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He calmed his mind a little more and turned inward. He opened his heart then he realized he still had a mind-link with Elise. The link had been created just before the attack at the White Tanks so that he could receive her stream of battle images.
Maybe if he worked with her, together they could figure a way out of this. It took time to drain a person to death. She wouldn’t be gone yet.
He opened the link. If they were fated, as he now believed they were, then he might be able to communicate with her, even through the powerful block the death vamp had created.
Elise, he sent.Can you hear me?
Elise had tried for the past two minutes, as the monster at her neck took her blood, to reach out to Gideon telepathically, to find him, to tell him of her latest vision and what she knew, what the monster had failed to conceal from her.
Just beyond his shoulder, she could see other death vampires arrive and leave. This had to be some sort of major Mortal Earth lair for the bloodsuckers.
Elise, can you hear me?
Gideon, her mind cried in return.There isn’t much time. I’m growing so very cold. But, from where you stood in the cavern, off to what would have been your left, is an arrival and departure point for the death vampires. I’ve been watching them come and go.
Your trace is blocked.
I had a vision, Gideon, of you coming from that place, of following my trace almost to the end then seeking the opening. But don’t come alone.
I’ll find you.
So cold.
Stay alive.
How do you stay alive when your blood is leaving your body so fast?
Gideon explained everything to Duncan, who in turn got on the com to Colonel Seriffe in order to bring several squads of Thunder God Warriors to the riverbed.
Elise had given him the start of a plan. Would it work? He wasn’t sure, but he would keep his mind open to her now, to working with her, to possibilities.
He returned to the tent, where he knew her trace still existed. He picked up the iridescent blue signature again. This time when he followed, he slowed down as he moved toward the end of the fold, and where the trace was blocked, at the junction between nether-space and real-space. Instead of pushing, he slid his perception to the left, to the area of the cavern Elise had suggested.
The opening appeared behind a thin veil of her crystal-blue trace signature. He suspected something about the nature of the block had dispersed the signature. Where the signature ended, so did the block.
He whisked himself back to Duncan, explained what they were to do and to follow his trace this time at the count of five with the entire contingent. “There are death vampires everywhere. Let Seriffe know he might want to send more warriors. We’ve hit a major lair on Mortal Earth.”
“Done,” Duncan said, holding his warrior phone to his ear. “I’ve got Seriffe on the com. Count of five. Got it. Go.”
Gideon swept through the trace once more and found himself at the veiled opening. He thought the thought and punched through, landing squarely on his feet. He thought another thought and brought his sword into his hand.
“Elise,” he shouted.
I’m here, she sent.
Her voice in his head sounded ghost-like, almost gone. Shit.
Several death vampires smiled at him and advanced. About two seconds later, all those happy expressions died. Gideon could feel the arrival of wave after wave of Militia Warriors entering the cavern behind him.
Duncan and his men moved forward as Gideon turned to his right. The grief-stricken vamp held a very limp Elise in his arms. He also held a blade poised at her neck. He smiled at Gideon.
“Too late,” he said, his smile widening.
“No,” Gideon shouted as he blurred his speed in her direction.
But when he arrived, though blood spurted in heavy pumps into the air, it wasn’t from Elise’s throat, but from the death vamp’s neck.
The bastard let her go and she crumpled to the stone floor. The death vamp put his hands to his own throat and began the healing process, backing away step by step. But Gideon did his duty, plunging the sword into his chest cavity, angling up and piercing his heart.
The death vampire looked surprised as he fell backward onto the stone floor. Gideon withdrew the sword and folded it back to his weapons locker in Scottsdale Two.
Elise lay on her side, struggling to sit up, but failing. He dipped down, lifted her into his arms and held her close. She relaxed in his arms.
“What happened?” he asked. “I saw the blade at your neck.”
She smiled. Her face was so white, her lips almost blue. “He was so pleased to see you that he forgot about me. I mustered my strength, pressed against his wrist, and pushed toward his neck. I was more successful than I believed possible because I didn’t realize that my ascension had increased my physical strength. There’s only one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“He took an awful lot of my blood.”
And with that, she passed out.
Elise woke up in a hospital, an IV hooked up to her arm and a bag of blood suspended on a nearby stand.
So they had these on Second Earth, too. Huh.
She couldn’t quite move her other arm. In fact, it was almost numb. Something really heavy was pressed against the length of her.
She turned and saw a shock of dark blond hair by her shoulder. She drew in a deep breath and the smell of toffee and man floated to her nostrils, teased her senses, then drifted on inside. All those familiar sensations returned, of sex and blood and Gideon, and his body.
She was dizzy and happy and alive.
She sighed and didn’t care that she couldn’t feel her fingers. They could all fall off so long as Gideon remained next to her like this.
Tears started to her eyes. She had survived and Gideon lived. What more did she need?
The nurse came in and met her gaze. “Oh, good. You’re awake. Feeling better?”
She thought about that for a moment. “I feel wonderful. What did you give me?”
She jerked her head toward Gideon then toward the bag of blood. “Sleeping Beauty here is a match. He donated. How does your neck feel? It was pretty torn up.”
She felt the gauze, pressing to the skin beneath. “I think it’s all healed. Is that possible?”
The nurse smiled. She had warm gray eyes. “You’re ascended. Everything’s possible. But let me have a look.” She moved to the side of the bed and peeled the gauze back. “It looks perfect. Not even a bruise. But I’m not surprised. One of our major healers was here, Horace. He worked on you for awhile as well.”
“If I don’t get the chance, please thank him for me.”
