Free Burning Skies by Caris Roane

Believe me, I know. I’m reminded of my failings daily.”
    Luken smiled, a crooked curve of his lips. “Well, Endelle isn’t very subtle, is she?”
    “As subtle as a rattlesnake … coiling and striking. ”
    Luken laughed then stopped. He drew in a ragged breath.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    He nodded. “Smoke got to me last night as well.” He nodded, cleared his throat, then continued. “The thing is, Medichi and I have been wondering if maybe what you experienced last night isn’t an onset of a new power or something. We all develop our powers at different paces. I had a bitch of a time with telepathy for the first two hundred years.
    “Anyway, because you saved the life of a Warrior of the Blood”—here he jerked his thumb at Medichi then back at himself—“we’re concerned that your contribution will be noticed by, well, the enemy.”
    Havily had for so long known what a disappointment she was to Madame Endelle that she couldn’t quite comprehend what these powerful warriors were saying to her. “Are you worried for my safety?” she asked, astonished.
    Both men nodded.
    “Exactly,” Medichi said.
    “Really?” She just couldn’t fathom it.
    Luken gave her hand a squeeze. “We want you set up with a telepathic link, and I think Medichi would be best to do it. That way, if you ever got in trouble, you could contact him right away and he could get to you.”
    “A link? You mean like the one Endelle and Thorne share?”
    “Yes,” Medichi said. “Just in case. What we know about Greaves is that he leaves no stone unturned. If he either fears you could threaten him or sees you as an asset, he’ll make an attempt to get control of you.”
    “You’re serious,” she stated. She glanced at each of them in turn. She was so darn used to being the least significant person in her small group of powerful ascenders that she was having a hard time not laughing at their concern. However, they both appeared so grim, each brow furrowed, each pair of eyes staring hard at her, that a shiver traveled straight down her spine and agitated her wing-locks.
    She drew in a quick breath. The decision wasn’t hard to make. These were warriors, and they’d been battling this particular enemy for centuries. If they said she was in danger, she was taking them at their word. “I’m in,” she said quietly. “But exactly how would it work?”
    “When the link is set up,” Medichi explained, “all you have to do is concentrate on me then telepathically speak my name.”
    You mean, like this? she sent.
    He nodded. “Except that we don’t have to be in the same room.” At that he smiled. “We know you have powerful shields, which is a good indication that you can permit someone inside your head and the other way around. Have you ever gone mind-diving?”
    “You mean deep mind-engagement?”
    “Yes,” Medichi said. “Moving within another person’s mind.”
    “I attempted it once with unhappy results.” She thought of Eric. She had once dived inside his head, a really careless maneuver, and he’d doubled over in pain. The poor man had been left with a terrible headache for three days. That a power of hers had caused him so much suffering had crushed her to no end. This was one of the major differences between Militia Warriors and Warriors of the Blood: Most Militia Warriors lacked advanced powers. Havily shifted her gaze to Luken then back to Medichi. She was struck all over again by the sheer size of these men, the Warriors of the Blood. All of them had exceptional preternatural abilities, which, coupled with their physical strength, allowed each warrior to battle a number of death vampires at any given time. They were Second Earth’s elite fighting unit. There were a total of only seven known warriors of this stature in the world, eight including Marcus.
    “I knew it,” Medichi cried. “You’re untapped. I’ve been thinking it for a long time.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You have major powers