Gates of Rapture

CHAPTER 8

As dawn crested the McDowell Mountains in the east, Greaves stood on the round patio located in the middle of his famous peach orchard. The microclimates he had created in order to grow and ripen peaches every month of the year had won numerous horticultural awards. He had been pleased at the time to have been so honored.
Right now, however, he could not have cared less. What good was an award-winning peach orchard when his kingdom hung in the balance?
He moved in a slow circle, pondering the nightmare that, in a matter of just hours, had become his life.
His spies had observed Alison, during the previous day, in flight over White Lake, her emerald wings glinting beneath the sun. Her breh, Warrior Kerrick, had flown with her, instructing her, protecting her, eventually surrounding her with a dense mist.
The portal to Third Earth was over White Lake, and Greaves had learned from his Seers Fortresses that Alison was destined to open the portal to Third sometime in the next few days.
In the next few days.
His mind still reeled. As far as he knew, no one on Second Earth was aware of the truth about his dealings with Third Earth and what he had done to the portal. A year ago, he’d created a breach that had allowed him to bring Third Earth death vampires through the Borderland to his Estrella Complex without anyone knowing.
But over the past week, he’d succeeded in widening the breach, which would make it possible to bring a large contingent through on command, at least a hundred Third Earth pretty-boys.
If Alison opened the portal, the breach would be discovered and closed. He was a vampire who liked known outcomes, and a regiment made up of primarily Third Earth death vampires would have ensured his success because, in sufficient numbers, they’d be able to wipe the Warriors of the Blood off the face of Second Earth.
Worse, of course, was that the portal and Alison weren’t even his largest concern. Alison was only a wedge of this shit-pie.
Casimir had returned to serve as Leto’s f*cking Guardian of Ascension. Leto, that two-faced traitor, who should be strung up by his balls for eternity. Of course having a guardian meant only one thing: Leto was ascending. And yet Greaves had an uncomfortable knot at the center of his stomach that told him this would not be an ordinary ascension to Third Earth.
He pressed his hands to his face and breathed deeply. The orchard had just been watered so that the air was humid and cool as it entered his lungs.
He moved to sit down on one of the stone benches that bordered the patio. Then there was Grace’s abrupt return to the arms of her other breh, Leto. And if what he felt was true, she was the real source of his every concern. She had returned to take up her place as the third key to obsidian flame. It was almost as though her decision had somehow triggered Alison’s wings and Leto’s ascension.
If his recent plan to eliminate Leto at Nazca had succeeded, he would have been able to unravel this terrible synchronicity of events. But Casimir had shown up, fresh from his baptismal rites, and had met his own powerful hand-blasts with equal, if not stronger, skills.
As Greaves pondered his situation, he knew he had only one hope of coming out of this a victor: He must attain pure vision in which the absolute future was laid out before him and he could prepare and act accordingly. But would Stannett be able to curtail his pleasures sufficiently to get him the information he needed?
*   *   *

Casimir sat in a very comfortable recliner. He’d changed to jeans and a T-shirt, but the shirt was pretty snug. He smiled. One advantage of having participated in Beatrice’s redemption program was the absolute requirement of regular exercise, in a gym, including weight lifting. He was looking better than he had most of his life. And the truth was he felt better.
He even munched on an apple.
The suite came with a full bar, and he had been tempted, just for the hell of it, to make a peach blow, that absurd drink he’d made a few months ago in an attempt to seduce Greaves. He’d even pulled out the fresh peach and the soda water and was hunting around for the cream when he realized he’d lost interest. All he wanted was an apple and to cruise some Mortal Earth TV channels. He liked watching The View just to keep up.
Yes, he really had changed.
He took another bite of apple and was trying to figure out how to DVR Criminal Minds when he heard the steel gate in the observation room glide open.
His heart set up a racket. James had said a female Militia Warrior often came to the portal to do some work for him. He hoped to hell that was her.
He set his apple down and went invisible. If this wasn’t the woman, then he’d fold the hell out of there. Third Earth had some strange goings-on, and he wasn’t a warrior, not by a long shot. He also didn’t know what one of his powerful hand-blasts would do to the portal to Third if he had to use that skill to defend himself.
The door opened, and a woman crossed the threshold, a very beautiful, curvaceous woman.
“Is that you, James? Are you in the bathroom? Jesus, I can smell you. Did you bathe in wine or what?”
