"I'll kill you." This one was cornered but he brandished the weapon he held threateningly. His comrades had already fallen and still he refused to give up.
"You can try." The newly conscripted Spawn Hunter took the battle to the enemy.
* * *
It took a while. Forever, if you counted time as the very small do. Not long at all if you are much larger than that. Big enough. Small enough. I was now big enough, although it frightened me—more so than I'd been frightened when Kifirin first turned me to energy and spread me everywhere. At least I'd thought of it as everywhere at the time. My vision had been so limited. I'd only seen a small portion of everywhere. Now, I was so large a presence as to be nearly immeasurable. The worlds around me were microscopic compared to the tennis ball my corporeal hand had held bare moments earlier. Things moved at such great speeds on those tiny worlds. Deaths, births, cataclysms—all happening in a blink.
Had the Khos'Mirai known how good my nose was? How I used that information to ferret out the smallest details about him? He'd probably dismissed it as unimportant. I used it now to sniff out his clones, wherever they hid. If I hadn't had his scent, I never would have found the others so easily. One by one, they winked out of existence, while guardian Ra'Ak and their enhanced warriors roared and cursed.
Like sparks leaving a campfire, the final handful burned brightly before turning to the Ra'Ak dust they were. Except for one. The last one. Who wasn't Ra'Ak at all. He was the true Khos'Mirai—the original.
I was weary, but this one I wanted to see for myself before he was destroyed. It took a great deal of effort and was quite tiring, but eventually I managed to condense what I'd become into a corporeal body.
* * *
"The others are dead?" he asked. The clone I'd killed inside the planetoid looked much like this one, and like him, this one was caged and chained. The difference was this; these chains and this cage were real. The reason I knew? The first one's nails had been carefully manicured and there were no scars on his wrists from years of being manacled. This one hadn't been cared for so kindly and the scars on his wrist were only the beginning of the scars on his body.
"Your clones," I agreed, watching him carefully. "A few of the Ra'Ak and some of the enhanced, too. I couldn't get all of them, they were so scattered."
"They knew not to stay too close, just in case," he blinked at me in the dim light. We were on a dead world; one the Ra'Ak had killed long ago. The Ra'Ak had transformed an old underground bunker to keep this one alive and out of sight.
"Because you told them so," I pointed out.
"True. One of me told them, at least. I'm glad you killed what you could."
"You sound happy they're dead," I observed. His words sounded like truth, but then he wasn't sane. None of them had been.
"I want you to kill me, too," he said, picking at his chains. "I had to do this, you know. If I hadn't, I would have lived in this cage forever. They'd keep me alive forever. You understand that, don't you? I had to do something terrible so somebody would come after me—to kill them and then kill me. I was hoping the last one who pulled me out would allow her kind to keep me hidden or destroy me. The Bright ones—they took one look at me and started negotiations with the Ra'Ak again. After placing the geis, of course. And I did what they told me to do—I did not destroy their race. You and the other did that. Of course they regretted selling me back to the Ra'Ak later, after one of their foreseers saw that I would be at the heart of the destruction of everything." He laughed when he said that. Like I said—not sane.
"They were doing their best to get their hands on the Ka'Mirai. I assume it was to get you back?"
"One of the reasons, sure. Wouldn't that be fun? They wouldn't kill me the first time around; what did they think I was going to do if they got me back? Just sit there and do what they told me from then on? I would have made them die. The geis had no effect on me after a while." He shook his head, his expression one of endless sadness.
"The Ra'Ak take bits of my flesh and mix it with theirs—did you know that?" he sighed. "It makes it easier for the DNA to combine and change the others. The enhanced. Don't ask what they do to create a clone." That information caused me to shudder. They'd been picking away at him for who knew how long? That would cause insanity, all by itself.
"Is there anything you want to say, or any messages you want to pass on, before I turn all of this to dust?" I studied his face—it seemed so innocent, somehow. Was that what the madness had done for him?
