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She whipped back to stare at him. “Nine thousand years?” Her breath caught in her throat and once more she felt dizzy.
“Why not?” he asked. “If I exist, if you exist with all your unbelievable powers, why not immortality?”
“You’re right. Of course.” But she felt like she’d taken a serious blow to the head.
“Her name is interesting. Endelle. She’s also known as She Who Would Live. Both names reflect her birth name. The only person who can pronounce the original version is Thorne. It involves three clicks or something. Every once in a while I’ll hear him let loose with it and think a cricket climbed into his mouth.”
She just looked at him. She knew he meant to distract her with his innocuous explanation of Endelle’s name, but for some reason nine thousand years had sunk her. Her chest folded up a little more.
“You said a decision is involved. So this means I can still choose not to ascend.”
He kept glancing at her, probably debating just how much he should say. Finally, he said in a quiet voice, “Theoretically, you can decline. With your level of power, however, the Commander won’t let you go very easily, if at all.”
“Oh.”
She felt a sudden pressure on her mind. She glanced at Kerrick and knew he wanted inside her head, not just mere telepathic conversation, but that deep kind of mind-engagement he’d talked about earlier.
She didn’t debate long. After all, he ought to know the level of her confusion. Nine thousand years. Vampires. She suddenly felt like she was swimming underwater. Even her hearing seemed distorted, so she let him in.
When he dipped inside her mind, however, it was the strangest sensation, a powerful connection that made her gasp.
He drew out almost as quickly. “Shit,” he murmured. “I know this has been too much but this isn’t exactly my best skill set, so how about we change the subject. Why don’t you tell me something about yourself?”
She looked at him then blinked.
“Are you okay?”
She blinked again. Finally, she said, “What would you like to know?”
He released a small sigh. “Have you lived in Phoenix long?”
“I was born here.”
“Do you have family?”
“Yes, I have a brother and a sister. My sister is married. She recently had a baby and I just found out she’s pregnant again.” She thought back to her conversation with Joy. Only a few hours had passed, not even twelve, yet she felt as though she had just lived an entire lifetime.
“Parents?”
“They’re both doing well. Dad’s a cop and Mom has worked part-time at the Fry’s deli ever since I can remember.”
“What do you like to do for fun?”
“I love books of all kinds. I can’t get enough. I’m hopeless in a bookstore.”
The fatigue of the night seemed to settle into her bones and right now she wished herself out of the whole situation. Unfortunately, if Kerrick was right, it was way too late for regrets.
He glanced at her again. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you rest for a bit while I drive you home? You must be exhausted.”
“I couldn’t. Not after all this.”
“I can help. First, tell me where we’re going.”
She gave straightforward instructions in a flat voice.
They were well along the 51 now, still heading north, almost to the 101. He mentally sent her a powerful sleep suggestion and she grasped it tightly, like she was drowning and he’d just thrown her a life preserver.
She yawned. I like you in my head.
I like being there.
And he was there as he had been a few minutes ago, more than just telepathy, more like a shared presence, at least for a moment. Then he withdrew, leaving a great deal of peace behind. She closed her eyes.
* * *
Crace was living a nightmare. Still, like any good High Administrator, he had gone on the offensive the moment Leto folded back to the war room. Chaos had reigned for the past forty-five minutes. All the generals shouted, and Crace shouted back. Chairs had been knocked around, phones rang, monitors flickered. If someone had folded a gun into the room, shots would have been fired.
The argument had waged for some time now. Fortunately Crace knew how to do verbal battle, how to spin the spin. “You stand there and blame me, General Leto? I gave you a simple assignment. Wait at the Borderland, take out Kerrick then the ascendiate. How hard could that have been? You had twelve death vampires with you. I only left the command center for nine minutes and”—here he used his most powerful voice with seven-split resonance and added telepathy for the entire room—“you f**ked it up.”
Several of the officers fell on their knees, holding their heads in their hands. Telepathy coupled with the spoken word was a powerful weapon against lesser minds. Throw in a little preternatural resonance and just about everyone caved. A few moans went around the room. Hands shook. Not Leto’s, though. Jesus, the vampire had power yet he had still failed to take out Warrior Kerrick and the ascendiate.
Leto narrowed his eyes. “I will say it again: Madame Endelle dumped Warrior Kerrick into the Trough right in the middle of the battle. We lost four f**king minutes since we had to float down in the usual way. By the time we reached the alley, Warrior Kerrick had ascendiate Wells in a car, a goddamn car, and into the street, and you know damn well none of us could have dematerialized to a moving vehicle. And mounting wings is illegal. We couldn’t give pursuit and you know it.”
“You should have anyway!” Crace shouted. “And the f**k if I will listen to any more of your excuses.” Leto was right, of course. Once Kerrick took off in the car, the opportunity vanished. No one he knew could fold to a moving vehicle, and vampires in full-mount and in flight on Mortal Earth were easily detected by Central’s f**king grid. Warrior Thorne would have been called, and the bastard would have been within his f**king rights to send a regiment of Militia Warriors after the offender.
Militia Warriors weren’t anywhere near as powerful as the weakest death vampire, but enough of them could get the job done. On top of that, COPASS would have been required to prosecute the Commander despite how much control Greaves had over the Committee. Given time, he would have more control, but for now, what a shitfest.
Still, Leto pressed his point. “All we needed was the same boost to Mortal Earth and we would have had her.” His face darkened and his voice altered as he employed the same dangerous shouting-combined-with-telepathy Crace had. “And I’ll ask again, where the hell were you?”
