Worth Your While

Chapter 1

Royal Palace, Sirena

Randl Gage

I know BlackWing X is in the area, Zaria informed me. Zarigar told me so. It won't be a stretch for him or the others to check on an anomaly that happened on Earth IV.

I knew Zarigar could do the checking on his own. For some reason, Zaria wanted the ship and its full crew to go with her son. Zaria never asked for favors or made these decisions lightly.

Something was up.

What, exactly, are they looking into? I asked.

Well, there's a coup attempt going on—a race hidden for centuries is trying to take over.

That's happened too many times to count—on too many other worlds. Why this one?

The anomaly.

Which is?

Let's just say that one of Earth IV's inhabitants appears to be special. So special that she recreated herself after an incident that took her life. Now, you and I know that's impossible—or close enough.

Not without help, anyway, I agreed. How did you learn about this?

Through Conner. Someone escorted this person to the other side, and then watched as she turned, on her own, and went right back where she came from.

That can't be done without help, either.

There may be someone taking credit for it, but he had no control over what happened, no matter what he thinks.

Why do you think this happened? I asked. Are you concerned she'll cause trouble for us?

On the contrary. I think she may be able to help us. As for why this happened, well, she may have something in her lineage that is unknown and unexpected.

So you want Zarigar to send you images and information.

I want Zarigar to send images and information to both of us. Then we'll know for sure.

Hidden Base, Deserted Planet Earth V

Ver'Dak Dis'rai

My Lord Ver'Dak. Hannet, my Third-In-Command, approached. He'd perfected the art of walking and cringing at the same time. The crab-like result didn't please me as much as he thought.

What is it, Hannet? I growled at him.

Ah, it has come to my attention that Ruudann is ah, deceased. On ah, Earth IV.

Several seconds passed while I quelled my anger and the urge to strike Hannet. What did that fool do this time? I asked, without pretending to be civil.

He was destroyed by the uh, only known and capable uh, fire demon.

Did the fire demon survive?

She did not.

Good. Who has taken Ruudann's place? Have all the Shakkor Agdah communities in the Northern and Southern Americas accepted their rule?

Vaalenn has stepped into Ruudann's place—it was at his request, should he die.

Is she competent?

She is untried, my Lord.

Keep an eye on her. If she does anything stupid, let me know.

I will, my Lord. Is there anything in particular I should watch for?

Exposure of her kind. They work better in secret, just as we do, remember?

Yes, my Lord. What should we do if Shakkor Agdah is exposed?

We go in and take over, of course. We've given them as many chances as they deserve to destroy that planet, and why they haven't succeeded is beyond my imagination. They can become my useful tools elsewhere, just as anyone else might. Taking Earth IV will bring the other three down swiftly, will it not?

The final three do not have the protections in place as IV does.

Exactly my point. Keep watching them and send regular reports.

Of course, my Lord.

Gulfport, Mississippi

Cassie

Thanks for picking me up. I shut the door on Gina's small import and flipped the sun-visor mirror open to check my hair.

I'd been walking for three days before deciding to call her—after leaving Will and New Orleans behind. Gina was shocked to hear my voice on her cell phone. I'd had to explain my absence for three months, thanks to Will the asshole wizard, who'd used me to kill a bunch of Shakkor Agdah.

Will thought I was dead, too, at first. That's what happened all the other times he'd used a fire demon to kill those fuckers.

All those fire demons—used as a sacrifice, I grumbled as Gina pulled out of the Walmart parking lot in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Cliff told me, Gina confessed. After he sent Rob packing.

Yeah. I heard the sprites knew. My words were flat. I'd cared for Rob. Thought of him as a friend. Yet he'd stood aside and let Will haul me to my death, without telling me anything.

Have you talked to Parke?

Do you see a cell phone here? I patted the shift I'd awakened in three days earlier. I was in a fucking crypt in New Orleans. No access to electricity there—or phones or shoes. I had to beg to borrow someone's phone in Walmart's restroom to call you.

