Chapter Three #3
Min smiled, and a thick curtain of grey surrounded Vaia. She scrambled to get dressed and grinned at the interaction around the thick column of grey.
“Hey, why can’t I see through that?”
Min snorted. “Because you are weak, dude. Sad and weak.”
“I am in the XIA.”
“Fine, you are weak, Agent. Sad and weak.” Min’s voice was amused.
“Min, don’t taunt the men in the room. They are both married.” She got her bra on and pulled her dress on over her head, zipping it.
“The other one is trying to stare through the curtain.”
“That is my husband, Azreen.”
“Oh, pleased to meet you, sir. Your wife is great.”
Vaia laughed. “High praise from her. She grew up near the gateway. She has power on top of her power and can sew a straight seam in the dark. She’s an excellent employee.” She put on her underwear and stepped into her heels. There was even a light coat in the bag.
“And I have her coffee order memorized. Very important.”
“Okay, Min. Ready.”
Min began to appear as the column slowly disappeared to the floor. The jazz hands were all Min. “Ta-dah!”
Vaia nodded. “Thanks, Min. I feel more like me now. Oh, formally, Minayel, this is my husband, Azreen.”
Min stepped forward and stuck her hand out. “Hello, Mr. Vaia.”
Azreen’s expression was focused. “You are from the gateway?”
Min nodded. “I am. Have you been?”
“Are you familiar with Arkus?”
Min paused. “Yes. He has recently taken a body and is pursuing his previous host.”
“He is a relation of my father’s.”
“Oh. Nice.” She looked at Vaia. “You knew that?”
“Yup. That is why we got married. He was putting out a lot of power, and they didn’t want him to explode.” She smoothed her hands over her dress, grabbed her purse, and looked at Azreen. “Shall we?”
Reymark said, “I will transport us out.”
Vaia shook her head. “No. I want our exit here on the security cameras. You can yoink us out of the parking lot as easily as this room.”
Min frowned. “Why are you going with him?”
“Because he’s my cousin, apparently.”
Reymark grinned and bowed.
“Oh, you are part of the group with the dark fae. Nice.”
He frowned. “How do you know that?”
“Oh, I was at the wedding.” Min grinned. She nodded to Vaia. “Call me if you need me. Let me know when you are coming back to the shop.”
“Of course. Have a good night.”
Min kept the plastic bag in her hand and swanned out the door with as much energy as she had entered it.
Reymark looked at Vaia. “Why is she here? In Redbird.”
“What?”
“She is tremendously powerful. So many of the folk who were born before the last wave are now experiencing... side effects.”
Vaia was concerned. “What kind of side effects?”
“Demigod kind of side effects. I don’t think the gateway would have allowed her to leave, but then, I don’t know much about it.”
“Nylora was near the gateway when she got pregnant.” Vaia settled her coat over one arm. “Shall we?”
Azreen extended his arm. She put her hand on the back of his coat sleeve, and they walked out the door with Reymark.
She nodded to the doctor on evenings and continued to the elevator.
The vampire on duty made a call and left his post. He followed them out and grinned as he left them on the main floor.
Vaia sighed. “Let’s go, then.”
Reymark checked his phone and sighed. “The king had better appreciate this.”
Vaia smiled. “Jennel just sent you a dirty text?”
“Yes.” He hissed. “Come on.”
Vaia laughed, and they headed out to the parking lot. They took a few steps outside the hospital doors, and Remark put his hand on their backs, and they were wrapped in shadows.
Between was a strange place, where eyes shone in the darkness, but no one came near her as they took the handful of steps before they were suddenly in a room with a particular blue brightness that was easy on the eyes.
“Here we go, Uncle. Your daughter, Vaia Depford. Vaia, your father, Kremoryn Rolk.”
The other shadow cleared his throat.
“Fine, King Kremoryn Rolk. Oh, and Krem, this is Vaia’s husband, Azreen. Call me when you need a lift out of here.”
Reymark winked and disappeared.
The shadows got out of the throne in the corner and walked toward her, forming into a very attractive man with sharp cheekbones. She saw his eyes and nodded. “Well, definitely some kind of family.”
He grinned and stopped in front of her. “You grew up so well.”
“I am guessing Mom didn’t mention it?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t that kind of event.”
