Bianca D'Arc: Grady's Awakening

Gina took the bar of soap from the tiled dispenser and worked up a lather while steam wafted around her shoulders. A moment later, the soap was taken from her hands as the steam thickened and a hard, male body filled the space next to her in the decadently large shower enclosure.

One of his hands roamed down her shoulder, onto her back, massaging, caressing. The other cupped her sensitive breasts, tweaking the nipples with slippery, soapy fingers as her breath caught.

A second presence loomed out of the steam. Another man, larger than the first, stood on her other side. He grasped her hips, massaging downward with enticing thoroughness. The fingers of one hand roamed forward as his other hand moved aft, meeting in the juncture between her thighs with explosive results.

Gina gasped as the first man turned her head, sealing his lips to hers, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth, while the other man thrust one long finger into her core. The kiss drugged her even as the other’s touch electrified her increasingly desperate body. The rush of sensations curled her toes.

This was the most delicious dream she’d ever had.

Yet…something told her this was more than a dream. She’d had prophetic dreams before. Not often and never quite so erotic, but she knew the flavor of such portents. These men—shockingly, two of them—would be in her life soon.

She’d never been good at guiding her dreams. She wanted more than anything to see their faces. She wanted to be able to recognize them when she saw them, but the steam was thick and the things they were doing sidetracked her.

The second man’s fingers brought her to the precipice as the first man’s kiss and enticing caresses took her over the top. She came with a gasping cry even as she jolted to full wakefulness. Only a few final impressions were left in her hazy mind.

The first man had had dark hair and the hands of a warrior. His muscles had been sleek, like a panther coiled to strike. He had felt deadly and dangerously attractive.

The second man had been more of a puzzle. Pale hair had gleamed in the uncertain light and she had the impression of flashing blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She’d felt deep and true emotion from him, a shuddering need that made his calloused hands shake.

“Did you have the dream again, Gina?” a soft voice asked from the darkness of the dormitory-style room she shared with a roommate.

Gina sighed heavily. “It was…more…this time. I saw them more clearly.”

Her roommate had a much stronger gift of foresight, and they had discussed Gina’s dreams before. A variation on the shower dream had been plaguing her the last several nights, but tonight’s dream had been the most vivid by far.

“So, spill. Who are they?”

“I don’t know. One has brown hair, tanned skin, sleek muscles like a fighter. He was tall and though I couldn’t see his face clearly in the steam, I know he was handsome. Sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes was the impression I got.”

“Hubba, hubba. So he’s human. He’s not one of the Brotherhood or you probably would have recognized him. Intriguing.” She paused. “Maybe he’s a new recruit. Could be you’ll meet him right here one day soon. Or you might run across him when they send you out on a mission. How about the other one? Were they a set? Like twins?”

“No.” Gina thought back to the hazy dream images. “The second one was even taller than the first and bigger all the way around. He was deeply muscled, yet he moved with a warrior’s grace.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that. What else?”

“He was shaking with emotion too long denied. At least that was the impression I was left with.”

“Another human then.” She spoke with finality in the darkness. Her words made Gina pause.

She’d cupped his head in her hand as she broke from the dream and felt…the slender point of his ear.

That stark realization made her sit bolt upright on her small bed. The second man in her dream had been Alvian.

“Why wasn’t I made aware of this before?” Grady Prime demanded of the Governing Council as they met in a secret session. One by one, the Councilors stared him down. Even Primes were not permitted to behave with disrespect toward the Council. Grady Prime was treading a thin line. Of course, he’d been walking on eggshells for the past few weeks—ever since he’d taken the drug that was awakening emotions he’d never felt before.

“Your current demobilized status and superior skill set make you the most logical operative to send on this mission,” Councilor Gildereth, representing the military, said blandly. “It is unlikely you will ever return to your former duties and status among the regular army, given your participation in Mara 12’s experiment. You had to have known that when you volunteered to let her tamper with your DNA. However, you are too valuable an asset to retire. We can use your skills and perhaps your new understanding of the consequences of Mara 12’s experiment to discover the truth of the disturbing rumors we’ve heard.”

“There are rumors about a winged man?” Grady asked sharply. Perhaps too sharply. He’d have to watch his tone with these stone-faced, emotionless politicians. “Which populations have been talking? Is it localized to one city or region? That would give me a place to start.”

“The rumors of which we speak were not heard from our people,” Councilor Beyan, the crystallographer, cut in, her expression almost embarrassed—though being Alvian, she could not feel such things, of course. “The winged man is spoken of by Breed captives. Monitoring stations in every Breed enclosure have recorded and flagged references to what they call an angel . We have tracked the word to various religious mythologies that existed before the crystal seeding. We find this problematic when paired with the fact that we know at least one of our winged experimental squad is unaccounted for.”

Problematic , she’d said. Grady Prime had to bite back a laugh. He fought the urge to scoff at the Councilor’s poor grasp of what the appearance of a creature out of human mythology could mean to the captives. Especially a creature with mytho-religious origins.

“Perhaps it would be beneficial for me to know more about this experimental squad. I assume there are more of these winged men?”

Councilor Gildereth looked at him with a considering gaze, then relented. “Grady Prime, please remember that anything you hear in secret session is protected information at the highest level. You are not to divulge this information.” The Councilor waited until Grady nodded acknowledgment. “I believe it would be prudent for you to talk to some of the squadron members. The new Prime would probably be of greatest assistance as you begin your search for the one who escaped.”

“Escaped?” Grady Prime could have bitten his tongue. His curiosity was getting the better of him—something that had rarely happened before he’d been dosed with the DNA-altering agent. The experimental agent was starting to manifest emotions in him that had been bred out of the rest of his people.

“You’ll recall the attempt made on Chief Engineer Davin’s life. That was an assassination attempt authorized by a rogue element of this Council who has since been replaced.” Councilor Orin, representing artisans, nodded over at the newest member of the group and Grady recalled the scene that had played out with the Councilor who used to sit in that seat and the Chief Engineer. Davin had publicly exposed Councilor Troyan’s role in ordering Davin’s assassination without knowledge or approval of the rest of the Council. The Council had responded by turning their backs on Troyan, effectively dismissing him from the Council. Another had been chosen to take his place representing the clerical trades and now sat in the seat.