Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) (19 page)

"Then he's seen something, too."

"Yes. It frightens me at times to know my son is the
Oracle."

* * *

Reah, we'll be sending Ry and Tory tomorrow—you need to
find an excuse to hire both of them;
Lendill sent as I was pouring out a
glass of wine. The day had been an exhausting one; it was very late, I had an
appointment with Arvil the following morning to go over the accounts for all his
restaurants and I hadn't taken time for dinner. Now things would be even more
complicated with Tory coming. Yes, I loved him and missed him, but there was
Teeg. What would happen?

Did you tell Tory about Teeg?

Yes—he knows to be circumspect. Don't say anything to Ry or
Tory that you don't want overheard. Send it to them in mindspeech only. They
know not to push it, Reah
. That was fine for him to say—what if I wanted to
throw myself at Tory and weep? The stress from walking the tightrope between
Arvil and the ASD was beginning to wear on me. I was tired of constantly feeling
afraid. It interrupted my slumber and permeated my dreams, even with Teeg there
to smooth things over and send me back to sleep. Now I was expected to produce a
valid reason to hire Ry and Tory. And then stay away from Tory, as if he were a
stranger or something.

I blew out a breath, realizing as I did so that my hair was
now long enough to stir a little if I blew a sigh upward. Resolving to pay more
attention to my appearance in the mirror before going to bed, I asked Lendill
what kind of work I ought to find for Ry and Tory.

Security or bodyguarding would be best but do what you can
,
he replied, cutting off our communication.

* * *

Haral handed a credit chip to the cocktail waitress. "Just
make sure you tell her that one of our best customers has a complaint. Bring
her to the office at the back of the casino around fourteen bells."

The cocktail waitress nodded. She'd taken others to Haral
before, in exchange for a fat, non-identifying credit chip. Those were
difficult to come by and untraceable. She had nearly enough money to leave
Campiaa and set herself up elsewhere. She was still pretty but on Campiaa,
cocktail waitresses were younger.

She'd turned her head when some of the girls she'd taken to Haral
came up missing afterward. At least he was neat in his work—she'd never found
signs of blood or other evidence of any crime. Besides, people came up missing
on Campiaa all the time. The constabulary tended not to hunt for them unless
they were paid very well to do so. Even then, if Arvil San Gerxon was involved,
nothing was ever done. He owned the constabulary, after all. If the waitress
had known then that Haral's target was one of Arvil's new heirs, she never
would have agreed, no matter the cost.

* * *

Teeg didn't come to bed until very late, and I was scheduled
to get up in only a click or two. He pulled me against him and was asleep
almost immediately. I left him in bed when I woke, bathing and dressing in our
adjoining bath as quietly as I could. Tiptoeing out later, I scrounged
something for breakfast in the kitchen, although the staff offered to make
whatever I wanted. I got fruit and tea before going to my meeting with Arvil. That
was the one thing I could say about Arvil—he was an early riser.

"Here are the accounts, Lord Arvil. I've fired everyone who
had anything to do with the false billings and bad inventories." I pushed
the comp-vid to Arvil, who slid his finger in a practiced manner down the
screen, checking through everything I'd flagged.

"Did you recover any credits on this one?" One of
the head cooks I'd fired had found a way to transfer a percentage of all income
into his personal account.

"I had security help with that one—we went to the bank
and took back what he'd funneled into his account—that record will be on the
recovery file." I started to rise to show Arvil how to pull it up—he waved
me back down—he'd already found it.

"Very good, Reah," Arvil nodded happily. He'd found
the other accounts I'd recovered for him. Some think that stealing from a thief
isn't stealing. Well, stealing is stealing. You might justify it now and then,
but it's still theft. "What did you do with them afterward?"

"Made sure they were sent away and put their fingerprints
and eye scans into the database of known criminals who can't return," I
said. If Arvil expected me to murder them while they stood in front of me, he
needed to find another heir.

"Good," he said and kept flipping through the
accounts. I felt wrung out when I left his office about a click later. Arvil
seemed satisfied with everything we were doing, including inviting some of his
best guests to a reception to serve really good desserts, wine and cheese.

