The response chilled her. Jessi retreated, putting the couch between them.
“I’m, um, kind of waiting for someone,” she hedged.
“Xander is part of my plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“The gem unlocks his power. He who holds the gem will control the Vamp. With his magic intact, he can destroy a world.”
“He left that part out of our discussion,” she said, startled. He hadn’t just handed over his treasured possession; he’d handed over control of him. “Does he know that?”
“Of course. All the Originals do. Or did, at one time.”
“You’re an Original.”
“I am.”
Shit. It was one thing when she knew he was giving her the gem, which she thought only held great power. It was quite another to realize the weapon was him and the gem was merely the key to access it.
Jessi wasn’t certain how, but she felt even worse about walking away from Xander. He trusted her. His ultimate test was one that could destroy him, and she was failing miserably.
But there was something else at stake: Ashley.
I’ll get her back.
Confused, Jessi began to wonder how she was going to rescue Ashley after all.
“How did you wrest it from him?” the Other asked, circling the couch.
Jessi moved to keep it between them.
“Didn’t have to,” she answered truthfully. “He gave it to me.”
The creature paused. “Interesting. He’s claimed you.”
“Um, until I sort of betrayed him. Don’t think he’s too happy with me right now.”
“Good. He’ll have more motivation to find you.”
She paled. “I’m not sure it’s a good thing.”
“Not for you, no.”
Jessi’s thoughts flew to the night she spent with him. Xander had been nothing but tender, even knowing she was probably going to betray him. There was a part of her that didn’t think him capable of hating her and another that prayed he was upset enough to stay away.
“For me, you’ve become a bargaining tool. It’s a good thing. I planned on killing you.”
“Someone has to handle the gem,” she said quickly. “You can’t, can you?”
The Other disappeared.
Jessi looked around wildly. She felt his touch a second before the sensation of Traveling descended over her. She gasped, discouraged to find herself somewhere else entirely. Another building, this one with less light. It smelled damp, like a cellar.
“No,” the Other said. “I can’t. You can, until Xander gets here.”
Visually exploring the interior of the stone cellar, she was unable to find any sign of windows in the wall. A single bulb dangled from the ceiling, lighting up a wide area but not the entire space. She wasn’t able to see what lay beyond the ring of light. The stone beneath her feet was uneven and worn, old. The air was chilly and still. She shivered.
“You don’t know him that well. You think he’ll just … surrender?” she asked.
“I think if he claimed you, he’ll do what he must to keep you safe.”
“I hope you have a back-up plan.”
The Other chuckled. “He is no threat to me. We Originals are forbidden from fighting one another. But I can do what I wish to you.”
Not liking that part. She glanced in his direction, only to find him gone again.
Jessi froze, listening for him. She hadn’t been paying attention; did he sink into the darkness or disappear? After a moment, she ventured into the dark with her hands in front of her, to keep from running into a wall.
She tripped over something, caught herself, and continued, not wanting to be there when the Other returned. She had a feeling Jonny didn’t know she was gone and probably didn’t want her to be gone. Praying he didn’t take it out on Ashley, Jessi cursed the teen silently for taking her phone.
After inching her way through the dark, her trembling hands reached a rough, stone wall. She flattened them against the cool rock and began making her way around the edges.
“Girl.”
She froze. The Other had returned. A peek over her shoulder revealed him standing in the middle of the room, under the light. He was staring into the dark, though not in her direction.
For the first time since meeting Jonny, she prayed everyone was right about the strange skill she had to remain invisible to them. She held her breath. Her heartbeat seemed too loud in her ears, and she hoped he wasn’t able to hear as well as Xander seemed to. After a moment, he winked out of existence in a purple flash.
She waited another second then continued around the edge of the room. The wall met another, and she quickened her step, scouring the area above her for some sign of a window. A few steps down the second wall, the stone turned to wood.
Door.
She trailed her fingers across it until she felt the cool metal doorknob. She twisted it, almost squealing when it gave.
