Gates of Rapture (The Guardians of Ascension) (25 page)

To Casimir, he sent,
I’m taking Grace to Diallo’s house, deep into the courtyard garden. Meet us there.

Done,
Casimir returned.

He took Grace’s arm. “We’re going to fold to Diallo’s house, to the garden. I can’t raise the colony’s HQ on my phone. Casimir will join us there. I’ll block my trace so that we won’t be followed by any other death vampires who arrive here after we’re gone. Okay?”

She nodded.

Leto folded her in a quick flash through nether-space. He felt her feet touch down just as his did. They were where he wanted them to be, hidden by foliage. He blocked his trace. However, Diallo’s central courtyard was crawling with even more death vampires.

Holy shit, while he and Grace had been battling in his cabin, the colony had been attacked by death vampires. Why the fuck hadn’t the alarms sounded?

Crouch,
he sent.

She was quick and ducked.

Leto, what happened here?

He looked up at the dome of mist.
It’s simple. Greaves mapped and breached the colony.

The top had been burned away, just like at Nazca.

Another couple of seconds passed, and Casimir folded next to Grace. She looked up at him and nodded. There was nothing of the vampire Leto had known all those months ago. Casimir had been absurd, always taunting with sexual innuendo, always easy in his smiles. Now he was serious, even somber.

Casimir looked at Grace, but without flirtation. Right now, he even looked a little confused. Leto saw nothing to challenge in his demeanor toward Grace. He could only imagine what the redemption pools had been like to have taken the casual smirk from his face.

*   *   *

A number of sensations struck Grace all at once: Casimir’s odd presence beside her, the humidity of the garden, the terrible number of death vampires milling about and ready to fight. She could feel Leto crouching without even looking at him because of the
breh-hedden.
Earlier, while she was waiting for Leto in the basement, she had felt him throw his dagger at the death vampire. Right now, when he pivoted on his heels to scan every inch of the garden, she could feel his battle sandals grinding against the hard pavers.

She peered through the shrubbery and started counting the number of death vampires, all restless, all moving as though they were hunting, even if their current job was to guard the courtyard. There had to be at least fifteen in the relatively small space. None of them spoke.

The war again.

She looked up. Remnants of the mist remained but mostly it was just gone, destroyed. In the distance, she could hear screams coming from the lane beyond Diallo’s house as well as the sound of a rhythmic drumbeat. Why was there the sound of a drum?

Creator help them.

To Leto, she sent,
What do we do?

I’m not sure,
he responded.
I talked to Thorne. He said he was contacting Seriffe and would mobilize the Militia Warrior contingent at Apache Two. But I have a bad feeling about Diallo and Mei-Amadi.

When she shivered, he slid his arm around her waist.
Sorry,
he sent.
But I think this is about to get worse.

It’s okay. I’ll manage.
She thought for a moment.
Do you think they have Diallo and his wife?

That’s what I think. Greaves would have ordered them to be either apprehended or killed.

Do you want me to look for them?
She met his gaze. His blue eyes glittered in the garden shadows.

How will you look for them
?
Wait, I can feel your obsidian power rising, up through your legs.

She nodded.
Yes, that’s it exactly. I can do what I did for you in Moscow Two and when I searched out Nazca One. I can use the apparition part of this power to travel the house.

Won’t you be seen?

She shook her head.
Don’t you remember? Even Greaves couldn’t see me. Just you and … Casimir.

She felt him tense then relax. She could feel him swallow, which was a strange experience all in itself.

He nodded, but turned to stare once more through the leaves.
Do it.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Steady me while I do this thing.

You got it.
He tightened his arm around her.
I’ll let Thorne know what’s going on.

Grace let her obsidian power flow. Because her blue flame was now fully opened, the rush of energy was like a flood.

She glanced up at Casimir and telepathically told him what was going on.

Be careful,
he sent. He reached for her, glanced at Leto, then withdrew his hand.

