Vela stood with her back to Havily’s office. She stared out at the fading eastern landscape, a view of the desert that stretched for miles beyond the window all the way to the Superstitions and Militia HQ. With her arms crossed over her chest, she withheld a sigh. Even standing here, she could feel Samuel. How was that possible?

“So you had a darkening vision of Samuel while dreaming?” Havily asked.

“Yes.” She didn’t turn around.

Havily’s office had glass panes that faced the executive hallway. Too many people had already walked up and down that hall, glancing in to get a look at her. This was a small community, the one made up of powerful ascenders and their support staff, and she wasn’t used to being stared at. “I thought it was just a dream.”

“And you’ve never had them before?” She shook her head. “No.”

“But you’re powerful,” Havily said.

“I can feel it in you. Do your powers manifest in other ways?” She told Havily about the fireworks.

“I love that power. Alison can do that and so can Fiona.” She hoped Havily didn’t ask for a demonstration. She was so not in the mood. A hawk flew over the desert, hunting as the sun sank in the west, maybe a last attempt before nightfall. The death vampires would be heading to the Borderlands soon, ready to do battle as they tried to make their way into the vulnerable Mortal Earth world.

“This is all too much,” Vela said. “I don’t understand why this has happened.” Havily drew close, leaning a shoulder against the thick window. “I know that feeling. Been there. I think more than any other woman who’s gone through this, Vela, I can relate to you because of the darkening ability.” Vela glanced at her. “Do you wish it undone, all this increased power and responsibility?”

“No, but that doesn’t have meaning here. I’m so far on the other side of this thing that I’m sure I’ve forgotten half of what I went through, even my anger toward Marcus because he’d absented himself from the war for two-hundred- years.” Vela shifted slightly in Havily’s direction. “And the breh-hedden? Do you ever regret that?”

“No, not even a little, despite the fact that it’s really frustrating at times. But the best I can say is try, if possible, to stay open to the experience, to this new power you’ve got going on. You might surprise yourself and the one thing I can tell you is that you’ll have a different role in this world going forward, one completely unexpected. I mean, I never thought I would work alongside Endelle or that I would have formed this working partnership with Marcus to change the world’s perception of our fearless leader.

And yet, I believe I’m suited for all of these things, I just didn’t know it.” Vela took a deep breath. “I thought for sure you’d be yelling at me to get on board.” Havily snorted. “That’s Endelle’s style and you need to be prepared for that.

She thinks we’re all slackers unless we’re doing what she tells us to do, the moment she says it. She can be tough to take, but after nine-thousand-years of ascended life, stuck here on Second Earth by the Council of Sixth, she’s lost her filters and has no patience, at all. Which is why I insisted that I speak with you and not her.” Vela laughed. “Thank you for that.

I’ve needed some space, some time to think this through.”

“I know. And as for this new power, don’t be surprised if it crashes down on you again. Emerging power is like that, like a series of storms until you’ve mastered what you’ve been given.”

“You know, that’s not very comforting.” But she smiled.

“One last thing. You do have a choice here. Nothing is set in stone at this point. The next time you’re called by the darkening, and it will probably relate to Samuel because that’s just the way the breh-hedden works, you will have a choice to make. And it will be okay if you choose not to move forward. I mean, you’ve taken night courses for years now in preparation for a counseling career, and you are desperately needed at the rehab center. No one would think less of you for choosing that life.

“As for Samuel, well, he’s lived in isolation since he returned from his captivity, and from a long period of being hurt, being tortured, so that’s a whole thing in itself.

“While you were still in the darkening talking to him, I contacted Gideon. Basically, he said that Samuel has always been distant, a lone wolf, if you will. He won’t be an easy man to deal with. Apparently, he’s closest to Duncan, who helped make it possible for him to escape, but even then I would hazard a guess that Samuel keeps him at arm’s length.” Vela knew Havily was right. “I’ve thought about that as well. I’ve felt him, Havily, I’ve felt the loneliness in him and even right now, I can feel him, that he’s at HQ.” She waved her hand in the direction of Apache Junction Two.

