High Demon 3 - Demon's King (20 page)

Gavril was growling and stalking through his suite like a wounded lion. Tory and Ry watched him, unsure what to do. Gavril's communicator beeped. Pulling it out of his pocket, Gavril looked at the sender tag and answered the call. "Jes, where the fuck have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you. Dee is about to have a stroke."

"I just wanted to be alone for a while," Jes' voice came through clearly on the comp-vid. "How is Reah? Is she all right?"

"She's as well as can be expected," Gavril was still growling. "Where are you? Have you checked in with Dee?"

"Yes—I'm at the palace on Campiaa now. I didn't mean for everybody to get so upset because I took a few days off."

"Next time, check your messages," Gavril snapped. "And I may need you in a few days to help with Reah. I'll keep you informed." Gavril ended the call. "Fuck," he rubbed his forehead. "How upset do you think Reah is?" He turned to his brothers.

* * *

"Things are falling into place," Jes informed Ardalin later. "Teeg wants me to go help with Reah in a few days. That means we'll have both of them together to make this easy. Are you sure Nidris is ready to help?"

"Yebri says yes," Ardalin's image nodded at Jes. "They're working on the spell that will make Teeg care only for me. I'm looking forward to getting what I want," she laughed. Jes didn't like the sound of her laughter but didn't say anything—he wanted what he wanted, after all.

* * *

"She's asleep—I had to call for Karzac when she wouldn't stop crying," Aurelius was as polite as he could be under the circumstances when Lendill dropped by.

"Just tell her I came to visit," Lendill felt uncomfortable under Aurelius' stare.

"I'll tell her if it won't make her cry again," Aurelius said, nearly shutting the door in Lendill's face. Lendill nodded and walked away. It had been a wasted trip. Lendill hunched his shoulders and strode toward the hovercar he'd borrowed from the ASD transport pool.

* * *

"I think I have information on Nidris and his family," Norian informed Gavril, Tory and Ry. "Lendill and I could use your help, I think."

"I can bring Astralan and Stellan," Gavril offered. "They have no love for any of those. Nidris' family killed their father, Skye."

"Then bring them. We can use the firepower, I think," Norian agreed. "We're targeting an area in the garden district near the equator—most of the fruit and vegetables Tulgalan produces comes from there and it’s the least populated in this particular portion—the oceans where the tourists visit are hundreds of clicks away. The only ones living in that part are the plantation owners and their employees. We think the Hazlan clan have bought an old tomato farm and are producing just enough to keep them away from suspicion."

"How did you find them?" Ry asked.

"We looked for purchases of homes or land parcels in the right time period and coupled that with unusual events reported for the same time period. You know there's nobody with any sort of wizard or warlock abilities native to Tulgalan. We dug up report after report of the neighbors' dogs coming home unable to bark or not coming home at all."

"Stupid," Gavril muttered.

"And we're glad of it," Lendill said. "We might have taken longer to find anything on them," he added.

"You think this is where the tapping originated?" Gavril asked.

"Yes," Norian replied. "We'll take Reah there as soon as we clean out the nest. We have everything under surveillance and should be able to provide images soon of anyone coming or going. Who can identify them?"

"My warlocks can easily identify them," Gavril offered.

"Good. We'll get the images to you as quickly as possible. Now, since you're still bent on setting up the Campiaan Alliance, what are your plans for creating a unit to mirror the ASD?" Norian settled into the chair behind his desk and put the tips of his fingers together, waiting on the one who called himself Teeg San Gerxon to outline his plans.

* * *

"It's just a precaution—stop whining about it," Nidris cast the spell to make his brother Derdris look exactly like him. "Father says it's for the best."

"Then why isn't Father casting the spell?" Derdris whined.

"Because I have the resources to do this quickly," Nidris snapped. He'd tapped the core gently again, he just hadn't told his father about it. What was one more small tap? The core was already leaking power. "Just a little longer," Nidris spoke mostly to himself. "There. We're twins now." He lifted the mirror so Derdris could see his image.

