"I'll bet you say that to all the girls," I removed my fingers from his chest and rose to a sitting position. Drew was lying on his stomach on the other side, his long braid in a curve down his back. "How do you guys deal with all this hair?" I lifted Drew's braid and fingered the thickness—it was like black silk.
"I'll give you thirty minutes to stop playing with my hair," Drew turned his face to me and grinned.
"Schmuck," I dropped his braid and considered what might be the best way to get out of bed. Crawling over one Falchani or the other just seemed undignified. In the end, I misted out of bed.
"Need any help?" Drake called as I materialized and walked into the bathroom to clean up.
"You need to stay where you are," I stuck my head through the door and pointed a finger at him.
* * *
Kyler and Cleo were waiting for me when I walked out of the bathroom later. "You don't look Falchani," I smiled at my nieces.
"We had to chase them away," Kyler grinned. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, I guess," I said. "My arm isn't split open." I lifted it to show them.
"Shadow almost had a heart attack when he heard, and he hasn't stopped cursing since," Cleo snickered. "He's got it bad. Raffian and Glendes threatened to send him to work with the beginning students after he ruined three spelled jewels. This morning."
"He ruined seven yesterday," Kyler agreed with Cleo, her gold eyes sparkling with mischief.
"I don't know what to do about that," I said, shoving hair behind an ear. I didn't. I had two Falchani who wanted me in the worst way, and now, a Grey House Wizard couldn't function because he heard I'd been injured.
"That’s, uh, why we're here," Kyler admitted, refusing to look at me. I saw the dimple in her cheek, though. She was up to something. I knew it, and I hadn't known her very long. It made me want to ask about her mother—my (now deceased) sister.
"We're going to take you to Grey House. Maybe Shadow will calm down when he sees you." An identical dimple showed in Cleo's cheek.
"Uh-huh," I said. At least my sarcasm was alive and well. The rest of me might be walking wounded, but my cynical side was just fine, thanks. I should have kept my mouth shut. My nieces had me whisked away as soon as the unintended assent came out of my mouth.
"I have us shielded," Kyler whispered in my ear. She and Cleo flanked me as I stared at Shadow Grey. We were in a dimly lit workshop and metal, jewelry, raw jewels and jewelry-making tools were scattered across a workbench. I imagined the workbench might be much neater under normal circumstances—I couldn't imagine a Master Wizard accomplishing anything while surrounded by such clutter. Shadow held his hands around a floating, diamond cut jewel, and intense light filled the space between his hands. I guess that's why he wore what looked to be welder's goggles. The light intensified and I winced—it was too bright for me to look at it.
Here it comes, Cleo sent mindspeech. Light blasted away from the jewel, the jewel exploded, Shadow flung his goggles away and cursed so fluently and vividly my ears turned pink.
"Ahem." Kyler's single word made Shadow stop in mid-rant, and when he saw I was there with Kyler and Cleo, he walked straight to me, lifted my face in his hands and kissed me. And then kept on kissing me, while Kyler and Cleo deserted us.
"Don't ever," smack, "let me hear," smack, "you're wounded like that," smack, "again." Shadow muttered between kisses.
"That was an unplanned wounding," I tried to step away. Tried. Shadow came right along with me. His gray eyes narrowed as his lips met mine again. Eventually, we were backed against a wall in his workshop, and the only choices I had were to mist away or stay and try to calm Shadow down.
"Shadow, we don't know each other," I held a hand over his mouth (he was preparing for another round of kissing). And while his kisses were getting hotter (I can't begin to describe it—and the tongue part was about to drive me wild) I didn't know him, just as I'd said.
"Fuck." Shadow stepped away and raked a hand through thick, nearly black hair. "I'm sorry. It's just, when Cleo came and said you'd gotten hurt and couldn't come to the dinner, all I could think was you were dying and Dad and Grampa wouldn't let me go to you. I sent mindspeech to Drake and Drew. They sent a few images back, but all I saw was blood." Shadow paced before me. "They said you were fine, but I couldn't fucking be there."
"See, I'm really fine," I held up my arm. "It was just a slice here, that's all." I pointed to the fading white line. "Karzac's really good with this, and Pheligar helped."
