by Ford, Lizzy
“Not possessed,” Jenn said. “What’re we doing here?”
Charles let out a string of curses and dragged one of the guardsmen off the ground. Frustrated, he flung the body down again.
“Waiting for Darian,” Yully hedged. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine.” Jenn gazed at the obelisk that rose into the sky. It radiated power, the seat of the White God’s magic. She took a step towards it. Her hands grew clammy as she circled the wide base of the obelisk to see the names on the other side.
Damian, Sofia, Adrian.
Darian, Jenn.
She touched her name, leaving bloodied streaks on the white marble. Her hand went to her chest, where the necklace had been just moments before. She didn’t know what to think.
Trust me.
Trust was not something she did well. It made her heartbeat elevate, her body sweat. If given a choice between trusting him and walking away from him, she’d trust him. Dusty had been right; she was in far too deep to walk away this time. She’d never left her fate in the hands of another, and right now, it was. She closed her eyes, feeling sick.
“Jenn,” Yully whispered from the edge of the obelisk.
Jenn glanced towards her. Yully was pale, her hair sizzling with magic. Her gaze was on something behind Jenn.
Jenn turned, knowing what was there before she faced it. She sensed nothing; she wouldn’t, for only Charles and Darian could.
“Step back, Yully,” she ordered.
“Jenn—”
“Now.”
Touch the obelisk, Yully said into her thoughts.
Jenn nodded once to show she heard. Yully retreated, and Jenn faced the Other. It bristled with purple power and was focused on her. She eased back a step, closer to the obelisk. The Other raised a hand, and Jenn dived to the ground as lightning ripped through the air towards her. It glanced off the obelisk. She rolled away from the second strike but the third tore through her, frying her from the inside out. It flung her against a tree then dropped her.
She cried out. The blast was short but sucked her magic and left her feeling as if her insides were on fire. Jenn grated her teeth and climbed to her feet, wishing Bianca was there for another of her healing charges. The obelisk was twenty feet away. It could’ve been a million, with the Other readying another attack.
Drawing her knives, Jenn drew a deep breath and gathered what magic she could from the world around her. She flung a knife. The Other moved, his first strike sizzling by her. She threw herself down to avoid the second, sent another knife in its direction to distract it, and leapt up, dancing and twisting through the lightning streams. From the corner of her eye, she saw the first of another group of guardsmen rushing the obelisk.
Her ankle twisted as she landed on a rock, and she fell, yanking free another knife to block the guardsmen’s first blow. Jenn rolled and slammed into the obelisk. Its power raced through her and out, sending the guardsman nearest her flying.
Channel it! Yully’s voice was almost a shout in her mind.
Jenn looked from the next guardsman to the Other whose lightning lit up its hands. She touched the obelisk again. Yully shoved the magic into her from the other side, and Jenn pointed her knife at the Other. White lightning snaked through the air. The Other sailed across the orchard and slammed into the hillside and through it.
Jenn didn’t have time to celebrate. She stumbled away from a guardsman’s blow that knocked her remaining dagger from her hand and landed hard.
Another Other appeared. Purple lightning sizzled and a guardsman’s sword arced towards her simultaneously. Jenn covered her head, waiting for the pain.
It didn’t come. She looked up. Darian stood over her. He knocked the guardsman back with a punch and deflected the Other’s lightning effortlessly. He offered her a hand. Jenn stared at it then at him. She took it. Darian pulled her up. She stepped away from him quickly.
“You dropped something,” he said, holding out the necklace.
Her eyes lingered on it, emotions churning within her. She met Darian’s gaze. His golden eyes blazed. Light and shadow bent and swirled around him, his magic magnified by the immortal world. The warm-cool sensations swept past her.
“Another shitty proposal,” she said at last.
“Just a formality. You’re already mine.”
Jenn snatched it and leaned forward to grab a knife from his waist. Hope and anger raced through her, her body tingling with more than his magic. She stepped away to slash at a guardsman then tugged the necklace on quickly.
