* * *
"Shannon, what are you doing?" Raffian watched as Shannon threw clothing into a trunk. She was angry and Raffian knew it.
"Packing, Raffian Grey. When did you stop using common sense? You can see well enough what I'm doing." Shannon tossed an armload of clothing into the trunk, not even bothering to fold any of it.
"And just where are you going?"
"To the beach house. Jeff and the others are waiting for me. Shadow is our son, Raffian. If you had any sense at all, you'd realize that Shadow and Lissa both needed to be introduced to anybody you wanted to include in their relationship, and both would have to approve before you did this. You treated them like misbehaving children instead, handing out orders because your father said so." Shannon slammed the lid of her trunk angrily.
"When are you coming back?"
"Maybe never." Shannon leveled a gaze at Raffian. "I never thought I'd say this about you or your father, but you're both idiots." Shannon blew a stray strand of hair away from her face and folded away right in front of Raffian, her trunk disappearing simultaneously.
* * *
"The contract has already been signed with the Belancour Clan; I don't care what anyone else thinks." Glendes had been backed into a corner, and he wasn't about to admit any error or give up easily. "Melida will be here by the end of the week. Her father is coming and he expects to see a union of some sort."
"I was hoping Lissa would be here to welcome her," Raffian grumbled. "How were we to know she was so damned sensitive about not being able to have babies? Have you gone over the contract completely? Is there anything in there that we should be concerned about?"
"It's just the usual—she agrees to provide heirs and gives up any rights to them if she chooses to leave after they're born. We take on any of her outstanding debts, but there's nothing there to speak of. They're not providing a dowry; Marid, Melida's father held back on that, since Shadow is mated already. I said it didn't matter; that's not what we were after, anyway."
"We only want the children. I just hope Shadow is able to do his duty," Raffian grumbled.
"Melida's pretty enough," Glendes sighed. "Still, it may take a while."
"Shannon's gone," Raffian said.
"She'll come back."
"I hope you're right."
* * *
"I was planning to ask Poradina," Wylend looked across his desk at Erland while he sipped his morning tea. "She is more than willing, and the money would not go amiss, either. Both her children are grown, and Zellar left her with nothing, as you know."
"I still don't understand how he could abandon her like that and clean out her banking account when he did it." Erland was shaking his head. "And we both know he has broken our laws—many times."
"I would hold him accountable, if we could find him," Wylend muttered. Zellar hadn't been seen for two hundred years. Poradina had been forced to work for others, doing menial tasks and low-level spells to support herself. If she agreed to act as surrogate to Erland and Lissa, the funds to reestablish herself would be provided.
"I want to approach Lissa's Larentii, to see if they will assist. I would like for this child to have as much of Lissa as we can provide in the egg."
"They would be capable, I'm sure, but the question is how willing they will be to help." Wylend set his cup on its saucer.
"I intend to find out," Erland said.
"You have my blessings, either way," Wylend said. "I will be most interested in how strong and talented a child of this union might be." Wylend smiled at the thought.
* * *
"Cheedas, tell me about your Queen." Norian hadn't thought to ask one of the comesuli before, but he was correcting that mistake now. Norian had gone to the kitchen as instructed, and the cook and several of his assistants put a plate of food together for the Director of the ASD. Norian had eaten while reflecting on what he'd seen earlier. Queen Lissa had gotten him to Twylec in less than a blink. She then proceeded to destroy the Solar Red temple somehow, in addition to all its priests, and then hauled torture victims to a hospital for medical care. She'd collapsed after bringing him back—she didn't have the strength to do what she did. He knew that, now; she was still recovering.
"What do you wish to know?" Cheedas, head chef in the Queen's kitchens, sat on a stool at the wide, granite island with a cup of tea as he scrutinized Norian Keef. Cheedas also held a position in Lissa's Second Circle; he proudly wore the silver Claw Crown ring she'd given him.
"I have seen her do things that I might have said were impossible, before."
Cheedas snorted softly at Norian's words. "I'm sure you have barely touched the surface of that ocean," he replied. "Few know exactly what our Queen is, or what she means to us. I watched those proceedings at the Conclave. I saw how my Queen was mistreated. Ungrateful difiks."
