Gates of Rapture

CHAPTER 20

The following morning, Endelle stared at James. She sat on her purple couch, her heart now pounding in her chest. “We’re that close?”
“Yes,” he said. “Very nearly home on this one.”
“You really believe that, don’t you? That the war against Greaves could be over soon?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t believe it.
Thorne had come to her suite a few hours ago to report that obsidian flame had successfully stopped the torching of the colonies. His account had been extraordinary. Adding to the fact that shortly afterward the triad had healed Casimir after Julianna blasted open his stomach, and Endelle couldn’t believe her f*cking ears.
Grace’s return had done this, had created some kind of magical effect on Second Earth. She didn’t know how else to think of such a wonderful string of wins for her side.
And now this. James wanted to get Leto ascended within the next couple of hours, because soon afterward Alison would open the portal to Third as had been prophesied from the beginning of her ascension.
“But we have to act quickly,” James said. “Greaves is getting very discouraged by all his setbacks, and he’s spoiling for war. Wake your people up, then let’s get both Alison and Leto over to White Lake. It’s time to move things along.”
She rose to her feet and called out, “Carla?”
A slight pause, then the security audio system came on. “Yes, Madame Endelle?”
“I need all the WhatBees here to my palace, ceremonial dress, their brehs included. Make sure that Alison wears flight gear and obsidian flame as well. Got it?”
“Yes, Madame Endelle.”
*   *   *

Leto slung his purple cape over his shoulder. Warrior formality demanded that he wear a traditional brass breastplate over a short black leather tunic. On the breastplate was the emblem of the Warriors of the Blood—a silver sword crowned with a green laurel wreath. He had always thought the emblem simple and quite beautiful, even powerful.
He sat down in the chair near his twig bed and buckled on a sleeker, more formal version of battle sandals.
“You show a lot of thigh in that tunic,” Grace said, but she was smiling.
He worked on the last buckle, looking up at her as he gave a final tug. She stood near the entrance to the bathroom, brushing a long curl around her finger, then letting it fall.
“You like?” he asked.
“Can’t you tell?”
“Oh, I can tell. Your scent has this room clouded, and I’m not blocking any of your physical sensations.” He could feel her nipples pushing against her bra. He took a couple of deep breaths because he was so close to throwing her back on the bed and taking care of business … again. But with five minutes left before they were both expected at the palace, he’d run out of time. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at her flight suit. “But I feel underdressed for the occasion.”
“Carla was adamant,” he said, rising to his feet and turning toward her. “Endelle wanted Alison and obsidian flame ready to mount wings if necessary.”
“I know, but still. This is your ascension ceremony.”
“Sort of an ascension. I wouldn’t worry about it.” He put his hands on her arms. “And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not complaining about the flight suit at all. It fits your curves perfectly.” He drew her close, then ran his hands from her waist over the curve of her bottom.
She laughed. “Now your scent is filling the room.”
He released her because he was feeling way too much. “Are you ready to go?”
She folded her brush away and nodded.
He put his hands on her arms once more and thought the thought.
*   *   *

Grace arrived at the landing platform in the palace and was immediately overwhelmed by the sight of all the warriors dressed in the same garb as Leto. They were gathered in small knots, just talking, but they were a massive physical presence given their height and general physique.
She had known these men for a long time, some of them her entire life—like Marcus and of course Leto. Others had come later: Kerrick, Luken, Santiago, Medichi, and Zacharius. Jean-Pierre was the youngest, having ascended out of France during the revolution years.
And Thorne was one of the men as well.
They looked magnificent, all powerful, muscular warriors, the shortest six-five.
James appeared in the doorway and called out, “Ah, the man of the hour. Leto.”
So, this was to be an ascension ceremony attended by a Sixth ascender. That was a surprise. His appearance brought a knot to Grace’s stomach. Something was going on, something big.
He waved everyone forward. “The ladies are in the central rotunda, and we’ll have the ceremony in there. If you’ll come with me.”
James led the way. Casimir, as Leto’s Guardian of Ascension, was already present and stood near Endelle. The warriors who were bonded joined their brehs. Luken, Zach, and Santiago stuck together, the last bastion of bachelorhood in their small group.
