Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) (18 page)

Vice-Director, you are forcing me to live a bigger lie than
I ever thought possible. Perhaps it will pay off for you, but it makes me feel
cheap and dirty, even if Arvil is an evil that should be stopped.

Reah, lives will be saved in the long term
, Lendill attempted
to reassure me.

And how many deaths will I witness, before I can walk away?
Or will my death be one of those? Honestly, I don't think you or the Director
care about that, as long as you get what you want
. I cut off the
communication.

I was going over accounts on my newly acquired comp-vid when
Teeg slouched into the bedroom. "Long day?" I asked.

"Bad day," Teeg pulled his shirt over his head. "Where
does the laundry go?"

"I think the others just dropped it on the floor and
expected the staff to pick it up. I have a pile going in the closet—I'll try to
get a hamper or two tomorrow."

"What did you do today?" Teeg unbuckled his belt. Teeg
has muscles—lots of muscles—that ripple when he moves. I can't seem to stop
staring when he takes his clothes off like he does. His navel is the center
point in a hard, powerful body. I'd thought Bel and Delvin were well-put
together. Tory and Aurelius might compete with this, but nobody else could.

"I, uh, fired people. For, uh, theft and stuff."

"You said stuff." He pointed a finger at me.

"I like that word. It's not in any dictionary I've ever
seen, but I like it anyway. And I hired some people." The pants dropped. "And,
uh, did my best to get security on my side, so they'd report future, uh,
infractions," the underwear dropped to the floor.

"Reah, I love the look on your face right now."

"Uh, right." I turned back to my comp-vid, trying to
make sense of something that now resembled gibberish.

"You think Arvil has cameras in this room?" That was
something I hadn't considered before. What if he did?

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.

"If he does, we'll give him something to think about."
Teeg climbed into bed. His comment had me worried, but his loving soon had it
flying out of my head in favor of other things.

* * *

Head cook Kiasz grinned at me. I'd gotten rid of his troublemakers
and hired better staff. Arvil's assistant, who'd hired the others, was the one
Haral had fried in my kitchen. Now Kiasz was getting what he wanted from the
kitchen help and waitstaff. "Wilffin actually didn't complain about his
last visit, and normally he does," Kiasz said. "But I have to get you
to show me how to make those oxberry tarts for the next time—that's what he
liked best. He said he hadn't gotten anything that good since he was on
Tulgalan."

I schooled my face. "All right—we'll work on that. Are
you expecting any oxberry shipments soon?"

"I have some frozen in the keeper inside my office,"
Kiasz whispered. "They're nearly as good as fresh if you cook with
them."

"Then we'll work on that soon," I said. "Let me
know when you have some time and we'll invite important guests for drinks and dessert."

"I like that idea." Kiasz traded his wide grin for a
chuckle.

* * *

"Little cook," Farzi nodded to me when I walked into
the kitchen at Arvil's palace later. I was frazzled—keeping up with all of Arvil's
casino restaurants was a tiring enterprise.

"Farzi—I am pleased to see you," I said.

"We have been out, searching for good place to
replant," he said. "Many places have one thing but not another. Most
have sufficient, but too many people. You understand?" He blinked
golden-brown eyes at me.

"I do. Would you like something to eat?" It was late
and the kitchen staff had already left. Nobody working in the kitchen lived in the
palace now—Arvil had decided against it. Only the housekeeping staff stayed in
the basement. The wizards had the first floor, since they were our defense if
someone got past the guards surrounding the walls.

Farzi was hungry, as were Nenzi and the others. They'd come in
shortly before I did. I made a dish with fowl, mushrooms and sauce inside a flaky
pastry. Farzi loved potatoes, so I made some for him in the zapper. Potatoes
cook well there and it takes no time at all. All the reptanoids loved chocolate
so a quick cake with a swirl of caramel and chocolate sauce running over it
came for dessert.

"We not get food so good. Ever." Nenzi liked his
dinner.

"Nenzi, I never had such a wonderful driver before."
I sat next to him and gave him a hug. He looked at me in surprise for a moment
before giving me a wide smile.

"Is there dessert left?" Arvil walked in. He got a
plate.

