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He couldn’t respond; he could only reach deep inside and press the snake’s head down beneath the waters, trying to subdue it.
One of his father’s favorite taunts rolled through Duncan’s mind: You’re not good enough, my son. You’ll never be a real warrior. Your test will come and you’ll fail. Then you’ll remember I was always right about you. You’re weak like your mother.
But Duncan was a warrior, a powerful one. And he’d exceeded his father, who’d never reached Warrior of the Blood level. Yet Duncan had. For this reason alone, he knew his father’s words were a lie.
He glanced at the sword which he still held aloft. The bright metal glowed. His gaze ran down his body and a slight trail of smoke with a faint bluish hue began to rise into the air. Holy shit, he was looking at grayle power, a Third Earth ability. Somehow he’d accessed it or maybe having a vision at this level had opened up his grayle ability.
Still, he held back. He didn’t know all he’d be facing once he embraced the powers that seemed ready to flow within him.
Turning toward Rachel and ignoring the terrible pain that lived inside him, he knew he had to choose. Should he embrace the vision and move forward, or should he retreat into a life he understood, of repressing the pain of his growing up years and of never getting close to anyone?
But as he peered into the future, one thought rose above all others: he didn’t want to be a slave to the past. He wanted to be more than he was and apparently, every other part of his life was ready take the leap. All this power had come to him unbidden and a beautiful, worthy woman loved him despite his flaws.
He knew then he couldn’t go back and as painful as the future promised to be, he wanted to be part of the team, to have visions that could aid in battle, and dammit, he wanted to share his life and his bed with Rachel.
With that, he lifted his sword higher still and let the vision come.
~
Uncertain what was happening, Rachel stared at Duncan. “Duncan?”
No response.
Oh, shit, what now?
She listened for the faint rumbles of an approaching grid incursion that would usher in the sudden presence of Third Earth wreckers and their sawed-off shotguns. But she didn’t hear anything.
Just in case Duncan’s current state meant the wreckers had a bead on them, she slipped from bed and folded a wrecking gun into her hand. As a quick after thought, she added a box of ammo from Duncan’s weapons locker. She quickly loaded the gun, then moved to stand in front of Duncan. She faced into the room, with her back to Duncan and listened hard for the enemy. But no sounds returned to her.
“Duncan?”
Still no response.
Whatever had caught him up, she’d just have to wait it out.
After a couple of minutes, she stepped several feet away from him and turned to face him. They were both completely naked, yet somehow the absence of clothes seemed fitting after great sex, a good night’s sleep, and now some kind of ascended phenomenon that held Duncan in a trance.
She thought of Yolanthe and a dart of fear raced through her. Had the woman found Duncan again and set up another mind-link?
Rachel doubted it since the last two times she’d seen Duncan entranced, he’d been knocked to a prone position.
Right now, he stood upright, shoulders back, his sword held high. He had a magnificent physique, his pecs thick and muscled, his arms bulked, hips narrow, thighs heavy and ripped, his stomach a true six-pack. Something from Greek mythology, maybe.
And he glowed.
A warm light emanated from his entire body. He also had a stream of grayle smoke, with a bluish hue streaming from his body.
As she took in the signs, she knew he had to be in the middle of a vision.
Her heart set up a noisy racket, thumping loudly in her ears. Duncan hadn’t had a vision in a month, now here he was, caught up in one and bearing his sword.
She took a moment to settle into herself and to calm her heart. He would need protection in his current state. As powerful as he was, the enemy could still strike him down.
Her shielding instincts kicked in. She could have drawn close to release what Merl had told her was her Fourth Earth ability. Given she heard no warning rumbles, she decided to take the opportunity to practice and instead moved twelve feet away from him.
She let her power flow and a warm vibration of energy moved through her, extending quickly toward Duncan. She knew the split-second he was completely covered by her shield. She felt very secure with her power and with her shotgun in hand, she stood guard.
~
