Tempest of Vengeance (20 page)

“Ros,” Titus said, nodding. “Come out of the
truck, and I’ll teleport you both there. I know where her office
is. You won’t have to waste time driving.”

We got out, Titus held our hands, and
immediately, we were there. “I’ve got to get back to Lash, to watch
his back,” Titus said, hugging me goodbye. “Then I’ll be with T
later on this afternoon. Call if there’s a problem, and I’ll be
here directly.”

I nodded, and he disappeared.

“He seems nice,” Elle said thoughtfully. “Why
does Dad...did Dad not like demons? Terian is a good guy, too. He’s
marrying Sundown, and she loves him. I could understand him not
liking them after what happened to him, but he didn’t like them
before that...” she trailed off.

“I’m not sure,” I said, thinking on it as we
walked inside the office building. “But your father has never liked
them, for some reason, and I think Theo got some of his prejudice
from him. Probably something in his past, Honey.”

“Don’t ever call me ‘Honey’,” Elle growled,
her blue eyes shifting to yellow.

I felt terrible, guessing why at once. “I’m
sorry, Elle,” I said, deliberately using her name. “Your father had
a lot of bad memories. He never talked about most of them.”

“Maybe he should come to therapy, too,” Elle
said darkly. “If he ever wakes up.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Elle sat
down in the waiting area, and I gave the secretary Elle’s name, and
address. She asked who I wanted billed, and gave her my name, and
then began to give her Hayden’s address. She stopped me when she
heard the name.

“I know that address. Ros got a call from
Stephen this morning. Please have a seat, and I’ll call Elle, when
it’s time. The appointment will be at least an hour, but if Elle
wants to go on, it will be longer, as long as she wants to talk.
Rosalyn has all her first appointments that way.”

I nodded, and sat down. Fifteen minutes
later, they called in Elle.

Two and a half hours later, she came out. I’d
gone to the bathroom twice, and finished my book, and been dozing
for the last forty-five minutes. But I wasn’t complaining. I was
grateful, that she was here getting help. I would have been happy
to sit here and be uncomfortable for as many hours as she wanted to
talk, and then to come back tomorrow, too.

“She wants to talk to you for a minute,” Elle
said, her voice emotional as she flopped down in a chair next to
me.

I got up and went in. Rosalyn stood up when I
entered, revealing she was very short. “I’m half troll, half
goblin,” she said in explanation, then smiled.

I didn’t know what to say. I smiled and
nodded in return, figuring that was polite.

“I know, being human, you probably heard
goblins and trolls are ugly,” she chortled.

“Yes,” I said honestly. “But you aren’t.”

That was an understatement. She was
beautiful, more so than I, if truth be told.

“Next you’ll think this is some kind of
magic,” she said, looking at me a little sadly. “Humans always say
that next, but it’s not. This is the real me.”

“Good,” I said with a shrug. “Being pretty is
a lot easier in this world than being ugly.”

Roz looked a little taken aback, but nodded.
“That’s sad, but true. But it says something about you, that you
said it so casually.” She wrote something down on her paper.

I felt very self-conscious. This had been
some kind of test. Was my reply good or bad? “If you had used
glamour, I wouldn’t think it bad, either,” I added quickly. “It’s
like make-up, or hair coloring, or plastic surgery. Why not use it,
if it makes you feel better about yourself?”

Roz looked at me with surprise, and then
wrote more down on her pad. A lot more.
Shit, maybe I’m making a
bigger hole for myself.

“Do you know why I wanted to talk to
you?”

I wanted badly to echo Lash’s words and tell
her I hadn’t a fucking clue, but stifled the urge to joke just to
break the overwhelming tension I was feeling. This was serious, and
I did have a clue, having had a fair amount of therapy in my life.
“Because you think she has issues with me to address, or because
you want my help with some background on her, to clarify something
in her past?” I offered. “Or both?”

She nodded. “Both.”

“Go ahead.”

“Elle has a lot of issues,” she said frankly.
“I’m very worried about her. She needed therapy without the
additional trauma of her rape.”

I nodded. That wasn’t a surprise. Most
everyone I knew needed therapy, except maybe V. Once she fully
understood exactly who her father was, she’d need therapy just for
that.

