"Tell her I will return before long. I have much work to do." Kifirin disappeared.
"Lissa, I want Griffin to see you while you're sleeping," Merrill leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I am sorry for so many things, little girl." Merrill sent mindspeech, and Griffin and Amara both appeared in seconds.
"Careful," Merrill handed her to Griffin, who had tears in his eyes. "She's quite frail," Merrill went on as Griffin cradled Lissa in his arms.
"This is our baby," Griffin smiled sadly at Amara. "She would have been born to us, if they hadn't decided to do this."
"Why didn't they let her be reborn?" Amara wanted to weep over the way things were. "She wouldn't have hated us then."
"This is our punishment," Griffin sighed. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"I want to take her to Dragon's; Grace and Devin can help take care of her," Merrill said. Dragon, Grace and the others had a sprawling villa less than a mile away. Grace and Devin shared eleven mates between them, as females among the Saa Thalarr were rare. Not as rare as female vampires, but rare all the same.
"We'll go with you." Griffin nodded at Merrill. "I want Karzac to take a look—she doesn't weigh anything and she looks so pale. What did they do to her?"
"No idea," Merrill shrugged. "Let's see what we can do for her while she's asleep."
Chapter 6
"I'll set up a transfusion." Those were Karzac's first words after he'd silently examined Lissa. "The vampire is still alive in her and the blood may help. It's possible they gave her fluids only for days and didn't feed her. The common demons don't have anything in the way of feeding tubes, and have no updated training. If they found her unconscious, they couldn't have done much for her."
"I'll donate," Merrill rolled up a sleeve.
"Let me get Jeff, then," Karzac sent mindspeech to one of Merrill's twin sons. Jeff, the oldest of Merrill's twins, had trained as a physician and worked in that capacity for a very long time. He was also a healer for the Saa Thalarr.
"Dad, you want me to take your blood?" Jeff grinned at Merrill when he folded in. Jeff was the only vampire who'd been born vampire, and looked much like his father. His fraternal twin, Franklin, wasn't vampire, although he also was a healer and resembled Merrill more than Jeff.
"Son, get your tubes and bags out, or I'll take yours," Merrill grumped. Jeff knew his father was teasing.
Griffin sat on the edge of the bed; Amara huddled against him as they watched Karzac and Jeff set up the IV to give Lissa Merrill's blood. Dragon came in during the procedure—Karzac sent mindspeech and he'd folded in from Falchan.
"Do we need to get our warrior Queen some leathers?" Dragon peered over Merrill's shoulder as Lissa was given Merrill's blood.
"Wait until she gains weight back," Merrill said. He was sipping a cup of coffee, though Jeff had told him to eat something after donating blood. Merrill had a coffee addiction and wasn't happy unless he had several cups a day.
* * *
"I'm only taking the IV out." The voice and scent were familiar, but I couldn't connect them to where I'd been when I'd gone to sleep. I unglued my eyes and stared up at Karzac. He held my right hand in one of his, removing an IV, just as he said.
"That's great, honey," I said. "Do you want to tell me why the fuck I have an IV to start with?"
"Malnourishment," Karzac muttered, pulling the IV out and placing healing light around the wound. "There, all healed up," he gave my hand back to me. "And I still expect you to come to dinner tonight. If I understood Mike and Jamie correctly, we're having pot roast. It's Kiarra's recipe and very good." Karzac looked much as he had the last time I'd seen him—three hundred years in the past. Same green-gold eyes, same brown hair that looked a bit rumpled, same slight frown as he visually examined me. Yeah—I knew I was as thin as a stick. I didn't know what to do about it, though."Who are Mike and Jamie and where am I, Karzac?" I was rubbing my forehead; a headache threatened.
"We will not allow that," Karzac's fingers were cool and careful on my forehead, kneading away the ache. "Little vampire, I want you to find a way to put the incident upon Kifirin behind you. We want you to be happy instead of dwelling on that tragedy. You have been given back to us and that is an amazing gift. Friends are waiting here, if you want them. And a home also, if you desire it. You are at our home outside London, Lissa, and Mike and Jamie are our cook and housekeeper. Merrill tells me Kifirin brought you to him so we could set you to rights again. Kifirin also said he would return when he finished some work or other."
"Merrill," I grumbled, raising my knees. "He so conveniently forgot to tell me about Greg. And now he's one of the Saa Thalarr, isn't he? How does that work?" I sat up in bed, leaning my forehead on my knees. I wasn't sure how I knew Merrill was Saa Thalarr—I just did.
