Demon Lost (21 page)

"We will move her." Reemagar and Connegar appeared. They knew when their mate mentioned their names. Nexus echo, a talent employed by the Larentii, enabled them to hear their names when spoken.

* * *

"Two more days." Aurelius buried his head in his arms on Gavin's desk. Gavin and all Lissa's mates were members of her Inner Circle and worked in some capacity or other to keep the palace and Le-Ath Veronis running smoothly. Gavin, along with Anthony, another of Lissa's vampire mates, oversaw the palace guards.

"Father, they meant to kill you on Mandil." Gavin observed. "They have gotten cocky after killing Rolfe. They saw that as their victory and not as his intended suicide. Had you not made use of the wizards already there, you might not have survived."

"If Reah hadn't been there, the wizards wouldn't have survived either," Aurelius muttered. "Child, this wait is killing me. How is she going to forgive this? How?"

"Father, what is there to forgive?"

"I used her. For my own purposes. Cut her hair and disguised her as a common soldier. Sent her into danger many times when I did not go myself. And then failed to get the proper message to the High Demons. She might have been killed."

"High Demons are difficult to kill, father."

"But Lissa says Reah isn't full High Demon. She has human traits. She must void as any other humanoid must."

"If you give her blood, that will cease."

"But will it have any effect upon someone of that race? Even a partial one?"

"I do not have the answer to that, father. Perhaps you should approach Kifirin when he is in a more charitable mood."

"Only Lissa can expect an answer when she calls out to him."

"He is her second mate."

"As Roff says, that is a technicality. Kifirin is her most powerful mate."

"All the dark races are his children. He created the vampires, the werewolves, the High Demons and the Ra'Ak. The shapeshifters and many others are also his. Had he not slept for a time, we would not be dealing with the Ra'Ak and their spawn now. As spawn hunters, perhaps he owes us answers, father."

"As one of Lissa's mates, you may not worry over approaching him," Aurelius sighed. "I am not so well-connected. He is not obligated to me in the least, I think."

* * *

"I'm not going to toss this meat in there like she's some wild animal." Lissa glared at Garde. Lissa and her vampire mates could stand on the bright side of Le-Ath Veronis. Any other vampire could not unless they were spawn hunters or Saa Thalarr. The planet rotated on its side, leaving half in constant darkness, the other half in perpetual light. Lissa's beach house was on the light half of the planet. Reah now slept in the large, well-lit foyer. The Larentii had shielded the house so Reah couldn't escape in her Thifilatha form.

"That's how we feed prisoners," Garde grumbled.

"She's not a prisoner. She's healing. There's a difference."

"Lay it on a tray beside her sleeping pad and I will wake her." Reemagar was listening to the verbal sparring between Lissa and Garde. As Larentii, he would not touch raw meat. Larentii fed mostly on sunlight, although any energy source would work. They preferred the light of a sun and often had lengthy discussions over red, yellow, green and blue-tinged sunlight. Most of those conversations occurred in mindspeech, so no humanoids had ever entered into that debate.

Garde seemed reluctant to approach the sleeping female, so Lissa took the tray that held the steak, turned both herself and the tray of meat to mist and left it beside Reah, reappearing beside Garde in seconds. Reemagar went to wake Reah.

* * *

My body almost refused to obey my command to move. I was stiff and still in some pain. I was no longer locked inside a cell, however. Sunlight shone around me as I sat up stiffly. Windows were all around, with light shining through the clear glass. Moaning as my head pounded after sitting up, I reached up and held it with both hands.

"Young one, you must eat." One of the Larentii stood before me. "We have done as much as we can for your pain—your body needs to heal itself. Except for this headache." Blue hands reached toward me and touched my temples. The throbbing pain went away quickly.

"Did you think I wouldn't be civil?" I looked up into his bright blue eyes as he drew his hands away.

"You speak in this form?"

"Was I not supposed to?"

"Most do not—they merely growl or roar."

