Demon's Revenge (High Demon Series #5) (4 page)

"Why do you want her to go?" Teeg was finally weighing in. I knew he wanted to—he'd been standing by, listening with a deep frown on his face. Teeg was handsome, no doubt about that. Lendill, once brown-haired and a bit plainer (I'd seen vid-photos) was now just as pleasing to the eye. He'd been changed by one of Lissa's Larentii after a criminal had his face remade to look exactly like Lendill's. Lendill liked the change and kept it.

"Because all our regular agents are out chasing pirates," Lendill answered Teeg's question. "I hear you're on the same boat, if you'll pardon the pun."

"We are," Teeg admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn't liked making that admission. I knew that gesture. It meant he was worried.

"Have we tried to find how they're getting shipping schedules?" I asked.

"What?" Teeg and Lendill chorused the word.

"I've been checking the hits on comp-vid during meal breaks," I said. "They're only hitting high-credit shipments. Have you noticed? They let three ships go past outside Ooklarr, only to hit the fourth that carried expensive hovercraft."

"Reah, I'm getting a headache," Lendill said. "How did you come up with that?"

"My codes still work," I mumbled, thinking that now I'd called his attention to that bit of information, those codes would likely be shut down. "We have access to manifests after the fact, just not before. Isn't that right?" I looked at my half-Elf mate, who was also Vice-Director for the ASD.

"So you backtracked."

"Yes. And three other ships went through the same lane in less than fifteen ticks. Don't tell me the pirates conveniently showed up for the fourth ship to come through. Those others were carrying cotton bales and tea shipments."

"We thought they hacked into ship communications," Lendill said.

"Also a possibility. But how would they know to go there to begin with? All of those ships could be carrying raw cotton. They wouldn't know for sure until they got close enough to intercept the communications. And they've been hitting President D wi Presidrix's gishi fruit shipments. Avendor's harvests run a month or two ahead of ours, but they also export data chips and medical supplies. None of those were hit, were they?" I turned to Teeg.

"We were assuming the same as Lendill and Norian. Ship communications," Teeg said. "All the ships now keep communications to a minimum, and they've always been scrambled, but we're still getting hit. Granted it’s a bit more random, but still." Teeg knew just as well as I did that anything could be decoded nowadays, if you had the right equipment and sufficient determination.

"Somebody on the ground may be selling shipping information." Lendill whipped out his comp-vid, his fingers flying so fast over the digital keys even I had a hard time keeping up. He was sending a message to Norian Keef, Director of the ASD. Norian and I still didn't speak much. Not after my first daughter died. I still didn't like to think about that.

"I'll place compulsion myself, if it'll get me to the bottom of this," Teeg growled. Lendill got a message from Norian right away.

"Reah, I'll be in touch in a couple of eight-days, all right? Be ready to go, breah-mul." Ever since Lendill had awakened his Elvish ability, he folded almost everywhere. He was gone in a blink. His father, Kaldill Schaff, was King of the Elves and still I didn't think that Kaldill knew the full extent of Lendill's talents.

"I don't think it's going to be easy to get the information," I said, looking at Teeg.

"Why?" He came to put his arms around me.

"I just don't," I said.

"Baby, why didn't you tell me you needed money?" Teeg's lips were warm against my temple.

"Teeg, when do you have time to talk to me?"

"Baby, I was busy. If you'd sent a message, I'd have gotten back to you."

"Those floozies answer your messages."

"Reah, they're not floozies. They're qualified assistants. Let's not fight. I want to take you to bed and kiss that look off your face." That could take some work; I'm sure I was frowning deeply.

In twenty years, Teeg had never slept in my tiny bedroom. The room was neat, even if the walls needed paint and the furniture wasn't the best. I wasn't going to apologize for it. Teeg lived in a palace. Lendill had rooms in both Ildevar Wyyld's palace and Lissa's. I'd seen vid-photos of Dantel Schuul's home in vid-mags that certainly showed Tory and Darletta living in a palace, although Dantel Schuul employed false modesty and called it a house.

