Demon's Dream (High Demon Series #6) (27 page)

"How long will this take?" Tevan played the recorded vid from more than twenty-five turns earlier.

"If we use bronze and employ laser sculptors, not long," the scientist smiled.

"Good. Get on this right away. We will invite the media and offer our thanks."

"Sir, I hate to interrupt, but Cynthin of Xordthe is calling," Tevan's assistant walked into Tevan's office.

"I will no longer accept her calls," Tevan stood and nodded to the three scientists. "We have other, more pressing matters that require our attention."

Chapter 12
 

Crorver's entire family came to the signing, dressed for celebration, it seemed. I felt sorry for Crorver, who'd given his life to his groves. He'd allowed Erbrin to draw him into petty rivalries with Edward, however, who saw no need for such trivialities. In his opinion, there was more than enough room for competition. He'd grown gishi fruit before his rivals. He'd also been foresighted enough to buy the land that made up EastStar Groves. He had no time and certainly no desire to involve himself in petty rivalries.

Erbrin and two employees had shown up as well. The local magistrate was there to witness the signings, as had everyone's solicitors.

Edward had a small interest in both groves, but the majority was owned by the others, who'd put up nearly all the funding. I had no idea how they'd gotten their hands on fifty carats of Tiralian crystal—that was worth a fortune by itself. "We will have all our belongings out by this afternoon," Crorver and Erbrin acknowledged to the magistrate, who had them sign agreements to that effect, along with the promise to not damage any of the property or fines would be levied. I think Dragon and Crane were going with them to make sure nothing was amiss. I wouldn't want to cross either of those strong Falchani.

"If I donate a portion of my gishi fruit allotment, will I get ice cream out of it?" Glendes leaned down to whisper.

"Of course," I laughed. "As much as you want."

"We will invite you to Grey House very soon, to a family dinner. As our guest," he added.

"That sounds nice," I replied.

* * *

"Some updating needed," Adam inspected the Crorver estate with a practiced and critical eye. The house needed enlarging as well, especially the kitchen and baths. I think Adam was planning a larger pool area, too, when all was said and done. With the power the Saa Thalarr held, it would probably be done within an eight-day.

"Reah, you and Edward need to tell us what the groves require," Merrill stood at my elbow, a drink in his hand. "This one is yours, mine will contain alcohol when it comes," he grinned and handed the glass of fruit juice to me.

"Let's go look now," I said. "And we'll have to interview employees. I have a feeling we'll be forced to send a few packing."

We did. Almost half from both groves. Adam and Merrill, both former vampires, laid compulsion on the exiting employees, telling them there would be no retaliation of any kind. They nodded, gathered their things and loaded onto buses bound for Adrixx.

"We'll be hiring more employees, and both groves will be combined," Merrill said as we examined sprinkler systems, talked with supervisors about harvests, pruning, fertilizing and insect control. Edward offered very good advice, in addition to the services of one or more of his supervisors, just to make sure the transitions went smoothly. Lissa went with us, as did Shadow Grey, who pulled her against him as they walked through the spaces between trees.

"You'll make your money back in three years," Edward predicted. "We've gotten rid of the fruit thieves and the incompetent workers. The next harvest will come in four moon-turns. There is much to do within that time. We'll need at least six more supervisors. We'll either hire or train."

"In four months, Reah will be out to here," Drake and Drew appeared. Drew, the scoundrel, made that observation, holding arms far out from his stomach. I swatted at him. He answered by lifting me for a careful hug. "That's our great-nephew, you know," he laughed and rubbed my belly. "We'll be happy to teach him bladework."

"Hah. In less than a year, your own will be driving you crazy," I snapped before thinking. And then blinked at Drake and Drew in embarrassment. "Uh, Lissa," I said, "where's Karzac right now?"

"I don't know. Do you need him?" she smiled at me.

"I don't. Except to check on something for me."

Karzac and Kevis were there in seconds. "What is it, Reah?" Kevis came right to me, his green-gold eyes displaying concern.

