Blood Double

by Connie Suttle

  "No. She cringes every time I come into the room. Bill manages to get her to eat, but that's it."

  "Frank wants to kill Keef and Schaff."

  "A part of me would allow it."

  "Traje said something about a mind cloud. Could that be the problem?"

  "Mind clouds don't work that way. They don't make a victim helpless. They convince the victim to do irresponsible acts at best and murderous acts at worst. Mind clouds cause damage, Trace, and this one—even I can't get to the root of it."

  "That doesn't sound good, boss."

  "It's not. That isn't all that's going on, either. Strange things are happening—things that have no logical explanation. Power has to be involved, but like I said, even I can't get to the root of it."

  "Power gone crazy?" Trace's voice held concern.

  "Yeah. That's a pretty good description."

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  "Just tell us what you see in mindspeech, and whether you can determine what we might do to save Grey House." I sat in Glendes' study, with Raffian and Shadow Grey nearby. Glendes knew I'd already seen his difficulty in my reading, but he was counting on Gavin's compulsion to keep me from discussing it with anyone else. Cleo had left us when Glendes asked, but she wasn't happy that he'd asked.

  "I'll do what I can—in exchange for Cleo's healing," I said.

  "We have a preliminary meeting with Prime Minister Vyris on Bexari," Glendes rose from his seat and arranged the black robes he wore. "Shall we?" He nodded at Raffian. Raffian folded us to the palace on Bexari.

  * * *

  Lissa's Journal

  "Look at this," Kiarra shook her head. Photograph after photograph of shapeshifting whales and dolphins dropped from her fingers. Their bodies littered the beaches of a world on the far edges of the Dark Realm. "There's not a sign of life anywhere on the planet, and this is the first world that came back to life.

  "See these dunes?" I lifted one of the pictures, showing a mound of sand next to a pile of bodies. "I'd bet money that dune wasn't there before."

  "I agree," Merrill held out his hand and took the photograph from my fingers. "I'd also bet that the sand isn't from that world, either."

  "Look at this," Adam held out a comp-vid with all the destroyed worlds mapped out on it. "The storms began in the center of the Dark Realms. They've been traveling in a spiral ever since. If they follow the current pattern, Harifa Edus is next."

  "What?" I snatched the comp-vid from Adam and stared at the worlds in the path of the storm.

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  I stifled a gasp. The one who'd come to escort us to the throne room—a young woman of slender build—bore an obsession. I couldn't get to the root of the obsession, but I was watching her closely as we were led to Prime Minister Vyris. The girl was a pawn—there was no doubt in my mind, and I was on edge waiting to see what she'd been ordered to do. After reading Graegar, I knew how to erect a shield and was prepared to build one around us before anything could happen.

  Watch the girl—stay away from her, I sent to my three escorts. Something isn't right here, I added.

  Put up a shield, Glendes ordered. I felt the power of it, and could have duplicated it if I wanted as I watched their faces. Following the girl who wore loose, long skirts and a tight-fitting, sleeveless blouse, we walked as if nothing were amiss toward the throne room.

  * * *

  "Any power pointed in her direction will destroy her," Vyris' assistant gloated softly at Vyris' side.

  "Where did you find this spell?" Vyris whispered. "This is so much better than I'd hoped for. They kill her and we have a new reason to blackmail them. They can't deny murder charges. The knife is made of wood, you're sure of it? I need your promise that the knife will disintegrate at any sign of power, so a weapon won't be left behind."

  "You have that—absolutely. It will appear real at first, until the power from Grey House is released. The knife disappears and the girl dies simultaneously. The Belancour clan provided this small trick at a reasonable price," Vyris' assistant smiled. "See, the Grey House contingent comes. Once they are before us, she will remove the knife from her pocket and all our troubles will cease."

  * * *

  We were almost through the door when I saw it. The reason we'd come. His body, seemingly in perfect stasis, still wore the Grey House armor and the Grey House sword still protruded from his chest. Here was Glendes' problem, literally in the flesh. I was grateful that he wore no helmet, allowing me to read his glazed eyes and silent scream.

  At that moment, I was also grateful I could read people so swiftly. I turned my gaze toward Prime Minister Vyris, then, and read as much of him as I could. He was obsessed, and the one who'd placed the obsession stood beside him.