Kiasz and I had ordered cheeses the day before—the best that
could be gotten. With the black market on Campiaa, that turned out to be quite
a lot. We intended to serve salmon in small crusts too—normally it was served
as a main dish, but we were making small ones for the limited number of guests
we had, in addition to smaller versions of other, nicer dishes meant to lure
them to the restaurants.

Arvil promised to get some of his big name entertainers to
attend so the guests would be satisfied all the way around. We'd planned it for
two nights later, so there was plenty to do. I hunched my shoulders as I walked
out the side door to Arvil's palace, heading toward the side gate and the
nearest employee entrance into The San Gerxon Casino.

* * *

"Reah, I think I'm in love." Kiasz had tasted the
small salmon pastries. They had the lightest, flakiest crust surrounding the
salmon with just a bit of butter, onion, herbs and creamy sauce.

"You wouldn't know love if it jumped up and bit you on
the ass." Kiasz's assistant cook (and his lover, I'd learned) came by and
swatted the ass in question. That made me laugh. Yindu, Kiasz's assistant, was
short, brown-haired and loved Kiasz. I couldn't fault him—he was loyal to Kiasz.
We'd had a talk about it, Kiasz and I. I told him that the relationship
couldn't interfere with the running of the kitchen. He'd agreed. Yindu wasn't
suffering any over his superior being his lover. "Where did you learn to
make this pastry? I might be in love, too." Yindu tried one of the
salmon-filled pastries.

"Pastry was the first thing I learned how to make,"
I said. "Followed by vegetables, pasta, sauces, desserts and main
courses."

"Where did you learn?" Kiasz was interested. Arvil
already had that information—the false records held a bit of truth—they said
I'd worked in the kitchens at Desh's on Tulgalan. It never said my last name
used to be Desh, though. "I worked in the kitchens at Desh's number
two," I said. "On Tulgalan."

"I know where Desh's is," Yindu gave me a grin and
sauntered off.

I was ready to visit the second casino kitchen on my list that
day when a cocktail waitress caught up with me. "We have someone who is demanding
to see you. I think he is very upset with the food order he received. He is
waiting in the back office—he wants to speak with someone right away."

"Come with me," I said, motioning for the waitress
to come along. Part of her statement was true; I just couldn't sort out which
part. She hadn't given me a name, either, so I hoped she'd be able to make
introductions since she'd been the one to carry the message. The girl seemed
worried that I'd ordered her to come along, but she came with me anyway.

* * *

Haral had moved the desk aside—he wanted plenty of room in
case the girl struggled while he was taking what he wanted. The poison was
nearby, too—he'd force her to drink it afterward. Haral was strong physically
and he usually chose his targets so they wouldn't be able to fight him. He sat
on the side of the desk—it wouldn't be long now. That's why he was so surprised
when his throat was slashed nearly to the bone. There wasn't anyone else in the
room—he saw nothing. He might have shouted if his throat hadn't been
severed—the wounds that appeared on his body after that made him want to shriek
before he died.

* * *

"He's just inside here," The waitress led me inside
the office and then began to scream. I stopped short and stared in horror at
the sight of the blood splattered everywhere. Haral's body—what was left of it,
was on the floor. His head was nearly severed from the body, his sightless eyes
staring up at me as if he were silently begging for help. I pulled out my
communicator to contact security.

"We need some help in the back office," I said
curtly and waited for them to come running. The chief of security and three
others showed up quickly. The chief cursed under his breath when he saw the
body. "Get Arvil," he ordered. One of his staff had Arvil on a
communicator immediately. Arvil and Teeg both showed up only a few minutes
later. I'd backed up against the cleanest wall inside the office, pulling the
waitress with me. She was still whimpering and sliding down the wall, huddling
there and rocking her body in shock.

"Reah, what happened?" Teeg asked the question—Arvil
looked as if he were about to explode. This was his most powerful wizard, after
all.

"This one," I pointed downward at the waitress,
"came and got me after I finished with Kiasz and his staff this afternoon.
Told me there was an upset customer inside this office. Said he was angry about
the food he'd gotten at the restaurant. I asked her to come with me, since she
didn't give the customer's name."

Arvil and Teeg were both staring at the waitress now. "What
do you know about this?" Teeg had the woman up, gripping her arm in his
hand.

"He paid me—told me to get her here," the waitress sobbed.

