Awakening (7 page)

Zacharius stood on Duncan’s left, checking his text messages because he was a known ladies-man. Santiago, on Duncan’s right, held a ruby-studded dagger in his hand and flipped it in the air in a unique array of movements, never once missing his catch.

The room hummed with testosterone.

Merl, as usual, stuck close to Endelle. Duncan would have written him off as ridiculous if he, too, hadn’t vibrated with power.

Duncan vaguely recalled that Endelle had said something about Luken needing to train Duncan. Though he couldn’t remember the entire exchange, having been caught by the
breh-hedden’s
first impact, he knew without being told that he was now the equal of these men.

He’d made the jump from Militia Warrior to What-bee in the past three weeks and all because Sharav had tortured him and Yolanthe had attached to his mind, forcing his power to rise. Both Third Ascenders had done this either inadvertently or on purpose, but he stood here now at Warrior of the Blood level.

Yet even before the abduction, Jean-Pierre had been working with him to bring his powers online.

Duncan had been having strange visions, primarily about the way the war had shaped itself into multiple theaters, each led by one of the three generals. More than once, he’d used that knowledge to disrupt an ambush. And on a recent occasion, he’d even been able to stop the movement of the opposing army’s flank.

So, yes, he had power.

Rachel sat in a chair near Luken, but steadfastly avoided meeting Duncan’s gaze. Now that the initial heat of the
breh-hedden
had passed, no doubt she was thinking about all the fights they’d had; she’d needed a different life away from the war, and he needed to do battle alongside his brothers-in-arms.

Despite that there was a strong connection between their paths because of Yolanthe and Third Earth, he couldn’t see how it would ever be possible for the two of them to be bonded. Surely, this time the
breh-hedden
had made a big mistake.

He repressed a sigh. He still wasn’t feeling like himself, which made total sense. It was only a couple of hours ago he’d pulled a bunch of tubes out of his body and he hadn’t eaten a real meal in two weeks. But thank God for
IV
s because his blood needs had been met, the most critical aspect of his ascended vampire life.

His nerves twitched. He needed to get back to the battlefield, slay some death vampires, do some good, do what he was born to do.

As his mind cleared a little more, he realized the entire room had fallen silent and everyone was staring at him. Well, he was the issue
du jour
, no question about that.

He frowned and glanced around once more. “I could sure use another beer.”

Luken called out, “On it.”

The brother didn’t mess around but folded to the kitchen, and as promised, he had an icy bottle of beer in his hand when he returned a few seconds later. “And I’ve fired up the grill. Just folded in a dozen thick rib-eyes from that joint outside of Tucson One.”

A cheer went up. Beer and steaks. Nothing better for warrior blood.

Duncan took the beer that Luken handed him and nodded. Tilting his head back, he guzzled, once more letting the cold liquid slide down his throat.

Despite the fact that everyone waited on him, he took a moment to draw in what rational part of his brain hadn’t been destroyed by the combined efforts of Sharav and that quiet bitch, Yolanthe. He let the beer have a much-needed calming effect.

Setting the empty bottle on a nearby side table, he started talking, telling the group all that had happened, and how he’d spent hours and days in the company of a woman he described as ambitious and somewhat delusional.

“But she’s motivated for reasons that are still obscure to me. What I got from my time with her is that her father, Chustaffus, is the real power, the one that threatens Second Earth. But what Yolanthe thinks I can do about it, I have no idea. I get the impression she wants a close relationship, maybe even a bond. I’m really not sure.”

Here his gaze shifted to Rachel who this time didn’t look away. “The most immediate concern, however, is that for whatever reason, she believes my relationship with Rachel hinders her plans. She’s after Rachel.” He paused, then said more quietly, “She wants her dead.”

“I know why,” Endelle said. “I saw exactly what the woman’s motivations were when the two of you were trying to copulate outside the med-bay.”

Endelle had lost her subtlety about the time the Mortal Earth Greeks had started writing their poetry and that was a damn long time ago.

He also knew she referred to how Rachel could make him disappear from most ascenders, just not her own sweet self. “You’re referring to Rachel’s new power?”

