"you wouldn't be able to find them easily if they were hiding inside a void," joey suggested.

"a void?" i stared at him. he was merrill's last vampire turn and reportedly a genius. around five-eight in height, he had strawberry-blond hair a shade darker than mine and green eyes. those eyes were trained on me while ideas formed behind them.

"yeah. where there isn't much of anything. it would be easier to find a single grain of sand in the ocean, i think."

"but what would happen if something was stuck inside a void-something that didn't belong?" i asked. "what would that do?"

"things would definitely be out of balance, i think," joey said. "the largest void actually counterbalances everything else-sort of weighing what is empty against what is full."

"there used to be a gate, too, into that void," griffin appeared at my elbow. "hello, daughter. amara says to give you a kiss from her," griffin leaned down to do that. "the baby will be here soon. therefore, you have to wrap this up quickly."

"but i closed the gates down to everybody except the saa thalarr and people like that," i said.

"but the ra'ak have the power to open a new gate, although their gates stay open afterward, unless they deliberately close them again. the original gates had to be held open with power. they would also shut immediately after you traveled through them. what do you think that might mean, sweetheart?" griffin blinked at me.

"that there's an open gate into a void." i said what i knew.

"a void is a very cold place," joey offered. "if they've stuck a planet or something like it inside a void, it would be a warmer spot in a very cold place. right?"

"let me get this straight," i muttered. "they've placed a planet or something inside the void, where it shouldn't be. just so they can raise their enhanced soldiers, after collecting them up and down the timeline, that is. and then they took them out a gate, while there was still a gate, but they had to create another one when i closed the gates against them," i said.

"it could work," joey agreed. "pretty sneaky-and smart, too."

"well, daughter, i think you have it figured out, now all you have to do is decide how to eliminate the problem." griffin leaned down and kissed me again. "that one is from me," he smiled and disappeared.

"i'll have to go to energy," i grumped.

"i can only give a little advice; i cannot interfere by my own word," kifirin said, standing with me. "look for the warm place in the largest void, avilepha."

"sure, honey. and as soon as i figure out where the largest void is, i'll definitely look for the warm spot there." i patted his face and folded away.

"is she going to be all right?" kiarra asked.

"i do not know," kifirin sighed and disappeared.

i should have asked joey if he knew where i should start looking. i didn't see any flashing signs pointing in the proper direction or how far it might be before i got there. i had to start looking with my head instead of looking with whatever served as my eyes while i was energy. a void isn't easy to find; i learned that the hard way. i had to look for cold spots after a while, until i found the biggest cold spot ever. almost a billion light-years across, it might be much more difficult than looking for a needle in a haystack to find the minuscule warm spot in it. once i found the warm spot, then i had to figure out how to destroy it-after i determined whether it was the only place where the ra'ak were manufacturing their army. no problem. except i didn't know what the fuck i was doing to start with.

"mom, we're exhausted." justin and mack flopped down at the kitchen island three months after lissa disappeared. kifirin hadn't been seen, either. grace had gone into labor shortly after lissa began her search for the source of the ra'ak-enhanced and kevis halivar, karzac's son, came into the world, voicing his opinion loudly upon arrival.

griffin's son had been born six weeks later and griffin and amara named him wyatt. wylend approved of the name and immediately proclaimed wyatt his heir. amara was glowing and the child couldn't have asked for more loving or solicitous parents.

"eat first, then get some rest," kiarra placed food in front of her son, justin, and her adopted werewolf son, mack. "i know you're worn out, but we have to send you out again as soon as you get some sleep."

"the new guys are working out, at least," justin mumbled around a mouthful of ham sandwich.

"yeah. belen picked some good ones. two werewolves and three vampires. they're all death on those bastards." mack bit into his sandwich.

"we needed more wolves." martin folded in and sat wearily beside his son. kiarra offered him a sandwich, too. things were so tight that even merrill, adam and devin were out tracking and killing spawn. normally they didn't go out-they were enforcers, but the problem had become so severe and widespread there wasn't a choice.

"i hope it's enough and i hope lissa is able to do something," kiarra sat between mack and justin. justin nodded mutely and continued eating.

