Page 56 of Gates of Rapture (The Guardians of Ascension #6)
He felt her shiver and her body start to unwind. Even so, she pushed him away and rose to her feet. “I still want my shower. I am so not doing anything without getting clean first. And I do mean anything. ”
His eyes fell to half-mast. A shower didn’t have to take long, especially if he helped. And the thought of her really clean in various places forced him to get rid of his clothes and join her.
By seven fifteen Leto stood with the rest of obsidian flame in the central rotunda, waiting for Endelle before folding to the parade grounds.
He was jumpy, but then they all were. On the other hand, this was a solid team, all the coordinates had been laid in for the mass fold of Greaves’s army, and obsidian flame had proven they could get the job done.
The only real unknown was whether or not Greaves would actually bomb the spectacle parade.
But Leto had his own team, led by Gideon, watching the monitors, which now had a heat-sensing fix on the location of all the local artillery.
The moment anything went hot, Gideon would know and in turn would relay the information to Thorne’s com.
Perhaps for all those reasons, even Casimir had arrived to wait with the obsidian flame team.
Though a couple of times Grace had drawn near and chatted with him, Casimir was very respectful.
Leto admitted it helped that he looked so different with his bald head and his long white linen robe.
He looked more of a monk than a seducer of women.
Could Leto forgive him?
Did it even matter?
Thorne nudged him and spoke in a low voice. “Not sure I could tolerate having him around.”
Leto chuckled softly. “It’s kind of hard to complain when he’s fought off Third Earth death vampires twice on my behalf.”
“See your point. Still.”
“Yeah… still.” He sighed.
“Any clue yet about this ascension of yours?”
“Nope. And I’m not feelin’ it, so I don’t know what to tell you. Of course, all I really care about is being with your sister. So it wouldn’t matter to me whether that was here on Second or on Third… I just need to be with her.”
“Well, it’s not the usual process for an ascension, that’s for sure. I mean, have you been having dreams at all?” The hallmarks of an ascension always included dreams of the new world and often inexplicable longings as well.
“Nothing. No longings to be on Third, no dreams of ascending. Nothing. Just Casimir showing up saying he was my Guardian of Ascension.”
“Well, like everything else, I’m sure it will sort itself out.” He shifted slightly, then murmured, “Oh, my God.”
Leto turned, as did the entire group.
Endelle had arrived.
Her hair rose to an enormous height and width, teased to a full madness, but drawn in at the center with a crown that bore about a hundred sparkling gems. Probably not real, but holy shit.
Her bustier was the same spotted fur he’d seen the day before. The rest of her costume was layer upon layer of fabric with a panel of peacock feathers serving as a kind of apron. Two smaller women, each in simple black flight gear, carried the train.
“I’d twirl for all you gape-mouthed idiots, but we haven’t got time.” She turned to Thorne. “We ready?”
He nodded, then finally closed his mouth. “Uh, yes.”
She glanced at the triad, all in simple black leather flight suits and black flats. “You ladies ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.” All three obsidian flame responded as one.
“Then come stand by me. Bring your men with you, then let’s do this thing.”
***
Timing is everything.
Some truths are so universal as to be dull. But Grace had never known this truth to be quite so relevant as it was now. The entire success of the mission depended on getting the timing exactly right.
She had a death grip on Leto’s hand, but he stood fast. He seemed oddly relaxed, maybe because he knew she was so wound up.
A Sousa march blared from the loudspeakers, a lively sound and appropriate for the spectacle. But the music seemed to keep her nerves on fire, and every sixteen bars she would jump.
Fiona leaned back against Jean-Pierre’s chest. He had his arms wrapped around her, as usual. Grace didn’t think being held so tight right now would help her at all.
So Leto allowed her to keep squeezing his hand.
At the same time, she kept glancing up at Thorne on her right. His jaw worked. He touch his headset frequently and continued talking quietly, this time to Gideon, making sure that the artillery-locating files were up and humming at the workout center where Leto had set them up.
They all wore headsets hooked over one ear, which made communication easier.
Thorne had a companion piece on his shoulder that allowed him to change frequencies.
