"Reah, I have lived a very long time. I know the intent behind those words. You are correct. You were young and trusting then, and I took full advantage of it, with my age and cynicism. I have paid a heavy price for that." I didn't respond to his words, turning to his son, Griffin, instead.
"Have you found Amara?" I asked.
"No." I hunched my shoulders at his one-word answer.
"I'm sorry," I said. And I was. They'd been together for more than a hundred thousand years. It had taken Wyatt's death to break them up. Then another thought hit me. Did he know that Garwin Wyatt rested in my womb? That Wyatt was returning, as my child? Likely he did. He was the Oracle, after all. "I won't be giving this one up," I stared at him, my anger coming to the fore.
"I know that as well as anyone," Griffin's well-shaped hand went into a pocket of his trousers. "Someone has already come to talk to me about it. I know this doesn't mean anything to you, but I'm grateful."
"For what?" I didn't understand at all.
"That he'll come to someone who will provide love and guidance. Someone I can trust."
I must have gaped at him. I must have. Did I believe him? I couldn't get my truth meter to work on any of the Saa Thalarr.
"I can't lie," he said. "I'm prevented."
"Are you upsetting my patient?" Kevis Halivar came to sit on a chair between Wylend and me.
"I probably am. My timing isn't the best, where Reah is concerned," Wylend murmured.
"Did you ever, even for a moment, really love me?" I asked, standing up. I could still skip away, but that question had bothered me for a very long time. I kept telling myself that he couldn't and didn't. If he had, how could he have done what he did? Shortly after Wylend had dumped me, there followed twenty-five years of being mostly ignored by my other mates, unless they wanted something from me. I brushed off the back of my slacks, although the cushions on my chair were clean. It was a habit, a gesture. Something to do while I waited for an answer, as painful or embarrassing as it might be.
"I did. But I let things interfere. Sabotaged it from beginning to end," Wylend said. "And then allowed something stupid to end it for all time."
"You were looking for an excuse," I said. "Doctor Halivar, your nurses laughed at me when I said I skipped. I'm skipping now." I disappeared, even as he rose and shouted my name.
"Reah, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" I was trimming back branches on gishi fruit trees in EastStar's groves. Someone had seen me and apparently reported it immediately to Edward Pendley, the owner.
"You were only taken away from here yesterday by your husband, Teeg San Gerxon." Edward watched as I cut through a branch and tossed it into a neat pile. Cutting back would enable the tree to bear better for the next harvest.
"He's not the only husband I have. Weren't you paying attention?" I looked for other branches that might need pruning.
"It sounds like you're not happy with all of them."
"I'm not."
"Reah, what are you?" Edward's arms were crossed over his chest.
"High Demon."
"Ah."
"You've heard of them?"
"I have."
"Tell me what you are. There's no way a mortal would have disappeared like that, to take care of a fire five clicks away."
"Ah, that." Edward lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Have you ever heard of the Elemaiya?" His hazel eyes peered at me through dark lashes.
"Yes." I looked at him in surprise. I knew what happened to them; that was certain. Queen Lissa had removed their power and prevented them from gating between worlds.
"I was brought here," he said. "I'm half. Actually, a little more than half. It's a long story," he tossed up a hand. "I was spending time, gating from world to world, doing this and that, when I got stuck here. The gates wouldn't work any longer. So I put down roots and started planting the groves at someone else's suggestion. Then bought more land and planted more trees. My grove is the second oldest on Avendor. Before, gishi fruit grew on trees in jungles and the locals sold the fruit to passing tourists. Now, things are different." He fingered a dark-green leaf thoughtfully.
"Would you like to meet the person who closed the gates?" I asked. "She did it because the Elemaiya got a little out of hand. Now there aren't a lot of them left." I examined his face as he blinked at me in shock.
"You know who closed them?"
"Yeah," I shrugged. "Come on, I'll take you to her. It's not like her sons won't track me down eventually anyway."
"Her sons?"
"Long story. Come on. Maybe I can fix something to eat in her kitchen while she explains all of this to you." I grabbed his arm and skipped both of us to Le-Ath Veronis.
"She'll be here in a minute; the Council meeting is just breaking up," Drew gave me a grin. Lissa had the best Falchani, as far as I was concerned.
"Where are we?" Edward hissed as I led him toward Lissa's kitchen. I didn't even know who worked in it any more.
"You're in the palace in Lissia," I said. "On Le-Ath Veronis."
"The vampire planet?" Edward stopped dead still.
"What are you worried about?" I asked, stopping with him.
"They uh, wanted to turn somebody I know, once upon a time," he muttered. "Someone of my race."
"I think they're past that," I said, throwing out a hand in a dismissive gesture. "Come on, Lissa will pound somebody's head if they look at you wrong."
"You're sure? And her name is Lissa?"
"I am, and yes, her name is Lissa." I gave him an encouraging smile. "Besides, this is keeping me away from a counseling session with the good Doctor Halivar." I couldn't help but feel gleeful over that. "Are you hungry?" I dragged Edward with me until we reached the kitchen.
"This is wonderful," Edward sighed after eating nearly all the crepe I'd served him.
"I have a Master Cook's license," I reminded him.
"You said that. Now I believe it," he said. I heard footsteps and voices approaching and was prepared to make more crepes when several things happened. Lissa drew in a breath when she saw Edward. Flavio, Head of the Vampire Council, stared in shock and Edward blinked at the third member of their party before whispering, "Winkler?"
Winkler was grinning like a fool and slapping Edward on the back for some reason, and Lissa was just staring.
"So. I get to explain how we're related and all." She studied Edward for several seconds.
"Can you get him home? He owns EastStar Groves on Avendor. I ought to get back to Campiaa before the herd calls out the dogs." I watched as several emotions crossed Lissa's face. She hadn't expected this, I could tell.
"Reah, you really should let them know where you're going when you leave," Lissa did a little sighing of her own.
"I know. But nowadays they tend to piss me off." I'd borrowed that phrase from her.
"I know this is hard for you." Lissa brushed a stray strand of hair away from my forehead.
"After all these years, I just feel numb. I don't know if I love any of them. I can't feel anything."
"Honey, that will go away. It'll take some time, I know, after what happened to you on Stellar Winds. Don't give up on them. Kifirin was wrong to do what he did."
"Why did he do that? Why?" I was about to break down.
"We'll take her." Teeg, Lok and Aurelius had come. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go home," Teeg lifted me this time.
"I'll make sure Mr. Pendley gets home," Lissa called out before someone folded me away.
Lissa's Journal
"I'm your great-uncle?" Edward Pendley stared at me. He was younger than I, but as immortals, that wasn't surprising.
"And you have family still living. Someday, if you're up to it, I'll make introductions." I was struggling to come to terms with this—Ashe had a half-brother. If I knew Ashe at all (and I didn't know him well—he kept to himself) he probably knew all about this. His—and Edward's—biological mother, my great-grandmother, actually, was still alive, as was my half-Elemaiyan grandmother. I still hadn't told them we were kin. It made me sigh—I wasn't sure I was up to that, even now.
"I see I have a lot of catching up to do," Edward shook his head. Winkler and I sat in Edward's private study at EastStar, talking about how things had gone since Edward had left Earth. My werewolf and I had taken Edward home after he explained that he couldn't be gone for long from EastStar. Edward couldn't believe he had other relatives still living, either. His mostly-human father was still alive, but couldn't pass the boundary of SouthStar. I did (and didn't) want to ask about that. "Tell me about Reah," Edward pleaded. I considered where to begin.
I jerked awake with a gasp, just as I normally did nowadays. "Nothing here to hurt you," Kevis Halivar soothed. I wanted to accuse him of lying. Danger was everywhere, including with his nurses, who were now under arrest. He'd attempted to talk with me as soon as Teeg brought me back and dumped me on a chair by the pool next to the good doctor. Instead of answering questions, somehow I'd fallen asleep.
"Zendeval Rjjn appeared benign, too, until he did what he did."
"Reah, you are in a safe place. Nobody is here to harm you."
"I don't know why you're here," I huffed. "Go back to that expensive clinic and treat the rich and famous."
"You don't think you're as important as they are?"
"Most of them are decidedly unimportant," I snapped. "But try telling them and their fame and fortune that."