Frank, Shane and Tomas all got a hug before they left, and Drake and Drew herded me straight into the kitchen for more food.
"No more of this freezing shit," Mike muttered as he thumped a mug of hot tea in front of me. "I got mindspeech from Conner. You don't ignore mindspeech from Conner."
"I didn't mean to get you in trouble," I sighed, staring at my mug of tea.
"You didn't. But Conner has a way of pointing out how you haven't been treated with the proper respect. While she's Conner, that's no problem. If it's the Guardian, she'll scare the holy hell out of you."
"And he's not speaking metaphorically," Drake draped an arm around my shoulders. Plates of food were passed around, Dragon and Crane appeared and we ate. Franklin, Shane and Tomas, followed by Drake and Drew, had helped a bad day turn into a not so bad day.
* * *
I was shocked to find Charles sitting on my bed when I came out of the bathroom later, dressed in PJs and brushing my teeth. I'd had to push Drake and Drew out my bedroom door—they wanted to stay. Hold on, I sent mindspeech to Charles and went back to rinse out my mouth. Charles wouldn't be asking for sex. Not from me. Besides, he was fully dressed. I imagine that Kifirin, or even Drake or Drew, would be either naked or mostly so if they'd been on my bed. And not in a sitting position, either.
"What is it, Charles?" I asked, walking out of the bathroom again. At least I didn't look like a foaming, rabid animal this time.
"We have a problem in California," Charles got right to business. "We can wrap this up quickly if you help."
"What's the problem?" I asked.
"Locals and tourists are disappearing on the coast between L.A. and Monterey. Eight that we know of, in the last two weeks," Charles said, his hazel eyes reflecting the concern in his voice. "People have been warned and they're taking extra precautions, but they're disappearing anyway. And we've gotten word from the vampires that run the Council's blood substitute banks. They've seen a drop in orders from the area. Flavio's worried that some of ours have gone rogue."
"You can't do that Looking thing to find this out?" I asked, sitting on the bed next to Charles.
"Not allowed to use it for this. It's one of the conditions of keeping my job with the Council. I can't use those abilities; it's unethical. I can only use what I have normally." Charles offered a crooked grin and rubbed my back.
"That's gotta suck. When do you want me to go?" I'd already made up my mind.
"It'll be dark there in another four hours. Can you be packed and ready to go in a few minutes?"
"How are you going to get me there?"
"Hey, three hundred years have passed—we're way more efficient in travel these days," Charles's grin widened. "It'll take little more than an hour, and most of that time will be taken up in getting you to the ship station. After that, you'll just orbit over. The pods don't have windows anyway, so it's a great way for vamps to travel."
"This is a Low Earth Orbit?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's great. The pods dock at stations positioned around the globe and then you're taken down to the ground. Neat, huh?"
"Yeah. Neat. Thank goodness I can mist if I have to," I said.
"You won't need to. It's really safe. You'll be going with Gavin and Tony. I'll wait while you pack."
If I hadn't already said I'd go, I would have said no right then. Tony wouldn't be so bad, but Gavin? He didn't want anything to do with me and I wasn't prepared for contemptuous scowls from my former vampire husband.
"What about the family dinner at Grey House?" I asked, trying to find an excuse to wriggle out of going. "Cleo said she and Kyler would come get me and take me to Grey House." Wherever that was.
"They can come get you wherever you are—just send mindspeech. Don't fret," Charles reassured me. "Do this, Lissa. You can get this over with quickly; I just know it. Anybody else will take twice as long."
"I'll need a bag—I don't have anything," I grumped. I'd said yes; now Charles was holding me to my word.
"Give me a few minutes," Charles said. "Don't go anywhere," he turned, pointing a finger at me and grinning. He folded away. Man, I wanted to do that. I dressed while Charles was gone and he was back in less than five minutes with two bags in his hands.
"Did you get those from Wlodek's basement, too?"
Charles looked at me with a puzzled expression, until he remembered. I'd gotten some expensive luggage from him the first time we'd met. He claimed it came from Wlodek's basement.
"Just pack casual clothes, maybe four or five days' worth," he instructed. I was folding and arranging quickly. Toiletries I'd bought in London were now being packed into a bag. "Good enough," Charles said when everything was loaded in and the bags closed. Zippers still worked, I noticed. Then, before I could change my mind, he folded me to Flavio, who patiently waited in Wlodek's old study.
"Gavin and Anthony will meet you at the London station," Flavio informed me when Charles and I arrived. He still didn't remember me, but the mask was in place. Charles had talked him into this, I could tell.