"Yes. I am in agreement with that." Norian had been on Le-Ath Veronis long enough to know what difik meant. "Do you know how long it will take for her to recover? I really need her help, I think."
"Ask her healer mate. He will know," Cheedas sipped his tea.
"What is his name?" Norian hadn't seen that particular mate until earlier that evening.
"Karzac. He was Refizani, once," Cheedas said. "We had no idea how little medical knowledge we had until he and a few others came to teach us. I have become friends with Orliff, who is chief physician for the comesuli. He is grateful for the teaching he has received since we came to Le-Ath Veronis. He works at the main hospital on the light side of the planet and is doing very well."
"I haven't been there, yet," Norian observed.
"You should go—it is quite beautiful. I have a sunlamp in my quarters but it is not the same. I sometimes go to the ocean on my off-days; the Queen allows anyone who works in the palace to use her beach house, there. It is quite peaceful. I think she would allow you to stay there as well, if you asked."
"I'm not sure about that," Norian stared into his teacup. "If nothing else, I think her mates might object."
"That is why you need to ask the Queen yourself. Let her decide. Her mates will only be thinking about her and no others."
"I heard one of them wasn't thinking about her."
"That was not him, but his father and grandfather," Cheedas grumped. "Shadow loves the Queen. His father and grandfather are thinking of other things. This will turn out badly for them, I think. But that is only an old cook talking." Cheedas slipped off his stool. "Do you wish for dessert?"
"No, thank you. I am quite satisfied," Norian nodded to Cheedas.
"Leave your plate, then; my assistants will take care of it." Cheedas handed his cup to one of those assistants and walked out of the kitchen.
* * *
"Lissa? Thank goodness. She's waking."
Those were the words I woke to—and I was completely disoriented when I did wake. I barely recognized Winkler's voice; he appeared to be talking to someone else. I was attempting to sort out the scents.
"Lissa, wake and eat, love, or I will be forced to administer another transfusion." Karzac spoke now, and my eyes popped open in pure self-defense. "Ah, I knew that would bring her around if nothing else would." I blinked, bringing Winkler and Karzac into focus. Gavin, Garde, Erland and the others were standing behind those two. Except Shadow. My wizard wasn't there, and wasn't likely to ever be there. Not anymore. I wanted to cry.
"Lissa, you must put that out of your mind and come to the kitchens. We need to get your body back in condition. While a vampire will recover faster than anyone else, this will still take a few days, I think." Karzac moved Winkler away and sat on the side of my bed. He lifted my hand and kissed it.
"Honey, you haven't been here all this time, have you?" I didn't want to take any of Karzac's time away from little Kevis. He was six months old, now. As was Wyatt. Yeah, I had a little brother I'd barely seen. I wondered if I were behaving badly over that.
"Lissa, it matters not how long I've been here. Grace and Kevis are not being mistreated. They are wit
h Mack and Justin at the Strawberry Farm. I spent most of the night there, with them. Now are you satisfied?" Karzac was lifting an eyebrow—my signal that he was done with the discussion.
The Strawberry Farm was on the light half of Le-Ath Veronis—we'd moved one of Kiarra and Adam's old homes there before it was knocked down in Fresno roughly two hundred years in the past. It was the home their son, Justin, had grown up in and he and some of the others frequented it. They often came to the palace for meals when they were visiting, too. Even Kiarra, Adam, Merrill and Pheligar came every few weeks. It had turned into a good decision to move the house, the garages and the guesthouse to Le-Ath Veronis from Fresno's past.
"Then let's go to the Strawberry Farm for breakfast," I suggested. "Unless you don't think that's a good idea." I didn't want to barge in on Grace and the others.
"Lissa, you would be most welcome there, but we have to get you up and dressed, first," Karzac leaned in to give me an arm so I could pull myself up. I still felt shaky, and everybody was going to see that.
