Demon Lost (29 page)

"What about the others he was with?" Lendill asked, raking a hand through his hair.

"I didn't recognize them," I said.

"Reah, even if that one is here, he likely has nothing to do with your assignment. And I'll be honest—we have much more urgent business to attend to than one illegal immigrant. If you see him again and determine that he's the one you know from Mandil, then keep an eye on him and pay attention to where he goes. I'll have someone investigate it as soon as we have time."

"Of course, Vice-Director." I hung my head—I shouldn't have called him. I knew that, now.

"Reah, I know it's important to you—it's just not important to the ASD right now."

"I understand."

Ry's father had folded the Vice-Director in, so they both left. "You should have talked to us first," Tory said as I prepared dinner later. I just wanted to go curl up in a corner somewhere. I should have talked to Tory and Ry, but it had shocked me so much, seeing Nods—or someone I thought was Nods, that I'd gone ahead and contacted the Vice-Director right away. He'd be slower to answer my call the next time. I felt embarrassed and ashamed—I'd pulled the Vice-Director of the ASD and Ry's father away from important business, I was sure.

"Re, don't feel bad." Gavril was there after finishing his lessons with Master Morwin. Even the Amterean Dwarf had come out of his bedroom when the smell of dinner cooking wafted in his direction. Tonight was the night Wyatt's grandfather and Ry's great-grandfather (one and the same person) was supposed to arrive for dinner to check on his heir. I was making the ox-roast as planned. Right then, cooking was my only solace. At least I could do that tolerably well.

I served cuts of the roast with tiny, new potatoes, pearl onions and longbeans, and a salad that had a special dressing. I'd also asked Tory if there was any way to get oxberries. He'd skipped away and returned with a small basket. I made the dessert that Desh's number two had been famous for—oxberries in a puff pastry with cream. King Wylend showed up just as the meal was about to go onto plates.

"Reah, I will pay whatever you want to come to Karathia," King Wylend said after the first bite. If I could have gotten out of the ASD and the Alliance, I'd have gone right then. My experience from earlier in the day still stung.

"I'm glad you only made enough of this dessert for one serving each," Master Morwin sighed after finishing his oxberry pastry. I turned to him in surprise. "I would have eaten myself sick," Morwin raised a hand to defend his words.

* * *

"Come on, shortness, we have work to do," Ry informed me after I'd gotten the kitchen cleaned. His grandfather had left earlier.

"Re, what will you be doing?" Gavril was standing in my doorway as I added jewelry after dressing in a nice outfit. I wasn't about to wear a dress or skirt—it was much too cold for that. I found an emerald-green tunic and trousers in a rich, raw silk with embroidery around the neck and cuffs. Nice shoes with a short heel went with the outfit—they weren't warm, but the boots I had didn't go with the outfit. I had a long coat that went over the whole ensemble. I was just going to have to deal with cold feet until we arrived at the tavern.

"We're meeting some people Ry has made friends with. He hopes we'll be invited to their apartment after we have a few drinks."

"You look wonderful."

"I'd rather be comfortable and not going," I answered truthfully. "Are you going to be all right? You, Wyatt and Master Morwin?"

"I brought my blades with me," Gavril gave me a sly grin.

"You have blades?" That had me worried.

"Yeah—Drake and Drew gave them to me when they taught me how to fight," Gavril nodded.

"They taught you bladework?"

"Yeah. They usually make me spar with them two or three times a week, just to stay in practice."

"Chash, you worry me at times." I pulled his head forward until we bumped foreheads.

"Don't worry, Master Morwin can take care of himself and Wyatt's pretty good with his spells," Gavril was still grinning when I let him go. "Next year, Dad and Uncle Tony are going to teach me how to hand fight."

"Really?" I must have sounded skeptical.

"Re, don't worry about me. I'm all right. Plus, Mom temporarily lifted the ban on my mindspeech. I can call out for anybody who can hear me. Okay?"

"You have mindspeech?" That raised at least one of my eyebrows.

"I do. Mom just blocked it before so I wouldn't abuse the privilege."

"Everybody else has mindspeech." I tossed up a hand in disbelief and walked past Gavril and out of my bedroom.

* * *

The music was too loud for my taste, but I couldn't just walk out. Ry and Tory got me seated at a small table. Eventually, three others came to join us. Tory ordered drinks for us—he knew what Ry wanted but didn't ask me. I got something with fruit juice in it. The thumping from the music was pounding in my chest as I was introduced to Jeno, Silvastra and Inis.

Jeno and Inis, the two young men, were as different as they could possibly be. Inis was short and heavy, growing a half-attempt at a moustache. He would have done better just to shave it off. His hair was dark, too, whereas Jeno's was a light brown. Jeno was clean-shaven, tall and very thin.

Silvastra, who asked to be called Silva, came to Ry's shoulder and was doing her best to rub against him. Of course she would—he'd turned every woman's head inside the tavern, in addition to attracting the attention of several men. Silva was very pretty, with red hair that was not natural, although she looked very good in the color. She also wore a short skirt, a low-cut top and heels much higher than mine. She'd obviously spent many Alliance credits on enhancing her eyelashes and lips, too. She'd certainly gotten her money's worth.

"What's your name?" Inis sat next to me and placed an arm around my shoulders. He'd been drinking before coming to the tavern. I wanted to shudder and gag at his nearness.

Just play along
, Ry sent. I almost jerked at the mindspeech. I was hoping he didn't expect me to prostitute myself for the Alliance. "I'm Reah," I said, trying not to shudder under Inis' touch.