"Look, I know you don't feel this as intensely as I do. When a M'Fiyah hits a Grey House Wizard, it's a little consuming. I'm sorry." Shadow shook his head. He was a handsome man, even with worry lines and his mouth set in a frown.
"How many jewels have you ruined, Shadow?" I asked, watching his face.
"Fourteen, now," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and offering an ashamed grin. "Fifty million credits' worth."
"Oh, lord."
"Don't worry," he held out a hand. "It's the spells that are worth so much. The jewels are manufactured, and are relatively inexpensive. It's my power and the complexity of the spells that command such high prices."
"What are you working on?"
"Crown jewels," he said. "For the new King of Parthin."
That's how I spent my day (with a short break for lunch) watching Shadow Grey spell fourteen jewels and place them in a gold and platinum crown. He explained while he worked that he'd gone to school on several worlds, earning three engineering degrees before coming back to Grey House and working spells for a living. And he explained that the fifty million price tag only covered the jewels he was making—the crown was extra. "It'll kill anybody who attacks the King of Parthin," Shadow sighed as he placed the last jewel in the crown with Power. He was exhausted, I could tell, but he'd made a deadline he might not have made otherwise.
"If you hadn't come," Shadow rubbed my shoulders gently as we walked out of his workshop. "I'll send somebody in to clean up," he added, closing the door behind him.
"You're the one who needs the shoulder rub," I pointed out. "You ought to get that taken care of and go to bed."
"I don't suppose you'd come with me?" His gray eyes held a bit of hope.
"Shadow, I'm trying to come to grips with all this. Can we give it some time?"
"If you promise not to consider removing the M'Fiyah," he muttered, pulling me into an embrace.
"I won't." I knew, first hand, just what that could do to somebody. Merrill's actions had cost me, and I didn't want anybody else to suffer as I had.
"Good. Please say you'll come back. It was easy to get the work done when you were with me."
"I'll see what I can do." I leaned away from him. He used that as an excuse to kiss me.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Shadow asked when he pulled away. I watched his mouth—a lazy grin formed there.
"I'm going to move a boulder," I said.
* * *
"Twenty-seven worlds are being attacked by Flakkar," Pheligar gave the information to Griffin, Kiarra, Adam and Merrill. "One world is already devastated; fifty nesting pairs are there and the population is unprepared to handle the onslaught. They do not have the necessary weapons. Thirty pairs were found on another world, where a similar situation is developing. We are at a loss to explain this. When we Look, it is as if the reasons slide away from us and we fail to grasp them. We cannot find the Flakkar themselves by Looking; their shielding prevents it. We had to Look for the killings and then go find the creatures physically. Before, we would have said the Flakkar numbers were small. This defies logic."
"Crap," Kiarra muttered. "What can we do? Somebody has to be putting those things out there, but we aren't getting any hits on the Ra'Ak folding space to those worlds." The Saa Thalarr weren't allowed to interfere unless the Ra'Ak were involved in some way.
"Who has weapons to fight these things?" Adam asked.
"There are only a few worlds that have proper weapons," Pheligar replied.
"The Reth Alliance has Ranos technology which will kill the creatures, but they aren't willing to cooperate in defense of non-Alliance worlds. The Flakkar can scent most poisons so that is also not an option."
Griffin was listening to all of them discuss the situation. He wasn't about to interfere this time. Not at all.
* * *
I dreamed that night, and I hadn't had one of those dreams since I'd come back from the dead. I was seeing gates. Many gates. On so many worlds and in so many places on those worlds. Some had several gates. I don't know how I knew that, I just did. I knew I had the power to travel through all of them, and I could have described every one of those gates in detail if I had to. A voice whispered to me about Power. And desperation. And retribution. I jerked awake to find morning light streaming through my window.
I was having an omelette with orange juice later at the kitchen island. Mike and Jamie were off since it was Sunday. Dragon, Crane, Drake and Drew wandered in; they'd been sparring. Drake and Drew had obviously gotten a drubbing from Dragon and Crane, and both looked so pitiful I got up and cooked breakfast for all of them.
