."

  "Twisted and sick," Drew sighed.

  * * *

  "What if she doesn't come out of this?" Tory sat on the corner of a low table and stared at Gavril.

  "If anyone can do this, it will be the Larentii," Ry said. "Look what they did for you, bro."

  "But I just had some anger issues and holes in my memory," Tory pointed out.

  "We're here," Lok and Aurelius walked into Lissa's library, where the meeting was to be held. Farzi and Nenzi were among the stacks, gabbling about the books on the shelves.

  "Present," Lendill appeared with Norian close behind.

  "Erland is managing the palace on Karathia for me," Corolan appeared beside Ry. "If there's an emergency, he'll send mindspeech." Ry knew why Cory had come. He loved Reah still and they'd all gotten the full brunt of the released mute around Reah. Corolan had cursed long and loudly over it.

  "We may have extras coming," Aurelius announced, getting everyone's attention.

  "What extras?" Gavril looked about, worried that someone unbidden and unwelcome might appear. Farzi and Nenzi had come out of the stacks and settled on a sofa nearby.

  "You know, extras," Drake said as he and Drew appeared, closely followed by Lissa, Gavin, Thurlow, Aryn, Winkler, Rigo, Tony, Roff, Connegar and Reemagar. Norian was already there, so only a few of Lissa's mates were missing—most notably, Kifirin and Gardevik. Gavril sighed deeply and nodded with relief at their absence.

  "Before we start on anything else, Ildevar has ordered that half the funds confiscated from the pirates go to Reah. And that's turning out to be quite a lot," Norian said. "We've tapped into hidden accounts where the credits were dumped; Dantel Schuul had Matiss Meldrim acting as bookkeeper for Nedrizif and his Greater Demons. Meldrim was quite adept at hiding funds, but thanks to Rigo and Aryn, we got all the information from him before he was, ah, digested."

  "Darletta was Dantel's front for a lot of other things, too," Tory said. "He owned Stellar Winds and Starshine through her. Of course, Daddy's little girl got everything she wanted."

  "Including Daddy, or so I heard," Drew remarked dryly.

  "I was never forced to watch the two of them together," Tory shuddered, his dark eyes filled with remembered pain and confusion. "And she lost interest in me over the last five years or so. She couldn't wait to get rid of me at the end."

  "Likely because you wouldn't cooperate all the time," Lissa said. "She didn't count on the fact that you weren't human or mortal."

  "Because she never knew," Tory agreed.

  "But what are we going to do about Reah, if she comes out of this? Or even if she doesn't? She's still pregnant and it could take a while," Aurelius observed. All of them agreed that there'd been a breakdown of some kind.

  "I don't know about you, but I'd like to sit down with her quietly, maybe over dinner or something, and let her know how much I care about her." Corolan wasn't waiting; he wanted everyone to know where he stood.

  "I think one on one, or perhaps two won't be so overwhelming," Aurelius said. "As soon as she's up to it. Provided we can get past the Larentii."

  "If he hadn't been there today," Lissa shivered. Gavin reached out and lifted her hand, kissing it gently. Gavin was going to be a grandfather for the first time. He wouldn't have been if Reah had taken one more step.

  "We would like to give truth," Farzi stood, followed by Nenzi. "The King and his mate, they take Reah's girls. Give them everything. Except they not give. Reah supports Kifirin with gishi fruit. She pay bills and make sure King's palace and King have money. Reah supports those girls. King and his family live off Reah." Nenzi nodded the whole time Farzi spoke. Farzi and Nenzi sat down.

  "That's telling it like it is," Drake muttered.

  "Nefrigar says to tell all of you that we will be able to visit Reah in five days. She is getting the best of care," Connegar announced.

  "Where is she?" Ry asked.

  "At first on the Larentii homeworld. After that, she will receive specialized care elsewhere. You may visit her then. He will keep you informed when her location changes."

  "Is Reah all right?" Nenzi asked.

  "He is keeping her asleep much of the time. She is still suffering from her ordeal on Stellar Winds and Cloudsong. She should have been placed under care when she returned, but she was not. The mute was still in place and nobody thought to do it," Connegar replied.

  "I don't know about the rest of you but I am angry with Kifirin." Lok wasn't mincing words.

