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He glanced around the spacious, two-story room. Shelves, ladders, books, and a spiral wrought-iron staircase. An upper landing and walkway traveled in a semicircle at a distance two-thirds of the way above the floor, where more shelves and books rose the remaining nine feet to the domed ceiling. A pair of crimson velvet drapes, which flanked a north-facing multipaned window, protected the museum-like contents of the library from direct light.
The whole mansion had been a combined effort, his sturdy masculine influence, and Helena’s ability to overcome his absurd rigidity and give real grace to every line. This had truly been their house and Helena had made it a home, especially once the children had come, his son and his daughter. Of course they were going to have a big family. Ten years later, Helena, Kerr and Christine were gone. They had left behind an enormous hole in his heart, one never to be filled, one covered with his vows.
His cell buzzed.
He slid the slim phone from the pocket of his pants and thumbed the strip. “Give.”
“Sorry, Kerrick. Time to rumble.” Thorne’s gravel voice had split into three resonances, a sure sign his stress level had cranked up another notch. Of all of Thorne’s abilities, and they were numerous, he could split his resonance better than anyone Kerrick knew.
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “No problem. Where do you want me?”
“Central detected a large deployment at the Trough over downtown Phoenix. I’ve got Medichi in Awatukee, Zacharius and Jean-Pierre are working the White Tanks in Buckeye, Santiago is at New River, and I’m with Luken covering the Superstitions. I waited as long as I could, but I’ve never seen so many death vamps out in one night. We need you, buddy, and be prepared the moment Central folds you. There could be as many as twelve downtown.”
“Twelve? Three squads? Shit.”
“We’ve been up to our asses tonight.”
“You should have called me sooner.”
“Wanted to respect your sitch.”
He took a deep breath and asked the question. “Any sign of … the ascendiate?” He refused to say her name.
“Nope. Oh, shit. Five more just showed up.”
The line went dead. Kerrick stared at it and cursed. He waited. The phone buzzed again. Thank God. “Give.”
Thorne spoke fast. “Sorry. Luken’s got everything under control. Jeannie just patched in. She said she’s identified Leto at the Trough over Metro Phoenix as well.”
“Holy shit.” Leto never joined in the usual fray, since he served as one of the Commander’s most powerful generals. Then again, he ought to be since he was a former Warrior of the Blood, the Commander’s biggest prize in the last two hundred years. “Well, isn’t this a night for surprises. I guess this has to be about the ascendiate.”
“Looks like it. Sorry, brother. Oh, shit, motherfucker, four more pretty-boys just showed up, of an Asian variety this time. You know the drill with the ascendiate—seize and protect. The coordinates are laid in. Call Central when you’re ready.” Thorne hung up.
Kerrick stood up, folded off his jeans and tee, then folded on winged battle gear. He adjusted the weapons harness and with a thought brought the dagger into his hand from his weapons locker, securing it into the slot. He drew in a deep breath then adjusted his thick, heavy sandals. The kilt felt so very right and his wing-locks had already started to thrum.
With a thought, he folded his sword into his hand. He called Central and cursed silently, yet again, that he still couldn’t just dematerialize wherever the hell he needed to go.
“Hi, Jeannie. You still on?”
“Sure am. I’m taking Carla’s shift. She had a date. You ready, duhuro?”
He couldn’t believe she’d used that expression. Duhuro was an ancient form of address that annoyed the hell out of him. “You haven’t called me duhuro in at least a decade. You’d better cut that shit out, Jeannie, or I may have to come over and rough you up a bit.”
“Who’s stopping you,” she said, giggling. “My husband and I have an agreement. He gets Angelina Jolie and I get any of you warrior brothers, any time, any place.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Something inside him relaxed a little. He even smiled. The Twolings at Central were chosen for their calm under pressure, for their ability to handle tragedy, and mostly for their general all-around good humor. They were also a gum-popping bunch and they had his number.
“Fold me when you’re ready.”
“You got it. And Kerrick?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re all grateful for what you and the brothers do.”
Before he could respond, the vibration whispered through him.
A moment later he crouched right next to the Trough, sword in both hands. An extensive park covered the Borderland on Second Earth.
The Trough was the distance between the dimensions made of nether-space, which extended who knew how far below him. On Mortal Earth the downtown Phoenix Borderland made up the rest of the sandwich; two Borderlands and a Trough in between.
He shifted his gaze slowly, past Arizona sycamores and the occasional overgrown oleander. How many times had he battled death vampires in just this place? Tens of thousands of times. Yeah, he’d been fighting that long.
But tonight everything would be different. He could feel it. So, shit.
And no sign of Leto.
He felt his presence, though, the goddamn traitor.
The call to ascension burns in the heart,
But the rite of ascension begins with the mind.
—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth
Chapter 8
At two forty in the morning, Alison rolled to a stop beneath a lone security light in the middle of the downtown Phoenix alley. She sat in her beat-up Nova, letting the engine idle for a few seconds before turning it off. Her heart slammed in her chest.
Why was she here?
So many reasons—a warrior who smelled of cardamom and had enormous white wings, death vampires, pale skin with a faintly blue hue, beautiful creatures, persistent dreams, dimensional worlds, a yearning.
Yes, a deep persistent yearning that never seemed to leave her.
Ascension.
A call to ascension.
She peeled her fingers off the steering wheel, settled her hands on her lap, then closed her eyes. She took deep breaths.
After a moment, the thumping of her heart settled … a little. Kerrick had said he wasn’t certain she had received a call to ascension. She wished now she’d thought to ask him some details about the process. Yet her instincts told her this was her call, all of it, the alley, meeting vampires at a club in downtown Phoenix, the dreams, the powerful yearnings.
