"No," Lok sighed heavily. "I was the biggest fool, saying that to her. How was I to know that everything I might want would come in such a package? I know now that it is beautiful. I was allowing my mouth to betray me."
"Wise," the Larentii agreed. "I will go, now. She will wake in four ticks—let the others know where she is. Now is not a good time for them to worry more than they should."
"I will—I'll send out messages as soon as I get her into bed."
"Very good. I will see you soon, Falchani. We may have things to discuss."
"All right." Lok nodded, even as he wondered what a Larentii might have to discuss with him. The Larentii disappeared.
Lok did send out messages—to Lendill, Gavril and Lissa, asking them to share the information with anyone else who needed it. He'd sent it from his comp-vid as he lay beside Reah—he'd pulled on silk sleeping pants and crawled in beside her after settling her as comfortably as he could. He'd been left at the house in Targis, keeping the guards around it and investigating anything that came along that might be connected to child disappearances. He couldn't regret being left behind on Tulgalan—the Larentii had brought Reah to him instead of one of the others.
"Little snowcat," Lok leaned down and nuzzled Reah's jaw, kissing it gently. Moving carefully, he settled her head on his shoulder, wrapped his arms around her and went to sleep.
* * *
My waking was disoriented—I couldn't say where I was, and then came the pounding heart, followed by pain and fear—Wyatt was dead. Is that how it is? You wake, and then you remember? Where does sleep take you, that you can leave things like that behind for a time, only to come back to consciousness and find it waiting, like a tiger crouching to pounce?
"Reah, hush now, the pain will pass," a soft voice, from above my head. My cheek was pressed against someone's chest, hardened with muscle. Opening my eyes, I blinked to bring red dragon tattoos into focus.
"It's just me, your Lok," he murmured gently against my ear. And then kissed and nuzzled the sensitive spot behind it. When had he become my Lok? When? I wasn't going to argue, relaxing against him instead with a sigh.
"See, you can relax, little snowcat." I lifted an arm to twine it around his neck. I'd wanted to do that so many times. But he hadn't wanted me. I almost pulled my hand away again.
"No, Reah. Don't pull away from me. I am yours. There is no doubt. And forget what I said about preferences. I can be every bit as foolish as the next one."
"Lok?" I leaned back so I could see his black eyes.
"Hmm?" The black eyes were smiling at me.
"I always wanted a Falchani. I watched the vids over and over again when I was in school, about the Falchani warriors. You don't know what those images did to a fourteen-year-old who was beginning to see boys differently."
"Now you have your own Falchani," his smile widened. "What are you going to do with him?"
"What does he want to do with me?" I asked, flushing slightly.
"He wants to make love to his little snowcat," he said, and lowered his head to kiss me.
* * *
"I need to talk to Teeg," I said later, after serving breakfast for Lok. Lok nodded, dipping into his shaved ham and eggs on a breakfast roll. He was eating it with his fingers, which was more than acceptable. Those fingers had stroked my skin earlier, and every fantasy I'd ever had about a Falchani warrior had come true.
"Lok," I went on, staring at my plate of food, "We may be in terrible trouble if what I think about this warlock is true."
"That idiot warlock managed to tap Karathia's core," Lendill appeared at my elbow. "Do we have more?" He eyed my plate of food.
"Take this, I'll make more," I sighed, slipping off my stool. "And I guess it's too bad that Wylend banished me, isn't it?"
"Reah, he just lost his grandson and heir." Lendill chastised me gently.
"I know." I rubbed knuckles against my forehead. "Will somebody contact Teeg to see if he has time for me today? I have to talk to him—ask him and Astralan some questions."
"What do you mean, see if he has any time for you?" Lendill huffed.
"I have to take what I can get from all of you," I said, putting more eggs on to cook. "We have sex and then you're off to work. I don't get any days where we get all day, now do I?"
Lendill dropped his fork. "Is that what you think?" He asked, lifting the fork again and cutting into his meal.
"It's what I get. What else am I supposed to think? When have we gone shopping, Lendill? Or went anywhere just for fun?"
"Did we wake grumpy today?" Teeg appeared with the requested Astralan. Lendill must have sent mindspeech.