“You know what, Darian?” she called over her shoulder.
“You’re grateful for my help?”
“Not quite. To quote an Original Being, fuck you.”
“That better be an invitation,” he replied.
Jenn met his gaze again, furious. “Let me clarify. Go fuck yourself.”
His eyes burned brighter, and he gave her a dark smile that sent chills through her. Rather than reply, he released a wave of power that knocked over guardsmen and trees alike. Jenn stared as they fell. Darian strode to her, not stopping until she took a step away. His scent was strong, sweat and man, tainted by the sea. Her body’s aching response to his direct stare and nearness took her by surprise, and she inched back.
Darian moved forward. “You really thought I’d even consider choosing her?”
“I thought for the first time in my life, I can’t walk away and wish I could.”
“You belong at my side, Jenn, just like I belong at yours.”
“Are you gonna do something about the Other creeping up on us?” she asked, catching sight of the small creature.
“In a minute. We’ve got to settle something first.”
“My gods, Darian, the world is falling apart! We—”
“No. Now. I need to know before we leave here.”
She looked up at him again, unaccustomed to sharing her thoughts or emotions. Her mouth wouldn’t form the words she wanted to say. Instead, she reached up and took his face in her hands. She rose to her tiptoes to kiss him, not as she had anyone else, but as she did her mate: with hunger she’d never let herself feel before. Darian’s response was instant, his passion and need matching her own. Jenn felt the last of his barriers fall as her own did in the face of their unspoken promise of complete surrender between lifemates. There would be no more secrets or restraint, no more attempts to deny him. In that moment, she yielded as much to her fate as she did to him.
“Darian!” Yully’s yell was panicked.
He withdrew, resting his forehead against Jenn’s while he wiped away the newest tears on her face.
“Good enough,” he whispered hoarsely.
“If we survive, I’ll teach you a thing or two when we get back,” she teased.
“Oh, we’ll survive,” he assured her. “I plan on collecting this time. No more games.”
“No more games.”
He kissed her forehead and stepped away, turning. Jenn ducked at the sight of purple lightning, stunned when he caught it midair and flung it back towards the Other.
“Yully, you ready?” Darian called.
“God, yes!”
Darian snatched Jenn’s hand and pulled her around to the other side of the obelisk. Yully floated several feet off the ground, radiating power.
“What’s going on?” Jenn asked.
“Destroying this place,” Charles answered.
Jenn’s throat grew tight at the words, and she thought of the family she’d lost. Her eyes went to Darian and Yully as she thought of the family she’d gained. Her past was about to become permanently gone.
Darian met her gaze, his features resolved yet tinged with the same sorrow she felt. She smiled tightly up at him, squeezing his hand. The air between them was as calm and peaceful as it was raging around them.
“One world, one future,” he said.
“Our future,” she corrected him.
He squeezed her hand back and released it. Darian approached the obelisk
and wrapped his arms around it. The air grew more charged, humming with magic from god and obelisk. He appeared to be trying to lift the massive structure.
“Guardsmen!” Darian bellowed.
She yanked her weapons loose. Charles darted to the other side of the obelisk to protect Yully. Jenn whirled.
“Hit me, Yully!” Darian’s voice carried over the sounds of clashing metal.
Jenn didn’t risk looking back, but the surge of power knocked her and her opponents to their knees. She killed one before he could recover. The obelisk groaned, and the hum in the air became a whine almost too loud to bear. Darian shouted again, and another pulse of power made the earth rumble.
The guardsmen stared past her, and Jenn turned at last, horrified to see the obelisk teetering. Yully’s hands were on Darian’s back, and magic flowed from the world around them, through her, combining with his power before he shoved it into the obelisk. Jenn covered her ears against the high-pitched wail of magic. The obelisk tipped and then fell, tearing a hole in the ground that threw Darian and Yully into the shallows of the ocean. It slammed into the orchard, shaking the earth.
