Furniture was purchased. A crib each for Teeg's palace, the reptanoids' plantation and EastStar's manor. Garwin Wyatt would have a bed no matter where he slept. Lissa was having a friendly debate with Drake and Drew over what to buy for their children. I think Karzac already knew the sex, he just wasn't telling. And Lissa, hands on hips, was telling her twin Falchani they were getting ahead of themselves since she was only three months pregnant. I snickered, thinking about how it was that she was pregnant by both at the same time.
"What are you laughing at?" Lissa stared at me.
"Nothing," I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. Teeg had to hold me up; I laughed so hard tears came. And these were going to be his half-brothers. I wiped more tears away.
"Are you all right?" Kevis asked, his concerned face in front of mine.
"I am," I said. "Teeg's going to be a brother."
"True," Kevis agreed. "Come along, I think we're done for the evening."
"Hey, honey," I said to Astralan, who'd appeared inside the kitchen while I drank a protein fruit jumble that Kevis shoved at me.
"Reah, my love, are you well?" He looked worried.
"I am."
"What was that laughing fit about?" Kevis was almost tapping a foot.
"Well, since they're not here," I snickered. "I was just thinking about how it was that Lissa is pregnant by both her Falchani at the same time."
"Ah," Kevis gave an exaggerated nod. Astralan laughed, sat next to me and laughed again.
"See, even you're smiling now," I poked at Kevis. His smile widened. "How about some ice cream?" I asked both of them. We ended up sharing a small tub of gishi fruit ice cream. I even fed Astralan and Kevis the last few bites. Astralan leaned in to kiss me afterward.
"Come to bed with me," he kissed me again. "I want to hold you against me. Fuck you until you see only me for a little while. And someday, this bump will be mine." He rubbed my belly.
"Are we possessive?" I asked.
"More than you know," he said.
"I like it," I wrinkled my nose at him.
"Good," he said and folded me to his bed.
* * *
"My brother will treat her like a queen," Stellan put a hand on Teeg's shoulder. "Reah's all he's seen for a very long time."
"Here," Edward handed over a generous dish of ice cream. He pushed another in Ry's direction, and soon Tory, Lendill, Farzi, Nenzi, Lok and Aurelius were having gishi fruit ice cream.
"This is amazing," Aurelius sighed.
"We're on our way to being wealthy, just from the ice cream. My distributor is offering even more money if he can get his hands on more of it."
"We'll be making NorthStar Groves more efficient and profitable, with your and Reah's help," Merrill appeared with Adam and Kiarra. "We've got half the updates done on the house." He grinned and accepted a bowl of ice cream. Edward handed one to Merrill and Kiarra as well.
"Reah is a genius," Kiarra sighed, dipping into her ice cream. "This recipe is perfect."
"It's a shame none of her girls showed an aptitude in the kitchen," Adam agreed. "I don't think any of them know how to approach her, now. To offer apologies or anything else."
"They don't see her," Teeg mumbled. "Garde and Jayd and Glinda. They don't see how beautiful she is. On the inside as well as the outside. They wanted what she had. What she could give them. Was it selfishness? Jealousy? I don't know," he shrugged. "But she gave it to them. Her girls. Her time, her talents, her dignity. And they stripped her bare. Never gave a damn thing back. I realize I don't have much room to talk, but I never want to see her standing on the edge of that fucking volcano again."
"Here, boss." Stellan handed Teeg a glass of bourbon.
"Let's take a little trip," Kevis suggested. "To Cloudsong."
* * *
"Something happened here, I'm sure of it," Kevis said, as they looked around the cold and empty stone shell that had once housed the audience chamber of the royal palace. "Those cages were in this anteroom," he walked to the western edge of the vast room. Black marks where blasts had been leveled at Reah littered the stone floor. Some of the cages, with metal bars melted and misshapen, were still scattered about the smaller room. If Reah hadn't protected the prisoners, they'd have died in the firefight after she turned Thifilatha.
"They were all trying to kill her," Adam pointed out. "How many blasts did she take? If Kiarra had been pregnant and in that situation, I might have taken the entire planet apart."
