* * *

Tulgalan's sun was much easier to connect with—faster, too. The gathering of power was almost immediate when I reached out for it. It came willingly, too, as if it knew its child suffered and needed help. I pulled even more of its energy toward me, shunting it into the ground beneath my body, sending it on its way toward the wounded core.

* * *

"The path of the energy Reah sends to the core is simple to track, we just can't touch any part of it," Astralan explained to Lendill. He and Norian were witnessing this for the first time. Reah was glowing golden in the bright sunlight, surprising the Director and Vice-Director. "You should see this at night," Astralan went on. "If you aren't spiritual in any way, you might become so afterward. Her wings shine and unfold when she seals up the breach," he breathed, recalling the wonder of it.

"Then she falls over in a dead faint," Stellan added. "And we spend clicks sometimes, trying to convince her to wake and turn back."

"Are you still monitoring this? I'd like a full report on the process," Norian said, keeping an eye on Reah. Gavril and Tory stood close to Reah, watching her as she glowed with power.

"Of course we're monitoring it," Astralan almost snapped at the Director of the ASD. And if the fool would stop asking questions, he might be able to monitor more closely. Astralan was keeping track of the energy flow through Reah; Stellan was monitoring the core itself. "Everything should be fine and finished within a quarter," Astralan didn't finish his sentence—Stellan shouted in dismay as Reah screamed in agony and convulsed, falling over and beating her wings against the ground, forcing Gavril and Tory to scramble out of her way.

"She's having a seizure!" Lendill shouted, attempting to get to her, but Reah was too large for almost anyone to help her through this.

"She's suffering!" Stellan shouted. "Someone tapped into the core and now they're pulling energy from her!"

"What?" Norian shouted. "Stop it! Somebody stop it!" Reah shrieked again, her body convulsing on the ground as if she'd been shocked with high doses of electricity. Gavril and Tory were still attempting to reach her but it was impossible—neither of them could get close. Tory finally did what he should have done in the beginning, going full Thifilathi and lifting Reah off the ground, breaking the link with whoever had connected with her. Reah was still now and lifeless in Tory's arms as his Thifilathi blew clouds of smoke from his nostrils. Then, when the bloody discharge showed between her thighs, his Thifilathi threw back its head and keened to the skies.

* * *

"I'll kill you!" Lendill shouted at Derdris, who cowered in his cell. "I'll kill you for not telling us!" Lendill was nearly in tears as he shouted at the warlock. They hadn't thought to perform a power scan on him, depending upon sight alone to identify him as Nidris. Now, Nidris was still out there and had tapped the core at the same moment Reah had attempted to repair it, shocking her and breaking the connection she had with Tulgalan's sun. Instead, Nidris had followed the energy, tapping into Reah's power and draining her and the tiny child nestled in her womb. The child was dead and Reah nearly so.

* * *

"What the fuck did you think you were doing?" Karzac shouted at Norian, Gavril and Tory. Karzac had called for Larentii right away—Lenigar and Renegar had come—they were the two strongest healers who worked with the Saa Thalarr. As Aurelius' mate, Reah was entitled to their care.

"What's going on?" Jes had taken a chance and walked into the mansion.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Norian went for Jes' throat as chaos erupted around them.

* * *

Farzi, Nenzi and their brothers stood quietly against the wall in Reah's room, weeping as the Larentii worked diligently to save Reah's life. Her tiny child was dead already—Teeg had tried to tell them what had happened but broke down in the middle of it.

Nenzi didn't understand any of it—someone had attacked their Reah with power, killing her baby and attempting to kill her too? And then, when the two women and the man appeared inside Reah's room, blasting the walls away, the Larentii sealed the fate of one of the female attackers, reducing her to particles as Nenzi turned to lion snake and sunk his fangs into the arm of the other. He recognized her immediately, as had his brothers.

Ardalin screamed as she stabbed Nenzi with a knife before dropping to the floor, dying from his poison. Nidris tried, using the power he'd gained, to reach the small woman lying on the bed. He hadn't counted on finding Larentii there, ready to separate his particles. Those he'd never have the power to overcome. Nidris cut his losses and folded away, leaving Ardalin dead on the floor, a lion snake bleeding out next to her, Yebri's atoms scattered somewhere and Jes held in a chokehold by Norian Keef.

"Don't let him die, it will kill Reah," Gavril shouted, struggling to get to Nenzi. Renegar, seeing the wisdom in Gavril's shouted command, knelt next to the bleeding snake and placed his hand over the wound.

