"Dad, don't. She's very efficient. I need that at times."
"Reah needs a soft touch and soothing words. Not someone who will get snippy right away."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Good. If you have difficulties with Reah, let me know."
"All right."
* * *
"Now, Ms. Nilvas, is running away something you do often?" Doctor Halivar appeared shortly after Nefrigar found me and hauled me back to the clinic.
"Whenever I can," I said. "I skip therefore I am."
"Skip?"
"Didn't Nefrigar tell you I was High Demon?"
"He did say that," Doctor Halivar consulted his handheld.
"High Demons skip. We don't fold as the Larentii do. Someone explained it to me as skipping flat stones on water."
"Ah. I don't believe I've met anyone with the talent before."
"I can take you for a short hop," I offered.
"Ms. Nilvas, I assure you that won't be necessary."
"No, you just want to dig around in my head. Ask about my mother. That sort of thing."
"How was she? Your mother?"
"Dead. Shortly after I was born. Next question."
"What did Ceerah say to you?"
"That I was a charity case and this room should have been given to somebody who actually had money."
"Really." He didn't make it a question.
"I try not to lie unless I'm forced to do so," I said. "And I usually speak my mind. Why doesn't this suite have a kitchen?"
"Why do you want a kitchen?"
"I have a Master Cook's license. Do the math. I'm sure the food here is very good. Mine is probably better."
"I'm told you tried to kill yourself recently."
"I did. Almost jumped into a volcano."
"Is that a real volcano or a symbolic one?"
"A real one."
"Why do you think you're here, Ms. Nilvas?"
"A god f**ked up my life. Go ahead, record delusional in your comp-vid." I rose to pace. I wasn't really sure what good all this was going to do me, but I promised Nefrigar that I'd give it a couple of weeks when he'd talked me into coming back.
"I try to stay away from that term if I can," he said dryly.
"Lie," I said. Doctor Halivar blinked at me.
"I know when people lie. I knew Ceerah was speaking the truth when she said what she did. You can move me to another room if you want."
"Reah, I'm not moving you. Someone close to me asked for this room specifically for you. Therefore, it is yours. Do not let Ceerah intimidate you."
"She didn't. I skipped away to keep from knocking her through a wall. I'm not in a good mood right now."
"Do you do that often? Knock people through walls?"
"Not recently, but when seventy Greater Demons tried to attack me, my Thifilatha burned them to death. It wasn't pleasant to watch or smell. Burned flesh isn't a nice scent. Did they tell you I'm pregnant?"
"Yes. I have that information. If you need extra food to keep from becoming ill, you only have to tell my staff."
"I've only seen Ceerah so far and I'm not asking her for anything." Doctor Halivar frowned at my admission.
"Now, these Greater Demons, where were they?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. I don't think you have ASD clearance."
"What if I were to get clearance?"
"I'll only believe that if Lendill Schaff or Norian Keef shows up and says it's all right," I said. "Unless that happens, you get nothing."
"Would you be more comfortable telling these things to another member of my staff?"
"No. I'm not telling you any ASD business unless the Director or Vice-Director says it's all right." I went to stand beside the plexi windows. The water in the distance was beautiful, with a late summer sun hanging low on the horizon.
"Why were these Greater Demons attacking you?"
"Can't say."
"What's the difference between High Demons and Greater Demons?"
"I can't answer that, because I don't really know. Somebody told me they were Greater Demons after the fact. They can't skip, I know that much. They'd have gotten the hell away from me if they could."
"What makes a High Demon a High Demon?" Doctor Halivar was very curious.
"I don't know. What makes you a male?"
"I was born male."
"I was born High Demon."
"Point taken. What do High Demons do?"
"Most of them do nothing, in my experience," I snorted. "The males turn to full Thifilathi once a month and go stomping around, roaring and beating their chests, mostly."
"And the females?"
"The females don't have to turn. Some of them can't, I don't think. I and one other turn."
"Can you do this for me?"
"I won't, because it burns my clothing away when I turn. I'd be naked when I came back to myself. Won't do that," I shook my head.
"Ah."
"Have you ever seen a High Demon become Thifilathi or Thifilatha?" I asked.
"I'd barely heard they existed, so the answer is no. Are you comfortable talking about the attack?"
"One of the Greater Demons did it during the full moon. They get pissy just like the male High Demons do. I had to allow it to get the information I needed for the case I was working."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"About the god who f**ked up your life?"
"Kifirin."
"Kifirin." He repeated the word.
"Yes. Stay away from him if at all possible."
"I'll do my best."
"Don't patronize. You seem nice enough. Don't ruin it."
"Tell me about Nefrigar."
"He's the Larentii Archivist. I've only been to the Archives a time or two. I could get lost in one room and not come out for a century or two."
"He has access to the information the Larentii store?"
"He does."
"What if I asked you to request a tour?"
"Ask him yourself. I don't use my position in his life to influence him like that. Nefrigar makes up his own mind. Always."
* * *
"What do you have, Ceerah?" Jalan grinned at her supervising nurse. Ceerah and Jalan often pulled recordings of this patient or that and watched the sessions, although they weren't authorized to do so. Ceerah had the codes to get into the recordings; she just didn't have access to the doctors' private notes. Most of the staff lived on the grounds of Sea Winds, in a separate building. Ceerah and Jalan often had dinner together and watched the vids Ceerah pulled.