"But nobody came for her," Kevis sighed. "Not until she'd already taken most of them down. The ASD showed up in time to take Dantel Schuul, his daughter and some of their cronies into custody. That's all that was left. They'd sent everything else they had against Reah, and she was forced to kill them all while they blasted her with lasers and other weapons."
"It was the same thing she'd faced for twenty-five years, don't you think?" Aurelius sighed. "Nobody came. She was forced to do it by herself. With no help."
"Any other High Demon female in this situation would have had half the population of males enraged and tearing the place apart," Tory admitted. "We've cast her out, haven't we?"
"I gave the King and Queen what they desired as I promised," Kifirin appeared. "At great cost."
"You did this for Jayd and Glinda?" Merrill studied Kifirin disapprovingly.
"Yes. It was a promise to them. It almost cost us something far greater. I promised Jayd that the race would thrive. Reah was the path to that promise. I robbed her of her children. I did not remove the mute from them. They will provide the High Demon race with other daughters. All their children will be female. I know not how to make this up to Reah."
"I don't think you can," Kiarra stood before Kifirin. "Everything you attempt to hand her from now on will be tainted. You failed in your creativity, dark god."
"Those girls will never belong to their mother. As they should." Aurelius observed. "You did that to her? And you call yourself a god?"
"I cannot take it back now," Kifirin sighed. "It frightened me when she almost died with the last set of twins. I'd overstepped my bounds. I knew it then. My father's way of telling me I'd erred. If she'd not been so fragile, I'd have forced other pregnancies upon her. I would have. She wouldn't have stepped back from the edge of Baetrah, then. I allowed Gardevik's prejudices to go unchecked, just to keep Reah where she was. Keep her under the Crown's thumb until things were brought back to where they should be. I slept while my planet almost died. I promised Jayd it would thrive again."
"I hope they know how to stand on their own feet, now. Reah's done it for them up to this point," Lendill said. "She won't willingly go back there. Ever. That was supposed to be her homeworld. She's High Demon. Only Garde doesn't think much of her ancestry, does he? Do pointed ears matter that much?" Lendill knew that bitterness. He was half-Elven. That had burned when his older brothers had tortured him with it.
"Part of your mistake is not calling your King and the others to task for not giving aid to Reah. For not working alongside her. If they had, they would not be facing the troubles now, in their groves." Nefrigar appeared. "We do not interfere. Not with mortals or immortals alike, unless they threaten us or our mates with death. And the Wise Ones came and said not to interfere with this," he gestured around the audience chamber. "They said that something would come of this that we could not stop or alter, else I would have come and none of these would have survived. Their particles would have been separated quickly. But you, dark god; has not your parent called you to task? The Wise Ones said that this would come to be."
"He has called a meeting. I have been putting it off," Kifirin admitted.
"I will not pity you, whatever happens," Nefrigar snapped angrily. "I know what happened here. Every Larentii does," Nefrigar turned to Kevis. "Had anyone come, it might have been avoided and Reah would not now be torturing herself over it. It was something that could not be helped or averted, given the circumstances. I hope you get to the bottom of it, soon. I grow tired of waiting." N
efrigar disappeared.
"Wow. I've never seen a Larentii that angry," Kiarra blinked in astonishment.
"I wish we had all the images from this," Kevis said, examining the floor beneath him. Black soot was everywhere.
"The Larentii gave as much as they were willing to recreate for us," Lendill pointed out. "If it weren't for them, we'd have had nothing. There were no working cameras here."
* * *
"Reah, you were moaning in your sleep, my love." Astralan stroked hair back from my forehead gently.
"Honey, I'm sorry I woke you up," I mumbled, my eyes refusing to open completely.
"No," he whispered, pulling me close. "It sounded as if you were in pain. I was afraid it was the baby or something."
"No, honey. I think the baby is fine."
"You're not feeling ill, are you?" His fingers stroked my belly.
"No, honey. Maybe a little hungry, but that's it. What time is it?"
"Nearly dawn. Lie here with me a while longer, and then we'll find breakfast for you and Master Garwin Wyatt." I ran my hand down Astralan's ribs. He drew in a breath and then followed up on my overture.