"My restaurants are doing better and my head cooks don't
grumble so much," Arvil said. "My new assistant that Teeg hired is
also very good. He keeps me advised on this." Well, I expected Arvil to
have eyes and ears everywhere. He probably watched everything on a vid screen
somewhere. "My friend, did you have any luck on finding new fields?"
He turned to Farzi.

"Not yet, friend Arvil. We go out again next eight-day."
Farzi was tired—I could see that for myself.

"We ought to hurry—three plantings have been
ruined."

"I know this. I do what I can." Farzi rose, causing
the other reptanoids to rise with him. "We retire." Farzi nodded
respectfully to Arvil.

I put the dishes into the dishwasher after Arvil left the
kitchen right behind Farzi. I think he wanted a private meeting with him, but I
wasn't about to stick my nose into that.

Chapter 9
 

"We just have to get them away from the palace,
separately or together, so Haral and one of the others can get rid of them. I'd
prefer not to kill them, but we have to get them out of the way, somehow."
Delvin held up a hand as he spoke to the other wizards. "Arvil should have
designated one of us as the heir—if not more than one of us. We've done
everything for him, including saving his worthless ass during the firebombing. Yet
he gives everything away to those two."

"It was your idea to bring the girl along, if I recall."
Milus snorted at Delvin's logic.

"Only to protect us from Wilffin's warlocks. We're dead
if they figure out we want San Gerxon's stake in all this. They'll work with
San Gerxon, because they have for years. As far as the girl and that carpenter
go, we don't know how Wilffin will react to that. We'll have to get rid of
those two, and then get San Gerxon to go with us, instead. We can take over
quickly after that."

"You think San Gerxon will do this? I mean, we wanted the
girl because we were afraid Jazal would find a way to kill his brother and we'd
be forced out by Wilffin's warlocks. She was our insurance—you said she could
protect us against their attacks." Haral spoke, now.

"She can. She has some kind of natural shield. It doesn't
protect against physical attacks—just spells and magical castings," Delvin
explained.

"I've only heard of a few races that had something like
that," Carthin, the red-haired wizard, pointed out.

"She must have gotten some blood somewhere, from one of
those races, then." Delvin didn't want to get into an argument over this. He'd
made a false promise to Reah—he knew that. It caused a bit of a twinge, but
he'd betrayed a better friend in Bel. Reah and Bel had both saved his life, but
that didn't matter now—Delvin was looking to his own future and he wanted it to
be as a casino owner on Campiaa, with a firm stake in the drakus seed trade and
other moneymaking ventures.

Delvin wanted everything that Arvil San Gerxon had. San Gerxon
had initially convinced the High Commander to grow Drakus seed in the desert,
and Delvin, Bel and the other Ranger wizards hadn't known at first that Arvil
was involved. When San Gerxon appeared on Mandil after the spawn were
eliminated, he was looking for additional wizards anywhere he could find them.
Delvin, forced by the High Commander to help guard San Gerxon, had leapt at the
offer Arvil made. He'd known enough on Mandil—there was a wide universe out
there, just waiting for him and his talent to conquer. Now it looked as if a
small snip of a girl and a carpenter stood in his way.

"Wilffin isn't scheduled to be back for two eight-days at
least. Plenty of time," another wizard spoke up. "Haral can fold our
targets anywhere—all we have to do is make them unconscious, somehow."

"What about poison?" Haral liked poisoning
people—he'd done it too many times to mention. With him, rape came first, death
by poison next. It was a convenient way to get rid of any incriminating
evidence. He'd transport his victim to a deserted planet and dump the body. Nobody
ever knew.

"Fine—you get poison. Make sure it's a good one,"
Carthin grumbled.

"Oh, it will be," Haral grinned. Delvin watched
those two—they'd be his biggest competition if he tried to take everything for
himself.

* * *

"I know all of you used to be casino owners on Campiaa."
Norian sat opposite Erland Morphis, Adam Chessman and Merrill Leopard.

"We no longer have any interests on Campiaa—you know that.
We razed those buildings to the ground when we moved everything here—to Le-Ath
Veronis." Erland sounded bored.

"I have information for you," Norian smiled.

