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“Three death vampires fly over a ridge of tall trees, pines maybe, or redwoods. I don’t recognize the place, but there’s a clearing, a small river, bigger than a stream, lots of rocks on the banks, hills, more trees, a real forest. And there are two bridges, small bridges.”
“You said this takes place tomorrow? How do you know?”
“I just know. Late afternoon, almost at dusk.”
Long, long pause, “Meet me at the Blood and Bite. Tell me when you can get there.” He didn’t ask. He commanded. But what else was new?
“An hour and a half. I have to go home and change.”
“Fine. And Elise?”
“Yes.”
“We’re going to talk.”
More commands, but then Gideon wasn’t just your average Militia Warrior serving Second Earth. He was high in the ranks, answering only to Colonel Seriffe, who headed the Militia Warriors in Metro Phoenix Two, and when the occasion demanded, the militia worldwide.
This time, she paused. After a couple more deep breaths, she said, “I don’t want to, but I will.”
The time had come.
Gideon hung up. He stared at his phone. Jesus, his hand shook.
He stood in the stone foyer of his home in north Scottsdale Two, Second Earth, like a suit of armor, unmoving and rigid. He couldn’t even blink. He didn’t know which thought to have first, that Elise possessed previously unacknowledged preternatural power or that his sister faced certain danger.
When some life started flowing back into his limbs, he touched the screen of his Droid a couple of times. He waited. His sister’s voice came on the line.
“Hey, Gid.” Okay, she sounded upbeat but he knew Rachel. She could front with the best of them, a family trait. She hid her unhappiness about living on Second Earth really well.
He worked his jaw, then finally said, “You’re not thinking of doing anything foolish, are you?”
When silence returned, he pressed the phone against his thigh, closed his eyes and shouted one long “fuck” at the ceiling. He drew his phone back up to his ear. “Please don’t, Rachel, I’m begging you. Don’t do it. How can I keep you safe if you do this?”
“First, it’s not your job to keep me safe. I’m a big girl. Second, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The slight tinny quality to her voice failed to escape his ear.
“Liar.”
“I’m late for my yoga class.”
“On Friday night?”
“Why not?”
He debated his next course of action for about three seconds. “You might be in trouble, as in big trouble.”
She laughed. “As in you’re giving me a Seer warning.”
“Maybe.”
“What?” She said it in that tone of hers, with the pitch angling up at the end. “Why would I show up in the future streams?”
“More like a clairvoyant vision and no, I don’t really know the difference, but my source called it a vision. Beyond that, you know why. You have more power than you’ve ever admitted.”
“More Second Earth bullshit, brother.”
“I know you’re not happy here.” Rachel believed that no human should even possess, not to mention make use of, any form of preternatural power, and she thought Second Earth, as anascended world at war, was one huge-ass piece of hypocrisy. She was intopeace andlove and vegan food. And she really hated that her own brother served as a Militia Warrior. So, yes, she was unhappy.
“Understatement,” she said.
“Okay. Fine. But could you stay put for a day or two until I figure out a couple of things?”
The night was full of dead air spaces. He heard her take a deep breath through her nose. “I’ve heard of a rogue colony in northern California, and that’s all I’m going to say.”
“Rachel, no.”
“Well, gotta go. Love you, Gid, so much, but my instructor scowls if I cross the threshold past seven.”
“Whatever,” he responded, but only because he was talking to the screen of his phone. Rachel had already hung up.
Sweet Jesus. Every word out of his sister’s mouth just confirmed at least part of Elise’s prophecy. He didn’t doubt for a second that his sister was going rogue.
Thousands of vampires left Second Earth to live in exile on Mortal Earth. He just never thought his sister would join those ranks.
And how the hell was he to protect her if she went rogue? She could say whatever she wanted to say, but death vampires hunted vulnerable women who tracked life alone, like culling the weak from the herd.
He also knew that powerful ascenders like Rachel had light signatures that could show up on HQ’s electronic surveillance grid. He could contact Bev, who worked the grid all night, and have her start checking for power signatures over northern California.
He withdrew the thin, credit card–sized warrior phone from the pocket of his jeans. He swiped the front and a moment later Bev came on the phone.
“What’s doin’, Gideon?” He smiled. Bev’s voice soothed him, but then the women chosen to work HQ’s command center had that special calming quality, a necessary skill when dealing with disaster and horror on every other call.
“Hey, Bev. I have a situation.”
“How can I help?” There it was, the words he needed to hear.
“I’ve just been tipped off about a rogue colony in northern California.”
“Is it possible this is a lair?”
“My source indicated there were no death vampires present. Definitely a colony. And … this is critical.”
“I’ll set up the grid right now. May take a few hours to identify significant power signatures.”
“Give me a shout when you find something.”
“Will do.”
He hung up and sucked in another deep breath.
Now for the other side of the equation.
An hour later, Gideon leaned against the tall side of the nearest red velvet booth at the Blood and Bite. His skin twitched.
Fighting and making war shaped his days and nights. As a Militia Warrior, he battled death vampires six nights out of seven every f**king week of his life, serving and protecting. He could handle wielding a sword, but waiting for his ex gave him the scratch.
Beyond that, could he believe a woman so made up of lies?
This last thought went straight to his hands. He watched them ball up into fists. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then shook out his hands. He needed to calm the hell down.
He hadn’t seen Elise for a month. Talk about hell. He had no special attachment to her, but he couldn’t exactly sleep at night and his thoughts ran to her more often than not.