  I had very little time to react—Vyris displayed a satisfaction—one that surrounded a new reason for blackmailing Grey House. His eyes followed the girl, which meant she was involved.

  Keep your shields up and do nothing else, I snapped as quickly as I could. The one placing the obsession was about to get a surprise, and it wasn't a good one.

  * * *

  "I keep thinking about the girl Erland brought to us," Griffin took a seat across from his father. "Something troubles me about her. I'm sorry now that I didn't bother to look past the disguise."

  "What do you think you might have seen?"

  "I don't know, but I feel a twinge of regret."

  "You could always travel to Le-Ath Veronis to take a second look."

  "I think not. I'm not welcome there," Griffin shook his head. "Perhaps I'll be sorry for it sometime, but I have no desire to do so. I saved Lissa and Gavril the last time, but it was at another's command. Lissa was disappointed that I failed to help of my own volition."

  "Any child might be," Wylend Arden sighed.

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  Vyris and his assistant stared—the girl kept striking at Glendes, Raffian and Shadow's shields, but wasn't able to get through. The knife she used was made of wood, but the spell on it made it seem authentic. I was worried, however, because any shield Grey House might produce wouldn't hold an obsession back.

  Vyris' assistant could obsess a Grey House Master Wizard and have enormous power at his command. I couldn't let that happen. The time had come, I suppose, and a part of me cringed at what I was about to do. This Sirenali was too dangerous, after all, just as Erithia Cordan was. I certainly didn't want to add him to the list of those I hunted.

  "Remove your obsession," I said, turning my eyes in the assistant's direction. "On all of them." I jerked my head toward the girl and Prime Minister Vyris.

  He did his best—I'll admit that, but just as compulsion didn't, his obsession had no control over me. He wasn't tall, handsome or charismatic, but for him, that hadn't mattered. Until now. Pale hair was brushed back from his face and black eyes glared in my direction. "Do as I say!" he shouted. "Kneel at my feet!"

  "Shut up," I snapped back, "and remove your obsession."

  "What do you know of this?" he hissed at me. Behind his angry gaze, though, uncertainty lurked. He'd never met anyone he couldn't obsess. This was a new experience (and an unwelcome one) for him.

  "Remove your obsession or you'll be sorry," I said, refusing to answer his question. I felt I had limited time and wanted his focus to remain on me. That would keep him from flinging an obsession toward the Grey House Wizards.

  "You're not big enough to harm anyone. I can order Vyris to kill you. Or even one of these," he turned his eyes on my three Grey House companions.

  "Fuck you," I retorted. "Come for me; I'll show you how big I am," I added in a hiss. I'd learned my lesson in Ildevar Wyyld's palace, and I was also learning something from this one. I saw it in him—unless he removed the obsession, it would outlive him. If he failed to remove it, only the death of the recipient would eliminate it completely. That terrified me, as Erithia Cordan was on Le-Ath Veronis and there was no way to tell wh
at sort of mischief she was planning.

  Fighting a Grey House Wizard who'd been obsessed to kill everybody around him certainly wasn't in my plans, either, and that could happen should the words leave the assistant's mouth. I had to control the situation before it became uncontrollable. Raising my left hand, I watched as the Sirenali's right leg disappeared in winking sparks, making him shout in pain as he fell to the floor.

  I'd sealed the wound with the removal, to keep blood from flooding the marble floor beneath my feet. He had to remove the obsessions before he died, and I didn't want him to bleed to death before that happened. "Remove your obsession," I repeated my demand as he continued to whimper at the loss of a limb.

  "You think to get to me so easily," he hissed, dragging his body toward me. I removed his second leg just as I had the first while he shrieked in anger and agony.

  "Your arms come next," I shouted as Vyris looked on in horror. Glendes, thankfully, held Raffian and Shadow back and ordered them to maintain their shields. Mindlessly, the girl continued her stabbing motions against their shield, when any normal person would have already given up. Vyris moaned and turned away, cringing.