“Oh. Ewe!” She made a face.
He chuckled. “It was a different time, and she wanted a wild weekend before she got married. As it takes quite a bit of repetition for one of my kind to reproduce, I didn’t consider it an option. Well, not until you began your annual occupation.”
“So, you have known about me for a few years?”
He chuckled. “Yes, but you were fine on your own, until you weren’t. Have you stopped the attacks against you?”
“No. Not yet. I still need a shower or a hot bath or something.” She sighed. “I am getting my feet under me.”
“Hm. Who is this?”
“My husband. Azreen the dragonborn.”
Kremoryn leaned back. “Really? Why didn’t you use his energy to defend yourself?”
“It was complicated. It has been rectified now.”
He sniffed. “But you are still untouched. I have several warriors who would be delighted to spend time under your bed.”
She swallowed. “Um, polite pass for now.”
Azreen gasped. “For now?”
Vaia winced. “Well, dark energy is a little wild, and those who have it are more so.”
Kremoryn grinned. “That is an understatement. Do you think you can keep up, Azreen?”
Azreen nodded. “I am confident I can manage it.”
Vaia blinked and stared at him. “Huh. I hadn’t considered you as an option.”
“For...”
“A snack. I am dark energy. I get hungry. I have a license to fill up once a year, but that was the same night I got shot, so I used a lot of it. I am going to get hungry a lot earlier than I did last year. Somewhere near the winter solstice.”
He frowned. “What do you mean, hungry?”
“All the energy I have used to knock people out, change their outlooks, and keep them from harming me has come from a stash of energy I use to power my survival. When you lacked control, there was spillover. I fed off that. Then it stopped, and I knew about the exit clause for familiars, so I waited. That takes you up to this week.”
Azreen bent and kissed her. She squeaked as a furnace’s worth of power dumped into her. Vaia held onto his jacket, and the kiss went on and on until her skin was glowing and breathing was optional. He lifted his head. “Do you have what you need?”
“Absolutely not.” She grabbed him and pulled him back for another kiss. Azreen got into the spirit, and his hands wrapped around her and held her against him. She wasn’t drawing from him; she loved the way he tasted. After a few minutes, she slowed the kiss, and he did the same.
Azreen smiled. “Do you need more? I have more.”
Her male parent snorted. “Keep it to yourselves, or show us everything. We are an open-minded people.”
She looked at him in a daze and then remembered how he had described encountering her mother. “Right. Dark energy.”
Kremoryn grinned with his super-sharp teeth. “Not quite demon, not quite fae. We love to live in the shadows and play with those who dare.”
“Right. So, why am I here?”
He cocked his head. “I wanted to meet you, daughter. We rarely have females. It is always an excuse for celebration. Of course, you are married, so the type of celebration will have to be altered from the norm.”
“Um, right. I have to get a hotel room because a bunch of bullets perforated my house with me inside it.”
“Won’t your husband provide?”
Azreen still had his arms around her. “I haven’t had a chance to purchase a home locally. I was going to begin the process after I met with Vaia.”
She looked at him. “Your family doesn’t have a place here?”
“No. We travelled to find you.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. That is why you disappeared afterward.”
He smiled. “Did you look for me?”
She answered honestly. “Yes.”
He frowned, and then understanding hit him, and he hugged her. “I am so sorry I wasn’t here.”
“I found my footing.” She smiled weakly. “I was just scared at first.”
“You should not have had to.”
Her nose twitched. She smelled popcorn. Kremoryn was sitting, hovering a few feet from the ground with a huge bucket of popcorn. “Oh, don’t mind me. This is fascinating. What happened?”
“Her mother sold her to my family to use her compatibility with me for material gain. She was eighteen, I was sixteen, and my family whisked me off immediately after the wedding and familiar binding.”
Her father said, “She sold you?”
“It was one of the kinder things that had been offered to me. It was a relief to no longer be considered part of their household.”
Kremoryn put his popcorn down and walked up to her, touching her cheek, and then she felt the cool caress of him in her thoughts. He chuckled. “Definitely my daughter. Oh, that’s how you feed. Clever. Oh, there they are. Interesting. That will require further investigation.”
He was touching on all of her interactions with her family, stepfather, and half-siblings.
