"Kifirin, did somebody decide somewhere that Lissa needed to be continuously kicked, for some reason? That her life wasn't complete without shit happening to her regularly?"
"Lissa, that does not happen. Not like that. Betrayals come. You have had more than your share." Kifirin looked a little gray, I think, and that was unusual for him. "The girl could not have children with her half-Fae lover. Therefore, she took what had been handed to her. Her father thought to be kind, handing the child over for her to care for and she took it for herself instead. If that had been Wyatt, the same thing would have happened and Wylend would have torn the planet apart."
"You're saying it was better that Lissa took the hit?" I wiped my face again.
"No, m'hala. Not at all. The girl was selfish and did not think past her own desires. Many will be watching over Toff, now, to make sure he is well cared for. Including the girl's father. He is quite angry with her now."
"I'm sure she'll get a big tap on the nose for it, too," I muttered.
"Their race is immortal, my love. He will wait for Toff to come to adulthood, and then punishment will be given. Also, the Green Fae owe you a debt. They do not like to owe anyone. It will remain with them as a very great burden, unless they can find a way to discharge it, someday."
"Oh, sure, they owe me a debt. They owe me my child. Roff's child. Giff's brother."
"Avilepha, I will be with you when you give the news to Giff. I will help with this. Rolfe will be there for Giff as well, since she is bearing a child of her own."
"Kifirin, I have the worst headache right now."
"I know. This is none of your doing, my heart's love. Yet the pain is yours, as it will be for Giff. Your Larentii are coming. They will make sure your night is as restful as they can make it. Sleep well, my little mate." He kissed me on the forehead as Connegar and Reemagar landed in my suite. My last vision, as Connegar was placing fingers against my forehead, was of Kifirin folding away.
* * *
"She is sleeping and we will not wake her for trivialities." Drake, Drew and Winkler all glared at the Alliance representative. Thurlow sighed and nodded.
"Please inform me when she is prepared to speak with me." He walked toward his suite in the guest quarters.
Thurlow was called later, but it was to sit in at a meeting while another wall-climber was interviewed.
"I swear, it was only a prank to see if I could get in," the young man wailed. He had no idea how much trouble he would be in, for simply trying to see Lissia for himself.
"This one knows nothing," Aryn tossed up a hand.
"You will not be allowed to return to Le-Ath Veronis, and you will be escorted to the space station with all your belongings," Rolfe growled at him. The young man gulped. He'd wanted to see vampires. He was seeing them now, and in less than ideal circumstances.
"You signed the agreement when you purchased your ticket," Thurlow explained as he helped escort the young man to the space station. He'd joined Hart and Nima, the two female Falchani guards, to send the prisoner away. They'd all ridden in the shuttle pod with him on the way up. Thurlow handed out the lecture as the young man was herded toward the gate at the space station, still whining about his punishment.
"I can't ever come back?" Disappointment saturated the young man's voice. He'd barely turned gambling age and had spent a great deal getting his tickets and lodging.
"Your name will be on a list, therefore you will not be allowed to return," Thurlow replied. They watched as he boarded the ship and waited for the door to be closed. The ship took off shortly afterward.
"Thrill-seekers," Hart muttered as they walked toward the pod station to return to the planet below.
Chapter 7
"Giff, I don't have good news, honey." Rolfe was there, his arm tight around her as she blinked at me in confusion. Giff had trusted me—always. And now, I felt responsible for Toff's abduction, even though I wasn't. I was still trying to puzzle all this out. How had it happened in the first place? I was back, too, to the fact that bracelets had been switched. Maybe I needed to have a talk with my grandfather, to see if any of the hired babysitters could have done this as a prank. It just didn't add up or make any sense at all. Regardless, Toff was gone from us. We wouldn't get to watch him grow up. It made me weep, just thinking about it.
"No, he's not dead," I held out a hand at the terrible pain in Giff's eyes. "The Green Fae took him, Rolfe told you that. He was handed to one of their females, who didn't have children of her own. She decided she wanted to keep Toff. Adult Fae have the ability to perform what they call a mind-bond. It makes the child think the bonded adult Fae is their parent. That's what she did. Toff is so young that if we try to remove it, it could kill him or damage his brain. He didn't even recognize me when I tried to take him. He was holding onto that girl as if she'd been the one to give birth to him." I was crying again and Giff was weeping in Rolfe's arms. Kifirin sat beside me and his arm came around me. Karzac came in after a few minutes, placing Giff in a healing sleep.
