Free Blood Redemption (Blood Destiny #9) by Connie Suttle Page A

Black Mist living among them," Lendill Schaff replied. He and Norian had argued at length about placing spies on Campiaa. "Darthin is perfect for them—Black Mist prefers longer nights and shorter days for some reason. Campiaa is much too sunny."
    "Do you think they intend to destroy the population on Darthin?"
    "I have no idea, but they appear to be working their way through the capital city of Darthough. Murders and other crimes have certainly risen, and before this, Darthough had very little crime."
    "Well, the Liaison will be available for travel in two days. We will attempt to join you there. I hope to find a reason for this and stop it before it is too late." Norian broke the communication with Lendill and sat back in his chair. He liked his office very much—Lissa had given him a better one than the closet he'd originally had. The space was quite large and had original art on the walls and a nice rug on the floor. He could spend thirty years using this office with no trouble.
    * * *
    "Lissa, why wouldn't you allow us in?" Thurlow actually sounded hurt. I didn't know what to do with that. Rigo looked crushed.
    "Look, it was private, all right? Besides, it's not like you both couldn't hear what was going on anyway." I went to Rigo and brushed a lock of dark hair away from his face. "It'll work out. You'll see," I told him.
    "Sit with me," he begged.
    "All right. Where do you want to sit?"
    "Come to dinner with me at New Fangled," he suggested.
    "You're saying you're hungry?" I asked. I think I was smiling foolishly at him. After Thurlow had done whatever it was he'd done for Rigo—he could eat just as I could, although he still drank blood substitute most of the time.
    "I could eat." Rigo was smiling, too.
    "You know I've only been there once," I said, taking his arm. "And I only had blood substitute. What do they have on the menu that's good?" I folded Rigo to New Fangled.
     "I am still getting used to the fact that many of your mates can transport themselves in this manner," Rigo smiled and put his arm around me as we walked through New Fangled's doors.
    * * *
    "My heir was actually my brother's son—my nephew," Rigo told me later over a plate of spaghetti. "My queen died in childbirth and I had no other wife. A very old vampire came to me as I was aging and voiced his worries regarding Argovarnus' penchant for self-absorption. I agreed with him and he offered vampirism as a solution, so I might guide my nephew's steps. At first I refused, but as Argo continued in his excess and his mistreatment of the population, I had no choice."
    Rigo sipped his glass of wine, smiled at me and when I remained silent, he continued. "I hid myself away after my turning, only giving suggestions wrapped in compulsion, to this one or that. Until Halimel came along. He welcomed my advice and ruled wisely. Hal was my first turn. Then Rondival came, Alrenardo after that, and finally Brinelodus and Yandiveri. We formed a vampire army, too—when it was necessary to repel several takeover attempts. We became the Order of the Night Flower upon Hraede—my five vampire children and I. We often wished we could turn females, but after three failures, we no longer made the attempt. We became a living myth to the monarchs who had neither the ability nor the desire to rule wisely, and trusted advisors to the ones who had Hraede's best interests at heart. Over the years, too, we developed our poisons—the ones we used when there was no other way to eliminate evil."
    I watched Rigo as he talked—he toyed with his wineglass while he told his story. "That's what happened to Satris, isn't it?" I asked.
    "Tiessa, he would have been put to death here, had he not slipped through our grasp under the guise of diplomatic immunity. Therefore, two of your mates and I made sure that his sentence was carried out, by alternative means."
    "I know. He took money from Solar Red and then refused to do or say anything when he knew those monsters were killing his