Even so, he let the images come, one after the next, and with the practice of two centuries on Second Earth, serving that entire time as a Militia Warrior, he fought, blocking the necessary thrusts, moving with speed as indicated, his sword arm ringing with strike after strike.

He dipped and caught the death vamp to his right low across the abdomen, which took him to the ground. He whirled, according to the vision, and before the next one could react, he took the pretty-boy’s head.

He shifted with preternatural speed, levitated and caught the third death vampire in the air, slicing his hamstrings and sending him into a violent roll. The vamp slammed into the earth, his neck broken.

Gideon touched down and with the vision still pouring images into his head, struck blow after blow against the fourth death vamp, who worked backward in an attempt to move him away from the fifth bastard, and damn but the ploy was working. This death vampire had amazing sword skills, strong enough to match Gideon. He was now at least nine feet away from Elise and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

The images from her vision ceased as well, so he could only imagine what was happening to Elise behind him. What was the death vamp doing to her? Shit. He fought harder. He blocked one blow, vibrations ringing up his arm, then swung wide and low, but missed the killing strike.

That his woman could be taken or worse, killed, brought a burst of speed, so that he ended up behind his enemy then thrust his sword hard into the back of the vampire, all the way through.

When the pretty-boy fell face down in front of him, a sight met his eyes that shocked the hell out of him.

Elise stood over the last death vampire with a smallish boulder held high over her head. One massive boulder had just rolled off the death vampire and he was struggling to rise. Some of his ribs had to be broken, maybe his spine crushed. Sweet Jesus. She must have used her kinetic ability and surprised the hell out of her opponent.

He watched Elise lift the smaller boulder higher still, then with all the strength she could muster she crashed the damn thing down on the death vamp’s head. The resulting crack and spray of blood forced his feet to move in her direction.

Elise was breathing hard as she backed away from the monster. She flattened her back against the enormous boulder she’d been leaning against earlier. Her arms were spread wide and trembling, her hands shaking.

By the time Gideon reached her, she was making small grunt-like sounds, small huffs from the back of her throat.

Her eyes were wild.

He glanced behind him and saw that the air battle was over … for now. Duncan, another section leader, flew in his direction.

Turning back to Elise, he asked the only thing he could think of. “You okay?”

She shook her head. “I saw into his mind. Oh, God, I saw into his mind.”

Gideon moved closer. He extended his arms toward her, intending to comfort her but she held up a hand. “No. Don’t even think it. That’s not what I want, not what I need. Not right now.” She shook her head a couple of times. “I saw into his mind. I … saw the last woman he killed. She was pregnant, very pregnant, and he killed them both. I’m glad he’s dead. He’ll never take the life of another woman or another unborn child again.” Her voice was shocked out and uneven.

Gideon swore in a soft angry stream. Elise wouldn’t allow him to touch her, he didn’t know what to say to her, and he sure as hell didn’t know how to comfort a mortal who had just slain her first death vampire. She stood, staring down at the blood that pooled beside the killing boulder, her arms now wrapped around her stomach. She trembled from head to foot.

This was why he hadn’t wanted her to ascend. It just wasn’t fair to women of power that when they engaged their rite of ascension, they were faced with this.

He muttered a string of curses, then drew his warrior phone from the narrow pocket at his waist. He swiped across the front and a moment later heard Bev’s voice. “How can I help?

That voice again. He actually grew calmer. “Hey, Bev. We need clean-up at the White Tanks.” He looked around. “Damn, we offed twelve, no, make that thirteen, pretty-boys.”

“Well done,” Bev cried. “Let me engage the coordinates. Almost there. Just give me a sec.”

He drew close to Elise but still didn’t touch her. “Hey. Close your eyes when I say, okay?”

Her gaze was fixed on the blood that still seeped, forming an ever larger black lake in the dirt.

“Okay.”

Bev came back on the line. “You folks ready?”

He called out to the troops, “Clean-up. Eyes closed.” He glanced at Elise and when he saw that she squeezed her eyes shut, he gave Bev the go-ahead.

He closed his eyes. He loved Second Earth technology. A brilliant light flashed over his eyelids and when he opened his eyes, every single bit of debris was gone, blood, feathers, limbs, bodies, everything.

He watched Elise closely. She opened her eyes, but her gaze sought the ground and she continued to stare at what was now just an empty damp spot, nothing much left to remind her of her first kill.

