Obsidian Flame

Yes.

There is more. But I don’t want to think about it.

She nodded. And I’m to work on behalf of Seers all over the world, working for their freedom.

He hugged her. That makes such beautiful, perfect sense.

Isn’t it strange? That my pursuit of freedom might be the vehicle to free so many others?

He held her close, his deep breaths moving her body in peaceful swells.

She had never been happier. Whatever the future brought, she would remember this moment as long as she lived.

Finally, she said, “How about you start filling that bathing pool of yours?”

“Let me get this straight. We both just experienced incredible, multi-orgasmic sex, we traveled the entire globe in some kind of blended vision and real life, and you’re thinking about the bathing pool?”

“Hell, yes, Warrior. I want a warm bath, I want you to take me on that well-designed and super-convenient shelf next to the pool a couple of times, then I want to sleep all spooned up with you for the rest of the afternoon. As for the night, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

She felt his body relax and he hugged her hard. He retracted his wings and, without saying a word, he had her flying through nether-space.

To make peace with a dragon,

Persevere in the presence of the beast,

with respect and affection.

—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth

Chapter 24

A week later, Thorne entered the Militia Warrior complex at the security landing platform. Jean-Pierre waited for him, smiling a very warm smile with a knowing look in his gray-green eyes—his ocean-eyes as Fiona called them.

Thorne thought he understood. It was the look of a brother who had been through the exact same thing, knowing by experience both the suffering before the breh-hedden and the glorious mysteries after.

Right now he felt the cool tile beneath Marguerite’s feet and the warmth on her palm from the bottom of a ceramic mug. Now she was sitting down and probably staring out at the Mogollon Rim because she loved doing that. Brynna would join her soon and they would discuss the future of the Seers Fortresses of Second Earth.

If he pressed hard, he could enter her mind and see what she was seeing, but they were each learning to keep some boundaries. With so much intimacy now, some strong separation was necessary for them or one or the other would go mad.

So he set up a block and sighed.

But Jean-Pierre held his gaze, his crooked smile accompanied by a knowing nod.

Thorne nodded in response. Nothing needed to be said. No doubt there would be conversations in the future, about the breh-hedden, about handling the powerful women they’d been given to mate with, about ways to accommodate so much extraordinary intimacy without destroying it.

Hopefully, there would be centuries.

“Thorne.” His French accent eased over the name.

“Jean-Pierre.”

“So, what is this news you have for me?”

He glanced at the Militia Warriors who worked the landing platform. There seemed to be more than the usual contingent present. “Let’s go to your office.”

“Or yours. Seriffe cleared a space for you while they remodeled the north wing. Apparently you and Seriffe will both have offices when the work is finished. There is to be a large conference room and a new command center. Very impressive. Havily’s architect helped with the design.”

As they moved into the hallway that led in the direction of the offices and the HQ grid, Thorne said, “I noticed the extra security.”

“What do you mean?”

He jerked his thumb behind them. “At the landing platform.”

Jean-Pierre grinned, all those big teeth of his. “That was not additional security. Several of the men wanted to see the new Supreme High Commander of the Allied Ascender Forces.”

Ah, yes, his new duties. Endelle had bestowed the title on him in an official ceremony. The problem was, they still weren’t speaking. Endelle had become withdrawn from him, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“You are different now, Thorne. Everyone speaks of it. Your eyes are clear, of course. I take it you are no longer such intimate friends with Ketel One.”

Thorne smiled. “No. Not so much.”

He glanced down the length of the hall and saw that Seriffe stood outside his office, the largest one on the premises. Eight Section Leaders of the Thunder God Warriors were lined up next to him, a formal greeting. He knew the men, of course, since they’d begun taking their squadrons to battle at the Borderlands during what had become a major time of transition for the Warriors of the Blood.

There was talk of merging the Section Leaders with the Warriors of the Blood, for the purposes of planning and strategy. But it was Gideon and Duncan who fought the merge the hardest. As close as they were to Warrior of the Blood status, they showed one of the most dominant traits of the elite warriors: territoriality, to the point of obsession.

It made Thorne smile, nothing more. That level of bullheadedness only confirmed his belief that they were ready for the grade bump.

Yes, everything was changing.

Seriffe welcomed him aboard and shook his hand.

