"Do you have a place to stay?" Tiearan studied Corent's face.
"I do. Come, I will show you." Corent led Tiearan toward his home.
* * *
"Brenten, while I understand that you were protecting Wyatt, I fail to understand why you did this to Lissa." Amara held her sleeping son in her arms while she watched Griffin. He stood near a window in Merrill's old manor house in Kent, looking over the well-kept lawn surrounding the house. "Surely there was some other way. If she learns of this, you may as well forget you have a daughter."
"She has trouble recognizing me as her father anyway."
"Brenten, is this my husband talking, or someone who merely attempts to justify himself?"
"The switching of the bracelets is only a part of this," Griffin turned to face Amara. "I have rationalized my acts in the past. Often congratulated myself on making things come out in the best way possible, by sacrificing this one or that. I keep telling myself it is for the greater good. Yes, it causes me superficial pain, but that is all. I couldn't face this pain, Amara. I couldn't handle having my son taken away from us like that," He shook his head.
"And if I'd told Wylend, or anyone else, it would have turned out worse than it did. Wylend would have sent some of his and Vionn would have suffered, if not been destroyed outright. So I put this on my daughter. Who has had enough pain as it is. I removed the memories from Roff because I knew, even then, that things would come to this."
"Lissa told him what happened. I heard that from Kyler. She says that Roff hasn't spoken to Flavio for days. She also said that Lissa will barely speak to anyone, locks herself in her room most nights, only does what she absolutely has to do and now has a fifty million-credit price tag on her head. I'm grateful I still have my son in my arms, Brenten, but what have you done to your daughter?"
"I won't have a daughter, Amara. Not when she discovers what I've done. And I may not hold onto my Oracle status much longer—I feel that Belen may be considering what to do about this even now. I interfered, Amara. To save myself and to save my son. The one my daughter managed to give to us. Wyatt wouldn't have come to us any other way."
"Who else knows of this, Brenten?"
"Wylend and Erland know. When Lissa finds the truth, she'll be angry with them as well."
Chapter 8
"Grant, why don't you take a break?" Thurlow Burghin, the Alliance Rep stood in my doorway, so I was giving Grant the opportunity to get away from this meeting if he wanted to. I would, too, if I could.
"Okay," Grant smiled and headed toward the kitchen to pick up a bottle of blood substitute.
"Mr. Burghin, come in and have a seat," I offered. So far, he'd been discreet and polite enough. I couldn't fault him on his manners. He wasn't bad looking and I couldn't help but think he'd probably like to be anywhere but here.
"Please, call me Thurlow," he smiled and sat in the offered chair.
"Would you like something to eat or drink?" I asked.
"Lady, no. If you and your staff feed me any better, I'll be too heavy to board ship again," he chuckled. He didn't look as if he had an ounce anywhere that wasn't hard muscle, but I didn't say that. It made me wonder what he'd done for the Alliance before coming on this little assignment.
"So, what can I do for you, Mr. Burghin—Thurlow?"
"What would you be doing now, if you weren't taking time to talk to me?" he asked. That made me sigh. Honestly, I wanted to crawl out of my skin and into a hole somewhere, until the pain that followed me everywhere I went had gone away. But that wasn't something I'd tell anyone. Except for Gavin—or Kifirin, perhaps. I was feeling Gavin's absence the past few days, much more than I normally would.
"Please," Thurlow said when I didn't answer, allowing too many things to rush through my mind instead.
"Sitting on the roof," I said. He'd asked, I answered.
"On the roof? Why, lady?"
"Mr. Burghin, I'm not sure I can do this interview right now. My apologies." I stood up behind my desk.
"I've upset you."
"It wasn't you, or anything to do with you, I assure you," I muttered.
"Is it the price on your head?" He stood because I was standing.
"No, I'm sorry to say. I wish it were something as simple as that." I looked down at the immaculate surface of my desk—Grant, Heathe and Davan kept it that way for me.
