Blood Royal Connie Suttle

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."You may drive me around later," Gavin offered.Paul and Deryn chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, both yawning.They'd been asleep all day, I could tell.Not that I blamed them; they'd fought hard beside Charles the night before."Let's take the wolves for a bite to eat," I suggested, "since we're out of live deer.""How do you know about that?" Deryn asked.Tony and René walked into the kitchen, then.René was dressed more casually than Gavin, in a designer shirt and slacks, his slightly curly, dark blond hair styled neatly.He had a smile in his warm brown eyes as he caught sight of Gavin and me.Gavin pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me.With René, Tony, both werewolves and the comesuli in the house, Merrill's huge manor was filling up nicely."I spent some time with Winkler and Weldon, remember?" I said, answering Deryn's question."I misted over several runs, just to make sure the Grand Master was safe.""You watched them hunt?" Deryn didn't know what to think."The bear was the hardest; I think I turned away when they killed it," I said."I love bear meat," Paul sighed."I don’t think it's on the menu here or at any of the restaurants in London," I replied."You'll have to settle for domesticated bovine."* * *"This restaurant belongs to Adam Chessman," Merrill informed me quietly as we walked into a restaurant later.Franklin offered to prepare a meal at the house, but Merrill decided to take the werewolves and comesuli out to eat so Frank wouldn't have to cook.The maître d' of the upscale eatery recognized Merrill immediately.Consequently, we were seated right away.Giff and Roff were excited that they could read the language on the menu and talked together about what they should order.Paul got into a conversation with them, pointing out what was good.They knew not to reveal either race and were quite circumspect.Gavin, René, Tony and I didn't eat; we merely had a glass of wine and talked with the others.Tony gazed longingly at the steak his brother ordered, but he knew he wasn't hungry; René had seen to his feeding earlier.Merrill had a small meal, laughing and talking with René, Gavin and Tony.I was content to watch all of them, I think, although Greg and Franklin were teasing one another and then teasing me."I want you to sing karaoke with me again," Greg announced."Buy a piano and we can do it at home," I suggested."But we won't have as good an audience," Greg declared."Fine.We'll go right after we get done here," I said.That's how we ended up at the same bar Greg, Franklin and I had gone to, shortly after my stint in the sun.I can tell you this; every man inside the bar drooled over Merrill, Gavin, René, and the others.There wasn't a slouch in the bunch.Even Giff and Roff were invited for drinks.They smiled and said they were with me.Greg signed both of us up for a song apiece.Greg loves Judy Garland so he did Over the Rainbow.I didn't know what I was going to do until I got on the stage.I did You Raise Me Up just for Greg, and played the piano instead of using canned music.Merrill was staring at Franklin when I finished to a nice round of applause."I will buy a piano," Gavin said when I sat down again."How did you hide this from us?""There hasn't been a lot of time for this," I pointed out."I turned down a music scholarship at an out-of-state college when I graduated from high school.I wanted to stay close and make sure my mother had some support against Howard Graham.He managed to kill her anyway, after I finished my first year at OU.It was difficult after that, because people would recognize my name in some of my classes.I dropped out of several because I couldn't handle the stares after a while." Gavin didn't say anything; he pulled me against him instead, and dropped a kiss on my forehead.Greg was tiring, so we left shortly after that.I had no idea how much time he had left or what the disease was going to do to him before it took his life.I wondered, too, when Merrill might make his offer as he said he would.We found a bedroom for Roff and Giff; Merrill offered them separate rooms, but they insisted on using the same one so an extra bed was brought in.Merrill and Franklin arranged to buy clothing and other necessities for them.Gavin and I left the others and went to Merrill's roof.I hadn't sat on a roof since leaving Refizan, which made me think about Gabron.So many of his vampires had died the last night I was there, and I didn't even know their names to grieve for them properly.Here on Earth, we were into August already; time was moving so swiftly and there I was, thinking that as an immortal it should slow dramatically."How have you done this, Gavin?" I shook my head sadly."How have you watched things change around you daily while you don't change? How have you watched people you love die in front of you? How do you handle that?" I was sitting beside him, his arms wrapped around my shoulders."You worry for Greg." His words were a statement and not a question."And Franklin," I nodded."You have had much pain in your life already," he sighed, ruffling my hair with his breath."You do not look forward to the grief coming because of this." I nodded at his words."You cannot choose for everyone, Lissa," he pointed out."They must make their own decisions in this respect.Some do not desire this immortality.They do not want the restrictions this existence imposes.They know the pain is coming and they are preparing themselves for it.All we can do is support them in their decisions and be grateful for the time we have.""Gavin, I want you to know now, and for you to let Merrill know, that if anyone ever tells you I've walked into the sun and am dying as a result, then they are lying," I said.I remembered how Aurelius had died—he'd been lured into a trap with the lie that one of his vampire children had been injured by the sun."When I went to Refizan, they put something beneath the skin on the back of my neck," I explained as Gavin stared at me in confusion."It's technology from another planet that shields me from the sun.It's supposed to last a hundred years.""It will keep you from dying in the sun?" Dark brown eyes raked my face, searching for verification.He was shocked, I could tell."Yeah.You should see the Larentii who put it there," I said, smiling.I was thinking about Pheligar's sky-blue skin."Larentii?""He's eight and a half feet tall, has blue skin, blue eyes and hair the color of wheat," I said."He placed the disc beneath my skin and I didn't even feel it.""The idea of other worlds is not new," Gavin sighed as his arms tightened about me."I was in the Council chamber four years ago when the female Saa Thalarr was brought in.That was the last time I saw Chessman; he was with her, as was Merrill." Gavin's gaze was now turned toward the night sky; it was mostly clear and I could see a few stars shining overhead."I met them," I said."Adam and Kiarra have a child, now.His name is Justin." Gavin drew in a breath at my words."What's wrong?" I asked."When Chessman was turned, he had a younger brother named Justin.Long dead now, of course.The Council considered taking him after Adam was turned.Merrill prevented it.""Adam lowered his shields and I got his scent," I said."He has Bright Elemaiyan blood—I know that now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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