I'll get you home in about four hours; you can clean up and call Parke from there, Gina sighed while turning onto the highway.

Yeah. Frankly, I wanted to turn to fire demon and burn down the house, I was still so mad at Will, Rob and every other fucking sprite in existence. Plus, I looked like a homeless person dressed in a dirty shift, no shoes and my hair matted from lying on a crypt shelf. That crypt shelf had held rotting bones before Will dumped me there.

He's so proud of himself, for putting me back together.

Will? Gina turned swiftly toward me, her eyes wide with shock.

Yeah. Then he informed me that the others he'd done this to died. All of them. All these centuries, and everybody's waged war on the fire demon population. Who knows if there are any left?

Except you, Gina said, her voice soft.

Yeah. Now I need a fucking therapist to deal with my fucking life.

Will you be glad to see Cliff, at least?

Yeah. You, too. Sorry I'm so grumpy, but you see how things turned out. I should be dead. I'm not.

I'm glad you're not. Somebody else is Prince of Alabama, though. Parke and the others said it was important to put somebody in that slot, in case Shakkor Agdah shows up again.

I don't care about that, I blew out a sigh. I wasn't really comfortable in that position anyway.

Everybody says you did a great job.

"They were being nice because I was dead." My laugh was humorless.

Are you hungry? Gina changed the subject.

Yeah.

We pulled into a McDonald's just off the highway ten minutes later, going through the drive-through. Gina ordered two cheeseburgers for me, with a large Coke. For three days, I'd lived off handouts and restaurant Dumpster finds. At least the state was moving toward normal, after the poisoned escapee problem was eliminated.

All of that happened during the three months I was unconscious in a New Orleans crypt. Do they know more about the poison disease? I asked around a mouthful of cheeseburger.

Not much. They're working on it—that's all I hear, Gina shrugged.

The U.S. Government; finding new ways to move even more slowly and mysteriously than before, I quipped before sucking on my soda straw.

Yeah, I know. I walked through the door and past Cliff, who blinked in disbelief at my appearance. After I have a bath, I hope a few things are back to normal.

Should I, ah, warn the Chancellor? he drawled.

You can if you want. Tell him I needed a bath. I don't feel clean enough to have a decent conversation with anybody.

I'll pass that along.

Thanks.

No problem. Cassie?

Yeah? I turned back to look at him.

I'm really glad you're not dead.

I have mixed feelings about it, I said and resumed my journey to the bedroom and shower.

Cliff Young

Chancellor, I have news, I said when Parke answered his cell phone.

What news is that?

Well, it's about Cassie.

He hesitated, then said in a gruffer voice, What about Cassie?

This will come as a shock, because it certainly did to me, but she's alive.

What the fuck? Cliff, if you're lying, I'll have your wolf strung up on a barbed-wire fence.

I'm not lying. Gina picked her up in Gulfport a few hours ago. Seems the wizard found a way to pull her back and she's been in a New Orleans crypt while her body recovered.

Where's the wizard now? Parke growled.

We don't know. Cassie told him to fuck off and walked out. She's been walking for three days, until some kind soul lent her a phone in a Walmart restroom. She called Gina to come get her.

I'll be traveling to Alabama the moment Jon can get me on a plane, Parke snapped. Don't let her go anywhere, all right?

I heard the sounds of desk drawers opening and then Parke's shout for his personal assistant before he spoke again. Is Cassie planning to call me? he asked.

That's what she said—when she got out of the shower. She hasn't bathed in more than three months, so I can't say I blame her.

Good. I'll let you know when I'm headed that way.

You do that, I said, my tone flat.

Cassie

It should have come as no surprise that I'd find a finger bone stuck in my hair after spending three months in a fucking crypt. I dropped it on the floor, where it ticked and bounced across the tile before coming to rest at the base of the toilet.

Fuck. I bent over to retrieve it before tossing it in the wastebasket, on top of the dirty shift I'd peeled off my body. A part of me said I should feel bad about tossing somebody's bone in a wastebasket, but I sure as hell didn't plan on making a trip back to New Orleans to return it to the crypt.