Grace turned toward the house. She thought of Mei-Amadi, and her apparition-self moved swiftly through the shrubs and even past the death vampires.

She sped into the hall. To the left was the kitchen and dining room and another major hall leading to the bedrooms.

Shifting to face forward, she saw that the largest gathering of death vampires was in the front living room where she had sat with Leto all those months ago. They were making a lot of noise, even cheering. She found the pretty-boys grouped around a single death vampire on the floor. He was engaged in copulation and was drinking a woman to death.

Oh, God. Mei-Amadi.

She froze for a moment as visceral memories pummeled her. She knew exactly what the woman was experiencing, the terror, the pain, and the rage combined. She felt ill.

Grace, are you all right
? Leto sent.
You’re trembling in my arms.

His voice eased her.
Yes,
she responded. She drew close and saw that the lovely African-Asian woman was white-faced, near death.
They have Diallo’s wife.
But she knew what to do. She put her apparition-hand on the woman’s forehead.

Grace simply took her with her so that Mei-Amadi vanished from beneath the death vamp. With a rush of energy, she headed back to Leto. At the same time she gave him a brisk mental warning of what she had done.

When she arrived and Mei-Amadi materialized beside her, she collapsed on Grace. She was naked, bruised, and bloody. She was also weeping. Her sounds would bring the death vamps.

We’ve got to get her out of here,
Grace sent to Leto.

He drew Mei-Amadi into his arms and sent,
We’re folding to the Militia Warrior HQ in Apache Junction Two. The landing platforms.
He glanced past her, and she could tell that he was sending Casimir a similar message.

Take her,
Grace sent.
I’ll follow.

As he dematerialized, he was shouting into her head.
Grace, come with us now. This is too dangerous.

She shifted to meet Casimir’s gaze. He frowned heavily.
You need to go with him, don’t you?

He nodded, but he looked pained.
I hate to leave you here, but I’m Leto’s guardian. Will you be safe?

Yes. But I must find Diallo.
She noticed movement to her right and saw that a couple of death vampires were headed in her direction. She couldn’t stay in the garden.

She considered all her options and looked up.
I’m going to the roof. Come with me.

She folded to the rooftop and blocked her trace. She’d half expected to meet up with a couple of death vamps here on top of the house, but none was present. She lay down on the shingle roof, making herself almost invisible since the sky was dark overhead.

Casimir materialized next to her.
What are you doing?

I’m going to remain prone while I do my split-self. Don’t worry. I feel very secure here. Go to Leto. I can feel your need to guard him.

He put a hand on her shoulder, then vanished.

Once more she let her obsidian power flow. She moved in apparition-form and began searching through the house room by room. A great deal of angry shouting was going on in the living room. She pressed on.

She found Diallo in the middle of his large master bedroom, beaten around his head and face, his arms cut up. A death vampire was behind him, his fangs in deep and drinking him down at his neck. Another was in front, and had attacked him in the groin, sucking from the vein. There were other fang-marks as well. Diallo’s beautiful brown skin had actually paled.

Grace hurried toward him and he met her gaze. Diallo had so much power that he could see her when even Greaves couldn’t. She put her hand on his forehead, and he simply vanished with her as she flew back to the roof and reentered her physical self. He collapsed facedown on the roof next to her.

“Lie still,” she whispered. “I’m going to fold us to safety, but it will hurt like hell because you’re wounded.”

Diallo merely smiled.

She folded him to the landing platforms at the Militia Warrior HQ. He arrived facedown on the platform, screaming. In addition to the many cuts, it now became apparent that he had broken bones as well. After a few seconds, his back arched and he passed out.

Not long after, probably because of Leto’s advance warning, several healers arrived. They moved Diallo off the platform, but not very far, as they began healing him.

Thorne arrived running up the ramp toward her. He drew her into his arms. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, then looked around. “Where’s Leto?”

“He took Mei-Amadi straight to the hospital from here.”