"My brother is dead, so there isn't anyone I want to say good-bye to. Except for you, that is." He blinked at me a time or two. "Thank you for bringing my death. It will be most welcome, I assure you." He lay down again on the bare floor of his cage and closed his eyes.
"Good-bye," I whispered softly and turned to energy.
It probably isn't a good idea to blow up an entire planet, especially if you're trying to keep things quiet. I merely caused the resident Ra'Ak and their enhanced army to explode instead, after I'd given the Khos'Mirai as easy a death as I could. Now, the small planet inside the void was my last destination.
Pulling just enough power to fold the small planet out of the void, I caused it and its sleeping inhabitants to disintegrate. There wasn't a particle left of anything that was larger than a grain of sand when I finished with it. Then I went back and closed the gate that had been created, so nothing could ever get inside the void again. I sealed off the whole thing, too. The Ra'Ak were locked out, now. Forever. I also sealed it against time. I hadn't known I could do that, but I can.
Funny, isn't it, having that much power? If I die in my physical form, then my physical form is dead. The most I can do is what the Nameless Ones on the other side do—maintain corporeality for an hour or so, but past that, it's all energy. If my physical body dies, the only mate I can keep is Kifirin. For a while, at least. We are the same, he and I. I knew I wanted to keep my physical body—I wasn't through with it, yet. Wouldn't be for a while, I think.
Wending my way homeward, I zipped through galaxies, passing suns newly born or dying, planets of all kinds and colors, asteroids, comets, galaxies; some of them so beautiful I wanted to weep as I left them behind. I even raced beams of light that rushed through space—many of them flying away from a star long since dead. Who says there is no life after death? That light flows away from you until it reaches a destination. Who dares to guess where that might be?
Chapter 15
"I'm exhausted." I walked through my palace, gathering a crowd behind me. Gavin and Tony were the first but my Larentii folded in—Connegar and Reemagar, and then Shadow, Garde and Erland were there. Roff was still missing and that left a hole in my heart. Karzac wouldn't be there; he was caring for his new baby. Drake and Drew were still out taking down the last of the Ra'Ak-enhanced. I'd taken the long way home and they'd had almost eight months to track and kill what I hadn't gotten.
I wondered, too, how many Ra'Ak had gotten away and now threatened all the worlds again. The Saa Thalarr would have their hands full, if my guesses were correct. Grant, Giff and Toff came along; Giff's baby sac weighed heavily on her left side, held up by one of the slings designed for that purpose. Two other vampires came with them, but I only recognized one of them. Davan was there. I smiled tiredly at him and he smiled back. Well, he was my Uncle, after all.
"Lissa, you have been gone for nearly eight months and no word." Of course, Gavin would have his say.
"Well, it's better than the alternative," I said. "You wouldn't believe how big everything is, Gavin." I wasn't about to tell him how close we'd all come to destruction at the hands of the Ra'Ak and the Khos'Mirai.
"Are you well? Did things go as planned?"
"Things went pretty well, I think," I said. "I'll have to go see Kiarra—I have news for her."
"Lissy, please say you are not going to leave again, just as you're getting back," Tony said, his gray eyes begging me not to abandon him and the others so quickly.
"Kiarra is only
a blink away. I've been billions of light-years from here. The news I have won't take long to deliver."
"So many things have happened while you were gone, Raona." Grant grinned at me. I loved Grant. He was always happy to see me. "Someone came and offered to help build the University and Library you want. He's willing to put up part of the funding if we can raise the rest. I can set up an appointment for you, if you want."
"How about next week?" I asked. "I should be rested by then. I hope."
The crowd followed me all the way to my suite and almost followed me into the shower. Everybody who wasn't a mate was forced to stay outside. Actually, I was bathed and kissed and loved by my Larentii in the shower. It took all three of us shielding everything to keep the planet from flying apart from the energy sex. Gavin, Tony, Shadow and Erland, who waited inside my bedroom, were included in the backwash of energy sex and all of them were knocked unconscious. My Larentii and I ended up in the floor of my shower, but I don’t think any of us minded a bit.
