Page 14 of Gates of Rapture
“The portal to the third dimension,” Endelle murmured.She put two fingers to her lips and sat down.Her heart was still that wild bird.Vampires didn’t usually stroke out, but she thought if she didn’t calm the hell down she might just be the first one.So Alison had mounted her wings and now her dreams had returned, the ones that placed her at White Lake with the blue spinning vortex above: the portal to Third Earth.
She swallowed hard.She had a feeling that everything relating to the war and to Greaves was coming to a head.
Then she felt something new slam into her from the direction of Mortal Earth and anotherholy shitshot through her mind.
When Thorne finally put his phone away and turned in her direction, she said, “You’d better get your woman over here, and while you’re at it, I want to see Jean-Pierre and Fiona as well.Now.Within the next sixty seconds.”
Thorne might have been the Supreme High Commander of the Allied Ascender Forces, but she was still in charge.He met her gaze, his hazel eyes clear and beautiful in a way they hadn’t been in centuries.He was a new man thanks to the bonding of thebreh-hedden.He nodded and withdrew his Droid from the pocket of his slacks, then started issuing orders.
“What’s going on?”Alison asked.
Endelle looked up at her.“You’ll find out, and it isn’t just about your wings.”
Marguerite arrived first.Her hair was short and platinum blond and her six-months-pregnant belly stuck straight out in front of her.She was a full foot shorter than Thorne.He slid his arm around her back and leaned down to kiss her.She wore a snug blouse, and his hand went to her stomach.She looked beautiful.Hell, together they could have been a pair of Mortal Earth movie stars.
Marguerite had turned out to be one big surprise in Endelle’s world and in their small circle of über-powerful vampires.She had a mountain of power as a bona fide red variety of obsidian flame and as the most powerful Seer on the planet.Endelle had made her Supreme High Seer of Second Earth, a distinction that had no particular perks and a lot of responsibility.Marguerite had translated her job into a constant effort to secure global Seers rights for the frequently enslaved Seer population.
Near the east wall of windows, a shimmering brought Jean-Pierre and Fiona into the office, both wearing jeans with matching tanks and gazing at each other like no one else existed.Fiona had fang-marks on her neck.Oh, shit, the couple had been doin’ the nasty when she pulled them in here.She was almost sorry she’d disturbed them, but she had more important stuff going on than a little nookie betweenbreh-mates.
Jean-Pierre had a head of gold-streaked light brown hair that curled however the hell it wanted.She could tell he’d crammed it into thecadroen,another sign that he’d been busy when he got Thorne’s call.He had eyes the color of the ocean, big teeth, and a big smile.Fucking gorgeous.
Fiona, the gold variety of obsidian flame, had silver-blue eyes and long chestnut hair.She’d at least combed her hair, but with the exception of some lip gloss, she wore no makeup.She didn’t need to, though.She was in love and all aglow, maybe the best makeup a woman could ever wear.
“What is it, Endelle?”Jean-Pierre asked as he and Fiona drew close to her desk.His accent still carried a French lilt and drove the ladies wild.She often heard him speaking quietly to Fiona in French, after which of course she would end up wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.How many times had she seen the couple just take off from any old event once he started in with his mother tongue?
She glanced from one ascender to the next.“Have a couple of things to share, and before you start yelling at me about not sharing sooner, I just found out about both these things.”She jerked her thumb at Alison.“This one got her wings this morning.”
A round of congratulations flew from both couples in Alison’s direction.
“We should have a party,” Marguerite said.Her bonding to Thorne five months ago had released a hostess on the Warriors of the Blood.She often had everyone over to Thorne’s Sedona house.Poker had become a big deal and even drew the unbonded warriors, like Zacharius and Santiago, out of that shithole of a rec room the boys called the Cave.
“Hold your horses, red flame,” Endelle said.“There’s more.”When all eyes were fixed on her once more, she continued, “Alison has been dreaming about the portal to Third Earth again and flying over White Lake.You know what that means, right?”
As one, everyone shifted to stare at Alison.
“Damn, Alison,” Thorne said.“I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
“What?”Marguerite turned to Thorne.“Why don’t I know what this means?”
He looked down at her and told her the story about Alison’s ascension, how she’d had numerous dreams about flying over White Lake, about looking up and seeing the blue vortex that led to the third dimension, and that somehow she knew that her destiny was to open the Trough to Third.
Marguerite shifted to stare once more at Alison.“Holy motherfucker.”She then clapped her hand over her mouth, patted her stomach, and said, “Sorry, kids.”
Endelle laughed.But from the time Alison’s daughter, Helena, arrived, they’d all started curbing warrior-speak.Alison scolded everyone because she said she didn’t want baby Helena’s first word to beshitor worse.
Fiona returned to the subject at hand.“Do you have a sense, an intuition, that you’ll be opening the portal soon?”
At that, Endelle, swiveled in her chair to look up at Alison as well.
Alison blinked several times as though pondering the question.She then met Endelle’s gaze.“Yes, it will be soon.But doesn’t that mean the war will heat up?I always thought, or maybe felt, that once we had contact with Third Earth, the war with Greaves would end.”
“We all thought that,” Thorne said.He said to Endelle, “But how likely does this seem?I’ve been building the army, but we don’t have anywhere near enough warriors to battle Greaves directly.”
Endelle nodded.“I know.But now for my second bit of news, although”—here she glanced at Fiona and Marguerite—“I confess I’m a little surprised that the two of you don’t have word for me as well.”She then looked at theirbrehsand smiled.“I guess the pair of you have been too busy to notice that Grace is back.”
“What?”At least three ascenders shouted that word at the same time.
Fiona shook her head.“I don’t sense her at all.”