Will could still be creeping around the place, wandering in and out of the concrete walls like they were air instead of solid material.

I considered that my mood hadn't improved since I'd died.

Fuck you, Will, I huffed. Fuck you, too, Rob. Jerking on the shower handle, I turned on the spray and waited a few seconds for the water to warm up before stepping inside. It surprised me that the drain didn't clog from so much dust and dirt flowing down it.

Will could have cleaned me up a little. He hadn't even bothered with that.

The asshat.

Seattle

Parke

Mom, I don't really know how to explain it, because Cliff didn't know either. He said something about the wizard putting her back together, or some strange thing like that. I'll get more information when Cassie calls. I have a flight to Alabama scheduled first thing in the morning, too.

My mother looked at me as if I'd grown another head. They better not be lying about this, she snapped. Destiny still thinks her sister's dead, and I'm not telling her otherwise until I know it's true.

Look, I feel the same way, I said. It's too much to process at the moment. Opening a drawer of a chest, I lifted a stack of clean underwear and tossed it into the open suitcase on my bed.

My cell phone rang, then. It was Cliff's number, but I considered that Cassie probably had no personal belongings with her—her cell phone was in her purse at the house in Alabama when Will performed his act of murderous treachery.

I had the purse, clothes and Cassie's other things here at the house, neatly packed up by Gina and mailed from Tuscaloosa. I wondered if Cassie had found something to wear after bathing. Shoving that thought aside, I punched the button on the phone and said hello.

Parke? Her voice wobbled, as if she wanted to cry at hearing my voice.

What, baby? Are you all right? I wanted to shout at her, hug her and soothe her at the same time.

I reminded myself that none of this was her fault.

Do not ask her about that fucking wizard, Mom hissed at me. I blinked at her—she never used profanity.

I'm—okay, Cassie hesitated.

Sweetheart, you sound like you're anything but, I said as gently as I could. Are you hurt? Have Gina take a look, all right? Don'taskaboutWill, don'taskaboutWill, I mentally chided myself.

Has there been any news—anything new about my uh, father and grandfather? she asked.

Thank goodness, a safer topic. Dan is looking, baby—he's got several working with him, and even a few from the NSA are helping, because of all the murdered humans, I breathed. They may have gone back to Mexico, or farther south, even. We haven't picked up a trail yet, because they haven't killed anyone since they left.

Good and bad news, Cassie sighed.

Yeah. Baby, I have a plane ticket to fly to Alabama tomorrow morning. I'll be there around two. I'll get a rental and get to the house as quick as I can.

Have you heard from any of the sprite royalty? Her voice had turned bitter.

I had—they'd sent me condolence notes. I'd ripped them up and fed them to the fire in my fireplace. I hadn't heard anything since; I believe they knew what happened to the notes and had no desire to approach the Chancellor again about his dead wife—especially since they'd known all along she'd been marked for death.

We can talk about that tomorrow, I said. When I see you. All right?

How's Destiny?

"She took your ah, disappearance really hard. I was waiting to hear from you before telling her the good news."

Good? Huh. That remains to be seen.

This has been hard for everyone, I said. Let me try to help you through this, all right? This is something we've never seen or experienced before, so we'll be charting new territory.

Yeah. She was back to tears and had added a pile of depression to the burden on her shoulders.

Do you have clothes to wear? I asked, changing the subject.

A few things—sweats and stuff.

I'll have Mom pack a bag or two of your things—they're here at the house.

Do you have the pyramid?

I had no idea why she'd ask about that, but I did have it. I do, I replied.

Can you bring it with you?

Sure.

Thank you. I need to go.

Her last words were barely a whisper before the call ended.

Cassie

Gina hadn't warned me about my missing wardrobe and personal things—she'd packed most of it up and shipped it to Parke in Seattle. She'd even tossed in the broken pyramid that Aunt Shelby sent to me.