Casimir weaved on his feet. The scent was back, that intense wildflower scent, the one he had first smelled when he arrived at the observation deck.
And the scent belonged to this woman.
Oh, my God, it was a breh scent. He couldn’t be mistaken about that, because right now all he could think about was how to get this woman on her back. Worse, her scent was about a hundred times stronger than he’d ever experienced with Grace.
She wore jeans and a snug tank top that displayed beautiful breasts. She was as tall as Grace, which was perfect for sex. Her hips flared and her lips were full, two of his favorite attributes in the female form. She had a deeply sensuous look. Her hazel eyes looked familiar somehow, but he couldn’t quite place her. Her long light brown hair lay in waves over her shoulders.
Some of his former hedonism took root, and for a long moment all he could think about was stripping her down and taking her to bed.
But the newer part of who he was asserted itself. He forced himself to calm down, then he made himself visible.
Her eyes widened when he appeared, but she didn’t look too shocked, like maybe invisibility was more normal on Third Earth. “Who are you?” she asked. “And what are you doing here and did you bust up a bottle of vino or what? The entire room reeks of it.”
A wine scent. Grace had said he smelled of mulled wine.
He wondered what this woman would think of breh-scents.
He moved forward holding her gaze. “I’m Casimir of Fourth Earth. James brought me here to guard Warrior Leto.”
She blinked several times as though processing what he’d just told her. “So, you’re Casimir. I mean, I know of you because James and I talk a lot. And you took Grace to Fourth Earth as your breh.”
So she did know about the breh-hedden. “Then you know all about Leto and Grace? And you know about me, about events of five months ago?”
She nodded. “I felt so bad for my Grace. She was so torn, but James assured me that there were strong reasons for your presence in her life. I hear you entered Beatrice’s redemption program?”
He nodded. “I did. It’s been extremely difficult but the right path for me absolutely. I have two little boys—”
“Kendrew and Sloane.”
He smiled; he couldn’t help it. “Yes, apparently James does talk a lot.”
“But what’s this about you guarding Leto?”
“Apparently, he’s in his rite of ascension to Third and for some reason I was chosen to get the job done, I think because Greaves wants him dead.”
“Leto’s ascending to Third? But won’t that change things for Grace?”
“I don’t think any of us understands what’s going on. Leto’s supposed ascension just isn’t following the norm—starting with the fact that I was assigned to guard him. How does that make sense?”
“I see what you mean. So while you’re guarding him, you’re staying here?”
“James’s idea.”
She looked around. “Exactly how are you guarding him if you’re up here?”
He tapped his head. “I have my voyeur window tracking him constantly. I wasn’t going to follow him around at the Seattle Colony or wherever else he happened to go. Besides, he and Grace are engaging with the breh-hedden now, and I don’t want to intrude.”
At that, she cocked her head. “James told me a lot about you. All I can say is that Beatrice’s program really must be working for you to be staying out of their business.”
He smiled wryly. “Then you really do understand my previous reputation. And you called it exactly right. In fact, I would have made a point of annoying the hell out of him by constantly suggesting that we make it a threesome.”
At that, the woman laughed, a full-out laugh that made his heart soar. “And that would have bugged Grace as well.”
He felt himself drifting back into dangerous waters, because right now he wanted to tease this woman, say some risqué things, see if he could get her worked up. Given that she was still cascading her wildflower scent in his direction, it wouldn’t take much.
He turned to stare at the wall just to gain some perspective. He wanted to stay on the right path.
When he glanced back, he could see that she was eyeing him. He shrugged. “I’m trying to be good.”
“You know, this is really strange that I’ve caught your scent like this.” She blinked twice and enlightenment dawned. “Holy shit,” she said, eyes wide. “Are you my breh?”
“I think it’s possible that I am. You smell of wildflowers, by the way.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Sorry, but your wine scent is getting to me.” Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes dilated, her lips swollen. She fanned her face and looked around.
This time she glanced at the wall, but she said, “I know there’s a Murphy bed in there. Were you aware of that?”
“Yes.” The word came out strangled.
Casimir knew temptation, because her wildflower scent was really working him. His jeans were feeling as though they’d shrunk. He also knew how easy it would be to take her to bed.
“So, how do you know Grace?” he asked.
She laughed that bright laughter of hers again. She slapped a hand against her chest. “I’m Patience, Grace’s twin sister.”
“Holy shit. Holy, holy shit.”
“Yeah, and double that.”