"These biscuits are wonderful," Crane was helping himself to another. They'd gotten scrambled eggs, ham, biscuits and gravy. There was plenty of jam and jelly to go with the biscuits, too; I'd made a large pan to feed everybody.
"Why didn't you send mindspeech that food was ready?" Radomir, whom I hadn't seen for days, wandered in, offering a beautiful smile. Mack and Justin came in a few minutes later, followed by Grace and Devin, all of them yawning. Mack slapped Crane on the back. Crane grinned and kept eating. I ended up making more biscuits, wondering while I worked just how things got coordinated with so many mates.
"We have schedules," Mack grinned after reading my mind—he was having another biscuit. Karzac had been up early and out somewhere; he folded in and sat down. I put a plate of food in front of him. He thanked me quietly and started eating.
"I haven't gotten breakfast on Sunday that I didn't have to fix in a long time," Grace heaved a happy sigh. She and Devin, being vegetarian, got scrambled eggs and biscuits with jam.
"So, you have a bulletin board somewhere that just announces who's with whom and when?" I asked, sitting beside Drew to have a biscuit with strawberry jelly and a glass of milk. A published schedule sounded embarrassing; I just didn't say that out loud. Drew rubbed my back gently—he was picking up my thoughts.
"Something like that," Mack laughed. He looked so much like his father.
"What are you doing today?" Drew whispered.
"I have some things to take care of today," I said.
"What about tonight?" he asked. "Come to dinner with Drake and me."
"Okay," I said. "Casual or dressy?"
"Casual," he said. I nodded. "Around eight?"
"I can do that," I said. I left them all at the island, eating and talking while I went back to my bedroom to find my sturdiest jeans, a pullover shirt and athletic shoes. I knew where the gate was on Merrill's property and I was going there as quickly as I could. Since I didn't want anyone to see me, I misted to the gate straight from my bedroom and focused on the first gate I'd seen in my dream the night before. I had no idea what I would find.
There was no mistaking the stench. This world was under attack by Flakkar, too. At least fifty nesting pairs—most with young, and all of them not far from the gate. If I couldn't take their heads, I misted inside them and caused them to explode. Nearly two hundred died that day, all in the space of two hours or so. I went straight home and napped when I finished.
* * *
"That looks nice," Drake complimented my outfit. I'd met up with the twins in the kitchen, dressed in a sleeveless white V-neck top with jeans and low-heeled sandals. Platinum jewelry went nicely with the outfit.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll find out," Drew grinned. We folded away. It was a pizza place in New York, and with the time difference, it was three in the afternoon there.
"Oh my gosh," I said, after biting into a pizza with everything. It was so good. We finished off the whole, huge pizza. We then folded to Port Aransas; Adam had a beach house there.
"This is where Adam and Kiarra met when Saxom was killed," Drew said when I told him I'd been there long ago. I discovered I was there working for Winkler a scant two years after all that had happened. We took off our shoes, rolled up pants legs and went wading in the waters of the gulf in front of the massive beach house. Winkler might have been jealous of that beach house, it was so big. I was splashed with water and I chased after the twins. Drake gave me a piggyback ride while he waded along and we found sand dollars and scallop shells. We sat on the sand after a while, content to watch the water lapping the shore.
The occasional tourist passed by, but we might as well have been there on the beach alone. Drew was lying on a beach towel next to me, smiling when I touched his cheek. His fingers buried themselves in my hair when I leaned down to kiss him.
We went to a bar in Austin after that to listen to jazz and have a few drinks. Yeah, I was a little drunk afterward and somehow let those guys talk me into getting into the hot tub with them when we got home, sans clothing. They undressed me and that wasn't erotic or anything.
"No touching," Drake laughed when he made his clothing disappear. "Karzac says you're still recovering, so no sex for another day." I wanted to find Karzac right then and have a few words with him. Drake and Drew both would have put just about anyone to shame, and they didn't try to hide their arousal. Yeah, I couldn't look away. It's a good thing they got in the water quickly. I was yawning before long and one of them, I'm not sure which one, lifted me out of the water, folded me to my bedroom, wrapped me in a towel while his brother helped and both of them got me into bed afterward.
