"I'll take Roff and the kids, Gavin, bring Lissa and the comesuli," Drew appeared on the balcony beside Roff. "Drake and Tony are sounding the alarm in Sun City, but Drake's sending mindspeech, saying the tourists and gamblers are just standing on the beach, staring at the receding water."
Lissa's Journal
I'd never seen Drew looked so frightened, and I'd watched him stare down a fifty-foot Ra'Ak before. I'd never felt so helpless, either. Karzac warned me—scared me, even—about using any power during pregnancy. The rush of power through the body could easily kill an unborn child. If I weren't pregnant, I could gather the entire population of Sun City inside my mist and haul them to higher ground. I'd already Looked—a huge wave was coming and it would drown everything in its path.
"Lissa, do not even contemplate this," Karzac appeared beside me, his green-gold eyes quite stern as he gazed at me. "I will carry you to safety, and Drew and Gavin will bring the others. If those fools in Sun City choose to ignore the sirens instead of running for their lives," he didn't finish his statement, he merely lifted me in his arms and we disappeared.
"Run for your lives," Tony place compulsion on a knot of tourists walking toward the beach instead of away from it. They turned immediately and ran.
Here it comes, Drake's mindspeech rang clearly in Tony's mind. The epicenter was only a few miles out, and the crowd here is beginning to see the wave. Now they're running, Drake added. Get away or you'll be run down.
Going now, Tony replied and folded space.
Drake stood apart and watched as screaming people ran away from the high wall of water descending upon them. The narrow strip of sand lying in front of Sun City's most expensive casinos and hotels would be engulfed—there was no doubt of that. As a member of the Saa Thalarr, he was forbidden to interfere. Never had he regretted it so much. Waiting until the last moment, he folded away. Water roared through the streets and alleys of the city behind him, drowning out the cries for help.
Lissa's Journal
Three hundred seventeen people died. Three hundred seventeen, most of whom had been drawn to the beach out of curiosity instead of heeding the sirens blasting all over Sun City. Was I upset and depressed? Of course. I could have saved them. Instead, I chose to save my child.
"Lissa, please stop moping." Karzac pulled me against him. We were on the bed in my suite while comesuli and vampire work crews crawled through the palace, repairing cracks and breaks throughout.
News crews were hovering over the remains of Sun City, reporting on the deaths caused by the tsunami. In between, journalists were showing the last vid images recorded from casinos and hotels, depicting tourists who were flocking toward the danger instead of running away. Sound recorded with the images clearly indicated that warning sirens were wailing throughout the city. Those who died had paid for their curiosity with their lives.
"It is not your duty to save everybody," Karzac whispered against my ear. "Perhaps a few might have died anyway, had they heeded the warning. The numbers would have been drastically reduced, however, had that happened. Do not accept the blame for this."
"I picked the worst possible time to be pregnant," I muttered, covering my eyes with a shaking hand. I had a headache, too, on top of everything else. I was just too tired and depressed to ask Karzac to heal it. An empty feeling lay at the pit of my stomach—one that threatened to bring on a bout of nausea.
"We will not stand for that," Karzac murmured gently as he touched my forehead first, taking away the headache. Then his hands wandered toward my belly and the nausea disappeared. "I have asked Drew to order something from the kitchen for you—you've barely eaten in the past two days."
Yes, it was two days since the tsunami and I still felt ill. Emergency stations had been set up in Casino City. Casino basements had turned into temporary morgues and a flock of vampires volunteered to arrange travel plans for those tourists affected by the disaster. Others had signed up to contact families of the deceased and help get bodies shipped to their home worlds. Donations were pouring in from wealthy vampires, so no family was forced to pay to have their loved ones returned to them.
Aurelius and Bryan had approached me for an interview to send out to the Alliance the evening after the tsunami. I'd done the interview, although I felt like weeping the whole time. It was difficult to get through some of the information, before telling everyone about the emergency stations, where to go for help or information and that travel and shipping costs would be covered by donations from private citizens and the crown.
Kifirin was noticeably absent, and I was too weary and despondent to send mindspeech to him. I did receive communication from Ildevar Wyyld, however, and he'd sent a large amount from a personal account to help defray costs, along with condolences and a healthy dose of concern for me. Somehow, I suppose through Norian, he'd learned of the pregnancy. Ra'Ak or not, Ildevar Wyyld was a very decent man.
