Gates of Rapture

CHAPTER 9

After James left, Thorne suggested that he and Leto move to the command center so that Alison could work with Grace on her obsidian flame skills.
But as Thorne headed back to the central rotunda, Grace took Leto’s hand, holding him back. “This is fantastic news.”
He nodded. He had a wind-blasted look. “I just can’t believe it.” He glanced at the papers in his hand. “Well, I know what I’ll be doing for the next few hours.” He met her gaze again. “To think I could win them over.”
Grace was ready to agree, but it was Endelle who came forward and put her hand on his shoulder. “The man who gave that speech at the opening ceremonies of the warrior games could win back the entire army, given enough time. Shit, Leto, I’m f*cking glad you’re home.” She looked down at her feet. “Hold on a second.”
She folded off her stilettos and what do you know, Leto was actually taller than Her Supremeness. She held out her arms. “Welcome home.”
As Leto returned Endelle’s embrace, Grace put her fingers to her lips. Her eyes burned like crazy. She wasn’t even jealous, but then she could count on one hand the times Endelle had demonstrated anything close to something as impractical as sentiment.
When she let him go, she still gripped his arms. “I hated that you left when you did.”
“Did you truly believe I’d gone traitor?”
She shrugged. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you really have seen everything. But I was damn glad when James finally showed up and told Alison here what was going on with you.” She smiled. “All right, go get me an army.”
He chuckled, but instead of just leaving, he turned to Grace and dipped down to kiss her. She kissed him back, wanting him to know how proud she was of him.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Endelle barked. “Do I have to get a hose?”
But for some reason, this only made Leto move into Grace and take her more fully in his arms. Maybe he was just trying to provoke the scorpion queen, but Grace thought it was genius. She let him kiss her for as long as he wanted. After all, the man had just gotten the validation he’d needed for the past century.
She sent, You know if anyone else had built that army … She let her thought rest.
I know. He deepened the kiss and held her tighter still. Celebration came in many forms.
When he finally did pull back, Endelle was rolling her eyes.
“Get to work, beast-man.”
Leto saluted her and left.
Grace wondered if Endelle meant to watch her work with Alison, but once Leto left she said she had a meeting with Marcus and that she’d be at her administrative HQ for the rest of the day if she was needed.
Grace had no idea what her session with Alison would be like, but was a little surprised when Alison made a space on the white shag rug by pushing the nearest chair and a couple of the smaller tables off to the side. After pushing the coffee table into the couch, she then sat down cross-legged on the rug and asked Grace to join her.
As Grace seated herself opposite Alison, she felt a certain amount of relief that Alison was taking the lead. She had helped Fiona a few months ago to find her channeling gift.
Grace’s heart was beating hard all over again at the thought of exploring her obsidian power. Somehow, it made the potential of the triad more real.
The only thing she knew to tell Alison, however, was what it had been like for Leto to open her power up, how he’d had to reach deep into her soul. She added, “I suppose I should tell you that from the time I was young I had the ability to read souls, to see into the deepest parts of people and to find their essential goodness, to discover all they were meant to be.”
Alison tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I think I understand. That’s why you were able to leave with Casimir, isn’t it? You saw all that he could be.”
Grace nodded. She experienced waves of Alison’s compassion flowing toward her, and some of her nervousness subsided. She took a deep breath and promised herself she would hold nothing back. In order to do what needed to be done, especially with speed, she would have to share her deepest thoughts and concerns with the woman opposite her.
But then Alison, through her empathy, made the process so easy.
Grace spoke first of Casimir, of having read his soul in the Convent when he’d brought a death vampire attack against Leto on behalf of Greaves. “That was when I first realized that I had two brehs.”
“It must have been frightening.”
“And overwhelming, because I was so drawn to them both. But while on Fourth with Casimir I looked into his soul. I saw all that he could have become but for the horror of the early centuries of his life. He’d been used as a sex slave. I think, or at least I would like to believe, that my real purpose in his life was to lead him to Beatrice’s pools of redemption. He changed so much after his first baptism. He was becoming a new man. Every day I saw a difference.”
“And now?”
“I worry that he’ll die.” Grace shared all that she knew of Casimir’s destiny, how it was linked to both Grace and Leto. “Before I chose him, I saw his death. But we asked Beatrice if the future might be changed. She said only if he completed her program.”