  "No!" the Sirenali snapped. I began to remove a hand, one finger at a time. Who knew that would break him? "Your obsession is removed. It is removed," he wept. Vyris dropped to his knees as the girl's wooden knife clattered to the floor and she fell to her knees beside it, sobbing.

  I stepped forward, prepared to separate the particles of the one before me. The Sirenali shuddered. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling.

  "I've been named Vhanaraszh," I said. I didn't add that I still didn't know what that meant.

  "No," the Sirenali whispered, his voice filled with terror. I almost asked what he knew of the Vhanaraszh, but I'd wasted enough energy and effort on him already.

  "Time for you to go," I said and holding out my hand again, I watched his sparks float peacefully away.

  * * *

  "You killed my assistant," Vyris shook as he made his accusation. Glendes, Raffian and Shadow stood by, still in shock.

  "You will stop this now," I placed compulsion. Vyris shut up immediately. "Now," I said, walking toward the former King of Bexari, whose seemingly lifeless body stood as decoration—and a reminder—in Bexari's throne room. "Here's the problem, right here. Grey House armor designed to protect the King no matter what, and a sword spelled to kill whatever he stabbed. The two are waging a war inside his body." Gripping the hilt of the sword protruding from Cildis of Bexari's body, I used vampire strength to remove it. Then, before the body could crumble, I reached out a hand and Changed What Was.

  * * *

  "The Vhanaraszh is making her presence known," Graegar informed his father with a smile.

  "Good," Renegar smiled back at his son. "Has Kalenegar harmed her recently? Your grandfather and I are quite upset over this."

  "She argued with him last time, I believe," Graegar shook his head. "I worry that he is being affected in some way."

  "As do I, child."

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  I drank tea and munched on a delicious scone as I watched King Cildis hold Vyris' throat in his hand. It only took one hand—Vyris wasn't strong at all and Cildis was very tall. Vyris' feet were at least six inches off the floor and his face was turning blue as Cildis castigated the Prime Minister for hiring the (now deceased) Sirenali as an assistant long ago.

  Apparently, the Sirenali had placed an obsession on Cildis, too, ordering him to commit suicide. The spelled Grey House armor, working against the spelled Grey House sword, had placed Cildis in a kind of stasis, and once his body had been moved to the throne room as a reminder for Glendes Grey and to extort funds from Grey House, Cildis had witnessed every bit of wrongdoing Vyris had committed. I was grateful, too, that Cildis' obsession had been included when the others were removed.

  Glendes studied me with interest from time to time but said nothing as he, Raffian and Shadow ate the offered food and watched Cildis berate Vyris. At the moment, Cildis was describing an elaborate death for Vyris while servants scurried to do anything Cildis asked of them. Vyris wasn't welcome as a ruler, that was quite obvious, whereas the legends surrounding Cildis were just that—legends.

  "Honored King, perhaps we should take our leave," Glendes suggested during a break in Cildis' shouted wrath. "We will repair your armor and sword at no charge, should you wish it," he added.

  "Of course. You have my apologies, too, that I cannot repay the debt I apparently owe to you and yours." Cildis nodded to Glendes before ordering guards to escort Vyris to the dungeons.

  "I'm just happy to have it resolved," Glendes bowed. Without delay, Glendes then folded all of us back to Grey House.

  * * *

  "That was excellent!" Glendes' laughter boomed as he dropped into the chair behind his desk. "Exceptional. Perfect." Well, at least one of us was happy. I was worried that news of the assistant's death would reach others of his kind, causing a witch-hunt. I snorted at the irony of that thought.

  At least I knew Erithia was connected to the one I'd killed—I'd seen it there at the last—that he was frightened—both of her and for her. Something was definitely going on, but it was difficult reading a Sirenali completely, and somehow, their obsessions were impossible to read.

  * * *

  "Rathik, I felt him die—my brother on Bexari," Erithia was dangerously angry. "I will call one of my Ra'Ak, who will transport you there. You will discover how he died and report your findings to me."

  Rathik Erwin, eager to please as always, kissed Erithia's hand. "Of course I will, my love," he agreed. "I will go as soon as my transport arrives."

  "Yes, the Ra'Ak made from my race can travel through any shield. That is fortunate, is it not?"

  "Just as you can, my dearest," Rathik kissed her hand again.

