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Duncan nodded. “All right. Let me figure this out.”
~
Luken breathed hard as he stood between Endelle and Merl.
“What’s he waiting for?” Endelle asked quietly. She side-stepped like a fighter, back and forth, ready to throw a punch.
“Ease down, Warrior,” he said, catching her shoulder and pressing her in place, at least for a moment.
She glanced at him, nostrils flaring. She opened her mouth, probably intending to shout him down, but apparently thought the better of it. She shook her head, and released more of her battle energy by dancing on the balls of her feet again. He didn’t prevent her this time.
She was something else, this woman who’d lived as an ascended vampire for nine thousand years. And she had his back.
Thanks, he said.
She glanced at him with raised brows. For what?
For saving my ass. You think I didn’t know I was done for back there? I knew a fourth wrecker was behind me, but with three swords in front, there was nothing I could do. Glad you’re here.
At that, she grinned. My pleasure, ‘duhuro’.
Luken returned her smile. ‘Duhuro’ was a word from the ancient language and a sign of great respect. Back atcha.
When the portal signal began to fade, Endelle growled. “All right. Get moving, Duncan.”
But Luken caught her arm in a fierce grip. “This isn’t your show. And you have to trust your team.”
“Fine.” She spit the word between gritted teeth.
Luken smiled. The woman was showing a tremendous amount of restraint given her unruly nature.
~
Duncan’s heart raced. He’d lose the portal, but something within his mind or his body or both told him to wait.
He took a deep breath and gathered his grayle power once more then let it flood his mind. A vision shot through his head, this time sending ice shards through his veins because of the content.
He accessed his telepathy at the same time and shared what he saw with the team. Yolanthe already has her forces in place opposite the portal, at least half a dozen shotguns aimed at the door, right now. So we’ve got a change of plans.
At the right moment, we’ll use our wrecking guns to blast a hole in the Third grid wall. This will allow us to enter the prison several yards down the row of cells and avoid the ambush.
The presence of Yolanthe’s Militia Warriors ready to do battle confirmed his belief that the earlier vision had been high-jacked by someone known to Yolanthe. The team’s new placement would give them the advantage.
But a bigger problem presented itself — something so unexpected, he froze. His plan had involved making use of Yolanthe’s portal to leave the prison and return to Second. However, as new images rolled, he saw something else entirely.
He had to share this reality with the team. He turned to face them all. “We’ve got a problem.”
Lips parted, but no one said a word.
He explained about the need to shift their entry point, but their exit strategy would be a different matter. “Yolanthe’s portal is different from Merl’s; it shifts location, probably a security measure.”
Merl called out. “That’s exactly right. Only the wealthiest citizens have this kind of portal.”
Every member of the team remained silent and he had no doubt each had just completed the sequence.
But it was Rachel who spoke the reality aloud. “We won’t have a way to get back to Second.”
She’d said it exactly right since none of them had access to the Grid from a Third Earth vantage point.
