"Good," I said as he pulled away and grinned. Drake, Drew, Dragon and Crane had already left for New Fyris, after saying much the same thing.
"Kooper has troops ready to go; all you have to do is send the message," I said, touching Winkler's mouth. He has a nice mouth. He gives great kisses, too.
"Armed with ranos technology?"
"You know it."
"Good. Keep me posted on Karathia."
"I will."
After he hefted a duffle over his shoulder, my werewolf mate disappeared. I couldn't help thinking that all this shouldn't have been necessary.
"Sometimes, even the immortal ones need to start over," Thurlow appeared at my side.
He would know; he'd been sent back to the beginning to learn what he should have known the first time around.
"You know, in the hidden parts of your mind, that there have been no new High Demons born since Lexsi's birth, and before Glinda's and Reah's other daughters, there hadn't been new ones for several hundred years," Thurlow explained. "The last male born was to Verarok and Nedevik. Wardevik is a scholar and defender for the weak, like his father."
"You know, I hadn't really considered that," I frowned at Thurlow. "How old is Wardevik?"
"Nearly six hundred years old."
"Wow. Garde is around a million years old—by his own admission. Jayde is several centuries younger, but when you're talking that much time, it really doesn't matter, does it?"
"No, love, it does not. You must recall the time and climate on Kifirin when they were birthed."
"Females were kept in the home and guarded, and because there were so few of them, they were treated like a commodity rather than people."
"Lendevik made sure that his Queen and her sister couldn't skip—with controllers. That facilitated their deaths. Belarok's sons raped and killed both, after they were goaded and convinced by copper Ra'Ak."
"So Jayd probably found those controllers in the palace treasury somewhere, and conveniently forgot to tell anybody so they wouldn't be destroyed," I fumed.
"I believe they were placed there by Lendevik and discovered later, yes," Thurlow agreed.
"You know, I'd like to go back and slap the bejeezus out of Lendevik," I said.
"Lendevik paid for many mistakes with his life," Thurlow rubbed my neck with gentle fingers. "That is long over. We face new difficulties, now."
"You got that right."
Chapter 12
The Apostles Tunnel, Near Adelaide, Australia
Opal
"There was an elaborate set of traps to navigate before we reached the Metal Library in the volcano," Zaria said as she led Pheligar and Valegar through the rough tunnel. Val and Pheligar had to shorten their height in order to stand upright as we made our way through rock and dirty water.
"Here," she stopped and pointed to the appropriate spot we'd chosen earlier. "This can be where we place the new tunnel leading to the decoy library."
"I suggest leaving the brackish water and debris in the tunnel the way it is," Pheligar said as Kell and I slogged up to join them. "If I were the Library, I'd make the path as difficult and offensive as I could to keep others away."
"I agree," I said. "Another good thing, too, is that this tunnel will be impossible for Morgett to navigate in Ra'Ak form. It's narrower than he is, and if we leave the rock and other obstacles here, he won't even try."
"If he uses his power to change those things, he risks getting smeared by the Library's defenses," Zaria added. "Even if he thinks the Library has bestowed its blessings on him as the chosen one."
"Chosen one, my posterior," Kell snorted.
"I agree," Valegar nodded to Kell.
"Kiarra and the others can shield themselves inside the false library, once they know he's coming," Pheligar said. "It is my hope that the ambush will go in their favor, although the enemy may attempt to escape, once they realize it's a trap."
"I've thought about that, too," Zaria agreed. "I'll have Kory's brothers on standby, in case they attempt to relocate."
"You think they'll target Uluru, don't you?" I said.
"I'm afraid so. None of the maps provided by Mardin showed this," she swept out a hand. "Those maps all include Uluru. I hope Morgett thinks that was a ruse, and once we leak this as a possible location, he'll be tempted by what he hears and investigate."
"What will you do if V'ili and the twins arrive with him?"
"I'm working on that," Zaria mumbled. "In the meantime, we need to make this look like the Library's new digs."
