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“Casualties?” Gideon asked.
“Just a skin burn. Eric’s still walking, but I called for a healer. Down to the bone on his left arm.”
“Good, that’s good.” He turned to Elise. “I’d like you to meet one of the other Section Leaders. Duncan Wallace, Elise Jordan.”
Elise offered a half smile. “I know Duncan. We met at the Blood and Bite several times.”
“You remember, then,” Duncan stated.
Elise shrugged but she smiled and some of her tension seemed to ease. “I suppose I owe you an apology as well.”
“For what?”
“I faked being enthralled and having my memories sliced. I only pretended I’d never met you before each time Gideon introduced us.”
His brows rose. He jerked his thumb in Gideon’s direction. “And lover-boy didn’t have a clue?”
Elise chuckled. “You might want to do me a favor and let the subject drop, since lover-boy is still thinking about whether to forgive me or not.”
Duncan laughed. “You’ll do.” He gestured to the boulder. “Hey. What the hell is this?”
Gideon glanced at him and from his peripheral he could see that Elise did as well. He followed Duncan’s gaze to the base of the boulder. “What?” Gideon asked.
“This big-ass rock. Look, there’s a whole chunk of cholla flattened and sticking out at the far end. This shouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, that,” Elise said. She sighed, heavily. “That’s how I answered my call to ascension.” She turned around, searching the dark desert beyond. She waved in the direction of the White Tanks. “This boulder came from over there … somewhere.”
“That’s major shit,” Duncan said.
Gideon watched Elise put on a brave face. She thanked Duncan for his compliment. He was proud of her, really proud of her.
His chest tightened as he watched her. He was so f**king lost, yet strangely energized at the same time, like he stood on the brink of something he didn’t quite understand.
Duncan held his sword balanced on the leather shoulder strap of his weapons harness. He addressed Gideon. “So just now, you defeated four death vampires by yourself. That’s unheard of. What the hell is going on with you? You looking to join the WhatBees?”
“I’d rather eat a bowl of crushed glass. Besides, I didn’t do this by myself. Elise is clairvoyant. She streamed the visions into my head and that’s how I got the job done.”
“I’m thinking you dating Elise might be about the best decision you ever made.”
Gideon glanced at his woman, who was actually smiling a little now. A strange sense of knowing, of destiny, rippled through his mind. Was dating Elise the best decision he’d ever made?
Beyond that, once she completed her ascension ceremony, how was he ever going to tolerate other men getting near her?
Chapter Five
Elise watched a dozen thoughts flit across Gideon’s face. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking, but she seriously doubted he considered their dating to be the best thing that had ever happened to him. Not by a long shot. She cramped his style. That message she got loud and clear. He didn’t want one more woman in his life to worry about, especially since Rachel was already a handful.
Gideon loved his sister more than anything else in the world, but Rachel definitely had a mind of her own. She had for a long time been intent on exiling herself to Mortal Earth, joining a colony of vampires, and living a simpler, less complicated life. Apparently, in some colonies both the use of fangs and any preternatural power were strictly forbidden.
Rachel grew her own organic vegetables, touted the benefits of communal living, and despised the war above all things.
In contrast, Elise was here, having just answered her call to ascension, because she knew in her heart that Second Earth was where she belonged.
She glanced around. The Militia Warriors were all on high alert, scrutinizing the desert around them. How was she supposed to do three more days of this? She recalled her vision about Rachel. She had no doubt that she and Gideon would be with Rachel tomorrow night.
But how could they possibly get to that location if the enemy just kept throwing more death vampires in her direction?
She glanced at Gideon. “So what happens next?”
Gideon also looked around, his gaze skating from one squad to the next. “Well, the order of events is pretty screwed up and if I know Endelle, she’s going to ream COPASS until she gets her way. Greaves never offered you a choice.”
“The ascendiate is always given a choice,” Duncan said. “Mine came way early in the process, before the shit went down.”
Gideon nodded. “This might just mean good news, Elise, but I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
And with that statement, a movement of air swept through the night, behind Gideon but well in front of two of the squads near the mountains. Both men turned to face the White Tanks then moved into a fighting stance, as did the rest of the troops, knees bent, backs hunched, swords in hand and upright.
A single man, a warrior, folded into the battlefield. He wore the same traditional black leather kilt and weapons harness. His black hair was Warrior of the Blood–long and held in place by the traditionalcadroen.
Elise drew a little closer to Gideon. “Who is that?” she asked, keeping her voice low. “He looks a little taller than you, and I know all the Warriors of the Blood, but I don’t recognize him from the Blood and Bite.”
She felt Gideon’s sudden tension as though even the air around him tucked in close. “Leto,” Gideon said. “A former Warrior of the Blood, now serving Greaves.”
Duncan spit on the ground. “A goddamn traitor.”
Leto.So this was the vampire who had left Endelle’s service to align with the Commander.
Leto acknowledged both Gideon and Duncan with an inclination of his head. As he drew closer, within ten feet of Gideon, he met her gaze and actually bowed to her. “I have come on behalf of the Ascenders Liberation Army to address the ascendiate.” The ALA. Now there was a serious joke. What exactly did ascenders need liberation from? But wasn’t that always the way. When a megalomaniac wanted to take over the world, he always promised freedom, then delivered slavery.
Leto had a rich, resonant voice that filled the desert night sky. “You are hereby afforded the opportunity to choose between service to Madame Endelle or to the Commander, Darian Greaves. The Commander hopes you will choose this night to align with him.”
