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“I know. We’ve covered that.”
He moved close to her and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.
When he drew back, he heard a growling sound coming from the doorway. He turned to find Marcus glaring at him, his straight brows a hard slash above his eyes. “What the hell is going on in here?” he barked.
Luken could feel Marcus bristling, but how could he explain? “Apologies, Marcus, I was just leaving.” He then tapped Marcus’s telepathy and pathed, I’m saying good-bye because something big is going on. Can’t explain it. Don’t say anything to Hav.
You sure? Marcus’s shoulders eased back.
Yes.
I won’t say a word. Aloud, Marcus said, “There’s some kind of rumor flashing around the office that Duncan is back.”
Luken relayed the same information that he’d told Havily. “But that’s all I know. And now, if I don’t get over to Militia HQ, Endelle will have my ass in a sling.”
He meant to walk by Marcus, but the brother caught his arm. “Hey. I never meant to be a hardass about Havily.”
“You weren’t.” But there it was again, a sense of something final happening in this room. He was grateful that Marcus had shown up when he did. “You were … incredibly gracious. But I … listen, I hope I didn’t—”
Marcus suddenly slung an arm around Luken’s neck. He had at least twenty percent more muscle mass than Marcus, but the brother was big and the hug that followed wrenched something inside Luken’s chest and his eyes burned.
Again, it felt like good-bye.
When he drew back, he cleared his throat as did Marcus, a sure sign they’d both crossed t
he line of warrior-ness.
Luken took one last look at Havily, then headed downstairs to the landing platforms. Security had tightened all around the Phoenix area, in Endelle’s Administrative HQ, at her palace at the McDowell Mountains, and at Militia HQ.
But the same sensation was back. He had a pretty good idea he wouldn’t be visiting Havily anymore.
~ ~ ~
At the same moment that Yolanthe received word that the wreckers had failed by a particle of a second to kill Rachel, Chustaffus had requested her presence in his library. She was severely disappointed that Duncan had somehow escaped her mind-link and that Rachel still lived. But as she took up her habitual seat in her father’s Chicago Three castle, she knew better than to let any of her emotions show.
She held herself with a good two inches between her back and the very upright seat in which she sat. She remained as always, like a piece of statuary in her father’s home, something to be looked at and perhaps valued at a distance, but treated without any real value.
Her legs were crossed at the ankles and shunted to the side to give her gown a smooth, seamless look. Her small white hands were folded in her lap, palms up.
She held the loop of her leopard’s leash around her right wrist, but she didn’t dare touch the cat or her father would reprimand her severely. He only barely tolerated her pet as it was.
Turning her attention toward her father, she could see that he was troubled, a circumstance that made her wing-locks tighten. She knew then that the meeting would not end well for her. But that didn’t matter. She understood and valued her role in her father’s life.
Her chest swelled as she watched Chustaffus. She felt as she always did; she was in the presence of true greatness. He was a renowned warrior in their world and had served as a Warrior of the Blood three millennia past, battling death vampires across a good portion of Third Earth.
Then two thousand years ago, he’d gathered all the leaders of the world together, created a Senate that he controlled, and made himself ruler of Third Earth. This was long before her birth a mere nine-hundred-years ago. But she knew Chustaffus’s history better than anyone in the dimension.
Disaster had struck, however, a millennium past when the one called The Prince had challenged Chustaffus and taken over a third of the world. No one was allowed to speak The Prince’s birth name in Chustaffus’s kingdom. He was referred to only as The Prince.
Chustaffus’s goal ever since had been to win his world back. And to that end, Yolanthe served her father with every ounce of energy she possessed. She always would. His will was her will.
She sat very still, observing her three brothers who ignored her as much as Chustaffus did. But the time would come when their attitudes toward her would change. All she had to do was to seize control of Duncan again and bring his phenomenal Seer powers forward. One day, he would have an unusual version of the Seer’s gift and when that day happened, she needed Duncan fully aligned with her.
She took deep breaths and as the men discussed strategy for their ongoing bid to take over Second Earth, she remained quiet, the image of an obedient daughter.
“I must have Rapture’s Edge,” Chustaffus said, slamming his hand hard on the dark wood table. All three of his sons jumped and exchanged glances. “Why have none of you boys found it for me yet?”
Her brothers almost as one leaned away from Chustaffus, which was a smart move since he had a quick hand and didn’t mind cuffing his children. Yolanthe had felt that backhand a thousand times in the course of her years, but usually for infractions that involved not being a statue.