* * *
Kent, England
Lexsi
Because I was bored and worried at the same time, I offered to cook dinner. Turns out, I had plenty of assistance. Kiarra had two who usually cooked if she didn't want to, and Anita and Conner offered to help, too.
"Taste," I held out a spoon for Kiarra. She was vegetarian; I'd just made a fresh tomato soup for her to try.
"Oh, my gosh, that's the best ever," Kiarra stared at me before licking the spoon.
"Mom taught me how to cook vegetarian," I said. "Comes in handy, too. The others will eat this with you and won't complain that it doesn't have meat."
"They'll love it," Kiarra said. "When do you think they'll have the trap completed?"
"Since Larentii are involved, probably not long once they decide on the location," I replied.
"I think the same thing—but the discussion on where to place it could take a while."
"Opal and Zaria already visited the tunnel, so they may have a pretty good idea," Kory arrived and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Dinner ready soon? Watson is about to cave in."
"It will be, the fish is almost ready," I said.
"The werewolf?" Kiarra lifted an eyebrow at Kory.
"Watson is always hungry, I think, and he complained about the hotel breakfast earlier. I'm sure he could expire any moment from starvation," Kory grinned.
"Go ahead and tell everybody to come downstairs, then. I can serve the soup course now. While they're working on that, I'll finish the rest," I told him.
In minutes, everyone was seated at a long table in the dining room, while the rest of us in the kitchen served soup.
The fish course, along with the vegetarian mushroom-noodle-stir fry and fresh bread was ready at the proper time, with vegetables and salad following. It was nice to see everyone eating and talking, as if we hadn't just left a harrowing experience behind in Australia.
I wanted to ask Zaria a question too—something was niggling my brain and needed an answer.
She'd told me not to let the enemy see me turn to mist in Adelaide. I imagined someone could be watching us. Morwin, however; she'd dropped him right in the thick of things, armed with a ranos pistol that he'd used to destroy several attackers.
That didn't add up logically. Perhaps she was already laying the groundwork for the trap, by allowing Morwin to make his presence known. Still, I wanted to ask if my theory were correct.
After all, if Morgett and the others knew Morwin was in Adelaide, it would aid the ruse that something was there that drew his attention.
I wasn't sure how she intended to lay the groundwork for evidence that the Library had relocated there, but she had to have some sort of plan.
"Hey, time to eat," Anita pulled me away from the massive kitchen island. I'd just put the finishing touches on dessert, so it was time for us to sit with the others for our meal.
"All right." I untied my apron and set it on a corner of the island. "Grab your plate and let's go."
* * *
Adelaide, New Zealand
Zaria
"Morgett had camera bots on all those attackers at Rundle Mall," I said. We sat atop the roof of an empty house not far from Fort Largs. From our perch, we could see the water where our ship had docked earlier. It was long gone and I couldn't blame the Captain for sailing away so quickly.
The roof where we sat was covered in concrete tiles, which were made to look like clay tiles. Roofs surrounding us were cov
ered either in clay tiles, concrete tiles or metal—to withstand harsh conditions or to enable water harvesting. I didn't detect composite roofing anywhere near, either.
Since it was summer and hot out where we were, we'd had to cool this roof down with power, while leveling out the portion of it chosen for our conversation. We were also heavily shielded against sight and sound.
"Morgett saw everything while it was happening during the attack?" Opal asked, returning me to the present.
"Yes. I told Lexsi not to go to mist, because of that. That's why I sent Morwin in with a ranos pistol, too—to help convince Morgett that Morwin had a reason for being there in the first place. He now knows that Morwin is dangerous and willing to fight. In his mind, too, he imagines that Morwin wants to find the Library before he does, so Morgett will investigate any rumor to ensure he gets there first."
"That's what you intend to do, isn't it?" Kell asked. "Start a rumor."
"There are several caving and underground exploration groups in the area," I explained. "All we have to do is give them a small taste of what could be there and Morgett will jump on it. Like yesterday."