"decide now," kifirin demanded. gabron looked up at him. there was no other conclusion to draw-kifirin wasn't joking. he could and would do what he said. this was the one powerful enough to create the dark realm on his own. gabron often forgot that. kifirin would always do what he thought best for lissa. unlike gabron, who'd put his own concerns and interests first.

"so, either i come back to le-ath veronis as someone else and then do as you ask, or have the memories of her taken away?"

"your choice, vampire. if you choose to have the memories removed, i will remove them from her as well. despite how you choose, i will remove all the damaging lies and recordings from all the worlds where they exist-you deserve the ridicule but she does not. this is a gift for my mate."

"she'll recognize me if she sees me again."

"no. i will remake you-you will be different, vampire. i have that power. choose, vampire-either the brothels or a new name and a new life."

i'd found the void. it was larger than anybody thought. i also considered closing the ra'ak-created gate first, but that would tip my hand and alert any ra'ak to my presence. i had to be careful not to raise any alarm. i'd been energy for weeks now-hadn't changed and hadn't slept. while i was energy, i discovered i didn't need sleep in that state. my physical body did, however, and in its finite shape, it only drained energy away. it did not replenish itself as it could in this form.

now i was looking for what didn't belong in the void-a planet, galaxy or a space station. whatever it was, it had taken a great deal of power to move it here. and cold? there wasn't a freezing cold such as this anywhere else. the ra'ak had chosen this spot wisely, probably with help from the khos'mirai. all i had to do was find a single grain of sand (their relocated planet or whatever they'd chosen to use) inside a very, very large ocean of nothing. i went looking for less cold amid very, very cold, to find where the ra'ak had established their base.

it was a large, lifeless planetoid. nothing grew anywhere on it and it had never supported life. until the ra'ak found it. a lifeless hunk of dusty rock; that's what it appeared to be. and the closer i got, the more it pulsed with the wrong energy. it should never have been brought here. it upset the balance, although it truly was similar to a single grain of sand in all of earth's oceans.

there wasn't anything on the surface-how could there be? this meant that whatever resided there had to be inside it. i filtered through layers of rock and dust until i found the core. an artificial environment had been created there and two ra'ak had been assigned to maintain that environment, otherwise the thousands of enhanced humanoids that slept in row upon row of coffin-sized cubicles would have frozen to death long ago.

more ra'ak in humanoid shape, all dressed in lab coats, were checking and injecting this sleeping subject or that. it looked like a frightening science-fiction movie, but those are generally removed from reality. this was reality. while i floated around as energy, more ra'ak came in with more captives. some wore clothing that hadn't been seen or worn in centuries. the ra'ak really were tracking up and down the timeline to bring them in. i needed to take care of this, but i had one other thing to do first. i had to find the khos'mirai.

"no, the raona is away on business. i will have her contact you when she returns." grant was weary of all the communications, written, oral and otherwise. someone wanted to sign her to a recording contract. a visiting guest, who'd scheduled his wedding in casino city, wanted her to sing at his wedding. talk-show magazines were begging to have her on. fan mail was pouring in once more and lissa was receiving all sorts of messages. people asked her to bite them. people wanted her to bless their children. people informed her that they'd named the dog, the cat, or the baby after her. grant was losing his mind. flavio and reemagar had taken pity on him and were searching for two more assistants. grant needed them and quickly.

"grant, i think we have someone." flavio stood in the doorway with davan and heathe. griffin had agreed to the suggestions, actually. davan had been an accountant and he knew how to keep records. kyler had worked with him for a while but he was bored. she mentioned it to flavio, who spoke with griffin and they'd come to the same conclusion-davan needed a new job.

heathe wanted out of the brothel business. he'd only worked there for a few months and was sick of it already. he'd placed his name in the job pool; flavio interviewed him. flavio liked him immediately, so he was hired. grant, who was trying to keep an eye on toff, chased the child around his desk and picked up the load of fan mail that had been knocked off as a result. grant breathed a huge sigh of relief when flavio brought in the new assistants and put davan and heathe to work immediately.