He hadn’t seen Seriffe since his own status had changed, but the famous warrior, too, met him with a knowing look in his eye, the look of a man who’d been in charge of thousands of warriors for a very long time.

Seriffe gestured to the open doorway. “I want you to use this space until your offices and the new executive command center are ready.”

Thorne started to protest but instantly felt the restraining voice in his head, the one that connected to obsidian flame power, the one that gave him better insight, better understanding, and a longer vision of what the next few weeks, days, and months would have to be.

Thorne was now the Supreme High Commander, the one who would have the final say in everything that related to the coming battle between Greaves’s ALA and Endelle’s AAF.

This room was only fitting, and it spoke volumes about Seriffe’s character that he stepped aside so easily and allowed another man to take what had been his seat of command for a very long time.

He glanced at Gideon and Duncan. His first order would be to summon Militia Warrior Section Leaders from all over the world to begin the necessary army training.

But not today.

Thorne thanked Seriffe for the office. He invited him in, but Seriffe said he had a meeting scheduled with his men.

Thorne moved into the space. Jean-Pierre followed him in.

He inclined his head toward the door. “Close that, Jean-Pierre. I realize we have a lot discuss, but first I want to talk to you about the hidden colonies and another more personal matter.”

He moved to the desk and noticed that it had been completely cleared out and made ready for him. There was even a fresh memo pad with a wing watermark, something Havily had created as one of her first steps in changing up the quality of Endelle’s overall staff operation.

Jean-Pierre remained standing. He wore flight battle gear since for the remainder of the afternoon, yeah, he was training Militia Warriors.

Thorne decided to lay it out. “I met your great-grandson at the colony in Mortal Earth Washington—the Seattle Colony as it’s known.”

Jean-Pierre’s brows rose. “You must mean Arthur.”

“Yes.”

“We were not certain where he was. He just seemed to have disappeared, although he let his father know that he was well and safe, but he was not coming home. I suppose this is good news.”

“The thing is, Arthur is Warrior of the Blood caliber.” He then described the battle and the level of Arthur’s skills.

“Merde,” Jean-Pierre murmured

Thorne couldn’t help but smile. “He reminded me of you … a lot. So, I suspect it’s a genetic thing. But he’s really unhappy because of the death of his fiancée.”

“He was too young to be thinking of such things. Only nineteen.”

Thorne shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to say about that. He seemed to have loved her very much.”

Jean-Pierre drew in a deep breath. “Is there something you wish me to do?”

“I’m not sure. He says that he has four other friends at his level of battling skills, but they all refuse to have anything to do with the war. Since he’s your blood, I wanted you in on the decision making. This network of colonies will not remain secret much longer. We’re respecting their choice to remain as they are and to not accept our protection or involvement, but I’d hate to think what would happen if Greaves decided to get involved on any level.”

“Did you have a sense of what ought to be done? Given all the changes in the past few weeks, I believe I should take this dilemma to my family, especially to Arthur’s father.”

Thorne tapped deeply into that power that was fast becoming his greatest ally. He let the vibrations flow up through his body until he knew he was glowing.

He saw Jean-Pierre sit back in his chair, eyes wide.

“Better get used to it. Apparently it’s my new fucking look. I’m hoping at some point that this damn thing will settle down.” Jean-Pierre nodded, but he didn’t exactly close his mouth.

Thorne turned inward and held his last memory of Arthur firmly within his mind. He closed his eyes and just let the young warrior’s image rest, his strength and ability for one so young, that leanness of youth, the crooked smile.

Oddly, Leto came to mind. He knew enough, even after only a week, to follow his instincts.

Thorne met Jean-Pierre’s gaze. “I heard that Leto has been having some issues.” Thorne hadn’t seen the brother in several days. He’d been staying at Medichi’s villa, but apparently had taken a liking to Antony’s limoncello. He was battling all night at the Borderlands, like the rest of the warriors, but apparently not sleeping well during the day.

Jean-Pierre shook his head. “He is not right. I cannot explain it and I think it is more than the breh-hedden, more than just losing Grace to Casimir. Luken has questioned whether he should be fighting at all.” There was a long pause.

Thorne waited. A shiver went down his spine. Finally, he said, “Tell me.”