  "But I cannot transport others, I can only transport myself. My Ra'Ak are powerful enough to take others with them. That is how you survive," Erithia leaned in to kiss Rathik, who moaned in pleasure at his lover's touch.

  * * *

  Lissa's Journal

  "Norian, would you shut the hell up and listen to me for a change?" He blathered about something I didn't want to hear while I attempted to get access to his resources—I had to find out if there were any warnings in any of his electronic measuring gadgets that heralded one of the mysterious sandstorms.

  "Lissa, you're the only one I know who might be able to finagle permission to get into SouthStar. I want to question that girl again. She has ties to Hordace Cayetes," Norian mumbled, still attempting to ignore me. I was taking a chance, asking him about the sandstorms without Belen's permission—because Belen was still missing and hadn't answered Kiarra's mindspeech.

  "Did you need something?" Lendill wandered into Norian's office at Ildevar's palace. I'd risked going to Wyyld—I wouldn't have gone to Le-Ath Veronis. Too much might happen (and all of it wrong) if I'd gone there.

  "Lendill, thank goodness," I sighed, handing him the star maps Pheligar had created for me. "Would you run this through all your databases and see if any anomalies pop up?"

  "Sure. What seems to be the problem?" His dark eyes studied me while Norian frowned at both of us.

  "I can't say for now—just check and send mindspeech if you find something, all right? It may or may not be important."

  "Lissa, at least send a message to SouthStar for me. If they're having problems with that girl, then I'll ask Q'And Ribalo to have a look at her. He's provided therapy to crime victims before." Norian was still pressing his case.

  "Norian, you and I both know that Q'And has moved at your command in those cases, just to get information from victims that others might not get."

  "I merely wanted the information first. Please, Lissa. We do what you want, you at least try this for us. Nobody else can get to SouthStar like you can," Norian wheedled. Yes, I should have thought this through a little better, but my mind was filled with my own trouble
s and I couldn't let anyone else know that I'd come back, even for such a short amount of time.

  "All right, but you have to keep your mouths shut that I was even here. Deal?" I lifted an eyebrow at my lion snake shapeshifter mate and his second-in-command.

  "Done," Norian grinned happily. I shook my head at his apparent joy.

  "Nori, I have to go. Don't tell anyone you saw me—remember?" I sent mindspeech to Ashe as I folded away.

  * * *

  "What was that about?" Norian stared at Lendill, who scanned a star map with his comp-vid.

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  "Was the problem dealt with successfully?" Gavin lifted an eyebrow in Shadow's direction after he'd folded both of us to Gavin's study in the Queen's palace.

  "The problem is no longer a problem," Shadow smiled widely at Gavin. I understood from reading both men that an uneasy truce existed between them and neither was accustomed to smiling at the other. Gavin, too, was doing the usual—ignoring me as if I weren't in the room.

  "You seem happy enough," Gavin growled.

  "More than happy. There'll be a celebration on Grey Planet very soon. Might we invite Breanne?"

  "Breanne is still being punished. I only lent her to you because it was work. She will not get to play as a result of her disobedience." The smile disappeared on Shadow's face at Gavin's words.

  "Vampire, someday karma, as Lissa is so fond of saying, is going to not only bite your ass, it will chew a sizable hole in it." Shadow disappeared, leaving me alone with my angry sire.

  * * *

  "What am I doing here?" Kifirin demanded, as he walked beside Li'Neruh Rath. Li'Neruh had experienced difficulty in getting past layers of shields, but he'd managed it. He wished to protect the werewolves, just as the one who'd placed the shields did. Kifirin tactlessly questioned the actions.

  "You shall do what I instruct you to do," Li'Neruh muttered, gazing across an empty field on Harifa Edus. "Call the werewolves who live nearby. We will deliver a warning."

  * * *

  Breanne's Journal

  I was exhausted, but that didn't matter when Teeg San Gerxon arrived just before I was ready to retire for the night. I was already dressed for bed, I know that much, when Gavin and his only son barged into the Queen's bedroom, demanding that I get dressed and go with Teeg. I knew, however, that Teeg was more frightened than I'd ever seen him up to that point—Dee, his foster-father and assistant, was missing.