"Why didn't we know you could do that before?" Erland demanded when I came out in Reemagar's arms, wrapped in a big, fluffy towel.
"You want energy sex all the time?"
"If it's like that, I'd pay," Erland sniffed.
"Don't you start," I swatted at him. He grabbed my hand and kissed it.
Everybody came for dinner, including Flavio and Roff. Giff didn't look at him; it was too painful, still. He should remember. He should. That was his child and she was about to have a child of her own. He should be supporting her—telling her what it was like. Perhaps I'd find another comesula to help her—one that had at least one child—so they could offer advice.
"When will you go to see Kiarra?" Gavin asked later. His fangs were gently scraping the spot where my shoulder met my neck—just above my collarbone. He knows I like that.
"I just want to rest for a day or two. Then go see her. It's news that can wait."
"Might I hope that we can spend time with you?"
"We haven't had any time off, have we? We used to talk about taking time off, but we never did. Where can we go for a few days and just be lazy? I want to float in a pool or sit in a hot tub, or just lie around and read and eat potato chips."
"I will feed you potato chips," Gavin murmured against my skin.
"I love you," I sighed.
"And I love you. More than you know."
* * *
The Gulf Coast was very nice. We sliced up fresh melon and ate it. We ate grapes, pineapple and peaches, too. We went out to dinner and had lobster and fresh shrimp hauled from the gulf that morning. We'd rented a four-bedroom condo, so there would be room for everybody. I did get to read and swim and eat potato chips. Gavin bought four bags.
"I want something like this for us on the light side of Le-Ath Veronis," I told Erland. He was enjoying himself, just as everybody else was. And he hauled me off in the middle of the afternoon so we could do the horizontal be-bop before dinner. Garde got the night, after a late dinner.
Gavin, Tony, Shadow, Garde and Erland were all discussing exactly how big our oceanfront property should be, what amenities it should have and how quickly they could put it up. Three days of this wasn't nearly enough. I had no idea why we hadn't done it before. It was absolute heaven, just to be able to cozy up with one of my mates, or have a drink with any or all of them. Kiss them while they were half dressed in the morning or afternoon as I was flipping pancakes or making sandwiches. Most women might have swooned at the bare chests and hard abs that surrounded me. If my Falchani, my healer and my winged vampire had been there, it would have been bliss to the hundredth power.
"We're building something just as quick as we can get it up," Gavin growled when we had to leave. Tony and the others had made preliminary drawings on napkins or anything else they could find. They all knew what they wanted—enough bedrooms for everybody, a pool, maybe a tennis court, a big hot tub, a huge kitchen with a bank of refrigerators, plenty of closet space, big laundry room (my idea, they didn't care), a media room, screened-in lanai and a good stretch of private beach.
"And we'll be there nearly every off-day," Tony declared. Yeah, he didn't mind waking up in the morning next to me, with nothing on the agenda.
* * *
"Behave yourself, Raona," Grant grinned. I'd signed a stack of letters for him before heading off to see Kiarra. Heathe was the vampire I hadn't recognized before; he and Davan were my new assistants. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, so I straightened myself up a little and folded away.
"How is everything?" I asked when I materialized inside Kiarra's kitchen.
"Good—we're making headway." Kiarra offered me a cup of tea. I accepted.
"No new ones showing up?"
"No. Whatever you did seemed to work. We have containment, now. We just have to get rid of what's already there."
"Yeah." I agreed. "I just wanted to drop in and let you know what I found and what I did," I said. "I found the ones living inside a planetoid, about three hundred million light-years from the gate inside the void. That's sealed up now, by the way, and the entire area has been warded against the Ra'Ak or anyone else trying to get in."
"Good," Kiarra sighed. "I was worried about that."
"I have to tell you what I found, though. I learned a lot, from a very brief conversation."
"Does anybody else need to hear this?" Kiarra asked.