Endelle nodded. “I am.”

“So, what do you think it is?”

“She’s your goddam shield.”

Every eye turned toward Endelle.

“That has to be it,” Merl said, “because even I couldn’t see them. Just Endelle.”

Endelle shifted to look down at Rachel. “Looks like the bitch wants you singing songs with the Creator. Goody for you.”

Rachel returned her stare, scowling. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”

“Do I look like I’m
not
serious?” She glared at Rachel in response, which put Duncan in motion.

He crossed the room in a flash and positioned himself between the women. “Ease down, Madame Endelle. Now.” He wouldn’t have anyone threatening Rachel, not even the ruler of Second Earth.

He’d fight her if he had to, though he didn’t relish the idea. He’d heard rumors of what she’d done to Thorne when the latter had battled Endelle to get rid of the mind-link they’d once shared. More than one
report had mentioned a lot of smoke and that the central rotunda ceiling had turned black because of it.

Her eyes went wide. “You’re challenging me?”

“Leave my woman alone.” Oh, shit, had he actually said those words out loud? He regretted them instantly, but he wouldn’t back down for anyone, not even Endelle.

But it was Rachel who surprised him.

She left her chair and got in his face right alongside Endelle. “What do you think you’re doing calling me
your woman
? The hell I am, and I don’t need you to fight my battles, especially with Endelle.”

“Hey! Why especially me?” Endelle’s long hair flipped around at the tips.

Rachel straightened her shoulders. She wasn’t more than a few inches away from Endelle, but that didn’t stop her. “Because you don’t respect anyone unless they’re biting your ass, that’s why.”

A roll of laughter passed all around the room and Endelle grinned. “I think you might be right about that. Well, okay. I’ve always thought you had grit, just not a whole lot of smarts.”

Duncan’s
breh
nightmare once more kicked into high gear. He didn’t understand the cause, but Rachel showing so much moxie had lit his veins on fire. His fangs once more vibrated heavily in his mouth, wanting to descend, and sudden desire streaked through his cock.

He had to turn away and start doing math sums in his head or he’d embarrass the shit out of himself all over again.

Rachel, however, stayed put. Still glaring at Her Supremeness, she retorted, “It doesn’t take smarts to know that this war is a travesty on every possible front. You thought defeating Greaves would end things. Instead, it heated up the entire world and now you have three fronts instead of Greaves’s annoying antics.”

“Listen up, missy. I’ve had just about enough of your sanctimonious horse-shit. If it had been up to you, death vampires would rule this planet right now. In fact—”

What more she would have said got disrupted by Merl who took hold of Endelle’s elbow.

Duncan watched as Her Supremeness turned to Merl. “What?” she snapped.

“You need to tell the What-Bees why you really brought them here. They need to know it wasn’t about Duncan or even Rachel or even Rachel’s new shielding power.”

At that, Endelle nodded slowly, her expression for a moment taking on a distant, almost grief-stricken look.

“You’re right. I forgot.”

Rachel moved to stand beside Duncan and to his surprise, she slid her hand in his and gave a squeeze.

Duncan, what’s going on? In all the years I’ve known Endelle, I’ve never seen her look like that. She looks so sad.

I know. This is very strange. And I have no idea what Merl’s talking about. I honestly thought we were here to discuss the wreckers and Yolanthe’s intention to have you killed.

Endelle walked slowly toward the French windows, her scorpion shoes jangling softly. She took Duncan’s original place and turned to address the room. Oddly, her gaze went to Luken where it rested for a long moment.

Again, she looked incredibly sad.

When she began, however, she drifted her gaze around the brotherhood and nodded several times. “I’ve thought a lot about what I’m going to tell you and even
how much
I should share about what I know. I’ve decided to be open about everything with only one or two small exceptions. So, here it is: Events on Third have intruded in a way that won’t leave us, probably not for a long time.

“We have an enemy on Third, an extremely powerful adversary that Duncan already mentioned. He goes by the name Chustaffus and he’s set his sights on Second Earth. I don’t know all of his motivations, but he intends the complete subjugation of our world. Make no mistake, slavery is alive and well on Third Earth in those parts of the planet that Chustaffus dominates.”

