Damian's Immortal (War of Gods 3) (11 page)

Xander drew his weapons and crossed to the
two vamps, chopping them down. Jenn watched. Xander didn’t move
like she expected a man his size to move. His brutal strength and
otherworldly agility made the futile attempts of the vamps look
like they were swatting flies instead of fighting for their
lives.

“
I’ll have this mess
cleaned up,” Xander said when he’d finished.

The Black God nodded. His face was drawn as
he strode past Jenn. Her gaze went from him to the vamp on the
other side of the room staring her down. He flipped the knife in
his hand.

“
Jenn,” Jonny
called.

“
On my way,” she replied
then addressed Xander. “I never met a vamp who tried to keep a
Guardian alive.”

He sheathed his knife and crossed to her.
She refused to back down, unwilling to let his attempt to
intimidate her work.

“
Let’s just say, you’re
not the only one here with a hidden agenda,” he replied. “I know
what you’re doing here, Guardian. Remember your place, or I’ll make
the Black God look like your fairy godmother.”

He breezed by her again. She’d met enough
Guardians and vamps to know how unique each was, but she’d never
met a creature like this one. She shook her head and trotted after
Jonny, who paced madly in the hall.

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

“
Jenn, I think … I’m not
sure what to do.”

“
Jonny, hon, let me tell
you one thing,” she said and approached close enough she was
certain no one else could overhear her. “Don’t say things like
that. You need to pretend you know what to do, even if you don’t.
These things will eat you alive.”

“
They can’t kill
me.”

“
There are things worse
than death,” she reminded him.

He smiled faintly and nodded, striking off
down the hall towards his private wing of the underground facility.
She trailed him, slowing when she turned the corner leading to his
apartments.

Xander stood before the Black God’s
quarters. Two more vamps assigned as Jonny’s guards stood on either
side of the door to his personal chambers. The massive vamp ignored
her, and she saw Jonny stop to speak to him. Xander gave a quick
bow in response before meeting her gaze with a look that warned her
she wouldn’t like what Jonny had just told him to do. Her sense of
dread grew as she approached and followed Jonny into his
apartment.

The door closed behind her, and the young
Black God threw himself into a large leather chair in the middle of
the living room.

“
I saw what he was
hiding,” Jonny started, features troubled once again. “But I don’t
understand it.”

“
What was it?” she asked
and sat across from him.

“
The Others are acquiring
a weapon, but … it didn’t seem quite right. The vamp said something
about splitting the sky.”

Jenn dwelled on his words. They meant little
to her, but to Damian, they could mean something.

“
Maybe I misunderstood.
I’ve never been in anyone’s mind before.”

“
You can only know what
the vamp did,” Jenn said. “I don’t know what it means,
either.”

“
I need some time alone,”
Jonny said abruptly and rose, facing away from her.

“
I’ll go to the gym. Let
me know when you need anything,” she said. His mood swings weren’t
unexpected. He was young and scared. Itching to relieve some of her
own nervous energy after the run-in with the vamps, she’d reached
the door when Jonny spoke again.

“
Jenn, thank you for
helping me today.”

“
It’s why I’m here,” she
replied.

“
You defended me. My own
vamps won’t do that.”

“
It’ll take a while for
you to adjust and for them to adjust to someone new.”

“
Thank you for your
loyalty. I never imagined any Guardian would go to the extent that
you have. I’m happy you’re among us. I’ll treat you well, as long
as you remain loyal.”

She frowned at his tone,
as if he considered her the newest,
permanent
member of his organization
and not the guest she was. Jenn left without saying anything, once
again unable to get a read on the kid. Sometimes, when he was
afraid, he was easy for her to understand. Sometimes he gave her
the creeps, and she suspected he was sharper than he let
on.

She stopped in the hallway and turned.
Xander trailed her.

“
Making sure you go where
you say you will,” he said. She turned her back on him in blatant
disregard he wasn’t likely to misinterpret.

The number of female vamps outnumbered the
number of female Guardians, and she ducked into the locker room for
the females. Ignoring the hisses of the others, she locked herself
in a bathroom stall and texted her boss, Dusty.

Others have a weapon. Want to split the
heavens. Something weird going on here.

Dusty’s response was
quick.
Roger. You ok?

Jenn snorted, wondering how she explained
there was only one vamp in an entire organization of inhuman blood
suckers that gave her the creeps. In the end, she typed a smiley
face and locked her phone before changing into gym clothes and
making her way to the gym.

The instincts that warned her Jonny wasn’t
as naïve as he seemed were confirmed when she stepped into the gym
and saw Xander standing in the doorway, watching her. The boy-god
was taking no chances she betrayed him. Looking over the largest
vamp she’d ever seen, she had a feeling a confrontation between
them wouldn’t end well for her.

* * *

Jule was beginning to think death was better
than his weakened state. He’d managed to add more wood to the fire
and tear the stitches in his chest while doing so. Soup was out of
the question; it might as well have been a million miles away in
the kitchen. He rested against the cushions. He’d never been human,
and he had no idea how long it took for a human body to heal. It
seemed like too long already, especially since the woman was alone
to protect herself.

His dream, the one about the Original Vamp,
hadn’t returned. It seemed too real, and he’d dwelled long on what
he could remember of the conversation.

Xander. Original Beings.

“
Jule?” Darian’s voice
jarred him out of his thoughts. “You here?”

“
Yeah, Darian,” he
called.

Darian emerged from the kitchen, trailed by
a small, shapely woman with dark, curly hair tied in a ponytail.
Jule’s gaze fell to the necklace she wore.

“
Dusty’s mate?” he asked,
looking her over again. Her smile was quick and warm, her brown
eyes dancing. “I thought you’d be more like Attila the
Hun.”

