Gates of Rapture (The Guardians of Ascension) (20 page)

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 fuck 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.