“She said her father’s Theopolis,” Roz said,
reading. “But her Dad is Danial, and he’s in a coma?”

I explained as fast as I could Elle’s
background, how Danial had raised her and she’d grown fast, with
Theo being gone for her younger years. How she’d lost her younger
brother recently, but had both an older brother, and a younger
sister. I stopped abruptly mid-explanation, and looked at her. “I
need you to confirm you’re powerful enough to keep these secrets,”
I said bluntly. “Elle’s rape is a direct result of my previous
therapist’s weakness.”

“I am,” Roz assured me. “You know of Titus, I
believe? He and his...um, wife, Alerian, they came to me for
counseling a century or so ago, and more recently again, too.”

Wow, she was old. “Titus said he knew
you.”

“I’m older than he is. I do this work because
I had a bad experience, in my early years, and I want to help women
and couples to work past some of their problems, so they can be
happy. I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor.”

“I’m glad to know you help couples.”

Roz nodded. “I know of Devlin Dalcon, and
what he’s done in his time as Ruler,” she said. Dark anger passed
over her face, before it abruptly cleared. “I have also heard of
Theopolis O’Connor, and Danial Racklan, and certainly of the
infamous Lash.”

“I’m not sure what Elle has told you about
me,” I stated quickly. “But—”

“I smell snake scent on you, dear,” Roz
interrupted gently. “I know enough from Elle to know it’s his. I
know he works for Devlin, and rumor is he’s young again. He must
have given Titus half his fortune for that potion he took that
saved him. But what’s five hundred thousand, or even a million, or
ten million to be young again? I’ve done it enough times,
myself.”

I had so many questions I didn’t know what to
ask first. Lash was that rich? But then he was old, and he made a
lot of money killing people. Being rich naturally followed. But
millions? And that’s how much it would cost to save him magically,
if he were dying? How rich was Devlin that he could afford that?
What was I Oathing into?
Focus on what’s important.
“The
same potion can be used more than once, for a being? And there is
more than the one?”

Roz nodded. “They only last so long, and
there are unpleasant side effects, depending on what is used. My
troll nature makes me resistant to those, dear. But yes, there are
potions with side effects that aren’t too bad, though they are
expensive in the extreme. But I doubt that is a problem for Lash,
especially with Dalcon for a friend. Have Titus call me, when it’s
time. I can point him to the right texts, so he can find a better
potion for Lash to use next time around.”

“Why would you help him?” I said suspiciously
with narrowed eyes. “Or Devlin?”

“I’ve seen a lot of women, and men in my
years, and it’s easy to see that you care about him. I’ve heard you
may live a long life. I would guess you’d want him with you as long
as possible. Part of Elle getting better is seeing her mother in a
good relationship with a man who doesn’t abuse her.”

That had to be a dig at Devlin.
Sigh.
What could I say that didn’t sound defensive?

“Lash has done much evil in his life, but he
has never harmed a woman to my knowledge, at least not one who
didn’t attack him first. I’ve heard what he did for Elle, and how
he saved you from a similar situation—”

“He did.”

“But are you happy with him? Do you love him,
Sarelle? You began a physical relationship with him when you were
married, committed to another man, and often, those matches don’t
result in healthy relationships. Or ones that last, as evidenced by
what happened with Danial, Theo, and you...”

She trailed off, seeing my face, and how
upset I was.

“I am going to him as a snake,” I said in a
breaking voice, my walls falling down in pieces, and my tears
following almost immediately. “I love him, I have for months, but I
was married, and I tried to do the right thing!”

“There, there,” she said, handing me a
tissue. “That’s all you can do, to try your best.”

“But I still feel guilty, for what I did!
He’s a killer, and he’s hurt a lot of people.”

“You did wrong, having an affair with him
like you did,” she said flatly. “But you know that, and you did
your best to make it right. Let it go, and get on with your life.
Lash’s misdeeds are his own, not yours. Your daughter needs you,
and so will your son, with their father gone.”

I didn’t think that was all completely true,
but I swallowed it, hook, line and sinker, because it made me feel
so much better, to let go of my guilt.

