by Ford, Lizzy
“Stay here, Jonny,” she heard herself say as she started forward. She stopped, angry at herself for trying to protect the boy who was no longer a boy. “I’m sorry. You may want to send a few vamps out that way. I’ll go ahead, unless you prefer I don’t?”
“No, go. I’ll send a team after you,” he said quickly.
“Jonny, send Xander.” Her gaze went to the sky, and she assessed the sight she’d never seen before. The magic in the air crackled around them even from the distance.
Rather than risk Traveling to the center of the phenomenon, Jenn ran down the driveway the vamps had cleared of snow to the narrow country road leading up the mountain to the Black God’s hideout. She trotted until she was parallel to the lights then plunged into the deep snow, forcing her way into the forest.
Ten minutes of walking later, she crouched beneath the lowest branch of a massive pine tree and inched her way to the scene. Her gaze fell first to the vamps Jonny must’ve sent who made the mistake she’d avoided. Their bodies were torn to shreds where they’d appeared from Traveling. Another vamp was suspended in a tree, pinned by purple-white lightning arcing from the hand of a small creature she recognized as an Other.
Jenn eased back, not about to draw the creature’s attention, not for the sake of a few stupid vamps. Her gaze followed the lightning emanating from the second Other’s body. She barely recognized the body being slung between trees. Half his face was burned beyond recognition, but the other half …
Darian, you fool!
“Shit!” she muttered. Jenn reached for her weapons. She had knives and the guns with carbon fiber bullets that she used to kill vamps. It’d do nothing to an Other but aggravate him. Her mind raced as she sought some way to save Darian. At last, she realized she had no real advantage.
“Others.” Jonny’s voice was filled with awe.
She jumped, surprised to find the Black God a couple of feet behind her, staring at the scene.
“Jonny, you shouldn’t …” The words died on her lips. “Where’s Xander?”
“I don’t know. Hunting, maybe.”
“Bastard is always around when I don’t need him and never around when I do. Then we’ll have to do this the stupid way. We need to distract them so I can rescue Darian.” She crawled forward. The Black God snatched her ankle, dragging her back.
“You can’t leave me,” he said.
“I’m not leaving you,” she snapped and yanked free. “I’m going to take Darian home to Damian and come back.”
“No. I won’t let you go.”
“Then you can take Darian to Damian and try to explain how you didn’t fuck up his brother. Good luck getting him to believe you,” she said with calmness she didn’t feel.
Jonny frowned but didn’t object again.
“Now, can you make those trees behind the Others fall on them?” she asked.
“I think so.”
“Do it.”
The Black God’s power swelled, stifling the air around them. She pushed herself away discreetly, not yet certain he knew what to do with all of the magic in his blood. Splintering and groaning filled the air, followed by muffled crashes as the trees behind the Others toppled into the snow. When Jenn saw Darian drop from the air she launched forward.
“Jenn!” Jonny hissed.
The ground shook, and suddenly, all the trees around them began falling. Jenn dodged one and saw the flash of purple from the corner of her eye. She threw herself into the snow, watching the lightning slice the air where she’d been. With effort, she forced herself up and threw a dagger in the direction of the Other. More trees fell. She clambered over one and landed beside Darian, who smelled like burnt flesh.
“Darian!” she exclaimed, rolling him onto his back. “Say something!”
“I… got … one,” he managed. He tried to push himself up. Jenn yanked him against her, taking in his burned profile.
“You missed the other two!” she retorted.
As long as he was alive, she could Travel with him. She closed her eyes and imagined them home in Texas. A gasp made her eyes open, and she looked around the kitchen. Jule’s mate, Yully, was frozen before the open fridge, her eyes wide and red curls bound loosely at her neck.
“Go get Bianca,” Jenn ordered, struggling out from Darian’s weight. Yully hurried away.
“I … got … one,” he repeated. His head lolled back, and his eyes closed. Before he passed out, he released what sounded like a hoarse laugh.
“Crazy son of a bitch!”
Jenn looked up as a familiar vamp materialized in the kitchen. She recognized him as Charles, the vamp Damian had gotten in exchange for sending her to the Black God. His arm was bloodied and burned. He dropped to the ground beside them.
“What did this?”
At the sound of a new voice, Jenn pushed herself to her feet as Damian slammed the door to the kitchen open.
“He went after Others,” Charles supplied.
“Bianca!” the White God bellowed into the hallway. He turned his attention to Jenn. “Help me carry him down the hallway.”
Jenn obeyed and hefted Darian’s shoulders as Damian took his ankles. They maneuvered Darian’s body through the doorway and into the living room, where they deposited him on the couch.
Jenn’s gaze lingered on the unconscious man’s body. She admired his bravery but wished he had more sense.
“You okay?” Damian asked, glancing up at her.
“Yeah. I gotta go, before Jonny hunts me down,” she said and turned away.
Damian caught her arm. “No, really, are you okay?”
“I’m alive. Less than two weeks ’til I can come home, ikir,” Jenn said, looking away. While she’d been one of the original Guardians to escape the immortal world with Damian, she’d also been at the bottom of the totem pole, once the Guardians in the mortal world rallied around their White God. She’d never felt as comfortable around him as she did Dusty.