I had no idea I'd miss it as much or more than my clothes and personal things. Even Shelby's jewelry chest had been shipped to Parke. Maybe Destiny had gone through it—I hadn't been able.

Shelby's home was nothing more than an empty lot, now, after my murderous relatives had burned it to the ground. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel—well, untethered was the best description I could come up with.

Perhaps I should be grateful I was alive, but I was still too numb to feel that emotion. Too angry, too—and betrayed. Don't forget betrayed, I whispered to myself and wrapped my arms tightly about my waist.

Rob—I'd loved him as a friend, when all along, he'd known.

All the sprites had known.

And they'd smiled and made nice all that time, knowing I was a dead woman—meant as a sacrifice to save them and multitudes of others from the evils of Shakkor Agdah.

As for Will—I couldn't think of him without white-hot anger blazing through my veins and my fire demon threatening to reveal itself. So far, I'd kept it safely hidden, but that could change. I worried that I'd lost control—or would lose it if provoked even the slightest bit.

I found myself stomping toward the kitchen—where Gina and I had fed those treasonous, ungrateful, murderous—I couldn't come up with an appropriate term to describe my anger at all of them.

I'd ask if you wanted some coffee, Cliff drawled, But you look wide awake enough to burn down Atlanta.

That brought me up short, just before I reached the massive kitchen counter. I blinked in confusion at Cliff for a few seconds before my brain engaged well enough to ask a question.

Why Atlanta? I asked.

Because it's not in Alabama, he noted and sipped from his mug of fresh-brewed coffee. Although some geographically-challenged individuals would probably argue about it. Sit down. If you want coffee, I'll make some for you.

It smells good, I admitted.

Then you'll have some.

I took a seat at the kitchen table and waited while Cliff made a mug of coffee for me, thickly-laced with cream and sugar.

Are you back at the PD's office? I asked as he set the mug in front of me and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

No. They asked. I said I needed some time. There's a temporary in place right now, but it looks like I have a friend somewhere who's willing to let me have a sabbatical.

Who? I asked, curious.

I figure it's somebody at the State Department, who knows somebody at the NSA, Cliff shrugged. You bought us some clout somewhere with those guys.

I didn't do it by myself, I said and sipped my coffee. It was creamy and sweet and coffee. Like heaven-in-a-cup coffee.

No word on any Shakkor Agdah survivors—not yet, anyway, although I got the idea from Rob before I tossed him out of the house that there could be more in hiding, Cliff had ignored my comment.

Great. I'm really not in the mood to play sacrifice again, you know.

I know. If I'd guessed at it to begin with, I'd have fought all of them about it, too. There has to be another way to get a handle on this. No wonder there aren't any fire demons left. They fucking sacrificed or killed all of them.

Nothing like being a target. I did my best to hide the sarcasm. It showed, anyway. I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing that I know about it, now.

When will the Chancellor arrive?

Tomorrow afternoon. He says he'll get a rental.

Is he coming unguarded? Cliff almost growled the words.

He didn't say.

I'll find out. He whipped out his cell and punched a number. Parke was on the line in seconds. Cliff put the call on speaker, so I could hear the conversation.

You better have guards with you. Cliff did growl, this time.

I'm bringing Daniel and a rock demon with me, and Jon is coming too, to handle business. We'll have a meeting with the new Prince while I'm there.

Sounds good. Just wanted to check.

Thanks. How's Cassie?

Having coffee for the first time in three months. She likes the coffee. Her situation not so much.

Understood. I'll see you tomorrow.

Cliff ended the call and pocketed the phone with a long sigh. Can't be too careful, he said.

Robin Newbourne

Why are you here? I asked. Well, that was a stupid question. I knew why he'd come. The wizard had sent a message, asking me to meet him on neutral ground.

Neutral. It meant away from the King of the Earth sprites.

He'd chosen a coffee shop, where he sat at a window table, consuming a croissant and coffee as if it were a commonplace thing for him to do.

What should I call you? I pulled out the empty chair at his table and sat, feeling weary and sick to death of the world. Will is a bit—mundane, don't you think?