Sprawled on the ground, Jenn stared at the pillar of roaring magic that replaced the obelisk, as if a cork had been loosened from the core of the immortal world. It rose to the sky. Darian snatched Yully and pulled her forward.
Take them to the gateway! Darian directed into her mind. I’ll follow.
Jenn expected him to run around the power coursing upward. Instead, Darian released Yully and ran straight into the magic.
Jenn scrambled up, terrified when he didn’t emerge.
“Charles! Yully!” she shouted above the roar.
The vamp shook his head as he pushed himself up from the ground a few feet away. Jenn dashed forward and grabbed Yully’s arm, motioning for Charles to follow her. Magic fluctuated around her, sometimes pounding her and sometimes absent. Her own power felt scrambled, and Jenn fought to keep from becoming disoriented.
They struggled through the remains of the orchard as the earth rumbled and bucked. Jenn saw the tree at last and staggered to it. She gave Yully a shove, satisfied when the Magician disappeared. Charles tripped and fell through the portal.
Jenn turned to face the magic. Darian hadn’t followed. Her chest grew almost too tight to breathe at the thought of losing him so soon. She made her way back and circled the screaming pillar, shielding her eyes against its brightness. At its center, she thought she saw the dark shape of a man.
“Darian!” she shouted.
Leave.
“Come with me!”
Can’t control. It’s coming on again. Go! His words were choppy and faint.
Jenn drew back, unwilling to let her mate die in the immortal world. She balanced herself as much as she could with the rumbling ground and then ran straight into the magic. She leapt through it, half blinded, and tackled him. Fire and ice ripped through her, sucking the air from her lungs.
Her momentum carried them through to the other side. They burst out of the light, landing hard. Darian was unconscious, his body convulsing. Magic shot off him in bursts of black and white lightning. Jenn flinched as it went through her. She knelt and carefully lifted him over her shoulders in a fireman’s carry. She made it only a few steps before the shaking earth brought her to her knees.
She looked towards their destination then back at the pillar of magic, which had grown thicker and had begun eating away at the earth around it. The skies were covered in billowing clouds that pulsed with power. She rose only for Darian to seize again, sending her crashing onto her stomach. The trees were falling around them. She clambered forward to drag Darian out of the way of one, only to feel the crushing weight of another as it slammed across her legs.
Tears rose with the sharp, hot pain, and Jenn looked down. Her legs were crushed. She choked back a sob and wrapped her arms around Darian, pulling him as close as she could. The world crashed down around them. Jenn kissed Darian’s forehead and breathed in his scent again.
I love you, Darian, she whispered in her mind and closed her eyes.
“Funny things about Oracles.”
She opened her eyes.
“They’re purposely vague. If I leave you, does she fuck me over?” Xander said calmly. He squatted beside her, unaffected by the destruction around him.
“She must have some kind of dirt on you,” Jenn murmured.
“I wouldn’t be here otherwise, Guardian.”
Xander’s red eyes went to the unconscious god. “Glad he finally stepped up to the plate.”
“You knew this would happen?”
“I’ve been counting on it. I can’t kill Others and Watchers. Makes my life on the mortal world much easier. Only the Guardians are in my way now.”
The words should’ve scared her, but the world was growing hazy, the pain fading as darkness crept into her vision. The weight from her legs lifted suddenly, and fresh pain jarred her back into the imploding world.
Xander bent and hefted Darian over his shoulder. He held out a hand to Jenn. She shook her head, indicating her legs.
“I can’t carry two,” he said.
“Take Darian. Tell Sofi I traded my life for his. Your debt to her is done.”
Xander didn’t hesitate. He turned and left. Jenn watched him go until he was out of sight. She gripped the necklace around her neck then rubbed her eyes. With a grimace, she dragged herself next to a tree stump and leaned against it, exhausted. The pillar of light was moving closer, enveloping everything in its path. Trees flew overhead and the sparkling clouds drifted down from the sky. What the fire didn’t incinerate, the electrified clouds would.