Chapter 11

"You hired this as your personal physician?" Norian shouted in disbelief at Gavril. Jes sat in a chair, his wrists and ankles enclosed in zapcuffs. Jes couldn't escape—if he tried, Norian could send a killing jolt through the cuffs and Jes would die in mid-step.

"You seem to know him, why don't you tell me who he is," Gavril snapped

"Does the name Gergi Jarveston mean anything to you?" Norian paced in front of Jes' chair.

"The one who helped Marzi and Edan Desh kill Reah's mother?" Gavril's statement had Jes jerking his head up. He'd never heard the name of the child that had been born—he'd only seen her as a tiny baby when he'd handed the drug to Marzi—the drug that could cause hemorrhaging in a new mother. No names had been given—the money offered had precluded the need for information.

"That's the one," Norian snapped. Norian was in the foulest of moods and he had a headache. Not that he thought anyone would take pity on him and heal it—he was responsible for the death of Reah's daughter. Gardevik and the High Demon King hadn't been informed as yet and Norian didn't want to be anywhere near them when they learned of it. Reah's daughter was hope to them. Now, with Reah and Tory practically estranged, they might not get another child from that union and it could very likely be a boy if they did. Lissa and the others weren't going to forgive this. As it was, the Larentii were still working on Reah, pouring energy into her. According to Karzac, she'd been so close to death when Tory broke contact with Nidris' draining that only a blink later she would have died.

Tory had been placed in a healing sleep—Pheligar had forced him to return to his humanoid form and Karzac had been ready to place the sleep. Tory's Thifilathi had known, even if Tory hadn't—the baby was dead the moment he'd lifted her off the ground. Now, Jes was listening intently—Reah had been harmed? How had that happened? He ventured to ask the question.

"How-how is she?" He stuttered getting the words out.

"You don't know? I'm surprised—didn't you and Ardalin mastermind this?" Gavril shouted. He'd seen Ardalin's body—carried out of the room and tossed in the hall outside Reah's suite. Nenzi had killed her, as she'd stabbed the reptanoid. If Renegar hadn't saved him, Nenzi would also be dead.

"Ardalin wanted you," Jes snarled, lowering his gaze. "I only wanted Reah. Nidris promised to deliver if I could get him close enough. What happened to Yebri?"

"She thought to attack a Larentii," Gavril snapped. "It was the last thing she thought to do." Jes jerked back in fear; he'd never seen Teeg so angry. In fact, Teeg's eyes were red and were those—Jes huddled against the back of his chair.

"Didn't expect this, did you," Gavril hissed in Jes' face. "I was born vampire, you piece of shit. And if I'd listened to Reah, I'd have gotten rid of you long ago. Something wasn't right with you and she knew it. I just wasn't paying attention. And not only am I vampire, I'm a King Vampire. Do you know what that means?" Gavril's face was so close to Jes' now that Jes had wet himself; he was so frightened.

"N-no," Jes whispered.

"It means I can tell you to kill yourself—and you'd do it. I can tell you to kill yourself in the worst possible way and smile while you do it. Shall I do that, Jes?"

"Gavril, should I leave the room?" Norian asked.

"I say no—my son needs to get himself back in hand." Gavin Montegue stood inside the doorway, watching as his son threatened Gergi Jarveston, known to those in the Campiaan Alliance as Jes Wurfl, physician to Teeg San Gerxon.

"Dad, don't interfere," Gavril muttered.

"Son, the one thing that kept what little humanity I had left from slipping away is that I never toyed with my kills. If you're going to kill him, then do it swiftly and mercifully. I have a suggestion, however."

"What's that?" Gavril turned to look at his father.

"You may need additional information from him. Keep him alive—at least for a while. That's what the Council on old Earth used to do—hold onto them while the members considered and questioned. Then a sentence was passed. I don't think Norian will mind if we haul him to Le-Ath Veronis and let him sit in the dungeon for a while."

"I don't care what you do with the scum. He's managed to ruin any relationship I have left with Lissa. She won't be speaking to me after this and Garde will come for my head." Norian's future—from his perspective, anyway—looked extremely bleak.

"The Larentii are done and Karzac's hooking up an IV and feeding tube," Ry poked his head inside the door. "Bro, I was afraid I'd see that one's intestines draped around the room," Ry jerked his head toward Jes.

"You almost did," Gavril muttered angrily. "Dad talked me out of it."

"Thanks, Dad," Ry nodded to Gavin. Gavin and Aurelius had treated all three boys as their own during their childhood. All of them looked up to both former vampires.