Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) (13 page)

"That serial number she gave us checked out—those fields
are on Reliff. We can have a team in place by tomorrow."

"Do it," Norian nodded.

* * *

Anyone who was still in bed was pulled from their sleep early
the following morning and hauled off to a huge media room inside Arvil's palace.
We all watched as drakus seed fields burned on Reliff. A reporter was saying
that two farmers from adjoining property had gotten suspicious after seeing
what they thought were fire blasts two nights earlier. They had reported to the
local constabulary, who'd done an initial investigation before calling the ASD.
Arvil was so angry, he was ready to pull his hair out and kill someone.

"I told you your blasts were useless against those
things!" Delvin was shouting at cruel-mouthed Haral. Haral looked as if he
were about to send some of his blasts in Delvin's direction.

"Arvil's family is coming home today, too. Don't do
anything to upset him." The gray-haired wizard whispered to me while
Delvin and Haral glared at each other and Arvil stared in disbelief at the huge
vid screen. "My name is Milus," the gray-haired one continued. "I'm
sorry we were never properly introduced."

I wanted to ask Milus about Arvil's family, but I didn't have
to. Arvil told me himself. "My brother and his wife are coming home today,
with my two cousins," Arvil announced as he rose from his chair. "Treat
all of them as you'd treat me and watch them like a cat watches a bird. Reah,
I'll be issuing a knife and a pistol to you. If any of my relatives threatens
me—kill them."

"Yes, Lord Arvil," I nodded respectfully.

"See, that's how I should be treated. And I like the
Lord
Arvil. Much better than Master. Haral, since those blasts of yours
cost us our fields on Reliff, perhaps you can go back there and find those two
farmers. Make them dead for me, all right?"

"With pleasure," Haral stood and folded away.

That's how I ended up sending mindspeech while I cooked
breakfast for the others.
Lendill, a wizard named Haral is coming to Reliff
to kill those two fictional
farmers
, I sent.

There really were two farmers, but the locals didn't report
them to the ASD. We found the reports after we sent our team in. See, we do try
to protect you where we can
.

You're only protecting your information source. You don't
give a damn about me
. Yes, my last transmission was grumpy in the extreme
and exactly how I felt. No doubt the ASD's esteemed Vice-Director would have
something to say to me, or perhaps allow me to spend a day or two in a cell
when I got back for getting snippy with him. At the moment, I didn't really
care.

* * *

"Come with me." Arvil handed a knife and a pistol to
me as soon as breakfast was over—Neele was expected to clean the kitchen. I was
dressed in black leather again, with the knife clipped to the back of my belt
and the pistol in a holster on the right side. Delvin was with us as we
followed Arvil San Gerxon to his private transportation—a luxury hover-limo. Delvin
and I sat in the back, across from Arvil as we made our way to the shuttle
station.

"You could have gotten here sooner," Jazal San
Gerxon snapped angrily as I lifted two of his bags. He wasn't saying it to
Arvil; he was saying it to me, as if I'd had anything to do with it. It wasn't
that uncommon—if you couldn't attack the one you were truly angry with, you
found an alternate to vent your anger upon. Arvil was the head of the family; I
wasn't sure Jazal had enough sense to run a sandwich kiosk. Jazal's wife, Anith,
was only concerned about how she looked in public. She was applying lip color
when we arrived, before smiling vapidly at Arvil. If she knew how Arvil truly
felt about her and her husband, she hid it well.

Delvin pushed the overloaded cart filled with the other
luggage, I carried Jazal's last two bags and still we were forced to hire a
hover-taxi to carry the surplus. I rode next to Arvil on the way home; Delvin,
since he took up more space, got to ride in the hover-taxi with the surplus
luggage and Arvil's twin cousins, Kita and Lita.

Dinner that evening was strained—I cooked for Arvil, all the wizards
except for Haral (who wasn't back yet) and Jazal, Anith, Kita and Lita. Kita
and Lita weren't nearly as pretty as Anith, but then you can't choose family. You
do choose your spouse. Anith was going on about their two moon-turn vacation
while Arvil's eyes glazed over. I wanted to laugh several times as I served the
soup course with Neele's help. Six more courses followed, including dessert.

"Your cook is now your bodyguard?" Jazal's voice sounded
contemptuous.

"Reah is good at both," Arvil sounded bored.

