Gates of Rapture (The Guardians of Ascension) (37 page)

“I do.”

“You know, when Grace first suggested her idea of a spectacle, I really assumed that Greaves wouldn’t dare attack. I mean we’re filming the damn thing and putting it on the web for the whole world to see. If he attacked, it would turn a good portion of Second Earth against him.

“But I think you may be right because if I were in his shoes, with an opportunity to destroy the one thing standing in my way of taking over Second Earth—dammit, I’d take it.”

She called out, “Hey, Carla, would you get Thorne over here?”

Carla’s voice sounded through the room. “You bet.”

Endelle smiled. “Love this security system. I have a direct line to Central Command at all times. It’s voice-activated. All I have to do is say ‘Carla’ during the day and ‘Jeannie’ at night, and the women have to respond.” Both Carla and Jeannie had worked at Central forever. They were Endelle’s link to the Warriors of the Blood day and night.

A few minutes later, Thorne arrived. Endelle would have started in on the issue at hand, but the moment he saw Marguerite, he had to have his arms around her and give her a kiss.

When the embrace lingered Endelle made her usual gagging sounds until the two
breh
-mates knocked it off. She then told Thorne what Marguerite had shared with her and that she agreed. “So what do you think, Thorne? What’s your take on this?”

“I think Greaves would be a fool not to try it.” He then glanced from Marguerite to Endelle several times and finally addressed his
breh
. “Do you think obsidian flame could fold the review to safety if needed? I mean, it would have to be done with split-second timing.”

“Jesus,” Marguerite said. “If we’re busy folding Greaves’s army to new locations, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

Thorne nodded. “Then that’s what you’re going to practice today.”

“Right,” Marguerite said, but she’d paled.

He put a hand on her shoulder and held her gaze. “Listen to me. Leto knows where Greaves’s artillery is. He’ll know when it lights up or if it lights up. I’ll get him on it, and we’ll arrange a signal, okay? We’ll figure this thing out.”

*   *   *

By the time Grace arrived at the workout center, Marguerite and Fiona were already there with Thorne. “I’ve sent for Leto,” he said. “We’re going to need him.”

Her gaze shifted beyond Thorne’s shoulder, and she saw that the corner of the room had come alive with all sorts of computer equipment, including several large monitors.

“What’s going on?” Her chest grew very tight.

Marguerite explained about her obsidian intuition firing off about Greaves, even though she couldn’t find anything in the future streams about him or a possible attack at the spectacle event.

Grace
. Leto’s voice was suddenly in her head, and a second later she could feel him. She turned, and as he had done the day before, he strode across the mats looking like a god. Her heart seemed to flip in her chest, and without thinking she ran to him. He caught her up in his arms and held her tight, her feet dangling off the floor.

What’s wrong
? he sent.

Marguerite thinks Greaves will attack at the spectacle review.

When he remained silent, she pulled back and he lowered her to the floor. She asked, “I mean, do you honestly think that Greaves would attack even though it would ruin him in the eyes of the world?”

“I know his mind. I know that right now he must feel that all his ambitions, his centuries of planning, are threatened by the triad. If Marguerite has that instinct vibrating through her obsidian power, I can only say that I think it’s not just possible, but likely.”

Grace lowered her gaze to the mats. “This is what I feared,” she said, “that by coming back, I’d be getting this close to weapons and bombs. I don’t know if I can do this. I thought it would just be a spectacle parade.”

He drew her against him and held her tight, but he didn’t say anything.

Grace took one breath after another. She knew it was too late to change things, and part of her didn’t want to. But she’d seen the war destroy Thorne for centuries. The same war ripped her sister, Patience, out of the air, taking her who the hell knew where.

Now she was part of a power-based triad, and because she’d been so very clever, she’d placed herself at the center of what could be a bombing.

Leto’s voice was once more in her head.
You can go back. You have a right to the life of your choosing. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Leto, you always say what I need to hear. And yet …

It’s not simple.

You’re right, our decisions are never simple.