* * *
"Reah?" Teeg crowded against me as I put sauce together at the stove for eggs. Astralan and I wanted eggs and shaved ham on toasted bread with sauce. The cook and her helper were waiting for breakfast just as Astralan was—all of them seated at the island.
"Teeg?" I leaned back my head to look at him while I stirred. He kissed me, and then kissed me again before going to sit with the others.
"I wish my sauce would turn out like this," the cook sighed. She was in her fifties, just as I was, and in her prime. I liked her. Very much. Edward had a knack for hiring the right people.
"It will." I smiled at her from my seat between Teeg and Astralan.
"What? Where's ours?" Lok looked upset at what we were eating. Flyer, who'd been off with some of the Saa Thalarr Falchani, learning some tricks, as Lok put it, was right behind Lok.
"I'll get you some breakfast, stop fretting," I flipped his braid before going back to the stove. I'd made enough sauce for everybody; I only had to do the eggs.
"Reah, this is very good," Flyer complimented me.
"I'll let you make noodles later," I smiled at him.
"Be happy to," he agreed.
"Reah, can I get something quick before going off to fight the war for justice?" Lendill walked in dressed in his ASD uniform.
"I've got another egg right here, keep your clothes on," I muttered, putting a plate down in front of him. He gave me a brilliant smile as he began to eat.
"Oh, good, breakfast," Ry came in with Erland and Corolan. Three more plates of food were set down. Lendill rushed off as soon as he finished, giving me an egg-flavored kiss first.
"Brush your teeth!" I yelled as he folded away. That caused a bit of snickering around the table.
Farzi, Nenzi and Edward walked in, followed closely by Kevis. The cook and her helper were clearing dishes away by that time. I gave them a conspiratorial grin as they worked beside me.
"Reah, can I get a kiss?" Cory asked as I leaned against him to put a plate of food down for Edward.
"Cory, you can have whatever you want," I threaded my fingers through his dark-blond hair.
"Good," I was on his lap in seconds. "Now, want a bite of this?" he offered some of his food to me.
"I'll take toast."
"Here." He put a bit of jam on it before handing the piece to me. "Want some milk with that?" A glass was poured using power and it floated to me. His fingers stroked my ribs while I ate. "Too thin," he kissed my shoulder. I still wore my stretchy pajama top and cotton bottoms.
"She is," Ry agreed. "Let's take her to Desh's tonight. I'll see if we can get in." Ry has a slight dimple, but it doesn't show itself often. The dimple was present now.
"Good. I want to check on Dee's while we're there," I said. "Since I have money now, I'd like to see if anything needs upgrading."
"We can go today, if you want. I'll take you," Kevis offered. "Feel like visiting your relatives at Desh's to make the reservations?"
"We could. I wouldn't mind seeing Fes." Lok and Aurelius escorted Kevis and me to Tulgalan. Fes broke into a huge smile when we walked into his kitchen.
"Uncle Fes," I hugged him back when he wrapped me in his arms.
"Reah, I was so scared for you," he said while his kitchen staff served us coffee and tea inside his private office. "I saw those vids, and mother and I were shouting at the screen. We knew better, we just couldn't convince anyone else. When Hild Marolla did his exposé, it was such a relief."
"How is your mom?" I asked. Farla was nearing one hundred fifty.
"She's fine. Comes in and helps on Six and Seven-days."
"Have you been to Dee's lately?" I asked.
"Things are great since we got rid of those two," he snorted at my question. He'd meant Ilvan and Radolf. Ilvan was his brother, so I was surprised. "Reah, they stole from you. You know how I feel about that. That's not just theft, it's theft from family. Baby girl, you could have asked us for money anytime. Mother and I would have gladly helped."
"I know. But you have your own business to run and the family to support," I said. "It wasn't your responsibility."
"It was ours, and we failed that test, too," Aurelius growled.
"It's behind us," I said. "Fes, does Dee's need any upgrades or remodels? I can do that now, if it's needed."
"The three banquet rooms need to be redecorated, and some of the kitchen equipment needs upgrading. I can see to it," he offered.