Jessi walked out of the strange cellar. She tripped over a stair and landed hard. Swallowing a cry of pain, she pushed herself up and stretched out her arms above her head, expecting the feel of a second set of wooden doors, if she really was in a cellar. After four steps, she felt them and grimaced, a rough edge piercing one finger. She stuck it in her mouth and then pulled it free.
Blood. The first night in his house, Xander reacted strongly to her slicing her finger. No one could sense her, but he would be able to smell her blood.
Jessi squeezed her finger, until she felt the warm blood. She bent and wiped it on the cement stair, not at all certain it was enough to tip him off. She then focused on how to get out of the cellar. Two metal handles – one on each door – were cold beneath her fingers. She gripped one and pushed it upward. A gust of cold, night air swept past her, and she hurried out.
Jessi hesitated, orienting herself. Moon and stars were bright overhead. She smelled the ocean on the air and was surprised to see the strange stone cottage perched in the middle of a field hedged by a stone wall.
Wherever she was, it wasn’t California. It had been afternoon when she left the West Coast, and it was clearly in the middle of the night here. The cottage was dark, but she saw the lights of another house on down a long stretch of road that hugged a massive hill.
She wasn’t going back in the cellar to await the psycho Other. Instead, she trotted down the gravel driveway, each crunching step making her cringe. No one chased her, and she stopped to hide in the shadows of the stone wall at the end of the drive to catch her breath.
Marking the wall with more blood, she kept to the shadows and hurried down the road.
The nearest house was much farther than she thought. The lights grew no closer, even when she quickened her pace.
“Smart girl.”
She yelped as the Other materialized in front of her.
“You know you’re invisible to my senses.”
Jessi whirled to run, only to smack into someone else she didn’t expect.
“I followed the blood trail.” Jonny’s fangs were out. He snatched her arm before she was able to move.
“Yeah, that wasn’t meant for you,” she said, adrenaline flying through her blood.
“Jessi!” Ashley’s voice trembled.
Jessi leaned around Jonny. Ashley stood a short distance away, between two vamps. She looked uncertain rather than scared, and Jessi’s eyes took in her cousin’s features with relief. Ashley seemed okay. Behind the teen were too many vamps for Jessi to count.
Jonny blocked her from going to her cousin. Instead, he pulled her against him, between him and the Other.
“I hope you’re not threatening me, boy,” the Other said, gaze taking in the vamps.
“They’re here in case any Guardians show up. If I can find you, so can they,” Jonny answered. “We have the necklace. Take it and go.”
Jessi gripped the crystal. The air around her crackled, Jonny’s stormy power and the Other’s cold lightening making her skin crawl.
“Neither of us can handle
it,” the Other replied. “I’m waiting for Xander to show.”
Jonny shifted. “Xander.”
“He’s the weapon,” Jessi supplied. She studied the teen god’s face. “I take it you didn’t know that either.”
“You said this is the weapon.” Jonny motioned to her necklace, addressing the Other. “I fucking hate Xander! The deal was the gem for leaving my vamps the fuck alone.”
“You delivered or are about to. So will I.” The Other shrugged. “Be gone, Jonny, unless you feel like taking on an Original.”
“The deal was for the necklace. I’m keeping the girl,” Jonny responded without hesitation. “Take your shit and go.”
The Other was quiet for a moment, studying the Black God. Jessi had no idea what Jonny might want with her, unless he intended to kill her as a final penalty.
“Not to interfere, but uh, Jonny, I also delivered on my deal,” Jessi said in the silence. “You promised not to hurt Ashley in exchange.”
“I haven’t,” he snapped.
“Okay, but can you let her go? That was part of our deal, too.”
Jonny’s attention shifted to Jessi.
“You can keep me and torture me or whatever,” she rushed on. “Just let Ash go.”
“Jessi!” Ashley objected.
“I take what I want. Ashley’s mine,” Jonny said.
The quick reply startled Jessi.
“I’m not yours,” Ashley’s response was soft.
“Lover’s spat,” the Other said with a smile.
Jessi didn’t have time to figure out what the hell was going on between Ashley and the Black God. Standing in the middle of a dirt road, god-knew-where, stuck between the bristling Black God and Original Other, Jessi couldn’t imagine her situation getting worse. The two were glaring at one another.
Abruptly, the Other disappeared. Jonny whirled, starting towards Ashley, when the teen girl winked out of existence in a flash of purple light.
Jessi gasped. Jonny went rigid.
“Now, we’re on terms I can live with,” the Other said, reappearing across the road with one hand gripping Ashley’s arm. “You want the girl, you give me Jessi and the necklace.”
Jonny faced the Other. Jessi inched away, sensing the teen’s storm cloud energy surge. By the look on his face, he was seconds away from erupting.
Ashley looked terrified. Jessi struggled to keep from running across the road and grabbing her cousin. She had to think of a way to diffuse Jonny, before he blew them all up, and get Ash back.
“Can someone call Xander?” she heard herself asking. “You know, so we can resolve this shit?” Adding Xander to the mix was like smoking around dynamite, but she didn’t think a clash between Jonny and the Other was going to end well for anyone.
“I don’t want …” Jonny drifted off. His eyes settled on Jessi’s necklace. “Absolute power.”
“Yeah, but –“
“It will take no effort whatsoever for me to crush this girl.”
Ashley flinched as the Other gripped her arm more tightly.
“My sister can bring her back,” Jonny replied. “But you can’t use Xander without the gem.” He took Jessi’s arm then whipped out his cell with his free hand. “Jessi’s right. Xander needs to be here.” He typed a quick text then shut off the phone.
Jessi meet Ashley’s gaze, willing her cousin not to panic.
Chapter Sixteen
Xander wanted to blow up the underground facility. Ashley’s backpack and bracelets were in the quiet, darkened room. Jessi’s scent lingered in the air; he was only minutes behind her.
“Charles,” he growled.
“No Others nearby, ikir,” the vamp reported.
“Dusty, can you trace the girl’s GPS tag?” Jule asked into the mic he wore. “No cell phone activity on either Jessi or her cousin. Not sure we can get a signal on the GPS tags Jessi put on her cousin.”
Darian was poking around the kitchenette area, while Xander paced. Furious at Jessi, he was nonetheless concerned. She had no idea what she was dealing with. She was in danger she couldn’t face alone; with the gem, she held the key to destroying the planet.
His phone vibrated. He retrieved it restlessly and stopped mid-stride.
Trace me. The message was from Jonny, who had texted only once, before their ways parted months ago.
“Jule,” Xander held it out.
“Dusty, we got something,” the Original Immortal said into his communications piece.
Xander’s pacing increased with his agitation. Jule spoke quickly to Dusty while Xander tried to figure out what Jonny was doing texting him. The kid was too afraid to risk a confrontation; maybe Jessi or Ashley had grabbed his phone.
“We’re sending someone to check things out,” Jule said.
“Where is it?” Xander demanded.
“Chill, X,” Jule replied. “Let us do our thing.”
Xander said nothing. His eyes traveled to the bracelets on the couch, and he snatched them. His normally strict control was thin; he hated the feeling.
He hated any feeling, especially the ones that told him he wasn’t going to be able to live with losing Jessi. Unable to determine what his emotions towards her were, he needed to experience what he did whenever he was inside her. The intimate connection, combined with her soft skin and nectar, would calm him.
“Oy. That’s not good,” Darian said, straightening. He took a bite out of an ice cream bar he found in the refrigerator. “You sure, Dusty?”
Xander waited impatiently. Both the Guardians were listening to whatever Dusty told them.
“Jonny, a bunch of vamps and the Original Other,” Jule said at Xander’s penetrating look. “The girls are with them. Figures they’re somewhere where our nearest station is ten miles out.”
Xander’s mind worked quickly. The Original Other would know that the gem was useless without Xander; what Jonny knew – or was doing – was lost on him.
Fury stirred at the thought of Jessi taking it to them. The key to destroying a world – him – was in the hands of those who couldn’t be trusted with such power.
Pain filtered through him. The one time he took a chance on someone …
“We’re meeting D there,” Jule said and held out one fist to Xander, the other to Darian. “No craziness from either of you.”
“No guarantees,” Xander responded.
“Ditto,” Darian agreed. “Can I kill an Original Other without the world ending?”
Xander smiled. “Try it and see.”
He tapped Jule’s fist. Instantly, the three of them were transported somewhere cold and dark. His vampire eyes adjusted fast to the night. Jule had put them ten meters from the strange scene, to the side of Jonny’s vamps.
The sight of Jessi made Xander’s heart quicken, almost as much as the scent of her blood in the air. His incisors grew unbidden; he didn’t stop them this time.
The nearest vamps bowed their heads and moved away from him. Damian and Eden were closer, his deceptive display of relaxed power causing the air to hum with even more magic.
“You calm enough for this?” Jule took Xander’s arm.
“Yeah.” Xander focused on his first task: figuring out what the fuck was going on. He paced to Damian’s side, purposely not looking at Jessi, whose nearness was making him crazy enough.
The Other had Ashley; Jonny had Jessi. By the tension between the two, their alliance was brittle at best. Purple lightening rippled in the air nearby. Several more Others materialized. Darian was bristling, ready to attack, while Jule frowned.
“Jonny here doesn’t want to listen to reason,” Damian said casually.
“Don’t talk to me like that, Damian,” the Black God snapped. “This is between me and that thing.” He indicated the Other with a lift of his chin.
The teen was far more defiant this evening, and Xander had a feeling he knew why. His eyes settled on Jessi finally. She was watching him, fear and uncertainty on her features. Her gray eyes were almost the color
of the moon overhead, her pale features obscured by curls that danced in an ocean breeze.
Sucking up the thoughts of those around him, Xander was pissed he wasn’t able to determine what hers were. Was she sorry for betraying him?
Did it matter, since he would still do whatever it took to help her?
“I taught you not to trust anyone, didn’t I?” Eden whispered to him.
Xander said nothing. His gaze flickered to the necklace with a sense of dread. She was clutching the gem in her hand.
“Now that we have a mediator, maybe we can resolve this,” the Other said. “Jonny and I had a deal. He’s backed out.”
“I didn’t back out,” the Black God returned. “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie. I let you assume what you would.”
“Secrets are a bitch,” Xander interjected, gaze on Jessi.
She looked away, face growing pink.
“Xander’s judgment is compromised. I’ll play his part as mediator.” Jule said, stepping forward. “What was the deal?”
“The necklace in exchange for stopping the slaughter of my vamps,” Jonny answered. “Damian has my only fucking Tracker, and my numbers are half what they were six months ago.”
“That explains why shit’s been calm lately,” Damian mused.
“Most of my vamps are underground. I figured out Others can’t sense them that way,” Jonny continued. “Every time they leave, though, they get snatched up and killed. This fucker made me a deal.”
“What part of giving an Other absolute power sounded reasonable?” Damian growled.
“Fuck you, Damian.”
“Calm down, guys,” Jule warned with a pointed look at Damian. “We’re going to resolve this peacefully.”
“Smart discovery about the Others and their limitations,” Xander said, gaze on the Black God. Though he showed no outwards concern, Jonny looked as much at Ashley as he did the Other.
“Very,” Darian agreed. “We didn’t know that one.”
Damian said nothing.
“Whatever the case is, Jonny broke our agreement. He’s refusing to give me the necklace,” the Other snapped. “I’ve positioned enough Others around the underground facilities we found to wipe out his vamps overnight.”
Lizzy Ford Page 29