"A price on your head is a simple matter?" His voice was almost gentle.
I wanted to tell him that if I desired, I could hunt the ones down who'd placed that price on my head. Moreover, I could make them very dead—all by myself. What I couldn't do was make a child mine again, when someone had stolen him away, body and mind.
"Walk with me," Thurlow said. I looked up at him. I truly wasn't in the mood to do anything except find a place to cry.
Again
. I don't know how we ended up walking out of my office together, or down the long hallway toward the front steps of my palace. Long ago, I used to tuck my hand in the crook of Don's elbow and we'd walk that way. I felt the urge to lean on someone, but Thurlow Burghin was a stranger and he'd been sent by the Alliance, on top of that. Not someone I'd consider for an arm-in-arm walk.
"Where are we going?" he said after a while, when we passed the courtyard and wandered into the nearest vampire neighborhoods.
"Some of my friends live down these streets," I sighed. I hadn't seen Bryan lately. He was busy—I knew that. He coordinated all the news and edited the newsfeeds that went out to the Alliance daily. He probably needed help to do it, too.
* * *
Thurlow watched her face carefully, without appearing obvious about it. So many people thought that vampires were veiled killers, unfeeling and grim. He wondered what some of them might think if they were privileged enough to walk beside this one—weighed down with grief as she was. He wanted her to tell him what was wrong, although he knew already.
Long, strawberry-blonde hair was brushed away from her face with a graceful hand and then tucked behind an ear as she stared down a street; several grand houses stood there, surrounded by well-manicured lawns. The grass that grew in the dim light on this half of Le-Ath Veronis was blue-green and looked nearly black when in shadow. The moon was out—if the planet had a normal orbit, it would be night, now. The Queen should be preparing for sleep instead of wandering the streets of the capital city.
"I know about the child," Thurlow surprised himself by saying.
* * *
I stared at him stupidly for several seconds after those words came from his beautifully sculpted lips. I shouldn't have been surprised—the comesuli gossiped all the time. They probably knew all about it—what with Giff collapsing in on herself and everything. Why would I expect anything else from someone whom the Alliance had sent to spy and report back to them?
"I will not include that information in my reports," he said softly.
"Do you think I trust you?" I asked, walking away from him. He stepped up beside me.
"A missing child is not the reason I'm here," he replied.
"Then why are you here?" I turned away from him, afraid I might cry at any moment. I wanted to mist away from him and wondered if the Alliance had that information about me, too. Wondered what their dossier held regarding the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis.
"Many reasons. The Alliance wishes to keep you safe. I am their eyes and ears at the moment, charged with sending reports on just how safe you are. I'm not sure they're interested in personal drama, or the fate of one small child who was never legally adopted."
"There's the problem, I suppose.
Legally
. Isn't that what everybody bases everything on? The letter of the law?" I walked on and he followed. "Legally," I went on, "there shouldn't be a price on my head. Legally, I shouldn't be a vampire. Therefore, legally, we shouldn't even be having this conversation."
"I can't argue with your logic," Thurlow nodded. "If there was a way to make you feel better, I'd do it."
"I don't think there's a single thing that might make me feel better right now," I said. "Let's go back."
"If you want," he agreed. We parted once we were inside the palace and I headed toward my suite. It was empty when I arrived. Giff would always be there in the past, waiting on me so she could get me undressed and my clothing hung up. She was huddled in depression somewhere with Rolfe, who was doing his best to make things better for her. I wasn't going to interfere with that. Once again, I wondered what Roff was doing, and if anyone was trying to comfort him. I lifted my silk tunic over my head, walked toward my closet and searched for an empty hanger.
* * *
"Tell me why you wanted these maps!" Gavin's eyes were red and his fangs were pricking his lower lip. Ibbitt was frightened. He'd never seen vampires this close and angry, yet here were two of them, accompanied by another man. He wasn't sure what that one was.
