Demon Lost (25 page)

"Sounds like such a good parent," Norian muttered sarcastically.

"I found the doctor who tended her mother and he's so frightened he's handing everything to us," Lendill continued. "Reah isn't Addah Desh's daughter—she's Edan Desh's. I get the idea that the pregnancy was definitely unplanned. The drugs administered to her mother after the birth could cause unusual bleeding, and the mother died of hemorrhage. I know it's just my opinion at the moment, but I think Marzi Desh had a hand in this to keep her son away from prison for rape. Too bad; he could end up there anyway. With his mother to keep him company."

"Keep your men on this—I want to get to the root of this," Norian Keef terminated the call. Lendill pocketed his communicator and turned up the collar on his heavy coat—it was winter in Targis and very cold.

* * *

"Reah, Norian wants to talk to you, now." Gavril and I were sitting side by side on a large chaise near the pool. We were doing research for a report he'd been assigned. It excited him that we could do this together, and he was bouncing ideas off me, which led us down many paths as far as the research went. Lissa had appeared right next to us to give me the news.

"Mom—we were doing research," Gavril moaned.

"Honey, Reah needs to talk to your Uncle Nori. She'll come back later." Lissa sat next to Gavril and brushed dark hair off his forehead.

"Where should I go? Where is he?" I asked, standing and stretching to hide my sudden nervousness.

"Norian is in my office. Do you know where it is?" Lissa had beautiful blue eyes. I could see why she had so many mates.

"I think I can find it," I nodded and walked out of the huge room that held the spa and the pool. The water, combined with shining sunlamps, caused the ceiling to reflect as I walked away from Gavril and his mother.

I stood outside the office door for several ticks before knocking, trying to get my heart to slow. Why would the Director of the ASD want to see me? Why? I knocked and a voice called out for me to enter.

"Director Keef." I nodded respectfully to him. He didn't stand when I entered. He sat behind Lissa's beautifully carved wooden desk, his fingertips together, watching me as I walked in. He had brown hair and green eyes, wasn't nearly as tall as Lissa's other mates and felt dangerous, somehow, even if his looks said otherwise.

"Sit down, recruit Desh," he nodded toward the two chairs placed before the desk. I chose the nearest one and sat down. "Now," he said as I settled into my seat, "you have more than five years' service left in the Alliance Military."

"Yes, Director Keef." I'd been wondering about that. Not once had Aurelius brought it up, and the small amount of time I'd spent with Ry and Tory hadn't brought the subject up, either.

"I have already had your assignment transferred," Director Keef informed me. That statement forced me to raise my head and stare into his eyes. I wanted to ask him where I'd been transferred. Was it far away? What would I be doing? Did Aurelius know? I knew not to ask—I was a recruit again and any freedom I'd had was now gone. One didn't blurt out their questions to a ranking officer. As Director of the ASD, Norian Keef outranked just about everyone in the Alliance Military.

"You will be working for the ASD from now on. We can make use of, well, your unusual abilities. Aurelius says that when you aim a rifle at something, you don't miss. I have reviewed all your training records and questioned Aurelius thoroughly. Your rank has also changed—you are now one of my more unusual special agents. Torevik Rath and Rylend Morphis also hold this rank, in an unofficial capacity. I would like you to work with them, I think. Our enemies will not be expecting you to be as strong or as talented as you are. They will underestimate you. That will work to our advantage. They will be looking to Ry and Tory to take them down, when you can be the one to get them, special agent Desh." Norian tapped fingertips on Lissa's desk.

"By the way," he went on, "I've learned from Lissa that you may wish to separate from your family legally. I can expedite the paperwork for you and you may choose another name. In fact, I can change that this afternoon. Karzac says that you will be released from his care tomorrow, and can report for duty the day after that. You will be stationed here as Le-Ath Veronis is now permanent ASD headquarters. If you do not wish to stay at the palace or somewhere else of your choosing, you may live in the barracks with my other special agents. Bear in mind that you will frighten most of them if you make your High Demon status known. That information will only be given to those who can be trusted with the information. Feel free to talk with me or my Vice-Director, Lendill Schaff. He has been advised of your status and has access to your records."