"Sit down, I'll have a plate ready for you in just a few ticks," I said. I busied myself at the stove, preparing three more plates. I didn't tell Teeg what I thought until I placed his plate in front of him. Astralan was smiling as he ate—I hadn't cooked for him in a while. I almost missed those early days with Arvil San Gerxon—at least I'd seen Teeg and the others every day.
"What did you want to talk about, sweetheart?" Teeg asked as I took a stool next to his.
"I need to ask Astralan a question first," I said, cutting into my egg. Astralan gave me an expectant look. "How long does a soul-shift take, once you have the triangle drawn out?"
"Only a tick or two," Astralan frowned at the question.
"And does the targeted body have to be right there next to the warlock?"
"As I understand it, never having done it, of course, you have a bit of space—perhaps thirty or forty of Teeg's feet," Astralan replied.
"Teeg, how big were those rooms at the hotel in Sharaan, on Kareed?"
Teeg blinked at my question. And then blinked again. "Maybe twenty feet across, or so," he whispered. Yeah, he was about to become frightened, too. "What are you saying, Reah?"
"Here." I drew a comp-vid over and pulled up the information I'd compiled. "Child disappearances, occurring after Zellar's death on Kareed, including one from the same hotel around the time of Zellar's recorded death. Everybody assumed the boy ran away, but they never found a trail to follow. All the other disappearances occurred on non-Alliance worlds at the time, so the information wasn't disseminated. But," and I pressed a button to pull up other information, "look at this. Before, adults came up missing, here and there. Always six at a time, spaced three days apart. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but I think normal Ra'Ak feed every third day."
Teeg was staring at me now, as were Astralan, Lok and Lendill. "We may have killed Zellar's body on Kareed," I said flatly. "But Zellar's soul is still alive and living inside a child's body somewhere. He hasn't been tapping cores to throw us off track and make us think it was somebody else. He's desperate now, since those creatures are crazy, and I think he may be trying to get away from them. That's why he tapped Karathia's core."
"Oh, my toes and stars," Astralan breathed in alarm.
"What's this?" Norian appeared, followed closely by Lissa, Gavin, Erland, Kiarra and a roomful of others.
"Our warlock is Zellar." Teeg tossed his fork onto his plate and stood. "We thought we had the fucker, and he fooled us every step of the way."
"Willem said somebody was tapping into the Telling Winds, and that things were happening that shouldn't be," Lissa said. I stared at her—I hadn't heard this before. Willem Drifft—the Prince of a lesser house of Elves and Ildevar Wyyld's assistant, was an Elvish seer. Few were able to tap into the Telling Winds—Lendill said that they were often referred to as Akashic records on many worlds, but a very rare seer could see forward and backward in the Winds. The enemy was reading our every move and staying one step ahead of us as a result.
"Then one of those Ra'Ak fuckers is doing it, or was doing it," I snapped, angry that information had been withheld, for some reason.
"That makes sense." Willem appeared—Lissa had likely sent mindspeech. "If a Ra'Ak turned a humanoid who could read the Winds, and nurtured it instead of letting it fight and die with the others, they'd have a weapon in their hands," he said. "This is awful.
"
"Awful doesn't begin to describe what this is," Lissa rubbed her forehead.
"Here, now, little one." One of Lissa's Larentii appeared, lifting her and placing gentle fingers against her forehead. I knew he was removing the headache for her.
"So, now that the warlock has tapped Karathia's core, he may hit others," I said, my stomach rebelling. "He'll keep trying to get away from these Ra'Ak, but as long as the one who can read the Winds is alive, he'll lose that battle." I thought I was going to be sick. Pheligar appeared, lifting Kiarra and rubbing her back. I felt dizzy now, in addition to feeling nauseous.
"Little one, this stone floor is not a pleasant place to fall," Nefrigar's voice came from far away.
"Huh?" I stared up at him. How was I in his arms? When had that happened?
"And you must eat, Lara'Kayan. Bearing twins is never easy on a female's body. You must take better care of yourself."
"Twins? You're joking," Teeg was standing next to Nefrigar now, even as my eyes filled with tears. "I mean, I knew she was pregnant again, but twins?"
