Shit, this wasn’t going well, but he didn’t know how else to approach what was fast becoming an unmanageable situation. He felt compelled to do all that he could to assist Elise. Whether he liked it or not, she was important to him, more than he wanted to admit.

There was only one thing to do and he laid it out. He told Seriffe about Elise’s vision of Rachel, the timing of the forthcoming event, everything. He couldn’t quite keep his hands steady as he spoke. Everything seemed to be funneling down to one major shitstorm.

“Looks like you’re fucked,” Seriffe said. He continued to stare at Gideon from beneath thick black eyebrows. Seriffe’s olive complexion and strong features placed his ancestry somewhere in the Middle East. He had a wife and three young children. He was the best of men and a hard taskmaster.

“Colonel, I don’t know if I can explain exactly what’s happening here, but I have one desire, to make sure that Elise makes it through the next three days. If you can get me assigned as her guardian, I’ll use Militia Warrior support, lots of it, with your permission, of course.”

Seriffe remained silent, just staring, weighing, coming up with a judgment.

Gideon didn’t know what more he could say, but there was one aspect of the entire situation he felt he should relate. Shit, he so didn’t want to do this, to confess this. “There’s one more thing.” Then he spoke of the scents that he and Elise shared.

At that, Seriffe’s brows rose. “Jesus H. Christ, what are you telling me? That you’re caught in the grips of thebreh-hedden like Warrior Kerrick was a month or so ago?”

“It sounds impossible and the truth is I don’t know. But based on all those rumors about what Kerrick went through, this is fucking similar and let me tell you there is nothing pleasant about it. I … I want to kill any man who so much as looks at Elise.”

Seriffe, however, nodded very slowly. “We live in remarkable times, Gideon. I have felt this for months now, some strange enormous hand at work, changing our lives, our destinies.” He nodded again, faster this time. “All right. I’m going with my gut on this one. Give me five minutes. I’ll see what I can do.”

The relief Gideon felt nearly undid him. As Seriffe got on the com, he walked away from the desk to pull himself together. He felt like something lived inside him now, pulling him apart like a cyclone spinning in his chest.

He stood by the plate glass window overlooking the desert. At night, not much could be seen, just the black skyline of the Superstition monolith, the famous Thunder God Mountain, and about a million stars overhead. Sweet Jesus, one of the Warriors of the Blood would be out there battling right now. On Mortal Earth, some of his brothers-in-arms would be waiting at the various Borderlands to catch any of the death vampires who snuck through. War had kept this planet hostage for over two thousand years, since Greaves had ascended. The bastard had ambition and apparently a shitload of patience.

The trouble was, the war had ramped up. They all felt it, that Greaves was going to make his bid for the domination of two worlds, and he wouldn’t take long doing it.

A few minutes later, Seriffe called him back to his desk.

“You’ve got the assignment. And you’re not going to believe this, but Endelle approved it herself.”

Holy shit. Endelle was the ruler of Second Earth and rarely bothered with Militia Warrior business.

“You know what this means,” Seriffe said, his lips a hard line.

Gideon nodded. Jesus, if a higher-up like Endelle was involved, that meant Elise was definitely marked by the enemy as well.

He had a whole new ballgame on his hands.

“She had one last word for you, and I quote, ‘Get your ass over to the White Tanks Borderland Two, and for fuck’s sake, take eight squads of MWs with you.’” Seriffe chuckled. “You gotta love her.” He narrowed his eyes. “Okay. Get your men assembled and as soon as ascendiate Jordan answers her call to ascension, I’ll send you into the Trough.”

At that Seriffe smiled and Gideon smiled back.

Finally, he could breathe a little easier. He had permission from Her Supremeness to take care of business. He would serve as Elise’s Guardian of Ascension. Good.

Twenty minutes later, Gideon had all thirty-two Militia Warriors, grouped in the usual squads of four, ready to descend into the Trough. Seriffe would do the honors and they’d float down between dimensions to protect Elise as soon as she demonstrated power at the Borderland.

Shit, was this really happening?

An hour and a half later, Elise stood in the open desert, at the north end of the White Tanks Borderland. She had to demonstrate power to initiate her rite of ascension. After that, both factions of the war that encompassed Second Earth would present an alignment package, she would state her choice, and then game on. The enemy would have three days to take her out.