After being invited to join the Saa Thalarr as a Spawn Hunter, Lok had built a nice home near Aurelius' on the light side of Le-Ath Veronis. He'd brought wood in from Falchan and Adam helped put it together. Adam said he enjoyed the experience, having never put together what he termed an
Asian
construction project.

Radolf had taken over the house in Targis on Tulgalan, and Ilvan either lived in Lissa's palace or spent time on Tulgalan with Radolf as time allowed. Farzi and Nenzi had an expansive plantation house, something that Farzi had always wanted. Teeg built it for him and deeded much of Campiaa's farmland to the reptanoids. Farzi, Nenzi and the others were doing very well, but then they weren't expected to pay off Campiaa's debts, either.

The Crown owned the land I occupied on Kifirin. It had once belonged to the Croth and Drith, but when those twoid-en thos High Demon houses had thrown their lot in with the Ra'Ak nearly a century earlier, Jayd's first act as King had been to execute the traitors and confiscate their lands. Back then, the main crop had been sugar cane. Many worlds exported that product, and for a time, Kifirin competed against them.

Now, there was only Avendor in the Campiaan Alliance that also grew gishi fruit. Something about the volcanic soil on both Avendor and Kifirin supported the trees. Kifirin supplied the Reth Alliance with gishi fruit; Avendor supplied the Campiaan Alliance. Still, there was a larger demand than either of us could supply. I wondered what President Drix might have said earlier if he knew he was speaking with the one who oversaw the Kifirini groves.

"Where did you go?" Teeg slid into bed beside me.

"Just wondering what Drix would have said earlier if he knew I grew the gishi fruit on Kifirin."

"Reah, stop thinking business," Teeg pushed me back gently and kissed me. I didn't point out that business was exactly what he thought about, most of the time.

* * *

"But she never says anything." Jayd was angry. "She didn't tell us there wasn't enough money. And how many disabled does she have there, now?"

"I had to go back through the records," Garde shoved a comp-vid toward his brother, the King. Jayd's office was where they sat, this time. His desk was larger, the décor more opulent.

"Fifty-six? Where is she putting all of them?"

"Adam Chessman and Aurelius, with others from the Saa Thalarr, put up the infirmary and single-level apartments. They're both full, and some of those who live there are unable to work at all. Reah and the others take care of them."

"Why hasn't the Crown put something together like this?" Jayd enlarged the vid-photos of Reah's disabled quarters.

"Because it was easier to ship them off to Reah and let her deal with them. Wasn't it, Garde?" Queen Glinda walked into the room. "No wonder she always said she couldn't come shopping or go visiting. She didn't have the time."

"Glinda, most of the time I'm glad you were allowed to leave the Saa Thalarr. Now isn't one of those times." Jayd looked up at his wife.

"I would still need help. I know nothing about building. That isn't why I came to see you."

"Then why did you come to see me?"

"Because my brother Denevik retains his title of Prince," Glinda said. "Although he works as a liaison with the Reth and Campiaan Security Details, he keeps his status as a Prince of Kifirin."

"You don't want him to have it?" Jayd stared at Glinda. She loved her brother. He'd married the humanoid woman who'd birthed Reah's mother, following Breszca Loffus' divorce from her politician husband. Now they lived on Tulgalan. Denevik was hoping for another child with Breszca, but so far, his hope bore no fruit. Breszca was aging, too, and would be past childbearing in ten years.

"No. That isn't what I meant," Glinda huffed. "What I meant is that if things hadn't happened as they did, Denny's daughter and granddaughter would have the title of Princesses of the Realm. Through my father, the former King."

"And Reah's daughters as well." Jayd sighed.

"That would give all of them votes on the Council. I don't like it," Garde said.

"Once they reached maturity," Glinda agreed. "Dara and Sara aren't old enough."

"And certainly not mature enough." Garde blew a bit of smoke.

"It was just a suggestion," Glinda said. "I see that I'm outnumbered once again by High Demon males. How many female High Demons are there, husband?" Glinda glared at Jayd.

