steady, reah. tory knew. must have read the emotions crossing my face. i deliberately didn't look at him, although i wanted to. there was nothing i wanted to do more at that moment than to run to him and fling myself into his arms. ask him to take me away from campiaa. anywhere would do, as long as people didn't want me dead and i wasn't surrounded by criminals who might kill me on a whim.

was teeg in on this somehow? did he know about the hardlows? another question i was afraid to ask, since i might not like the answer. i folded pastry around oxberries in creamy filling, preparing them for the oven. my automatic navigator worked that night. i couldn't depend on my brain to form any thought that wasn't wrapped in fear.

tory and ry escorted me back to the palace after the party was over. i was never so thankful to get out of a kitchen in my life. ry must have placed a shield around us-tory nodded to his brother first before pulling me against him and leaning down to give the promised kiss. several kisses, actually. i clung to him before he pulled away. someone could be wondering why it took so long for us to walk the distance between the san gerxon and arvil's palace.

"sweetheart, you look ready to drop." teeg was there, waiting for us in the kitchen. i still hadn't eaten anything; he was having a sandwich. ry waved all of us into our seats and proceeded to make good sandwiches for tory, himself and me. i was nearly too tired to eat. teeg did a little coaxing and ry set a glass of wine in front of me. i just wanted to sleep where i sat. tory was watchful, too, while teeg massaged my neck. i'd forgotten about tory's claiming marks there. teeg hadn't even asked about them. i had no hair to cover them, although it was growing out. i probably had three finger-widths of hair, now. perhaps i should get it styled.

"reah, you look fine," teeg assured me. i didn't even notice that he'd known what i was thinking.

teeg showed ry and tory to their bedrooms down the hall in our wing. they'd be sleeping on the same floor, at least, and i figured ry would be putting a shield around all of us while we slept. that's what i would do if i had the ability.

"reah, come here, baby." teeg lifted me and carried me after we'd left ry and tory in their rooms. i wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head against his shoulder. he helped me in the shower, holding me up when i wanted to huddle in a corner on the expensive tiles.

"don't let them do this to you, sweetheart." teeg rubbed a soft, fluffy towel over me, making sure i was dry before putting me to bed. he didn't bother with pajamas for either of us; he just settled me under the covers and crawled in next to me. his nearness soothed me so i closed my eyes to sleep.

chapter 10

delvin didn't know what to do-haral had mucked up the plan. delvin still didn't understand how haral had been killed-the wizard had a shield around him at all times. it could only have been a more powerful wizard, but there weren't any on campiaa. not that he didn't know about. he and the others had gotten word the moment the hardlows arrived at the shuttle station. both of them had come, bringing all four warlocks with them.

delvin didn't have enough power to fight one of those warlocks, let alone four. even with all eight of arvil's wizards fighting, they'd still be out-powered. reah should have been off the planet at the very least and he and the others could have plotted to remove teeg. arvil was extremely angry that haral had betrayed him. he hadn't spoken five words to any of his wizards after the incident. arvil hadn't wasted any time bringing in his allies, however, and the hardlows had shown up in less time than it took to blink. at least farzi and his bunch were off hunting new fields for drakus seed plantings. farzi gave delvin the shivers and delvin couldn't explain why.

"perhaps you should amass your wealth in a more conventional manner," milus sat down at the bar next to delvin. delvin had chosen a bar at one of the casinos arvil didn't own. milus had tracked him down.

"we're this close," delvin held up a thumb and forefinger.

"perhaps you're that close. i am considering retirement, friend. i don't like the hardlows or their warlocks. they could kill all of us with barely a thought."

delvin gave a quick nod-they didn't want to say that name too loudly anywhere. the hardlows were unforgiving if they felt slighted in any way. bodies tended to pile up in their wake if the rumors were true. not that the hardlows would stoop to dirty their hands in a killing-that was what their hired warlocks were for. milus wasn't being completely honest with delvin-he'd already made up his mind to leave campiaa the following morning. he wanted no part in killing the girl, and if he were honest with himself-he liked teeg.

milus was old as a warlock. very old. the king of karathia had hunted him for thousands of years. milus was headed for a small, non-alliance world where he could sell his smaller spells for enough to eat and to buy a modest home. riches no longer called to him. carthin had persuaded him to take this job since arvil needed as many warlocks as he could get as insurance against the hardlows' four power wielders-the starr brothers. milus smiled wryly. if arvil only knew how ineffective his wizards and warlocks would be against those four if they decided to attack.