Zedarius, he mumbled around a mouthful of food. Will is better. It doesn't make me—stand out.

I know of one person who will always recognize what you are, no matter which name you use, I snapped.

Feeling it, too? What shall we call it—shame? Remorse? Self-loathing? All of the above?

"Theer-re-kibrus," I growled at him.

Ah. Wishing you were dead, eh? He knew the sprite language, too. It didn't surprise me. She'll speak to you before she'll ever speak to me again, and that could be never, he shrugged. Want something to drink?

I'm not in the mood to exchange pleasantries or share a beverage. I want to know how to get my friends back, I challenged.

There's something my mentor used to say to me, he said, before lifting his paper cup to drink.

What's that?

Forgiveness is the richest of gifts, and one we do not deserve.

Thanks for nothing, then, I scooted the chair back to rise and walk away.

Start with a truce and a promise to help. Keep your promises, sprite—from now on, or you'll lose everything.

Seriously? That's what you have? Bastard. I did stand, then, and turned to walk away.

I am farther from forgiveness than you will ever be, because of the shortsightedness of my kind, he silently informed me. Fire demons are nearly extinct, in a time when we need them more than ever. I—slept, when I should have been working to protect them.

That's when I walked out—there was more than enough guilt of that sort to go around, and the sprites held their share of it.

We'd been awake all that time, and we'd done nothing, too.

Aimlessly, I wandered down a sidewalk in Tuscaloosa, my feet automatically steering me toward the courthouse. Construction crews were on-site, putting a new building together. Trucks and a mobile office were parked nearby, and would be until the work was completed.

Across the street, at one of the churches, a couple was getting married.

Must be Saturday afternoon—it was the best day of the week to have a wedding and still find parking for a crowd of people.

It made me wonder how Cassie was doing—the wizard said in his initial message that she was alive—and angry.

Because we'd used her. Led her on.

Killed her.

Except she didn't die.

Will was just as surprised as anyone else. I would carry the message of Cassie's survival to the King, but it wasn't because I wanted to. Averill would be more than angry if I withheld the information.

What he'd do with it, however, was anyone's guess. Likely, he'd extend the knowledge to the other sprite kingdoms, but I wanted to be left out of that.

Mostly, I wanted to go back into hiding and feel sorry for myself, because my friends were no longer my friends.

As if it weren't bad enough that communication between the Chancellor and the sprites had come to an abrupt halt. Cliff would call that poor planning on somebody's part.

He'd add that it was poor timing, too, when we needed to stand together to eradicate the threat of Shakkor Agdah completely. We couldn't act in splintered groups; Shakkor Agdah would take us down, piece by piece.

The only time we'd truly acted in concert was while Cassie was alive—and unaware that she'd become a sacrifice in the end. Perhaps it was guilt that drove the sprites to become allies—to assist the others who were hunting the evil that Shakkor Agdah had become. Not only had they regrouped, they'd learned to use new technology to attack us in ways we hadn't imagined.

It didn't matter—what Cassie had become was an unexpected pivotal point, and we'd rallied around her.

Someone else had become Prince of Alabama in her place, and Averill didn't care two cents for him—or any of the others. While effective enough, nobody would come together around water demon Ralph Greenville—that was a given.

Cassie had pulled everyone into her wake, even those who'd refused to cooperate before. I sighed and considered how to break the news of her survival to Averill.

Cassie

The burned remains of your aunt's house have been cleared away, and the insurance money paid out to Destiny, as your heir, Cliff informed me over a second cup of coffee. Parke was working on the tech company shares last I heard, to put those in Destiny's name, too. I doubt that's been finalized, so you have that much left, at least.

Yay, me.

There is one advantage you have that you didn't before, Cliff pointed his coffee mug in my direction.

What's that?

"They think you're dead—Shakkor Agdah, and your father and grandfather. No fire demon has ever survived being exploited the way you were. I'd say that can be used to your advantage."

I'm sure a celebration was had somewhere.

"Cassie, I'm not good with stuff like this, but I do