"Lissa?" Connegar and Reemagar appeared inside my bedroom, followed by several other Larentii. Renegar and Pheligar were among the nine tall, blue Larentii now inside my suite.
I'd only met Graegar and Garegar of the Wise Ones before. Now, all five Wise Ones stood at the foot of my bed. I knew their names, and marveled that they'd arrived without their protectors. Who was I to question them, though? Hiragar, Meligar, Tenigar, Graegar and Garegar carefully examined me with lifted eyebrows as I extricated myself from Karzac's embrace.
"We have news," Graegar announced. Was it me, or did he sound sad?
"What we have to tell you will not be easy, and coming after such a tragic event," Garegar added.
"I am Tenigar, eldest of the Wise Ones," one of the others spoke. He was roughly the same height as Pheligar—eight and a half feet, and his blue eyes held the depth of countless millennia. I was guessing he might be as old as Ferrigar, who was three million years old. It made me want to sigh. He'd seen everything, most likely, during his long life.
"We have uncovered the source of these earthquakes," Tenigar said. "It is not natural, as you and the others may have assumed. You did not Look for their source, assuming they were such. That is not the case."
"What?" I snapped. Karzac attempted to grab me but I slid off the bed too quickly.
"Tapping cores does not always result in earthquakes. It is only thus when an untried power attempts the tapping, and they fumble about while tearing into the power of the core. The young one who escaped from your dungeon is the one responsible for this, and we fear he did it at another's bidding."
"But Gren couldn't have caused this one," I stared at all five Wise Ones. He had. I could see it in their faces. "How did he return?" I whispered. Karzac caught me before I dropped to the floor in shock.
"Ra'Ak," Pheligar replied. "An unusual one, of a race we thought long dead. With that kind of power behind him, he will be difficult to detect and able to get through almost any shield." Pheligar and Ren had been waiting patiently beside Connegar and Reemagar, and hadn't spoken until now.
"I had to search diligently for the power signature, it is so muted." Pheligar continued. "As Liaison for so long for the Saa Thalarr, I have become quite sensitive to any activity from the Ra'Ak, and it was the tiny bit of that power which alerted me and pointed me in this one's direction. Because of what he was before he was turned Ra'Ak, it will be difficult for anyone to make note of this one. He has much experience in getting in and out without causing a stir."
"A Ra'Ak brought that murderous brat back, just to tap our core again? Oh my gosh, this means Le-Ath Veronis is dying." I struggled in Karzac's embrace. He ignored my struggles with stoicism, displaying a strength I didn't realize he had.
"We believe that the drain will not be extremely detrimental for the next five months, after which you will be able to make the repairs yourself," Tenigar took up the conversation again.
"But it will be detrimental," I said, giving up my silent battle with Karzac and settling against him.
"Yes. Any drain on a core's energy will be harmful. In our experience, crime will increase, deaths will increase, suicides will increase," he didn't finish, I held up a hand to stop him.
"In other words," I said, "Draining the core is like draining the heart out of people. And with a planet full of vampires, that can cause a big problem."
"Yes. If they decide to commit a crime or create havoc," Graegar agreed.
"Fucking lovely," I muttered.
"And since Le-Ath Veronis is a victim of multiple tappings," Tenigar began.
"The crime, deaths, suicides and other chaos will happen faster, is that what you're saying?" I lifted an eyebrow at him as I finished his statement.
"In a word, yes," he nodded.
"How many times did that little creep tap the core?"
"It's not the number of times, it's the number of locations that really matters," Renegar replied. "He tapped it from three locations."
"Fucking wonderful," I sighed. My headache was officially back. "Karzac, how quickly can I repair the core after the baby comes?" I turned in his arms and studied his face. His green-gold eyes were thoughtful as he contemplated my dilemma. Yes—it was my dilemma—the Larentii couldn't interfere, although they likely held the power to repair a planet's core. It also made me wonder about the race they'd mentioned—the one they'd assumed was dead.
"I would wait at least a month after the baby's birth, to get your strength back," Karzac admitted, lowering his eyes.
"So, six months, then, before we can fix this." I wasn't happy about that, and it frightened me that Le-Ath Veronis would likely be thrown into chaos during that time. "What about the crimes and the depression and everything else?" I asked Pheligar. "How long will it take for all that to go away?"