Moving to stand near the terrace, James waved Grace and Leto forward. She stood off to Leto’s right, a foot back as was the usual position for those supporting the ascendate.
James took his place in front of the terrace.
In a typical ascension ceremony, the officiate would offer thoughts on service to the dimension, usually reading from a book. In this case, James began very differently as he addressed Leto outright.
“Your ascension, Leto, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is very different from the usual process since you’ve not been called as an ascender. You’d normally be called by the appearance of dreams detailing the new world and longings for a different life. The only aspect that resembles a typical ascension is that you’ve developed the ability to morph like a Third Earth warrior. Would you agree that all of this is true?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
James drew a deep breath. “That’s because you’re not officially ascending to Third Earth.”
At that, Leto turned and met Grace’s gaze. She saw relief in his eyes. They had both been worried about what would happen if he actually did ascend to Third.
James smiled as Leto turned back to him. “There will be no disruption of your breh-hedden, you may trust me in this. Sixth wouldn’t have allowed it. But I digress. There is a specific purpose in your ascension. We need you to take over my role as the gatekeeper of Third Earth. My duties call me elsewhere, and I’m not allowed to make war in your dimension, to use force to protect the gate. And we feel it’s necessary for the securing of peace on Second Earth that a warrior be stationed at this critical gateway.”
This pronouncement brought a hum through the group. Grace had no idea what Leto would do as a gatekeeper or why it was necessary at all.
Endelle stepped forward. “I don’t understand, Shorty. I thought Alison would be opening the portal and we’d have access to Third Earth society, customs, even their wisdom and knowledge.”
“You should know by now that nothing in the ascended world is simple. One day I’m sure that the sharing of cultures will happen and that this will be true among all six dimensions. But right now we have to deal with a situation that Greaves has caused. It needs to be locked down before we can go further.”
“What situation with Greaves?” Endelle asked, her voice sharp.
“The commander created an invisible breach in the portal to Third that has allowed him to bring Third Earth death vampires through at will and without you or your warriors aware of what he’s been doing.”
Endelle frowned. “Somehow I thought Greaves had found a way to create those vampires himself, making his usual squads bigger and better. It never occurred to me that they really were from Third Earth. Not that I could have done anything about it had I known.”
“Exactly. Their origin would have changed nothing. But the real danger is simple: Greaves is ready to bring a hundred such vampires through the breach in the portal as soon as he engages you in what we believe will be the forthcoming battle over White Lake. Not even you could have fought a contingent of that size; they would have decimated your Warriors of the Blood. You would have lost the war that fast.”
This brought a number of heated expletives from all the warriors against Greaves and his machinations.
But it was Leto who asked the next logical question. “So are you saying that by opening the portal and sealing the breach, we end the possibility of Greaves sneaking these bastards through during a battle against him?”
“Precisely. The portal will once again be secured—but it will need to be guarded by a warrior. May I ask if you are willing to accept the assignment?”
“There is no question. Of course, I accept. But what will it entail? Will I reside on Third?”
“No, on Second, but the ascension that I initiate here today will give you a permanent mind-link with the portal. You will be alerted when anyone approaches, no matter which dimension, and because of the demand inherent in the mind-link, you will need to respond to each approach. Are you willing to engage in a mind-link of this sort?”
Grace felt the sudden tension in Leto’s thighs, back, and neck. She understood his reaction. He had served as a spy for a century, always at Greaves’s beck and call as well as James’s. Now he would be bound, or so it would seem, to the portal, with no real guarantee how easy or how pressing that duty would be.
But she also knew Leto’s character, the essential element of his warrior’s soul. Above all things, Leto was a man of duty, something he would always do and something she treasured about him. She was not surprised when the tension eased from the same parts of his body and he said, “I am willing.”
James smiled and even approached Leto to reach up and clap him on the shoulder. James couldn’t have been more than five-eight, so he had a ways to reach. “Good man,” he said quietly. “And I’ll always be there, Leto, to be of service to you. This isn’t a duty we would expect you to perform without our being available to you at will.”
“I’m grateful for that,” Leto said.
