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"Her mother's funeral is being held right now," Merrill sighed as he and Griffin stood at the end of the bed. "I thought about taking you to watch her stepfather do this to her, but even I can't stand by and watch that."
"Are you members of the family?" A nurse walked in, her voice curt as she asked the question.
"I am her father," Griffin's voice held pain.
"The one who did this to her?" The nurse was prepared to call for security.
"No, that one is in jail. He is only her stepfather. I'm her biological father." Griffin's words caused the nurse to snort.
"Where the hell were you, when this was going on?" she huffed.
"Missing in action," Merrill made the reply for Griffin. The nurse nodded; the handsome, black-haired man might convince her of anything.
"We'd like a moment, and you'll forget you ever saw us," Merrill laid compulsion. The nurse left the room without a word.
"This makes it real, doesn't it?" Merrill said softly to Griffin, who stood and stared as the machine forced air into Lissa's lungs. "And the worst part of it is we have to stand here and look at this, knowing there isn't a single thing we can do about it. Not one damn thing to ease the suffering. What do you think that was like for her, brother? To stand there and watch your mother get beaten to death, and then to take the beating yourself?" Merrill shook his head.
"I know you were tortured there at the end on Cemdris, but that was only a matter of weeks. Nineteen years it was, for your little girl. You took me to see Kiarra first, because you knew I’d focus my obsession on her and turn Lissa down later, sight unseen. You were the one to tell me I’d have a M’Fiyah with Lissa, after Wlodek asked me to teach her. You knew I’d ask you to remove the M'Fiyah without seeing her."
"Merrill, don't do this to me."
"You saw all of this, didn’t you? Only you knew I’d fight you if Lissa was mine and you treated her this way."
"I don’t want to lose what we have. We’ve been brothers all these years," Griffin begged.
"Griffin, how would you feel if that were Wyatt? Or Amara?" Merrill flung a hand toward the hospital bed. "Or do Lissa and your granddaughters mean so little to you?" Merrill went to the bed and lightly brushed fingers against one of Lissa's hands. "It's Daddy Merrill, sweetheart," he whispered. "Everything is going to be all right." Merrill turned back to Griffin. "If you had told me brother, when it was time, it would have been easy enough for me to come and make the turn instead of that half-wit rogue, Sergio."
Griffin sat down heavily in the only chair inside the room and wiped his face with a hand. "Things wouldn't have turned out the same, would they, Griffin?" Belen appeared inside the room. "Our Lissa still had to be knocked around and Merrill, as her true sire and lover would never have allowed it. I'm not arguing with the outcome, only the methods," Belen held up a hand. "Don't you think it's time for a little support from her father?"
"She hates me," Griffin muttered. "I brought harm to her and to Roff."
"Yes—the innocent in all this," Belen nodded at the mention of Roff's name. "It is one thing to use your daughter and granddaughters, but another to deliberately bring harm to such as Roff, or his son. You took his memories, Griffin, and now his son is a stranger to him. What do you think your punishment should be?" Griffin lifted his face to the Nameless One.
"I don't know," Griffin turned away—he couldn't face the accusation in Belen's eyes.
"I am taking Wyatt's immortality," Belen said. "That is your punishment. If he gains it back, he will have to earn it."
"No," Griffin whispered as Belen disappeared.
Chapter 10
Henri, Gervais, Robert and Albert stood before me. "Thank you for coming," I said. "We have three rogues out there somewhere, and I intend to track them down. I'd like your help doing it." I'd sent for the misters and mindspeakers, who now worked for Flavio in the city guard. "If you agree to go," I told Henri and Gervais, "I now have the ability to pass on my misting talents—of turning to mist immediately. Would you like that?" It still took two minutes for them to go to mist, so it remained a weapon of stealth for them. I could change that, if I wanted.
"Lissa, that would be extraordinary and more than we deserve," Henri offered a polite bow.
"You know not to do that," I gave him the best smile I could, although it felt weak and watery. I was determined to get the last of Davan's killers, and doing something about it myself was probably better than sitting on top of my palace dome and crying my eyes out. "I want Robert and Albert with me," I said. "But I want you two to go with me as mist. Take those bastards out as quickly as you can—you'll be able to form hands and claws only, if you want."
"I'm ready," Gervais agreed immediately. Henri had already decided. I put my hands on both of them; afterward they experimented, turning to mist in a blink and then coming back to corporeality.
"That worked," I patted their shoulders. "Let's go, before my palace guard and my army find out what we're doing." I folded them away.
When we found them, the three rogues had almost reached Casino City. They were bent on grabbing hostages and causing general mayhem as they attempted to get away from Le-Ath Veronis. They were about to get a surprise. Lissia was the only city on Le-Ath Veronis surrounded by a wall; there was no wall around Casino City and our three rogues were about to reach the shops and eateries on the outskirts.
It was an easy place to grab hostages, I knew, and if they touched any of my comesuli, I'd kill them myself. I didn't have to, though; we were hovering over them as mist. I dropped Robert and Albert first, and as soon as they started fighting with the rogues, I released my misters, who performed above expectations. The rogues never expected to have their heads removed from behind while Robert and Albert distracted them by attacking in a frontal assault.
"Nice work," I commended my small vampire army, appearing beside them. Robert had a torn sleeve, but that was all. The dead vampires, now turning to ash, hadn't had much fighting experience, I could tell.
"Lissa, would you like to explain to us exactly what it is that you're doing?" Gavin demanded. Gavin, Tony, Winkler, Drake and Drew showed up after half a minute had passed. While they were busy glaring at me, Garde, Karzac and Erland arrived. I think Connegar and Reemagar came in after that just to referee, if needed. Gavin looked angry enough to chew nails and spit tacks, so I was glad to have Larentii backup. I'd sneaked out of the palace without telling anyone so I could track the rogues. I didn't want multiple arguments with my mates, first.
