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The fragrance made him dizzy and his heart sped up, like he needed to be prepared to give chase. Once more his wing-locks responded, thrumming, preparing for flight.
Fucking weird.
What was Her Supremeness pumping through the air-conditioning system and why did it give him the strangest sense of well-being? It even affected his libido. He had a sudden hard-on.
Holy shit.
He ignored the odd smell and his body’s reaction to the scent. His gaze drifted over the sea of desks. A mountain of disgust followed. With all the modern technology available to Second Earth, why were there mile-high mounds of paper everywhere? Had Endelle not heard of a paperless office?
He shrugged.
Whatever.
He would only be here for three days, four at the most.
He followed the path of lights into a corridor off to his left. He moved past glass-fronted offices. Again all the rooms were weighed down with stacks of paper. He shook his head then stopped in his tracks outside the door to Endelle’s office. The scent was stronger now and very familiar. What was he smelling? He closed his eyes and ran through a litany of flowers, starting with the ones he sent to women he intended to bed—not roses, not carnations, not lilies. What the hell was that?
An old memory struck.
Of course. His sister, Helena, had planted this shrub in Scottsdale Two—on the mansion grounds of the home she’d built with Kerrick. She had trained a dozen or so shrubs against a long stone wall at the back of the property. The plants had thrived, growing into huge mounds. Green-throated hummingbirds came around to enjoy the fluted red flowers, and sparrows built nests deep inside. Yeah. He was smelling goddamn honeysuckle, a fragrance he loved. He always had and right now he even weaved a little on his feet. He was hard again as well. So, where the hell was all this sensation coming from?
He planted his hands on his hips and shook his head. Second Earth bullshit.
Again … whatever.
He dipped his chin and forced his senses to clear. When he was ready, he gave the door a shove, caught sight of a woman he hadn’t seen in two hundred years, and barked his laughter. “Sleeping on the job, Madame Supremeness?”
Endelle jerked her head up, a trail of saliva draining from her mouth. She swiped the drool with a quick backhand. “Marcus, you dumbfuck! You nearly scared me half to death.” She glanced at the clock on her desk. “Well. I slept for half an hour. Just set a new record.”
Marcus might have had a comeback if these simple words hadn’t slapped him hard across the face. Endelle never slept?
“Oh, shit. I drooled all over the Buenos Aires report.” She finally met his gaze. “The Commander had my ambassador killed about an hour ago.”
Holy shit. “So he’s killing ambassadors now?”
“Sure. Why not? He’s an ambitious man.” She looked him up and down. “And you are still one hot vampire. Goddamn, Marcus. Two centuries on Mortal Earth has not changed you at all except you look bigger.” Her gaze skated from shoulder to shoulder.
“I work out,” he said.
She arched a brow. “So I see.” A smile curved her lips. “Thanks for coming.”
“I told you I would. I just hope to hell this is important.”
“It is. I’ve had Seer reports from around the globe that this ascendiate has the ability to shift the tide of war. No specifics, though.”
Marcus nodded. “So how far along is she on her rite of ascension?”
“She hasn’t answered her call yet.”
Marcus scowled. “Then why the hell am I here?”
“Relax, gorgeous. Should be any time now. The ascension is imminent.”
“That’s it? Imminent.” This did not make sense, not in any dimension. He narrowed his eyes. “And by the way, what the hell do you mean no specifics? You used to have an incomparable Seer network. The information you got always kept you one step ahead of Greaves.”
Endelle lowered her chin, and her striated brown eyes darkened. “Intel from my Seers Fortress has shrunk to the size of a frog’s nut and no, I don’t know why since the administrator of the facility, by law, doesn’t have to let anyone on Second pass through his front door. Yeah, you should look shocked. We have a lot of new rules on Second because we’ve got this f**king committee, COPASS, which now tells me where, when and how to wipe my ass. As for global Seer information, it’s much less reliable. Most Seers, as you know, are beholden to their local High Administrators.”
He frowned. “COPASS?”
“The Committee to Oversee the Process of Ascension to Second Society.”
Marcus laughed. “Who the hell made up that name? It’s a joke, right?”
Endelle rolled her eyes. “Nobody thought to check the acronym before the vote went through.”
“Another bunch of f**king bureaucratic idiots.”
“Pretty much, but it has simplified the war, brought it in close, and for that I should be grateful.”
“In what way is the war simple? Kind of an oxymoron, don’t you think?”
Endelle shrugged, and for just a moment she wore every one of her nine thousand years like a weight on her shoulders. “One of the first rules put in play was a proximity rule. Attacks involving the Warriors of the Blood only occur at the Borderlands now—legal attacks, that is. Homes, estates, whatever, of both Greaves’s generals and my Guardians of Ascension are off-limits. No bodily harm is allowed, either.”
“What happens if the rules are violated?”
“Complaints are filed, court dates set, judges preside, and death vamps executed, usually fall guys, but the bottom line is that the war is more contained now than it was.”
He frowned. “But this doesn’t stop death vampire depredations on regular citizens in either dimension, does it?”
Endelle shook her head slowly. “Death vampires need dying blood, so no, but our Militia Force is strong now. Although the inherent problem has not changed—”
“Four Militia Warriors to bring down one death vamp.”
“Yep.”
“And Greaves agreed to this proximity rule? Really.”
“Shit, yes. Do you know how many of his generals we offed before the proximity rule?”
“A lot. So why the hell did you agree to it?”
Endelle was silent, her mouth grim. He waited but she didn’t speak. She just looked at him from her ancient brown eyes.
Then he realized the why of it, and his temper flared. “Goddammit,” he cried. He punched the air and paced in a circle. “This was because of my sister and her kids. You did this because of them. A buck short and a day late, Endelle.”