James stepped back to his original position and added, “There is an observation deck as well as living quarters at the portal, which you will have access to at any time.” His expression softened. “I confess that when certain political situations on Sixth Earth became irritating, I would stay in the portal suite for weeks at a time, at least until my temper cooled. But you will see the situation for yourself before the morning is out. Or you can ask Casimir. He has been staying there while he served as your guardian. And of course Grace can accompany you whenever you wish as well. Does all of this sound acceptable to you?”
Leto nodded.
Grace released a deep breath. Leto could remain on Second Earth and as needed she could travel to the portal with him. She had been uneasy from the time that Casimir had shown up and made it clear he was serving as Leto’s guardian.
James made the rest of the ceremony very simple. He offered a brief prayer to the Creator, wishing many blessings for Leto in the coming decades. He then placed his hands on the sides of Leto’s head and essentially installed the mind-link.
*   *   *

Leto felt the weight of his new responsibility, but for some reason he didn’t feel burdened as he had in times past. Instead, something inside him now rose to the challenge. He glanced at Grace and smiled. She had done this for him, her acceptance of him and her belief in him. Her love had made all things possible.
James ended the ceremony by extending his arms into the air to encompass everyone in the room. “And may the Creator grant each of you strength in the coming hours to fulfill each given destiny. So be it.”
“So be it” passed around the group, and a moment of silence rested upon the rotunda.
After at least a minute had passed, Endelle asked James what was next on the agenda.
James went straight to Alison and took her hands. “The time has come to open the portal to Third.”
Leto glanced at the woman he had fought in the Tolleson Two arena. And now both of them had a connection to the portal.
“With Stannett out of the way,” Endelle began, “we have a slight advantage in the future streams. I want to see a block set up, on Alison’s behalf, so that as much of the opening of the portal as possible will be kept shielded from Greaves. We know that he’s had some of the best Seers in the world under his command. I don’t want to assume that just because Stannett is gone, we’re home free.”
“Agreed,” Thorne added. He glanced his breh.
Marguerite smiled. “I’ll get on it.” She reached within her flight suit pocket and withdrew her phone. Leto heard her make the arrangements with her Seer teams.
Everything seemed to be coming together, except for one small thing. Leto felt sure that Greaves had something else up his sleeve, something unexpected that could still turn the tide of war against Endelle. However, he kept that suspicion to himself. Even if it was true, what could anyone do about it at this late hour?
He turned to James. “So what’s our timing here? Do you know?”
James smiled. “You’ll leave for White Lake in fifteen minutes.” His gaze slid over the group. “Warriors will want to change into flight battle gear. Obsidian flame will serve in support of Alison.” He turned to Thorne. “You’ll want to have Colonel Seriffe shut down all the hotels and gardens for the morning. Declare a state of emergency.”
Thorne immediately whipped his phone from his tunic pocket. Turning away from the group, he let Seriffe know what was happening.
To Endelle, James said, “I’m not allowed to be present, but I will be watching.”
*   *   *

Endelle retired to her sitting room for a few minutes just to gather her thoughts, even to savor what was happening. My God, it looked like everything was all but settled, or would be within the next few hours, especially since Greaves would be denied his Third Earth death vampires.
After all these centuries, everything was moving so fast and at each step along the way, over the past few days, Greaves has steadily lost ground. Half his army was gone, and he’d failed to destroy either the colonies or obsidian flame. With the breach repaired, he would lose another part of his strategy as well.
Yet even as she wanted to exult in this turn of events, this narrowing down of Greaves’s chances to actually win this war, she couldn’t. The bastard had never fought fair, not one day of his f*cking ambitious life. What if he’d saved his best for last, something unknown and therefore unpredicted.
Still, her adrenaline was flowing.
The end truly was near—or at the very least a major battle that would change the face of things on Second Earth.
She heard the door to her suite close.
She turned and there was Braulio, the vampire who had been her lover a few millennia ago, who had served once as the leader of the Warriors of the Blood and who had supposedly died in her arms but magically returned to chap her ass over the past few months. He was somehow connected with James in this whole mess with Greaves and more than once had tormented her by sinking his tongue into her mouth, which made her want him to sink other things as well.
He wore a dark blue silk shirt and tailored slacks. His belt had a silver buckle with a scorpion detail.