He withdrew his mind from hers and smiled. “It seems you are due some back child support.”
“Uh, I am fine. I am just between disaster and my next house. I own several properties around town, but they are all occupied. I wouldn’t kick anyone out.”
“Ah, so, not like your mother.”
She paled. “No. Never like her.”
He sighed. “If she had just told me about you...”
“She didn’t have your information.”
He snorted. “I left my number etched under her skin. It’s probably still there. I will see if I can get a rise out of her once you are gone.”
“Uh, what are you going to do?”
He chuckled. “Nothing that you want to know about, Vaia. Now, I have a suite at the Arkwood. It is yours until you find something that you feel is suitable.” He held a phone in a shadow tentacle and another typed in a number.
He had it to his ear and said, “Hello, Daphne? Oh, so glad you recognized my voice. Well, my daughter and her husband need my suite for a while. Please get it ready. Thank you, dear. They will be checking in tonight. I will forward their names and descriptions. Yes, that’s right.
Normal couple. No party favours needed. They will be there within the hour.
Housekeeping will be compensated accordingly. Thank you. Good night.”
His tentacle jabbed the phone. “There you go. All sorted.”
She could feel Azreen getting ready to ask the question and didn’t cover his mouth in time. “Party favours?”
Kremoryn grinned that wide, creepy grin. “Oh, I really want to complete his education. Young dragons have so much energy.”
“His experience level is his own business.”
“And yet you knew what I meant.”
“I hang out with dark fae. It’s a side effect.” She took in his knowing look. “And my mother made sure I knew exactly where she met you.”
Azreen asked, “What happened?”
She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “They made me after hours of concerted effort and some misdirected attempts on Kremoryn’s part.”
The deep, booming laugh from her father told her that she was right on with her description. He sighed after the laugh. “I need to throw another one of those parties. They were such... fun.”
“Uh. Great. Hire good cleaners.”
He chuckled. “You have been to a party?”
“No, but I am a dressmaker. Several of the ladies I have clothed have had easy access in mind for their selections.”
“Oh, you are successful?”
“Very. I keep my advertising to word of mouth, but I handle a lot of work for women who are tricky fits. Shifters of one kind or another, and those who burn or freeze.”
“And you said you had properties?”
“Half a dozen. Some residential, some commercial.”
“You are comfortable?”
“When my house doesn’t have holes. Yes.”
“Why were they shooting at you?”
“Um, I had just sent Azreen documents for a divorce. The mercenaries showed up a little bit later.”
“Why are you trying to divorce him?”
“Um, we have an unconsummated union.”
Her father stared at her. He looked at her husband and said, “Are you stupid?”
Azreen’s cheeks darkened. “I lost track of time. I intended to join her eight years ago.”
“Ah. You have been training with your father?”
“Yes. I have the control. I have the skills, and the second mind has begun speaking to me. My mother tried to continue my career far beyond what I wanted.”
“How is Ingharol?”
“Still trying to control the world.”
“And Azorzeen?”
“Still trying to hide from my mother. He’s a little big right now.”
The king shook his head. “Dragons. How old is your father right now?”
“About seven hundred.”
“How long has your mother been with him?”
“Forty years.”
“So, he decided he wanted a kid, and it took him over a decade to get his cock to work.”
Azreen sighed. “My father was never that interested in that side of things.”
“I see. Well, are you planning to be an aged idiot as well?”
“No. My interests are much more immediate.” He kept Vaia held against him.
“Well, I will look into who is trying to end my dreams of being a grandfather when they have just begun.” He chortled. “I have been bored of late, and this will be fun.”
“Uh, should I warn Matthias?”
“No. I will use between for my purposes.” He patted her cheek. “Leave it to me, and I am now sending you to the hotel. You look a little wild around the eyes.”
Vaia didn’t have a chance to respond. She and Azreen were standing in the centre of a glossy and marble-covered hotel. Everyone was staring.
A goblin-troll stepped forward in a very nice dark grey suit that made his six arms look perfectly normal. He bowed. “Princess, my lord, I am Rolf, your personal butler during your stay. Please come with me.”
Vaia was still in Azreen’s arms, and he slid his hand to her back, keeping her against him as they headed to the elevator so that she could absorb what she had learned.
It had been a helluva week.