Holy shit, while he and Grace had been battling in his cabin, the colony had been attacked by death vampires. Why the fuck hadn’t the alarms sounded?
Crouch, he sent.
She was quick and ducked.
Leto, what happened here?
He looked up at the dome of mist. It’s simple. Greaves mapped and breached the colony.
The top had been burned away, just like at Nazca.
Another couple of seconds passed, and Casimir folded next to Grace. She looked up at him and nodded. There was nothing of the vampire Leto had known all those months ago. Casimir had been absurd, always taunting with sexual innuendo, always easy in his smiles. Now he was serious, even somber.
Casimir looked at Grace, but without flirtation. Right now, he even looked a little confused. Leto saw nothing to challenge in his demeanor toward Grace. He could only imagine what the redemption pools had been like to have taken the casual smirk from his face.
A number of sensations struck Grace all at once: Casimir’s odd presence beside her, the humidity of the garden, the terrible number of death vampires milling about and ready to fight. She could feel Leto crouching without even looking at him because of the breh-hedden. Earlier, while she was waiting for Leto in the basement, she had felt him throw his dagger at the death vampire. Right now, when he pivoted on his heels to scan every inch of the garden, she could feel his battle sandals grinding against the hard pavers.
She peered through the shrubbery and started counting the number of death vampires, all restless, all moving as though they were hunting, even if their current job was to guard the courtyard. There had to be at least fifteen in the relatively small space. None of them spoke.
The war again.
She looked up. Remnants of the mist remained but mostly it was just gone, destroyed. In the distance, she could hear screams coming from the lane beyond Diallo’s house as well as the sound of a rhythmic drumbeat. Why was there the sound of a drum?
Creator help them.
To Leto, she sent, What do we do?
I’m not sure, he responded. I talked to Thorne. He said he was contacting Seriffe and would mobilize the Militia Warrior contingent at Apache Two. But I have a bad feeling about Diallo and Mei-Amadi.
When she shivered, he slid his arm around her waist. Sorry, he sent. But I think this is about to get worse.
It’s okay. I’ll manage. She thought for a moment. Do you think they have Diallo and his wife?
That’s what I think. Greaves would have ordered them to be either apprehended or killed.
Do you want me to look for them? She met his gaze. His blue eyes glittered in the garden shadows.
How will you look for them? Wait, I can feel your obsidian power rising, up through your legs.
She nodded. Yes, that’s it exactly. I can do what I did for you in Moscow Two and when I searched out Nazca One. I can use the apparition part of this power to travel the house.
Won’t you be seen?
She shook her head. Don’t you remember? Even Greaves couldn’t see me. Just you and … Casimir.
She felt him tense then relax. She could feel him swallow, which was a strange experience all in itself.
He nodded, but turned to stare once more through the leaves. Do it.
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Steady me while I do this thing.
You got it. He tightened his arm around her. I’ll let Thorne know what’s going on.
Grace let her obsidian power flow. Because her blue flame was now fully opened, the rush of energy was like a flood.
She glanced up at Casimir and telepathically told him what was going on.
Be careful, he sent. He reached for her, glanced at Leto, then withdrew his hand.
Grace turned toward the house. She thought of Mei-Amadi, and her apparition-self moved swiftly through the shrubs and even past the death vampires.
She sped into the hall. To the left was the kitchen and dining room and another major hall leading to the bedrooms.
Shifting to face forward, she saw that the largest gathering of death vampires was in the front living room where she had sat with Leto all those months ago. They were making a lot of noise, even cheering. She found the pretty-boys grouped around a single death vampire on the floor. He was engaged in copulation and was drinking a woman to death.
Oh, God. Mei-Amadi.
She froze for a moment as visceral memories pummeled her. She knew exactly what the woman was experiencing, the terror, the pain, and the rage combined. She felt ill.
Grace, are you all right? Leto sent. You’re trembling in my arms.
His voice eased her. Yes, she responded. She drew close and saw that the lovely African-Asian woman was white-faced, near death. They have Diallo’s wife. But she knew what to do. She put her apparition-hand on the woman’s forehead.
Grace simply took her with her so that Mei-Amadi vanished from beneath the death vamp. With a rush of energy, she headed back to Leto. At the same time she gave him a brisk mental warning of what she had done.