“If you need me to pull you out, I will.”
“I’m good,” she said with a forced smile. “Just take care of him.”
“I’ll let you know,” Damian promised.
“Thanks.” Jenn stepped away but felt the White God watching her. A small part of her suspected Damian knew what Xander knew.
She Traveled back to the panoramic window, where her nest of blankets wasn’t the only thing waiting for her. Jonny whipped around mid-step as she materialized. He relaxed visibly.
“I didn’t think you’d return,” he said.
“I keep my word, too,” she said. Jenn shrugged out of her backpack and yanked off her wet jacket.
“The Others are right here on my doorstep, Jenn, and I can’t find them!” the Black God said in frustration. “What if they attacked tonight? We’d be defenseless.”
“You’re far from defenseless, Jonny,” she reminded him. “You’re the Black God. You can’t track them, but I bet you could put a dent in one of them with your power.”
“Xander can’t even stop them! And I gave away the only vamp who could track them to Damian.”
“Tell him you need help,” Jenn suggested. Privately, she willed the boy away. She, too, was rattled by the events of the night. Her mind control magic slid around him, ineffective this night.
“He won’t help me. Jenn, I can’t interrogate or spy on every one of my vamps! I need a solution, now.”
“I gave you one. You need someone with Charles’ skill. You and Damian have a common enemy, one that threatens both of you. He’ll work with you to get rid of the Others,” she said with some impatience.
Jonny paced and brooded. Jenn sat down and pulled off her wet boots, slinging them away. Her eyes settled on her blankets. In the time she’d been gone fighting Others, some vamp had left her the head of another dead animal.
This is getting old, she grated to herself. Any hope of getting more sleep this night was gone. She focused on Jonny again, willing him to accept her solution.
He stopped pacing then shook his
head.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said slowly. “Maybe he’ll give me Charles back, at least for a day or two.”
There’s no way in hell, she told herself. Out loud, she replied, “It’s a good idea.”
“Yeah, it is a good idea.”
She didn’t say that she thought Damian would run circles around the boy and find a better solution. Jonny needed help with his Others issues. Even she was freaked out by how close they were. Why were the Others lurking in the forest outside the Black God’s fortress, if not to kill them all?
“I’ll go ask him now,” Jonny said.
“You’re being very smart about this, Jonny.”
He flashed a tight smile. Jenn waited until he disappeared as he Traveled to the White God’s headquarters. She stripped down to her underwear and changed into warm clothing, not caring what the vamps saw so long as Jonny wasn’t around to get any ideas. The vamps were jittery enough, with the foyer teeming with young vampires who seemed both eager to do something about the excitement and uncertain what.
Jonny hadn’t given them any direction, she assessed.
I’m not about to wait around for Others to fry me. Jenn armed herself with as many weapons as she could then left her backpack, expecting the rest to be gone by the time she returned. She left the mansion into the cold night and scouted around. Built into the mountain, half the fortress was tucked into the stone of a small peak. She climbed onto the roof of the mansion then approached the peak. The vantage point from there would let her see anything coming up the driveway or through the forest, though the pines were thick. It was too snowy to move quietly through the forest. At least from the peak, she’d see anything before it got to the fortress, even in the moonlight.
Jenn chose a small scouting position, hidden from view by rocks and snow. She made her new spot as comfortable as possible and lay down to wait and watch. The cold, still air sank into her clothing and skin. Within a couple of hours, clouds blocked the moon, and the snow began again. She watched vamps go in and out of the fortress. Jonny returned at some point and left with a small group to hunt. An hour before dawn, she began to feel drowsy and shifted her position to keep from falling asleep.
“What’re we waiting for?”
She twisted, one knife drawn before she recognized Darian’s dark shape crouched over her feet. She hadn’t heard or sensed him, as if he’d gone to some sort of stealth mode that silenced even his mind. But he was alive and in one piece after his run-in with the Other. More relief trickled through her than she liked.
“Are you healed up?” she asked, uneasy with the fact his thoughts were so closed off.
“Good as new. Mostly. Is this where you sleep?”
“Not usually. I didn’t want to be caught off guard when the Others came back.”
“They’re not near here.”
“You can track them?”
“I can,” he confirmed. “That’s how I found them last time. They’re away for now.”
Jenn bit her tongue to keep from saying what she wanted to say. She sat and leaned against the nearest boulder, studying Darian. He seemed at once distracted and aware, as if his instincts were on autopilot while he thought deeply.
“You can say it,” he said.
“Say what?”
“I can see it on your face.”
“You’re a fool and a shithead for thinking you could take on three Others.”
“I got one.”
“And pissed off the other two,” she pointed out. “If the Black God hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to save you. You have no idea how hard it is to keep that kid focused.”
Darian shifted.
“I’m done,” she said. “No, wait, I’m not. If you were one of my Guardians, I’d kick your ass for not thinking before you acted and putting others in danger. Lecture over.”
“If I let you kick my ass, will you forgive me? We’ll be friends again and you’ll stop treating me like I’ve got the plague?” he asked, half-teasing.
Jenn snorted. “What’re you doing here?”