"something funny, friend milus?" delvin swallowed the last of his drink and called for another.

"just thinking about the hardlows' warlocks," milus said. "have fun, friend delvin." milus slid off his barstool and clapped delvin on the back. "i'm going to bed." milus walked out of the casino. he'd made up his mind suddenly. he wasn't waiting for the morning. he could fold himself away easily, and he didn't want to take time to pack. milus disappeared the moment he was away from prying eyes.

"yes, i met him at the bar in the sandstorm casino last night," delvin raked a hand through his hair. "he said he was thinking about retiring. how am i supposed to know whether he decided to go right then or if the same one who killed haral got him, too?"

arvil had discovered that milus was gone when he woke. all his wizards always gathered to learn what arvil wanted from them during the day. milus failed to appear. his room was searched-nothing was missing and all appeared untouched. reah and teeg had been called in, as had reah's new bodyguards so arvil could give them information on milus' disappearance.

delvin looked as if he were about to have a meltdown. things were definitely not going as planned, somehow. i wondered just what it was that delvin had been plotting. he wasn't lying about milus-at least i knew that much. the hardlows came in, warlocks in tow as delvin explained about his meeting with milus the evening before. i got as much information as i could by snatching quick glimpses at the hardlows' warlocks. all four looked similar-with dark hair and dark eyes. close to the same height, too, but there were minor differences. it made me wonder if they were brothers. ry answered my mental question.

they're brothers. wylend has been hunting them for a while now. very powerful, too. only the hardlows could afford all of them together, i think.

i thought about asking for names, but held back. maybe it was better if i didn't know. it didn't matter-i ended up cooking breakfast for everyone as soon as the meeting was over. arvil was going to investigate milus' disappearance, but i could tell he didn't have much hope of finding anything. i was hoping milus was far away; i found him to be the least offensive of all of arvil's wizards. it made me sad, too-i'd liked and trusted delvin at one time-when he'd been working with bel.

"this is very good," one of the warlocks told me. i'd made coddled eggs for him and the others-with sauce and a few other specialties.

"i'm glad you like it," i nodded respectfully to him.

"my name is astralan," he held out his hand. i took it politely. he already knew who i was. stellan, astralan's brother, introduced himself next, followed by celestan and galaxsan. somebody's parents had been star-struck, it seemed.

the table in the dining room looked like a hurricane had hit it when arvil, his wizards, the hardlows and all four warlocks finished their meal and left to tend to business. teeg shrugged at me-he had to go with arvil. that left me with the kitchen staff, ry and tory.

i helped the staff carry dishes into the kitchen, but they washed and cleaned everything for me. tory, ry and i went to the san gerxon to order supplies and have some of them delivered to the palace. i was going to supervise the menu served to the hardlows personally, if i didn't cook it myself.

what do you think happened to haral? ry asked mentally while i went over food orders.

ry, when i saw him, his head had nearly been severed from the body and there were long, deep cuts across his chest and torso. there was also-i hesitated for a moment, trying to choose the proper words-a cut around his groin. blood was everywhere. it was hard to determine the extent of the injuries, there was so much blood. i didn't want to tell ry that it looked as if the genitals had been removed and destroyed-males seemed sensitive about that and i was embarrassed to say it.

i just wanted to know so i could inform dad and wylend. we also need to understand what we're dealing with here-in case whoever did this comes after any of us.

bro, that's such a comforting thought, tory broke into our mental conversation.

you can make the cameras go fuzzy if you want-with your talent? i asked ry but included tory in the conversation.

it's one of the easiest things to do-interfere with electronic signals. that's one of the first things dad taught me. and then he told me he'd mute my power for years to come if i ever did it within mom's palace. ry ducked his head to hide the grin.

so, you did it elsewhere, didn't you?

oh, man, tory's laugh came through his mindspeech.

how's aurelius? i changed the subject.

aurelius is fine. why don't you send him mindspeech? i think he's about to go crazy without you, and i think the vice-director still may have auri's fingerprints on his throat. ry was laughing mentally this time.

i took ry's advice. i was still going through the kitchen comp-vid, ordering food and supplies. aurelius? i sent.