by Lizzy Ford
“You have no sense of humor.”
“You’re not the first to say so,” she said. “What do you want?”
“You showed me something a week ago, a vision on a path I cannot see myself.”
“And?” she prodded when he fell quiet. The exchange a week ago was the first time she met the nightmarish Original Vamp, when he’d offered to help Jule in exchange for asking her a question.
“I want to know how that comes to be.”
“I don’t know that answer,” she replied. “Even if I did, I’m bound by some limitations in what I can share.”
“Are you as powerful as I think, or are you good at making it look that way?” he asked, studying her intently.
“I should ask you that question,” she retorted.
“If this place is standing, it’s because I allow it to be.”
“I’ll keep your secrets, Xander. Don’t mess with me or anyone I love.”
“There will come a time, Oracle …”
“I’ve Seen it,” she said and stepped closer to him. Sofi looked up, meeting his red gaze. “I’ve Seen all your possible fates, Xander. If you knew the one I plan on pushing you down—and I will manipulate the fate of a selfish creature like you—you’d be running out of here screaming.”
He growled. “We’ll see, Oracle.”
Sofi turned and walked away, irritated with him.
“That, my vamp friend, is what we call a smackdown,” Pierre added before following her.
Sofi doubted Pierre would be living if Xander hadn’t made a promise. It was egregious that stores of immense power were wasted on such a creature at a time when Damian needed all the help he could get. Xander would never help another without some sort of leverage. Fortunately, she had leverage, and she Saw she might need it before the week was over.
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and pushed open the door to the study, already knowing who was inside. Her mate, the White God Damian, sat with his adopted brothers, the assassin Dusty and the Original Immortal Jule. All looked towards the door when she entered, and she smiled. Pierre closed the door behind her, remaining outside.
“Come in, kiri,” Damian said and rose, motioning to his chair. “We were comparing notes before the boys went their ways again.” He squeezed her arm as she passed him.
“Uh-oh,” Jule said, gazing at her closely. The tattooed immortal with cocoa skin sat forward, his magic vibrating in the air around him. “Spill it, kiri.”
“When a woman looks like that, you really don’t want to know,” the blond Dusty said from beside him. With a complexion like hers, he was often mistaken as her brother, a similarity they’d used in the past to keep people from finding out she was Damian’s mate.
Damian planted his hands on her shoulders, and she looked up at him for a long moment, feeling sick for more than one reason. The pregnancy had not been an easy one, especially not with the excitement of the past few months.
Now this, a fate where she knew something was going to happen to the man she loved.
“Something bad is coming,” she started.
Jule and Dusty grew serious while Damian sat beside her.
“Potentially bad,” she corrected herself. “There are a lot of different paths I’m following.”
“How bad?” Dusty asked.
“Darian needs a mate, or it’ll be catastrophic.”
“Darian?” Dusty shook his head. “No way. If the fate of the world depends on him finding a woman, we’re fucked.”
“I have a bit more faith in him,” Damian said, sharing a smile with her. “He’s had another of his evolutions. You’d hardly recognize him. I gave him free rein to do what he needs to.”
“How long does he have?” Jule asked.
“I think a better question is how long do we have,” Sofi said, growing restless. “I’ve Seen some things … and there are some things so up in the air right now, I can’t figure out what it means. What I know is that our fates will end up in Darian’s hands.”
“That doesn’t scare me as much as I thought it would,” Jule said.
“Scares the shit out of me,” Dusty replied. “Does this have anything to do with the Watchers stalking Jule and me?”
“I’m afraid so,” Sofi said.
“Combined, we might be able to escape from one. Could never defeat one,” Jule said.
“Darian can. He’s killed his first Other,” she said with pride.
“Do the Watchers know this?” Dusty asked.
“Probably.”
“It’s a good skill to have, until he pisses off someone,” Jule mused. “I’m still digging out souls imprisoned in the ground by the Other in Ireland. I don’t need a pissed Watcher or Other sneaking up on me.”
“So it’s Darian against all the Watchers and Others in the universe,” Dusty summarized. “I’d put my money on him, only because he’s got no sense of his mortality. The rest of us might be hosed, though.”
“Maybe not,” Sofi said. “If he finds his mate …”
“We can find her,” Jule said.
“We already know who she is,” Damian volunteered. “Sorry, Sofi, but they need to know.”
She hesitated, aware she never should’ve told Damian, let alone allowed Xander to pry the answer out of her when they’d met. Xander had gone so far to tell Jenn. The damage was done. Damian didn’t keep secrets from his brothers. She nodded her permission.
“Jenn,” Damian said.
“What?” Dusty stared.
“We talking about the same Jenn?” Jule asked.
“She’s got too much sense to …” Dusty trailed off. “She would balance him out.” He grew thoughtful.
“They’d make good partners,” Damian said. “Jenn knows. Dusty, she’s fighting it.”
“No shit. That’s what she does,” Dusty said. “If the future relies upon her accepting him, I’m not sure it’ll happen.”
“It must,” Sofi said. “So when she comes to see you, Dusty, tell her whatever you must.”
“You want me to convince her?”