"It's not me. I think Lissa's pregnant. With Drake and Drew's babies. Don't ask me how I know. I can't answer that."

Karzac put his hands on Lissa's belly while she stood there, staring at her healer-mate. "It's true," Karzac grinned. "Young Falchani, I hope you are ready for fatherhood. Both of you." Drake whooped and slapped his palm against Drew's.

"I don't know what to do with twins," Lissa grumbled. "Tory and Ry were bad enough together."

"Come on, baby. We have plans to make," Drake and Drew now flanked Lissa, who was vainly attempting to fend both of them off.

"I'll laugh if it's girls," Kevis whispered in my ear. I snickered.

* * *

During the next moon-turn, I had more than enough to keep me busy. Kevis took up my mornings, at least two or three clicks, followed by lunch, a click or so in the ice-cream plant, mostly to make sure things were going smoothly and the employees were doing what they should, and then it was off to the newly-acquired groves. Many new names were kicked around, but eventually it was decided to call them NorthStar Groves. They were slightly to the north and west of EastStar, after all.

* * *

"Come on, Reah needs baby things. We'll need baby things," Drake and Drew were coaxing Lissa away to go shopping. The entourage that went with us was enormous. I saw people staring, openmouthed when the stores were invaded. Dragon and Devin, about to be grandparents, were there, as were Crane, Grace, Kiarra and half the Saa Thalarr, I think. All of my mates had come, including Nefrigar, who'd shortened himself but retained his blue skin. Teeg held me against him as we looked at cribs.

"Reah, money is no object," Lendill handed over a comp-vid. I stared at the information on the screen. It showed funds. In my name. In the trillions. I almost dropped to the floor. Teeg held me up. "This is what Ildevar and the others said should come to you, breah-mul. Half of what was hidden in accounts for the pirates. The rest went to pay restitution to the victims and provide new equipment to the ASD. This is yours, Reah. All of it. You shouldn't have to worry about money for a while."

"Yeah," I whispered hoarsely.

Furniture was purchased. A crib each for Teeg's palace, the reptanoids' plantation and EastStar's manor. Garwin Wyatt would have a bed no matter where he slept. Lissa was having a friendly debate with Drake and Drew over what to buy for their children. I think Karzac already knew the sex, he just wasn't telling. And Lissa, hands on hips, was telling her twin Falchani they were getting ahead of themselves since she was only three months pregnant. I snickered, thinking about how it was that she was pregnant by both at the same time.

"What are you laughing at?" Lissa stared at me.

"Nothing," I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. Teeg had to hold me up; I laughed so hard tears came. And these were going to be his half-brothers. I wiped more tears away.

"Are you all right?" Kevis asked, his concerned face in front of mine.

"I am," I said. "Teeg's going to be a brother."

"True," Kevis agreed. "Come along, I think we're done for the evening."

"Hey, honey," I said to Astralan, who'd appeared inside the kitchen while I drank a protein fruit jumble that Kevis shoved at me.

"Reah, my love, are you well?" He looked worried.

"I am."

"What was that laughing fit about?" Kevis was almost tapping a foot.

"Well, since they're not here," I snickered. "I was just thinking about how it was that Lissa is pregnant by both her Falchani at the same time."

"Ah," Kevis gave an exaggerated nod. Astralan laughed, sat next to me and laughed again.

"See, even you're smiling now," I poked at Kevis. His smile widened. "How about some ice cream?" I asked both of them. We ended up sharing a small tub of gishi fruit ice cream. I even fed Astralan and Kevis the last few bites. Astralan leaned in to kiss me afterward.

"Come to bed with me," he kissed me again. "I want to hold you against me. Fuck you until you see only me for a little while. And someday, this bump will be mine." He rubbed my belly.

"Are we possessive?" I asked.

"More than you know," he said.

"I like it," I wrinkled my nose at him.

"Good," he said and folded me to his bed.

