"Reah, do not do this to us, I beg you. I will not ask for sex if you do not wish it."

"Then you'd be the first one," I said.

"You told her." Erland didn't make it a question—he saw the look on Wylend's face.

"Yes. Her pregnancy is a factor, my dear. That poor girl is terrified that her child will be treated as she was treated. I'm not sure she truly trusts any male right now. She worried that you and the others would belittle her because she is female."

"Corolan would treat her so gently she could not help but trust him," Erland snorted. "His children have a loving father. And Garek—he would think the sun had landed in his lap if Reah smiled at him."

"And what would you think, Erland?"

"That our tiny Reah needs attention and reassurance. Even Ry has remarked on Tory's reluctance to spend time with her."

"Is it merely new father jitters or something else?" Wylend hadn't realized that Reah's fears were founded in anything other than imagination.

"I think that plays a part, but I also believe that Tory was unprepared for this role. He loves her but this has overwhelmed him, I think."

"If we go to him and express our concern, it may serve to drive him farther away."

"True," Erland nodded at Wylend's assessment.

"Then how are we to comfort Reah? She thinks we discount everything she says and ignore her desires because she is female."

"I do not know—and all of us saw how Addah Desh treated her earlier—he became outraged because she addressed him directly, the pompous ass." Erland shook his head. "If a daughter had been born to me, I would have been equally as happy as with my son."

I thought about going to Farzi and Nenzi and asking them to come to bed with me. I felt chilled and couldn't explain it. Why had Wylend chosen tonight to tell me what he did? And that after the confrontation with Addah. Addah had never noticed me. Never thought to speak directly to me—it had been through a nanny or through Edan. Now, others controlled my life. Truly, I'd been surprised that Wylend had honored my request to go to bed alone. I knew I needed someone with me—it just couldn't be him. Not this night. Perhaps I could find a way to deal with this soon—I hoped so—I didn't want to give up our relationship. Instead, I curled into a small lump and sniffled miserably throughout the night.

"I want Karzac," I muttered the following morning when Teeg announced that I needed something to get out of my mood and offered to send for Jes. I didn't expect him to listen, but Karzac was there in moments, checking me over. Exhaustion was the verdict after Karzac finished his examination. I think every male in the house grumbled when they learned they weren't getting any meals cooked by me for two days. It only served to make me feel guilty about it. Karzac put a stop to that by placing a healing sleep for six hours, after making sure I'd eaten something first.

"Stop pushing her," Karzac growled at the room filled with males. "I fail to understand the logic employed to expose her to that miscreant who was once her grandfather. Nothing good would come of that, no matter when it happened. I have spoken to Erland—Reah is frightened that her child will be treated as she was treated." Karzac glared at Tory, who refused to meet the healer's eyes. "Perhaps you thought only for yourselves, is that it?" Karzac was so angry he folded away rather than allow his temper to run away with him.

"I should have brought Jes anyway," Gavril muttered.

"Take these—they are locating beacons," Yebri passed the small chips to Jes and Ardalin. "These are not spelled—they will work unless someone with power realizes that you have them and deactivates them. Keep them hidden so we may find you when the time is right," Yebri held up the small receiver in her hands. Jes had asked for something—he knew the time was close when he would be taken to Teeg. He'd informed Yebri and Nidris that it was likely that one of the warlocks would be transporting him, so they would have to wait and strike when a message was received from Jes. Jes already had a communicator for that purpose.

"This is going to be easier than I thought," Ardalin gloated. Yebri schooled her face—she disliked the obsessed woman more and more as time went on. In fact, Yebri was only waiting until this was over—she intended to get away from Nidris and hide somewhere so she couldn't be found by any of them.

A storm of activity surrounded the plantation—nobody was saying anything but it would have been clear to even the uneducated; they were gearing up to take the Hazlan family. I felt better after my two-day rest, although I guided Nenzi through the making of dinner on the second night. I had to if I expected to get much in the way of a meal. Nenzi did very well with help from his brothers Perzi and Darzi. They would make excellent assistants in any kitchen.

"I'm surprised you're not asking us about the preparations," Astralan accepted the plate I handed to him—breakfast was a casual affair and people wandered in when they had time.