“You didn’t say no,” he said and stood. “I’m not a fan of the cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Are you crazy? You want to go into Jonny’s lair?”
“I don’t know what you told that kid, but he marched into Damian’s study and demanded I fix his Others problems.” He held out a hand.
“I would’ve loved to see that conversation,” Jenn said, unable to keep from smiling at the picture in her head. She accepted Darian’s hand, and he pulled her up. “But you’re here. So Damian agreed?”
“Damian traded me, like he did you. Odd, I didn’t think a god could be traded.” There was bemusement in Darian’s voice. Jenn knew how strong the relationship was between the brothers. Darian wasn’t capable of begrudging Damian for anything he did.
“If Jonny got you, then what did Damian … Xander. Oh, thank god,” she said, sighing. “I no longer feel like meat dangling over a hungry lion’s cage.”
“You’re happy about being surrounded by one less vamp?”
“You have no idea what it’s like being around someone just waiting to snap and take you out.” Jenn sheathed her weapons and started down the peak above the Black God’s mountain fortress.
“I think I do,” Darian said.
Jenn glanced over her shoulder. Darian looked unusually calm. He’d changed again over the course of the two weeks she’d been assigned to the Black God. Though she expected him to continue the rapid cycle of changes, she couldn’t help feeling this metamorphosis was different. She’d watched him go from a near-comatose state, through his teenager stage that nearly drove them all mad, to the gym-obsessed warrior trying to understand his place in the world. But this felt permanent. Little of the darkness that plagued him was visible in his handsome features and gaze. His wiry body was honed and ready to pounce, his golden eyes taking in the world around him with wary curiosity.
No, this wasn’t the same man she’d left behind two weeks ago. This was Darian, not the shell of a man whose mind was stuck somewhere else. Like Jonny, he’d grown into what he was virtually overnight.
“So, what do you do around here all day?” Darian asked, taking in the vamps outside the doorway of the Black God’s fortress.
“Try to keep Jonny focused on his vamps and not on dragging me to his bed. Kill a vamp or two when it gets in my way. Burn the bodies of Jonny’s girl-toys. Avoid Xander. Spar. Oh, and try to stay alive,” she summarized. “The vamps only try shit when Jonny and Xander aren’t around. They have a standing order not to touch me, but they can make it look like an accident.”
“Did you say Jonny tried to drag you to his bed?”
“Is that all you heard?” she asked, amused. “He thinks about it too much. I have probably three days until my mind control no longer works on him. And then, it’s up to my wits to keep me alive.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“This is what I do, Darian. I fuck—and fuck with—dangerous men,” she replied. Jenn leapt the last few feet to the level ground. When she didn’t hear Darian drop behind her, she turned.
He was staring at her hard. His features had grown dark and shuttered. She caught the slightest hint of his memory.
“I remind you of her,” she said. “At least I serve a higher cause than myself.”
“I know that.” His voice was soft, and he shook off the darkness before dropping to the ground beside her. “I know you’re nothing like her. I wouldn’t be here if I thought you would betray me.”
But … she heard the uncertainty in his voice.
“Of the two of us, I’m the better liar,” she said. “You know better by now than to trust a woman who lies for a living.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“You sure?” Jenn looked up at him. She took a step closer, waiting for him to back down. The Darian she’d left behind two weeks ago hadn’t resolved his issues with his past. He would’ve turned tail and run
.
Darian held her gaze. He smelled of pine trees and a bonfire, his earthy scent mixed with the softer scent of soap. She couldn’t read his thoughts, but she saw the shadows in his eyes. She’d stood close to him before, normally when he had her in a headlock. This time, their proximity seemed too intimate. The moment stretched on until it felt awkward even to her. They studied each other, trying to read one another.
“I’m sure, Jenn,” he said at last.
His resolution brought home just how much she didn’t know this Darian. He’d found some level of peace, and he’d grown powerful enough to kill an Other. What took two gods and two Original Beings to do in Ireland, Darian had done on his own. No, he definitely wasn’t the man she’d left in Texas.
He was dangerous in a way that left her certain of two things: being too close to him would probably get her killed. And, if he found out she was meant to be his mate, he’d pursue her with the same wild determination he pursued Others.
Darian didn’t flee, but suddenly, Jenn wanted to.
The Grey God stepped around her, striding towards the door to Jonny’s fortress. Jenn shivered involuntarily as a cool breeze replaced his body heat. She watched him, unable to identify why she felt the loss of more than his warmth. She had to keep pushing him away, or she wasn’t the only one who’d probably end up dead in a few days.
She just had to drive him off before he found out.
When she entered, Darian stood in the middle of the foyer, surveying the vamps staring at him like the god he was.
“I’ll show you around,” she said. She led him first down the hallway where the gym was, pointing out the locker rooms and weapons room before taking him to the second floor to Jonny’s wing and past her doorless room.
“I take it those aren’t yours,” Darian said, leaning in to look at the animal heads on her bed.
Jenn crossed her arms, irritated that the vamps had opened her windows, too, as if to make her room more uncomfortable for her. She strode in and rifled through the drawers for clean clothes.
“You got anywhere to be?” she asked.