* * *

"My brother will treat her like a queen," Stellan put a hand on Teeg's shoulder. "Reah's all he's seen for a very long time."

"Here," Edward handed over a generous dish of ice cream. He pushed another in Ry's direction, and soon Tory, Lendill, Farzi, Nenzi, Lok and Aurelius were having gishi fruit ice cream.

"This is amazing," Aurelius sighed.

"We're on our way to being wealthy, just from the ice cream. My distributor is offering even more money if he can get his hands on more of it."

"We'll be making NorthStar Groves more efficient and profitable, with your and Reah's help," Merrill appeared with Adam and Kiarra. "We've got half the updates done on the house." He grinned and accepted a bowl of ice cream. Edward handed one to Merrill and Kiarra as well.

"Reah is a genius," Kiarra sighed, dipping into her ice cream. "This recipe is perfect."

"It's a shame none of her girls showed an aptitude in the kitchen," Adam agreed. "I don't think any of them know how to approach her, now. To offer apologies or anything else."

"They don't see her," Teeg mumbled. "Garde and Jayd and Glinda. They don't see how beautiful she is. On the inside as well as the outside. They wanted what she had. What she could give them. Was it selfishness? Jealousy? I don't know," he shrugged. "But she gave it to them. Her girls. Her time, her talents, her dignity. And they stripped her bare. Never gave a damn thing back. I realize I don't have much room to talk, but I never want to see her standing on the edge of that fucking volcano again."

"Here, boss." Stellan handed Teeg a glass of bourbon.

"Let's take a little trip," Kevis suggested. "To Cloudsong."

* * *

"Something happened here, I'm sure of it," Kevis said, as they looked around the cold and empty stone shell that had once housed the audience chamber of the royal palace. "Those cages were in this anteroom," he walked to the western edge of the vast room. Black marks where blasts had been leveled at Reah littered the stone floor. Some of the cages, with metal bars melted and misshapen, were still scattered about the smaller room. If Reah hadn't protected the prisoners, they'd have died in the firefight after she turned Thifilatha.

"They were all trying to kill her," Adam pointed out. "How many blasts did she take? If Kiarra had been pregnant and in that situation, I might have taken the entire planet apart."

"But nobody came for her," Kevis sighed. "Not until she'd already taken most of them down. The ASD showed up in time to take Dantel Schuul, his daughter and some of their cronies into custody. That's all that was left. They'd sent everything else they had against Reah, and she was forced to kill them all while they blasted her with lasers and other weapons."

"It was the same thing she'd faced for twenty-five years, don't you think?" Aurelius sighed. "Nobody came. She was forced to do it by herself. With no help."

"Any other High Demon female in this situation would have had half the population of males enraged and tearing the place apart," Tory admitted. "We've cast her out, haven't we?"

"I gave the King and Queen what they desired as I promised," Kifirin appeared. "At great cost."

"You did this for Jayd and Glinda?" Merrill studied Kifirin disapprovingly.

"Yes. It was a promise to them. It almost cost us something far greater. I promised Jayd that the race would thrive. Reah was the path to that promise. I robbed her of her children. I did not remove the mute from them. They will provide the High Demon race with other daughters. All their children will be female. I know not how to make this up to Reah."

"I don't think you can," Kiarra stood before Kifirin. "Everything you attempt to hand her from now on will be tainted. You failed in your creativity, dark god."

"Those girls will never belong to their mother. As they should." Aurelius observed. "You did that to her? And you call yourself a god?"

"I cannot take it back now," Kifirin sighed. "It frightened me when she almost died with the last set of twins. I'd overstepped my bounds. I knew it then. My father's way of telling me I'd erred. If she'd not been so fragile, I'd have forced other pregnancies upon her. I would have. She wouldn't have stepped back from the edge of Baetrah, then. I allowed Gardevik's prejudices to go unchecked, just to keep Reah where she was. Keep her under the Crown's thumb until things were brought back to where they should be. I slept while my planet almost died. I promised Jayd it would thrive again."