She’d had the life of her choosing for many centuries, and during all that time she’d never really found a place to put down roots. She had searched the ends of the earth, even Mortal Earth, looking for some sort of spiritual enlightenment, but nothing lasted, nothing satisfied.

In the end, she’d chosen to come back to Leto and to stop avoiding the war. She thought of all that was at stake. She remembered Leto’s speech at the warrior games about how everyone had a part in the war, because it wasn’t just about swords and guns and bombs. It was about building a better future going forward and that all ascenders had a role to play.

She didn’t like the role she’d been given to play. But what did that matter?

She chuckled softly and drew back. “I don’t know what I expected when I returned, or what I thought would happen when I said we should use a spectacle event as a ruse to move an army. I think I was naive.” She smiled ruefully. “I’ll be okay. I just keep needing to get used to this new reality.”

She turned to walk back in Thorne’s direction. Leto joined her with his arm around her waist.

Both Fiona and Marguerite comforted her, which of course caused their shared power to flare. However, in this case, it helped. “I kind of lost my nerve. But now that I feel all that massive obsidian vibration, I’m okay. We can do this, can’t we?”

“Of course we can,” Marguerite said. “Or as Endelle would say, ‘Shit yes, of course we fucking can.’”

Grace started to laugh, and her obsidian sisters joined her.

Leto drew close, kissed her on the cheek, and said that Thorne had moved computer equipment to the workout room so that he’d be nearby if the triad needed him. “I’m locating Greaves’s artillery. I have one of Marcus’s computer geeks, which is code for ‘hacker,’ to help me break into some of the Commander’s files.”

Knowing that Leto was working on the bombing issue also gave her some comfort. But it was her brother who helped the most when he said, “We’re going to practice the rest of the day, here and out at the parade grounds as well, until all of you feel comfortable. The first thing we need to do is to find out if the triad can gather its power while in flight and without making physical contact. I feel confident it can be done, but we want to be sure.

“Also, we need to find out what happens when obsidian flame folds someone while in flight, which would include the swan and geese handlers, Endelle, and any of Marcus’s in-flight video operators. Though I have a feeling that the triad’s power will protect everyone, we need to know what we’re dealing with.

“Finally, I want to do an emergency run while in flight, to simulate Greaves’s firing his artillery. I want to be assured that I get a signal from the computer operator, and that I can alert the triad that an emergency mass fold is necessary for the parade grounds, then have Grace perform one very fast. How does that sound?”

Somehow having her brother break the challenges facing obsidian flame into specific skill sets and practice drills helped Grace a lot. She could even take a deep breath without feeling like she was being strangled. She realized that she was working with warriors who knew a lot about the value of regular workouts and drills on every level.

The first thing the triad did was to separate and focus on the obsidian flame power, causing the vibrations to rise without making physical contact. After a few false starts, a simple form of telepathy, from Grace to Marguerite then to Fiona, set the necessary sequence. Marguerite even suggested they use the word
scorpion
to focus on in order to prompt the experience. After an hour of practice,
scorpion
brought the power flowing within seconds each time the word passed from woman to woman.

Once the power could be brought without physical contact, Thorne moved everyone outside to continue the in-flight practice. Leto even suggested that he be the guinea pig for the first folding experiment. He and Thorne argued, but in the end Leto prevailed when he said, “The hell if I’m allowing any of the Militia Warriors to be hurt because of this. And you know I’m strong as hell and powerful, which means that if anything goes wrong, I’ll heal fast. Get Horace over here if it will make you feel any better.”

Grace watched him stare Thorne down. Marguerite hooked her arm through Grace’s. “We have two tough hombres, don’t we? Sweet Christ, is it bad of me to want to see them get into a fight? Thorne’s closing his fist. Look at his arms. Those muscles.”

Grace could not have cared less about her brother’s arms, but Leto’s shoulders were hunched and bulked up. Her mouth watered. She blinked several times.

Giving herself a shake, she approached the men and grabbed each by the wrist. “Hey, knock it off. The last thing we need is the two of you locking horns.”

The men backed down, which meant each took a few steps away from the other. She met Thorne’s gaze. “I happen to agree with Leto. And just in case, Horace should be here.”