She smiled. An homage, no doubt. She rose to her feet.
He moved toward her, looking her up and down. “I thought you’d be wearing squid tentacles or clamshells today.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
His smile was crooked and all male. “A snug black-leather flight suit becomes you.”
She reached up and touched the scars at the back of her neck. She saw his gaze follow the movement, and she got a sick-gut feeling. “Aw shit,” she said. “You’re here to tell me what you did to me.”
He nodded. “It’s time. Like everything else right now.”
He moved in close and slid a hand up and down her arm. “First, I want you to know that I’m sorry that I did this against your will. I hated doing it, but I was under orders. And in this case I actually agreed with the decision because I believe it will save your life.”
“Ominous.”
“It is.” He’d never looked more serious, which increased her uneasiness.
“Spill it, a*shole. The suspense is killing me.”
“A lot of nasty shit has come out of Third Earth, including experiments with viruses built just for vampires. Greaves has that virus living in him. And now you do as well.”
She thought for a minute. “Are you saying you put a virus in me?”
He nodded. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t add to his announcement.
Then she understood. “You gave me the virus by biting deep into my spinal cord.”
“It’s the best delivery method.”
Her breathing shifted, and her face grew hot. She listed on her feet.
He kept her upright, but she pushed him away and sat down again. She rubbed her neck and felt ready to weep like a baby. But something else occurred to her. She snapped her head in his direction.
He moved to sit on the coffee table in front of her and planted his hands on her knees. He met her gaze dead-on.
“If you gave me the virus,” she said, “then you have it, too.”
He nodded.
She sat back in her chair. “Before you tell me what the ramifications of this virus are, I need to know how you got the virus.”
“I volunteered. I wasn’t about to inject you with something that I didn’t understand.”
She put a hand to her chest. What the f*ck had he done to himself? To her? And why was it so damn important?
Endelle had lived a long time, but everything that had ever happened to her had been her choice, not forced on her by another ascender. Even becoming the Supreme High Administrator of Second Earth had been an assignment she’d agreed to. Of course Luchianne had put her in a headlock, but still Endelle had said yes.
“So what does this virus do?”
“The upside is that you can shape-shift, or morph if you like, into any biological form you like, you can add appendages, you can change your DNA and grow things like claws.”
“Greaves has a claw he brings out on his left hand.”
Braulio nodded.
“Well, so far so good, but I take it there’s a downside.”
“A big one. Have you ever noticed that Greaves’s left hand is a just a little weak?”
“Yes, I’ve seen that. I figured it had to do with the claw.”
“It does. Changes become permanent.”
Endelle took a long moment to digest this aspect of the virus. She thought of herself, of becoming something different. She also thought of Greaves. “So is he some kind of crab monster because of that claw of his?”
“I don’t know. He may only have experimented with the claw.”
Endelle looked away from his dark blue eyes and the compassion she saw within them.
“Do you have changes that are permanent?”
“I have one.”
“Can I see it?”
“You’ve seen it repeatedly.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Is that a double entendre?” She glanced at his crotch—then her brows rose. “So you can change the DNA, huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “My cock is big enough as it is, as you well know.”
Yeah, she knew, and thoughts of that powerful aspect of his anatomy, despite the dark nature of their present conversation, sent shivers down her neck. “You’re right. You’re plenty big.”
He smiled and looked very male as he nodded.
“So, what’s this other form of yours?”
He didn’t say anything. He just changed.
Her mouth dropped open. “Shorty?”
Light blue eyes twinkled at her.
“Well, I’ll be damned. So you were serious that one time you told me you could be anything I wanted you to be.”
“Pretty much.”
A moment later, James began to disappear, and Braulio re-formed. James was Braulio, and Braulio was James.
“Holy shit. Well, this isn’t so bad. And, hey, Thorne can morph like this.”
“Unfortunately, there’s a big difference,” he said, sitting on the coffee table again. “I have to become James at least once a week to release that part of my altered DNA, or I start to go insane. This is always true, for me and for you. For Greaves as well.”
“So, if you don’t like the form you take, too bad, you’re stuck with it?”
“Exactly.”
“But why did you choose ‘James’ then, for an alternate shape?”