“But he didn’t?”
“No, and for that I feel sick at heart. I felt compelled to return to Leto yesterday, and now here I am. And of course you know the rest, that Casimir is serving as Leto’s Guardian of Ascension.”
Alison nodded. “We don’t always know the twists and turns of our paths. And thank the Creator for that. If I had known what would transpire during my rite of ascension, that I would be required to battle Leto with sword in hand, I probably would have crawled beneath my bed on Mortal Earth and stayed there.”
At that, Grace laughed. “You’re exactly right. We would all do that.”
Alison searched her eyes. “What I sense from you is the tremendous courage that you have shown in coming forward to join the triad. I’m very proud of you. It’s not easy having so much natural power yet not wanting it. That was exactly my life from the first time, as a child, that I dematerialized. I was human, and there was no one in my mortal life to help me or to guide me. So I do understand what it is not to be made of warrior material yet saddled with more power than you ever wanted.”
Grace released perhaps the deepest sigh of her life. “You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that. My twin and Thorne were always ready for any adventure. But I liked my books.”
Alison smiled. “I so get you, Grace. I really do. And it also couldn’t have helped to share a convent cell with Marguerite, who is also in Thorne’s mold.”
“I admire her so much; I guess because she has all the pluck I never will.”
But Alison only smiled. “Let me tell you something. Pluck comes in many forms. Just because you’re not a wildcat doesn’t mean that you don’t have pluck. Your being right here with me, for instance, is huge. You’re just different, that’s all, and you have a different role to play.”
Grace couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard such wonderful encouragement. “Thank you for letting me see myself in a new way.”
“You’re welcome. Okay, so let me understand. From everything you’ve told me, I take it that you’ve held back exploring your soul-reading power, correct?”
“Yes. But now I believe it’s the key to my obsidian flame power. When Leto opened my power, it was very different from what Fiona and Marguerite experienced. He had to go deep into my own soul. The problem is that I’ve spent much of my life learning not to invade the lives of others in that way.”
“So it feels like an invasion.”
“It’s too much knowledge. It overwhelms me with a sense of responsibility and at the same time a feeling of complete impotence, as though I can really be of no use.”
“Maybe that’s the key. Maybe your gift has a use, in the same way that both Fiona and Marguerite have specific purposes for their gifts separate from obsidian flame.”
Grace shook her head. “I can’t even begin to imagine what I could possibly do with this soul-reading gift.”
“Well, why don’t you begin with me? Why don’t you read my soul, as an experiment, and we’ll see where it leads us.”
“You’re okay with that?”
Alison smiled. “Of course. I trust you implicitly.”
Grace’s brows rose. She had never been more surprised. “But you hardly know me.”
“You forget that I’m empathic and that I’ve been trained to know people just by conversing with them. Also, in your case, I know you by your reputation. Marguerite always praises you to the skies, and Thorne has you on a pedestal. In that sense, I’ve come here today greatly prejudiced in your favor.”
Grace couldn’t help but smile, and yet she felt she didn’t deserve such praise.
“That look you have right now is the one I want to understand the most. I can sense how unworthy of life you feel. Maybe through this process, I can help you with that.”
“Maybe,” Grace said. But she realized there was a good chance that Alison was about to learn the hardest truth of Grace’s life.
Still, there was nothing for it. “All right, then,” Grace said. “Give me your hand and let me read your soul.”
When Alison extended her hand, Grace took it. She closed her eyes, and after at least one deep breath, she fell into Alison’s mind. She felt Alison’s hand jerk beneath her own. She pressed on through her mind to the deepest layers, letting herself fall until she was swimming in the absolute beauty of Alison’s self, her soul.
She grew very still, until she realized she was being drawn toward the source of Alison’s ability to heal the mind. The source felt like a door with a lock and for which she somehow had the key.
Using her intuition, she extended her power into the lock, like a blue flame key, and the door flew open. Grace then drew Alison’s healing ability into her body in long sweeping waves, a complete sharing. Once the process was complete, she drew out of Alison’s soul and her mind. Leaving her was a very strange rubbery sensation. She blinked. Alison smiled, but she shook her head.