"I think I know what's going on," I said, offering him a cup of tea and juice. He accepted both. "All I ask is that you get them all."

"We intend to, though Nidris is our main target. Wylend may even come and do some questioning with Erland and two others."

"Astralan?" I looked at him—he was a warlock, after all—from Karathia.

"What is it, Reah?"

"I learned about the cycles the other night."

"Ah. And you want to know about my brothers and me."

"Yes." I ducked my head—I'd never been so forward with Teeg's warlocks before.

"Stellan and I are currently in male cycles. Galaxsan and Celestan are in female cycles. It isn't always easy on us, pretty girl. We've gone through this for several thousand years."

"I can see that it might be difficult," I nodded.

"He won't love you any less, Reah." Astralan reached over and tilted my chin up with a finger. "My father loved my mother until the day he died. They were together for twenty-seven thousand years. We also knew the males and the females who were our parents' lovers. All of them were like an extended family to us. My brothers and I were devastated when Nidris and his cronies attacked Warlend Arden's court—both our parents died in that coup. They held the throne for three days before Wylend, Erland and a handful of others came and wrested it away. My brothers and I were angry and blamed Warlend and his son for allowing this to happen. We left Karathia and signed up with anybody who'd hire us. Some good, some bad. Until the Hardlows hired us. We were paid beyond anyone's imaginings and none of it settled well with us. Teeg came along and pulled us out of that hole."

"Then I'm glad for you," I sighed. Astralan removed his hand—he'd been gentle when he'd touched me.

"Reah, you have other mates and Wylend doesn't mind that. Offer him the same trust. Show him how much you care."

"I trust him. I was worried about the others who share his life."

"Understandable. Ask for a meeting, little girl. Wylend will arrange it."

"I'll try." I went back to my breakfast preparation as Tory and Teeg walked into the kitchen. I'd barely spoken to either of them and after Karzac's reprimand, none of them had bothered me in bed, choosing to sleep elsewhere. I was and wasn't happy about that, but Farzi and Nenzi had been spending the nights with me instead. They were warm and supportive. That's what I needed most at the moment.

"We're going," Tory came to my bedroom later as I was putting laundry away. There wasn't any staff to do it for us, so I'd done as much as I could with help from the reptanoids.

"Try to keep everybody alive," I gazed steadily at him. When had we become estranged? I felt like blaming Teeg for this—I thought I knew Tory until Teeg had dumped me on Le-Ath Veronis and we'd all learned he was Gavril. I couldn't even use his name anymore. My friend was gone forever, leaving a cynical autocrat in his place. And now, he'd managed to take my High Demon mate away. My child might be fatherless before it was over.

"Reah, I don't have time for this," Tory almost exploded. He must have seen the emotions crossing my face.

"Then go. Do whatever it is you're going to do, Tory." I turned my back to him, stuffing clothing into a drawer. I wasn't paying attention to what was going into the drawer or whether it even belonged there.

"Of course I'm sure, you idiot!" Jes shouted into the communicator. "Teeg just contacted me—said he'd have someone transport me to him tomorrow. That means the take-down is today! Get the fuck away from there!"

Nidris stood rooted to the floor for precious seconds after Jes ended the call. If he took time to gather his family and warn them, it could be too late. The ASD and Teeg San Gerxon had allied in order to capture him. His family was of little consequence if Nidris escaped. Nidris was more than thankful that Derdris now wore his face—it would buy him time. Nidris had a safe place set up on Tulgalan and tomorrow he might tap the core well enough to achieve what needed to be done to fulfill his agreement with Jes and get his hands on the female High Demon. Jes would placate the little female until Nidris could force her to his will. Then Jes would become superfluous and could be dealt with easily. Nidris felt a pang of regret for his family, but it only lasted for a moment before he shook himself and folded to the safe place he'd prepared for an emergency.

Derdris was frightened out of his mind when at least twenty ASD agents surrounded him, all with ranos rifles pointed in his direction. He might have thought about folding away but two powerful warlocks were there, placing a shield around him. The only thing Derdris could do was raise his hands in surrender when one of the warlocks snarled a hate-filled "That's Nidris," to his companions.