Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) (31 page)

* * *

The field that Arvil had chosen to display was two away from
where the brown and dry-leaved drakus plants were. Not that far, really, but
none of his guests would be seeing any of that. Farzi, Nenzi and the others had
gotten away—I saw the top of the vehicle as Nenzi drove them at a reasonable
pace toward the plantation.

The plants were as high as my shoulder in the field—they were
scheduled to be harvested in two days. More than tall enough to hide eight lion
snakes as they made their way toward an old bus. I was thankful for that. I'd
found a planet not far away—one that held mostly jungle around the equator. Farzi
and his brothers could live there until something else could be done. I had no
intention of handing any of them to Lendill Schaff or Norian Keef.

* * *

"Of course you may take a pod, my dear," Arvil was
smiling at one of his guest's pretty companion. "What you hold in your
hand is worth one hundred thousand Alliance credits," Arvil went on when
the woman broke off a branch of a plant.

"This one branch?" She sounded surprised.

"Just that branch," Arvil chuckled. His chuckle was
cut short as bullets sprayed around us and shouts and screams sounded.

I was frightened out of my wits when I saw the hovercopters
flying toward us, heading straight for the plantation. I had to do something fast
to keep them occupied and pointed in a direction away from Farzi and the others.
The fields containing the brown-leaved plants were nearby and lay in the proper
direction. Everyone around me was still screaming and shouting as bullets
continued to fly around us. I expected the Hardlow's warlocks to send blasts
toward the Alliance attackers or the hovercopters. I was shocked when nothing
of the sort came as I skipped away.

* * *

"ASD!" Arvil shouted at those around him, "Get
down. Head toward the buses!" His words were proven useless only ticks
later as all nine buses were firebombed by the attacking hovercopters. Bullets
were raining from the hovercopters too, as Wilffox and his brother looked
around for their warlocks. This should be a simple matter for those four,
except they couldn't be found.

Wilffox was shouting for Astralan, even as he died in the
midst of a drakus seed field. Others were screaming and running now, while
bullets brought anyone down who ran at the rear of the fleeing crowd. Expensive
heels were sucked into damp soil and left behind as women ran shrieking from
the attack. Wilffin was firing the pistol he'd carried inside his jacket when
he was hit in the chest. He fell, bleeding from a wound dangerously close to
his heart. More hovercopters came, herding the crowd before them. Lendill, in
the command copter, was shouting to keep as many as possible alive for
questioning.

* * *

I was turned to Thifilatha as soon as I landed in the field. What
I reached out for after turning was the heat beneath the ground. It leapt to do
as I bid—a volcano in its infancy. Lava would have taken perhaps ten or twenty
turns to make its way to the surface, but some power I held while Thifilatha reached
out toward it, calling it to the surface in a matter of ticks. Still, it felt
too long as the cone rose around me and the air grew hot and stifling. I urged
it on, forcing it to answer my call. The cone roared to life, lifting me with
it. I could feel the molten rock and ash beneath my feet. The hovercopters were
whirring overhead as I commanded my volcano to erupt.

I didn't know until then that heat, even the heat of a
volcano, cannot hurt any High Demon in their other form. Ash and fiery, molten
lava spewed from the newly formed crater and fountained upward, forcing the
hovercopters to veer away. I could hear the screams of people coming toward
me—they would be compelled to find an alternate route to get away.

Night was falling around me and the light from the eruption
was spectacular, calling out to me to come and play within its heated frenzy. Forcing
myself to ignore the call, I focused on the reason I'd done this in the
beginning—my reptanoids. I had to get back to them. Take them to safety before
the ASD came and took them away. It made my heart sore to think of Farzi and
his brothers, locked inside a cage.