He stared at her for a long, long moment. The nature of her scent, so similar to Grace’s, now made sense. And that she said he smelled of wine. He also marveled at what he considered a significant twist of fate—the kind of synchronicity he’d never really believed in, yet here was some kind of proof.
“As for the bed,” he began, “believe me, Patience, if I’d caught your scent even three months ago, that bed would already be out of the wall. But I’m not that man, or I’m trying not to be that man. If you are my breh, and I’m yours, then fate has brought us together and I don’t want to screw it up.”
She nodded. “I get where you’re coming from. But I hardly know what to think. Third Earth is a shitfest, and the last hundred years have been a trial. The one good thing that has come of it is that I was able to serve as a Militia Warrior, something Thorne fought against my whole life.
“But I never felt like I belonged here. I never quite fit in, probably because I have no family in this world. I’m not anchored.” She then tossed her hands in the air. “But, hey, you’ve got a lot on your mind and I just came over to check on the portal. And I have to get back to my barracks. Maybe we can reconnect once you get Leto ascended. How does that sound?”
He took a few steps toward her. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I’m lonely as hell, but that’s not your problem.”
“James shouldn’t have brought you here. I can see that it’s taken a toll on you.”
She laughed. “Well, that was my fault. He asked me, and I jumped at the chance to do something different. I haven’t lived the most stable life, just so you know.”
She returned to the observation deck, and he followed.
She touched a panel on the wall and a computer emerged. She fired it up, took several looks at the portal, then typed in what Casimir supposed was her report.
She then moved to the steel gates.
He didn’t want to let her go. He could see that she was hurting, maybe even embarrassed. He wanted to do something for her, at least to reassure her, but she waved her hand over the steel lock to the left of the door, and the gate slid open. He reached a hand out to her, but she stepped through and waved. The gate closed.
He realized that his millennia of seduction hadn’t exactly prepared him for handling a real relationship with a woman.
“Well, shit,” he muttered.
*   *   *

That afternoon, Grace had just finished her first meal of the day when Leto got word that Endelle wanted them both at the palace. Alison was ready to work with Grace on her obsidian flame power, and Thorne was busy setting up a temporary command HQ in the middle of the palace’s central rotunda. It would seem that Endelle and Thorne both believed a decisive battle with Greaves was on the horizon.
After dressing in soft black yoga pants and a loose blue cotton top that gathered at the hips, Grace folded with Leto to the palace. He held her hand the entire way, and it was so strange to feel what her hand felt like to him. She could sense his external sensations, which had been a bizarre experience upon awakening. His arm had been draped over her waist and stomach, so that when he began touching her, she could feel how soft her skin was to his callused warrior fingers.
Of course, he had made love to her, a very quick and erotic experience because of the extraordinary nature of the breh-hedden. It seemed to take so little to become thoroughly aroused, which she could see had terrific benefits. But at other times, she had no doubt it would be very inconvenient.
As Grace materialized on the landing platform in what she recognized as the dining room rotunda of the palace, Alison was there to greet them both. The blond beauty looked tall and elegant as always, her hair pulled back in a twist. She wore navy slacks and a lavender silk blouse. She gave Grace a hug. “Welcome home,” she said. “You were in so much pain at the contest grounds that I’m not even sure I welcomed you home.”
Grace smiled. “Yes, my head really hurt, and you helped me so much. Thank you again.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine now, really.” She glanced up at Leto. “We’ve taken care of the problem.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
Grace felt Alison’s compassion like a wave flowing toward her. Everything about Alison brought a sense of peace and rightness with the world.
Alison turned to Leto and extended her hand to him. When he took it, she grew very still as she searched his face. “It’s wonderful to see you like this, Leto, so relaxed. And like Thorne, you’ve lost that pinched look about the eyes that both of you carried all those years.”
He glanced at Grace. “My breh has come home.”
Alison glanced from one to the other, still holding Leto’s hand, perhaps reading him as an empath might. “Oh, I see what it is. I almost missed it, but you’ve completed the breh-hedden, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Leto said. “We both felt it was necessary.”
She nodded, releasing his hand. “This is the time to go with your instincts.”
Leto dipped his chin, and his expression grew serious. “Alison, I know that we’ve never spoken of it, but I can’t tell you how sorry I was that Greaves forced you to do battle with me in the Tolleson Two arena. My duties serving Greaves had always been a nightmare, but I think from that moment, when I saw you standing opposite me, so inexperienced, so frightened yet brave, I knew I had to end my tour of duty under his command. I’m just so sorry it had to happen at all.”
