Blood Queen

"Come on," I folded both of them to the villa. Mike was fine with me fixing pancakes for breakfast and Radomir wandered in while I was mixing batter and broiling bacon. He got breakfast, too.



"Want to try coffee?" I asked Gavin, who frowned at me—he was very much into his syrup-covered pancakes, thank you. The bacon disappeared, too, I noticed. I had my short stack and slice of bacon with coffee while I listened to Gavin, Flavio and Radomir discussing current vampire politics and events. They were having a great time, just having breakfast together.



"See, I told you the Honored One wouldn't be upset," I made a face at Gavin.



"You are so beautiful, cara," Gavin mumbled, kissing my hand.



"My nieces are more beautiful," I said.



"You have nieces?" Gavin stared at me.



"I didn't know either," I said. "But they're twins. Kyler and Cleo."



"I have seen Kyler," Gavin nodded. "With the Honored One, here. She is quite beautiful, but to me, you are lovelier. Will you spend the day with me, cara mia?"



"I have some work to do, or I would," I replied. "I'll get you and Flavio home, first."



"I'll take them home," Radomir offered.



"Thanks," I told him, gave Gavin a quick kiss and took off. Gavin had changed—I could see it from a mile away. The edge had been removed from his temper, from the moment I'd offered him blood. Who knew? Now, I had four more gates to get and I wasn't dressed to go after Flakkar. I went to my bedroom first, dressed quickly in jeans and a pullover then went after ugly, smelly things. I got all four remaining gates before coming back. I didn't expect to find Gavin asleep in my bed, though. I didn't bother him, just changed into my swimsuit and went to get in the hot tub.



"Now, see, you didn't tell us again," Drake and Drew were there—naked, of course—and sitting right beside me in a blink.



"I have been waiting for you as well," Connegar appeared, undressed with a thought and climbed into the water. He had to make himself smaller so the water wouldn't come to his waist.



"Hey, thanks for calling me," Shadow slapped Drake on the back and climbed in too. All of them were naked—had they no shame?



"Uh, Gavin's asleep in my bed," I muttered, sinking into the hot water.



"All right," the twins gave each other a high five.



"What was that about?" I asked.



"We had a bet going with Dad and Uncle Crane on how long it would take him to come to his senses," Drake laughed. "We just won."



"I'm gonna pull both your braids," I grumped.



"Sounds good," Drake said, scooting closer.



"Gavin received Lissa's blood and is now capable of walking in daylight," Connegar observed.



"Even better!" Drew laughed. "We'll sick him on Dad and Uncle Crane. We'll see how a vampire Assassin stacks up to the Falchani."



"I don't believe this," I felt a headache coming on.



"You did not have a midday meal," Connegar leaned around Drew and placed fingers against my forehead. "You should eat something."



"How about pizza?" Shadow suggested. "They never make it at Grey House."



That was how we all ended up eating pizza while soaking in the hot tub ten minutes later. Mack and Justin came in, bent time and came back with enough pizzas to feed an army. They also got into the hot tub and didn't mind a bit that they were naked, either. Grace and Devin had to be proud.



"Lissa Beth, what is going on?" That was Gavin and he was now awake and looking for me.



"Gavin, I'm eating pizza and soaking in the hot tub with a bunch of naked men," I answered honestly, looking up at him—he was standing over me on the flagstone floor.



"Are all these yours?" He had hands on his hips.



"Those two aren't," I pointed out Mack and Justin. "But they brought pizza so I'm not complaining." That made Justin snicker.



We had to do introductions after Gavin removed his clothing and climbed in nude. He'd been right all along—it was impossible to embarrass an old vampire. He didn't have a thing to be ashamed of, but then nobody else did, either.



Gavin was shocked when Connegar pulled himself to his full height so he could see. He'd seen Pheligar once but Connegar was a full foot taller. Gavin was duly impressed, even for a vampire.



"This is Shadow Grey, a Master Wizard of Grey House," I introduced him. Shadow offered his hand and grinned. Gavin shook. "And these are Drake and Drew—they're Falchani," I explained. Gavin shook with them as well.



"We want you to come and spar with Dad and Uncle Crane," Drake informed Gavin.



"Drake, I'm not sure they want to see what a grumpy vampire is like," I intervened.



"Cara, I am not that bad," Gavin defended himself.



