"What news?" he asked.
"We offered to deliver it in person, in case, well, just in case," Bill sighed.
"What he's trying to tell you is that the little female vampire is dead." James Renfro wanted it out in the open quickly. Open the wound and let it bleed out, that was his philosophy. Even he wasn't prepared for the howling and grieving that came as soon as the words left his mouth.
* * *
"Child, there is nothing we can do; they're both gone from us now." Merrill rocked Franklin against him while Franklin wept. This had gone on for days and Merrill was beginning to think he'd be forced to place compulsion on his human child. Kyle was flying to London as quickly as he could; Merrill placed a call, asking him to come. Of Merrill's two remaining vampire children, Kyle had the closest bond with Franklin. He was hoping Kyle's presence would help; otherwise, it would be compulsion or medical intervention.
Gavin moved out of the manor the day after he'd received the news, taking Tony with him. Tony seemed lost and helpless as he'd loaded bags into Gavin's car. Lissa's things had been left inside her bedroom; Merrill closed the door on all of it and neither he nor Franklin had the strength to walk in there now. Charles wandered through the manor like a ghost, only doing what was necessary to keep Wlodek's office running smoothly. Radomir had taken the news harder than anyone suspected he might; Wlodek hadn't heard from him for three days and that worried his vampire sire. Flavio arrived and was now making sure important things were attended to so his sire could have time alone.
* * *
Bill Jennings, Director of the Joint NSA/Homeland Security Department, stood with Weldon Harper, Thomas Williams Jr. and William Winkler, next to a grave in Oklahoma City on a sunny October afternoon. The casket was empty, except for a few letters and a dozen red roses. The President had asked for a twenty-one gun salute. Normally, that honor was reserved for a president, but it could also be performed for a foreign head of state or a member of a reigning royal family. Lissa, as a Queen Vampire, was given the honor. Bill, Winkler, Thomas and Weldon stood straight and still while the ranking officer barked the order and seven soldiers, in perfect unison, fired their rifles three times to honor the fallen.
* * *
Four weeks after Greg's death, Franklin walked into the empty second floor bedroom to clean it. He couldn't recall when he'd last been inside it to dust and straighten. It appeared sterile to his eyes; not even a mote of dust remained on the nightstand or the dresser. The closet inside the spacious bath held empty hangers and nothing else. Franklin hadn't recalled that Merrill had it decorated in a feminine style—the pillows and shams on the bed weren't suitable for a male.
It didn't matter; Franklin had nothing to do, here. He'd gone to this bedroom first, putting off going through Greg's personal belongings. That was pain waiting to happen. Franklin sighed as he closed the bedroom door behind him and walked toward the suite he'd shared with Greg. It was time to say a final goodbye.
* * *
"Fortune smiled upon us when we managed to destroy Xenides so easily," Merrill pushed a wineglass toward Wlodek. Wlodek was moving out of Merrill's basement—Charles, Rolfe, Radomir and Russell had come to help load equipment and records into waiting trailers.
"I find it fortunate that you were able to get close enough to lay compulsion," Wlodek sniffed the wine before tasting. "After that, it was easy to destroy him. I believe I enjoyed handing him his death more than any other."
"We lost many in the battle," Merrill pointed out.
"I have Charles searching the records already, looking for suitable replacements. The Aristocracy will be complete again for next year's meeting."
* * Present * *
"I don't know whether he will wake," Darvul was beginning to lose hope that the unconscious common might live. Nine days had passed and still the young common had not moved or wakened. Darvul and his assistant, Noff, had finished bathing the young one. He might have been older than Darvul thought, Noff decided; the common demon had pubic hair, which normally arrived at age twenty or so. Common demons were slow to mature, since they lived six hundred years or more. Still, they had no genitalia, although they had pubic hair. Should a Vampire Queen ever come to rebuilt Le-Ath Veronis, the common demons might have a chance of becoming something other than the comesuli they were.
"The tale is spreading that Kifirin woke from a long sleep and in his grief at seeing his planet nearly destroyed, he caused Baetrah to erupt. Thousands from the Southern Continent are fleeing northward," Darvul said softly at Noff's side. Noff heard that rumor as well and nodded at his master, his dandelion-fluff hair shining in the early morning sunlight.
"Raoni Jaydevik and his eldest brother, Gardevik, are already executing rogue High Demons," Noff offered information he'd gleaned earlier while searching for herbs and other medicines in what remained of the marketing district. The common demons were scrambling to rebuild, but so much of their city was destroyed in the attack. The smaller cities and farms outside Veshtul were shipping in extra supplies as quickly as they could, but it was taking time to collect and transport the items to the capital city.
"What happened to Rorevik?" Darvul asked about the former High Demon monarch. Rorevik had taken the throne after Lendevik's death, while Jaydevik, Lendevik's designated heir, had gone missing for centuries. Once Jaydevik returned to Kifirin, Rorevik had stepped aside in favor of his older brother.
"Rorevik is dead, I hear," Noff sighed.
"He allowed Kifirin to get away from him," Darvul nodded. "He was inexperienced and perhaps too lenient with the High Demons. Jaydevik has not held back in his punishment of the High Demons who have broken the laws. Gardevik too. Garde should have been advising Rorevik all along. Perhaps the oppression of the common demons would have been less."
"Perhaps they realize now what we do for them," Noff snorted softly, his dark-brown eyes narrowing in contempt. "The latest death toll stands at fifteen thousand, and even the palace is short-handed."
"So many of our kind gone," Darvul shook his head sadly.
* * *
Glindarok, member of the Saa Thalarr and Raona of Kifirin, sat on a comfortable chair in her suite, absently rubbing her belly—Karzac had already announced she was having twins, something unprecedented in High Demon history. It was too early to determine the babies' gender, however. "Three more weeks," the Saa Thalarr's chief physician said. She'd been left behind in her suite, feeling useless. She wanted to be with Jayd and Garde while they questioned Drith and Croth rogues. She wanted to question them herself concerning their knowledge of the treason committed by both Houses. Few had been innocent or unknowing of the alliance with the Ra'Ak.