"Giff’s child will come in a few days," Karzac sighed as Rolfe carried her gently from my study.
* * *
I waited for Flavio to bring Roff. I wasn’t sure how he might react to the news about Toff, but I wanted him to know. I’d convinced Flavio to bring him so I could explain things as best I could. Flavio stepped inside my study, Roff following close behind, his wings folded tightly against his back. He knew there was a problem; he just didn’t know what it might be.
"Please sit," I motioned them toward the two chairs before my desk. "I have news that concerns you, Roff. And your family."
"What can that be, Raona? I do not recall my family."
"Yeah. I get that," I sighed. He’d called me Raona, but there was no affection in his voice. Once, that word had been uttered in adoration. I might never hear it spoken that way again.
"We know you can't remember some things," I studied his handsome face. He'd let his dark hair grow out longer, and Flavio had seen to it that it was cut and shaped so it would not detract from his looks or get in the way. "We were hoping the memories would return when Radomir offered his blood. That wasn’t the case. Before that, we hoped the memories might come back on their own."
"I realize this, Raona. It bothers me at times, but I don't dwell on it; father says that those memories will either come or they won't, and there's no need to fret over it."
"He's right, except for this. You have a right to know, since this would normally affect you more than anyone else. Before you were attacked and turned, you were comesula, as you know. You still have some of those memories."
"I do. I remember having a wine shop on Kifirin." He smiled at Kifirin, who sat behind me. Kifirin had named the High Demon planet after himself.
"What you don't remember is that you had two children. Giff is your first child, Roff. She weeps when she sees you at times, because you don't remember her." Roff’s eyes widened in shock.
"Giff is my child?" Roff attempted to process that information.
"Yes. You didn't remember her, just as you didn't remember me. You lost your memories of the ones closest to you, honey. That's why you don't remember Toff, either. Toff was your youngest."
"Toff—mine as well?"
"Yes." I was trying not to cry again, although tears were choking my voice. "Flavio told you that someone took Toff." Roff nodded his head, worry clouding his eyes, now.
"They were supposed to give him back as soon as I went to take care of a few things for them. But one of the Fae who took him decided she wanted to keep him." I was crying by that time. Kifirin had to explain to Roff about the mind-bond. He also explained that when Toff was an adult, he would be allowed to choose where he lived. I think Roff knew as well as I did, exactly what our chances were in all that. Gone were my hopes of seeing Toff as a winged vampire someday. I sobbed. Roff, as soon as Kifirin finished telling him the whole of it, rose from his chair and stalked from the room.
* * *
"What do you mean; she was within our grasp on Vionn?" Tetsurna Prylvis snarled at the High Priest who stood before him. Few knew that Prylvis had opened the door for Ra'Ak to take membership in Solar Red. They came willingly; accepting positions as Priests and High Priests and often did Prylvis' bidding, in exchange for the lives offered and the blood that flowed. Prylvis had heard the title Khos'Mirai whispered among his Ra'Ak members in the past. Somehow, that one had long ago convinced many Ra'Ak that hiding among Solar Red's Temples was a wise thing to do.
"That fool Pelipu had the information and did not share it in time. He declared her demon and sent some of his to torture a confession from her. Obviously, that was a mistake. Somehow, they let her slip away and the lands the Pelipu sought to take are now shielded against invasion by any humanoids. Farus' shores have been locked against any who have other than peaceful purposes for a visit."
"You are correct—the Pelipu is a fool," Prylvis frowned in anger. "Our target within his grasp and he allows her to slip away. What say you, my Seturna? What should be the Pelipu's punishment for this offense against me and Solar Red?"
"The reason our target came to Vionn is still on Vionn, with the Green Birth Fae," the Ra'Ak High Priest replied. "And as I said before, the Green Fae lands are shielded against any humanoid entering. Those shields cannot keep me or my kind away. I feel we should set one of ours up as Pelipu—the current Pelipu will make a good meal for the one who will wear his face afterward. And then we attack the Green Fae lands in numbers, take what the Queen searched for and draw her to us in that way. You will have what you desire, Tetsurna."
"I like this idea. Very much," Prylvis nodded. "Perhaps you would like to take the Pelipu's place?"