“What exactly happened?” Alison asked. “I mean I could feel you, but what were you doing?”
Grace sat staring at Alison. She was filled with a sense of wonder at what she had just done. “I believe I acquired your ability to heal the mind.” She related all that she had experienced to the last detail.
Alison grinned. “What an amazing gift this is. I mean, if I understand it, you could acquire any power. Any power. Just think about that. The implications are astonishing. But we should test it.”
At that, Grace smiled. “But how could I test your ability to heal the mind.” Then it was as though Grace knew, and she put her hand on Alison’s forehead and let the healing waves flow.
The experience was like having something warm at the center of her palm.
Alison closed her eyes and sighed. Her shoulders even dropped a little. “Oh, that’s wonderful. So that’s what everyone else feels.”
“Yes, it is,” Grace said. “I’ve felt it from you many times, like soothing warm waves just easing over the mind. That’s what happened when you came to help me at the Seattle warrior games.”
Alison opened her eyes. “Wow. And thank you. I actually feel more relaxed.”
“So you think this is it, then?” Grace asked. “That I can acquire abilities?”
“I do.”
“So, now what?”
“I think you have to work this out with obsidian flame.”
Grace realized she had taken the first step toward forging the obsidian flame triad. For just a moment, she wondered if she should go forward. She felt as though she had come to a crossroads—but she could still retreat if she wanted to. She could return to a former life and ease back into her more spiritual pursuits.
Yet even as the thought went through her mind, she knew she couldn’t. In the same way that she was the sort of person who could commit happily to life in a convent for a hundred years, she knew she wouldn’t go back. She had made her decision while on Fourth Earth to embrace her calling as obsidian flame, and so she would.
She mentally contacted Fiona and Marguerite and arranged to meet them in half an hour at the Militia HQ workout room. With the arrangements made, Grace walked Alison to the landing platform. She was headed to Endelle’s office and would let Endelle know the results of her time with Grace.
After Alison left, Grace hunted Leto down to tell him her news. She found him in a quiet corner of one of the lesser-used rotundas. He had James’s papers on his lap and his phone in hand. “How’s it going?” she asked.
He looked up at her and smiled. “Incredible. It didn’t even occur to me how things would be for my warriors when I left.”
For his warriors. Grace loved the sound of that.
He leaned forward slightly and took her fingers in a light clasp. “How’s it going with Alison?”
“I think we’re done.”
“You’re done? So soon?”
She nodded then told him what had happened. Leto’s brows rose. “You can acquire any ability?”
“That’s what it feels like to me.”
“Huh. Like the ability to fold masses of people?”
This time her brows rose. “You mean like warriors?”
He nodded slowly.
“Oh. Well.” She squeezed his fingers. “Looks like I have some work to do with obsidian flame.” She told him where she was headed. “You can let Thorne know what’s going on as well. I know he has a role in obsidian flame so we might need him. I’m just not sure.” She glanced behind her.
“I will.”
“Walk me to the landing platform?”
He rose so fast from his chair that she took a step back and laughed. He put his arm around her and squeezed, then put them both in motion. She felt very young right now, like she was just a girl with her boyfriend and he was walking her to class. It was a nice feeling and in this moment, not far from the truth.
Her class, however, involved obsidian flame.
Once near the platform, Leto kissed her. She let the kiss linger.
I don’t want to let you go, he sent, his lips hovering just over hers.
I don’t want to leave.
The kiss deepened until she was swaying. Finally, she had to push him away.
He drew back and smiled ruefully. She always forgot how beautiful his eyes were until she was this close. They were the color of clear blue water. She gave him another quick kiss, and because she had the feeling if she didn’t just take off, she’d stay for another hour with her hands fondling his biceps, she ran up the landing platform ramp.
He waited where she had left him, smiling and looking better than ever, more relaxed, more at ease.
She waved as she dematerialized and was still waving when she arrived at Militia Warrior HQ.
The Militia Warriors on duty looked at her with serious expressions then nodded as she started down the ramp.
She hadn’t been to HQ in a long time and had to get directions to the workout room. In the past couple of years, the complex had been expanded; it actually took her several minutes to walk the distance to the room. No folding whatsoever was allowed within the complex. In previous years, before the addition of the current state-of-the-art security system, death vamps had been known to fold inside the facility and take the lives of dozens of Militia Warriors, often before anyone even knew what was happening.
