"Maybe trim it to here?" Joey drew a finger across the small of my back.
"Yeah, that would be a good length, I guess."
"And cut the bangs. Just a little," he grinned, leaning down in front of me. "Oh, shit," he said.
"What?" He, Franklin and Norton were standing in a blink.
"The Saa Thalarr are getting attacked. We have to go."
"I'm coming too," I said, grabbing Joey's arm before he could fold away.
* * *
"Stay back," Franklin shouted at me. What met my eyes when I was tossed onto the dry grass of a winter field in the middle of nowhere was nothing less than total chaos. Sixteen Ra'Ak and at least a thousand spawn were there, fighting with the Saa Thalarr who were available to come. I saw Lok and Aurelius appear not far away. Their focus was on the spawn—they didn't even see that I'd come. Drake and Drew were already engaging one of the monster Ra'Ak while their father, Dragon, dealt with another. I saw a huge, white Unicorn, a Black Gryphon and a beautiful Snow Leopard.
Over our heads screamed a giant white Eagle with black wingtips. Then, if that wasn’t enough, another twenty Ra'Ak came. Aurelius had told me over the years that the Ra'Ak that remained were likely hiding, sending their spawn out to create more of their kind. Now, many had chosen to appear at once. Dragon was attempting to fend off four of the creatures and Drake and Drew had more to deal with as well. The Eagle overhead was popping heads off spawn, but the moment she came close to one of the Ra'Ak it leapt at her, snapping its poisonous teeth.
"No!" Joey screamed as a Ra'Ak scraped its teeth against the side of the Unicorn. Dragon, too, roared in pain and frustration as he was nicked by one of the four he fought. There wasn't much time. I was High Demon. I and my race had been created for this. King Lendevik had conveniently forgotten that, but I hadn't. Turning quickly to my larger Thifilatha and pulling energy from the stars over our heads as I ran, I raced to take on the Ra'Ak.
My gold scales were shining like a yellow sun by the time I arrived, and the Ra'Ak attempted to get away when they realized I was among them, but I wasn't having it. I was filled with energy from the stars, glowing with it, pulsing with it. They had no ability to escape me in my present state; I made sure of it. No power worked while I was such. Even the Saa Thalarr were backing away; their folding skills wouldn't work until they got quite far away, actually.
With the precision of a laser pistol, I pointed fingers and released what I'd gathered. Ra'Ak exploded before me, barely able to shriek before they died. Did the spawn think to attack me? They fizzled out of existence upon coming into contact with my scales. Like tiny, flying predators that burn against an insect lantern, they winked into sparks and blew away.
Only three Ra'Ak remained and I killed them leisurely, almost, screaming at them. "Did you think to escape me?" I cried out, scalding tears dripping down my scaled cheeks. Had I realized I was crying? Not until then. "You will never harm again, I promise it," I wept and killed the last two before dropping to the ground and curling in upon myself.
"Reah, we have to go! Dragon and Kiarra have poison in their systems!" Norton shouted up at me. I barely heard him over the sounds of my sobs.
"No," I moaned. Dragon was lying on his side, still in dragon form, but the Unicorn had become someone I recognized—Kiarra of the Saa Thalarr. Her head lay in Joey's lap and he was trying to help her, but the rake she'd received was a severe one. I knew the Ra'Ak poison was running through both of them. Using the short fangs I had while Thifilatha, I bit into my own hand, opening a wound on the palm. High Demons were immune to every poison, including that of the Ra'Ak.
Skipping to Dragon's side, I slapped my hand over his wound, allowing my blood to mingle with his. I knew when the poison was neutralized; it didn't take long. "He's all right now," I said, before going to the woman.
"Here," I became humanoid and knelt, completely naked in a winter field, shivering and placing a bleeding hand over Kiarra's wounds. I smeared my blood from one end of the wounds to the other, going by feel again until I knew the poison was neutralized. Joey stared at me when I finished. "You should be able to work your mojo now," I said. "I got rid of all the star power."
"Is that what it was?" Joey blinked at me in confusion.
"Yeah. It's cold here, did you know?"