"Lissa, he has fretted over that, I know. We all have regrets, and that is one of his. Wlodek's too, as he is one of us. You will recognize many Saa Thalarr; you knew them before," Karzac sighed softly. "Radomir is here, with Russell, Will and Charles. Weldon Harper came to us, as did Martin Walters. Brock and Stephan are here and mated. Merrill's last two vampire children are here—Joey is a healer and Kyle is Saa Thalarr and mated to Selkirk of Grey House; also a healer, by the way."
"Someone mentioned Grey House to me once," I raised my head and looked at Karzac. "He said the Grey House Wizards were the strongest and most talented of their kind."
"He was correct. Who told you that?" A smile tugged at Karzac's mouth.
"Someone named Erland Morphis," I said. "I only met him for a few minutes." I didn't explain to Karzac that I'd met him forty years in the future, when Kifirin had taken me to the High Demons' planet. Kifirin had known then I was going to die, and he hadn't said anything. I wanted to cry again. Whoever had kept me from dying probably shouldn't have.
"We know Erland," Karzac nodded slightly, winding up the IV line and taking the empty blood bag off the pole beside the bed. He did something with Power—the whole thing disappeared from his hand. I found myself wishing I could do that.
"You can do many things we cannot even attempt," Karzac read my mind.
"Karzac, what am I going to do?" I rubbed my forehead. "Three hundred years are gone. I don't fit in, anymore. I don't belong here."
"Lissa," Karzac took my hand and patted it, his eyes filled with concern, "We'll help. My mates and I will do everything we can."
"Mates?" I turned to Karzac. His green-gold eyes held a far-away look.
"Many things are different now," he admitted, rubbing my hand with a thumb. "While multiple mates have always been recognized by the Saa Thalarr and by the Reth Alliance, those laws have changed on Earth in the past century. It is now legal to have multiple husbands or wives, and in some countries, group marriages are also legal and accepted."
"You said mates," I pointed out. He smiled crookedly.
"Grace and Devin," he agreed. "They share eleven husbands in a blended group. Dragon, Dragon's twin, Crane, and I are members of that group. Radomir, too—you know him—is also one of the eleven. Please tell me you do not find this repugnant." Karzac sounded embarrassed, which was unusual for him. He worried that I'd judge him, somehow.
"Karzac," I pulled my hand away and patted his arm, "If you're happy, I'm happy. And as long as everybody involved is a sane, consenting adult, well, more power to you, I guess."
"That is what the Earth law states—that all participants must be of legal age and sign an agreement that they understand the complexity of the situation," Karzac nodded. "Of course, on Earth, it is still tradition for men to marry multiple wives, but many powerful women have more than one husband. Come to dinner now; I am receiving mindspeech that it is ready and the others are waiting for us," he smiled. "I will introduce you to both my mates—they are eager to meet you. Some of the eleven are away at the moment, so you will not see all of them at once." Karzac rose and helped me off the bed.
"Pot roast, huh?" I hadn't had pot roast in a long time. I hoped it was as good as I remembered it as I followed Karzac downstairs and through a warren of hallways toward the kitchen.
The moment I entered the spacious kitchen, I realized I didn't need my eyes to recognize several seated around the granite island.
"Radomir," I nodded at him. He was grinning at me like a fool, and I'd barely seen him so much as smile before. He looked more relaxed than when I'd seen him last—same dark hair and eyes and same handsome face, but there was something intangible about him that told me he was truly happy. Maybe being Saa Thalarr agreed with him. "You're Adam Chessman's son, Justin," I nodded to a tall man with sandy blond hair. "And you're Martin Walters, Jr." I nodded to the dark-haired, dark-eyed man sitting beside Justin. Both of them stared at me in surprise.
"She knows by the scent," Dragon helped himself to food. Dragon's twin brother Crane sat next to him. Both looked eerily alike, but their scents were slightly different. Dragon said their tattoos were different too, but those were covered by long-sleeved shirts at the moment. Dragon lifted his head and offered a cheeky grin before going back to his plate.
"You must be Crane," I nodded to Dragon's brother. "Dragon told me about you." He smiled politely at me. There were others around the table and Karzac made introductions while he settled me on a stool at the granite-topped island.
"This is Devin," he introduced me to one of the women. Her red hair was a shade or two darker than mine. I drew in a breath—she had Elemaiyan blood. I didn't say anything as she smiled and greeted me. "This is Grace," Karzac identified the other woman at the table. She had honey blonde hair and also smiled at me. Both were beautiful, no doubt about that.