* * *
"We'll be back. Soon, I hope," Drake kissed me first and then Drew took over. I was trying not to cry. Both kissed me again before folding away. I cursed a little and threw pillows around. At least I didn't break anything.
* * *
"Drugs," Tony said after he and Gavin finished questioning Xandus. "He had some friends using their business as a front to sell," Tony went on. "We've already contacted the Alliance—they have records on him and they'll be here in two days to pick him up."
"Good. I want him out of here." I looked at Xandus through the bars of his cell—he wore the cuffs to keep him subdued. They'd have to bring a lightproof box or bag to keep him from frying when they picked him up—he was safe on Le-Ath Veronis but he wouldn't be where he was going.
"I didn't believe it," he said, before I walked away. "I thought it was all hype and lies." I turned back to stare at him.
"There weren't any Queen Vampires. That was a myth. I was taught that by my maker. He said the only females he'd ever seen were mostly playthings that someone accidentally turned. He said if I wanted sex to find a humanoid female. At least they were good for a meal with the sex."
"Did he teach you the drug trade, too?" I asked.
"Yes. But I was a dealer when I was turned. The drugs didn't work afterward."
"So, do you still believe there aren't any Queens?"
"There is only one Queen, now." Kifirin had come to weigh in on the situation.
"Hi, honey," I said. Xandus jerked in surprise when Kifirin appeared.
"You're the King?" Xandus had seen the footage of my coronation, I'm sure.
"I am Lord of the Dark Realm," Kifirin blew smoke, indicating his annoyance.
"If I serve my time, will you consider allowing me to come back?" Xandus asked.
"I'll consider it," I said. "As long as you straighten up."
"Avilepha, come," Kifirin said and away we went.
I hadn't gone to energy in a couple of days, so Kifirin forced the issue. We passed over several worlds. I felt it on a few of them—the Ra'Ak-enhanced. I sent mindspeech to Kiarra, who in turn sent mindspeech to the others. She told me she would send someone out quickly. I thanked her and Kifirin and I continued our journey.
* * *
"When she's energy, she can sense them when she passes the worlds they've invaded," Kiarra sighed. Merrill had his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. "She would have been the ultimate weapon, as Saa Thalarr."
"True." Merrill continued his seduction.
"Out of our reach, now." Kiarra was relenting to Merrill's attention.
"True."
"Yet you had her in your care, once. Had a M'Fiyah with her, once."
"Fucked that up. Beyond repair." Merrill was kissing and nipping, now.
"True," Kiarra agreed.
* * *
"Now I know how Theos was taken." Arvil San Gerxon cursed at the current turn of events. He'd watched the news vids of the Council meeting. The Queen had sensed the wrongness in one of her Council members and he'd been investigated and imprisoned. Arvil's Chief of Security had made several suggestions on whom to send to Le-Ath Veronis as a spy, but they'd held off until the Queen had returned to the planet. Now, the Chief brought in what he considered the perfect employee to send to Le-Ath Veronis, but Arvil had his doubts.
His gambling dens were still getting business from the ones who couldn't get permission to visit the casinos on the vampire planet, but many of his regular customers had deserted Campiaa in favor of Le-Ath Veronis. He was still making money but his profits had been cut in half. Arvil wanted to damage Le-Ath Veronis. He wanted to hurt its Queen, too. His hands clenched in anger.
"We will send in one more and see how that goes," Arvil snapped. "After that, we try other measures. Have we gotten approval for this one to travel?"
"Yes. We have the ticket already," the Chief replied. Arvil walked around the woman. She was quite lovely. Just the thing to seduce any vampire.
"This will work," Arvil was convincing himself as much as anyone else.
* * *
I was making a habit of going to energy early in the day, before breakfast. I made a point to cover different worlds so I could send information to Kiarra. It was my own brand of spying and if it got my Falchani back to me sooner, so much the better. Today was off-day and I toyed with the idea of taking Giff with me and going to do some shopping. She was depressed, though Rolfe was doing his best to bring her out of it. She missed her parent and was weighed down with Toff's care. The other thing I knew, even if she barely knew herself, was that she was going to become a parent herself. Perhaps she'd ignored the tiny knob growing on her left side but I knew—her scent had changed. I was going to order some of those carry sacks the comesuli wore to support their baby pouch so it wouldn't be dead weight on her left side through the pregnancy. Giff didn't need to be worrying so much about Toff when hers came.
I'd talked to Grant about it and he was more than willing to help, but he was so busy it was frightening. I needed to hire a second assistant, I just didn't know where to find one I liked and trusted. Charles had gone off with the others—he was a Spawn Hunter, just as Drake and Drew were. Glinda hadn't been called out since her children were so small and Grace wasn’t going either, since she was scheduled to have her baby soon, as was Amara.
I went to the roof of the palace, just so I could think things over. Roff flew overhead, his winery the likely destination. I was very surprised when he circled around and came back to settle on the dome five feet away from me. It was fascinating to watch him fold his wings. He sat down and looked over at me.
"You fly, too?"
"I don't have wings—I have to turn to mist. I can fly that way."
"Why didn't I know you before?" He was watching me carefully.
"Roff," I sighed his name while my shoulders drooped. "We did know each other." I wondered what had happened to the ring I'd given him—it wouldn't fit now, but he'd had it on when he was staked. It had disappeared sometime in all the commotion and nobody had brought it back to me.
"I don't remember everything," he gave a slight shrug.
"I know. How are your lessons coming?"
"I hated the one on eating."
"I hated that one, too. I got sick."
Roff moved closer, until he was two feet away. "The one who I fed from first was very drunk. And then Flavio made me eat a meal at one of the casino restaurants. I felt very bad after that."