“You won’t have to. Just reinforce.”
“Tricky,” Jule commented. “In the meantime, do I have to worry about any immortal assholes stalking me down?”
“You all do,” Sofi whispered. “They will come for us all.”
The men fell silent around her.
“Are you saying we’ll all die?” Jule asked.
“No,” she said. “I can’t See that far. What I can see is that we will all be taken. I can’t see where, but I know Bianca and Yully need to stay here.”
“We’ll all stay. I’m not leaving my Bianca alone,” Dusty said.
“You’re the … bait, Dusty,” Sofi continued. “And you, Jule. And you, Damian.” Her heart hurt at the words from her vision. The images passed through her thoughts again. “I know if you all stay with us, we will have less of a chance than if we’re separated.”
There was another long moment before any of them could talk.
“Sofi, this is insane,” Dusty said. “You can’t expect us just to leave.”
“It won’t happen,” Damian said firmly, golden eyes flashing. “I’m sorry, Sofi, but no.”
“It must, Damian,” she replied. “If it doesn’t, we are all lost. This much I can See.”
“And if we do leave?” Jule pressed. “We all live?”
“I don’t know.”
“We could be dead either way,” Dusty pointed out. “One way definitely, another way, maybe.”
“It’s all dependent on Darian. And Jenn,” she said. “Darian has to leave his past behind, or we’re all screwed.”
“There’s nothing we can do?” Jule asked.
“No,” she replied. “Except to pretend like you don’t know what’s up and go on about your duties.”
“I can’t believe there’s nothing we can do,” Dusty said and rose. “I can’t leave Bianca knowing she’s in danger!”
“She’s in more danger with you here,” S
ofi said. She turned to Damian. If her mate went, the others would follow. “Damian, please. Trust me.”
He studied her features and touched her face with tenderness. His hand went to her belly, where their son grew. She saw the emotion in his eyes, even as he nodded slowly.
“I trust you, kiri.” His husky voice sent shivers through her body. “If you believe this is the only way …”
“I do,” she said and took his hand, squeezing. “It’s not something I’d ask of you otherwise. I can’t See any other solution. If you three stay, you’ll bring us all danger.”
“Then I’ll go.”
She smiled, honored he’d listen to a message that went against every part of who he was while desperately wishing she could be more assured about the outcomes she Saw. There were too many paths and factors, though all seemed to lead to one of two futures. Neither was ideal, but one would see them all surviving.
Dusty sighed.
“Should I pretend this is the last day of my life?” Jule asked, frowning.
“Not the last. Unless things go wrong,” Sofi said. “It all depends on Darian.”
“No offense, but I’m spending it with Bianca,” Dusty said. “Damian, you need me for anything?”
“Nope,” the White God replied. “You guys go. Leave at dusk.”
“Sofi, any reason why I shouldn’t take Xander with me?” Jule asked. “I don’t think any of you want him around here anyway.”
Sofi shook her head and met each of their gazes again, wishing she could offer more assurances. When she said nothing else, the two left. Damian crouched in front of her, his hand on her stomach.
“Pierre needs to go,” she added. “Send him on vacation.”
“You’ll be vulnerable.”
“We’ll survive.”
“You’re not telling me something,” he said.
“Aside from the fact that I’m terrified?” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
“There is more. It scares me. I …” She stopped, panic rising within her. She wanted to tell Damian everything, but she’d broken his rules by telling them what she did. If she told him more, he might influence the paths she saw in a way that would make their slim chance of survival even slimmer. Her chest felt too tight to breathe deeply.
“Let’s just spend the day together,” he said and cupped her face in his hands. He gave her a long, lingering kiss. “Anything you want to do.”
“Milkshakes.”
He laughed. “I meant me.”
Sofi raised an eyebrow. Her cravings had taken on a new life the longer she was pregnant.
“Fine. Milkshakes.” Damian held out his hands and helped her to her feet. “Who taught you to make those anyway?”
They stepped into the hall, and Damian signaled for the awaiting Guardian to leave. Pierre trotted away.
“Darian and I were experimenting in the kitchen. I miss food so much, Damian,” she said with a sigh. “And my cravings are just brutal. We started tossing stuff in the blender with frozen blood. I can keep down a milkshake.”
Damian grimaced. He’d never outright told her it grossed him out, but she suspected it did.
“The rest of the day, I’m yours.” She wrapped her arm around his waist as they walked to the kitchen. His power flowed through her, making her shiver. He squeezed her against him, and her eyes went over his perfect body.
A sense of loss filled her. If her vision wasn’t right, she wasn’t sure what she’d do, for the lives of all three brothers would soon be suspended in time.
Sofi fought back tears. She squeezed Damian harder, praying Darian did what he was resurrected to do.
Chapter Five
Darian took them to an area where he’d felt a consistent, high level of Other activity. The area was free of Others now, but so many had come and gone from here, he knew it was something special. He opened his eyes to find them off a dirt road in the high desert somewhere. The air was clear and dry, the sand dotted with small shrubs.
