Obsidian Flame (Guardians of Ascension #5)(65)
Author: Caris Roane

Endelle sat tapping her marble desk and watched the blonde beauty walk toward her.

When Alison reached the doorway, she asked, “What do you need the tea towel for?”

Endelle tipped her head in the direction of her desk. Some of the coffee had reached the edge and was dripping over the side.

Alison lifted a brow. She didn’t miss a beat, though. She walked up to the desk and started patting the lake until the tea towel was stained and sopping. Her mannerisms were dramatic, almost theatrical, because of course Endelle could have just thought the entire mess away.

The towel disappeared and Alison brought another dry one into her hands. She worked with increasingly exaggerated movements until Endelle was about ready to explode.

“Would you stop that?”

Alison sent the final towel away, probably to her laundry room in that mansion she and Kerrick now lived in together. She moved to stand directly opposite Endelle. “Would you please tell me what’s wrong instead of ordering me to do ridiculous things? What the hell happened? Did you finally talk to Thorne?”

At that, instead of rage firing a missile through the top of Endelle’s head as usual, her throat closed up so tight she could barely breathe. She shook her head. “No. Carla called, though.” Her voice sounded like she’d squished it to the size of a pea.

Alison dropped to her knees in front of the desk, which meant she met Endelle’s gaze straight on. That was the thing about Alison. She met you where you were and right now Endelle couldn’t even stand up. She just sat in her goddamn chair trying like hell even to swallow.

“So you haven’t spoken to Thorne, not once, since he left.”

She shook her head. “He blocked the mind-link.”

“I know. So what did Carla want?”

“To tell me that His Majesty wants me to fold to some strange hidden Mortal Earth rogue colony and that afterward he’s coming back here but for who the f**k knows for how long. Leto’s there. His sister Grace, as well.” But Alison would know all this—Luken would have told all the warriors this morning.

“Leto is in serious danger then.”

“Luken said he’s near death unless Grace feeds him.”

“You’re kidding.”

“He’s a goddamn f**king death vampire, or didn’t you know that? When Greaves turned him, he really turned him. No half measures with that bastard.” She put her hands over her face. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She was so not herself.

“Endelle, look at me. Talk to me. Why does Thorne want you to come to the colony?”

She let her hands fly apart. “How the hell should I know?”

“Why do you think?”

She shrugged. “To talk to Leto, I guess.”

“Okay, that’s good. No doubt Leto has a lot of things he needs to say to you and to Thorne, and Thorne wants you there. He hasn’t cut you out of his life. He’s just headed down a different path because of the breh-hedden. He’ll come back to you eventually. Give him time. And space.”

“Space? You want me to give him space? How about I walk away from the war? How about I need some space, so I go on a jaunt, find some NBA superstar to match my height and my proclivities, and I follow him around for a few weeks. I’ll call it the breh-hedden so it won’t matter because it’s my f**king destiny. It won’t matter that I have duties every night to go into the darkening and follow that bastard Greaves around to keep him from sending more death vampires to the Borderlands. Hell no. Yeah, Alison, that’s what I’m going to do. I need space so I’m going to take some space.”

Alison rose to her feet. There was too damn much compassion on her face as she said, “You’re feeling lost because he’s gone.”

“Oh … fuck you!”

But Alison wasn’t impressed. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, for starters, I’m headed to Mortal Earth.”

“Okay. And in the meantime, I’m going to plan a welcome-home party tonight for Thorne.”

“Oh, well, let’s at least do that. Let’s reward Thorne for his f**king bad behavior.”

“You know, I have to say, Endelle, you almost sound like you’re whining. And as my boss once told me, there’s no whining in ascension.”

“Oh, shut the f**k up.”

When facing the dragon,

Try not to lose your temper.

—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth

Chapter 15

At a quarter to ten, Thorne opened the door to Leto and Grace. His sister was calm, but he could feel the tension in the air. Leto, still very pale, had a determined jut to his chin, which probably meant he’d come to some decision Grace didn’t like.

Leto’s planning to take off as soon as he talks to Endelle and to the Warriors of the Blood.

Thorne met her gaze and nodded. He tried to imagine what he would do in Leto’s shoes. Yeah, he’d probably take off. The guilt alone must be killing him.

From the direction of the kitchen, he heard Marguerite. “Where the hell are the coffee filters?”

Leto laughed, a good sound. Thorne glanced at him and smiled. “That’s my woman.” In a louder voice, he called out, “Honey, we’ve got company.”

Marguerite ran in from the right, the direction of the kitchen. She had on cherry-red socks and slid on the smooth wood floor on purpose. What an entrance. She also wore black leather head-to-toe and his whole body suddenly lit up.

“Hey, Grace, Leto,” she said, smiling. “Sorry about the greeting.” She glanced at Grace. “I’m trying to get a pot of coffee together. Come help.” She waved her forward.

Without waiting for a response from any of them, she took off on a run to slide her way back into the kitchen.

Diallo’s house was expansive to say the least. Grace followed after, the loosely woven Convent gown dragging slightly behind her.

Thorne ushered Leto into the living room. Leto moved on slow feet. He crossed to the windows to once more take in the view. Even though the forest held Diallo’s house in shadow, the valley below was flooded with morning light, revealing a whole string of small farms.

Leto drew up next to him and crossed his arms over his chest. “This is a nice place. Very peaceful. And you say Endelle has no idea these colonies exist?”

“Not to my knowledge, and she would have said something. She’s not much into withholding information of any kind.”

At that, Leto actually chuckled. “No. She’s not.”