"Why? Did he say?" Teeg's voice was hard as he
pressed the waitress against the wall.

"No. He just said to bring her. And when we got here, he
was like this," she wept. She was pretty—with long dark hair, brown eyes
and plenty of cosmetics. I imagined that she thought she wasn't pretty enough
so she wore too much makeup.

"Have you done this before? Brought girls to him?" I
stared at Teeg—I'd never seen this side of him before. He was relentless. As
surprised as I was at Teeg's behavior, I was more surprised at the waitress'
answer.

"Yes," she quavered. "Many times. He paid
me."

"What did he do with them? The girls you brought?"

"I never saw them again." The woman sobbed. Arvil
still looked like a thundercloud, but he was staring at the waitress, now.

"So anybody who learned what he did to those women could
have been out for revenge. Pull the vids," Arvil ordered. "Now. Teeg,
hire bodyguards for Reah. Delvin?" Delvin and Milus had arrived and were
surveying the murder scene.

"Master Arvil?"

"Did you know anything about Haral? What he was doing?"
All of us turned toward Delvin.

"No, Master Arvil. I never guessed." I knew right
then, even if Arvil and the others didn't. Delvin was lying.

* * *

"It looks like a warlock's work. Or a powerful wizard's."
Arvil ran the vid over and over again. It went blurry at the same point every
time. When it cleared—Haral was lying on the floor and there was blood
everywhere. "Look into the disappearances for the last full turn—see if
any of the missing women had a wealthy family. Someone who might have been able
to afford this," Arvil ordered.

I watched Arvil as he fretted. Something had slipped past him
and he didn't like it. It had been right under his nose, too. Not only had
women been disappearing, but his pet wizard had been responsible. The waitress
had been handed to the constabulary—at Arvil's insistence. She'd be charged on
Campiaa. Perhaps sentenced to lengthy jail time—if Arvil didn't order her death.
It wouldn't surprise me if he chose to do so.

Haral had been waiting to do the same with me as he'd done
with countless other women—abduction and poisoning. The chief of security had
found the vial of poison, handing it to Arvil after it was analyzed. Arvil
pocketed it. Delvin had remained silent while all this was happening. Milus
hadn't said a word. Teeg ordered a security team and a special housekeeping
detail to get rid of the body and clean up the mess.

"I'm going to contact Wilffin—I think I need his warlocks,"
Arvil muttered after a while. "Reah, Teeg, have you had anything to eat? Come
with me."

I didn't want to eat and picked at my food. Arvil and Teeg
managed to eat. Delvin and Milus also ate a meal in Kiasz's restaurant, but I
hadn't failed to notice the brief look of dismay on Delvin's face when Arvil
mention Wilffin's name.

* * *

"Reah, sweetheart, I'll hire security for you tomorrow. Until
then, I don't want you going anywhere without me, all right?" Teeg pulled
me against him the moment we shut the door of our bedroom.

"Teeg, I'm just shaken up," I said. Teeg wasn't
satisfied with that. "Come on, let's use that spa tub in our bath,"
he coaxed. I wanted to tell Teeg that Delvin had been lying to Arvil earlier
while I leaned against his wide chest in our tub. How could I tell him that? How
could I explain that I knew when people were lying? There wasn't any good
explanation for it. It was just something that was.

I worried, too, over Teeg's interrogation of the waitress—it
looked as if he'd done that sort of thing before. He'd known what questions to
ask. It made me want to ask him about his background. Why he'd come to Campiaa—what
he'd done before. I didn't. That might open up questions about my
life—questions not covered by the information on Arvil's comp-vid. I didn't
want to lie to Teeg. I loved him. That's what I ended up saying instead.

"Teeg, I love you." I turned in his arms so I could
look up at his face. His lips curled into a heart-twisting smile as he leaned
down to kiss me.

* * *

I had to use the vid-communicator to talk to Kiasz the
following day—he was beginning to make preparations for the wine, cheese and dessert
gathering. I was fretting—I wanted to be there to make the oxberry tarts. Instead,
I was held captive inside the palace—neither Teeg nor Arvil wanted me to go out
unless someone was with me. Teeg said absolutely not unless
he
was with
me. He'd gone off to interview potential guards. Hoping he'd come back soon so
I could make tarts, I sent mindspeech to Lendill instead.