She was fading fast. She couldn’t feel anything, let alone her legs. Another form appeared before her. She squinted to see it, unable to make out anything but glowing green eyes.
You did well, the Watcher said into her mind. Both of you.
Jenn couldn’t respond.
I can’t carry you out of here. It would break too many rules.
She closed her eyes, ready to die, when a different kind of warmth flowed through her. It was gentle. It pulled her from the darkness and mended her body. The Watcher’s magic drifted out of her body.
Give my regards to the Grey God.
Jenn opened her eyes, disoriented. No one was with her, but her legs were healed. She tested them and wobbled to her feet. Instinct took over, urging her towards the gateway. Jenn stumbled forward and then ran, jumping over fallen trees and ducking flying debris. Her body pulsed with the surge and retreat of magic. The fire wasn’t far behind her, while the clouds had reached the tops of what trees were still standing. They burst into white flames.
She ran harder up the hill. A log tripped her, and she rolled partway down the other side of the hill then bounded to her feet. Jenn focused on the sound of her breathing and the placement of her feet on the trembling ground. Her lungs were burning and her legs aching by the time she spotted the tree ringed by stones. Hope soaring, Jenn sprinted as hard as she could. The tree was on fire but still standing. She caught herself against it, squinting back the way she’d come.
Struck by the familiarity of the scene, she paused as the fire reached the top of the hill. The last time she’d seen the orchard, it’d been on fire. This time, it wouldn’t survive. Nothing would.
There would be one world, the one she shared with Darian.
Jenn balanced herself against the tree and worked her way around it. The ground dropped out from under her, and she landed in the desert on her belly. Gasping for air, she rolled onto her back. The hot midday sun was reminiscent of the immortal world, but the screaming was gone, replaced by silence.
The ground rumbled. She forced herself up and half stumbled, half ran away from the portal. When she felt she was a safe enough distance, she stopped and looked back. White fire spewed from the ground upward, towards the sky. It blazed before fading to a flicker. It died completely. She straightened. A shockwave exploded from the gateway and knocked
her back. The magic swept through her outward.
Jenn waited for the ground to stop rumbling before she stepped forward uneasily, gaze on the area where the portal was. She picked up a rock and threw it into the center of the gateway. It didn’t fall through but remained where it landed.
Exhausted, she sank to her knees. Her thoughts went to the Watcher that had spoken to her and healed her. She looked around for any Others or guardsmen that might’ve escaped through the portal. There were none.
It didn’t seem possible that none of them had made it to the mortal world. It didn’t seem possible that a Watcher had saved her.
“You survived.”
Jenn nodded without turning. The Black God came into view, trailed by his storm clouds. Jonny’s dark eyes had taken on a new spark of intelligence, his air settled where it had been agitated before.
“You’re different,” she voiced.
“Yeah. A little less naïve. Far less forgiving, Jenn.”
“I understand, ikir.”
“That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
“It’s about time, don’t you think?”
Jonny smiled faintly. “I wanted to thank you and warn you.”
Jenn looked up at him. As with Darian, she sensed this change was permanent. The boy-god had figured out something about who he was.
“The thank-you is for protecting me when no one else would. The warning is that, next time we meet, there will be no discussion. I will not spare my enemies, and you are my enemy.”
“Yes, ikir, I am,” she said softly.
The Black God held her gaze for a moment before turning away. Jenn struggled to her feet. Her body was streaked with blood, sweat, and dirt. Her magic was but a trickle, and her head pounded with fatigue.
“Jonny,” she called.
He froze.
“I still believe in you.”
“Farewell, Guardian.”
He disappeared, leaving her alone again in the desert. She expected to feel the turmoil she’d felt before at his transition. She didn’t. If anything, she couldn’t help feeling at peace knowing what she did now about salvation. It came in the form of letting go of her past and embracing her future, not trying to fix something that couldn’t be fixed. Whether or not Jonny would ever know that same sense of peace, there was always a chance he could. He could be salvaged, if he chose to be.
