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Soht She blinked or tried to

What is it? she sent

But he offered only a shake of his head and a faint smile, a familiar crooked curve of his lips Her heartbeat sped up

What had changed?

Oh, God, everything Everything She felt it in the air between them

She stepped away from Endelle and moved to a position in which she could address both the Supreh Administrator and the Warriors of the Blood

The warriors stood in a broad arc in front of her, some of the most powerful ascenders on Second Earth

Thorne, with his bleary red eyes, stood near the chicken coop of a pool table

Luken ranged next to hi, his thick ear

Medichi carried his regal height at the apex of this warriorthe s

Zacharius stood next to him, all that thick curly hair trapped in the cadroen, but fanning out down his back, his blue eyes narroaiting

Santiago sat on a stool beside Zacharius, his long wavy black Latin hair hanging loose, shiny, gorgeous He lifted his hand and the sub disappeared, sent somewhere He shifted his knees in order to face her

Jean-Pierre drew up next to Santiago He held a cue stick in his hand, his long elegant fingers wrapped around the narroood He was an aristocrat in even the grace of his hands

Endelle stood a foot fro low, a restlessness to the air surrounding her, iot all day screamed from every pore of her body

Kerrick stood to the left of the pool table, his enoraze never leaving her face

Alison had the strangest feeling, a farave; vu sense that she had been here before and would be here again and again, that her destiny, which had been birthed at the ht here, right now She had thought that to ascend was everything, the be-all and end-all She had been wrong She had only understood her place a few inning to understand that her arrival on Second Earth had ramped up the war

She squared her shoulders "I knohy the Commander wants me dead"

Endelle snorted "We all knohy You have toopower"

"Yes, but what purpose does that power serve?"

She saw it all so clearly The revelation came from her dreams, from the deepest parts of her subconscious, from the mysteries well beyond the hu up into the Third Di painfully drawn to Third Earth but unable to get there She recalled the pull of the lake, the need to protect the lake

She stared at Madae of the pool table, and dove straight in: "One day, a few years fro cohted, fearsome silence A tomb, sealed for a thousand years, could not have been quieter than the Cave

Endelle’s jaent slack

Kerrick’s green eyes shone with admiration

The rest of the warriors stared, first at her then at one another; then al

Alison shifted her gaze to Kerrick to see how her announce if he would think she’d suddenly gone insane How shocked she was to see the certainty in his eye as he nodded once to her He showed a level of trust and confidence that she had not seen in him before

She felt buoyed to continue, to explain her , and faced Madame Endelle once more "I’ve dreah and Third Earth, every night since an When I drea over the lake at full-h I can’t explain how I know my purpose, I just do" She pressed a fist to her chest "Here And this is why Darian, the Commander, wants me dead"

Endelle blinked only once as she stared at Alison She finally looked away and started to pace Her brow had dipped low, and sparks flew froy of her thoughts Back and forth she paced in front of the e to Third Earth Shit Holy shit Holy, holy shit" She stopped in front of Alison "Don’t fuck with me, ascender You’d better be dali?"

Alison shook her head "Not even a little" came as a whisper from her throat

But thesensation invaded her heart, forged not fro certainty She was the instrument by which the pathway to Third would be opened and her life had just gotten harder, a lot harder She dropped to her knees then buried her face in her hands She was overco she remained there, she didn’t know, but to her surprise she felt cool hands take hold of hers She lifted her gaze and h Administrator of Second Earth folded a dry cloth into her hand and wiped Alison’s cheeks, nose, and chin