Page 58 of Gates of Rapture
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 fuck 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.