"Reah, I think you and I could have some fun," Inis ran a finger down my cheek.

"That depends on what kind of fun you're talking about." I wasn't about to let this one put his hands or his mouth all over me.

"Inis, you're drunk," Jeno snapped. "And she doesn't need your money." Inis let his hand fall.

"Sorry," he mumbled. The tavern was popular with the crowd from Taritha Village. More people came in while we sat there; none of whom looked older than thirty. Some were students—Taritha Village was close to the University in Targis. Residents had to be wealthy to live in the area, but that didn't mean their parents weren't expecting them to finish school.

I'd never had a chance to attend university. Addah Desh wouldn't have paid for it, though he had the money. The Alliance would have given me an exemption if I'd been at one of the universities littered across Tulgalan. I wasn't, so I'd been conscripted by the Alliance. Perhaps some of these wealthy students had avoided their Alliance conscription by attending school. I didn't know them, so I couldn't say for sure.

The tavern was decorated in an appropriate manner—intentionally shabby to give the wealthy youth of the area the idea that they were stepping down a little, visiting it. The prices catered to the clientele, though. I saw that right away. They served some food—not much—and it was something that could be prepared quickly, most of it prepackaged.

"I have reservations at Desh's for next eight-day," Silva announced, placing a kiss on Ry's cheek. "It's my birthday." She'd been drinking before she'd come to the tavern, just as Inis had. The mention of Desh's had me in a cold sweat, almost. I needed to stay far away from there.

"Come on, let's go back to our place; my older brother has some of his friends coming in," Inis announced after two drinks. I wondered if he would be able to stand and walk to his condo, but Ry and Tory were already saying we'd come.

Inis used me as a crutch to walk along, his arm draped around my shoulders. I really didn't want to help him, but I did. When we arrived, I saw that their condo was huge and much larger than ours, although their kitchen wasn't nearly as nice. It had an indoor pool and Inis' brother and his friends were already lounging around the pool and spa—some of them naked or nearly so—both male and female.

"Inis, who have you brought?" His brother, whom Inis had introduced as Danthus, asked suspiciously.

"They're all right," Jeno said. "Ry and Tory here are watching Reah and her younger brother while their parents are off-planet."

"Reah is scheduled to attend University next quad," Ry was smiling and holding out his hand. "Gav has his tutor with him tonight; that's how we sneaked away."

"I understand babysitting." Danthus handed Inis a less than friendly look as he shook Ry's hand. Inis was perhaps twenty—Danthus looked to be five turns older, at least. You had to be eighteen to drink legally on Tulgalan. I figured Inis had been drinking for a lot longer than two turns.

Someone turned the music up as more people undressed and hopped into the pool. The water was warm—I got splashed as we followed Danthus toward a bar on the far side. Inis still had an arm draped around me. I was hoping to unload him as soon as we reached the padded chairs scattered around the bar.

"What will you have?" A bored woman stood behind the bar. It made me wonder if she were a paid employee or someone hired for the night. She didn't look as if she fit in with the others. Tory ordered for us again and Inis got another of the drinks he'd had at the tavern. Gratefully, I dropped Inis into a chair so I could take my drink from Tory. At least three couples had sex in the pool before the party was over. I just turned my head and began to chat with Danthus, who'd come to sit with us.

"So, University, is that right?" he asked, sipping his drink. He wasn't heavy like Inis was, and hadn't opted for the moustache.

"Yes. I took a year off after my dayclasses before coming."

"Good idea—I hear the Alliance is conscripting everyone who doesn't have an exemption," Danthus finished off his drink and held up his glass, silently asking for a refill. The bartender made another and brought it to him, taking away the empty.

"I heard that, too," I agreed.

"I think they'd probably send you home, though, since you're so small." He grinned. Well, they'd tried. I hadn't wanted to go home.

"So, no conscription for you?" I was smiling back at him. At least he wasn't obnoxious, like his brother.

"Absolutely not. My father is a High Council member. I have a chronic condition," Danthus said, pretending to cough.

"I can see that," I agreed amiably. Mentally, though, I was cringing. A High Council member. The Governor of the Realm presided over the High Council. I'd worked in his kitchen, after all. The High Council had a lot of influence. Of course, so did the ASD. I didn't think any of the High Council on Tulgalan wanted to go against Norian Keef. Word had it that he had the Founding Member of the Alliance behind him. That was a lot of influence.

"Our family owns a large percentage of the stock in Niff's," Ry came to sit beside me. Well, he was telling the truth. His mother owned the controlling share in that, if Gavril was correct. He'd had no reason to lie about it.

"I love Niff's—is there a way to get a cake from there for my birthday? We can have it after we go to Desh's." Silva scooted Ry over and sat on the same chair with him. She draped an arm around him, too.

"I think we can get you something really good—we're thinking about selling specialty cakes, aren't we, Reah?" Ry swatted my arm.

"Absolutely," I said, failing to understand where he was going with this.

"We'll get you one of the prototypes. You'll be the first to have it—just for your birthday," Ry was grinning.

He means for you to make it
, Tory sent. He'd been trying to fend off a nearly naked girl who was still wet from swimming.

"Oh, you know—we could probably get one of those made for her with the berry and chocolate swirls, and the frosting decorated with fresh berries," I said.

"That sounds great. I like everything that Niff's makes," Inis said. "Those chocolate ice-cream cookies are wonderful."

"Maybe we could talk to the dragon after cake?" Silva was looking hopefully at Danthus.

"We'll see," Danthus said.