Alison’s eyes welled with tears. “It was a beginning for both of us, Leto. But I have to say that despite the horror of that battle, given all the wonderful things that followed, I wouldn’t change a thing. Knowing and loving Kerrick, having a baby with him, being close to all the warriors and their brehs as I am, even having a place in this world that makes sense to me because of my powers, no, I don’t regret any of it. Not even battling you in that arena.”
Grace watched Leto smile. She even felt some of the tension ease from his body. And as hard as it was for her to speak the words into his mind, Grace sent them anyway: You should hug her, Leto. I think just this one time it would be very acceptable and good for you both.
Leto glanced at her, brows raised. Are you sure?
Grace nodded.
Leto turned back to Alison and opened his arms. She stepped into them and held him tight. Grace ignored the fiery rise of her breh jealousy. Instead, she focused on the healing that she could feel happening between them. Leto had been through so much, and given his deepest character, the trial of battling Alison like that would have cut him to the quick.
Of course, it was no surprise that the landing platform came alive and Kerrick’s voice boomed over them all. “What the f*ck is going on here?” He stomped down the ramp, his green eyes flashing with anger.
Grace instinctively drew close to Leto.
As for Alison, she pulled away from Leto wiping her eyes and laughing. “I suppose it was too much to hope for.” She went straight to her breh, however, cutting off his hostile approach. She surrounded him with her arms and kissed him deeply.
Grace turned toward them and watched Alison shoving her fingers into Kerrick’s hair, dislodging his cadroen, kissing him again. Undoubtedly, she was speaking a long string of words into his mind.
At last, Kerrick released her. He had calmed down quite a bit. He took her arm, after which Alison brought him back to Leto.
Leto just shook his head. “We were talking about the arena battle. I was apologizing.”
Kerrick nodded, his eyes haunted. “It was a hard day.”
“I’m so sorry, Kerrick,” Leto said.
“I wanted your death, but Alison wouldn’t have it. She was much wiser than all of us that day.”
Grace slipped her arm around Leto’s. She could feel that he stood on some terrible precipice as he stared at Kerrick. “It ruined something in me to betray the warriors, to betray Second Earth.” He began to shake as though his century of being viewed as a traitor, in that moment, had just caught up with him.
Grace glanced at Alison. Alison stared back and shrugged as though even she didn’t know what to do.
But it was Kerrick who suddenly stepped into Leto. He grabbed him, hugged him, and held on. Maybe it was a warrior thing, something only another warrior could truly understand. “You’re back with us now,” Kerrick said. “That’s all that matters, brother.” He all but pounded on Leto’s back.
Leto settled down and pulled away. He nodded several times, then offered a smile. “Thank you for that.”
Kerrick nodded in like manner and cleared his throat. He swept his arm around Alison, who leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Okay. Well, that’s settled. Good. Good. Uh, but just in case you didn’t know, it isn’t wise to go around hugging other warriors’ brehs.”
Leto laughed. “Oh, I know.” He slid his arm around Grace. “And I wouldn’t have, but Grace gave me permission.”
Kerrick shifted to smile ruefully at Grace. “Yeah, that’s what Alison said.” He laughed and shook his head. “Damn breh-hedden. It’s always charging down on me when I least expect it.” He nodded a few more times, then jerked his head in the direction of the landing platform. “Well, I better get back.” He drew away from Alison and reset his thick wavy black hair in his cadroen. “I’m working with Seriffe through the afternoon. Luken, Zach, and Santiago are at Apache Junction Two as well. Come say hi if you get a break later today.”
“I will.”
He leaned down and kissed Alison again, then headed up the shallow ramp. Alison walked with him to the top of the platform.
Grace slipped her arm around Leto’s waist. “You okay?” she asked quietly.
He turned into her and drew her into his arms. He held her in a tight embrace. I feel lost, he sent. I can’t help it, I just do. What I did robbed me of something, a feeling that I’ll never really belong, never feel whole again.
There were no real words to make things right, so Grace continued to hold him, to stroke his arms and back. To kiss his neck above his vein over and over, to whisper her love and to remind him that she knew him deeply and valued all that he was.
Thorne called out, “Hey, I didn’t know you two were here.”
