I selected a fitted dark purple silk shirt. The color complemented my ivory skin. It had three-quarter sleeves and was cut deep in the neckline, which gave the illusion of an impressive bust line. Yeah, okay, the padded bra helped with that also.
I teamed it with my standard dark skinny jeans, finishing with my favorite selection: shoes. A pair of gorgeous black suede boots. They went over the jeans, and as I zipped them up they ended just above my knees. The best part was their impressive heel; it added a good three inches to my five foot ten height and yet felt as if I was walking on flats. I needed something I could move about in easily, but I wanted the height. Damn Walkers were too tall for their own good.
Stepping back into my bathroom, I checked my reflection. I had no need for cosmetics anymore. My Walker genes gave me a sheen that could not be replicated. My lashes were darker than ever, giving the illusion of kohl lining. My hair was working for me, and looked even longer, falling past my mid-back in red flecked with black curls. The enlightenment had certainly helped speed up my morning preparations. I walked out, leaving the comfort of my room.
Everyone was gathered in the white room, of course. It was the meeting place. As I stepped inside, all eyes turned in my direction. The reds were along one wall, their hair standing out starkly against the white. As usual, when we were all in the same room Brace was at my side in an instant. I was happy to see that my head just reached his shoulders. I wouldn’t feel quite so short today. His low growls started over my head as he guided me to the couch, his hand resting in the small of my back. He was sending out a warning to the other men. Ignoring their posturing, I sank into the free seat.
“You look hot, Abby.” Lucy leaned over Samuel to speak with me. “I want that exact outfit, except I need it in short, not giant.”
I grinned. We’d had to have all of Lucy’s clothes tailored. She was tiny on First World, and everyone was fascinated by her delicate stature – until she opened her mouth, of course. Then they were amazed that the outside didn’t even come close to matching her inner smart mouth.
“I’ve decided that we will stage the battle in the hills behind Angelisian. They are secluded: I don’t want any innocents hurt.” Josian started without preamble. “Brace will send the message to Que and his people. We’ll leave immediately. I would ask any of you that don’t need to be at the battle to stay here.” He chuckled then, without humor. “But I know I’d be wasting my breath, so everyone get your things and wait for me outside.”
“Whoa, that was lucky. I thought I might have to stow away in Abby’s handbag. But then I remembered the girl’s never carried one of those in her life,” Lucy said, falling into step next to me.
I was too tall now; we couldn’t comfortably link arms.
We gathered out the front. The reds’ numbers had doubled: there were twenty, each as diverse looking and god-like as the next. They were silent, and just stood there channeling statues.
“Look, Abbs, it’s the red wall of China.”
I stifled my laughter. Lucy’s comment nailed it; they did look like an impenetrable wall.
“What’s China?” Brace and Samuel said together, stepping in front of us.
They were attempting to block us from the reds’ scrutiny.
I waved a hand. “Just a country on Earth. It had this massive stone wall that ran through it.”
“What was the point of this wall?” Samuel said, with an actual expression of interest on his normally stoic features.
“Protection,” Lucy said. “China was protecting its borders from the surrounding countries.”
“It’s gone,” Josian said, standing near us.
“What?” I said, shocked. “Where did it go?” Did a hundred-year-old wall just get up and walk away?
“It was one of the tethers lost during the last release of the Seventine.”
“Is Earth the only world losing tethers?” I was having trouble picturing a four-thousand-mile structure just disappearing.
“No, Aribella, all of the worlds have suffered losses. Some significant, others smaller, but it’s only going to keep escalating. Long before the last Seventine is released the worlds will rapidly lose their tethers.” Josian’s face echoed my own horror.
“We have to stop them. You have to kill Que,” I whispered, knowing I was probably hurting Brace.
Que was his father, after all.
“I can’t kill him.” Josian words were terse and clipped. “What I did on Spurn can only happen if one Walker is immensely more powerful than another. It’s rare, since most of the less powerful never issue challenges, and the more powerful, for the most part, don’t absorb other Walkers. You never know when you could lose control of the influx of energy.”
The only good thing in that information was the realization that Que shouldn’t be able to absorb Brace or my father either.