"I'll get somebody on it, but if you wouldn't mind checking on the progress now and then," I said. "You have my comp-code. Just keep me informed."
"Do we have an inside source on getting gishi fruit ice cream?" Fes gave me a shrewdly disarming smile.
"I think we might be able to supply it to Dee's and Desh's, as an exclusive item. And I'll show you how to put that expensive dessert together that they were serving on Stellar Winds."
"That thousand-credit dessert?" Fes was excited, now. The price had jumped and then jumped again as it gained popularity and became more scarce during my illness after moonrush.
"Yeah. That's mine. They called it sex by dessert, but I think we should rename it, don't you?"
"Probably." Fes laughed.
"Reah, I'd like to speak with Fes in private," Kevis said. "Why don't you go check on Dee's and see what they need. We'll order everything and find a work crew afterward."
I blinked at Kevis. They wanted to discuss me, I knew. "All right," I stood and nodded. Aurelius put an arm around my shoulders.
"I'll send mindspeech," Kevis said. Aurelius folded Lok and me away.
* * *
"She seems to like you very much," Kevis looked Fes in the eye.
"She does. Mother and I love her. More than she knows or suspects. Reah kept the business from going under after Father died. He kept his best recipes away from all of us. In spite of all that, Reah managed to recreate all of them, and even improved some of them. When Mother sent her a note after Father died, telling her what would likely happen with the business, we got a reply from Reah immediately, and that reply included every recipe that Desh's needed to stay open. Mother and I have discussed this over the years. We knew Marzi was an evil; we just never did anything about it. She intimidated everyone, including Mother and me. Unfortunately, we didn't know about the abuse Reah suffered when Father sent her off to Edan when she was eight. I'd like to believe we'd have turned Edan in over that if we'd known."
"Do you think your father knew or suspected?"
"I don't know. He may have, but back then, Edan was the golden boy. Desh's number two raked in all the top awards. Of course, we now know that Reah was responsible for those awards, and she wasn't even an adult. Was Edan jealous? Very likely. He hated me because I was first son and Father kept me here at Desh's number one. He, as number two son, was sent to Desh's number two. Edan never got over that, I think. Ye
s, I know he isn't the same person, now. He and Ilvan both tried to explain that to me. And I should have punched Ilvan in the face as soon as I found out what he was doing."
"I want to have a talk with Edan soon," Kevis said. "To see what he remembers from those days. Recently, I was transported to a time during Reah's youth, where I witnessed a beating he gave her when she was ten. She almost died in that attack. Edan bribed the hospital officials so they'd record the beating as an accident."
"Someone you know can manipulate time." Fes shook his head in wonder. "I wish I had that talent. So many things might be different, now."
"But that's why we don't have that talent ourselves," Kevis pointed out gently. "Any changes in the timeline can result in disaster. We have to leave things alone most of the time, as horrible as that might sound."
"Are you going to be able to help her?" Fes asked. "Sometimes I wish I could bring her to the house and let mother look after her, but she won't come."
"I'm trying to sort this out. She doesn't know it yet, but Ceerah Kade's hearing is tomorrow and the magistrates on Refizan have politely requested her presence. Jalan Wolk has worked out a plea, since this was her first offense. The charges against Ceerah are much more serious."
"I learned so many things about Reah from that program," Fes sighed. "She never talks about those things. Ever."
"The ASD usually prevents their agents from discussing anything they've done. The information is generally too sensitive. Ceerah and that stupid program ruined Reah's cover. Why they thought not to hide her face is beyond belief. Ildevar Wyyld gave permission to release the information on Reah, to clear her name and her record. Those awards are generally kept by the ASD and never shown to the public."
"Did she really take down the drakus seed trade?"
"In ways you can't begin to imagine. Reah is very special, even among High Demons. None of the others can do what she does."
"She's not full High Demon, though. Is she? I'd like to say it's her Desh family genetics, too, but that probably isn't true. Go ahead; dash my hopes that my children might be special if I have any."
"I can't say whose children might be special and whose won't," Kevis smiled. "But in my opinion, aren't all children special? At least to loving parents?"
Demon's Dream (High Demon Series #6) Page 20