"I-I had someone come to me, offering quite a bit f-for them," Ibbitt's voice quavered. "They didn't tell me why they wanted them."
"You will give me names and addresses, if you have them," Tony flopped a pad of paper in front of Ibbitt.
"He was supposed to go himself," Lynx said, after taking a brief moment to
Look
.
"I am too old," Ibbitt whined. And I have worked for these before."
"Then why don't you take us to them?" Gavin showed the entire length of his fangs.
"I have to set up a meeting," Ibbitt said. "Please, do not hurt me."
"Make the call." Lynx set Ibbitt's communicator on the table in front of him. Ibbitt nodded and lifted it with shaking hands.
* * *
"Lissa, why don't you spend a day or two at Grey House?" Shadow had my chin in his hand, forcing me to look up at him. I'd dressed in pajamas and sat on the side of my bed, but that was as far as I'd gotten. I hadn't turned down the bed or anything; I just sat there, numbly staring at the floor until Shadow folded in. "Kyler and Cleo are both at Grey House at the moment."
"Shadow, I don't know that I'm in the mood for anyone right now, even though they're family." Yeah, I was figuring things out, finally. I was afraid to dig very far; the betrayal might be too big. What was I supposed to do? Say "thanks, Dad, for fucking up my life again?" And other things were clicking into place, too—things like who else might have known, and when did they know? A lot rode on that, to be honest. If they'd known from the beginning, then my family would be whittled down to nothing and my mates would take a whittling as well.
"Come on, baby, come back with me. I don't get to sleep with you in my bed as often as I want." Shadow lifted me to my feet. "I'll open a bottle of wine and we can raid the kitchen."
"I'm not hungry."
"Baby, I got mindspeech from Drake and Drew, telling me you didn't come to dinner tonight. What do you think I'm supposed to do about that?" he leaned down to kiss me and folded me to Grey House at the same time.
"Raiding the fridge, son?" Raffian Grey walked into the dimly lit kitchen as Shadow was trying to tempt me with whatever was inside it. Raffian, Shadow’s father, sat next to me on a long, stainless-steel island in the center of the kitchen. His legs nearly reached the floor; mine didn't.
"Want a glass of wine, Dad?" Shadow straightened from perusing the lower shelves, lifting the bottle of wine he'd uncorked for his father to see.
"Sure." Raffian
Pulled
a wineglass off a rack, and then
Pulled
the bottle toward him, using the power that seemed to come so easily to him and his family. "What's in there that looks good?" he asked while he poured wine. The bottle sailed toward Shadow, once Raffian's glass was full.
"There's ham, roast beef and turkey," Shadow grinned at his father. "And some roast chicken." He pulled a platter out that held most of a roasted chicken. "Come on, help me eat the chicken," he coaxed.
That's how all three of us ended up sitting at the island, eating leftover roast chicken, drinking wine and nibbling on banana cake afterward. I went to bed with Shadow after cleaning the kitchen. Making love with Shadow is consuming. It's like fanning the flames of an out-of-control blaze. And it leaves me completely exhausted when it's over. I slept in Shadow's arms and he didn't wake me, as he should have. He let me wake on my own. That was and wasn't a good thing.
* * *
"Geez," I mumbled, willing my eyes to open in what I thought was early morning. Shadow answered by kissing my forehead and then my eyelids. "Honey, I ought to go home," I lifted a hand to rub my eyes, but my Wizard grasped the hand and kissed my fingers.
"You can sleep a little longer, if you want," he murmured against my hair.
"What time is it?" I asked, still trying to get my eyes open.
"Baby, it's nearly noon."
If Shadow hadn't held onto me, I might have leapt off the bed. I had an early meeting on Le-Ath Veronis. "I thought you could bend time," Shadow was smiling as I frowned up at the face that looked down at mine. He stroked my hair back. "You can stay here all day with me—it's off-day. You can sleep or we can make love, or go for a swim or eat ourselves sick. Besides, I sent mindspeech and Garde is taking the meeting."