At this point, however, she didn’t care. She had only one goal, to get to Rachel by tomorrow night before the death vampires could harm her. She wasn’t sure what her ascension process would entail, but Rachel was important to Gideon and she really didn’t deserve to die at the hands of a monster.

She looked around and in the distance she saw a number of stone outcroppings and massive boulders. Well, why not?

She focused on a massive, car-like rock, centered herself, and as she had been doing since she was very young, pointed her right index finger and gave the boulder a track to follow.

The vibration in the air, all around her, intensified. The boulder lifted in the air and began to float along the trajectory she had indicated. Though she had left behind her perfect, orderly world, right now a sense of unexpected freedom surprised her. Her ascended life would allow her to explore her powers, not hide them. She wondered what more this world would one day offer her.

She watched the boulder land off to her left and smash a rather tall stand of cholla onto its side so that it stuck out at a weird angle.

She stared at the giant rock that was almost as tall as she was. Energy sang through her body. She shook all over but in the best possible way. She felt born anew, lifted up, and on the verge of a life never before anticipated.

She looked up into the skies. She understood the timing of everything. Representatives from both sides would arrive to present their offers, then she would choose. And if her preternatural powers were strong enough, for the next three days she would receive the protection of a Guardian of Ascension. Gideon seemed to believe she would be in for it, that her ascension wouldn’t be simple because her powers were just that strong. She simply didn’t know, but one way or the other she was certain to find out in the next few minutes.

The air suddenly grew very cold, arctic, a sure sign that someone was descending through the Trough, that nether-space between dimensions.

She glanced around, staring at every shadow. Would death vampires dare to arrive early? Or worse, what if Commander Greaves decided to pay her a visit before someone from Endelle’s faction got to her?

Anything could happen, but she knew that a breach of protocol would result in prosecution, so she relied on that alone to keep her safe for the time being. The ascended world had a governing body, similar to Mortal Earth’s United Nations, called COPASS. It oversaw the war between Endelle’s faction and Greaves’s army, imposing strict rules on both sides. The committee also established and upheld equally strict rules about the ascension process.

COPASS. She chuckled as she paced. Apparently, no one thought to check the acronym before the members chose their name: Committee to Oversee the Process of Ascension to Second Society.

The air grew colder still and she started to shiver. She backed up against the boulder and waited, her gaze fixed into the night sky.

The ascenders appeared in the distance as small indistinct objects in the sky. She extended her preternatural vision and started to count, but soon gave up. There were so many. Death vampires?

Her heart set up a furious cadence.

But a few seconds more and she recognized the warrior leading the way. Gideon.

Her mouth fell agape. She couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t expected him to be here. She had released him from all obligation.

Gideon was here with a small army of what must be his fellow Militia Warriors. He wore traditional flight gear, heavy battle sandals and black leather shin guards, a black leather kilt, a weapons harness that covered his chest and held sheaths for two daggers. As soon as he landed, he began directing his men. When he turned his back to her, she saw the tough-looking strip of leather that went straight down the spine and allowed for wing-mount. He looked … powerful.

Tears filled her eyes and she drew a couple of deep breaths. For reasons she couldn’t explain, a sudden need to sob her heart out almost did her in.

She clenched her fists and gave herself one big shake. She was not going to fall apart now.

She knew what she was getting into. Gideon’s explanations had left her with few illusions. Second Earth was at war. Death vampires killed mortals and ascenders alike. And the moment she refused to join Commander Greaves’s faction, she would be targeted for death as well, beginning tonight.

Gideon directed his men to spread out, to form a large circle with Elise at the center, at least two dozen yards away from her, well beyond the large boulder she still leaned against.

At last satisfied with the location of each squad, he turned his attention to her. He crossed the ten or so yards to her, his preternatural vision seeing the darkness around her as though lit with a soft light. She wore a T-shirt, jeans, sensible running shoes. He approved.

When he reached her, he grabbed her arm. “You okay?”

She blinked several times. “Yes, but you’re kind of hurting me.”

“Shit. Sorry.” He released her arm. “A little wound-up.”

“I can see that. So why are you here? I mean, what are you doing here?”

Gideon couldn’t quite focus. His gaze slid past the boulder to the squad on the other side. His thoughts darted in several directions at once: who would Greaves send to present his offer, would Endelle show up, would his men do what they needed to do, would anyone die tonight?