"Here." Kevis wrapped a blanket around me and lifted me from the ground. My feet were completely frozen, I think, and it wouldn't take much to snap them off. "I'll meet you back at the house; Dad's about to have a fit." I stared at Kevis Halivar as he folded—yes folded—me somewhere.
Karzac was waiting as Kevis settled me on a stone floor inside a beautiful kitchen, and when I saw Kevis and Karzac next to one another, I knew exactly what was going on. "I ought to punch you," I poked a finger in Kevis' chest. He was Karzac's son. I saw the resemblance with them so close together. "No wonder I never saw you in the same room together." A sandy-blond man that looked very much like Adam Chessman snickered behind Kevis.
"Reah, you're naked," Kevis pointed out. My blanket had dropped to the floor.
"Yeah? I thought you were a doctor. Surely you've seen this before," I snapped, poking him in the chest again.
"Reah, it's a little undignified, arguing naked in my mother's kitchen," Kevis sounded embarrassed.
"You were the one who brought me here," I reminded him, lifting the blanket and wrapping it around me. "I'll go home now." I started to skip away.
"No!" Karzac and Kevis shouted in unison.
"Young one, you most certainly will not skip away until we have examined you and determined that what you just did harmed the child in no way. And your hand is bleeding," Karzac grumped.
"I had to bite it to neutralize the poison in the others," I huffed.
"And Dragon is very grateful. Kiarra is still in shock, I think."
"Is she all right? They didn't hurt her too badly, did they?" Now I was worried.
"She is fine, she just had no idea who you were at the moment; she was in too much pain. She also had no idea where you came from or why you were naked and smearing blood all over her stomach. I had to send someone to explain." Karzac was almost tapping his foot with impatience.
"Why don't you go help her?" I turned back to Kevis. "It sounds as if she's scarred for life, now." The sandy-haired man laughed out loud when I said that.
"Come along, you," Kevis lifted me off the floor and hauled me down a lengthy hallway. Karzac, trailing behind us, slapped the door shut when at least three other people attempted to get inside. I didn't recognize any of them, although the sandy-haired man was one of the three.
"Now, Reah, you will sit there while I examine you and the child. Honestly, what kind of stunt was that anyway?" Karzac was muttering his displeasure as he placed his fingers on my hand first, healing up the wound. Kevis found a cloth and wet it in a small sink in the corner of the room to wash off the blood. Looking around me, I decided the room was a doctor's office. Supplies and equipment were stored inside—not that any of it was needed—except for the cloth Kevis used to clean blood from my hand. Karzac placed a hand over my bare chest. "Does anything hurt?" he asked quietly, acting as if he were listening to my heartbeat.
"My feet are freezing," I said. "And I'd really like to make sure my toes won't snap off when I kick Kevis' ass."
"Reah, I get that you're the toughest woman on the block and all that," Kevis said. "Hush now, Dad and I are checking on the baby." I rolled my eyes as two sets of hands went to my belly.
"Must not be anything like the Saa Thalarr. The baby's fine," Karzac sighed, straightening up.
"What does that mean?" I asked. "I changed the whole time I was pregnant before. I had to in order to get the insects out of the groves."
"Reah, you should probably stop talking now before Dad has a stroke." Kevis gave me a level look with the gold-green eyes he'd inherited from his father.
"Karzac, don't have a stroke," I mumbled, ducking my head and suddenly feeling ashamed.
"Little one,"
Karzac lifted my face, "I will not have a stroke. But it was a very close thing this time," he gave me a small smile. "I know not how you did what you did, but I had visions of a miscarriage. I am most happy to see that will not be the case."
"Where is she?" The door banged open and Dragon, with Norton and Franklin almost hanging off him, strode into the room.
"Don't tell me you're having a stroke, too?"
"I may have worse. Is she all right? Is the child well?" Dragon demanded.
"Everything is fine; it seems she's done this sort of thing throughout all her pregnancies," Karzac released a long-suffering sigh.
"To clear insects out of the groves," Kevis added, almost in an identical tone to his father's.
"It keeps everything organic," I huffed, crossing arms angrily over my chest. What were they so upset about? I shook my head in confusion.