He saw nothing that might indicate a cave similar to where the Watchers entered the mortal world, not even boulders. Jenn pulled her hand free from him, and he glanced at her. She’d been acting standoffish since he sought her out at Damian’s direction. The bruises on her body confirmed what she’d never say: she was barely making it through this assignment.
When Jonny demanded someone help him uncover the Others, Darian had volunteered. The White God hadn’t said a word, until requesting a hostage of his own in exchange for sending his brother to live with the Black God.
Jenn took a few steps away, looking around. She’d lost weight in the two weeks she’d been assigned to Jonny, and his gaze swept over her lean body. He’d always thought her beautiful—and beyond his reach. He’d accepted that sparring was the only real, physical interaction he’d ever have with her. When they’d met, she’d been the on-and-off girlfriend of Dusty, before the assassin met his mate. Darian had been lost in the mental cave that was his mind.
Standing in the desert sun, he couldn’t help thinking she wasn’t beyond his reach anymore. She’d done what Claire never would—risked getting killed by Others to save him. His resolve to keep away from her began to make less and less sense.
“There’s nothing here. Unless this portal looks like a shrub,” she said. “Though I do like this weather better than the snow. I hate the cold. I can’t keep warm up there.”
“I have a cabin near Jonny’s. We can stay there, so we can sleep away from the vamps and take a decent shower,” he offered then added quickly, “Separately. We can shower separately. If you want.”
She gave him that look again. Rather than frustrate him, he found it entertaining.
“I’m not Jonny,” he said with a straight face. “I’m not trying to get you into my bed. I have too much respect for you not to be direct about the fact I’m interested in you.”
Jenn frowned.
He cursed himself silently. “I mean, if I was interested, I’d respect you and be direct about how—”
“So, you only have respect for me if you’re interested in me?”
“I’ll stop now. For the record, I don’t have your gifted tongue and wish I did. Metaphorically.”
She shook her head and walked away.
Darian didn’t know when he’d lost his ability to speak clear sentences, but the idea Jenn scrambled his mind made him want to laugh. And run away. He wasn’t sure which instinct was stronger.
Half a moment before she stepped through the portal, she triggered a magic alert that reverberated through him.
“Jenn—” he shouted then dived forward. He snagged her wrist as she dropped into the invisible portal to the immortal world.
Jenn dangled into the other world. Darian glimpsed an orchard with flowering trees and emerald grass as he ducked his head through the portal. He knew that orchard, and an ache grew at his core. It was not the time for memories, not when Jenn was caught between the two worlds.
“You found it,” he said, bracing himself to haul her up. He lifted her back through the portal and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to solid ground again.
“Wow. It’s not quite what I remember,” she said, leaning away from him to peer at the ground. The portal was camouflaged by sand and shrubs.
“It’s like heaven,” he agreed quietly, regret in his voice.
“I don’t remember it that way. I was young when the Schism occurred. I remember nothing but blood and death.” Jenn pushed his arm away and stepped to the side to avoid the portal.
Darian blinked his memories away before squatting. The portal was invisible, unless someone fell through it.
“What’re you thinking?” she asked.
“I know where they are, but I don’t know how to close them.”
“You need sensors of some sort. I think positioning Guardians here would get too many of them killed.”
“I can’t be in two places at once.”
“We’ve got all kinds of clandestine technology. Th
is will be easy to set up. If nothing else, we can bury motion sensors a few feet away, if you think the Others will sense anything close to the portal.”
“The first time I meet them here, they’re going to know it’s not a secret,” Darian said with a shrug. “I don’t care what they know.”
“Don’t get too cocky, Darian. You killed one. What if they bring a dozen?”
“They won’t kill me. Might knock me on my ass for a bit.”
“And then they’re loose in the world while you recover. You need monitoring equipment, preferably something they can’t sense so you know what you’re getting into before you show up with guns blazing.”
Darian watched her. Jenn found a stick and carefully returned to the portal, tapping the ground to find where it was solid. She drew a line in the sand around the portal. It was a rough circle about four feet in diameter. Her assessing gaze took in the surrounding area.
“This’ll work. Can I borrow your cell?” she asked.
“Where’s yours?”
“Xander crushed it.”
“You couldn’t call for help even if you needed it,” he said, frowning. He handed her his phone.
“I believe that was his intent,” she said, unfazed.
Darian didn’t say what he wanted to, that she was as big of a fool as he was. Jenn stepped away to make a phone call, and he circled the portal. He wanted to see what was on the other side, even if it brought up memories he wanted to forget. Maybe, just maybe, he’d get some closure, if he could return to where everything went wrong.
“They’ll send a team down,” Jenn said, returning to his side. “You said there’s another for Watchers?”
“Yeah. In a cave.”
“We can send someone to assess what we can do there, too.”
“This is good. We set up sensors and shit, and I can then go hunt down and kill those who are here. I’m not telling anyone where the portals are, though. No telling what Jonny would try to do if he knew.”
“Smart. He’s lost right now, like …” She stopped herself.
“Like I was,” Darian said firmly.
Jenn turned the assessing gaze on him again then flashed a smile. “Sure, hon,” she said, clearly disbelieving.
“You, too,” Darian complained. “What will it take for me to convince you?”