Now the whole complex was locked down tight.
Once at the workout center, Marguerite waved to her from across the room.
Grace had missed her. Though they were opposites, a hundred years sharing a convent cell had created a warm bond. She would always consider Marguerite one of her closest friends.
Marguerite wore stretchy black pants and a crisp white maternity blouse. She was barefoot, leading with her belly, all full of Grace’s niece and nephew. Fiona was there as well in flats, jeans, and a tank. Her long chestnut hair was drawn into a ponytail. She looked beautiful.
“How pretty you look,” Marguerite said, holding her hands out to Grace.
She took them. “Thank you and so do you. Glowing, actually, although I have to say it’s still strange to see you with short blond hair.” For the ten decades Grace had been with Marguerite in the Convent, her hair had been very long and dark brown.
“So what happened with Alison earlier?” Fiona asked. “I know she helped me tremendously. What did you find out?”
Grace shared her experience.
Marguerite’s large brown eyes went very wide. “Any power?”
Grace shrugged. “That’s what I’m sensing. Any soul, any power.”
“Wow,” Fiona murmured.
Marguerite whistled then looked around. “Well, I guess this place is big enough for us to do some practicing.”
The room was huge, and Colonel Seriffe had cleared the space for them, moving all the machines and workout equipment to one side.
Grace laughed. “Well, l hope it’s big enough. I mean, what if we have enough combined power to blow the roof off?”
As if on cue, all three women looked straight up at an interlacing of steel girders, then back at one another. When Marguerite and Fiona laughed, Grace joined them, and something tight within her chest started to unwind.
“This seems so strange,” Fiona said. “Six months ago I was a blood slave. Now I’m here, with powers I’d never dreamed of.” Fiona could channel powers and enhance them at the same time. She could even be possessed by another person, which really enhanced the power level. She reached one hand toward Grace and one toward Marguerite. Even without touching their obsidian power flared.
Fiona jumped back and laughed. “There it is again, just like at the Seattle Colony.”
Grace rubbed her arms. “It’s always so strange. I wonder if we’ll ever get used to it.”
“Hey,” Marguerite said, her voice lowered almost conspiratorially. “Let’s try creating a circle like we did by accident before the warrior games. Remember?”
Grace nodded at the same time as Fiona. Grace put her hand on Fiona’s shoulder. Fiona did the same to Marguerite, and even without the circle being completed the vibrations were strong.
Marguerite’s dark brown eyes glittered with delight, which made Grace smile. Marguerite’s hand would close the circle but she aimed her fingers at Grace’s shoulder, holding back, then inch by inch crept toward her.
What a tease, but it helped to lighten the mood.
The moment contact was made, however, Grace flew backward, as did each of the women. Not far, but it was unsettling to sit up and watch Fiona do so as well. Marguerite had a little more trouble. She rolled to the side and pushed her heavy body up.
Once upright, Grace moved back toward the other women.
When they were together again and the same level of power surged even before they touched, Marguerite said, “I think we’re going to need Thorne here to anchor us. If it’s all right with you, I’m going to ask him to come over. Maybe he can get us started or something.”
“I totally agree,” Fiona said.
Grace nodded her acquiescence as well.
Marguerite strolled away, one hand touching her cheek as she moved. Grace could sense that she was communicating telepathically with Thorne. She even knew when the conversation ended.
When she turned back around, she called out, “He’ll be here shortly.”
Grace recalled seeing Thorne bent over the grid when she walked Alison to the landing platform. She wondered how he would feel about leaving his command center.
When Thorne arrived, Marguerite explained what had happened.
He glanced down at her belly. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m tougher than I look.”
His expression softened, and he dipped down to kiss her. When he rose back up, he was all business. “Okay, well I never quite understood my role, but it seems that I’m an anchor here, at least for now. Why don’t you try touching again, but I’ll keep a hand on Marguerite’s shoulder.”
Once more, Fiona began and connected with both Marguerite and Grace. The power vibrated among them like crazy.
“This is really something,” Thorne said.
Sure enough, as Grace put her hand on Marguerite’s shoulder, closing the circle, the power surged. But this time the excess traveled through Thorne.