The kitchen was quiet as I landed inside it. My clothing had
been burned away the moment I turned, so I stood naked upon the tiled floor. The
staff must have run the moment the ASD attacked—piles of dishes and glasses
were everywhere, tossed aside by servants in favor of saving their lives. I
couldn't blame them—I would have done the same. Grabbing one of the white coats
the pastry cooks had left behind, I tied it around myself and went to look for
my reptanoids.

"Farzi! Nenzi!" I shouted, ghosting quickly from
room to room. Wiping frightened tears away, I frantically searched for my
friends. I needed to hurry and get them away; the Alliance and Lendill could
come at any moment. When I raced into my suite, hoping they'd gone there to
wait for me, what greeted me instead shocked me to my core.

Chapter 15
 

Astralan, Celestan, Galaxsan and Stellan all stood beside
Teeg, who held a pistol in his hand. What truly shocked me, however, was that
Galaxsan and Celestan had Farzi and his brothers gathered and held in a tight
knot. The two warlocks disappeared with the reptanoids as I skidded to a stop
inside my suite. "No!" I screamed. "Bring them back! Teeg, bring
them back!"

"Too late, Reah Nilvas of the ASD," Teeg checked the
charge of his ranos pistol, his face an expressionless mask. The moment he'd
said my last name and ASD, I'd gone cold. Was he going to kill me? Ask one of
the warlocks to try? I had a defense against the warlocks. I had nothing
against a ranos pistol. I wondered if turning Thifilatha would do any good, but
Teeg's next words stopped me.

"Arvil and the Hardlows are already dead, Reah. Your
doing, no doubt." His dark eyes were hard as he stared at me. He hadn't
pointed the pistol at me, yet.
Yet
. "I have to thank you for
that," Teeg went on. "That leaves it all to me. The warlocks know
where everything the Hardlows have is located; all I have to do is take it. They're
willing to work with me on this." Teeg offered me a beautiful smile, then.
If I wasn't so stunned, it might have brought an answering smile from me. As it
was, I could only gape at him in shock.

Teeg had planned this, and I should have seen it. The warlocks
calling him boss and asking him what he wanted, instead of consulting Arvil or
the Hardlows. I should have seen it coming from clicks away. I'd been foolish
enough to think he loved me, when all he truly wanted was everything the
biggest criminals on this side of the galaxy owned. Now, as Arvil's heir, he
would get it, especially if he were backed by the four most powerful warlocks
anyone might find to hire for that sort of thing. Eventually, my sense and my
voice returned.

"Where did you take Farzi and his brothers?" I
demanded, stalling for time. Perhaps Lendill would show up soon, although I had
my doubts that he could capture Teeg if he were supported by the warlocks.

"They're on Campiaa," Teeg's voice sounded
different—harder.

"Set them free, Teeg," I begged. "They don't
belong to you or anyone else, and they certainly don't belong on that cesspit
of a planetoid."

"That's for me to decide," Teeg snapped. "Don't
be so shocked, Reah, there's more," Teeg's lip curled in a nasty grin. "What
you just did—getting Arvil killed—well, that voids your claim to any of his
empire. It all comes to me, now. I'm his sole heir and I have the records to
prove it."

I gaped at Teeg again; I know I did—with my mouth open and
everything. I could hear gunfire in the distance; the ASD was coming closer. I didn't
have much time.

"You did this purposely, just so you'd get it all,"
my voice quavered. I didn't give a damn about anything Arvil had. What I'd
cared for was Teeg. Now, he was pulling that rug from beneath my feet and
allowing me to hit the floor hard, knocking the breath right out of me. My
heart squeezed in my chest and it hurt. "And I thought Delvin was the real
betraying
difik
. Too bad he's dead now or I'd go and apologize to him
for calling him the blackest of betrayers." I wanted to throw Teeg into a
wall. I wanted to curl up in a corner and weep. I did neither. "I hope you
enjoy it," I said and skipped away.

