Blood Double (God Wars #1)(58)
*
"Boss, Trajan's still pissed." Trace sat next to Ashe. Ashe had chosen one of the cliffs overlooking the small city located inside SouthStar. It housed all those brought from Star Cove in the past, in addition to a few others—Elemaiya that Ashe had gathered here and there, including many half and quarter-bloods.
"I know." Ashe kept his eyes on the small city beneath him. "I'd like to take it back, Trace, but I'm not that particular Mighty. Only one of us can Change What Was, and it's not me."
"You said it was the shining woman, and everybody knows she saved Ildevar Wyyld. Or at least the King of Serendaan and three of his wives." Trace shook his head.
"But very few realize she's likely one of the Mighty." Ashe turned star-filled eyes on Trace. "They have no idea—most of them. I worry that she is placing herself in danger. Luring those who want to destroy us in her direction. I thought she would be smarter than that."
"Then I guess it's a safe bet that she isn't the Mighty Mind, huh?"
"What did you say?" Ashe's eyes cleared and became their normal blue again.
"Just that she can't be Wisdom, if she's setting herself up as a target."
"Damn." Ashe wiped a hand down his face, leaving a deep frown behind.
"You think she's really in danger?"
"I was in danger," Ashe nodded. "I didn't know what I was for a while, and you saw how that almost turned out."
"What if it's the same for her—that she doesn't know what she is? What if she's fumbling along, just like," Trace didn't finish.
"You can say it, because it's true. I didn't have a clue for a while, Trace. I admit it. Sometimes, I still feel that way. I've wrecked whatever Trajan might have had, and now we're both miserable."
"Has Kevis been able to reach Kalia?"
"No. She cringes every time I come into the room. Bill manages to get her to eat, but that's it."
"Frank wants to kill Keef and Schaff."
"A part of me would allow it."
"Traje said something about a mind cloud. Could that be the problem?"
"Mind clouds don't work that way. They don't make a victim helpless. They convince the victim to do irresponsible acts at best and murderous acts at worst. Mind clouds cause damage, Trace, and this one—even I can't get to the root of it."
"That doesn't sound good, boss."
"It's not. That isn't all that's going on, either. Strange things are happening—things that have no logical explanation. Power has to be involved, but like I said, even I can't get to the root of it."
"Power gone crazy?" Trace's voice held concern.
"Yeah. That's a pretty good description."
*
Breanne's Journal
"Just tell us what you see in mindspeech, and whether you can determine what we might do to save Grey House." I sat in Glendes' study, with Raffian and Shadow Grey nearby. Glendes knew I'd already seen his difficulty in my reading, but he was counting on Gavin's compulsion to keep me from discussing it with anyone else. Cleo had left us when Glendes asked, but she wasn't happy that he'd asked.
"I'll do what I can—in exchange for Cleo's healing," I said.
"We have a preliminary meeting with Prime Minister Vyris on Bexari," Glendes rose from his seat and arranged the black robes he wore. "Shall we?" He nodded at Raffian. Raffian folded us to the palace on Bexari.
*
Lissa's Journal
"Look at this," Kiarra shook her head. Photograph after photograph of shapeshifting whales and dolphins dropped from her fingers. Their bodies littered the beaches of a world on the far edges of the Dark Realm. "There's not a sign of life anywhere on the planet, and this is the first world that came back to life.
"See these dunes?" I lifted one of the pictures, showing a mound of sand next to a pile of bodies. "I'd bet money that dune wasn't there before."
"I agree," Merrill held out his hand and took the photograph from my fingers. "I'd also bet that the sand isn't from that world, either."
"Look at this," Adam held out a comp-vid with all the destroyed worlds mapped out on it. "The storms began in the center of the Dark Realms. They've been traveling in a spiral ever since. If they follow the current pattern, Harifa Edus is next."
"What?" I snatched the comp-vid from Adam and stared at the worlds in the path of the storm.
*
Breanne's Journal
I stifled a gasp. The one who'd come to escort us to the throne room—a young woman of slender build—bore an obsession. I couldn't get to the root of the obsession, but I was watching her closely as we were led to Prime Minister Vyris. The girl was a pawn—there was no doubt in my mind, and I was on edge waiting to see what she'd been ordered to do. After reading Graegar, I knew how to erect a shield and was prepared to build one around us before anything could happen.
Watch the girl—stay away from her, I sent to my three escorts. Something isn't right here, I added.
Put up a shield, Glendes ordered. I felt the power of it, and could have duplicated it if I wanted as I watched their faces. Following the girl who wore loose, long skirts and a tight-fitting, sleeveless blouse, we walked as if nothing were amiss toward the throne room.