"Then it was a wise decision to bend time and place the decoy library there a month ago," Valegar's eyes gleamed. "Morgett has the ability to bend time, while the others do not. I believe he'll go back to the time of the discovery, so to speak, but it's always wise to give yourself plenty of leeway."
"I'm worried he'll haul an army of Ra'Ak with him, back to that point," Opal observed.
"I worry about that, too," I admitted. "That's why I think Kiarra and her crew should cause the entire tunnel to explode at the first sign of big trouble."
"An ordinary explosion will not destroy Ra'Ak, unless the explosion is very powerful and the Ra'Ak quite close," Pheligar said.
"I know. I'm still working on that," I told him.
"There's something else that troubles you, dearest," Val said, reaching out to rub my neck.
"Yeah. I worry that a few rogue gods may be laying a trap for us, just as we're laying one for Morgett."
* * *
Opal
Zaria was right. Rogue gods still existed in the here and now. A troubling thought, as it turns out.
I almost didn't want to consider that they may have been pulling strings all along, sending Morgett, the twins and V'ili in this direction, in an attempt to control the Library.
It made sense, and I didn't want it to make sense.
Perhaps we'd been led down a path, with enough obstacles thrown our way to make us think Morgett and his bunch were our only enemies. In my mind, it was no longer a theory, which left me with one question—which rogue or rogues was it?
From where I sat, cross-legged on a concrete roof modified with power, Zaria looked troubled. I didn't like that Zaria looked troubled. We had to see this through; that was a given.
I was thinking about retiring as Director of the Joint NSA/Homeland Security Department, too, if I lived past this.
Time to go to the future and find other meaningful work, I think. Someone else could handle the job, once this conundrum was solved.
If it were solved.
Perhaps Kell and I could work together. That, in my mind, would be perfect. If Kooper Griff didn't recruit us for the ASD, something would be very, very wrong.
"Any way to tell who it could be?" I asked my question.
"Liron has a beef with me," Zaria pointed out. "If he's discovered I'm involved in this, well," she shrugged.
"Not good," I shook my head. Liron was one of Acrimus' hidden allies. They'd called themselves the Hidden for a reason, lurking in the shadows and away from everything else until they were needed by the General.
Liron had already fooled everybody once, by hiding his power and energy inside one of his spheres. Zaria had called him out in the future and destroyed him, but what if he'd managed to let his previous self know if that happened?
There was a Larentii trick of leaving messages for themselves or others at specific places and times—why couldn't Liron do the same? Zaria had done it on several occasions—to save lives or replace lost hope.
Zaria's ability to see multiple avenues for a particular person or action was beginning to rub off on me, too. No wonder she looked tired.
"Let's go back; there's still food left," Zaria said. "You two," she nodded to Val and Pheligar, "Find sunlight somewhere. It'll be good for you."
"Come with us," Valegar touched her cheek.
"We can get back to Kent just fine," I said. "Go. Get some rest, too."
"All right." Zaria didn't argue.
"Ready?" I turned to Kell.
"Yes," he smiled at me. I took his hand and folded space to England.
* * *
Veshtul, Kifirin
Jaydevik Rath
"I am weary of these vids," I hissed as I watched an Alliance-produced news program. Somehow, even with Kifirin's space station being shut down, a journalist had managed to gain images and do an interview with three humanoids in Veshtul.
"We should confiscate that technology," Garde growled. He and I were portrayed in the worst way; they'd called us despots, tyrants and oppressors. Somehow, they'd interviewed the trollop who'd claimed she was raped, too.
"Bring her in; we'll show her what it costs to tell lies." I blew smoke at the vid-screen.
"I sent three after her already. So far, no word," Garde rumbled. He was angry, I could tell. "I've put the army on alert, to root out those behind this," he added. "They'll be jailed until we decide on their punishment."
"Look, they're claiming they still have free speech," I pointed at the screen. "Feel free to rough them up as much as you like when they're apprehended."
