Page 91 of Gates of Rapture
Grace smiled.“Do you see?While we’re giving a demonstration in public, which would be a huge distraction to the enemy, we could also be folding your divisions wherever you wanted them.”
“Dear Creator, it’s a brilliant idea.But can the triad do something like that?”
She opened her obsidian power, letting all that rumbling power flow up and over her.
Leto enfolded her in his arms.“What you’re experiencing is incredible.So much power.I can feel the vibrations along your skin.”He drew back slightly and kissed her.
I think your idea is brilliant,he sent.
Grace felt something deep inside her begin to warm.His praise meant the world to her.She could help.She wanted to help.
Of course, with so much power now rippling from her and with his mouth sealed to hers, Grace started forgetting about the topic at hand.Her hands slid up his back and his body curled around hers until his embrace was all that she cared about.
Leto.She whispered his name through her mind.
Grace.
He drew away slightly to look into her eyes.Her breathing sped up, but not just because she wanted him.His eyes were on fire, a blue fire that spoke to her.“What is it?”she asked.She wanted him to say the words out loud.
He caressed her face, kissed her lips again.“Everything seems to be changing.You are.I am.Do you think it might be possible…” He kissed her again slowly, then once more pulled away to look at her.
Grace’s heart thumped heavily in her chest.He hadn’t finished his thought, but she understood him.Would love be possible between them?Something deep and real, something not clouded by the war or his fractured state or her ghostliness.All these years, all these centuries, she had moved like a spirit through the world, much like her apparition-self, always studying and hoping, but for what she didn’t know.
Yet as she looked into Leto’s eyes, hope soared.Could she become real in his life?Could he give himself to her despite the ugliness of the war or his guilt over the past century of serving a monster?
If every step she took from this point forward brought her closer to a true union with Leto, she vowed that if called upon, she would throw herself into the depths of hell just for the chance.
“Let me call Thorne,” he said, releasing her.“We have a strategy to put in place, but at some point, I want to sink inside you, all the way, to find out what this can be between us.”
“All the way,” she returned.
Beware the dog twice bitten.
—Collected Proverbs,Beatrice of Fourth
CHAPTER 13
Leto watched Thorne pace Endelle’s sitting room.This time Endelle sat in one of the large purple chairs opposite Leto.Grace stood behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders.He loved it.
Thorne shoved a hand through his hair, stopped mid-stride, and turned to Leto.“I don’t like it.Obsidian flame is untried, and you’re talking about combining a spectacle event with a series of massive folds?”
“You’ve got it,” Leto said.He took one of Grace’s hands in his.“Your sister has got some serious chops.And even you, as the anchor to obsidian flame, must have a sense of what the triad is capable of.Remember what it was like when Grace, while in possession of Fiona, battled Jean-Pierre with the sword?”
Thorne shook his head.“I am remembering.But the timing would have to be so precise, the locations fixed.Do you have any idea of the sheer logistics that we’re talking about?Obsidian flame would essentially be in flight during the military part of the review and at the same time doing all this secret folding of masses of warriors.How could it possibly work?”
Leto would have answered him, but Endelle rose to her feet.She still wore her leathers and a weapons harness, no octopus tentacles or badger pelts.She was strangely subdued and serious.“Thorne, what the fuck is the matter with you?This plan is genius, and you’re acting like a little girl.”
At that, he turned to her and laughed.He put a hand to his forehead.“Shit, I think you’re right.I guess it doesn’t help that we’re talking about mybrehand my sister being involved in something incredibly dangerous.”He threw his hands in the air.“We’ll make it work.”His gaze slid to Grace.“You think you’re up for this?”
Leto rose to his feet at these words.“Hell, yeah, she’s up for this.You’ve been her overprotective brother too long.Grace can do anything.”
Thorne’s brows rose.He looked from one to the other.
Leto felt Grace’s hand slide into his, warmth against his palm.She gave his fingers a squeeze.He looked down at her and winked.She grinned.My God, had he ever seen her smile like that?He got lost for a moment just looking at her until he heard Endelle make a gagging sound.
When he glanced her direction, she said, “This goddambreh-heddenshit gives me the scratch.If I see one more couple making goo-goo eyes at each other, I’m gonna toss my cookies.”
“Goo-goo eyes?”Leto asked.“Really?”