"Reah, you reached your fourth month of pregnancy two days ago. Saa Thalarr women cannot change or use their power after four months or they will miscarry," Karzac said.
"Obviously I'm not one of them," I pointed out while nobody in particular paid any mind at all.
"How is she otherwise?" Dragon asked.
"Fine, except for the," Kevis tapped his head with a finger.
"You know, I think my feet are warmed up enough now," I threatened. "Is this how you handle all your crazy patients?"
"No, just the short ones who can turn to something with scales, wings and stands around fifteen feet tall afterward," Kevis grinned.
"You—I have no words," I said, sliding off the table I'd been dumped on. Tugging my blanket tighter around me, I marched out of the room with as much dignity as I could muster before skipping away.
* * *
"Dad, do you think all that scar tissue on her womb will affect the baby?" Kevis asked after Reah skipped away.
"I hope it won't, but I worry that it may not stretch as normal tissue might," Karzac shook his head. "I don't want to mention it, in case it doesn't turn into a problem—she has enough to worry about as it is and so far the baby is fine. Just keep examining her often, and tell the others not to alarm her over this. It may be nothing, after all."
"All right. I need to go after her, anyway." Kevis sighed and folded to Campiaa.
* * *
"Where have you been?" Teeg was close to shouting when I arrived on Farzi's patio. He and Nenzi were peering around Teeg, worry in their eyes.
"I just went with Joey, Norton and Franklin," I said. "Some Ra'Ak showed up. They're all dead now."
"And you killed them." Teeg tossed up a hand in frustration.
"Most of them," I nodded. "I zapped them. Like a zap oven." I walked behind Teeg and put my arms around Nenzi's neck. "Nenzi, I'm tired. Can I go to bed with you and Farzi?"
Nenzi didn't say anything; he merely hauled me off the ground and walked as fast as he could toward the house.
Chapter 6
Nenzi was snuggled against my back as lion snake when I woke. I was lying with my head on Farzi's shoulder. They'd never been able to have sex in a conventional manner—those who'd manipulated their births neutered them when they were young. If Nefrigar and I had energy sex, they could be included in that backwash of pleasure. Normally, though, Farzi, Nenzi and I settled for snuggling together in bed. The snuggling was nice, actually.
Nenzi poked his head over my shoulder, his tongue tickling my skin. Sleepily I reached up to stroke his triangular head. He blinked at me, telling me he liked it. It's strange—most snakes can't blink. Only lion snakes have eyelids and blink often. If one knew what to look for, one might know they stared at a lion snake—shortly before they died, I'm sure.
"Come here, sweet man." I pulled his head toward me and kissed the top of it. Nenzi snuggled beneath my chin. I stroked his scales.
"We miss this," Farzi nuzzled my ear.
"I missed it too," I sighed.
"Are we getting up?" Kevis walked into the room as if he belonged there.
"I was thinking about it. Nenzi, honey, can I get up? I'm beginning to feel a little queasy."
"Head down," Kevis' hands were on the back of my neck and Farzi and Nenzi, who'd changed back, were helping. I was breathing slow, deep breaths until I thought I could make it out of the bed without heaving.
I got help with my bath from Farzi and Nenzi while Kevis waited (not so patiently) outside. I was dressed, hauled off to the dining room and found Joey, Norton and Franklin eating breakfast as if nothing had happened the day before.
"So," Kevis said later as I swung lazily in the hammock outside, "Tell me about your grandfather."
"Which one?" I asked.
"Either one," Kevis shrugged.
"I think Denevik is still trying to make his wife Breszca pregnant. I have no idea how that's going. She's my grandmother, and we've never spoken."
"You haven't spoken to her? What about him?"
"Her, never. Denevik—not for two years or more."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Is that your favorite question? And how do you feel about my asking you that?"
"Reah, this is your session. Not mine." Kevis was the professional today. I didn't point that out to him.
"I don't know how I feel about that. We really don't know that much about one another."
"If you could see anyone you wanted right now, who would it be?"
"I'd like to see my mother," I said. "Since we never got to meet."
"Does that bother you?"