He had reports coming in steadily from Marcus, who had command of the entire communications system.
He was also connected to Colonel Seriffe, who was in charge of security and the two hundred thousand Militia Warriors here at the parade grounds.
Where the defecting army was concerned, as soon as obsidian flame was airborne and moving down the parade route, Leto would give the order to begin the secret mass folds of Greaves’s army.
Brynna waited in North Africa to confirm the success of the first two folds.
The second two were destined for Apache Junction Two.
If all went according to plan, the first fold would take place in ten minutes.
Once more, she squeezed Leto’s hand hard.
***
Because he couldn’t reach Stannett, Greaves was flying blind, a state he despised more than anything else on this advanced ascended earth.
He had lost contact with the Militia Warrior he’d put in charge of Stannett, and he was unwilling to leave his Estrella Complex to see what was going on.
He had hoped to get that slight edge he would need to be victorious tonight.
He was almost dizzy with the potential of what could be accomplished in one bombing raid.
He would destroy not just obsidian flame, but also Thorne—who led Endelle’s army—and Endelle herself.
He felt almost giddy with the sheer potential so close at hand.
If he could do this, all he would have to do is march his army over to Endelle’s palace and take over.
He paced his war room, trying to still the excitement that coursed through him.
He had excellent visuals of the Camelback Parade Grounds, of tens of thousands of Endelle’s Militia Warriors in full black-leather flight gear, of rows upon rows of tanks, of the usual spectacle nonsense ready to take to the skies, and even a close-up of Endelle looking like she belonged in a circus.
He had but to say the word, one general would hit the GO button, and the parade ground as well as Endelle’s nearby administrative HQ would be dust.
But the one thing he’d relied on to guide him had failed. Stannett was offline, and Greaves had a really sick feeling that he’d killed the Militia Warrior.
Even if that were true, it was too late to do anything about it now.
Whatever happened from this moment forward was all up to Greaves and his limited information. He was tempted to just let the artillery take out the parade grounds now; some part of him knew that was exactly what he should do.
But the cautious part of him as well as the strategist held back.
If he wiped out obsidian flame in the middle of the spectacle, the world would understand his intentions and would submit more readily.
After he decimated the area, he’d finish off the colonies, eliminating all points of threat in the space of a very short evening.
***
The fireworks boomed and lit up the sky.
Showtime.
Grace drew in a deep breath, then glanced once more at her brother.
He had really changed over the past several months.
He was a new man in every sense. She hardly recognized him now, and not just because his eyes were no longer red-rimmed, but because his stature had altered.
He stood with his shoulders well back, his head high.
He had always been a leader of men, but now he seemed to be more.
There were even rumors that he would one day become the Supreme High Administrator of Second Earth, replacing Endelle.
Not tonight, though.
She heard Leto draw in a quick breath. She glanced at him, then saw that he was looking at the monitor.
Endelle was airborne, her massive train flowing behind her.
Grace smiled. Whatever else the woman was, with fireworks blasting in the background, with the music blaring, she gave good spectacle.
She was fit for her world and for her times.
She waved at all the spectators as her gown trailed behind her, a comet speeding by, on enormous wings, a great, glorious, irreplaceable, profane, feathered comet.
Another monitor showed the parade grounds.
The troops were already on the move, marching in strict formation, making strong turns en masse, with the occasional unified shout.
All the warriors knew the order of events, and it said a lot about Thorne and Seriffe’s training of the Second Earth Militia Warriors that all the men and women proceeded down the parade route as they did.
Everyone understood the real possibility that Greaves would attack and that only the perfect timing and power of obsidian flame would be able to remove everyone from harm’s way before complete annihilation.
There were five huge grandstands, but all were full of Militia Warriors in street clothes. No civilians had been allowed to be present in case things went wrong.
Grace pressed a hand to her stomach.
The swans and geese and their handlers flew in from the northwest. Grace could see them in the air, but the cameras gave a much better visual so she ended up watching the monitors. This would be one fine webcast once the event was edited.
If all went well.
Oh, God. If all went well.
To Leto, she sent, I know you’ve told me, but is your army ready to fold?