"Like I said," I gave Gavin a pointed look. "Do you want pizza?" There were still a few slices left. Gavin tried it, liked it, and ate three slices.



* * *



Gavin spent the night, and we stayed up late talking. Eventually he convinced me to sleep—I was tired and he was used to staying up all night. While he was sleeping after dawn arrived, I rose to do some sleuthing. I wanted to know who'd sent Flakkar to unsuspecting and ill-prepared worlds and why. I revisited several gates, discovering the local populations were trying to put their lives back together after the devastation. It wasn't easy; so many deaths had come with no bodies found to bury. A couple of worlds had found bones inside nests, but that's all they found. Most were desperately trying to make sense out of the whole thing. I wasn't having much luck either, until I caught a scent at one gate and it was so slight it was almost non-existent.



Had they stepped a toe across the gate entrance while they held both sides of the gate open? That's the only conclusion I could draw, but the scent was there—Dark Elemaiya. I Looked, too and determined that it would take two to hold a gate open. One could travel through alone, but to hold it open for longer than a second or two? That took more than one. My Dark Elemaiya had help. Whether it was another Dark Elemaiya or not, I intended to find out.



* * *



"Where can I find wrapping paper?" I asked later. Grace and Devin were swimming in the huge pool near the hot tub. I realized I hadn't even gotten into the pool, yet.



"What kind of wrapping paper?" Grace asked, coming over to the side of the pool to look up at me.



"Really big wrapping paper?" I held my arms out as wide as they'd go.



"Get some regular wrapping paper and ask Connegar to enlarge it for you," Devin suggested.



"I hate to ask him to waste his talents on something like that," I said. "Oooh—fabric. Maybe I can get fabric." I was off like a shot.



* * *



"You know, if we could get her to sit still long enough, we might have a good conversation," Devin laughed.



"I like her," Grace said. "She's not going to sit around and wait for the guys to come save her. She'll kick ass first, herself."



"My boys sure love her," Devin agreed. "I don't think Dragon would have appreciated any other woman where they're concerned. Lissa, though, the minute those boys said they wanted her, Dragon was okay with it."



"How many mothers can say their sons are mated to the Vampire Queen?" Grace laughed.



"Well, there's me, Conner, who is Connegar's mother, and Shannon, Shadow's mother. I think that's it," Devin floated away on her back.



* * *



"Mother would like you to come for a visit," Connegar helped me wrap the unicorn painting in drapery fabric. It was wide enough and I'd gotten a floral pattern with wide ribbon to match. I was tying the bow on the package when Connegar mentioned his mother.



"I love your mother," I said, straightening the bow I'd just tied. "Did she say why she wants me to visit?" I gave the bow a critical look and straightened it again.



"She just wants to give you information," Connegar smiled. He was on his knees in my closet, holding up the fabric-wrapped painting while I worked on the bow.



"All right, we'll go now," I said, letting him settle the painting against the closet wall. "Am I dressed okay?" I looked down at my linen slacks and sandals. I had on a royal blue silk blouse with pearl buttons.



"You look very nice. We will go." Connegar folded me away before I could change my mind.



"We are here, Mother," Connegar folded us into a beautiful study. Conner was there, typing on what was now an archaic computer. It even had a printer for paper copies—also something currently archaic.



"Hi, baby," she smiled at Connegar. "Shane is bringing us iced tea," Conner told me, turning her smile on me as well.



"Thanks," I said. "I haven't had iced tea in a long time." Shane did bring us iced tea, winked at me slyly and took off again after leaving petits fours with the tea. I love petits fours. There were two on little saucers with forks and pretty cloth napkins. Conner let me take mine first, and it was good. The iced tea was good, too, and mine was unsweetened, just the way I liked it. I got up to examine the huge Richard Estes painting hanging on the wall in Conner's study. "I always loved his work," I said. Conner loved it, too, I could tell. We turned to other things after I sat down again.



"I wanted to talk to you about who you were before," Conner said after we'd finished our tea and tiny desserts. "Franklin and Greg wanted to be here for this, but I said no. It was difficult enough when I showed them their lives before."



"I'm just glad they found one another again," I said. "They were so close, before."



"They have a M'Fiyah," Conner nodded. "Those are generally set before birth by the recipients themselves. I know this; perhaps one or two others know, but that's it. They all think they're given to them. They're not. They choose. And all parties have to choose before the M'Fiyah is granted."