* * *

Shouting and crying from the moment I landed at the palace on
Le-Ath Veronis, it took Karzac and a Larentii to place me in a healing sleep. I
didn't learn until later that Tory had sent mindspeech to Vice-Director Schaff,
telling him I was safe and there with him. Lendill and his operatives had
cleaned up bodies and arrested the others, making a complete sweep of all of
Arvil's guests. The ones he didn't get, of course, were Teeg San Gerxon, his
four warlocks and the eight reptanoids.

* * *

I didn't want to do anything except be by myself for the next
moon-turn. The only person welcome anywhere near me was Gavril. He truly was my
best friend. He never told me I shouldn't behave as I was, or eat more or sleep
better. He just huddled with me most of the time when he was free, or asked
about his research as he worked on an assignment for Master Morwin. Finally,
after the moon-turn was up, he spoke.

"Reah, you can't let this ruin your life. Tory and
Aurelius are just about to go crazy without you."

"I know," I muttered. We sat on the tallest, widest
dome that covered the central hall of his mother's palace. I'd skipped us
there—he'd asked me to take him somewhere so we wouldn't be bothered. Chash I
would humor. Even Vice-Director Schaff was wary of approaching me. He did try
to ask me to dinner one night, though. I'd slammed my bedroom door in his face.
That was probably a black mark on my record, but right then I really didn't
care.

"I'll be thirteen tomorrow," Gavril went on,
bringing me back to the present.

"Chash, I didn't know," I sighed, pulling his head over
and planting a kiss there. He grinned and looked flushed when I let him go. "Can
I take you to Casino City tomorrow and buy something for you?" I focused
on his dark eyes.

"If you want to. What I'd like most is for you to feel
better, Reah."

"I know. I don't know when that's going to happen."

"Reah, must I fold myself to the tops of tall buildings,
just so I can court you?" Wylend Arden appeared from nothing and sat down on
my other side.

"King Wylend," I nodded respectfully. He wanted to
court me? I swallowed nervously. That was unexpected. He had come and given me
spelled jewels on Zephili, though. Now I knew why.

"Reah, that fool of a Director is refusing to allow you
to leave the ASD, even if you might come to marry a King. He tells me Karathia
is not an Alliance world and therefore that particular rule does not
apply."

"What rule, Em-pah Wylend?" Gavril leaned around me
to look at his great-grandfather.

"The one that allows any Alliance conscript to leave the
Alliance's employ if they marry into royalty. As you see, he has already found
a way around that piece of legislation." Wylend was frowning as he leaned
against the curve of the dome at our backs. We all stared at the stars overhead
for a while, until Wylend's warm hand slowly moved to grasp mine.
I already
love you
, he sent mindspeech.
And I am
more than content to wait
.

* * *

"We don't have a single thing to charge him with,"
Lendill tossed the comp-vid onto Norian's desk. "Even the crime rate is
going down on that side of things if my sources are correct."

"Then there's nothing we can do," Norian grumbled. "I
can't find his name anywhere—it's as if he appeared from nothing. He must be
operating with an alias, but even his description doesn't fit any known
criminal. Teeg San Gerxon has a clean record, as far as the ASD is concerned."

"And that makes me angry," Lendill snapped. "After
what he did to Reah."

"Well, you still have making up to do, as do I on that
front," Norian pointed out.

"She slammed the door in my face," Lendill whined.

"What did you expect? Besides, you're not allowed to get
involved with an underling. You know the rules."

"Oh, throw
that
in my face," Lendill snapped.

The End

About the Author:

Connie Suttle lives in
Oklahoma with her patient, long-suffering husband and three cats. The cats are
not long-suffering, and find humans barely tolerable. Were it not for the
human's ability to open cans, they would stage a takeover.

* * * * *

Information on upcoming
titles, as well as a glossary containing character names, places and terms can
be found on Connie's website: www.subtledemon.com. Follow her blog at
subtledemon.blogspot.com or find her on her Facebook page—Connie Suttle Author.
She is also on twitter: @subtledemon