Demon Lost (28 page)

"Re, just come back, okay?" I wasn't sure what okay meant—another unfamiliar slang term.

It means all right
, Aurelius supplied mentally. "Okay," I nodded to Gavril and let him go.

"Reah, I will be working away at Director Keef to get us time together when you return," Aurelius informed me. He kissed me before taking Gavril by the arm and disappearing.

"Wow," Ry said, herding me toward the shuttle. Our bags had already been taken aboard—we were getting a private shuttle to the space station.

I didn't realize that Vice-Director Schaff would be traveling with us. "I'll get off first, so we won't be seen together," he told me as he settled into his seat. A private compartment, large enough for six, had been booked for us—we were traveling first class. "Reah, you'll be using your new name—there's no need for an alias just yet," the Vice-Director informed me. "Rylend and Torevik will be using different last names."

"Yeah—we're the Garell brothers now," Ry grinned. "You're our poor cousin from Shirves." Ry patted my head and sat next to Lendill. Tory took the chair beside me and buckled in.

"He means poor as in unfortunate, being related to us and all," Tory chuckled. "At least your hair is growing out." He touched the hair in question.

"This haircut wasn't my idea," I grumbled. "Aris—Aurelius—cut it so I could pass as a male recruit."

"How much did he cut off?" Lendill Schaff was interested, for some reason.

"My hair was nearly to my waist," I said. "I kept it braided while I was doing my Alliance training, otherwise they would have made me cut it then. I worked so hard to keep it, but Aurelius had a barber whack it off with barely a thought." It still upset me—I'd kept my hair long by choice, only having it trimmed occasionally if I could afford it. Only once before had it been whacked off when I was younger, and that certainly hadn't been my choice.

"Your images in your Alliance records must have shown you with it braided, then," Lendill sighed.

"My hair was as long as my great-aunt's," I ducked my head and stared at my hands. I'd still had no word from my great-aunt, or any other relatives on Kifirin. I was now classifying them with my family on Tulgalan—as no longer family. It didn’t matter that I'd chosen a fictitious name as my surname; none of them cared, anyway.

"And the same color." Tory stroked my hair before I could duck away from his hand. If he wanted to confuse me, he was doing a fine job—his hand on my head sent tingles through me. What was I supposed to do about that?

* * *

"Child, she is so young," Aurelius sighed. Gavin watched his vampire sire closely—Aurelius had never been this forthcoming with his emotions. Now he was obsessing over the age and safety of his mate.

"I thought Lissa young—and she was nearly fifty when I found her. I have no words of advice, Father."

"Did it cause friction—the difference in your ages?" Aurelius was worried.

"At times. But I feel I am more rigid than you in that respect," Gavin admitted.

"It is difficult relinquishing that control, is it not?" Aurelius' smile was wry.

"And Lissa was headstrong—still is." Gavin gave a small smile of his own. "I find myself wishing that Reah could have stayed—not just for you, father, but for Gavril. She pulled him along when Ry and Tory took her out. He doesn't get to spend time with his older brothers, and I am so old I no longer remember the things a boy might like to do. I didn't remember skipping rocks until Reah took him with her and his brothers."

"And Gavril was the one she chose to go to the bank with her, and she helped him do research. I don't think any of us were aware of how lonely Gavril was until now."

"He's back to his usual silence," Gavin sighed this time.

"I have an idea," Aurelius offered Gavin a pointed look.

* * *

"Lissa, I like this idea. I was wondering how to make them appear more normal—I mean if anyone was looking to find who might be ASD, it would be the newcomers. Having Gavril and a tutor there with them would put that idea to rest immediately." Norian was doing his best to convince Lissa to allow Gavril to go. Lissa didn't know what to think—Gavin and Aurelius had come up with the original idea and suggested it to Norian, since Gavril had sunk into a silence unnatural even for him. Reah had only been gone two days.

"But he won't be safe," Lissa muttered.