“A lot of reasons. James is a harmless persona and has served me well in approaching Alison, for instance, while she was in her rite of ascension. I’ve also served more recently as the gatekeeper to Third Earth in James’s form. Again, the less threatening shape has given me a strong advantage when challenged by powerful Third Earth entities.”
“You’ve battled on Third Earth?”
He shrugged. “Battled isn’t quite the right word since I’m not allowed to battle. I argue and threaten, and when provoked, I offer a display of power that is sufficient to turn away any Third aggressor.”
“You’ve been busier than I thought.”
“I do my part.”
“But now I have this virus. I suppose next you’ll tell me this has something to do with the little peach.”
Braulio dipped his chin. “And the ability within the next hour to become whatever you need to be in order to survive.”
“The next hour,” she repeated. She didn’t ask him to explain. She knew. She felt it in her bones. She’d be facing off with Greaves over White Lake, probably not long after Alison worked her magic with the Third portal.
She stood up and held his gaze for a long moment. “You going to tell me how this battle ends?”
“We’ve seen several outcomes. But I’m not allowed to interfere and I won’t. Just take everything I’ve said into consideration. I’m sure right now Greaves is plotting what to do with his morphing ability.”
“F*ck.”
His expression grew even more serious. “Exactly.”
Then he smiled, and before she knew what he intended, he blurred toward her, took her in his arms, and kissed her. She didn’t fight him this time because she was a woman going into battle and she wanted the feel of his arms around her.
His voice was suddenly in her head with resonance. Endelle, Endelle, Endelle. He kept whispering her name until her lips parted.
He groaned heavily as he pierced her mouth and began plunging his tongue into her just the way she liked it, the way she remembered him doing all those millennia ago.
Sweet Christ, the vampire had her number. His hands roved her flight suit. She was just about to fold the suit away, or tell him to rip it off her, when Braulio drew back.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Time to rumble.”
*   *   *

Greaves stood in his peach orchard and flexed his claw. He held several Seers reports in his right hand and alternately moved from reading them to snapping his claw, then trying to figure out his next step. And back again.
He might not have Stannett’s help anymore, but the reports out of Mumbai and Johannesburg were similar enough to give credence that a war-changing battle would take place over White Lake this morning.
He had already informed his generals and ordered his special death vampire regiment to be ready to fold at his command.
These elements were clear in the future streams: an army at the ready, and a death vamp force poised to engage in battle. According to the Seers reports, he would soon be flying over the lake, with his death vampires supporting him, and engaging his number one foe all these years: Endelle.
Yet in the past several days, he’d lost so much ground that he felt as though the pavers beneath his feet were made of quicksand. He’d started sinking when Grace returned, and the more he’d tried to pull himself out of the quagmire, the faster he’d gotten dragged under.
He still couldn’t believe that he had failed to destroy the colonies. Somehow he hadn’t imagined obsidian flame being able to stop the burning away of Diallo’s interconnected mist—yet the triad had done exactly that.
He shuddered. The dark wave of his future was still pounding him, despite the care he had taken to gain every advantage in his bid for world domination.
He still had two serious advantages in hand. The first was his secret force of Third Earth death vampires that he would be moving very soon through the breach in the portal. The other was his ability to shape-shift. The latter, however, had a serious drawback in that whatever choice he made would be permanent. Whatever he decided to become in the next few hours, he’d be forced to continue each week for the rest of his life. Yet these two elements had the possibility all by themselves of wresting Second Earth permanently away from Endelle and her allies.
The claw had been an experiment, but it had fit with his lifestyle, since he liked to do a lot of hurting when he made love.
However, a claw was one small, manageable appendage. If he chose, during this battle to risk everything by engaging Endelle at last mano a mano, then he might just have to choose a larger form that guaranteed a win against her but would be an unfortunate choice for a weekly transformation.
The only question that remained was simple: How badly did he want to win this war?
When he folded back to his Estrella Complex, he found his generals clustered around the largest screen at the end of the room.
Greaves got an uneasy feeling. “What’s going on?” he called out.
His aide moved toward him quickly. “We’re not sure. Parts of White Lake have disappeared from view.”