His words swam inside my head and I had trouble sorting them for a moment. "Yes, I do wish to separate from my family and I would prefer to be known as Re Nilvas, if possible. That was the name I was given on Mandil."

"I ask you not to give up your first name, Reah," Director Keef sighed. "I think it will upset Aurelius greatly."

"Then leave my first name as Reah," I looked down at my hands. What had I gotten into? What would I be doing? Working with Ry and Tory didn't sound bad, but I had no idea what they really did for the ASD.

"Your name will be changed by tomorrow and I imagine that the legal separation will be completed within the week. Your former family will be notified, agent Reah Nilvas. Vice-Director Schaff will contact you with your first assignment. Meanwhile, feel free to let Lissa or Aurelius know of your housing preferences."

I'd been dismissed, so I dipped my head respectfully to Director Keef and scurried out the door. My heart was pounding triple time as I made my way down the long hall toward my bedroom. Well, it might not be my bedroom for much longer. What should I do? I didn't want to live in the barracks with other agents. I'd gotten enough of that during my military training. I felt cold as I opened the door to my bedroom and curled up on the bed, hugging myself tightly.

* * *

 
"Reah?" Ry popped into my bedroom. Well, perhaps not popped, but close enough. Everybody appeared and disappeared at will. Except me.

"Ry, what do you want?" I was huddled against the headboard of the bed, an extra blanket wrapped around me. I was shivering.

"Reah, we're not so bad to work with," Ry sat on the edge of my bed.

"That's not what concerns me."

"Then what is it?"

"Where am I supposed to go? Where will I live? I don't want to live in the barracks—there's probably no privacy there—and too many people." I pulled my blanket tighter around me. I'd been cast out on a wild ocean that carried me farther and farther away from anything familiar. Silently I cursed Master Vyn. And Edan. And my father. I wanted to weep, too, for the mother I'd never known, as well as the great-aunt I had who hadn't bothered to visit or talk with me. Is this the way it was with any family I ever had? They just left me to fend for myself unless they wanted something? They'd never said anything about my grandfather, either—only that one of Glinda's brothers had fathered my mother.

I had no way to contact Aurelius, and didn't know if I wanted to anyway. What would he do? The Alliance would send me off somewhere to work with Ry, Tory or others perhaps, and we'd only see each other once in a while. Too many worries crowded my mind and there was no relief for any of them.

"Reah, it's not that bad. We're usually gone two or three weeks at a stretch, then we're back home."

"Ry, this is your home. It's not mine."

"I heard you were a woman without a country now." Ry scooted up in the bed until he was sitting next to me.

"What are you talking about?" I turned to look at him.

"It's just a strange phrase my mother uses. She's from old Earth, you know."

"Is she as old as Aurelius?"

That question caused Ry to laugh. "No," he shook his head after the laughter died down. "Only a few vampires might be older than Aurelius. Jeral and Aryn. A couple of others. That's it. Gavril wants to know what happened to you, Reah. And it's nearly time for dinner. Why don't you get dressed and I'll take you in."

I wasn't hungry and I wanted to talk to Aurelius. Just to find out how things were going to be. Was he just going to let me go without a word? And I was back to where I was going to live for the next five years or so.

"Reah, why are you not dressed for dinner?" Aurelius came through the door without knocking. "Young one, I will take over now," Aurelius gave Ry a pointed stare. Ry grinned and waved a hand before disappearing. "Reah, why are you wrapped in a blanket?" Aurelius came to stand beside the bed.

"I'm cold." I huddled farther into the soft coverlet.

"Reah, are you ill? It isn't particularly cold at the moment. We had a fine spring day, today."

"For you, maybe. You didn't have the Director of the ASD telling you that he's conscripting you for the next five years and you can live in the barracks if you want."

