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As one, everyone shifted to stare at Alison.
“Damn, Alison,” Thorne said. “I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
“What?” Marguerite turned to Thorne. “Why don’t I know what this means?”
He looked down at her and told her the story about Alison’s ascension, how she’d had numerous dreams about flying over White Lake, about looking up and seeing the blue vortex that led to the third dimension, and that somehow she knew that her destiny was to open the Trough to Third.
Marguerite shifted to stare once more at Alison. “Holy motherfucker.” She then clapped her hand over her mouth, patted her stomach, and said, “Sorry, kids.”
Endelle laughed. But from the time Alison’s daughter, Helena, arrived, they’d all started curbing warrior-speak. Alison scolded everyone because she said she didn’t want baby Helena’s first word to be shit or worse.
Fiona returned to the subject at hand. “Do you have a sense, an intuition, that you’ll be opening the portal soon?”
At that, Endelle, swiveled in her chair to look up at Alison as well.
Alison blinked several times as though pondering the question. She then met Endelle’s gaze. “Yes, it will be soon. But doesn’t that mean the war will heat up? I always thought, or maybe felt, that once we had contact with Third Earth, the war with Greaves would end.”
“We all thought that,” Thorne said. He said to Endelle, “But how likely does this seem? I’ve been building the army, but we don’t have anywhere near enough warriors to battle Greaves directly.”
Endelle nodded. “I know. But now for my second bit of news, although”—here she glanced at Fiona and Marguerite—“I confess I’m a little surprised that the two of you don’t have word for me as well.” She then looked at their brehs and smiled. “I guess the pair of you have been too busy to notice that Grace is back.”
“What?” At least three ascenders shouted that word at the same time.
Fiona shook her head. “I don’t sense her at all.”
“Well, hopefully it’s because she’s with Leto on Mortal Earth. Maybe the mist Diallo creates to protect the colony isn’t allowing information to travel far. I felt her, though, just a few minutes ago, but then, well, I’m me and I have more power than the bunch of you combined.” She didn’t often brag but it felt kind of good right now. She then launched into exactly how she thought things should unfold, starting with Alison.
She looked up at the blond beauty again. “You’d better get to practicing your flight skills. I have a feeling they’ll be needed within the next few days. Got it?”
“Absolutely. Kerrick has already been working with me. We’re both feeling the urgency. My God, Endelle, do you think this is it? I mean, the war has gone on for so long.”
“I won’t say for sure, but I think it’s possible.” She clapped her hands together. “Now, the second thing is equally important. We’ll need to bring obsidian flame up to speed as fast as possible.” She looked from Thorne to Jean-Pierre. “If I remember correctly, though, most of the warriors will be out at the Borderlands. Both of you said you’d join Leto at the warrior games.”
Marguerite said, “Yes, the four of us are going. So it looks like we’ll see Grace there.”
Endelle nodded. “Good. We’ll get things rolling.” She addressed Thorne. “I just hope your sister doesn’t intend to pull any of her spiritual bullshit and refuse to participate because she needs to meditate or something.”
He just stared at her, looking exasperated as he often did when she opened her mouth.
“Hey,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. Grace was the one who took off with that good-for-nothing and left Leto flat-footed. Why should I trust that just because she’s come back, she means to do her duty?”
Thorne leaned forward and held her gaze. “Because Grace has tremendous integrity and you know that. She also knows what obsidian flame will mean to you, to all of us. When she left like she did, I know she had a good reason, even if she didn’t share it with us. Coming back, she’ll have a better one.”
“Do you have to be reasonable?”
He smiled. Thorne had a beautiful smile—maybe not quite as brilliant as Jean-Pierre’s, but damn close.
“All right,” she said, waving her hand in his direction. “The warrior games will start in a few hours. The four of you can take off, but, Thorne, please do what you can to impress your sister with all of this. Let both Leto and Grace know about Alison’s wings as well.”
When the two couples vanished, Endelle turned back to Alison, whose gaze dipped down to Endelle’s chest. When Alison frowned, Endelle also glanced at her latest creation. She flipped the pinecones and the resin-coated monarch butterfly necklace. “You no like?”
Alison said, “Well, it’s not in your usual style?”
“Lacks the glam I’m used to rocking. It’s in honor of the warrior games. I’m telling you, though, that colony is so organic, it gives me the scratch. But I thought I should make an effort. I have bee-stilettos to die for.”
“I’m not even gonna ask.”
“Good. So how’s Helena, anyway?” Warrior Kerrick had gotten his woman pregnant on about the third day of her rite of ascension. Talk about virile. Now baby Helena was ten months old, or something like that.
Alison shrugged. “She’s got too many powers for an infant. It’s hard to know what to do with her. She can communicate telepathically now, but hearing that baby gibberish in my head all day is driving me bonkers.”
“Bonkers? That a new psychobabble expression?” Alison had been a therapist by profession before her ascension.
“It is today.”
“Well, you should bring her by. It’s good for morale.” Endelle clasped her fingers together. She doubted she was fooling anyone, but she actually liked Helena. There was a kind of intelligence in her green eyes that Endelle approved of. She wasn’t your ordinary kid.
“I’ll do that.”
Endelle was about to let Alison go, but she had one more person she wanted to alert to these sudden changes. She focused her thoughts on Marcus. Get your ass in here, she sent. She’d given up the complete futility of politeness, oh, about three millennia ago.
On my way. Marcus didn’t complain. He was older than Leto and had a tough hide.