"I will help her shower." Roff elbowed his way past the others, which surprised me. Roff was now a stronger, more confident Roff, since becoming vampire. His wings were tucked tightly against his body—Tony had informed me that Roff was able to use them as weapons at times—he and Gavin had started teaching Roff fighting skills.
"Honey, I'm glad to see you." I held out my arms and Karzac moved aside quickly so I could get a hug from my former comesula.
"Not as glad as I to see you," Roff mumbled into my hair while he gave me a series of kisses wherever his mouth wandered. Flavio was giving him more and more freedom, I'd noticed. Roff still spent nights at Flavio's manor, but he spent much of his waking hours at the winery or with Giff, his brother Markoff and his nephew Dariff. I wanted to ask him about Giff, but held off for the moment. Instead, Roff lifted me and carried me toward my walk-in shower.
Chapter 3
I was having breakfast with my mate posse plus Grace, Kevis, Justin and Mack when the news update appeared on the vid screen. We'd been watching the local news—not much new on that front, until this.
"We have been unable to determine by any means available, just what has caused so much devastation on Twylec." The journalist was standing in front of the Solar Red temple I'd destroyed. "While the former Queen received payment from Solar Red to set up this temple under a false name, many local residents were not deceived."
"My brother was tortured—he's in the hospital now," a teary-faced young woman spoke to the camera. "We all knew what this was the minute they set up and people began to disappear. They were protected by the crown."
"Tamaritha made a mistake," Satris, the newly crowned king of Twylec declared to another journalist. "But the religion was so firmly entrenched when I came to the throne that I knew it would be next to impossible to rid ourselves of it. I received death threats from them if I didn't cooperate, as did many of my staff."
"Did you notify the Alliance Security Detail?" The journalist asked. Satris went into a coughing fit, and his assistant waved the camera off. The feed cut back to the original journalist standing outside the remains of the temple.
"The locals are preparing a low-key celebration over the demise of Solar Red and the legitimate religions are assisting in this. They also continue to search for any records concerning the hundreds of citizens who have been reported missing since Solar Red came to Twylec. This is Jandel Santiz, reporting for news twenty-two."
"I hope they have someone ready to take Satris's place when he croaks," Mack muttered, his dark eyes expressing anger. He was Martin Walters' son, through and through. Not just in looks, but temperament, too. He wanted fair treatment for everyone, just as his father did.
"Have you seen the news, Lissa?" Jeral folded in with Aurelius. They'd become very good friends and spent a lot of time together, when they weren't on assignment. Jeral had taken quickly to dispensing justice for the Saa Thalarr. Aurelius, too, was helping him through Davan's death. I wanted to sigh as Davan's image appeared in my mind. I missed him terribly.
"Uncle Jeral, how are you?" I asked. He came to stand beside me, bending slightly to give me a peck on the cheek. Aurelius did the same, and he offered a smile with the kiss. "And I just saw the news, if you mean the whole thing with Twylec."
"I did. I understand all the security cameras became fuzzy when my niece went a little crazy." Jeral grinned widely—a very unusual display of emotion for him.
"I can't have them seeing that. They'll all be on my doorstep tomorrow, wanting something similar or calling for my head, depending on how you look at all this," I teased. "The only good thing about Solar Red or Red Hand is that all the criminals congregate together, so I can kill them all at once."
"Nice of them to do that," Drew hugged me—I'd sat between him and Drake to eat my breakfast. Gavin was giving me looks, though. I think he wanted to haul me out of there as quickly as he could. Maybe he'd settle for a stint in the hot tub—I still felt cold. "And we'll all settle for a little time in the hot tub, I think." Drake grinned at me and then at his brother. He'd read my thoughts—I hadn't shielded them.
"No sex for a week," Karzac laid down the law.
"Honey, you enjoy that, don't you?" I wanted to throw an uneaten piece of toast at my Refizani physician mate. Karzac threw the term sex around as if it didn't embarrass me in the least. With as many mates as I had, I suppose it shouldn't embarrass me. It did.
"I do not wish to be forced to heal the debilitating headache afterward," Karzac grumbled at me. "And you do not wish to have the headache either—be honest."