"I'll take her in," Charles said.
"Are we driving or folding?" I asked. I remembered rides in Charles' car—he always drove like a maniac.
"I'll fold you in," Charles said. "And I have ID for you," he held up a tiny chip. "Unfortunately, this has to be placed beneath the skin. Ren is coming to do this for you."
"I like Renegar," I said. Actually, I'd liked all the Larentii I'd met and I couldn't explain that. I hadn't seen any more of them, either, since that first night at the villa. I was looking forward to seeing Renegar again.
"This is the little Queen?" A Larentii I hadn't seen before folded in with Renegar.
"Ferrigar," Flavio stood and nodded to the new Larentii. "This is the little Queen; anyway that's what my sources tell me. Charles seems very sure of her, and I trust my child."
"If you had witnessed what she did upon Kifirin, you would have no doubts, Sanguis Rex," Renegar said, taking the microchip from Charles by floating it off his finger with Power. "Little one," he turned to me, "this will not hurt at all." He placed the chip on the inside of my wrist and we both watched as it sank into the skin.
"That's amazing," I breathed.
"I find you amazing, little Queen," Ferrigar the Larentii came to stand beside me. "Seldom have I seen any creature I could not detect by using my Power, yet that is how it is with you. We find you fascinating, little one. We may wish to study you, sometime."
"Don't worry. They'll just stand around looking at you and communicating silently," Charles said. "Unless you get pregnant. Then they'll have their hands on you, but that won't hurt, either."
"I can't get pregnant so that won't happen," I said, examining the smooth skin of my wrist. I couldn't tell where the chip was at all.
"Come on then, I'll take you to the station," Charles said, lifting my bags. He had me folded away in very little time.
* * *
"The tracking chip has been placed, along with the identification chip," Renegar informed Griffin later. Griffin breathed a relieved sigh. "Only the Larentii will be able to detect the beacon, so she will be safe, and we will not track her unless it becomes a necessity," Renegar went on. Griffin nodded. The thought terrified him that none of them could find Lissa anywhere. They'd all been blinded to her, now. At least the Larentii could find her and that eased his mind. When she'd disappeared earlier, he worried that she'd disappeared for good. The information he and Merrill were forced to deliver guaranteed that Lissa would never forgive either of them.
* * *
"I do not like this," Gavin grumbled. Tony watched as Gavin fretted, which was completely uncharacteristic of the two thousand-year-old vampire. Gavin had the stone face and non-expression the oldest vampires mastered, but now the façade was beginning to crack.
"You don't have to deal with her if you don't want to—I'll do it," Tony offered. Gavin stared at Tony, unable to decide whether he appreciated that or not. Gavin growled softly. Tony didn't bother him again.
"Here we are," Charles walked in with Lissa, her bags in his hands.
* * *
Gavin was at his surly best—I could see that right away. I knew the look; I'd dealt with it before. I didn't say anything to him or Tony; I just sighed instead and took a seat on a nearby bank of chairs. Three hundred years had gone past and seating hadn't improved one bit at the airport.
"They'll call your flight and you'll load onto the shuttle, which will take you to the pod station," Charles explained quietly, sitting beside me. "I'll stay until you're called."
"Thanks, Charles," I gave him a weak smile. Yeah, I was going to get this over with quickly—no way I wanted to hang around the grumpy vampire. It made my heart ache to watch him. A part of me had been torn away and nothing could fill the void. Once again, I wondered why I was still alive.
"Here," Charles pulled a handkerchief from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to me. I wore a jacket, so I slipped the square of silk into a pocket. It might be needed soon if I didn't get my mind off Gavin. Our flight was called shortly after; Charles pecked me on the cheek and I followed Gavin and Tony to the door where the passengers were loading into the shuttle.
This was a new experience for me. The shuttle took us to the pod station and we were loaded into a bullet-shaped pod quickly, once we arrived. There were no windows on the pod, but each seat back held a vid screen where we could watch the entire journey (if we wanted). I was mesmerized. The pod detached and I watched my screen in fascination as we hurtled through space—I saw the Earth curving below us—clouds in swirls across oceans—everything. I'd never held any hope of doing anything like this, yet here I was. Tony and Gavin were bored—I imagine they'd done this too many times to count and it was old, now. They sat together; I was seated across the aisle, next to an executive who'd been in London, negotiating a contract. Now he was traveling back to L.A. He was also asking me out before the flight was over, and it wasn't that long to begin with.