* * *
"Jaydevik, why am I hearing now that there may be Croth and Drith on the Southern Continent and that you may have known about this already?" Glinda was poking a finger in Jayd's chest.
"Glindarok, we did not wish to trouble you with this," Jayd said, trying to pull her against him.
"Has anyone been farther south than Baetrah an Hafei to investigate this?" Glinda moved away.
"Not farther south. The area was completely covered in ash and impossible to get the wagons through to check. We found Kifirin there and he disappeared with Niff—I mean Lissa, shortly afterward. The reconnaissance party came home after that."
"Jayd, someone needs to go and soon. I do not trust any Croth or Drith left alive."
"I will send someone," Jayd sighed, successfully pulling her against him this time. He didn't tell her that he'd allowed Garde to wait until after the fall rains were over on the Southern Continent. Rumors were growing, however, and Jayd knew he should have sent a scouting party already.
* * *
The second gate from my dream was the objective when I woke Monday morning. I discovered it was Monday, May tenth. As Earth measured time, anyway. I misted away right after eating a quick breakfast. Mike and Jamie were off on Sundays and Mondays, so I cooked for myself. I figured the twins were out sparring with Dragon and Crane. The second gate I went through landed me in the middle of a jungle. The animals were all missing when I arrived and it wasn't hard to determine why. More stench. Thirty pairs of Flakkar this time, but they were scattered. I found deserted villages for hundreds of miles in all directions while I hunted. The predators were becoming prey as I tracked them and their scent. Just for fun, I attempted the Saa Thalarr trick of Looking. No, I hadn't tried it before. I assumed it wasn't possible. What can I say? I was going to have to be more adventurous. I found a few more nests that way; the knowledge just settled into my mind as if it belonged there. Breathing a happy sigh, I went after those Flakkar, ridding the planet of them.
It wouldn't have taken these very long to destroy all life on the planet; they'd already accounted for nearly a third of it. What did those creatures imagine they were going to live on, if no more prey was available to devour? It made me wonder where
they came from, and in such great numbers, too. Did they have natural enemies? What about their homeworld—how had it survived with their predations? Questions for which I might have to Look to find answers.
I gated to the world I'd gone to the day before just so I could double check with my newfound ability, making sure there weren't any other Flakkar to kill. I found one nest and took it out.
* * *
"How much longer?" Queen Friesianna demanded of the newly crowned Ra'Ak Prince. "When may we submit our demand for the Ka'Mirai to be given to us?"
"We will give it another week or two to ensure the Flakkar devastation is severe enough," the Ra'Ak Prince smiled. He had no care for the Elemaiya and what they wanted. He only cared for his own desire, and that involved bringing the High Demons to their knees before destroying them. The Ka'Mirai could help with that. He already held her Dark Elemaiya counterpart, and if he had both, nothing could stop him.
He smiled at his subtlety—the Elemaiya had no idea he planned to ignore the bargain. The Elemaiya would serve him until he had no further use for them, and then they'd be eaten or destroyed. The creature that saved the High Demon world before was dead. That news was everywhere. There was nothing left to save them a second time, and he'd already made contact with allies remaining on Kifirin. He looked forward to using them just as his predecessor had, to eliminate others of their kind. Then it would be a simple matter to be rid of them completely. They would struggle against one another for power and that could kill them all. Prince Narval of the Ra'Ak would become King of the Dark Realm and all would bow to him instead.
"You know the Flakkar cannot be found by Looking," King Baltis of the Dark Elemaiya complained. "How will we determine how successful this venture is?"
"By checking the devastation instead," Narval smiled maliciously. "I have already done this only this morning. The first world has lost a quarter of their population already. The second has suffered even more losses." Friesianna and Baltis both Looked, they knew which worlds were seeded with Flakkar. Narval had bent time greatly to gather the nesting pairs from known worlds destroyed by Flakkar. And then, with the help of the Elemaiya, his kind had spread the starving creatures across vulnerable worlds, sending them through gates located on those worlds while the Elemaiya held the gates open. The creatures were easy enough to capture; starving Flakkar on devastated worlds dropped their shields—they had no strength to maintain them.
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