* * *

"Are you saying that Reah and some guy are heirs to Arvil
San Gerxon?" Ry and Tory were staring at Ry's father, Erland Morphis.

"That's right. Now, if Arvil somehow ends up dead and it
doesn't void the adoption agreement, Reah will own half of Campiaa. This might
be an opportunity to turn Campiaa into what it should have been—a legal gambling
planet in that sector of the universes. We could expand if we wanted, with
built-in clients. Norian says that the Founder and the Grand Alliance Council
will consider bringing Campiaa in as an Alliance world if San Gerxon is gone
and we can turn it around to make it legal."

"Holy crap," Ry mumbled. "Is Reah all right? She's
in a dangerous position if San Gerxon learns she's ASD."

"Norian didn't say, one way or another, but she has to be
worried." Erland sat on the edge of Lissa's desk.

"Why don't they let us go in?" Ry asked. "We
could pose as new hires for Reah. Help her out with this."

"Wylend already suggested that," Erland said. Erland
also knew why Wylend had suggested it—there were multiple reasons but Reah was
at the center of it. "Lendill said he'd think about it—Norian is letting
him have point on this one."

"There's something else." Rylend wasn't sure how to
deliver this news.

"What's that?"

"Reah got a husband out of the deal—Arvil San Gerxon
married her off to the other designated heir."

Tory was standing in a blink and breathing smoke. "If
he's forcing her to," Tory was ready to turn, he was so angry.

"That's not what I hear. She told Lendill that she wasn't
giving him up," Erland said.

"Bro, you can't be jealous, remember?" Ry was
standing and attempting to calm his brother.

"I want to make sure she isn't being coerced." Tory
was still breathing smoke. "Does Aurelius know?"

"Lendill told him. Aurelius' first reaction, after he
almost choked Lendill to death, that is, was just about the same as
yours—worried that she might have been forced into this. I get the idea that
she really cares about this one—says his name is Teeg San Gerxon. San Gerxon
being his adopted name." Erland watched Tory closely in case he needed to
send mindspeech to Gardevik, Tory's father. While Tory was old enough, he was
newly mated and might need Gardevik's help in calming the Thifilathi.

"I'm all right," Tory held up a hand. "But I
would like to speak with Lendill. Quickly."

"I'm here." Lendill walked in, rubbing his neck as
if it pained him. Ry was forced to hold back a snicker. Erland lifted an
eyebrow at his son. "If I send both of you—and I want to—Reah will have to
hire you to make you appear legitimate. I'm not sure how her new husband will
take that, or San Gerxon, for that matter. We'll place you in the hiring pool
on Campiaa and let Reah know you're there. She'll have to find a way to put you
to work so you can help out with this. This is a delicate situation and we
don't need to ruin it—the possibilities are too good. And if we can find San Gerxon's
allies and cronies in the drakus seed business, so much the better. Pack everything
you need—you go tomorrow." Lendill was smiling—so was Erland.

* * *

"My King, Lendill is sending Ry and Tory. Will that ease
your mind?" Erland had been afraid that Ry might be sent and Tory held
back, since he had a relationship with Reah. Lendill had cautioned Tory at
length about showing any affection toward Reah—San Gerxon might be offended and
attempt to kill Tory.

"That eases my mind somewhat. I do not like the fact that
Haral, that perverted criminal of a warlock, is there with her. You know he
likes small women and young girls. Reah is practically both."

"I think Haral's life will be on the line if he lays a
hand on her—Tory's Thifilathi will tear him to pieces." Erland nodded to
Wylend, who sat morosely behind the desk inside his private study. If Arvil San
Gerxon could have seen the inside of the King of Karathia's study, he would
have been eaten up with jealousy.

"I would like very much to go myself, but the risks are
too great," Wylend sighed.

"Trust us to handle this for you, my King. Karathia is
not an easy world to rule. You have your hands full."

"And yet I would still prefer to do this for Reah. Trapping
that fool Haral would be a pleasure, too. We've tracked him for many years, my
friend." Wylend nodded to Erland, who smiled. "This is the first time
that we've known for sure where he is, and we are held back by the ASD, because
of other concerns."

"I know you've sent Griffin to check on her a time or
two."

"He was happy to do so—said he'd already considered it
before I asked."