Grace pulled away and turned toward her brother, who stood in the archway that led to the large central rotunda. “Kerrick was just here,” she said.
She glanced at Leto, but his gaze was fixed on Thorne, his expression intent.
“Looks like we’ve got a battle coming,” Thorne said. He glanced at Alison, who had rejoined them. “And I think it’s because we have a major convergence among the three of you.”
Grace couldn’t help but agree. Both Leto and Alison had some connection to Third Earth, especially if it turned out Leto really was ascending. And she, of course, was the missing piece of the obsidian flame puzzle.
“Where do you want me?” Leto asked.
“Here, at the palace, or in Apache Junction Two at Militia Warrior HQ. We’ll both float between the two places. I’ll want you to liaison with the colonies’ militia.”
He turned and waved a hand forward then led them into the large central rotunda.
Grace was surprised to find that the usually empty room was now laden with long tables, dozens of swivel chairs, computers, and cords running every which way. A massive and familiar grid that mapped the entire globe sat at the center of everything.
Leto looked around. “This looks damn familiar, the way Greaves’s HQ looked at the Estrella Mountain Complex.”
Thorne took him on a tour and introduced him to the various techs and Militia Warriors he’d chosen to work at the palace with him. Grace followed behind, savoring the wonderful changes in Thorne that had occurred since she had last seen him. He was even taller than she remembered, maybe by a full inch, a result of the recent transformation he had been through as he took on the mantle as anchor to the obsidian triad. His beautiful hazel eyes were clear and full of fire. He even had a faint silver aura and overall, he just felt more powerful.
When Thorne reached the last table, he said, “Endelle wanted me to bring all of you through to her private suite once you got here.” He waved them forward and led them through two smaller adjoining rotundas.
Endelle met them outside another large archway that undoubtedly opened onto her rooms. Her skin had the beautiful olive tones of the Middle East. Despite her garish fashion sense, and her unmatched profane mouth, she was an Arabian beauty, out of Mesopotamia nine thousand years ago. Her eyes might have at one time been a rich chocolate brown, but they had grown strangely wooded in appearance over the millennia, as though the deep struggles of her life, of having lived alone as the ruler of Second Earth for such a long time, had left her scarred.
She wore a pair of pants in striped black-and-white leather topped with a cherry-red bustier. Her low-hanging belt was made of tiny silver scorpions. Grace was a little surprised, because even though most women would never wear such an outfit, this actually had to be one of Endelle’s most subdued ensembles ever. She frowned as she greeted them. Grace could sense her distress.
Endelle’s sitting room was filled with purple velvet couches and chairs all arranged on a huge pure white shag rug. Glass tables were scattered around. As with much of the palace, instead of a window, the wall was open to the air and led to a small terrace and low wall.
She gestured for everyone to sit down, even though she remained standing.
Thorne took a seat in a big chair that faced away from the terrace. Alison sat opposite him, which gave Grace the chance to sit with Leto on the couch, which suited her. Maybe it was the breh-hedden, but she wanted to be close to him right now.
Endelle paced the length of the room, the scorpion belt jingling. She called over her shoulder, “Havily brought in Starbucks, and I drank three grandes all by myself. I’m either peeing or pacing.” Her hair moved as well in response to her emotions. She was definitely keyed up.
“I was about to tell them what’s going on,” Thorne said.
“Fine,” she responded, but without her usual sarcasm.
That was new. Normally, especially with Thorne, she would have laid on the attitude. Apparently not today, maybe not anymore.
Though his expression grew somber, Thorne spelled it out. “We’re headed for a battle against Greaves. Marguerite has been in the future streams and she’s seen parts of it. It will take place over White Lake.”
“But there’s a resort colony over there,” Leto said, frowning, “with over a hundred world-class hotels and public gardens.”
Thorne shrugged. “Just reporting what she’s seen. Apparently part of the battle takes place over White Lake, and obsidian flame is at the center of things, along with Endelle. And, no, she wasn’t able to determine the outcome. She wanted to emphasize that she’s only gotten glimpses, not even enough to plan a strategy.”
He huffed a sigh then continued. “There was, however, an anomaly, in that she’s had another vision of obsidian flame in flight, together, as in some kind of demonstration. So we’re going on the assumption that everything is going to happen fast, and we want to be prepared. And to answer the question that I’m sure is on all your minds, yes, Owen Stannett is blocking her in the future streams. But to be fair, she and her Seers work to block him just as much. To some degree, they’ve been canceling each other out, but as far as I’m concerned that’s fine by me. I’d rather there was an absence of information than that the enemy had a Seer advantage right now.”