"Alliance laws never sat well with us," Garde declared and stalked out of my study.
* * *
Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
"She agreed to the second interview," Bryan Riley flopped onto the sofa in my private study. "We'll air it tomorrow evening as a special."
He'd interviewed the rape victim from Kifirin—Zaria was instrumental in getting the woman and her family away from Kifirin because, in her words, Jayd and Garde were out for blood. The first interview had already run, and people everywhere were sitting up and taking notice of the upheaval on Kifirin.
Zaria asked me to find a place for the woman after Bryan finished the first interview; Roff had skipped Bryan to Kifirin to speak with the victim. At Zaria's request, we'd found an empty house for the woman and her displaced family on the light side of Le-Ath Veronis, among the comesuli.
"There's something else you should know," Bryan said.
"What's that?"
"The Kifirini Crown has been cutting corners on education for the humanoid population. This woman is barely literate. The Crown has provided little in the way of technology, too, and since they've pulled out of the Alliance, shipments of equipment and supplies have been interrupted."
"Zaria says that the evil at the pit of the High Demon palace has been leeching into the whole place for around thirty years," I said. "I suppose that's the last time anybody got a decent education?"
"I'd have to do research, but it appears that the last twenty years have certainly been insufficient, as far as education goes. In the past, High Demon education was paid for by the family house, and good tutors were supplied. Public education is something relatively new, and the relocated humanoids were ill-prepared to provide their own. There were never any universities built on Kifirin," he pointed out. "The humanoids are generally too poor to travel off-world to obtain a higher education. Not that many of them would have been accepted into those schools. Most wouldn't be able to complete the admissions forms."
"This nightmare is only getting worse as it goes along," I grumped. "What about the indigent and disabled?"
"Lord and Lady Foth often held fundraising parties, with the help of Nedevik and his family, to pay for the things not covered by Alliance funds. At least Kifirin paid its taxes to
the Alliance to maintain membership. A lot of that came back to the planet in the form of medical and financial aid."
Bryan had certainly done his research on this, I discovered. He was an excellent journalist and often dug deeper and with more integrity and passion into things that mattered than most other news reporters.
"So they've been skating by with the barest minimum of cooperation with the Alliance to remain a member—until they unceremoniously dropped out of it?" I asked.
"Yes. Exactly."
"I think I want to slap Garde into next week," I said. "No wonder things have cooled between us for the past fifteen years. I think I'd like to slap Acrimus and Liron first, though. They managed to bring out Garde's weaknesses and make them dominate his strengths."
"We all have some of those," Bryan studied his hands for a moment. "I'd hope I'd get through something like this in a better way, but I can't say that for sure. Is there anything redeemable in either Jayd or Garde?"
"I think we'll know that before long. I don't know exactly when Li'Neruh Rath is going to move on this, but I'm waiting not so patiently for that day to come."
"Me, too," Bryan nodded and lifted his eyes to mine. "So many things need fixing on Kifirin, and steady hands on the wheel in the palace to bring those things about."
I didn't tell him that it wouldn't be Jayd's hands on the wheel—at least I'd plugged the gossip hole in my own palace to keep that secret.
Jayd knows, I reminded myself. That could be the worst thing of all. I'm sure if he could find Reah right now, he'd try to destroy her. Yes, Jheri was sorry now for her actions in alerting her father to that secret.
The last I'd heard from Gavril regarding Jheri and the rest of those girls was that he'd invited Morwin to teach them a lesson about how planets were governed, financed and supported, to keep the populations thriving.
I wished him well in that endeavor.
As for Glinda, she ghosted about the palace and seldom joined the rest of us for meals, choosing to have them delivered to her room instead. Jheri's defection had hit her hard, and there would be a meeting between those two eventually. I didn't want to speculate how that might go.
Roff had paid several visits to Glinda in the arboretum; I hoped he was doing her some good.
A Demon's Due: Latter Day Demons, Book 3 Page 16