"Hush now, Reah," Nefrigar said, and then began to hum. I'd heard rumors about the Larentii trilling, but I'd never heard it before. I was asleep in very little time.
* * *
"They're Tory's," Teeg muttered, watching Reah's eyes close as Nefrigar held her.
"Do not fret, young vampire," Nefrigar said softly so as not to wake Reah. "Yours will come someday. The High Demon race is in peril, and Reah must help rebuild it. Do not begrudge them this. You will get your child."
"I will?" Teeg's voice nearly cracked, he was so surprised.
"When the time is right," Nefrigar's eyes were unfocused for a few moments.
"But what about Karathia's core—Wylend has banished Reah. Even if he lifts that banishment, she may not be willing to go back there," Lissa voiced another concern.
"Unless he wants Karathia to die, he'll be forced to lift the ban. But that will have to take a back seat for now—his heir is dead," Astralan observed.
"Something else that was not supposed to happen—not like this," Willem said quietly.
* * *
"Tell me how great a fool I am." Wylend gave Erland a hopeless glance. Erland was helping Wylend into dark robes for Wyatt's funeral.
"Love, we all make mistakes."
"But this mistake cost Wyatt his life. If I'd just listened, instead of demanding my own way. Amara has left Griffin. She'll come for the service, but she'll sit with Lissa's group—she's already asked for that favor. Griffin and I were so set on Wyatt having this that we overrode his feelings in the matter. Belen took away the Oracle's ability to see the future where his son was concerned. Now, Griffin and I pay the price."
"I asked Gavril to tell Reah that you've rescinded the sentence and the banishment," Erland said softly.
"Erland, it's too little too late, and everything we do from now on will be suspect. She doesn't know me as you do—she doesn't know to wait out these little fits of paranoia and jealousy. And I'm afraid that I complicated things further, before her words and thoughts became a painful truth to me."
"Love, what did you do?" Erland lifted Wylend's face with a gentle hand.
"I listened in at other times. I heard her tell Gavril that Torevik was too young in her estimation, when he fathered her first child. She and Gavril discussed Tory's maturity since then. I'm afraid I only took those words of hers regarding his immaturity to my great-grandson. I had to send Corolan yesterday to find out what sort of damage that might have done."
"Wylend, you didn't." Erland backed away, a concerned frown on his face. He hadn't yet told Wylend that Reah was pregnant with Tory's twins.
"Erland, I don't know what possessed me to do it. Reah will pay for private thoughts and words."
"What has Torevik done?" Erland was almost afraid to ask the question.
"You will find out at the funeral, I'm afraid. It's a good thing Reah isn't planning to attend."
Erland shivered. If Tory were plotting some sort of revenge against Reah for Wylend's invasion of her privacy and reported half-truths later, Erland didn't want to witness it.
* * *
A four-hundred-year-old clock ticked in the background inside Merrill's study. Griffin sat at Merrill's desk, gazing at the lawn outside the window without seeing anything. Although Griffin and Merrill had barely spoken for years, he and Amara still lived in the old mansion Merrill owned in Kent. Until Amara left him after Wyatt's death, anyway. Griffin brushed wetness away from his face. His mate and his son—both gone in a blink. He couldn't even Look to see if Amara might come back to him eventually; that ability to see her future had been taken from him after she'd left.
"Now you get to experience a little of what you handed out to others," a woman's voice snapped. Griffin turned quickly before rising in a blink, claws and fangs out. It had been years since he'd let the vampire in him loose, but the fangs and claws disappeared quickly. There was no mistaking this one, shining brightly from across the desk.
"Mighty One," Griffin bowed his head.
"You need to get your ass back in time and help your daughter. At least you can kill the Ra'Ak threatening her and her children, if you couldn't manage to kill the one who took Wyatt."
"What?" Griffin blinked in confusion as the woman shone brighter. Images filtered into his mind before he was flung backward in time.
* * *
"Reah, he's lifting the ban, so of course you should go. You were the last one to stand up for Wyatt, when he was alive. Why shouldn't you go to his funeral?"
"Teeg, it's not that simple and you know it. I thought of Wyatt as a friend, but there will be others there who are his family. You're part of that. I don't want to interfere with this in any way." I didn't add that I thought Wylend had selfish reasons to lift the ban—Karathia's core had been tapped, so he had to make nice if he wanted me to fix it. I would, but it wouldn't be for him. It would be for Corolan, Erland, Rylend and Radolf.