"Maybe Conner and Daddy," I said. Kiarra sent mindspeech to both and they showed up a few minutes later.
"What do you have for us, baby girl?" Griffin asked.
"Information on the Khos'Mirai," I said. "The minute I saw him—or scented him, actually, I knew who he was."
That raised eyebrows for sure. "Who was he?" Griffin asked.
"Saxom's brother," I said. That caused chaos.
"You're telling me that Saxom's brother was the Khos'Mirai? That's insane." Kiarra snorted when things were back to normal. At least she could talk about the schmuck without turning green, now.
"That's not all I learned about him," I said. "He was Saxom's twin. He and Saxom had insanity running through their veins. They were half Elemaiya, but one parent was Dark Elemaiya, the other Bright Elemaiya."
"Holy crap," Kiarra sighed. "The two races are never supposed to mix."
"Built-in insanity, like I said."
"All that time and we never thought to Look," A muscle in Griffin's jaw worked.
"He was waiting for me," I went on. "Both sides sold him to the Ra'Ak, did you know that?"
"I can't believe the Bright Elemaiya had him and they didn't kill him or contain him somehow." Griffin shook his head in confusion.
"He was glad they were gone—the Elemaiya, that is. The Bright ones knew they were doomed—somebody foresaw it. That's why they were desperate to get their hands on Fox. They wanted to change that."
"Too late now." Conner smiled tightly.
"Here's what bothers me," I said. "Saxom had to know what his brother was and where he was after a while. You guys were going after his captors. Why didn't he take advantage of the situation instead of doing what he did?"
"Perhaps he was working around all of us, instead," Griffin suggested. "After all, he managed to contact the Ra'Ak twice. Of course, his obsession with Kiarra probably interfered and his propensity for insanity didn't help either."
"I can only imagine what kind of nutcase he truly was," I grumped. "I sure had a hell of a time getting rid of his turns."
"Lissa, if I'd been aware of you sooner, I would have invited you to join the Saa Thalarr," Kiarra told me. "Griffin and Merrill were so tight-lipped where you were concerned, I never found out you existed until you went to help Dragon. And then you were hauled off immediately after to take down Xenides. I never got the opportunity to ask you when it came time to increase our numbers."
"Don't fret over it," I waved a hand at the suggestion. "I'm probably better off, now. Not that I want to go back and repeat any of that shit," I said, handing Griffin a meaningful glanc
e.
"Baby, that's all over, now. Someday, maybe you'll forgive your old man. In the meantime, your little brother is beautiful. Amara wants you to come for a visit."
"That's great, Daddy," I said. "But I don't even know where you live."
"You're here and you don't send mindspeech?" Karzac was upset, I could tell. He and Grace folded in and Grace had the baby in her arms.
"This is Kevis," Grace handed the tiny baby to me. He had the cutest, chubby little face. One day he was going to look like his father.
"He has your nose and mouth," I smiled up at Karzac.
"He'll have Karzac's eyes, too," Grace agreed. Kevis was asleep at the moment, so his eyes were closed. I had to take her word on that.
"Honey, you deserved this," I rocked the baby gently. He slept in my arms.
* * *
Would I ever tell Kiarra and the others about the Khos'Mirai's clones and what might have happened? Probably not. They had enough to worry about for a while. Still, it makes me shiver at what could have happened if I hadn't had a little help. The Ra'Ak planned to gather uninfected humanoids and raise them like cattle on a few worlds so they'd have a food source. All while their Ra'Ak-enhanced army destroyed everything else. I doubt they'd informed their enhanced soldiers that they wouldn't live more than fifty years before they all died. The Ra'Ak would have everything to themselves if somebody didn't stop them.
I admit—I wouldn't have worked out a solution quickly enough if he hadn't come. It only took a nudge, but I'd sat there with that stupid tennis ball, staring at it until I looked past the surface. At all the things growing on it. Granted it was bacteria, but those were living organisms. Most of them were harmless. A few could be deadly if they encountered the right victim.
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