"I don't like this," Derdris muttered.

"They won't know which one to shoot if it comes to that," Nidris smiled nastily at his brother. "It could keep us alive if we're found. Besides, I have plans to get us all out of here. Just be patient—we'll live like kings in no time."

Derdris glowered at his brother. He'd heard that phrase before—on the night prior to a coup that left them in charge of Karathia for less than three days. Then, Wylend Arden, Erland Morphis and a stable of warlocks they hadn't even guessed at or calculated their power swept in and destroyed everything. They'd been hunted for so long afterward that now all Derdris wanted was to live his life in peace. He enjoyed farming—it was quiet. He could touch the earth and make it fertile. He'd found ways to keep the insects away from the crops and always volunteered to transport the crates of tomatoes to market, selling to upscale restaurants across Tulgalan. Desh's was one of his best customers.

"You'll either save us or kill us both, brother," Derdris grumbled and used his power to fold away from Nidris.

* * *

 
"Aurelius, I don't want to do this." I looked at him as I dressed to go to Tulgalan. Norian wanted to get there early. Seven days early, to be exact. I was hoping to spend my time with Aurelius on Le-Ath Veronis. Norian still held my leash so I had to go.

"Love, I hope to be here when you return but I may be sent out again," Aurelius closed the bag I'd packed.

"No," I whispered, going to him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

"My love, it cannot be helped," he kissed my forehead. "Come, I am receiving mindspeech from Tory. They are waiting for us at the palace."

"All right." I moved away from Aurelius. Ry, Astralan and Stellan were going to fold us to a plantation on Tulgalan temporarily housing ASD operatives. Norian wasn't taking any chances on letting Nidris and his family escape. The plantation was far enough away from the farm the Hazlan family supposedly ran that Nidris, as a power-seeker, wouldn't detect any of the warlocks with us. As soon as we had the Hazlans in custody, I would be sent out to heal the core.

Aurelius folded me to Norian's office inside Lissa's palace. Lendill was there, as were Teeg, Ry, Tory, all eight reptanoids and Astralan and Stellan.

"We will take our Reah's bag," Nenzi stepped up right away, so Aurelius handed it over.

"Nenzi," I hugged him tightly. I'd issued an invitation for him and the others to stay with me and Aurelius but they hadn't come. I blamed Teeg for that.

"Our Reah well?" Farzi got the next hug.

"I'm all right," I assured Farzi as the others came forward to get hugs as well.

"Reah, I'll see you soon," Aurelius leaned down to give me a kiss before disappearing. Without him, I felt I was in enemy territory. Only Farzi, Nenzi and their brothers would be any comfort at all. If I were truthful, I felt cold and abandoned. I had no desire to heal Tulgalan and wished I could wait until after my daughter's birth. Just the thought of it made me rub my belly.

"Reah well?" Farzi repeated his question.

"I'll be fine," I lied to reassure Farzi.

"We're ready," Norian nodded to Ry, Astralan and Stellan. We were folded away quickly.

* * *

"Tory and I will be trading nights," Teeg said the moment I was shown to my bedroom. Both of them, in addition to the reptanoids, had followed me. Nenzi still carried my bag.

"No," I turned and glared at both of them.

"Reah, this is the way it's going to be," Teeg snapped. "One of us will be with you at night and Farzi and the others will be in the bedrooms on either side. Get used to it!" I was just about to tell Teeg what I thought he could do with his high-handedness when Lendill walked in.

"I'd like a night, too," he said.

"No. Absolutely not," I almost shouted. I only held back a little—he was still my superior, after all. In fact, he shouldn't be trying to push himself on me. He and Norian would be lucky if they ever saw me again the moment my time as a conscript ran out.

"If either of them get to trade nights, then I demand time as well." Lendill had his arms crossed angrily over his chest. All three stood there in identical poses, almost, all glaring and snarling. I wanted to tell them to get out but there wasn't any chance they'd listen. They never listened. Every time, it was what they wanted. They got their way, too, every single time. Suddenly, I was too tired to fight with any of them.