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Grace asked. He was lit up and glowing with the most beautiful silver aura.
“Not at all. In fact it’s pleasant.” He nodded a couple of times and narrowed his eyes. “So, Leto told me that you have the ability to secure the powers of others by doing some soul diving. Do I have it right?”
“Yes.”
His silver aura began to diminish and soften, and finally disappeared. “All right, so how exactly do you think the process works then?”
But it was Marguerite who answered the question. “I think it means that when any of us experiences a profound intuition that something is wrong, like what happened at Nazca, then I look into the future streams. When I get a solid vision, the three of us can determine what power is needed to resolve whatever situation appears. Grace then learns the skill from whatever ascender would be best for acquiring the ability. She takes possession of Fiona because Fiona has the power to exponentially amplify any power. And that’s how we get the job done. But the amazing thing is you, Grace. If you can enter the soul of any individual in the entire world and you can learn any ability, then there is no real limit to what we can accomplish.”
And there it was, the identification of what this triad could do.
Grace thought for a moment, and let herself rest deeply within her obsidian power. She felt it vibrate softly. “If our ability as a triad to accomplish a task rests with me, then maybe we should practice exactly that: I should acquire an ability and we should apply it. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” Fiona said.
Marguerite nodded her assent.
“What power would you like to explore, then?”
Grace addressed Thorne. “I have an idea because I think it would make a great test. I’d like to acquire Leto’s ability with the sword. Then I’d like to possess Fiona and have her do battle with Jean-Pierre.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Have Jean-Pierre here as well as Leto. Because of the breh-bond, I think some of what we do will have to include the other men, don’t you agree?”
“You’re absolutely right, especially in these early stages.”
“What’s my role?” Marguerite asked. “I mean, if my job is to choose the task through the future streams, how do I fit in here?”
Grace tilted her head. “Actually, I think in order to really see what the triad can do, we need to be connected when I take possession of Fiona—we need to be functioning as a triad. I mean, I know that Fiona and I could do our parts alone, but I have a feeling that the triad adds something extra.”
An intuited consensus followed.
Grace contacted Leto and asked him to come to the workout center while Fiona did the same with Jean-Pierre. Because of the folding regulations, both warriors had to fold straight to the landing platforms then walk the considerable distance to the workout room.
When Leto and Jean-Pierre finally entered the room, Grace’s vision narrowed to a fine point focused exclusively on her breh. His hair was tight in the cadroen, which set his sharp angled cheekbones in strong relief. He walked with a lethal athletic stride, and because he wore a snug T-shirt, her gaze drifted to his pecs. She blinked a couple of times and wished for a moment that she was alone with him.
Her heart rate soared at the sight of him. Because of the breh-hedden, she could feel the give in the black mats as he crossed toward her, the brush of his fingertips against the sides of his jeans, and the way the muscles of his face moved as he smiled crookedly at her.
Hello, beautiful, he sent.
She had only one real thought, that she wanted to be alone with him. “Hey,” she murmured when he drew near. She was a little embarrassed, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that Jean-Pierre was holding Fiona in a warm embrace and Thorne had taken Marguerite at least twenty feet away.
She wasn’t alone in what she was feeling.
Leto put his arms around her, and she put her hands on his chest. “So what’s this idea you have?” he asked.
“I want to acquire your swordsmanship.” She explained how the triad worked.
“You’ll enter my soul, acquire this ability, then take possession of Fiona.”
She nodded. “Yes, but we’ll be connected as a triad with Thorne anchoring the early part of the process. We thought it would be best if Jean-Pierre participated just in case we need some outside corralling of the sword battle.”
“If you take possession of Fiona, then you won’t exactly be in your body.”
“I think it will be like when I do an apparition-split. I’m in both places at once, just more present in the apparition form.”
“You made the right call,” he said. “Until the triad has everything worked out, I’m glad I’m here.”
After a few minutes, Marguerite and Thorne strolled back toward the group and Jean-Pierre released Fiona.
“Is everyone up to speed?” Thorne asked.
A series of assents went around the group. Grace then asked Leto to remain where he was; she would enter his soul before the triad fired up its power.
