Demon's Dream (High Demon Series #6)

by Connie Suttle

  "They all think I'm crazy," I said. "Thanks to your nurses and a not so law-abiding reality show."

  "You and I know better."

  "Like that's so important and all. I can't even go to the corner store and get ice cream without somebody pointing and either laughing or screaming."

  "You think so? Let's test that theory," Kevis said, standing up. "Let's go out for ice cream."

  Nenzi drove us with Tory, Lok and Aurelius along for the ride. Nenzi stood very close to me, too, as I walked into a popular ice-cream shop in Campiaa City to order a dish of ice cream. Sure enough, two mothers saw me and moved their children away while the young man behind the counter gulped and stared.

  "Point taken," Kevis said as we walked out again, ice cream in hand.

  "Teeg will have to get another wife," I said, licking my spoon.

  "Reah, he will not stand for that sort of talk," Aurelius chided. "That is his child, you are his wife. That is the end of this discussion."

  "You saw those women back there," I said, turning to look at him as we climbed into our vehicle. Nenzi had a very nice hover-limo. I was happy for him; the vehicle was quite luxurious. "They were afraid to let their children get near me," I added.

  "Reah, that will die down in time," Kevis said.

  "When? Will I be able to take my own child out and not have people shy away?"

  "People have short memories," Lok said.

  "Oh, and the Falchani speaks," I tossed up a hand.

  "Reah, they are angry too, because they were forced to forget you," Kevis said.

  "Oh, so you're on board with the whole Kifirin thing now, are you?"

  "I've been informed," he said.

  Nenzi unloaded us at the front drive to the plantation before pulling away. I felt a sting in my left shoulder and that's the last thing I remembered for a while.

  Chapter 4

  "An ancient weapon." Gavril tossed the bullet onto the table in front of the others.

  "I haven't seen one of these for a very long time," Aurelius picked up the piece of copper-encased lead and examined it closely. Norian and Lendill had agents all over the plantation, but there was no sign of the shooter.

  "Someone wants to kill Reah," Gavril said flatly.

  "Could be anyone. Someone who didn't die or get captured when the pirates, the Schuuls and their cronies went down," Lok said, taking the projectile from Aurelius.

  "They were likely aiming for her heart," Tory muttered angrily. "I don't think for a moment they only intended to wound."

  "And they were likely following a trail, started by those two women at the clinic," Gavril agreed. "A few well-placed questions and here we are. If I could kill them," his eyes were beginning to turn red.

  "Child, calm yourself, you will not do Reah or the baby any good by contemplating the murder of idiots," Dee said.

  "The Larentii has placed a shield around the plantation for two clicks in every direction," Lendill and Norian walked into the plantation's kitchen. "How is Reah doing?"

  "Karzac, Kevis and Renegar are tending her now. She didn't lose much blood since Nefrigar showed up so quickly. Here's the bullet." Gavril held it out to Lendill.

  "I don't think I've seen one of these since I started working for the ASD nearly two hundred years ago," Lendill said, turning the bullet in his fingers.

  "We not find anything," Farzi reported. He, Nenzi and their six brothers trooped in. They'd all gone to lion snake and went out looking that way. Norian actually smiled. He figured that if they'd found the culprit, whomever it was would have been bitten quickly.

  "Do we keep her here or move her?" Lendill asked.

  "I don't like the idea of moving her," Gavril objected. "The Larentii has protected the plantation, and we can place guards here just as easily as anywhere else."

  "We'll keep her here, then, but what if she skips away?" Aurelius had already seen her skip earlier.

  "We'll have to impress upon her how dangerous that is," Ry appeared with his usual entourage of Corolan and Erland.

  "Why don't you do that? I don't think she's as angry with you as the rest of us." Tory was definitely depressed. "I asked Raedah and Tara to come, but the moment their husbands heard that Reah was a target, they refused to consider it."

  "Typical," Lok grumbled.

  "All is well," Renegar walked in, ducking slightly to get through the kitchen doorway.

  "Lands, is that?" Mathilde stared up at him.

  "Yes," Renegar smiled, his white teeth a contrast against sky-blue skin.

  "I never thought to see one," Mathilde laughed and clapped her hands.

  "You have now seen two." Nefrigar appeared at Renegar's side. "My thanks," he nodded to Ren. "I was too angry to tend her properly."

  "Understandable," Ren agreed. "I will come again if needed."

  Nefrigar nodded gratefully to the other Larentii, who disappeared.

  "Can we see her now?" Gavril asked.

  "She is sleeping, but yes," Nefrigar said. The kitchen cleared out.

  "I've placed a healing sleep and she's come out of it twice, so Renegar placed the last one," Karzac informed everyone who'd walked quietly into Reah's room.

  * * *

  A moan woke me. It took several ticks to determine it was my own. A hand stroked my face gently. I didn't want to open my eyes. "Hungry, my little beauty? Thirsty?" The voice wasn't immediately recognizable. "It doesn't matter. We'll get there, someday." The fingers were warm against my skin. "I'll be back," the voice told me softly. I slept again.

  "Reah? Love, wake now. You should eat." This time I recognized the voice. Lok. An arm was slipped behind my shoulders and I was lifted into a sitting position while someone else placed pillows behind my back. My eyes finally opened. Lok's black eyes were peering worriedly into mine. "Thank the stars," he sighed. "Love, you need to eat. You've slept the clock through."

  "I don't feel good," I lifted my right hand and laid it across my belly.

  "Get her head down," Doctor Halivar arrived and handed out orders. My head was bent as low as they could get it. "Breathe, Reah. Deep breaths," Kevis instructed. I did that until the nausea went away. "Better," Kevis said. "We have broth here. Try to drink as much as you can." I felt helpless as Lok held the small bowl up and let me sip from it. Falchani did that all the time—sipping from bowls. Doing so was a great time-saver.

  "There," Lok caressed my face after I'd consumed half of what they'd brought to me.

  "You look pale," Kevis said. "If you get hungry, or want anything to drink, let us know. The wound is healed, thanks to Renegar, but you'll be weak for a couple of days."

  "Ren was here?" I was unconscious and hadn't seen him. I barely remembered Nefrigar coming.

  "He was here," Kevis smiled. Smiled. The sun might rise in the west, next.

  "I love Ren," I sighed, flopping my head back on the pillow.

  "He knows," Kevis was still smiling.

  "Good. Who shot me, and with what?"

  "You should not worry over such things at the moment. Get your strength back and tell Kevis what is wrong." Lok blinked black eyes at me.

  "You have such a nice mouth," I said, reaching up with my right hand to touch it. He kissed my fingers.

  "Everything about my Reah is perfect," he replied, leaning in to kiss my forehead, too. "Do what the doctor tells you, snowcat. We want you back soon."

  "You know, I'm not even going to argue with you about that."

  "Good. I love you. I just inconveniently forgot that for a while. Rest, love. Perhaps you will eat dinner with us later." Lok walked out of my bedroom, leaving me alone with Kevis Halivar.

  "I was contemplating bringing in a nurse for you, and then had second thoughts," he held up a hand as I started to protest. "Even if it were the best and most trustworthy person in either Alliance, you would still be upset and unduly worried."

  "Nobody ever listens to me," I grumped. "I told you after I skipped away from your clinic the first time that your nurse was a problem.
Did you listen? Of course not."

  "I know now I should have paid more attention. But you have to realize that most of my patients aren't the most lucid or accurate. I hear complaints from them often."

  "If any of the complaints had to do with Ceerah, then they were probably valid complaints." I watched as Kevis Halivar settled himself on a chair beside my bed. He wore an expensive, green knit shirt that went well with his eyes, and khaki slacks with carefully placed creases. His shoes, too, would have cost at least a thousand credits. He looked very tailored and likely perfect if he were about to have a session with one of his wealthy clients. I wasn't one of those. As Ceerah had so aptly put it, I was a charity case, dressed in cotton pajama bottoms and a thin-strapped stretchy shirt.