"I find that difficult to believe, brother."

"She didn't miss a single thing she shot at the other
night." Milus dipped into his cream cake dessert.

"Reah doesn't miss," Delvin agreed. "Cake's
good, Reah."

"Thank you," I nodded stiffly at Delvin. If he
thought I'd soften toward him over a compliment, then he was very wrong. I was
polite, though. It always paid to be polite.

"I'll hire another assistant," Arvil sighed when
dinner was over. Jazal and the relatives had gone off to the casino to play
after their meal. They weren't held to the no-gambling resident's rule, it
seemed. Arvil stayed behind to talk with his employees. I nodded at Arvil's
words—Neele and I had been hard-pressed to serve that many people in Arvil's
grand dining hall.

"Hire two, at least," the red-haired wizard agreed. "That
way we can still get a meal if Reah has to go out and kill with us."

"Good enough. Reah, will it upset our cook to hire
another?"

"No, and I think Xiri might like that job," I said. Xiri
didn't like working with Kiasz very much.

"Good. Bring Xiri in and hire two more assistants." Arvil
was feeling generous.

* * *

"Don't worry, I've already seen it. In the casino
kitchen, no less," Xiri shuddered as I attempted to warn him about what he
might see inside Arvil's palace. I wanted to ask Xiri how he'd come to Campiaa,
but felt it might be a private matter. I left it alone. If he wanted me to
know, he'd tell me.

Xiri had brought two of his night assistants with him, which
no doubt angered Kiasz. Kiasz was going to have to look for a new night cook
and two others—Xiri had just wiped out a third of the night staff. Arvil didn't
seem to care—he expected his people to fill in the gaps until replacements were
found.

We were making dough for dinner rolls and setting it to rise
when Teeg walked in, followed by three carpenters—they were bringing in the new
island they'd built at their shop. The wood behemoth was hauled in on its side
on a wheeled transport. Teeg grinned at me as I watched his three helpers lift
the island into place. The doors were added next, and then the stone top was
brought in and laid down. A small sink was going into the island too, for prep
purposes. Teeg did that himself, after sending the others back to his shop.

It was pleasurable, watching Teeg's legs and lower torso twist
and turn on the kitchen floor as he hooked the water lines up after dropping in
the sink. I think I smiled at him several times as he installed the faucet.

"Reah, want to meet me out front again?" he asked
quietly after he finished wiping the countertop and sink.

"Yes." I didn't hesitate for even a blink. I'd
missed seeing him every day.

"Well, girlie, that's a fine specimen," Xiri sighed
when Teeg walked out the door. Xiri had learned I was female; I learned that
Xiri liked men. I think I knew that already, I just hadn't realized it, yet. It
made no difference to me. People were people. Why worry over who they loved?

* * *

"Let's get a drink." Teeg led me down the strip of
casinos until we came to one not owned by Arvil San Gerxon. Only six of those
existed on Campiaa. "There used to be a lot more that Arvil didn't own,
but they hauled everything off to Le-Ath Veronis as soon as the permits were
given." Teeg was giving me information as we sat at the bar inside the
Sandstorm Casino. A huge, round aquarium had been constructed inside the
circular bar, and fish of all kinds swam through it. A gaming screen was
located at every seat at the bar, too. As employees on Campiaa, Teeg and I
weren't allowed to play. A block was placed on our credit chips, preventing it.
None of the casinos accepted any other currency.

"Reah, the servants' quarters are getting cramped at
Arvil's. Xiri can have your space. Move in with me. I have an extra bedroom. You
won't be bothered. Unless you want to be, that is." Teeg offered a wry
grin.

"Arvil won't allow it." I hunched my shoulders. If I
had the choice between living with Teeg or taking the chance that someone else
might die in front of me at Arvil's, well, Teeg would win every time. There
were other reasons, but I wasn't ready to face them yet.

"He will, I've already asked him. He thought he'd be
forced to move you onto the family floor—he didn't want any of the others up
there. I'm less than a quarter click walk from Arvil's palace. Come on, Reah. I'll
feel better if I know you're safe while you're sleeping."

"It'll take five ticks to move," I ran a finger down
the side of my wineglass, gathering up condensation—I'd asked for a chilled,
white wine. "I think I have five outfits."

