* * *

"Lissa? Thank goodness. She's waking."

Those were the words I woke to—and I was completely disoriented when I did wake. I barely recognized Winkler's voice; he appeared to be talking to someone else. I was attempting to sort out the scents.

"Lissa, wake and eat, love, or I will be forced to administer another transfusion." Karzac spoke now, and my eyes popped open in pure self-defense. "Ah, I knew that would bring her around if nothing else would." I blinked, bringing Winkler and Karzac into focus. Gavin, Garde, Erland and the others were standing behind those two. Except Shadow. My wizard wasn't there, and wasn't likely to ever be there. Not anymore. I wanted to cry.

"Lissa, you must put that out of your mind and come to the kitchens. We need to get your body back in condition. While a vampire will recover faster than anyone else, this will still take a few days, I think." Karzac moved Winkler away and sat on the side of my bed. He lifted my hand and kissed it.

"Honey, you haven't been here all this time, have you?" I didn't want to take any of Karzac's time away from little Kevis. He was six months old, now. As was Wyatt. Yeah, I had a little brother I'd barely seen. I wondered if I were behaving badly over that.

"Lissa, it matters not how long I've been here. Grace and Kevis are not being mistreated. They are with Mack and Justin at the Strawberry Farm. I spent most of the night there, with them. Now are you satisfied?" Karzac was lifting an eyebrow—my signal that he was done with the discussion.

The Strawberry Farm was on the light half of Le-Ath Veronis—we'd moved one of Kiarra and Adam's old homes there before it was knocked down in Fresno roughly two hundred years in the past. It was the home their son, Justin, had grown up in and he and some of the others frequented it. They often came to the palace for meals when they were visiting, too. Even Kiarra, Adam, Merrill and Pheligar came every few weeks. It had turned into a good decision to move the house, the garages and the guesthouse to Le-Ath Veronis from Fresno's past.

"Then let's go to the Strawberry Farm for breakfast," I suggested. "Unless you don't think that's a good idea." I didn't want to barge in on Grace and the others.

"Lissa, you would be most welcome there, but we have to get you up and dressed, first," Karzac leaned in to give me an arm so I could pull myself up. I still felt shaky, and everybody was going to see that.

"I will help her shower." Roff elbowed his way past the others, which surprised me. Roff was now a stronger, more confident Roff, since becoming vampire. His wings were tucked tightly against his body—Tony had informed me that Roff was able to use them as weapons at times—he and Gavin had started teaching Roff fighting skills.

"Honey, I'm glad to see you." I held out my arms and Karzac moved aside quickly so I could get a hug from my former comesula.

"Not as glad as I to see you," Roff mumbled into my hair while he gave me a series of kisses wherever his mouth wandered. Flavio was giving him more and more freedom, I'd noticed. Roff still spent nights at Flavio's manor, but he spent much of his waking hours at the winery or with Giff, his brother Markoff and his nephew Dariff. I wanted to ask him about Giff, but held off for the moment. Instead, Roff lifted me and carried me toward my walk-in shower.

Chapter 3

I was having breakfast with my mate posse plus Grace, Kevis, Justin and Mack when the news update appeared on the vid screen. We'd been watching the local news—not much new on that front, until this.

"We have been unable to determine by any means available, just what has caused so much devastation on Twylec." The journalist was standing in front of the Solar Red temple I'd destroyed. "While the former Queen received payment from Solar Red to set up this temple under a false name, many local residents were not deceived."

"My brother was tortured—he's in the hospital now," a teary-faced young woman spoke to the camera. "We all knew what this was the minute they set up and people began to disappear. They were protected by the crown."

"Tamaritha made a mistake," Satris, the newly crowned king of Twylec declared to another journalist. "But the religion was so firmly entrenched when I came to the throne that I knew it would be next to impossible to rid ourselves of it. I received death threats from them if I didn't cooperate, as did many of my staff."

"Did you notify the Alliance Security Detail?" The journalist asked. Satris went into a coughing fit, and his assistant waved the camera off. The feed cut back to the original journalist standing outside the remains of the temple.

"The locals are preparing a low-key celebration over the demise of Solar Red and the legitimate religions are assisting in this. They also continue to search for any records concerning the hundreds of citizens who have been reported missing since Solar Red came to Twylec. This is Jandel Santiz, reporting for news twenty-two."