  "Now," Kevis said, settling himself and pulling out a comp-vid to take notes, "tell me about your childhood." I laughed. Not because it was humorous, but because it was so typical. My shoulder ached by the time I stopped laughing. "That wasn't quite the reaction I was hoping for," Kevis observed, unruffled by my outburst.

  "I think Lendill still has all my old health records," I said. "Get those from him. That should tell you everything you may want to know about my childhood," I said. "All the visits to the hospital emergency service and all the broken bones are listed, likely with a few other notes and observations. He used those notes to help convict Edan and Marzi Desh."

  "I understand Marzi is dead now. She was sent to Evensun and died shortly after her second attempt on your life. How does that make you feel?"

  "How is it supposed to make me feel? I have no idea what her motives were," I stared at Kevis, taking in the impersonal expression in his green-gold eyes. His mouth might have tightened a little, but I didn't know him well enough to understand what that meant.

  "You don't have any guess as to her motives? Or Edan's?"

  "No. I don't know why I was beaten when I was young. Marzi may have goaded Edan, but I felt he took pleasure in the abuse. Was Marzi jealous of my mother? She pretty much admitted that. But I was no rival for Addah's affection, and absolutely no threat to Edan, either; he was slated to inherit at the time. Why don't you track him down now and ask? I understand he still holds vague memories of that other Edan."

  "But you can't even despise him now for what he did to you, because he isn't the same. You can't work your way to forgiveness, either, because this one has done nothing to forgive."

  "No. I can't. Now he gives his work away, helping children who can't afford medical care. He isn't the one who did all those things to me."

  "So, the one who abused you will never pay or apologize. Not that you'll see, anyway."

  "Kifirin said he spent several lifetimes doing that, but you're right, I'll never see it for myself. Go ahead; put impotent rage in your notes."

  "Reah, stop telling me how to proceed with my work."

  "Sure. I feel so comfortable, knowing I'm your job. Your only job."

  "I made that choice. It was mine to make. If the original Edan were here, what would you say to him?"

  "Get out."

  "That's it?"

  "Get out or I'll throw you out?"

  "And would you? Throw him out, that is?"

  "Yes. I could throw him out easily. Would throw him out, if he didn't go willingly. He and I have nothing in common, except the abuse."

  "When is the last time you saw your father?"

  "The current Edan?"

  "Yes."

  "Probably four moon-turns ago, when he came with my daughters and Karzac, to treat the disabled on Kifirin. They provided care regularly because I couldn't afford a doctor on what the Crown paid."

  "Do you talk much with your father?"

  "Not usually; there isn't much time for that. I cooked for them when they came, as payment for their work."

  "Would you talk to him if he came here? If he walked through the door now, could you have a conversation?"

  I had to think about that for a while. "Probably not," I said. "We don't have a lot in common."

  "Who do you have something in common with, Reah? Who could sit down with you now to laugh and talk about anything or nothing? Who would make you feel at ease when they walked through the door, knowing that they would support you as a family member, friend or lover should? Who would that be, Reah?"

  I sorted through everyone I knew. "Nobody," I said eventually. "I don't trust any of them that way. They all walked away from me, and I spent years trying to determine what I'd done wrong to make that happen. Those doors were closed after a while. Nobody holds my trust, now."

  "Even your daughters?"

  "My daughters barely know me. They couldn't tell you if you asked what my favorite meal is, or what I like to wear, even. But they'd be able to answer those questions and more about Jayd and Glinda." I stared past Kevis and through the window of my bedroom. A miniature orange tree grew right outside, surrounded by a mulched ring and then flowers around that.

  "Do you know what their favorite things are?"

  "I made their favorite meals—the ones they asked for, on all their birthdays, including the cakes. Of course I know. And I always got to see the latest thing that Jayd and Glinda bought for them to wear or the music they listened to or the way they wanted their rooms decorated."

  "None of that was under your control. Did they ask, ever, what you thought? Jayd and Glinda, or Garde?"

  "Very seldom was I asked for input, and then it was only a formality. Decisions were never placed solely in my hands." My fingers were twisting in my lap. "Garde chose the finishing schools for all of them. The most I pushed was to get Raedah and Tara into medical school, because that was what they wanted. Garde argued that when they got husbands, they wouldn't need a profession."

