Page 50 of Gates of Rapture
She could feel it deep within her body, her mind, and, yes, even her soul.
Her obsidian power was fully expressed now, though she could hardly guess at the implications for the triad.
She looked at Leto as with new eyes, clearer eyes.She petted his back and stroked his wing-locks.Who was this man who had been able to sink into her soul, to see her, to know her worst deeds and most heinous secrets?He hadn’t judged her at all, even though she still judged herself, still hated that she had rejected the infant because of the baby’s sire.
A clarity came to Grace, about herself and her life and the illusion she’d sustained all these centuries.
After the death vampires had taken her innocence and almost her life, she had withdrawn into a hard shell full of piety, restraint, even propriety.These were the walls behind which she had hidden for the past two millennia.She just hadn’t seen it.
She’d always admired Thorne and Patience, their warrior-like qualities, even their shared exuberance for life.What her life could have been had died the day she had given up her daughter.That was what she knew right now.For nearly two thousand years, she hadn’t lived, not really.
Oh, she’d performed good works, she’d made use of her intellect and studied hard, she’d prayed and meditated, she’d eased the sufferings of the less fortunate and righted wrongs wherever she had found them.
But she had never lived, not as she was meant to live, not as a woman of power and strength and formidable preternatural ability ought to live.She also knew this was why she was connected to Leto, even physically in this moment with his male part anchored in her femaleness.
“I don’t know what to make of this,” he said.
She leaned up and kissed him.“We’re both being called to stand up and fight, Leto.I get that now.”
Her power suddenly rumbled very deep in the earth, then spread upward through her legs once more.
“I can feel that,” he whispered.
She stared into his eyes, nodding in return.A prescience came to her, powerful and frightening.“There is something we must do,” she said.
“I can sense it as well.”He squeezed his eyes shut.“Something is on the horizon, something very bad.If we’re to survive—” He let the words hang.
She knew the answer.She felt it in her bones.“We must complete thebreh-heddenright now.We have to be connected for what’s coming.”
“Yes.”He put his hands on her face, pushed her hair back.He kissed her hard.
“You feel it, too,” she stated.“The necessity of it.”
“We’re about to go through hell.”
“Greaves is on the move.Everything that’s happened tonight tells us that something terrible is afoot.”
“But are you sure you want to do this?”he asked.“I’ve heard the bonded warriors talk.Completing thebreh-heddenalways takes place later, when the couple is more attuned or something, I’m not sure.”
“I know,” Grace said.“On one level, we shouldn’t be doing this, but I think the only way we’ll survive the next few days is if we’re bonded.Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
“Then you’re willing?”
He drew a deep breath and dipped his chin.“I’m willing.”
Even as he spoke the words, she knew she was asking for trouble of another kind by engaging thebreh-heddenbefore the time was right.On the other hand, her instincts were also shouting at her to do this thing and do it now, that their lives depended on it.
Therein lay the frequent paradox of life: that what was instinctual was often much more important than what could be seen by the eye.
***
Leto knew that this was both a mistake and a necessity.He felt what she felt, he believed what she believed, that if they didn’t seal this bond, death would follow.
He understood the mechanics of completing thebreh-hedden:being joined as they were now with him buried inside her, a simultaneous sharing of blood, then a back-and-forth possession of each other’s minds.Jean-Pierre had given him the details.He shared them now with Grace.
She nodded, smoothing her thumb over his cheek.“I’m ready.”