"I hope they have someone ready to take Satris's place when he croaks," Mack muttered, his dark eyes expressing anger. He was Martin Walters' son, through and through. Not just in looks, but temperament, too. He wanted fair treatment for everyone, just as his father did.

"Have you seen the news, Lissa?" Jeral folded in with Aurelius. They'd become very good friends and spent a lot of time together, when they weren't on assignment. Jeral had taken quickly to dispensing justice for the Saa Thalarr. Aurelius, too, was helping him through Davan's death. I wanted to sigh as Davan's image appeared in my mind. I missed him terribly.

"Uncle Jeral, how are you?" I asked. He came to stand beside me, bending slightly to give me a peck on the cheek. Aurelius did the same, and he offered a smile with the kiss. "And I just saw the news, if you mean the whole thing with Twylec."

"I did. I understand all the security cameras became fuzzy when my niece went a little crazy." Jeral grinned widely—a very unusual display of emotion for him.

"I can't have them seeing that. They'll all be on my doorstep tomorrow, wanting something similar or calling for my head, depending on how you look at all this," I teased. "The only good thing about Solar Red or Red Hand is that all the criminals congregate together, so I can kill them all at once."

"Nice of them to do that," Drew hugged me—I'd sat between him and Drake to eat my breakfast. Gavin was giving me looks, though. I think he wanted to haul me out of there as quickly as he could. Maybe he'd settle for a stint in the hot tub—I still felt cold. "And we'll all settle for a little time in the hot tub, I think." Drake grinned at me and then at his brother. He'd read my thoughts—I hadn't shielded them.

"No sex for a week," Karzac laid down the law.

"Honey, you enjoy that, don't you?" I wanted to throw an uneaten piece of toast at my Refizani physician mate. Karzac threw the term sex around as if it didn't embarrass me in the least. With as many mates as I had, I suppose it shouldn't embarrass me. It did.

"I do not wish to be forced to heal the debilitating headache afterward," Karzac grumbled at me. "And you do not wish to have the headache either—be honest."

"Fine," I muttered. If I were honest, as Karzac said, I was still feeling shaky.

* * *

The hot tub was where Rigo and Thurlow found me later, only seconds after my posse and I had gotten into it (all naked, of course). Then new guy showed up, just as Rigo and Thurlow were shucking clothes to get in, too. I slapped a hand over my face.

"I am sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier; I am Norian Keef, Director of the ASD," new guy said and started shucking his clothes, too. Well, he might fit in, after all. He slipped into the water on the other side of Thurlow. "This is nice," he said. "Why didn't I know about this before?"

"Uh, Lissa, your new assignment for the Alliance is working with the ASD Director, here," Tony jerked his head toward Norian Keef.

"ASD—Alliance Security Detail?" I asked, my voice almost a squeak. "How the hell did that happen?"

"The Founder and twenty members of the Grand Alliance Council always choose who works as Liaison, and the Liaison's world always houses the ASD for a period of thirty years," Norian cracked a smile, as if his current circumstances pleased him in some way. At least he was calm and relaxed today. Not only was he relaxed, he was naked, sitting in hot water up to his nipples and smiling. Nice. "Don't worry," Norian held out a hand, "we're paid by the Alliance, and our housing costs are reimbursed. I've already worked that out with Kyler—I understand she's your niece?"

"Yes." I wasn't thrilled with her father at the moment, however. I still wanted to slap Glendes and Raffian through a wall. "The Founder and Twenty Charter members decided?" My question was flat and resigned. It was one of those things—you don't show up for the meeting, you get the assignment. Didn't matter that I'd been separated—body and spirit—at the time. The assignment and Norian's words brought worries and suspicions to my mind, but I shoved them aside before any of my mates picked up on them. This was my concern, and I didn't want to trouble the others with it. I'd just wait and see how it all played out.

"They haven't lost sight of what happened on Refizan three centuries ago, even if the others haven't studied their Alliance history," Norian said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"The Governor of the Realm on Refizan hasn't forgotten," Karzac muttered.

"I have copies of that footage, now. I didn't know what they were talking about—wasn't sure it was possible, even. I know differently, now." Norian lifted his head and stared at me.

"Don't make me place compulsion not to spread that around," I grumbled.

"Don't worry," Norian held out a hand. "I'm just looking forward to the next time. I sent out my agents this morning. I'll be getting information within days."