"Then come as my mate. As my support in this." Teeg was begging me now. We were having this conversation inside my suite at the house he'd purchased for me in Targis. Lok was outside, making sure the guards assigned by Lendill were doing their job.
"Little one," Nefrigar appeared at my elbow—I'd been combing out my hair as I talked with Teeg.
"Honey blue?" I looked up at him. When we were like this, he was nearly twice my height.
"Reah, as a gift to my love, I will place a shield around your words and thoughts. No other will be able to tap them or employ spells to eavesdrop, unless you wish it."
I was still staring at him. Someone had told me when I woke what Lara'Kayan meant—Nefrigar had been calling me forever love in Neaborian, a nearly dead language.
"Thank you," I sighed, wishing that gift had come sooner than it did.
"I wish it had come sooner as well," Nefrigar smiled sadly. "I did not lock myself out, but then neither I nor any Larentii will ever seek to harm you with your own thoughts and words."
I nodded, staring at the floor. I still didn't understand why Wylend chose to damage me in this way. What had he hoped to gain by it? Wyatt had paid the price for all this, and that made me sad and angry at the same time.
"I must go; send mindspeech if you need me," Nefrigar's large blue fingers tilted my chin up. "I love you," he said, his bright blue eyes gazing into mine with what looked like worry before he disappeared.
"Come with me, Reah," Teeg said softly at my back. I nodded and went to find something suitable to wear.
* * *
Lissa had offered her palace as a neutral space for the funeral, after Amara had come to her. I was just learning that Amara, Griffin's mate for millennia uncounted, had left Teeg's grandfather after Wyatt's death. She wasn't speaking to Griffin or to Wylend. I was with her regarding Wylend. I'd never met Griffin, but he'd been pushing Wyatt, too. It was all a waste—Wyatt was a good healer. I knew that.
"Here—we'll sit with Mom and Dad," Teeg steered me towar
d a row of comfortable chairs set up in the circular rotunda of Lissa's palace. Flowers were everywhere near a spot at the front, and a podium had been placed there. The chairs in the center aisle at the front were empty—the immediate family would come in last.
I looked down our row while Teeg sent mindspeech that the dark-haired, beautiful woman sitting beside Lissa was Amara, Wyatt's mother. Lissa had an arm around her shoulders and was trying to console her. Drew sat on Amara's other side, Drake next to him. Gavin and Tony sat on Lissa's other side.
I was seeing too, a few that I had only seen a time or two—Lissa's daughter Nissa and her two mates, Toff and Trikleer. Toff was not only a modified Winged Vampire, but also a Grey House Wizard, as was Trik. Behind us were Lissa's other mates. Rylend would come in with Wylend and Erland, I was sure. I hoped I hadn't damaged Ry's relationship with Wylend, just by saying that he'd be the better King.
Wyatt hadn't wanted to be King at all, he'd said so himself when I'd first met him. I'd tried to get him to discuss his wishes with Lissa at the time, but he'd never done it. We were back to the missed opportunities that Aurelius and I had discussed. I missed Auri and wished he were with me, on my other side.
Perhaps Tory would come instead, so I could lean on his strength. Teeg squeezed my hand when Kiarra appeared next to a piano near the front. I hadn't know before then that she sang. Gavril explained that this was what she'd done before becoming one of the Saa Thalarr. The language was from old Earth, and Gavril had to interpret for me, but it was beautiful. The title, he said, was Time To Say Good-bye.
* * *
Corolan's face was pale as he walked into the antechamber to collect Wylend, Erland and the others. A full contingent of Karathian royalty had come from Wylend's court. He'd seen Reah come in on Gavril's arm. This wasn't going to turn out well.
"What's wrong?" Rylend hissed. He'd been watching his grandfather, his uncle Griffin and all the others, trying to anticipate what might be needed and working toward making things happen to ensure everything went as smoothly as possible. He'd already sent two home who'd shown up inebriated.
"Reah's here," Corolan muttered.
Demon's Quest (High Demon Series #4) Page 21