Grace’s stomach flip-flopped. Was this really happening? The war had been going on for centuries, and had been steadily escalating for the past fifteen years. Was it really about to reach some kind of sudden, abrupt conclusion? It didn’t seem possible. For as long as she had been alive, all two thousand years, Greaves had been creating death vampires and causing a mountain of trouble, from one century to the next, in anticipation of taking over Second and Mortal Earths.
“So Marguerite isn’t working alone on this?” Grace asked.
Thorne shook his head. “No, not at all. She learned from some of Diallo’s refugee Seers that working in teams improves accuracy. She has a setup out at the rehab center, a nice lounge, in which Seers work in shifts and in groups of four.” He inclined his head toward Alison. “Of course you know by now that Alison has mounted her wings and has been having dreams about the Third Earth portal.”
“Yes,” Leto said, but he dipped his chin frowning. “I suppose Endelle told you about Casimir’s arrival.”
Thorne nodded. “This has to be a shitfest for you on several levels.”
“Especially since he saved my ass out at Nazca.”
Endelle stopped her pacing. Thorne leaned forward in his chair, a deep crease between his brows. “I didn’t know Casimir had been out there?”
“Me neither,” Endelle said, resuming her movement back and forth. “What the f*ck happened?”
“It was well after the battle and after the colony had been secured.” He then related the tale of Greaves’s arrival with his Third Earth death vampires.
Endelle moved to stand near Thorne. “Are you telling us Greaves was there, himself, in Nazca, and meant to kill you with a hand-blast?”
“Knowing Greaves, I’m sure he meant only to disable me, but his death vampires would have finished the job. Greaves would never go against that particular COPASS directive, the one that forbids him to kill anyone by his own hand. He wouldn’t risk it because he only owns about a third of the committee.”
“But it was clear to you,” Thorne said, “that he meant for you to die.”
“No question. But as you can imagine, he holds a certain animosity toward me. I betrayed him by leaving his service and returning to Endelle.”
“Leto,” Endelle said, her voice sharp. “Are you in your call to ascension to Third?”
He held his hands wide. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, except for my beast-state. I haven’t experienced the usual longings or dreams, nothing like that. Although one of the death vamps said I was morphing the way Third Earth warriors morph.”
“A Third Earth warrior?” Thorne asked.
“That’s what he said.”
Thorne exchanged a look with Endelle. She shrugged and said, “I don’t know what to make of it. We know so little about Third Earth other than that it’s having its own share of growing pains. I suppose it’s possible that warriors there do what you do. This is a strange dimensional world. Anything’s possible.”
Thorne scratched his forehead with his thumb. “Despite all the unknowns, your possible ascension to Third, or whatever the hell this turns out to be, was one more reason we decided to set up the war room here at the palace.”
Endelle nodded, then gestured from Leto to Alison. “You know, there’s a bit of symmetry here between you two. You battled each other in the arena, and now Alison got her wings and more dreams of White Lake, and you have a Guardian of Ascension sent here to protect you during your ascent to Third.”
Thorne fixed his gaze on Grace. “Endelle and I believe that Greaves has been waiting for your return before making his move. I’ve been tracking the location of his army for some time now, for months. Almost within the hour of your return, he began moving a massive portion of his force here to his extensive underground bunkers near Estrella.”
“How do you know?” Grace asked. “I mean, the bunkers are partly under Greaves’s peach orchard and partly deep beneath the Estrella Mountains.”
But it was Leto who answered the question. “Because I created a back door to the facility, and told your brother all about it.”
“A back door?” Grace asked.
“A computer program linked up with hidden surveillance units in just about every main room of the compound. I couldn’t do anything about the rooms Greaves used—he was too smart for that. But the concealed aboveground landing platforms and the underground bunkers, yes.”
Thorne smiled. “Leto has shifted the balance of power in our direction. We know so much more about Greaves and about his operation than we ever would have known if he hadn’t served as a spy.” To Leto he said, “I want you to work with me at the command center, specifically on strategy. If Greaves intends to attack at White Lake, with all those gardens and hotels lined up on both banks, we’ll need a plan in place with orders ready to deliver to all the Militia Warrior Section Leaders.”
He rose, and because there was command in his manner, everyone rose along with him.