"Well, I didn't know what I was. Therefore, I didn't know what I was or wasn't supposed to do."

"You need to eat." Two more people moved into my line of vision. The male had dark hair, dark eyes and was tall and handsome. The female was much shorter, had red-blonde hair and was very pretty.

"Who are you? And I'm not hungry, thank you." I wasn't—I felt as if I were about to heave, if truth be known.

 
"Reah, you must eat or you'll be weak when we allow you to turn back," the Larentii said.

"You're keeping me from turning back now? I thought I was going to be this from now on." I held a huge, clawed hand in front of me. Scores and blisters remained on my skin and I was naked, I discovered. Most likely, there wasn't clothing to be had off the rack to fit my enlarged frame, and I worried that it would burn, anyway—all the spawn had when they'd touched my scales.

"Clothing will merely burn off your body, were you to wear it," the handsome man confirmed my fears. "The net was a mistake—we thought you were a rogue High Demon," the man coughed into his hand, as if he were embarrassed.

"You keep saying High Demon. What is that?" I blinked at him now.

"What you are," the woman spoke. "I am Lissa, Queen of Le-Ath Veronis. Although you're only a quarter. You've inherited all the High Demon gifts, though."

"They don't call us High Demon inside the Alliance—it's just what we call ourselves," the man spoke again. "The Alliance calls us Kiffs."

"From Kifirin? That's what that race is?" I'd done research in my dayschool classes—Kifirin hadn't belonged to the Alliance long. "So, who made the mistake and did this to me?" I held out my left arm—it was laced with burns down its length. Some of the burns looked more raw than others.

"Jayd and I did. Aurelius sent out the message that he needed help bringing a High Demon back in Full Thifilatha, and we mistakenly assumed you were rogue." The male backed up immediately when smoke curled from my nostrils.

"Who is Aurelius?" I hadn't heard that name before.

"Aris—that was the name he used," the Queen spoke again.

"He helped do this to me?" I looked at my other arm—it was just as bad as the first.

"Not intentionally, and he's been upset with us ever since." Those words brought a smoke-filled snort from me as I rose from my bed on the floor, my head nearly scraping the tall ceiling as I bent down to look out the windows. I'd never seen an ocean before, yet one stretched before me, the blue of the water something I'd only seen in vids until now.

"I can call him—he wants to see you—talk to you," Queen Lissa said.

"What if I don't want to talk to him?" I sat on the floor so I could have a better and more comfortable view through the windows.

"Reah, that will break his heart, I think," Lissa said softly.

"He wasn't worried about that before." Yes, my pain was probably talking for me right then and I felt light-headed and dizzy. "How long before sir Larentii here lets me become myself again? And since this is an Alliance world, is the military going to come calling and haul me back into service? I have to tell you I haven't gotten the best of treatment at their hands so far. And don't even suggest I contact my family. I want to separate myself from them—legally." I could—I was old enough and had reason enough. I just didn't have the courage to do it before now.

"Which family?" The High Demon male asked. He still hadn't introduced himself.

"What other family do I have? The one on Tulgalan, of course. And if Addah Desh wants his name back, he can have it. I'll keep the one they gave me on Mandil. At least some of the people there seemed to actually care about me."

"You could have your grandfather's name. It hasn't been used in more than fifteen hundred years," the man said. "My name is Gardevik—Gardevik Rath. I am Prime Minister for Jaydevik Rath, King of Kifirin. His wife, Queen Glindarok, is your great-aunt. Her brother, Denevik, fathered your mother. We understand that she is dead. We are investigating her death, or at least Norian Keef is. There may have been nefarious intentions involved. Regardless, your grandfather's last name was Lith. You are only one of three members left alive who belong to that house."

"If my mother was killed, then I'd look at Marzi and Edan Desh first," I muttered sarcastically. Many things were coming clear for me now.

"I believe that's exactly who Norian is investigating," Lissa told me. She was holding something back, I could tell, but I didn't remark on it. I was here as her guest, I figured, and it wouldn't do to insult my hostess.

