"Why are you grilling her like a steak pulled from an ancient cow?" Perdil snapped at Zendeval. "Her records were available. It's your fault if you didn't read them." He was pacing behind me as I sat in a chair before Zendeval's desk. His private study was nicely furnished, but I was surprised there weren't any images of nude women on the walls. "And if you are short-handed and your guards are slow, be grateful that you had someone trained well enough to deal with that." Perdil meant the man with the knife. I had no idea how he'd gotten the weapon—it wasn't a kitchen knife; I knew that for certain.

"The guards are working on his identification," Zendeval snapped back at Perdil. "If he's a guest, then he'll be sent out on the next ship." Schooling my face, I watched Zendeval, wondering what might happen to the man if he wasn't a guest but an employee. I was afraid to dwell on that too long.

"I hear the rest of the rush went very well," Perdil sighed. "Zen, we are tired and it is late. Let us go to bed. You can laze about tomorrow if you want; Reah and I cannot."

"My apologies." Zendeval stood and dismissed Perdil and me. Gratefully, I rose and walked unsteadily out of his office. "Perdil, a moment," Zendeval called. Perdil rolled his eyes and walked back inside, closing the door and leaving me alone in the hall outside Zendeval's suite. Shrugging, I walked toward the elevator.

"That was one of our employees who went crazy," Perdil confirmed as Zendeval sat down again. "You know we get one occasionally who cannot be controlled."

"Then the guards should be discreet."

"They will be. Do not fear."

"My plans were interrupted because of this. I do not wish for this to happen again."

"Calm yourself. The full moon is coming. I believe you can achieve your goals then, no?" Perdil stalked out of Zendeval's suite.

"My King, here are the images." Mordis handed a comp-vid to Nedrizif.

"This is the little cook Zendeval is hiding from me?" Ned thumbed through the vid, watching the woman as she leapt to the top of the bar and disarmed the rogue employee. "Moves quite well, too, in addition to being beautiful. Does she visit the voyeur rooms?"

"No, my King."

"Too bad. Rumor has it that Zendeval will send her in with the others. He plans to make his bid, I think. Make sure our other buyers get these images." Nedrizif handed the comp-vid back to Mordis. "I may make a bid myself."

"My information shows that she is the cook who prepares the ice cream you like so much."

"What? Perdil did not do this?" Nedrizif was standing in an instant, outrage apparent across his features.

"No, my King. The kitchen assistants cen in were quite clear. Master Perdil did not do this. This one—Reah Windle—created this dessert."

"Then I will certainly bid against my cousin."

"Of course, sire."

"And I will increase the control I have over him," Nedrizif added.

"Of course, sire."

"Mom, how could this happen?" Tory rubbed his forehead with shaking fingers. He'd just met Raedah and Tara. Knew they were almost finished with their medical certificates. Met their mates, Philavik Weth and Rindavik Foth, even. Knew he had three sets of twins and their actual ages.

"Kifirin did this," Lissa said softly. "He gathered your seed and placed it while Reah was sleeping. Twice she woke to find him sitting on the edge of her bed, telling her that she was pregnant again."

"And that didn't sit well. I've been gone twenty-five fucking years, Mom. Darletta took those years and left me with nothing."

Lissa didn't tell Tory what she was learning from Norian about Darletta. Perhaps Tory had known about her perversions and blocked them, creating holes in his memory. Lissa shivered delicately as she sat beside Tory, gripping one of his large hands in both of hers. "Honey, you're back, now. That's all we care about. What did you think of your oldest girls?"

"Mom, they don't know me, and they should. I missed so much. They're grown, now. And I haven't done one damn thing in the father department for them. Reah must resent the hell out of me."

"I hope she'll sit and talk with all of us sometime soon, honey. We have to convince her that you can't remember much of the past twenty-five years. That it isn't your fault that you weren't there to help raise the girls."

"It wasn't fair. To any of us," Tory moaned.

Darletta was still in residence; I saw her a time or two with Faldin and perhaps one or two other men. She had a sexual appetite, all right. She always ordered sex by dessert every time she came into Galedaro's. Meanwhile, Jerves was getting more fidgety for some reason, and I couldn't figure that out.

"Jerves, do I need to take you to the bar and get you a drink?" I asked at one point, when he came to check our supply of gishi fruit. We'd received a few crates, but were running low on it. It was the same with oxberries, I noticed. I knew where to order those if nobody else did.