"Of course it does. Wouldn't it bother you? And bother you even more if you learned that somebody killed her? Yes, it bothers me. Fills me with some of the impotent rage you've already recorded."
"I see. Who would you like to see that is actually alive?"
"Let's see," I searched my mind for an answer. "Edward," I said. "He seems like such a good person. I think I'd like to sit down and have tea with him. I'd say a drink, but that's out of the question right now. We could talk about his gishi fruit harvest. How that went. How Keedan is doing, and his other supervisors."
"So, you found someone who has common interests."
"I guess."
"What would you like from any one of your mates at the moment?"
"I think I'd like for one of them to come and lie down beside me, without any expectations, and rub my belly and tell me everything was going to be fine."
"Even Tory?"
"I'm not sure Tory has that in him," I replied. "I'm not really sure any of them have it in them, except for Aurelius, maybe." I suddenly felt like crying, and knew it was likely because of the pregnancy. The fourth month always turned into an emotional one for me. I told Kevis that. "This is likely the pregnancy speaking. I always get emotional around this time. The last time, I recall that Garde showed up on a bad day and he just threw his hands up and walked off. I think I skipped to the house and cried my eyes out after that."
"Some men don't know how to handle things like that. I understand that a surrogate birthed his son, so there wasn't any way he might have dealt with that issue with his own mate."
"Yeah, I get that about him."
"Tell me about the claiming marks on your neck."
"I really don't want to," I said. "Everybody else got anesthetic and physicians immediately afterward. I didn't."
"I've heard that the male apologizes to the female, continuously, afterward."
"Tory tried, I'll give him that. But it all came out of nowhere and happened so fast. And I'd just gotten shot in the shoulder when he turned and skipped me away. I was unconscious there at the end because it was too much."
"Is anything ever easy with you?" Kevis asked in a resigned voice.
"You didn't know I was the worst project you could ever take on, now did you? I bet you're pissed at your dad because of it."
"Reah, I wouldn't have accepted the case if I didn't want it. And I don't discuss my notes with anyone."
"No, your nurses just break into the records and then sell them," I snorted. Kevis winced at my accusati
on. Our session ended shortly after that, so I went to the groves, Joey, Franklin and Norton right behind me.
"So, this is how it's done," Franklin, his hands encased in gloves, placed the lemons he'd picked into the dividers inside a crate.
"Yes. This is how it's done. Don't they smell wonderful?" I held a lemon to my nose and sniffed it.
"If you say so. I prefer to get my lemons at the market, I think." He grinned mischievously.
"You think they just sprout at the store?"
"Don't they?"
"Stop playing hopeless, I know you're not," I said.
"Reah, the doctor says you've been out long enough. You should come back, eat something and have a nap before dinner." Tory, driving one of the larger carts, stopped beside me. The cart would hold all of us if we scooted tightly together. We finished filling our crate, left it in the proper place and squeezed onto the cart.
"You know, as tall as you are, you wouldn't need a hoverstep to harvest most of the fruit," I told Tory, who blinked at me in surprise, most likely because I'd spoken to him voluntarily.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, winding his way through the groves toward the plantation, the hovercart making its quiet whine as he drove.
* * *
"Don't plan anything for tomorrow." Kifirin appeared in the kitchen while Teeg discussed an upcoming meeting with Dee. Tory, Lok, Aurelius and Kevis were seated at the table, having coffee while Reah slept.
"Why not?" Kevis didn't appreciate Kifirin's appearance and apparent command.
"Because we're taking a trip." Belen appeared beside Kifirin. "My Dark brother and I are going on a fact-finding mission; I believe you'd call it. We'll bring others along as well. Meet us here directly after breakfast. Reah could use some time alone, I think."
"I'll have Astralan stay with her," Gavril frowned.
"Very good. Bring the warlock. He will watch over her quite well, I think," Belen's smile almost blinded Gavril before the Nameless One disappeared.
"What's that all about?" Tory grumbled.
"Don't ask questions, young Demon. Just show up." Kifirin disappeared as well.
"A fact-finding mission? With gods? That doesn't bode well," Kevis sighed.
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