"He will. Morwin isn't anyone to trifle with and Rylend has had an offer from your grandfather. King Wylend thinks Wyatt needs more experience in defensive spells. This would provide a good learning experience for him."

Lissa stared hard at Norian. Wyatt was her half-brother and she seldom saw him. She also seldom saw her and Wyatt's father, Griffin. "Wylend thinks he needs the experience?"

"And Tory and Ry can help him get it. Wylend thinks that having someone under his care—such as Gavril—will be good for him. Plus, you can fold to the housing we've got for them anytime, love." Norian sat on the edge of Lissa's desk, attempting to convince her that the idea was a sound one. He merely wanted Ry, Tory and Reah to provide the ASD with information gathered from the young people with whom they would associate. The ASD would be making the investigations and arrests. Norian didn't add that Aurelius had offered to go as a bodyguard. That would be too much, in his opinion. Aurelius had been disappointed at Norian's refusal.

"Gavin, what do you really think?" Lissa turned to her first mate and Gavril's father.

"I think our son would enjoy this," his dark eyes watched Lissa's face carefully. "You and I know he is a modified vampire—only the second known to be born that way. He has strength and agility that no other twelve-year-old has. I think he will be fine. He has already done his lessons with the Falchani—he can wield two blades with ease."

"But these people may have laser tazers," Lissa grumped.

"Then allow Wyatt to shield him." Norian added to Gavin's argument.

"Fine—I see I'm outvoted on this," Lissa muttered. "Let's go tell him."

* * *

"You're letting me go?" Gavril could barely contain his excitement. The bonus was that this was a treat he hadn't even asked for.

"It will only be for a few weeks at the most," Norian pointed out. "And you have to obey Master Morwin and your older brothers. If you do not, you may never be allowed outside the palace again." Norian cut his eyes toward Lissa who was standing nearby, a frown plastered across her face.

"I get to go," Gavril stood and whispered in disbelief.

"Pack your things, son. Your mother and I will fold you to your brothers in an hour." Gavin ruffled Gavril's dark hair affectionately.

* * *

"We had to do this now, since I have to skip you there. It isn't becoming for one of our supposed status to be out grocery shopping," Tory dumped an armload of fiber bags filled with groceries on the expansive kitchen island while I grumped about going so early. We'd gone to the market extremely early in the morning—before daylight, actually, since none of our neighbors would be awake at that time.

Tory had volunteered to go with me—Ry had been out late the night before making new friends. I translated that to drinking heavily in a nearby tavern with other locals, but didn't say anything. We'd been placed in Taritha Village—a high-end collection of condominiums and apartments that catered to the young among the wealthy and aristocratic.

"Since you got up and helped, what do you want for breakfast?" I was attempting to get past my early morning wake up while unloading food and putting it away. Tory ended up with coddled eggs and my special sauce. He ate four I think, before Ry wandered into the kitchen. He got two.

"I thought you'd have a hangover and would sleep until noon," I teased Ry as I slid his breakfast in front of him.

"I have a spell that neutralizes alcohol," Ry yawned widely. Apparently, the spell didn't make up for lack of sleep. "Food's good." He accepted the cup of tea I gave him with half a dawn-inducing smile. That's where Director Keef, Lissa, Gavin and Gavril found us later, sipping tea at the kitchen island after we'd eaten. Someone else was with them I didn't recognize, and I was introduced to Master Morwin, Gavril's Amterean Dwarf tutor.

"I'm here to make things look more normal," Gavril grinned at me and came to give me a hard hug. "I'm supposed to be your little brother, Gavril Nilvas."

"Oh, yeah?" I was picking up slang from Ry, Tory and Gavril without intending to.

"Yeah." Gavril was still grinning.

"Wyatt's here." Ry stood up and bowed—yes, bowed—to two people who'd suddenly appeared in our huge apartment. I was beginning to be glad that it had six bedrooms. At first, I thought it was wasted space.