She took three deep breaths, closed her eyes, and entered his mind. His shields were already flat, a point of trust that warmed her heart as she began to fall deep into all that was Leto. She passed into his soul, and because her intention was fixed, her blue flame power forged a key and found the lock that contained his ability to use a sword.
All that experience and skill flowed through Grace. She flew up and out of Leto’s soul very fast and was suddenly within her own mind. Her arm felt different, her shoulders, her back. She could feel how her hand was ready to receive a sword.
She glanced at Jean-Pierre who smiled, showing his large gorgeous teeth. He held up a sword and tossed it to her.
Both Marguerite and Thorne gasped. Even Leto moved to intervene, but it was as though Grace had been a warrior for three millennia. She caught it by the grip and went through a variety of training motions, ones that had been passed down through generations of warriors.
When she was done, she faced the group. “This is astonishing.”
“Holy shit,” Leto said. “It certainly is.”
Then she smiled. “What amazes me the most is how the muscles of my arm just reach for the movements.” She stared at Leto for a long moment. “How much you must have loved this part of it—the training, then the use of your skill in battle when you fought the enemy.”
“Everything you’ve said is exactly right.”
Grace turned toward her obsidian sisters. She handed the sword to Fiona. “You’ll need this in a few seconds.”
Fiona swiped the blade through the air. Jean-Pierre wisely gave her some space, but he said in the lilt of his French accent, “How strange to think that I will be battling my breh.”
The moment of truth had arrived, the truth of exactly what obsidian flame could do. This was a very small test, to pit the triad against Jean-Pierre’s ability as a swordsman.
*   *   *

Of all three men, Leto had the smallest role in what was to unfold in the next few minutes. He drew his iPhone from the pocket of his jeans and backed up about thirty feet so that he could make a video of this first test run.
He felt the scowl on his face. He wasn’t thrilled that there was a sharp blade involved in this first venture. But he thought that might be because his woman would be near the battle. He didn’t like the idea of her getting accidentally hurt.
He watched the women join together, hands to shoulders. Even as far away as he was, he could feel their power expand suddenly, like a whip through the room.
He held the phone steady with both hands elevated at shoulder level. He could see events unfold. Grace’s neck arched, then she left the circle and began backing up and away, at a right angle to Leto’s position, and stood very still.
He shifted his gaze to Fiona. Her eyes were wide open and she had a gold aura as she turned toward Jean-Pierre. She held her sword in the ready position, her knees slightly bent, her chin down, her eyes up, both hands on the grip.
He had to remind himself to keep filming because all he really wanted to do was to watch the battle. What followed startled him. Fiona’s skills were at Warrior of the Blood level, a perfect reflection of his own ability as well as his centuries of training and use.
Jean-Pierre worked hard to keep up with her, and yet Leto had the sense that Fiona was holding back.
He shifted his gaze to both Marguerite and Grace, then he saw what he hoped the camera would pick up as well. Rivers of faint light flowed between the women, moving strands of blue, gold, and red.
Fiona—or was it Grace?—began to move faster and faster. She flew through the air with levitation power alone; she tumbled through exotic rolls and kept Jean-Pierre completely off balance. Her speed increased as the triad flexed its power, until at last she was a long blur of speed and Jean-Pierre finally stood still, his sword pointed toward the black mats.
The sound like the roaring of a wind rushed through the room—and then the moment ended. The blur that was Fiona stopped midair, arms outstretched as she floated back to the black mats.
The room fell silent. No one spoke.
Fiona touched down and walked toward her obsidian sisters. Leto saw when Grace returned to herself since her neck arched in the same way as when she left. She walked back in Marguerite and Fiona’s direction.
When they came together, they touched shoulders again and formed another circle. Power flowed once more. A vast beam of white light filled the space in front of each of them and flowed in a massive stream up to the ceiling.
Leto had to shade his eyes.
At last the light faded and the circle broke.
He stopped filming and returned to the triad.
Thorne glowed his silver aura.
As they spoke about their experiences, Leto confirmed what each said with his own observations. Thorne did as well. Because they had video, it was decided to return to the palace and watch the feed on the large screen.
When the video had been reviewed about ten times with Endelle, she summed it up succinctly. “Well, damn.”

Seduction comes in many forms.

—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth