by Lizzy Ford
Jonny snorted. “Yeah. Not sure he’ll listen. How was your day?” He forced himself to ask, already knowing the answer. He’d brainwashed her upon leaving this morning so she’d think she spent the day at her mother’s when she’d actually been stuck in one of the rooms down the hallway.
“Great. I went to my mom’s and …”
Jonny ignored her response. It wouldn’t be her he confided in. It took him a week to drain one of his victims. He wanted no real connection to any of them, for they all met the same fate. The temporary companionship was pleasant. He loved falling asleep with a woman in his arms and loved the no-strings-attached relationships even more. He had the best of both worlds: dinner, sex and a new woman every week.
It wasn’t possible for his life to be normal, no matter how he missed the sense of companionship that came with having real friends or a girlfriend.
He was the Black God. He was never supposed to be anything more than the leader of the vampires. He’d accepted that, though it didn’t mean he couldn’t find some solace in the warm body of his victims before ending their lives.
Chapter Eight
“How do you kill a god?” Ashley asked several days later at the weekly family dinner.
Everyone around the dinner table froze.
She glanced up from the home cooked meal made by none other than a vampire that didn’t eat real food. Xander had stumbled into celebrity stardom and was still king of the networks with his cooking show and the ongoing television series about a vampire trying to fit into the human world. He had met Ashley’s cousin Jessi when she was sent by Jonny to be his personal assistant – and to steal a necklace of great power Xander possessed. Their perfect love story was one that made Ashley swoon and her heart flutter every time she thought about it until she recalled her own foolish involvement and Jonny betraying everyone she loved.
Jessi was staring at her hard, though Xander appeared unfazed, as usual. The large vamp was sawing through raw steak, his backup food source to human blood.
“How do you kill a dog?” echoed the raven-haired three-year-old son of Xander and Jessi seated beside Brandon. The child had begun repeating everything his elders said several months before. Ashley was always amused, especially when an occasional fuck he’d learned from Xander slipped out and threw the house into chaos.
“Why do you ask?” Jessi was the first to speak, her maternal defensiveness always on high alert.
“Just curious.” Ashley shrugged.
“Brandon,” Jessi snapped.
“Why are you looking at me?” Brandon replied. “I didn’t ask!”
The baby in the next room began crying. Jessi rose immediately. “This isn’t over!” she called over her shoulder.
When she was gone, Xander sat back.
“This isn’t over,” repeated Alex.
Ashley returned her gaze to her food. It was impossible to lie to Xander. She shouldn’t have said a word, but the question wasn’t one she could ask anyone else.
“You don’t,” Xander replied in his naturally gravelly voice.
“Can you do it?” Ashley asked.
“Can you –”
“Alex.” Xander touched the boy’s arm. He fell silent with a smile.
“Jessi told you not to use mind control on your son,” Ashley reminded him, entertained.
“If she wants him to survive to adulthood, she’ll make allowances.”
Brandon laughed and Ashley giggled.
“What was that?” Jessi called from the living room of the spacious La Jolla mansion overlooking the ocean.
“Nothing, kiri,” Xander replied and leaned forward and pinned Ashley with a look. “If you want to survive to your next birthday, don’t say another word about it.”
Brandon bit back a laugh, while Ashley covered her mouth. The most powerful immortal in the universe was leery of attracting the ire of his short, blonde wife. Their interactions had always been a source of laughter for Ashley, and she used the distraction to try to suppress any thoughts of Jonny the way Xander had taught her when dealing with a mind manipulator.
“No one can kill Jonny but a godslayer,” Xander continued.
“I meant in general. Not just him,” she said. “Like, how does someone kill Darian or –”
“I can read minds, Ash. You know how I feel about lying and deception.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I know,” she mumbled. “I just … thought you’d be mad.”
Xander eyed her.
“For the record, I just do what Ash says,” Brandon said, sensing the vamp’s dissatisfaction.
“Shut up!” She slapped his arm.
“Let me guess. You thought no one knew you were running around beating up vamps,” Xander went on. “But Jonny figured it out.”
Ashley sneaked a look at him. He didn’t appear angry, but it was really hard to tell with Xander. “How did you know about the vamps?”
“The local Guardian station called me. They’ve been tracking the movements of a certain vigilante, one they hope to bring into the organization,” Xander replied. “One they can’t track because said vigilante appears to be a mind manipulator as well as a Natural warrior, which is virtually impossible.” He eyed Brandon. “Unless it’s a fighter and mind manipulator working together.”
Brandon mumbled something under his breath.
Ashley cleared her throat. “Okay, so yeah. We’ve been tracking vamps and beating them up. And yeah, Jonny found out.”
“I couldn’t care at all about the vamps. I do care about how he found you,” Xander said. “And what his intentions are.”
She started to reach for the fang scars on her neck then stopped, knowing this was an interrogation, even if it occurred over the weekly family dinner.
“He told me we need to back off,” Brandon replied.
“Me, too,” Ashley seconded.
The uncomfortable quiet was broken up by Alex banging his spoon on the table. Ashley toyed with her food. Brandon was staring at his water glass.
“Brandon, take Alex to his room,” Xander said finally.
Brandon bolted up, and Ashley glared at him for abandoning her.
When they were gone, Xander rose and motioned for her to follow him. He led her outside to the private beach that stretched a quarter mile in each direction. The sun was close to setting, the ocean breeze cool.
Ashley crossed her arms, sensing she was in trouble, and walked alongside him.
“I know your motivation for learning to fight,” Xander started. “I know it’s because of what happened. You’re not stupid enough to challenge Jonny, are you?”
She sighed in exasperation. “It’s not stupid to beat up his vamps and help humans!”
“It is if your goal is to get to Jonny. What’s your plan, Ash?”
“Xander … I …” she stopped, uncertain what to say that wouldn’t get her in more trouble.
“I can keep him in check when you’re not in his business. When you cross that line, I’ve got a problem, Ash. You know how precarious the balance is. You’ve watched me manage it for the past four years.”
“Yeah,” she agreed softy and kicked at a shell in the sand before her.
“It doesn’t seem like it, but there are boundaries. Some I shouldn’t cross but will and some I simply can’t.”
“What do you mean can’t? You’re the most powerful person in the world,” she said, gazing up at him.
“And you are a strong woman who deserves the right to make her own life choices,” he pointed out. “You know what I could do to you? Fuck with your mind to the point you never have your own thoughts again? Make you forget who you are? Assign you a different personality?”
She nodded. Despite knowing what he was, she had never feared him. He loved Jessi – and her and Brandon – in his own way.
“That’s a line I can’t cross out of respect for you. With that comes the responsibility of not interfering in your life decisions. If you choose to go after Jonny, I’ll make sure you sur
vive, but I’ll also make sure you learn for yourself how foolish such a move is. I won’t stop you from fucking up your life, Ash. I’ll help you fix things when Jonny fucks you up. Just keep in mind any danger you draw to you is also drawn to Brandon.”
She listened, understanding she had the freedom to do as she planned – at a cost. Xander wasn’t going to bat for her if Jonny followed through on his promise. She recalled Jonny’s strength and ability to slow her down if he touched her. Brandon didn’t have the luxury of being able to fight like she did, though he could at least become invisible to any and all immortals at will. The defensive mechanism was his only protection from Jonny and the Guardians.
“I won’t let anything happen to Brandon,” she whispered. “Jonny’s too afraid of you to do anything bad to me.”
“My influence has limits, believe it or not. He knows his actions have consequences. I don’t know that you’ve figured that out yet,” Xander said.
“I’m not stupid. I know that.”
“Do you?”
There was no right answer. It was common sense her actions had consequences yet she suspected he was talking about something more than she understood. Jonny had changed in the past few years. Their short interaction was enough for her to realize this. She didn’t know what made a person change so quickly, but she suspected it was a result of the consequences Xander referred to.
“How did you know?” she asked with a sigh. “I didn’t feel you in my head.”
“Bite marks.”
She touched her neck self-consciously. She had barely been able to see the marks in daylight and covered them with makeup before going for Thursday night dinner with the family.
“There are only two vamps who can catch you. Me and him, and I didn’t do it,” Xander added with some amusement. “He scare you?”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect him to.”
“But you’re not satisfied.”
“No.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Ashley didn’t expect Xander to react so calmly to the news and was grateful for it.
“Get your fix of bad boys now. I’m considering shipping you off to Damian’s Texas ranch for a few years when this is over,” Xander added.
She hid a smile, hearing his moody territoriality. He was part of the reason she and Jonny hadn’t gone to the Guardians already. Xander didn’t want his family used as pawns by anyone. He ran interference with Damian for that purpose. The result: she and Brandon had a pretty normal college experience instead of being absorbed into the Guardian network.
If he were contemplating going back on his position, it was out of his concern.
“I didn’t think you’d be like this about it,” she said.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Ashley. There are some actions that can’t be undone. I’d rather you never know what that means, but you’re pushing in this direction.”
She peered up at him once more. Xander had the ability to see pieces of the future within a very narrow lane. “You think something bad will happen?”
“I know it. When you fuck with a god, you don’t walk away without scars.”
“Do you have scars?”
“From multiple gods,” he said with a rare smile. “But I can handle the pain.”
She swallowed hard. It was the bluntest he’d ever been with her. While it dampened her eagerness to take on Jonny, it didn’t kill the urge completely.
It made her think she wasn’t fully aware of what Jonny had become. She still saw the young man she’d known in her mind’s eye when she thought of him.
“He won’t kill or vamp you,” Xander added. “He knows I’d find a way to destroy him if he does. Fucking with him isn’t going to be a gentle lesson.”
Recalling how hard he’d bitten her the second time, she began to think it was well worth the effort not to get caught again, to focus on attacking his vamps without facing him in person.
Though it made for dissatisfying vengeance.
“I’ll be careful,” she murmured.
“Be smart. You’ll last longer.”
He didn’t sound optimistic about her chances to face Jonny. Ashley’s heart pounded hard, and she assessed all Xander had told her. It was hard for her to imagine what he meant about lines that shouldn’t be crossed. As long as she didn’t do anything that she didn’t feel was right, she wasn’t going to have a problem with regret or scars.
“C’mon. Let’s check in on Jessi and the boys,” Xander said, turning.
They started walking back towards the boxy white mansion perched at the edge of the beach. Deep in thought, Ashley didn’t dare reopen the discussion. She had too much to think about. The troubling idea she was endangering Brandon was foremost in her thoughts.
Jonny had found him despite his ability to hide. What were the chances the Black God could do it again?
She didn’t break out of her solemn silence until they reached their apartment later that evening. Brandon was in a cheerful mood. She usually was, too, after the weekly dinners with Jessi and Xander.
Tossing her purse on the couch, Ashley paused to watch Brandon. He moved with habitual purpose, depositing his keys here, tossing his jacket there, flipping on his laptop before disappearing down the hallway to change into sweatpants and t-shirt. When he reappeared, she waited for him to take up his place on the couch before the computer.
“Maybe we should stop trying to fight vamps,” she started.
“What?”
“I mean, what if Jonny warning us is something we should take seriously?”
He sat back and gazed at her quizzically. “He didn’t scare you off, did he?”
“No.”
“Did Xander?”
“Not really,” she replied vaguely. “But you can’t fight and I can’t be everywhere.”
“Hel-lo. Of the two of us, I can disappear,” he reminded her. “You’re the more vulnerable one.”
“What would you do if they trapped you?”
“What would you do if you were about to have an episode and were being chased by vamps?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have them that often!”
“It only takes once for Jonny to catch you,” Brandon said and turned to face his laptop screen. “I think we should keep on fighting them.”
“Even with Jonny’s warning and knowing where we live?”
“I told Jessi we wanted to move. She said Xander pays the bills so to do whatever,” Brandon replied. “We can find a new place this weekend.”
Ashley blew out a breath. Her brother wasn’t cooperating with her plan to help save his life. He had a point about her purely physical gift, but so did she about his purely mental ability.
“Fine,” she said finally.
“You’re not chickening out are you?”
“No. Just worried about messing up your life if I get in trouble.”
“I’m good,” Brandon said, eyes on the screen. “And I’ve got some targets for you.”
She glanced at him. “You do? How? I thought Jonny took the phone.”
“I figured out something,” he replied vaguely. “Look.” He pointed to a small map with red and blue beacons. “Vamps are blue. There are a few active pockets in San Diego.”
She observed the targets. Some were moving, others still. “What’s red?”
“Jonny’s vamps.” Brandon enlarged the subset of San Diego with the blue vamps. “I figure we can go after the rogue vamps instead of his. We both win.”
“We both win,” she repeated. “Why do you want him to win?”
“I want him not to corner you again. This way you can fight vamps and Jonny won’t get pissed.”
She studied the map. “How do you know whose vamps are whose?”
“I’m a hacker.”
“That doesn’t explain it. Brandon, are you …” She drifted off. Her brother wasn’t working with Jonny, was he? How would Jonny have had time to set up something like that? Why wouldn’t Brandon hav
e told her? It wasn’t like him to keep secrets from her. “Never mind. I don’t care whose vamps they are. I’ll go get ready.”
“I’ll send you some locations to hit.”
She nodded and retreated to her room. Ashley changed quickly and armed herself with her batons and knives. She tucked the mask into her bra and slung on her backpack before returning to the living room. Brandon had texted her several downtown locations, and she stopped behind the couch to calculate how to reach them before tucking the phone away.
“Got it. I’ll text when I’m there,” she said and strode out of the apartment.
Busy with his laptop, Brandon grunted in response.
Twenty minutes later, Ashley hopped off the bus and walked along a quiet sidewalk running near the baseball park. Most storefronts were dark for the night, and she paused in front of the building whose address Brandon had sent her. The locale was boarded up, so she continued past the front and down a side alley running beside it. The door on the ground level on this side was also boarded up.
Stepping back, she scoured the side of the building for a window to give her access. Most were boarded, but one – four stories up – was not. She tugged out her mask and stashed her backpack. She checked her phone before tucking it away.
Five vamps, Brandon had texted. Monitoring your vitals. Bring back cells.
She smiled and tucked the phone into her backpack. Brandon’s ability to sense minds was getting stronger and stronger. A year before, he hadn’t been able to sense who was in the adjacent apartment let alone across town.
She assessed her way up the side of the building. Tonight was a night of pure athletic ability, no questions asked. Rested after her four days off, energized after a good dinner, she was ready to test her luck against five vamps.
With a deep breath, she used speed and strength to scale the side of the wall, vaulting from the nearby dumpster to reach the lowest window, then twisting, pulling, leaping and contorting to reach the sturdier boards on the neighboring window. Ashley played the deadly game, maneuvering in midair, scaling the building with the agility and fearlessness of a spider on the ceiling.
When she reached the window that wasn’t boarded up, she paused in her movement to rest briefly, uncertain what awaited her. She launched upwards with her legs and pulled with her arms, landing lightly on her toes on the windowsill.