"Fine," I muttered. If I were honest, as Karzac said, I was still feeling shaky.
* * *
The hot tub was where Rigo and Thurlow found me later, only seconds after my posse and I had gotten into it (all naked, of course). Then new guy showed up, just as Rigo and Thurlow were shucking clothes to get in, too. I slapped a hand over my face.
"I am sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier; I am Norian Keef, Director of the ASD," new guy said and started shucking his clothes, too. Well, he might fit in, after all. He slipped into the water on the other side of Thurlow. "This is nice," he said. "Why didn't I know about this before?"
"Uh, Lissa, your new assignment for the Alliance is working with the ASD Director, here," Tony jerked his head toward Norian Keef.
"ASD—Alliance Security Detail?" I asked, my voice almost a squeak. "How the hell did that happen?"
"The Founder and twenty members of the Grand Alliance Council always choose who works as Liaison, and the Liaison's world always houses the ASD for a period of thirty years," Norian cracked a smile, as if his current circumstances pleased him in some way. At least he was calm and relaxed today. Not only was he relaxed, he was naked, sitting in hot water up to his nipples and smiling. Nice. "Don't worry," Norian held out a hand, "we're paid by the Alliance, and our housing costs are reimbursed. I've already worked that out with Kyler—I understand she's your niece?"
"Yes." I wasn't thrilled with her father at the moment, however. I still wanted to slap Glendes and Raffian through a wall. "The Founder and Twenty Charter members decided?" My question was flat and resigned. It was one of those things—you don't show up for the meeting, you get the assignment. Didn't matter that I'd been separated—body and spirit—at the time. The assignment and Norian's words brought worries and suspicions to my mind, but I shoved them aside before any of my mates picked up on them. This was my concern, and I didn't want to trouble the others with it. I'd just wait and see how it all played out.
"They haven't lost sight of what happened on Refizan three centuries ago, even if the others haven't studied their Alliance history," Norian said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"The Governor of the Realm on Refizan hasn't forgotten," Karzac muttered.
"I have copies of that footage, now. I didn't know what they were talking about—wasn't sure it was possible, even. I know differently, now." Norian lifted his head
and stared at me.
"Don't make me place compulsion not to spread that around," I grumbled.
"Don't worry," Norian held out a hand. "I'm just looking forward to the next time. I sent out my agents this morning. I'll be getting information within days."
"Lissa will not be going out again for at least two weeks, and that may be pushing it," Karzac glared at Norian.
"Calm down, I was planning to ask when she might be able to help out," Norian replied. "And I'll depend on you to give me status reports in the future, if our Queen isn't up to these activities. I wasn't looking forward to this when I was notified of the assignment to Le-Ath Veronis. After yesterday, my heart rate and my stress level dropped dramatically. Not that they won't rise again," he offered a brief, roguish grin, "but for now, things are so much better."
"You might ask me if I'm prepared to go off with you," I huffed. "Difik." I misted right out of the hot tub and into my suite.
* * *
"Not a good idea to press those buttons," Drake and Drew said together. Norian's eyebrows lifted in surprise. These twins were identical, except for the color of ink on their dragon tattoos.
"She called me an idiot, didn't she?" Norian grinned.
"That is the closest you can get to a direct translation," Garde agreed. He lifted a hand from the hot water—his fingers were wrinkled. "I'll go check on Lissa," he said and skipped away.
* * *
I was standing in my closet, wrapped in a towel when fifteen males, all in various stages of dress, trooped into my bedroom. I don't know how Norian thought he rated just walking in with the rest of my mates plus Rigo and Thurlow, but he was there, too. I'm not sure they'd even noticed he'd followed them.
"Lissa, tell me what you intend to do," Karzac spoke first.
"I was going to see Cheedas," I muttered. I was tired and wanted a nap right after I got something to drink. And I wanted to ask Cheedas to find somebody who could take Giff's place. I'd gone Looking while I searched for something to wear. I knew how things stood on that front, now. Giff's permanent defection was one more blow in a long line of others.
Blood Redemption (Blood Destiny #9) Page 4