  "Yes, but it sounds dangerous to be angry with a god," Corolan grumbled.

  "He said to tell you that you're all entitled to be angry," Lissa said. "And he knows I'm pissed as hell, too."

  "We can be angry, we just can't do anything about it," Ry nodded to his mother. "Honestly, if he felt he owed us anything, then he or his parent should help Reah. That would help the rest of us."

  "I agree with my brother," Gavril nodded to Ry. "Kifirin put us and Reah into this mess and we almost lost her today. Who knows how long this is going to affect all of us?"

  "I'd like to have her back here now," Lok said. "I feel as if I've been absent or asleep for the past twenty-five years." His remark had several nodding and agreeing around the room.

  "We'll just have to wait the five days, I suppose," Tory said. "And I have a higher mountain to climb than the rest of you."

  * * *

  "Kevis?" Karzac knocked on his son's open study door.

  "Dad! When did you get here?" Kevis looked up from his comp-vid—he was completing notes on a patient. He entered the last bit of information and stood to greet his father.

  "Kev, I have a patient I'd like to put in your clinic," Karzac said, walking in to sit beside his son's beautifully polished wood desk. Kevis, a physician for the past thirty years, ran a private clinic for patients with difficult mental problems.

  "Dad, surely not one of the Saa Thalarr," Kevis sat down again and hit an electronic key on his deskcomp. Kevis looked very much like his father—nearly six feet tall with light-brown hair and green-gold eyes. He'd opened his private clinic twenty years earlier on Refizan, his father helping financially. Kevis was doing very well for himself.

  "No. Not one of those. And I think when we get her, the Larentii will have already made a great deal of progress in her treatment. What we really need for her, I think, is peace and quiet, where there isn't anyone troubling her with something that needs to be done. She hasn't had a vacation in years, has been attacked and made very ill recently and there are other circumstances that have affected her. She almost killed herself three days ago."

  "Is there anything unusual about her?" Kevis lifted an eyebrow at his father. He suspected that the prospective patient might not be completely human.

  "She's High Demon, son, and hasn't been treated well for a very long time."

  * * *

  "Reah, wake up my love." Nefrigar touched gentle fingers to my forehead. I blinked at him. I'd been difficult to wake lately. And asleep much of the time, too. I was grateful for it, actually. Nefrigar had a way of making me sleep without remembered dreams. That was most welcome. Otherwise, I might have been screaming or crying. I wasn't aware of how many days it had been since I'd thought about taking the dive into Baetrah. It was a few, at least. Nefrigar woke me to eat and bathe, let me sit for a while and if the memories threatened, he'd let me sleep again.

  "I am taking you elsewhere, today," he told me. "A private place where you will receive very good care. Visitors will be allowed but if they upset you, they will be asked to leave. I will also visit often, and if you have need of
me, send mindspeech. I will come immediately."

  "Where am I going?" I asked as Nefrigar lifted me and carried me to the shower. I liked the shower; it was warm against my skin. I felt cold more often than not, although my Larentii warmed the air around me at all times.

  "To a private clinic on Refizan, which will allow you to be alone if you want or to interact with others if that is what you desire," my Larentii replied.

  "I don't want group therapy. I don't think I'm crazy, Nefrigar. Not that crazy, anyway. I just want the pain to go away."

  "I know. We will attempt to deal with that, my love. You will not be locked away or restrained. I ask that you inform me if you wish to leave, however."

  "I'll do my best," I said.

  "May I have a kiss before we fold away?" Nefrigar smiled at me as he helped me dress.

  "Yes." Larentii are always so warm. Like sunlight on a summer day. Nefrigar's mouth was no exception.

  * * *

  "This is Doctor Halivar," Nefrigar set me down inside a quiet, restfully appointed study. Several holographic diplomas were displayed on the back wall, while beautiful artwork adorned the others. The desk was real wood, something that most people didn't get nowadays. A lovely, hand-woven rug was on the stone-tiled floor and everything was tastefully decorated, if a bit austere. I figured it had to do with the type of patients the doctor treated. Doctor Halivar looked familiar, but I didn't think I knew him or had ever met him. I nodded to him when Nefrigar offered one of the chairs in front of the doctor's desk.

  "Reah Nilvas?" Doctor Halivar consulted his deskcomp.