"Seventeen," Jayd unwillingly muttered.

"And six of those are Reah's daughters."

"Yes."

"And how have we been paying off our debts after Tarevik emptied the treasury and Rorevik had no idea how to build it up again?"

"With gishi fruit," Jayd said. "I'm planning to send four High Demon guards with the next shipments, in case pirates attack."

"Reah says that she's not releasing the date of the shipment for some reason," Garde said. "I asked her how she was going to book a ship. She said to let her worry about that."

"Garde, why don't you want Reah to have a vote on the Council? Tory is your son and a King's nephew. And he's the son of a Queen. His title is a matter of record here in the archives. Aren't his daughters entitled that way? Admit it, Garde. You have something against Reah. You think it was her fault that Tory went off like he did."

"Do you think that?" Garde stared at Glinda.

"Careful how you answer, Garde. Glinda and I are both Gulis. And Reah is as well, unless I miss my guess," Jayd said softly.

"I don't know. Do I have something against Reah?" Garde rose from his seat, confusion in his voice.

"Not intentionally," Kifirin appeared inside Jayd's office. "We have larger problems at the moment. Torevik will indeed come looking for Reah tomorrow night. I intend to give her to him. He will cause a great deal of damage otherwise."

* * *

"Lissa, he'll destroy the groves if we leave Reah where she is. He'll go through anything in front of him if he can't get his hands on her easily. Even if we force her, she'll fight him." Garde was trying to explain things to his mate while Kifirin silently stood by.

"Kifirin, if I could go back in time and kick your ass for making High Demons the way they are," Lissa glared at her most powerful mate. "Just how do you propose to get Reah within his reach, if she refuses to go willingly?"

"Healing sleep," Kifirin blew smoke with the answer.

"You're just going to dump her unconscious body in front of him? Is that what you plan to do? Like tossing a piece of meat to an angry dog?"

"Lissa, our son is not an angry dog," Garde was blowing smoke now.

"No? How angry do you think his Thifilathi will be, after not changing for twenty-five years? Connegar and Reemagar spent some time with him today. They say it could take a month or two, because they have to move slowly."

"What are they doing?" Garde asked.

"Slowly taking him through the passage of time."">

"Reconstructing his memories?"

"No. Not that much. He doesn't want to recall Darletta. What he does remember of her makes him furious. I couldn't see for the cloud of smoke after Gavin mentioned her name. His appetite is good, though. Ilvan is feeding him anything he wants."

"I thought he looked a little thinner when he came home," Garde sighed.

"Mom?" Tory's voice came through to her office, where she'd met with Garde and Kifirin.

"We're in here, honey." Tory walked in. "Sit down," Lissa said. "Do you want something to drink? We're just discussing the full moon tonight."

"Where can I make the turn?" Tory asked. "I don't remember doing it the last time."

"Honey, don't worry about that, it'll come. Karzac says that things have been somewhat traumatic for you. We'll get you what you need. Where should he go?" Lissa quirked an eyebrow at Garde and Kifirin.

"The high fields on Kifirin," Garde said. Kifirin nodded silently. "I'll be here later to take you there. You can breathe the free air on Kifirin, son."

"All right, Dad. I missed you and Mom while I was gone." Tory rose and wandered out of the room.

"He's like that all the time," Lissa muttered, dropping her head into her hands. "Tell me you'll protect Reah if she needs protecting," Lissa lifted her gaze to Kifirin.

"I will be there," the god of the Dark Realm replied.

* * *

"The fruit will be ready in two days." Hifil, my crew supervisor, handed me a gishi fruit that he'd cut in half. I sniffed it, agreeing with him. "Are the repairs done on the trucks?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," Hifil nodded. He was as old as I—fifty-one. Only Hifil came from one of the shorter-lived races. His kind tended to live around ninety turns or so, and Hifil had gray in his hair. He thought I was young. I wasn't. At times, I felt as old as the ground beneath my feet.