Demon’s Revenge (High Demon #5)(11)
Author: Connie Suttle

"I was not his assistant when he made that statement."

"Yeah? Who decided he needed an assistant? Or two?"

"The one who made him. So he sent Teeki and me. To help."

"Great. More meddling gods." I raised up in bed, whimpering at the resulting pain.

"Don’t move, I haven’t finished, yet," Neeki informed me.

"You’re finished." I slipped off the bed and moved stiffly toward my closet. Dawn was close. Tory had probably dumped me as quickly as possible and skipped right back to Mom and her palace, leaving Kifirin’s newly appointed assistant behind to clean up his mess. I was leaving, just as soon as I could get dressed.

"You cannot leave; many depend upon you."

"Yeah? Watch me." I pulled a pair of pants from a hanger. A shirt came next. Nothing in my closet could be described as neat or new. Everything was old; some of it patched, ripped or threadbare. I found the best of it, pulled the nicest underwear I owned out of a drawer and slipped into it, my body aching the entire time. When I managed to pull the best shoes on that I could find, I still looked as if I were prepared to work the groves instead of leaving the planet.

"But what shall I do?" Neeki, much taller than I and somewhat thin, looked as if he were about to wring his hands.

"I don’t care. Feel free to wait here and tell Garde when he shows up that he can oversee the harvest and care for the disabled and arrange for a ship to haul the fruit. I won’t be back. Tell King Jayd that he can cancel my membership in the High Demon club. I don’t have any use for it. Good-bye, Neeki. When you see your lord and master again, tell him he can kiss my ass." I skipped away, leaving Neeki behind, a look of shocked concern on his face.

"You were supposed to keep her here!" Kifirin shouted at poor Neeki, who cowered before the Dark god.

"I saw no way to do so; I am not allowed to restrain." Neeki gave the only excuse he had. Garde and Jayd both stood inside Reah’s house while the work crews were scrambling to get out to the fields and harvest ripened gishi fruit.

"She said she wasn’t coming back?" Jayd repeated what Neeki said.

"Yes. She said that. And left before the healing was complete."

"She wasn’t supposed to wake. Either time." Kifirin was blowing smoke.

"I do not understand either. She woke while I was tending her, and then left. I tried to reassure her, but she kept telling me to get out."

"Reah is past listening to those promises." Nefrigar appeared. Kifirin had never seen an angry Larentii before.

"I know. But she is all I have." Kifirin hung his head.

"You don’t have her now." Nefrigar’s blue skin was glowing, he was so angry. "Make these lazy louts who call themselves High Demons do for themselves instead of piling it all on Reah’s shoulders. If they become extinct, perhaps it is as it should be."

"Now wait a minute," smoke poured from Jayd’s nostrils.

"Do not attempt to harm me, King Demon. I assure you I will separate your particles just as easily as any other creature’s."

"He can," Neeki nodded at Nefrigar’s statement.

"I piled it on Reah," Garde admitted. "Kifirin was correct last night. I kept her buried in work here so she wouldn’t go looking for another High Demon to replace Torevik."

"Lissa told you, didn’t she?" Kifirin stared at Garde.

"Told you what?" Jayd was staring at Garde as well. Garde was firstborn to the House of Rath, Jayd was third.

"That Tory’s claiming marks wouldn’t hold Reah, if she made another choice. Removing them would just be a formality."

"So you set about turning her against all High Demons." Neeki blinked at Garde.

"It wasn’t intentional. Not like this."

"Where is she?" Teeg appeared, Farzi and Nenzi at his side. Teeg’s warlock bodyguards, Astralan and Stellan, were with them.

"We don’t know." Jayd sat heavily on a chair in Reah’s kitchen. "Kifirin dumped her out in the field so Tory would find her last night. She was supposed to stay in a healing sleep so harm would be kept to a minimum. She woke and she wasn’t supposed to. Kifirin kept her from turning or skipping away, but she still ended up bloodied and bruised when she attempted to fight Tory."

"Did he mean to hurt Reah?" Farzi was becoming angry.

"No. He kept saying he couldn’t let her go. But a full Thifilathi’s scales will harm, if someone comes in contact with them. Tory had to grip her hard to keep her from getting away. It wasn’t intentional. Kifirin brought a blanket after she fainted, and Tory held her that way for quite a while. Wouldn’t let anybody take her away from him until close to dawn. Kifirin convinced him to change and told this one to see to Reah while he took Tory home." Jayd explained as best he could the events of the night before.

"Fuck," Teeg rubbed the back of his neck. Farzi and Nenzi exchanged troubled glances.

"Where is she, Nefrigar? I know you can find her." Garde looked at the Larentii.

"Yes. I can find her. As can the god, here." Nefrigar nodded at Kifirin. "I will go to protect her. What will you offer when you go?" His gaze was hard on Kifirin.

"I was told she might slip away from me. I think I’m losing her."

"Losing her?" More smoke poured from Jayd’s nostrils.

"To the other side," Neeki offered. "We were sent to attempt to keep her with the Dark Realm. But she may move to the Light Side."

"Do you mean to tell me that you won’t have any control over Reah if that happens?" Jayd was incredulous.

"That is what it means," Neeki nodded. "Teeki and I will try to prevent, but we can only do so much. We wewn. much. re told to help, not interfere."

"She has no money," Teeg said. "She can’t get far without it."

"You think to hold her back that way?" Nefrigar was now staring at Teeg. "I am not without resources. I will see she has as much as she needs."

"Why are you assisting her now? I don’t understand this." Teeg tossed up a hand in frustration.

"The question is, why aren’t you assisting her now? She has a legitimate reason for leaving, don’t you think?"

"Neeki?" Another black-skinned male appeared, who looked exactly like Neeki.

"Teeki, the little female has run away. I could not keep her in the healing sleep," Neeki sighed mournfully.

"I feared it could come to this." Teeki nodded at his twin.

"You can all stop worrying, I sent mindspeech. She’s safe at the moment." Rylend Morphis folded in beside Gavril. He never called his brother Teeg unless they were in the presence of someone who didn’t know already.