"Reah, he did not say you had to live in the barracks. He listed that as one of your choices. There are others."

"Living on someone's charity." I was pouting again.

"Reah, you have back pay coming for your stay on Mandil and you can move your account from Tulgalan. Several good banks are located here in Lissia, and any one of them will be happy to make the transfers for you."

"I didn't have an account on Tulgalan. I kept my money on a credit chip bracelet, and it was left behind when Master Vyn decided to play his joke. Edan never let me have much money and refused to let me open an account. His way of controlling me, I'm sure. I have nothing, Aurelius. I asked Director Keef to submit the paperwork to separate me from my family and give me another name. If they cared, they would have contacted me while I've been here. They haven't. I'm sure Edan was dancing with joy when I was shipped to the military, and he'll be dancing again when he learns I've cut my ties to him and the rest of the family. Family." I huffed out the word. "I have no family."

"Reah, you are related to the Queen of Kifirin." Aurelius' golden-brown eyes searched my face.

"Really? How can you tell?" I tossed off my blanket, slid off the bed before Aurelius could put his hands on me and walked into the spacious bathroom and its adjoining closet.

"Things are not that desperate, love. You are blowing this out of proportion." Aurelius came up behind me as I sorted through the meager wardrobe hanging in the closet. The clothes were quite fine, but I still hadn't learned where they'd come from and there weren't many outfits. I blew out a breath and selected a black tunic and trousers. Black—to match my mood. Closing the door to the bathroom and shutting Aurelius out at the same time, I dressed, slipped on soft-soled shoes and walked out running a comb through my short hair. It didn't really matter with my hair—there wasn't enough length there to do anything with it.

Saying nothing to Aurelius, we walked out the bedroom door only to find Gavril waiting. "Reah, I waited for you." He was doing some pouting of his own.

"I'm sorry, Chash." Chash was a nickname—an endearment on Tulgalan. Mostly it was reserved for young males—it was a common name for a very tall, curious bird. I was explaining the nickname to Gavril as we walked down the hall toward our dinner. Gavril was quite happy with having a nickname, once he learned what it meant. He and I had an arm around each other as we walked into the dining hall.

That night, I learned that Lissa had a daughter who was working as a Master Wizard at Grey House, along with her first husband named Toff, who was also a Master Wizard. Lissa had a foster son named Trik at Grey House, too. Trik, Nissa's second husband, was classified as a First-Level Wizard. I saw Toff's father—he came to dinner for the first time. His name was Roff and I was shocked when I saw he was a Winged Vampire. No, he was not ugly or ill-formed—quite the opposite, in fact. He was beautiful to see and moved gracefully to take his chair. I envied him a little, I think. I always felt out of place and awkward when I came to the Queen's table.

"I have to report for duty tomorrow," I said unhappily when Gavril asked if we could do more research. "I don't know what I'll be doing or if I'll be sent out right away. If I have free time, I'll let you know."

"Grandfather, will you let me know if Reah is all right when she is away?" Gavril looked around me at Aurelius.

"I will do what I can, young one." Aurelius offered Gavril a warm smile.

* * *

"Norian, if you didn't have her conscripted, I'd ask her to stay and keep Gavril company," Lissa poked Norian in the chest with a finger.

"Breah-mul, we need her. More and more drakus seed is making its way into the Alliance. Those fools who crush it and drink it like tea are killing themselves in droves. They keep using more and more of it for the visions it brings, until it is too much and they are dead. We have to stop it and your sons and Reah will help us in this."

"Because they are young and look the part of the ones who use it?" Lissa didn't know whether she liked this or not.

"Lissa, you gave permission for them to work with me, as did their fathers. Reah is a recruit and will go where she's sent. That is the rule of Alliance conscription. I know Aurelius doesn't like it—he's already made his feelings known."

"Then I don't want to be anywhere near you if that girl gets hurt again, Norian Keef."