"Nenzi, will you help me unpack?" I turned to my friend.

"Nenzi help," he nodded eagerly. He and the others had my bag on the bed and unpacked in very little time.

"Reah, baby, Norian wants one of those fruit and rum drinks," Tory poked his head inside the door. I just stared helplessly at him, all the fight gone out of me. Forces outside my control had decided my fate and I had no more strength to do battle against it. I walked wearily out of the bedroom, brushing past Tory and heading toward the kitchen to put drinks together.

* * *

"Reah, that was wonderful as usual," Astralan complimented me on the meal. I said nothing, gathering plates from the table instead. The reptanoids had helped me as much as they could with dinner. Now they would help me clean up. I hadn't been included in Norian's meeting with the others while they planned their assault against the Hazlan family in a few days. I was there to cook and do cleanup afterward.

"Reah not feel good," Farzi was rubbing my back as I huddled on a barstool at the island later. We'd cleaned the dishes and the kitchen, leaving me worn out afterward. Perhaps I was depressed. That might explain the feeling I had of a terrible inevitability stretching before me.

"Aren't you done yet?" Teeg stalked into the room, drawing to a halt a few feet away. "What's wrong with her?" He demanded. My head was buried in my arms at the island and I hadn't sat up when he walked in.

"We not knowing," Farzi was still stroking my back.

"Sweetheart, I can get Jes here in no time," Teeg had come closer.

"No. Keep him away from me," I muttered, still not lifting my head.

"Reah, if you don't sit up and come to bed with me, I will have Galaxsan bring him immediately." I sat up. "See," he said, holding his arms out. "Problem solved." If I'd had any energy, I'd have punched him in the gut for his arrogance.

"Come on, you don't have to do anything. Just let me love you," Teeg was nuzzling and kissing. He'd insisted that I not wear pajamas to bed. I wanted to push him away. I didn't have the strength. At least he was gentle. I think I wept while he loved me; I couldn't hold back the tears.

* * *

"What's wrong with her?" Wylend demanded the moment he'd folded in with Erland. Tory didn't want to argue with his grandfather and kept quiet. As it turned out, Tory didn't have to argue with Wylend—Gavril decided to answer.

"She'll be fine after we get this over with," Gavril unfolded his arms and picked up a small sculpture that adorned the desk inside the plantation's study. "She doesn't like that Norian's forcing her to do this. Karzac says the baby is fine—I don't know why she's balking like this."

"Right now, you're all riding over her—as if what she wants doesn't matter." Wylend didn't like it either—he understood Reah's position better than the others might think—he was in the early years of a female cycle. With Karathians, the cycles ran around a hundred years. Erland's was currently in a male cycle—Wylend's and Erland's tended to be opposites.

"Don't say that—we'll make this up to her when this mess is over," Gavril set the sculpture down again. It was a stone carving of a tiny Skycatcher.

"So, you don't care that she's miserable right now. Is that it?"

"You make us sound like unfeeling louts," Tory muttered.

"Well, aren't you?" Wylend glared at Tory now. "If I understand correctly, that little girl she's carrying may help revive the High Demon race. I think your father is none too happy with where Reah is at the moment."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Tory sighed.

"And since we're taking turns—you never should have told Rylend, by the way," Wylend was still glaring at Tory, "then I demand a night too. I wish to take Reah to dinner while she's here."

"Fine. Take her out tonight. See if you can get her into a better mood." Gavril was giving permission without consulting Tory. Tory turned a stunned look on his brother.

"When did you get to be in charge?" He snapped before skipping away.

"I was wondering the same thing," Wylend said. "You've only been around for a little while, Gavril. I don't care what you've gone through the past fifty-odd years. Being a King or in charge of anything means that you need to stop and listen to your people occasionally. If you want to be successful at ruling, that is." Wylend nodded to Erland and both of them folded away.