She could sense that Leto’s arms were wrapped around his stomach and that he was blinking rapidly.
Leto, I’m at the landing platform. I’ve got Diallo. He’s alive.

Oh, thank God. I could feel that you had folded and that you had him with you. The
breh-hedden
is really something, but who the hell is hugging you?

Grace didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The whole situation was so horrible, yet Leto had time to be jealous?
Thorne. Just Thorne.

Okay. Sorry about that. Diallo’s wife has been calling for him. What can I tell her?

We got him in time. The healers are with him. He’s really messed up: drained, cut up, some broken bones. I’m going to wait here with Thorne. Come to us when you can.

I’ll come back as soon as Alison gets here, probably just a minute or two.

Okay, that’s good. Is Casimir with you?

There was a slight pause, then
He just left. I told him you were with Thorne.

She knew he was angry, and she knew exactly why, so she sent,
Leto, you must not fault him for not staying with me. He is your guardian. You know how critical that feels. You’ve served as a Guardian of Ascension in centuries past. You know he did what he had to do.

I know. But I don’t have to like it. I’ll leave here shortly.

She turned to Thorne and told him what she’d seen. “The mist was destroyed and the colonists are being slaughtered. Diallo’s house was crawling with death vampires.”

“We’re getting ready to launch. Donna, who works the grid here at HQ, moved the grid to the colony’s location. Seriffe is with her. He has his eye on everything as well. He sent out a general call for Militia Warriors fifteen minutes ago. We’re assembling the squadrons in the flight hangar now. They’ve already started arriving. A couple dozen squads are just about ready to fold.”

As if his words were magic, the landing platform officer called out, “Incoming. Friendlies.”

More squadrons folded in from all over the Metro Phoenix Two area. By long habit of drilling and preparation, the Thunder God Warriors marched off to the left toward a large departure hangar.

Thorne took her hand. “I want you to see this.”

Grace went with him to the double doors. Within were dozens of tight squads of four, repeated over and over. Wherever a squad awaited one of theirs, the warriors stood grouped at the back. Once a squad had all four members, they moved into position to the fore awaiting orders on several sets of departure platforms.

Thorne leaned close. “We have a reconnaissance team, couched in Endelle’s mist, over the colony right now. We’ll have a report within seconds.”

As if on cue, the large screens came to life and the horror of the attack on the colony caused Grace to list. A moment later, Leto arrived and slid his arm around her waist to support her. “Alison is with Mei-Amadi now. God, I felt you start to fall. What is it?” But his gaze found the screens soon enough, and he murmured, “Creator help us.”

Hundreds of death vampires roamed what had been the fair-like atmosphere of the warrior games. The bodies of several colonists could be seen lying prone on the sawdust, but fewer than Grace had expected. A number of death vamps were using them, going after dying blood. The enemy appeared to be celebrating, gathering around the feeding spots, shouting, raising their fists in the air.

“I thought there would be more casualties,” Grace said.

Leto squeezed her waist. “The colonists are well trained. Remember the drums?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what they were.”

“That was the secondary alarm. Once the electronic alarm failed, the HQ warriors would have started pounding the drums. The death vamps would have had no idea what that was.”

“So you’re saying a lot of the colonists would have gotten away?”

“Yes, as many as heard the drums would have folded to the Portland Colony. We should have a report soon.”

“Thank the Creator for that. Leto, were the drums your idea?”

He nodded. “It seemed like a logical precaution. And something the enemy wouldn’t have expected. I made sure that every colony drilled with drums.”

A voice came over the loudspeaker. “None of the death vampires is watching the skies.” The image on the screen pivoted to what Grace knew to be a position in the west because she’d been there herself earlier in the evening. The voice added, “The landing platforms are clear and unguarded.”

Thorne leaned in her direction. “Gideon has several reconnaissance warriors in flight and cloaked in mist. They’re over the colony now. You’re hearing one of them reporting.”