She talked about the Third Earth darkening grid that could be used to transport all kinds of men and weaponry in support of the three generals. “And they do this as you know through the use of wreckers, warriors trained to blast holes in the grid wall, opening dimensional paths to Second. They used the grid just a couple of hours ago, tracking all the way to Mortal Earth. A squad of wreckers attacked both Duncan and Rachel in the Seattle One Colony.

“As many of you know, Merl used to serve as a wrecker which is one reason I keep him around; he knows all about their set-up, their methods, and their weapons. And he’s met Chustaffus.” She tossed a hand in his direction. “Tell them.”

Duncan shifted his attention to Merl as did everyone else. His eyes clouded over for a long moment and the lounge-lizard look disappeared as his cheeks and lips thinned out. Definitely a warrior.

“He’s a killer of the innocent and rules two-thirds of our world. He’s enslaved a large portion of the population and maintains a massive army. His forces do battle against Third Earth Warriors of the Blood, the latter working hard to protect those not yet under Chustaffus’s thumb.

“Tens of thousands of slaves serve his whims alone in Chicago Three where he’s headquartered. He has sons who also work on his behalf. And it was his daughter, Yolanthe, who took Duncan into a trance and kept him there through a Third Earth mind-link, of which few are capable of creating. I’ve always believed Yolanthe was underestimated. She is Chustaffus’s daughter, after all.

“But knowing now that Rachel is Duncan’s shield leads me to believe that Duncan possesses an ability, maybe yet undiscovered, that Yolanthe is after.” He shifted to meet Duncan’s gaze. “Would you say that’s accurate based on the time you spent with her?”

Santiago called out in his Latin accent. “What do you mean, time spent with the woman? I thought you were in the hospital?”

“I was physically in the hospital, but Yolanthe kept my attention fixed on her through the use of a Third Earth voyeur window.”

“Shit.” Endelle drew the word out as though it had three syllables.

Duncan addressed Merl, “Maybe you can explain how the window worked.”

All eyes once again shifted to Merl, but he shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t have that ability and I don’t know anyone who does. But again it’s one helluva an indication how much power Yolanthe has and why, if she wants Rachel dead, she’s going to keep sending wreckers to chase her down.”

When more questions came up, Duncan, Merl and Endelle took pains to answer each one, fleshing out as many details as each could.

When there were no more questions, Endelle said, “So there’s something else I need to tell you.”

Once again, the room fell silent and every pair of warriors’ eyes shot to Endelle.

She sighed heavily, then said, “I had a vision.”

~ ~ ~

Rachel worked hard to process everything that she’d just heard, especially the horrifying details of Endelle’s vision. She’d never heard of the Supreme High Administrator of Second Earth even having visions. Although, she’d also mentioned that receiving the vision had felt as though it had been pressed on her in a way that didn’t sound very Seer-like.

That the vision had included Duncan in a significant way was one more indication that he would play a prominent role in the coming days, weeks, maybe even months.

And she was his shield.

Great.

As the meeting broke up, the warriors gathered in smaller knots to discuss things like strategy and hurrying up the production of wrecker sawed-off shotguns and accompanying ammo. All engaged in the discussion except Luken, who went to check on the steaks he had grilling. He’d folded more than once during the meeting to do just that.

With Duncan engaged in deep conversation with Santiago, who created all kinds of weapons as a hobby, as well as Zacharius, Rachel pulled away from the gathered warriors and moved slowly into the entry way. The front door was open to allow bees to pollinate the flowers that bloomed all over the living sculpture on the central table. The fresh air felt good.

There was so much beauty in all the dimensions of earth and though she’d only been gone from the Seattle colony for a few hours, she already missed her garden.

But thoughts of the colony brought the memory flooding back of seeing seven extremely powerful warriors, built just like Duncan and the others, firing at her. And the blast must have done some damage to her backyard.

She felt horribly confused. She had only one real goal, to return to her home. Beyond that, she didn’t want to be part of the war, not even to serve as some kind of Third shield for the man of the hour.