"No," he denied, shaking his head. He was terrified we'd run out of essential supplies, I could tell.

Off-day was coming, too, which coincided with the full moon. I wanted to do more exploring on that day. I hadn't had much opportunity, and I wanted to find out what had happened with the knife-wielding young man. None of the news vids carried any information. The vid-screens only supplied basic news services, and I couldn't get anything on my comp-vid. When I wasn't too tired, I worried about that.

"Open that one!" The angry one was shouting. Again. He opened the crate indicated. Fruit was inside, but it was the wrong kind. "Open all of them," the angry one insisted. He moved as quickly as he could to obey.

The cizeuicklycourt was full. Rylend waited behind richly carved double doors, but he peered through a small crack between them, seeing all of Karathia's nobility gathered there. Most of them knew what was about to happen. Ry hoped he and his father could control the crowd if they became angry when Wylend stepped down.

Griffin had also come. Ry recalled that Reah had called him the meddler. Ry hadn't seen Griffin since Wyatt's funeral. He'd changed. He looked old. As if the weight of the worlds had settled onto his shoulders. And, as an immortal, that shouldn't be. Most Karathians were nearly immortal but not wholly so, much like some of the Wizard Houses. Grey House was one of those. Ry, and Erland, through Lissa, were immortal, unless someone found a way to kill them. Lissa's power had seen to it. Now, Ry hoped that he and his father lived through the day.

"I abdicate my throne, in favor of my grandson and heir, Rylend Morphis," Wylend's voice boomed throughout the round hall.

"That's our cue, son," Erland said softly and ushered Ry through the heavy doors when Wylend's power opened them.

Greta and Alphine sat close by, recording the meeting that Teeg San Gerxon and Dee were holding with six leaders from the Campiaan Alliance. "The plans are working," President Drix from Avendor smiled widely as Greta and Alphine stood, raised laser pistols and fired into the gathered dignitaries.

"Teeg lifted both their heads." Dee paced outside a hospital surgery ward, waiting to see if President Drix and two others survived the shootings. Teeg was even now attempting to explain to families of the wounded that his assistants had gone berserk and started shooting. Dee, speaking to Lissa and Tory in the hallway, had no explanation for the actions of Greta and Alphine. Both bodies were inside the city's hospital morgue, waiting to be autopsied.

"Strange things are happening, Dee." Lissa patted the old vampire's arm.

"Like those murders on Surnath," Tory nodded his head.

"Tory, are you remembering something?"

"I think so; it's kind of cloudy, though. Something about someone in a legal firm shooting other employees?" Tory was searching for corroboration.

"I remember that. Happened a while back, didn't it?" Lissa said. "Nobody knew the reason. And then another killing at an electronics manufacturer, after that."

"Getting too close," Tory said.

"What? Honey, what did you just say?"

"Huh? Mom, did I say something?" Tory gave Lissa a blank stare.

"It's gone," Lissa tossed up a hand in frustration.

"They meant to kill Teeg first," Dee sighed. "But he went to mist before they could fire the weapons, so they went after the others. I wasn't important enough to be a target, and had no time to do anything except knock their hands away before Teeg killed them. Then I had to place compulsion on the others, who were uninjured."

"This is such a confusing mess," Lissa said.

"It is most certainly that."

I hid behind a large, leafy plant. Darletta might not recognize me, but Faldin c c bu">

"Missed him, I tell you," Darletta hissed. "I want you to go back to Surnath now and figure out exactly what went wrong. We can't afford more fuck-ups like this."

"We have enough, Darletta. It won't matter in the least if a few go astray."

"I don't care, Fal. Do this or you'll regret it, I promise."

"Darletta, there's no need to get pissy."

"Just go. There's a ship leaving in half a click. Be on it. Get Daddy to help figure this out."

"All right. I wanted to be here for the full moon, though."

"Tough. Do your job, Faldin. If you expect to be at my side when it's all over, then do this. For me."

"I will, honey cakes."

I wanted to gag. Faldin was calling Daddy-fucking Darletta honey cakes? I watched him walk toward the shuttle stop on the west side. Darletta went in the opposite direction, likely heading toward her suite, which was located on Galedaro's top hotel floor. She had the entire floor to herself if my guess was correct. Sighing, I walked toward the bar.

"There you are. I've been searching for you." Zendeval Rjjn was beside me suddenly.