"Please talk to Aurelius," Lissa went on.

"How can he want to talk to me, when I look like this?" Holding my arms out hurt, so I dropped them after a few ticks.

"He knows what else you are and that you won't always look like this. Besides, there are things he needs to tell you," Lissa said. Perhaps if I'd met the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis under other circumstances, we might have been friends quickly. I didn't think that was possible. "Norian will come and speak with you soon. About your family on Tulgalan and your status as a member of the Alliance military. He'll sort that out for you. I think you have options, Reah Desh. Please consider all of them carefully. In the meantime, if you don't want that huge haunch of beef over there, we can probably find something else for you to eat."

"If you have a kitchen, I'll make it myself. I haven't gotten any good food since I cooked last time."

 
"That might be difficult with these hands." The Larentii gave me a beautiful smile. I hadn't realized they could or would smile.

"You are teasing me?" I watched his face. It was fascinating.

"Yes. Young one, you may cook again soon. I do not recommend it now, you are very weak and your body is healing. Your wings are most damaged and we want them to be healed and functional again. That is why you must wait to return to your normal size."

"I have wings?" I didn't know until then.

"I will not touch them—have someone else spread them for you when you are well and turn again. They are an iridescent gold, much like the rest of your scales and skin." The Larentii was giving me an encouraging look.

"I want a bath." I'd never been so forward before. Where had that come from?

"You have never been treated as a person in your own right before," the Larentii nodded at me after reading my thoughts. "You may have a bath if Lissa will consent to have her pool cleaned afterward."

"But the water may sting her skin," Lissa actually looked concerned.

"I will remove the chemicals and put in oatmeal—it will do her good," the Larentii replied. "I am Reemagar. Not to be confused with Renegar. He and I are not related. We are named after our mothers, whose names were similar. Renegar's mother still lives. Mine died when I was born. Like yours, little one. We were both motherless when we came into the world."

"I hope your childhood was a good one," I said before thinking.

"My father was and still is very kind and loving. He watches over me, as any Larentii parent will."

"Reah?" I stiffened when I heard his voice. What had they said his name was? I still thought of him as Aris.

"Aris, I was about to have a bath." I turned to look at him over a shoulder. Maybe he would take a look at me and walk away. As he should. He looked the same—dark-gold hair that swept his shoulders, making him lion-like in his appearance. He had the same wide shoulders, appearing tall and strong. Just the sight of him squeezed my heart.

"Reah, please talk to me. That's all I ask. I want to explain so many things to you." Golden-brown eyes begged me to understand.

"Aris, what can we have?" I turned away from him, looking out over the ocean again. "I still have five turns of service owed to the Alliance. I have no idea what they'll think about all this. I have family on Tulgalan from whom I wish to separate. They have nothing for me and never have had anything for me. If they want me back, it will be for my cooking skills only. I lost any hope of having their love when I was four."

"Reah, we are connected, you and I." Aris came to stand beside me. The Larentii and the others faded away. I still wondered how they did that. It made me desire that skill. "And my name is Aurelius. Most likely, you haven't studied old Earth. That is where I am from. I am more than four thousand years old and was a vampire before accepting a position as spawn hunter for the Saa Thalarr. That is how I walk in daylight and eat normal food. I still retain my vampire abilities." Lengthy claws slid from his fingers. I watched this in fascination, placing my much larger hand next to his. My talons were long, but his claws were longer.

"They are very sharp and will even cut through metal," Aris said. "I want you to call me Aurelius, or Auri. I still hold hope that you will say it with love in your voice someday." I watched as his claws slid back, leaving normal nails behind. "We are not so different, Reah," he coaxed. "Give us a chance. Come, Reemagar is sending mindspeech—the pool is ready for your bath. You let me bathe you once, when you were too exhausted to prevent it. Let me help you again. Gardevik say that if you choose not to burn someone, you can withhold that power within you. You have no idea how beautiful you are, love."