by Lizzy Ford
“Sofi, get ready. We’re evac-ing you and Darian next,” he ordered. “Pierre, pack your things. You’re going, too.”
She didn’t miss the look of relief that crossed Pierre’s face and suspected he’d been threatened with a reassignment for shooting her. Obviously, Damian had reconsidered. She was happy for it.
Pierre tossed her a familiar cell as they entered the mansion with an unread text message.
4got 2 tell you. Luv u 2.
She grinned and typed a response.
Man up and tell me in person.
Next time I see you, I’ll do better - I’ll show you, he promised, his whisper sliding into her mind. A thrill went through her.
“I still hate that,” she muttered.
In the words of an oracle I once knew, get used to it.
“I love you, Damian. Come home soon.”
I will, kiri, I will.
Truly thrilled about the start to her new life, she folded the phone and dropped it into her pocket. She followed Dustin and Darian down the hall.
Sofia.
She recognized the voice from the chopper ride with Darian.
He was waiting for her. She pushed open the cracked door to the library. Inside was a man she recognized from Czerno’s, the small man with dark green eyes and white hair. Her heart slowed, and she froze inside the doorway.
He gave a fatherly smile and approached her, holding his hand out, palm up. She hesitated, torn between screaming for Dustin and staying where she was. She touched her palm to his, driven back by the impact of images that rippled through her. The whole of Damian’s history, his forefather’s, all the way to the Beginning, when spirits milled without purpose before the Original Beings shaped the universe into something much greater.
She snapped her hand back and stared at him, overwhelmed. The man before her was from before time, before life, before everything. He clasped his hands behind his back. The memories rippled through her then coalesced, locking themselves away in the back of her mind.
“Watcher.”
Dustin’s warning growl was cold. He took her arm, pulling her behind him. Her gaze was riveted to the man before her. His green gaze switched from her to Dustin, never blinking.
“I mean no harm, Guardian,” the Watcher said.
“What are you?” she breathed, the images swimming through her thoughts.
“Ikira, I am a Watcher, one of those who guards the Guardians,” he said with another of his warm smiles. “My job is to make sure the pendulum never swings too far into the court of the Black God.”
“Bullshit,” Dusty snapped. “You have no loyalties to either God.”
“True, but it’s always been in the Watcher’s best interest to ensure humanity perpetuates. The Black God doesn’t share our view.”
“Master,” Darian’s voice was monotonous. “I obeyed you. Kiri is safe.”
She turned to see his gaze on the ground, his body braced as if for a blow. Heartbroken by his return to the slave he was, Sofia was stopped from comforting him by Dustin’s grip on her arm.
“I know, Darian,” the Watcher said. “You did well. If I may, ikir?”
He looked to Dustin. Dustin gave a tense nod and pushed her behind him, out of the Watcher’s path. He was coiled and ready to snap if the Watcher so much as looked at her too long. She wasn’t about to contradict the cold executioner when he was in this mood.
The Watcher approached Darian, who knelt in response to a silent command. The Watcher placed both hands on his head. Darian jerked.
“Tomorrow, when you awake, you will no longer be a slave. You will become the Grey God, who you were born to be,” the Watcher told him.
“I thought Watchers had a policy of non-interference,” Dustin said in a measured tone.
“We do, ikir, unless the balance is so disturbed that we must interfere.”
His words sent a chill through her.
“You will see me again, ikir,” he promised. “And you, ikira. You will remember the secrets I gave you one day, when you must use them.”
She didn’t like the ominous words and looked up at Dustin again, seeking to gauge just how serious the situation was. He was pale beneath the golden skin. She crept closer to him. If he was worried, she had a reason to be terrified.
“My dear Darian,” the Watcher said in a softer tone. “I cannot take the pain of the memories you will experience in the morning when you remember the whole of your existence. Do not be consumed by them. You have a great fate to fulfill in this life yet.”
“Yes, master,” was the monotonous response.
“Tell the White God I send him greetings,” the Watcher said and moved away from them.
In a gentle flash of light, he was gone. Sofia released the breath she was holding and moved in front of Dustin, gazing up at him. Her hands shook.
“Dustin?” she prompted when he remained staring at the place where the Watcher had been.
He looked down at her. Sensing her fear, he touched her arm, the edge of tension dissipating. His look softened, and rare warmth crossed his features.
“There’s alotta shit about our world you’ll figure out,” he promised her. “Watchers rarely cause us harm, but they rarely involve themselves in our business either.”
His considering gaze returned to Darian.
“Don’t worry, kiri. First things first. We need to evac now.”
She nodded, sensing there was much he wasn’t saying. He shepherded them to the library door, returning to his original purpose. She took Darian’s hand and led him down the hall like the lost child he was. She braced herself against the memories running through his head and the confusion as he tried to figure out where he was.
“You’re safe, kiri,” he said.
“So are you, Darian,” she replied.
As they strode into the gardens towards an awaiting helicopter, she couldn’t help but think she’d just stepped into something far greater than she could ever imagine.