Duncan drew close. He nodded; Gideon did the same. Normally, they would have locked forearms and shouted their triumph into the air, but not with Elise working so hard to hold herself together.

“Casualties?” Gideon asked.

“Just a skin burn. Eric’s still walking, but I called for a healer. Down to the bone on his left arm.”

“Good, that’s good.” He turned to Elise. “I’d like you to meet one of the other Section Leaders. Duncan Wallace, Elise Jordan.”

Elise offered a half smile. “I know Duncan. We met at the Blood and Bite several times.”

“You remember, then,” Duncan stated.

Elise shrugged but she smiled and some of her tension seemed to ease. “I suppose I owe you an apology as well.”

“For what?”

“I faked being enthralled and having my memories sliced. I only pretended I’d never met you before each time Gideon introduced us.”

His brows rose. He jerked his thumb in Gideon’s direction. “And lover-boy didn’t have a clue?”

Elise chuckled. “You might want to do me a favor and let the subject drop, since lover-boy is still thinking about whether to forgive me or not.”

Duncan laughed. “You’ll do.” He gestured to the boulder. “Hey. What the hell is this?”

Gideon glanced at him and from his peripheral he could see that Elise did as well. He followed Duncan’s gaze to the base of the boulder. “What?” Gideon asked.

“This big-ass rock. Look, there’s a whole chunk of cholla flattened and sticking out at the far end. This shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, that,” Elise said. She sighed, heavily. “That’s how I answered my call to ascension.” She turned around, searching the dark desert beyond. She waved in the direction of the White Tanks. “This boulder came from over there … somewhere.”

“That’s major shit,” Duncan said.

Gideon watched Elise put on a brave face. She thanked Duncan for his compliment. He was proud of her, really proud of her.

His chest tightened as he watched her. He was so fucking lost, yet strangely energized at the same time, like he stood on the brink of something he didn’t quite understand.

Duncan held his sword balanced on the leather shoulder strap of his weapons harness. He addressed Gideon. “So just now, you defeated four death vampires by yourself. That’s unheard of. What the hell is going on with you? You looking to join the WhatBees?”

“I’d rather eat a bowl of crushed glass. Besides, I didn’t do this by myself. Elise is clairvoyant. She streamed the visions into my head and that’s how I got the job done.”

“I’m thinking you dating Elise might be about the best decision you ever made.”

Gideon glanced at his woman, who was actually smiling a little now. A strange sense of knowing, of destiny, rippled through his mind. Was dating Elise the best decision he’d ever made?

Beyond that, once she completed her ascension ceremony, how was he ever going to tolerate other men getting near her?

Chapter Five

Elise watched a dozen thoughts flit across Gideon’s face. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking, but she seriously doubted he considered their dating to be the best thing that had ever happened to him. Not by a long shot. She cramped his style. That message she got loud and clear. He didn’t want one more woman in his life to worry about, especially since Rachel was already a handful.

Gideon loved his sister more than anything else in the world, but Rachel definitely had a mind of her own. She had for a long time been intent on exiling herself to Mortal Earth, joining a colony of vampires, and living a simpler, less complicated life. Apparently, in some colonies both the use of fangs and any preternatural power were strictly forbidden.

Rachel grew her own organic vegetables, touted the benefits of communal living, and despised the war above all things.

In contrast, Elise was here, having just answered her call to ascension, because she knew in her heart that Second Earth was where she belonged.

She glanced around. The Militia Warriors were all on high alert, scrutinizing the desert around them. How was she supposed to do three more days of this? She recalled her vision about Rachel. She had no doubt that she and Gideon would be with Rachel tomorrow night.

But how could they possibly get to that location if the enemy just kept throwing more death vampires in her direction?

She glanced at Gideon. “So what happens next?”

Gideon also looked around, his gaze skating from one squad to the next. “Well, the order of events is pretty screwed up and if I know Endelle, she’s going to ream COPASS until she gets her way. Greaves never offered you a choice.”

“The ascendiate is always given a choice,” Duncan said. “Mine came way early in the process, before the shit went down.”

Gideon nodded. “This might just mean good news, Elise, but I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

And with that statement, a movement of air swept through the night, behind Gideon but well in front of two of the squads near the mountains. Both men turned to face the White Tanks then moved into a fighting stance, as did the rest of the troops, knees bent, backs hunched, swords in hand and upright.