“
I’m Bianca,” the woman
said in a voice as soft as her eyes.

Jule wasn’t sure what to expect when she
knelt beside him. Cool, healing energy coursed through him, lulling
him into a near doze.

“
Done!” she announced. “I
can’t take away the weakness you feel, but your body is
healed.”

“
How the hell did Dusty
end up with someone like you?” he asked and looked down at himself,
impressed.

She laughed, a contagious sound, and he saw
her effect even on Darian, who had relaxed and sat in a chair
nearby. Her presence would have the same calming effect on Dusty,
who was the most wound-up man Jule knew.

“
Her brother’s the Black
God,” Darian said out of nowhere.

“
Always knew women were a
curse,” Jule said.

“
Darian,” Bianca objected.
“Remember what Dusty said. No stressing Jule out.”

Darian rolled his eyes.

“
I’m a grown man, woman, I
can take it,” Jule said with a snort.

“
You probably shouldn’t be
fighting anyone until you’re better,” she said. “Though I’ve
learned none of you will listen to that advice.”

“
You keep giving it. It’s
always nice to know someone cares,” Jule replied. “And I bet you
never shot Dusty or ran him over with a car.”

“
That little girl did
this?” Darian asked, eyes narrowing.

“
In her defense, she
thought I was trying to kill her.”

“
Were you?”

“
Yeah, at one point,” Jule
said. “She’s been told some real fucked-up stuff about the
Guardians.”

“
Well, if you tried to
kill her, you probably didn’t help things,” Darian said
wisely.

Jule ignored him and tested his body. He
rose and stretched, stiff and weak but healed. He hadn’t seen a
Healer since before the Schism and offered his hand to Bianca. She
took it, and he pulled her up.

“
I think you need to get
back there,” Darian added, frowning. “Some weird shit’s going on
with the Others. One of Dusty’s spies found out the Others have a
weapon they want to use, we think to open the gateway between the
immortal and mortal worlds.”

“
One of the Watchers told
me similar. I can’t get close enough to anything to learn more
without getting myself killed. You have any insight into why my
power is jacked up?” Jule asked.

“
I broke something, I
think. The Watchers are pissed at me. They’re not talking to me
right now.”

“
You’re in good company.
They’re the ones who told me to kill the girl.”

“
Really?” Darian’s
interest was piqued. “I’ll ask Sofi about that.” He exchanged a
look with Bianca.

“
We can fix you, Jule,”
she said, turning to him. “We experimented on Dusty.”

“
The Watchers stripped the
Guardians of power, but their base of power is in the immortal
realm. I’m not, uh, restricted to either realm,” Darian said. “I
seem to be coloring outside the lines in every way possible. I can
do things Damian and the Black God can’t.”

“
Like restore something
the Watchers took?” Jule asked, surprised.

“
With Bianca’s help. We
can’t restore everything, but we can give you back most of your
powers.”

“
Do it.”

“
You may not be strong
enough yet,” Bianca said, considering.

“
Sweetheart, you have no
idea. I’ll be fine,” he said in amusement.

“
If he survived as a
human, he’ll survive this,” Darian seconded. “I’ll rip you open,
and Bianca will heal you.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes but she
held out a hand to Jule. Darian held out his as well, and Jule took
both their hands, at once bombarded with Bianca’s cool energy and
Darian’s hot energy. The sensations whipped through him, reminding
him how human he really was. It wasn’t like the Magician’s magic,
which somehow fused with his, as if they were one person sharing
one source of power.

Maybe even one soul.

“
Fuck!” he muttered,
dropping to his knees. Cool and warm turned to frigid and blazing,
and he felt their powers coalesce at his core, forcing something
open that had been closed by the Watchers. Darian’s power burned
while Bianca’s healed the invisible wounds created by the Grey God.
The pain increased until Jule was near passing out. Suddenly, it
stopped, and his own warm power flooded him. He released their
hands, panting.

Jule sat back on his haunches, dizzy with
the abrupt return of his power. It settled into him, and he flexed
it.

“
Don’t do that too much,”
Darian warned. “We’re trying to lay low and not attract the
attention of the Watchers.”

We could use the help of a
couple of Original Beings.
The thought
came from nowhere, and Jule thought again of the vamp from his
fever dream.

“
Everyone on the planet is
out to get this girl. I doubt I’ll have a choice soon,” he
replied.

“
I can use her,
Jule.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I mean, I might be able
to seal the breach I made, if it doesn’t get bigger and I can
borrow Damian’s power. I touched her so she could show me where you
were, and I felt what she can do,” Darian said. “You gotta keep her
alive while Damian figures out what to do.”

“
I will,” Jule said. “If I
fought off a guardsman as a human, I can take on an Other with my
powers back.”

“
Or die
trying.”

“
That, too.”

“
You men really are
crazy,” Bianca said. “Not an ounce of common sense in any of
you.”

“
Just fighting for a
higher cause,” Jule said with a smile. “You married an assassin. Of
all of us, your mate’s the worst.”

“
Retired assassin,” she
corrected sweetly. “He’s not allowed to kill people
anymore.”

Jule laughed. “Seriously?”

“
Oh, yeah,” Darian said.
“Some things have changed. She’s a slave driver. Dusty’s not
allowed out of his room without her-- ”

“
Darian!” she said with a
laugh. She punched him in the arm, and he feigned a look of
pain.

Jule’s throat tightened as he listened to
the two of them spar verbally. Darian had been a shell of a man
when Sofi found him several months ago. Now there was life and
light in his eyes, even if he wasn’t quite the man Jule remembered.
He carried on with Bianca like the sister she now was, and Jule
couldn’t help feeling a sense of gratitude towards the small woman
with the quick smile, warm gaze, and healing energy. Between her
and Sofi, they’d brought Darian back from the dead.