“Doesn’t that bother you?” Grace asked. He was lit up and glowing with the most beautiful silver aura.
“Not at all. In fact it’s pleasant.” He nodded a couple of times and narrowed his eyes. “So, Leto told me that you have the ability to secure the powers of others by doing some soul diving. Do I have it right?”
“Yes.”
His silver aura began to diminish and soften, and finally disappeared. “All right, so how exactly do you think the process works then?”
But it was Marguerite who answered the question. “I think it means that when any of us experiences a profound intuition that something is wrong, like what happened at Nazca, then I look into the future streams. When I get a solid vision, the three of us can determine what power is needed to resolve whatever situation appears. Grace then learns the skill from whatever ascender would be best for acquiring the ability. She takes possession of Fiona because Fiona has the power to exponentially amplify any power. And that’s how we get the job done. But the amazing thing is you, Grace. If you can enter the soul of any individual in the entire world and you can learn any ability, then there is no real limit to what we can accomplish.”
And there it was, the identification of what this triad could do.
Grace thought for a moment, and let herself rest deeply within her obsidian power. She felt it vibrate softly. “If our ability as a triad to accomplish a task rests with me, then maybe we should practice exactly that: I should acquire an ability and we should apply it. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” Fiona said.
Marguerite nodded her assent.
“What power would you like to explore, then?”
Grace addressed Thorne. “I have an idea because I think it would make a great test. I’d like to acquire Leto’s ability with the sword. Then I’d like to possess Fiona and have her do battle with Jean-Pierre.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Have Jean-Pierre here as well as Leto. Because of the breh-bond, I think some of what we do will have to include the other men, don’t you agree?”
“You’re absolutely right, especially in these early stages.”
“What’s my role?” Marguerite asked. “I mean, if my job is to choose the task through the future streams, how do I fit in here?”
Grace tilted her head. “Actually, I think in order to really see what the triad can do, we need to be connected when I take possession of Fiona—we need to be functioning as a triad. I mean, I know that Fiona and I could do our parts alone, but I have a feeling that the triad adds something extra.”
An intuited consensus followed.
Grace contacted Leto and asked him to come to the workout center while Fiona did the same with Jean-Pierre. Because of the folding regulations, both warriors had to fold straight to the landing platforms then walk the considerable distance to the workout room.
When Leto and Jean-Pierre finally entered the room, Grace’s vision narrowed to a fine point focused exclusively on her breh. His hair was tight in the cadroen, which set his sharp angled cheekbones in strong relief. He walked with a lethal athletic stride, and because he wore a snug T-shirt, her gaze drifted to his pecs. She blinked a couple of times and wished for a moment that she was alone with him.
Her heart rate soared at the sight of him. Because of the breh-hedden, she could feel the give in the black mats as he crossed toward her, the brush of his fingertips against the sides of his jeans, and the way the muscles of his face moved as he smiled crookedly at her.
Hello, beautiful, he sent.
She had only one real thought, that she wanted to be alone with him. “Hey,” she murmured when he drew near. She was a little embarrassed, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that Jean-Pierre was holding Fiona in a warm embrace and Thorne had taken Marguerite at least twenty feet away.
She wasn’t alone in what she was feeling.
Leto put his arms around her, and she put her hands on his chest. “So what’s this idea you have?” he asked.
“I want to acquire your swordsmanship.” She explained how the triad worked.
“You’ll enter my soul, acquire this ability, then take possession of Fiona.”
She nodded. “Yes, but we’ll be connected as a triad with Thorne anchoring the early part of the process. We thought it would be best if Jean-Pierre participated just in case we need some outside corralling of the sword battle.”
“If you take possession of Fiona, then you won’t exactly be in your body.”
“I think it will be like when I do an apparition-split. I’m in both places at once, just more present in the apparition form.”