“And so will your other daughter, with the
kind of father she has in Dalcon. He has no respect for women, none
at all. He thinks of them as objects to pleasure himself with.”

“I know,” I whispered. “That’s been hard to
deal with. But I’m working on it, and having Venus has changed him.
Seeing what happened to Elle has also affected him.”

“Some men never change,” Roz said in a low
voice. “Don’t think that he has, Sarelle.”

“Should I make Elle come and live with me?” I
asked, changing the subject. “Would that be best? I could watch her
a lot easier.”

“Not for now,” Roz said. “She needs to be
where she feels at home, and that is Danial’s house. But visit her
often, and come with her, to these appointments.”

“I will.”

“And if you need counseling yourself, call
for an appointment,” she said, getting to her feet. “I always have
room in my schedule for a woman who needs me.”

On impulse, I gave her a hug quickly, and she
cackled a little, and hugged me back. I left, wondering if she was
going to write anything else down on her pad about that.

Elle was waiting for me, and we went to a
late lunch at the local Pizza Hut. Even though she didn’t talk
much, I could see she was a little bit more her old self. Time
would do the rest. Time, and love.

* * * *

That week passed quickly.

I had done some online Christmas shopping,
but not much. I got busy on Monday, and ordered the rest of the
gifts. Devlin had handed me a Mastercard much as Danial had, years
ago, but his was not black—it was pure white, almost silver. I used
that for most of the presents, though I used my own card for a few
select purchases. Most of the gifts were gift baskets: bath stuff
for Elle, a honeymoon food basket for Terian and Sundown, a wine
basket for T, a breakfast-in-bed basket for Titus and Alerian, and
a coffee basket for my parents. I also got Elle some art supplies,
and T a few books. Venus, I got probably more than I should, but
she was growing so fast, I worried she would be an adult by next
Christmas. So I got her about five more board games, some movies on
DVD, some CDs of children’s music, some sneakers, and a large
stuffed dragon so big she could ride it. I had Keith hide the boxes
in one of the guest rooms, and snuck in there every day to wrap
things as they came in, glad I’d had the foresight to order a roll
of wrapping paper, gift tags, and bows with the presents.

It felt weird not getting Theo anything, but
I told myself he had someone else to get him things. He didn’t need
anything from me. And what would I get him? A gift basket for
breakfast-in-bed for two?
Bleah.

I was glad too that Solutions, Inc. was shut
down this week and next. I needed the time to finish two handmade
presents I was making for Elle, and I was behind on both.

I was saved the embarrassment of asking for
my Christmas tree and decorations, which had been stored at
Danial’s, when T showed up with it, the boxes of ornaments, and
Elle on that Wednesday. That afternoon, three of us decorated the
tree. Last, Elle and I carefully put on the spiders she, Danial,
and I had made, and then I made us some eggnog. We sat near the
tree afterwards, sipping it, and talking of nothing serious as we
watched the lights blink on and off.

Lash came into the living room near dusk,
staring first at the tree, and then at us. It was obvious he was
uneasy, likely due to the strong scent of blood that followed him
from another job he’d done earlier that morning, though there was
none visible.

I went to Lash and hugged him. “I’m very glad
you’re home safe,” I said with relief, self-conscious of T and Elle
watching us. “Go take a shower, then join us if you want to. I’ll
make you some eggnog if you like, when you come down.”

“Thanks, Sweetness,” he said politely,
nodding to me. “I’ll be a half hour or so. Hello to you also, T,
and Elle.”

He went upstairs, and I turned to see T and
Elle getting up. Terian had appeared. I looked at them, and they
looked at each other uneasily. Terian looked at the ceiling,
obviously uncomfortable.

“We have to get back,” T said with a forced
smile as he hugged me. “Jenny has her own tradition of going out
and getting a live tree. So we are going out on Dad’s...my land,
and cut one down, and then we are going to decorate it.”

“I understand,” I answered calmly, feeling
let down. “Thank you for coming, to decorate a tree with me. I
enjoyed spending time with you both.”

“I’m sorry we can’t stay,” Elle said, as she
hugged me. “But we’ll see you at Christmas, at Grandma’s.”