*   *   *

Leto could breathe. Between Kerrick’s earlier demonstration of warrior acceptance, and Thorne’s obvious trust in Leto, yes, he was beginning to breathe. “Where do you want me?” he asked.
Thorne smiled. “Right next to me for now. We have some planning to do.”
Leto nodded.
What might have happened next was disrupted by a shimmering that appeared next to Endelle.
Both warriors drew swords, but the man who materialized looked about as harmless as a librarian. Leto knew him well.
James.
He had gray hair, a novelty in any ascended world. He was short given the relative height of everyone in the room, and there was laughter in his shining light blue eyes.
As Thorne and Leto folded their swords away, Endelle addressed the newcomer. “Hey, shorty, long time no see. What the f*ck are you doing here?”
He drew close. “How about a date?” he asked.
“In your dreams.”
He laughed as he turned to face not Thorne, or even Alison whom he had known since her rite of ascension, but rather Leto.
“The time has come, my boy,” James said. “I have a directive from Sixth Earth at long last. I know you always questioned whether all the difficult things you had to do serving Greaves would be worth the sacrifice: becoming a death vampire, providing us with thousands of documents, building an army for Greaves.”
Every muscle of Leto’s body tensed. Grace must have felt it because she slipped her hand into his, a great comfort. He didn’t say anything, though; he just waited, as they all did, hanging on what James would next say.
James’s lips curved slightly. “So you know that army you built?”
“All two million of it? Yes, and the knowledge is painful.”
“Well, sometime in the next forty-eight hours, I want you to start taking back as much of Greaves’s army as you can. Not the death vampires, of course, they’re beyond reasoning. But the hundreds of thousands of Militia Warriors will follow you, if you but ask. That’s what we know to be true.”
Leto was stunned. “Why will they follow me?” he asked.
“Because you’re a Warrior of the Blood, and you carried those values with you when you built that army. The same values now live in all those men and women. You treated Greaves’s Militia Warriors, especially your Division and Section Leaders, with great respect. Your reputation among them is unequaled.
“Greaves’s generals, on the other hand, are struggling to maintain control because they failed to continue the structure you put in place, the one built on honor and decent treatment. Thousands have deserted, and an equal number have been executed at the whims of the generals.
“When you left, several of Greaves’s top men fought for control so that the army is now split under three separate men. Believe me, you have an opportunity to win them to Endelle’s side. As you know, the Council of Sixth Earth can never act outright, but we can offer guidance. Just please take what I’ve said very seriously.”
Leto had known James for a century. Though he had the appearance of a mild, humble man, at times he spoke like an ancient warrior, like someone who knew what battling was, how hard it was on the dedicated soldier, how much discipline was required to get through each day, especially when the days were filled with war. At other times, like now, he talked like a man who had served on a council for centuries. He was two men, but perhaps everyone was.
Leto drew in a deep breath. “If there is even the smallest chance that I could turn the army, or any part of the army, I’ll do it. I swear it on my life.”
James stepped toward Leto and clapped him on the shoulder. “I know all that your service took from you, every ounce of hope at times, and how far into despair your activities plummeted you. But that life is over, and this new one has begun. So don’t hold back, Leto, not in any sense. We have a chance now. We have a chance.”
Then James smiled, a very broad smile, and a sheaf of papers appeared in his hands. “Remember all those files you stole for us?”
Leto glanced at the papers. “Yes.” His heart began to vibrate softly, as though he already knew what James was about to say.
“Well, right here are the private cell phone numbers for every Division and Regiment Leader of Greaves’s army. We broke the code for you, so you needn’t worry about that. Also, we suggest you start with the divisions out of Mongolia Two and Australia Two.”
Leto took the papers and his heart began to sing. Here was justification, something specific that could be drawn from his years as a spy, that could help the ones he’d betrayed. He could bring a fully operational army and lay it at Endelle’s feet.
“Hot damn,” Endelle said. She even slugged James’s arm. “You finally came through for us.”
James did the unthinkable. He reached high, planted his hand on the back of Endelle’s neck, drew her toward him as he reached up, then planted a kiss on her lips.
As she recoiled in protest, James laughed then vanished.
Endelle wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “That little bastard. I’ll get him for that. And why the f*ck did he just take off? I have a thousand questions he needs to answer. One day, I’m going to sit on him and force him to cough up all the information I want, and Sixth Earth can just suck it.”

Transformation

Begins in the soul.

—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth