Demon’s King (High Demon #3)(62)
Author: Connie Suttle

"Three nights, please," I said to the hotel desk clerk. No need to make them think I only wanted the night before the summit. That might raise suspicions. I’d learned my lessons during my stint in the ASD. I wasn’t helpless. Wounded in spirit and in my heart, perhaps, but certainly not helpless.

Jes and I had a long talk. Eventually I’d sat down outside his cell and let him ramble. I’d learned a lot. Losing his family had harmed him. Jes was wounded, too, only his had bordered on insanity. He wasn’t willing to let anything else go that he cared for. And, in some warped way, he cared for me. He was genuinely upset that I’d been harmed and my daughter killed.

Somehow, he hadn’t reconciled my mother’s death with my existence. He’d talked of the baby as if it weren’t me. Jes was deranged in some way, and the condition had worsened since he’d met me. I couldn’t help him now, and he’d have sentence passed eventually by the ASD. No longer my concern. I planned to heal Thiskil, if I survived the following day. Jes might not live over his crimes, but Thiskil stood a chance.

"Is there anything else we can get for you, Miss Largill?" The desk clerk asked, handing over a key chip.

"No, thank you," I said, lifting my bag. I’d used one of the many IDs Lendill had given me over the years. They were just as official as anything else I might use. My hair I’d also darkened with temporary dye—it was dark-brown, now. It matched the holographic photo of me on the ID.

"Then have a pleasant evening," The clerk smiled. I nodded and walked away.

* * *

Why wasn’t I one of those lucky women who had a Larentii as a mate? They could provide a healing sleep better than anyone, or willingly trilled for their mates, achieving nearly the same result. Yet there I was, with two vampires—Gavril had been born vampire and Aurelius had been made so by an unnamed sire. One High Demon and a half-Elf. Not to mention the King of Karathia—a powerful warlock. Lissa had two Larentii. I hadn’t deserved one, I suppose. Or a Falchani. I’d been so enthralled with that race when I was young. Lissa had two of those as well.

I shrugged into my leather jacket shortly after daybreak. I’d not slept much and felt worse for it. The meeting was about to start, and I figured if Nidris were going to make his presence known, it would be shortly before it started. At that moment, Campiaa’s core was still intact—I would feel it if it had been tapped—the wrongness would make itself known. I was waiting for Nidris to tap it. That would confirm what Jes and I had determined—that Nidris would hire himself out to Teeg’s enemies—the Strands. Nidris’ loyalty lay with Nidris. If the Strands gained Campiaa, it would die within a decade. Nidris would get away soon, before the Strands would ever learn of his perfidy. I wanted Nidris. And the Strands, too, if they stood in the way of a peaceful transition to the Campiaan Alliance.

At the moment, the Campiaan Alliance was still a large collection of self-governing worlds. By this afternoon, if things went as planned, they would be bound under a single set of laws. It might be similar to watching a difficult birth. Under other circumstances, I might have been awestruck at witnessing such a momentous occasion. Instead, I was struggling to keep it alive.

My daughter’s death fleetingly entered my thoughts, and the parallels didn’t escape me. No, I wasn’t willing to let this infant—the Campiaan Alliance—go. If it fell, I would fall with it. I clipped my knife to the waistband of my pants, squared my shoulders and skipped into the main ballroom at the San Gerxon Casino. I’d felt the tiniest bit of wrongness—Nidris was tapping the core.

* * *

"I want to thank all of you—and congratulate you as well—we will witness history today," Teeg San Gerxon announced to a capacity crowd. "In the coming months, we will pass laws and make adjustments until we have something that will bear the weight of the ages. My friends, we will depend upon our neighbors, just as they will lean upon us. We will conscript our armies and enforce the laws we forge together. Every citizen will be assured of equal treatment, no matter what world he stands upon within the Campiaan Alliance." Cheers broke out and every attendee stood and clapped. Just as five hundred Giffelithi mercenaries blasted their way inside, led by four warlocks.

* * *

I watched Teeg turn to mist as someone fired a ranos rifle at his head. Nidris and the core would have to wait; even I had no idea that the Strands would hire hundreds of Giffelithi mercenaries. I might go down with the Campiaan Alliance after all. Furious at Nidris, the Strands and their mercenary army, I turned to full Thifilatha, as Astralan, Stellan and the others began hurling blasts at the invaders. I ran toward the army, screaming out my anger.

A ranos bullet pierced my right shoulder. I swept the shooter aside, burning his body and crushing his remains against a wall. Others fell beneath my feet and turned to smoking ash as I ran over them. Many of them were running—I think they weren’t expecting something such as I. The Strands’ warlocks were hurling blasts in my direction, but they were ineffective. I felt another bullet sting my side. The pain was inconsequential. I went after the ones who still held pistols and rifles.

* * *

Father, they’re hitting Reah! Lendill sent desperate and frightened mindspeech. Lendill felt helpless, watching Reah go after five hundred Giffelithi mercenaries. He didn’t have time to wonder at the expense of that—he had to do something. Pulling his pistol, Lendill began firing at the enemy.

Child, we are coming, came his father’s mental voice. Lendill didn’t have time to worry about it, he fired as quickly as his pistol recharged.

* * *

Garde, Tory, anybody, Gavril’s being attacked, Lissa sent a mental shout. She and Gavin were already on their way.

* * *

I may have howled in anguish when the third ranos blast hit me in the left thigh. Things became complicated quickly after that, or perhaps I was hallucinating—I imagined that a hundred Elvish warriors appeared, armed with bows and led by an angry Willem Drifft. What did they think to accomplish against ranos pistols and rifles, in addition to regular issue rapid-fires and other weapons? Nevertheless, those bows were aimed and none missed. It was as if the arrows were spelled to strike their targets.

Giffelithi were screaming and dying while more blasts came from Teeg’s warlocks. I saw Wylend standing in a corner, surrounded by Erland, Wyatt and Ry. All of them were doing spellwork, killing with precision from afar. That’s when I saw Nidris. He was glowing with the power he’d stolen from Campiaa’s core. Anything aimed at him sizzled and disintegrated before striking his body. I saw him take aim at Wylend and those around him.

"No!" I shouted, flipping my wings out and leaping in his direction across the crowded, seething mass of people still trying to escape. My wings allowed me to glide overhead until I landed directly in front of Nidris. His spell was caught and deflected by my body as another spray of bullets hit me. Teeg was suddenly behind Nidris, lengthy claws out, eyes red and fangs showing. Nidris’ head was lifted from his body so swiftly I barely saw it happen.