  "That sounds somewhat archaic."

  "Welcome to Kifirin," smoke curled from my nostrils.

  "Does that happen when you're angry?" Kevis noted the smoke and tapped his observations into the comp-vid.

  "Yes. More so with the males. I've never seen Glinda blow smoke, but Jayd keeps her placated and happy most of the time."

  "Sounds like a common theme with High Demon males in their relationships with High Demon females."

  "Except for this one."

  "Except for this one." He nodded, repeating my words as he tapped more notes into the comp-vid.

  "I think I want to go out for a bit," I said, sliding off the bed.

  "I don't recommend it, and our session isn't over."

  "It's over," I said, walking toward the door.

  * * *

  The workers never said a word as I grabbed a crate and started picking oranges. The fruit was large, the pebbled skin smooth in my hands as I expertly gathered it and set it atop layers of dividers, filling each tray before setting another one inside the crate and repeating the process. Just as with the gishi fruit, filled crates were left at the edge of the row for a hovertruck to gather. I wasn't really dressed to work in the groves and my bare feet might have been a giveaway. Farzi was walking beside me after a while.

  "Reah, you get injured yesterday. Why you here today? Let me take you back."

  "Honey Snake," I said, "this is better therapy right now than what Doctor Halivar was doing."

  "Where your shoes?" He was staring at my feet. Likely at my pajamas, too. I really wasn't dressed to do what I was doing.

  "At the house," I said, answering Farzi's question. I'd skipped out to the orange groves without bothering to grab any footwear. Now, my soles were covered in dirt. I didn't have a hoverstep, but it wasn't needed with the oranges.

  "Reah," Farzi took my face in his hands. "Something bothers you. We all know this. We want it to leave. We want to lie with you. Hold onto you. Say how we feel. Say how angry we are that we were treated bad. And treated you bad, too."

  "Farzi, I don't know how long that will take, or if it's possible, even." I wasn't looking into his eyes any longer. I couldn't. Concern as well as pain lay in those honey-brown depths.

  "My beautiful Reah." Fa
rzi pulled me against him and stroked my hair. "So fragile," he murmured, kissing the top of my head. "Let me take you home," he sighed, his breath stirring hair at my temple. "Car close," he whispered, stroking my jaw with a thumb. I allowed him to lift and carry me the distance to his small hovercar. They owned many of those; the vehicles ran between rows of trees easily and didn't interfere with the picking.

  "There you are," Tory was waiting with Aurelius when Farzi parked in front of the large plantation house. The spacious home consisted of two stories, built of fieldstone and covered with whitewashed stucco. Many tall windows lined the front and the plantation was beautifully landscaped. The reptanoids certainly had good taste in architecture and landscaped grounds.

  "Come, we wash feet," Farzi was herding me, an arm around my waist, toward the house.

  "Reah, what the hell were you doing?" Tory blew a cloud of smoke as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest and glared disapprovingly at me. I wondered where the good doctor was; here was a male High Demon venting his anger.

  "Picking oranges, but that was before. Now I'm picking a fight with you, apparently." I brushed off Farzi's embrace and stalked past all three of them.

  "Don't upset her," I heard Aurelius say as I tiptoed through the house. I didn't want to scatter dirt on expensive area rugs. The reptanoids had employees who cleaned and cooked, but I didn't want to make their jobs harder.

  "You should probably wear shoes next time," Kevis said dryly as he found me toweling off my freshly washed feet later.

  "Like you wouldn't have tried to stop me from going if I'd waited to find shoes," I snapped.

  "I wouldn't have, but I'd have tried to talk you out of it. You're still weak. Tell me; your shoulder hurts now, doesn't it?"

  "Yes, it hurts. Don't be an ass about it," I said, dropping the towel onto the edge of an octagonal tub inside my bath.

  "You get so defensive," he said.

  "Where's your comp-vid?" I asked sarcastically. "Doesn't that need to go in your notes?"

  "Already there," he said, smugness in his expression.

  "Of course it is," I agreed. "Get out."

  "Are you going to throw me out?"