“Fine,” Thorne said. He whipped his Droid Ascender from his slacks and started hitting the screen. A moment later, he said, “Hey, Carla, we need Horace at my position at Apache Junction Two, and, no, no one is hurt, and, yes, I do know he’s probably asleep, but get him to me anyway as quick as you can, at this position. I’ll let security here know.”

He tapped again and spoke to security. “Horace is coming to my position.”

Grace wasn’t surprised when about two minutes later, Horace materialized next to Thorne. He squinted against the bright sunshine.

“Sorry to disturb,” Thorne said.

But Horace bowed slightly. “No problem,
duhuro
.”

Thorne opened his mouth as though to say something then simply shrugged, smiled, and clapped the tall, thin healer on the shoulder. “Thanks for coming.” He then explained what they were doing.

Horace’s eyes grew wide. “I’m ready if you need me, but I really hope you don’t.” A fold could trash a pair of wings, even the strongest wings.

Leto removed his shirt, which caused Grace to put a hand to her chest and to weave on her feet. She didn’t think she’d ever get over what the man looked like.

He met her gaze but shook his head. He looked so serious, just as he should given the circumstances. And she knew she wasn’t helping because she knew that he could feel all the desire she was presently experiencing. The next moment, she felt his mental shields slam into place.

At the same time, she started setting up her own blocks like mad because all she could think about was what it had been like the night before with Leto at the villa, his body slamming into her from behind and both sets of wings mounted.

As he turned away from her, however, she was lost all over again as his wings unfurled. They arrived in a blue flurry of movement and suddenly all four panels of his unusual, exquisite wings were just there. He drew them in to close-mount and shot into the air.

Thirty feet up, he unfurled and flew above them, turning in a slow arc and flying over them once more.

She put her hand to her chest. In flight, he was, as Endelle might have said, fucking magnificent. He began to plow through the air, even making another full loop that must have been a hundred yards in diameter. She didn’t move as she watched him, and she sure as hell couldn’t have looked away. She wanted to be up there with him.

A hand gripped her arm. “Hey.” Thorne’s voice broke through, and she turned to him startled.

“What?” she asked.

His stern expression softened. “Didn’t you hear me calling to you?”

She shook her head and pointed into the sky. Thorne’s gaze followed. “He’s your
breh
.”

Grace turned once more to watch Leto make another pass. His
cadroen
had come loose, and his long black hair flowed behind him. “Yes,” she said. “He’s my man.”

She heard Thorne chuckle, though she wasn’t sure what he found amusing. “Shall we see what happens when the triad folds him out of the sky?”

Oh, that. “Yes, of course.”

She turned to Grace and Marguerite. The latter sent the word
scorpion
into Grace’s mind, the telepathic link formed, and the obsidian power flowed.

Thorne’s thoughts were suddenly present as well.
Leto’s ready. Fold at will. Bring him next to Horace
.

Grace went into split-self mode, took possession of Fiona, then focused on Leto, now a hundred yards above the triad. She thought the thought.

She could feel the fold happen. The next moment she separated from Fiona, returning to herself. She wasn’t surprised when Leto appeared beside Horace, smiling, his hair wild, his blue eyes shining with pleasure and triumph, and his full-mount wings completely intact.

He met her gaze. “The fold felt like being wrapped in cotton and just set on my feet on the ground. Beautiful.”

Grace went to him, unable to contain all that she felt. She slid her arms carefully around his waist, and like a dream, his wings enfolded her. What a miracle all of this was, being here with Leto and her brother and with obsidian flame, feeling Leto’s arms around her. She felt overwhelmed and blessed.

She remained like that for a long time, just savoring him, savoring life, savoring the love she felt for him, the soft movement of his feathers over her skin. He was safe and uninjured, and he was hers.

Of course, the practice had to continue, but she thanked Thorne for letting her have that moment with Leto.

The rest of the morning involved practice and more practice, folding individual Militia Warriors in flight, then groups of them just to make sure that if the triad had to fold the spectacle handlers out of the air, it could be done safely.