"Reah, this is Wyatt, heir to the Karathian throne," Ry straightened and offered polite introductions. "And this is his grandfather—my great-grandfather—Wylend Arden, King of Karathia." Wylend looked only a few years older than the one introduced as Wyatt. I dipped my head respectfully to both of them. Little doubt existed that they were related—both had medium brown hair, hazel eyes with noticeable gold flecks and were taller than Ry but not as tall as Tory. They weren't as handsome as Ry, but then few people were.

"Would you like breakfast?" I asked. It was the polite thing to do.

"It smells wonderful—I think I would like breakfast." That's how I ended up cooking for the King of Karathia, his heir, Prince Wyatt, the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis, three of her four natural children and her mates Gavin and Norian Keef. Master Morwin, Gavril's Amterean Dwarf tutor, was shorter than I was but not by much, had thick red hair, bushy red eyebrows and could eat more than two ordinary people. Since I was now serving royalty, I added sliced fruit, a hastily put-together pastry and the eggs with sauce.

"I can't get anything this good from my own kitchens," Wylend Arden declared, having more fresh-squeezed juice. I was going to have to return to the market—I'd just used up the last of the eggs we'd purchased.

"Reah has five more years with the Alliance," Lissa grumbled. "And we saw her first." She gave a pointed look to King Wylend.

"She can do that, she's his granddaughter," Morwin whispered next to me. "And the food is exceptional. I was worried about being uprooted from Le-Ath Veronis, but this, it seems, will have its compensations." He smiled at me.

"Then I may have to engage in a bidding war with my granddaughter," Wylend was smiling at me. It wasn't as spectacular as Ry's smile, but it was sincere. I think that's what impressed me about King Wylend Arden—his sincerity. I might have imagined that the King of the Karathian Warlocks and Witches might have been a bit less genuine. Wyatt, his heir, ate at Wylend's elbow and barely said four words past the initial introductions. He seemed uncomfortable, somehow. Everyone else was ignoring his discomfort, or didn't see it.

"Wyatt, would you like more juice or some tea?" I asked.

"Tea would be wonderful, Reah." He hadn't expected anyone to notice him, I think. I made him tea and passed along honey to go with it.

"I will return to check on my heir," Wylend said later as he prepared to leave. "I think I can arrange to be here two days from now, in time for dinner." He nodded to me and disappeared.

"Well, I suppose we need to go back to the grocery store," I muttered, not looking forward to a second early morning so soon.

"I have to get out of bed again before dawn," Tory moaned.

"I'll go with her," Wyatt volunteered.

"I want to go—I've never been to a grocery store," Gavril spoke up. Therefore, the following morning Wyatt, Gavril, Master Morwin and I all went to the market very early and laid in enough supplies for a siege. I was going to prepare my special ox-roast for the King of Karathia—I thought he might like it. All of us were laden with bags when Wyatt folded us back to our apartment.

"Chash, it's icy outside—are you sure you want to go walking?" I asked him the next morning after we'd pulled heavy coats from closets.

"Yeah—it never gets this cold on Le-Ath Veronis. And it hardly ever snows." His dark eyes were bright with excitement—he loved new experiences.

"Well, you might get enough snow here—it's supposed to come tonight," I pointed out as we bundled up. Master Morwin was content to let us go out without his supervision—he wanted to stay inside with his books and a cup of hot tea. Wyatt was the one who came with us.

Gavril was looking over the railing at the streets below us later—there was an entire park built above pedestrian level in Taritha Village. Of course, Gavril wanted to see the people and not the scenery.

"I wish I were twelve again," Wyatt sighed next to me. That made me turn to him in surprise.

"Whatever for?" I asked. I never wanted to be twelve again. Edan had broken my wrist and given me more bruises than I could count at age twelve.

"I didn't have all this looming over my head," he muttered. "Em-pah keeps telling me what I need to do to take his place one day." A light came on for me as I stared at him.

"You don't want that, do you?" I said without thinking.

"No," he admitted, ducking his head. "I want to be a healer, like my mother. But Em-pah won't listen to me. He just keeps pushing me in the direction he thinks I should go."

"Have you told him what you want?"