Mist. Then he felt it. Endelle’s mist. F*ck.
He glanced at the papers in hand. Nothing had been prophesied about this. So what the hell was going on that he didn’t know about? What critical information had Marguerite’s teams blocked from him in the future streams.
He felt the quicksand around his ankles again. Maybe he’d been hasty in killing Stannett after all.
*   *   *

As Alison floated in the air just above the blue-green waters of White Lake, she realized that the dreams she’d had of the lake had shifted over time. But perhaps that was a reflection of the nature of life. Paths were chosen and discarded. The journey branched and new roads were taken.
One dream had showed her backed by nearly twenty women; opposite the women were almost twenty warriors at Warrior of the Blood status.
But in recent days the dream had changed to involve obsidian flame, one of the most powerful elements to have emerged in Endelle’s administration ever.
As she flapped her emerald wings and set her gaze above her, the blue vortex appeared. Kerrick floated opposite her, a protective presence, her original Guardian of Ascension. His white wings were magnificent in the midday light. Imagine vampires living fully beneath a strong desert sunshine.
Leto floated beside Kerrick, ready to assume his duties as the new gatekeeper to Third. Her throat grew tight looking at him, so different now. He was deeply fulfilled and more powerful than ever. She knew that look. Kerrick had become this man when he’d completed the breh-hedden with her, more determined than ever to do his duty and to be all that he could be.
She remembered her battle with Leto, how frightened she’d been at the impossible task of fighting a Warrior of the Blood with three thousand years of experience. Kerrick had downloaded his battle memories—that was one of the reasons she’d won the battle. The other reason had been more complex: She had relied on her own gifts and abilities so that in the end she had defeated Leto and saved his life, by reversing a pocket of time and creating shields that his sword could not penetrate.
Now she was here, a vampire and a breh, executive assistant to Madame Endelle, and saddled with the ominous task of opening the gateway to Third Earth. She was a healer of the mind and had been during her adult years on Mortal Earth.
She could see the blue vortex now swirling above her, calling to her as though from the time of her ascension the portal had been living inside her, a task to fulfill when the time called.
James had explained what needed to be done, yet how strange to think that she was the one to do it, of all ascenders, the youngest, the least experienced.
Her nerves, however, felt like a car with the revs too high. She took numerous deep breaths.
Behind her, obsidian flame waited to support her.
Finally, she felt the timing was exactly right. She turned and nodded to Grace.
This was it.
Grace had already dipped within Endelle’s soul and acquired her levitation ability.
Alison felt obsidian flame’s power come to life behind her. She rose in the air and a moment later she was speeding toward the vortex, a stream of power lifting her up and propelling her at the same time.
She opened her mind, focusing on the portal to Third. She spread her arms wide and, as though the portal had always been part of her, she held her power open.
She then invited Grace to enter her soul and to acquire the same ability to connect with the portal.
Grace dove within, which made Alison smile because the woman had incredible gentleness as her blue flame power slipped into Alison’s soul. She could feel the slight pressure deep within as Grace found the lock to her portal ability, inserted her preternatural blue flame key, and acquired the same ability.
A moment later, Grace departed, leaving behind a strange emptiness. Grace then sent, What would you have us do?
Alison took a deep breath. She knew instinctively what needed to be done, so she returned, Do what you normally do. When the triad feels the need to connect with the portal, just let the power flow.
Understood.
Alison waited, but it couldn’t have been more than seconds before she could feel the rumbling beneath her. The obsidian power began to stream like a vast wave of energy, moving through Alison and past her, amplifying the connection to the portal until a slivery stream of light shot in the direction of the gateway.
The result was music, like a heavenly choir humming the most beautiful harmony she had ever heard. The music swirled around her and through her. She cried out in a kind of spiritual ecstasy.
The blue vortex spun faster and faster and suddenly blossomed, for she could describe it no other way. She could feel that the portal was opening—and at the same time she could also see the breach that Greaves apparently had created to bring his Third Earth death vampires through.

Though it has not been my privilege to travel to either Fifth Earth or Sixth, it has been the experience of my several millennia as an ascended being that the truism The grass is always greener has never been more accurate than in our dimensional world.

—Memoirs, Beatrice of Fourth