"And three pairs of shoes. Reah, eight-day is tomorrow. I'll
help you move and then we'll find more clothes and shoes."

"Teeg, you don't have to run after me." I stared
into warm, dark eyes.

"Reah, I've never found anyone else I wanted to run
after." I watched his lips as he spoke—they were sensual and smiled
crookedly at his statement.

My mouth was hanging open as I stared—Teeg reached over and
lifted my jaw up with a finger to close it.

* * *

Teeg told me he'd come for me around nine bells, so I was
standing in the kitchen the following morning, having a quick glass of juice
and some toast when Xiri came to me. He'd been preparing breakfast with one of
his assistants. "Reah, Neele's been sleeping with the housekeeper,"
Xiri whispered next to my ear. "You ought to say something to him—he'll
get killed if Master Arvil finds out."

Mutely I nodded at Xiri—he was right. I only had a moment to
ponder how Xiri had learned of Neele's indiscretion when Neele walked in,
dressed only in pajama bottoms and looking rumpled. He snagged one of the
breakfast pastries that Xiri's assistant had just pulled from the oven when
Arvil walked in, dragging the housekeeper with him by her hair.

Neele died with a single ranos pistol shot to his forehead, a
tart halfway to his mouth. The housekeeper, who'd started screaming, was flung
on top of Neele's body and shot in the head as well. Blood gushed all over the
new tiles when Xiri dropped to the floor in a dead faint. His assistant was
curled up on the floor and shaking, a look of horror on his face. It most
likely mirrored the expression on my face, to be truthful.

"You couldn't do this somewhere else?" Teeg drawled
as he walked into the room. "I just had those tiles laid." Arvil
lifted an eyebrow in Teeg's direction but didn't say a word. Instead, he
stalked from the kitchen, shoving the ranos pistol into his belt.

* * *

"Reah, just grab your things and let's go," Teeg was
herding me through my small bedroom as quickly as he could. "Let those wizards
clean up the mess."

"But Xiri."

"Xiri will be fine—his assistant is helping him,"
Teeg hissed. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go." Teeg wasn't waiting
around for me to look for anything I might have left behind. He was hauling me
out of there as fast as he could. I was shoved into a hover-taxi waiting
outside Arvil's walls and Teeg ordered the driver to leave as quickly as he
could.

"Reah, I'm sorry, but that was Arvil's lover, and he
doesn't take that from his lovers. I don't want him looking in your direction
next." We were already at Teeg's apartment complex and he was tapping on
the window that separated us from the driver. The driver scanned Teeg's wrist
for credit after we climbed out of the vehicle, loaded down with my few
possessions. The cab driver left us standing there.

"Come on, Reah. You can't let Arvil do this to you. You have
to act normally the next time you see him."

I think my teeth were chattering—shock was setting in. I
hadn't hired Neele and I knew he had a wandering eye, but I never expected him
to act that stupidly. Now he'd paid for that, as had Arvil's housekeeper. I
realized I hadn't even known her name.

"Drink this." Teeg had dumped my clothing onto the
floor the moment he got us inside his apartment and kicked the door shut. He'd
poured out a very generous portion of bourbon in a glass and handed it to me. "Drink
it all," he directed. Teeg watched as I swallowed the bourbon in only a
few gulps. "Here, have more." He poured out half as much again. I
drank that, too. He tilted up the bottle and drank what was left.

"Come on, love, we're going out in public." Teeg hauled
me off the barstool; we left my clothing lying in the foyer and walked out the
door.

Teeg lived on the ground floor of a three-story apartment
building and we walked down cushioned walkways until we came to streets filled
with shops of all kinds. Tourists were everywhere—Arvil owned most of the shops
open for business, in addition to a majority of the casinos. Teeg told me that
as we walked along.

"See, there are shops that cater to small women,"
Teeg pulled me inside a shop.

"Trust me, your chip will hold up," Teeg declared as
the pile of clothing grew. I'd picked out mostly slacks or pants, with shirts
and blouses to go with them. Teeg asked for skirts and dresses. He insisted on
staying just outside the dressing rooms as I was fitted for underwear.

"See, this makes what you have much more appealing,"
the clerk informed me as I stared at the lacy underthing that now covered my
breasts. Several of those went into the pile, as did panties that showed much
more than they concealed. My face was burning when I got away from the
salesclerk.