“That’s pretty amazing. I didn’t have that with Marcus before we completed the breh-hedden. I think this is unique to you and Samuel. Does he have the same sense of you?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well it’s just a different thread in the same tapestry.” Vela nodded and almost at the same time she weaved on her feet as a soft vibration ran through her. She blinked.

The vibration felt familiar, like a bell sounding in the distance, a warning maybe.

“Havily, do you hear that?”

“Nothing unusual. What’s going on?”

“I feel, no I believe I’m being summoned. I think it’s the darkening.” She heard a telepathic voice, a plea for help.

Samuel, shit, where the fuck are you? I need your help.

She grew very still, statue-like. She knew that voice because she’d spoken to the warrior many times over the years and he’d been to her home when Jeff was alive. His on-again, off-again girlfriend, Rachel, had often cried on her shoulder about this man.

She turned to meet Havily’s gaze.

“I’m hearing Duncan; he’s calling for help. Actually, he’s asking for Samuel.

How is that even possible?” Havily held her hands palms up and shook her head. “I don’t know, but I think you may have a more powerful form of the gift than me.”

“I don’t know what to do. I feel like the darkening is calling to me, but what do I do? With the previous vision, I’d awakened from a dream.”

“Okay, calm down. Take a deep breath. Focus on Duncan’s voice and just let it come.” Vela nodded and let her thoughts turn fully toward Duncan. The moment she did, she slipped inside the darkening, the same sort of place she’d been with Samuel earlier. Only in this case, she was in Havily’s office and a black border separated the spaces. As she strained to hear Duncan’s voice again, she started moving, then just like that started down a dark tunnel that felt oddly familiar, as though the pattern of the tunnel had already been imprinted on her brain. She moved in a kind of levitation, faster and faster. The tunnels would branch and she always knew which one to take.

Images flashed by her, of people and places, but she didn’t stop to look. She took tunnel after tunnel, an urgency possessing her. She felt a dimensional shift and she knew that she’d just passed from Second Earth to Third.

On and on she moved.

She reached her destination and the same black border framed the space, indicating the darkening boundary.

She’d landed inside a large, gray- stone prison cell.

Bound by ropes, a barely recognizable Duncan, wearing only his kilt, hung suspended from a central hook.

He’d been brutalized, probably tortured.

His eyes were swollen shut, blood ran down his face, his chest, his sides.

“Duncan,” she called out. Would he even be able to hear her?

“Vela, is that you? I dreamed about you just now. Are you really there?”

“I’m here. But Duncan, I don’t know what to do for you? I can’t pull you out.

I’m in the darkening and this is all new to me. What should I do?”

“Get Samuel. I need him. He…that is, this won’t make sense to you.”

“Try me.”

“Tell him that I’ve seen others with the kind of power he has, the kind that he released when I got him out of that hellhole in Honduras Two, that dark mist of his. He’ll know what I mean. And shit, tell him that I think they’re going to execute me in the next couple of days.”

“I’ll tell him right away and we’ll figure this out.”

“One more thing. You have to tell Rachel. Shit, tell her that I love her and that I’m sorry. I’ve been a real dick, pushing her too hard.” In the distance, far away, she heard the sound of an explosion. Her instincts fired up and she knew she had to get out of there, had to leave before someone found her.

“I’ll tell her. I will. But I’ll bring Samuel back to you. I promise.”

“Good.” His body slumped in the ropes. He’d passed out.

Vela turned around. Her heart slammed in her chest now. Another distant explosion sounded. She put on her speed, heading back the way she’d come, never once questioning which strange dark tunnel to take.

She heard another explosion, closer.

She moved faster and slipped through the initial entry point in Havily’s office, where the ascender waited for her, eyes wide.

Instinctively, she planted both hands on the entry point and focused on sealing up the opening. Energy released from her in warm waves.

“The wall is glowing,” Havily cried.

Vela felt the seal happen and she stepped back just as another explosion sounded just beyond the darkening boundary.

Then nothing, as though the darkening disappeared.

She leaned her head against the cool glass, breathing hard. She sensed she was safe, at least for now.

“What happened, Vela?” There was only one answer. “I just found Duncan. He’s on Third Earth.”

Chapter Three

After an hour of working with Jean- Pierre, Samuel almost smiled as he extended his hand, yet again, down to the Frenchman.