"Honored One, how many blows do you think she can take?" Gavin rose, pulling Tony up with him. Gavin gave Wlodek a curt nod and ushered his adopted child out of Wlodek's office.
* * *
"Thank you for taking us and bringing us back; I don't think I could have dealt with the lengthy plane rides," Merrill said. Griffin chose to drop Merrill and Franklin inside Merrill's kitchen. Greg's body had been cremated in England, but his ashes had been scattered in a designated place in New York.
"It was no trouble," Griffin replied. "When are you planning to tell Lissa?"
"As soon as she wakes," Merrill sighed. Franklin turned troubled eyes to his vampire father. "Child, would that compulsion still worked on her," Merrill offered. "I also know it will be a fresh blow to you. For that, I am sorry. We must find a way through this."
* * *
"Lissa, Merrill has returned." Gavin had a bag of blood for me when I woke and pulled me inside his arms while I drank. I cleaned up and dressed afterward while he waited. Something was up—he hardly ever waited for me to finish dressing, doing my hair and brushing my teeth. He walked downstairs with me, too. Tony was already in the kitchen, waiting for us. As was Merrill.
"Lissa, we are all troubled by René's death," Merrill said, patting the barstool beside him. I settled there next to him. "But there is other news," he went on. "News that we did not give you earlier as we wanted to keep you focused on your assignment. We did not wish to distract you, causing you to worry over other things."
I was watching Merrill's face closely now and fear gripped my heart. Ever since Griffin told me it was beating again, I'd felt it pounding in my chest when I was frightened. It was pounding now—triple time.
"Lissa, if I could lighten this blow, I would," Merrill toyed with a scrap of paper in his hands. It looked like a note of some kind. "Greg contracted pneumonia a month ago. The antibiotics failed to control the disease and he slipped into a coma. Lissa, he never woke and died five days ago. Franklin and I went to New York to scatter his ashes."
I was on my feet, shaking my head in disbelief. I was numb—completely numb. Greg had been ill and no one had told me. No wonder Merrill hadn't called, or cut off our conversations before I could ask questions. No wonder Gavin wouldn't lend me his laptop the last time I asked.
"Lissa, I was following orders," Gavin said from somewhere far away. That was an excuse and the poorest of excuses on top of that. Greg had been sick and all it would have taken was a plane ride from D.C. so I could see him. To see Greg, once before he died. Yet they'd deliberately kept the information from me. That hurt worse than I can say. It was one more betrayal in a long line of betrayals.
"There," I hissed out angrily, "is no excuse for this." I took a step toward Merrill, and he backed up. "No excuse, now or ever," my voice was rising. "You get what you want, every single time." Claws formed on my fingers and Merrill backed up another step. "When will there come a time when you think of something other than what the f**king Council wants? Were you afraid your plans might be put on hold for a couple of days? Is that it? That Lissa wouldn't go out like a good little girl and do what she's told because somebody she loved was dying?" I was shouting by that time.
Merrill's kitchen island was ripped apart. The refrigerator was lifted and tossed through the back wall. I was screaming and crying the whole time I destroyed Merrill's kitchen, and somewhere inside me, a small voice wept pitifully, asking over and over why they hadn't told me. Eventually I turned to mist and flew right off Merrill's property. Yes, there wasn't a single soul there who could stop me. They should have thought about that before they decided to do what they did.
Chapter 14
"The Honored One isn't the only one with a temper." Charles examined the wrecked kitchen. He'd disagreed with Wlodek when he withheld information regarding Greg's illness and death, but knew better than to say anything.
Merrill was glad Franklin had been asleep—Griffin had placed him in a healing sleep at Merrill's request while Merrill took on the task of telling Lissa the news. Gavin was stunned at what had happened. He'd expected Lissa to weep uncontrollably. Somehow, though, they'd managed to push her over some sort of boundary, and uncontrollable anger had been the result instead. He knew the tears would come eventually, but now, none of them knew where she might be.
"I can set this to rights," Griffin appeared, examining the gaping hole in Merrill's kitchen wall with a deep sigh.
"The kitchen, perhaps," Merrill said with the tiniest bit of sarcasm.
"I told you it was a mistake," Griffin muttered. "You should have told her. She deserved the opportunity to see him before he passed."
"Maybe you should have pounded it into my head, instead," Merrill grumbled. Griffin snorted in reply.
"Where is she?" Wlodek demanded, walking in and surveying the damage. Gavin stood nearby, amazed when Griffin began using his power to put the kitchen back together.
"In a tree ten miles away, crying her eyes out," Griffin formed light around his hands and repaired the broken hinges on the refrigerator door before floating it back to its proper place.
"Will she return?" Gavin was now more frightened than before.
"No idea," Griffin grunted softly as he pulled broken bits of granite together with the ability that he held. The base of the island formed with a thought and a solid piece of granite flopped down on top of it. The hole in the wall came next; dust and tiny chunks lifted off the floor, reformed, then slapped against the wall. A broken beam was made whole again. Cracked tiles healed themselves. The light fixture was once again in one piece and shining over the island.
"If you'll tell me where she is, I'll go get her." Tony's voice was hesitant.
"I can go," Charles offered.
"I'll go, I'm her father," Griffin sighed. He'd been stalling by putting the kitchen back together. "Bear in mind, I will not intervene on your behalf." He looked at both Merrill and Wlodek. "Not this time. I did after she tried to kill herself, but those days are over. You have two weeks before your Annual Meeting. I suggest you try to smooth things out as well as you can between now and then." Griffin disappeared.
* * *
"What is he talking about?" Gavin growled.
"Griffin did something—healed something or planted a suggestion that you and I weren't her enemy or some such," Merrill raked a hand through his black hair and glanced at his kitchen—put together perfectly by Griffin's power. "She'd have tried to kill herself a second time, I think, if he hadn't done it."