by Lizzy Ford
“Hello, ikira,” the Watcher said. “I know you’ve Seen this moment.”
“I have,” she whispered. “I was going to get Bianca.”
“We already got her.”
Sofi turned, clenching her fists. “Damian.”
“They are safe for now. The Others can’t find them.”
She wasn’t sure whether to trust him or not but nodded, praying he was telling the truth. The Watcher extended his hand. Sofi grudgingly took it, terrified of what was to come. Her visions were all over the place this night, and she wasn’t sure what she’d initially thought was the right path would actually turn out well.
“You know where we’re going?” the Watcher asked.
“The immortal world,” she answered. “Part of your plan to manipulate Darian.”
“Seems we have the same plan, if you didn’t tell him.”
Sofi ground her teeth. They Traveled to a place where it was cold and dark but didn’t stay long. The Watcher led her to a hole in the back of a tunnel, and they emerged in a sunny, warm world. As if a shaken bottle of soda had been uncorked within her, her magic swelled and burst from her body. She staggered at the sensation, taking in the crumbled world around her.
The Watcher steadied her. Several of his guardsmen stood nearby, their uniforms emblazoned with green cuneiform symbols. He waved them away.
“You know this is for your own good,” the Watcher said, leading her towards one of the only standing buildings she saw.
“I don’t know that,” she answered. “My vision isn’t strong enough to See that. I do know the alternative will see us all killed.”
“A full day after you’ve been here in the immortal world, your vision will clear. You will see as you never have before.”
“I will become as if I’d lived here my whole life, isn’t that right?”
“In a sense, yes. The most powerful Oracle in millennia.”
“What of my child?” she asked, hand going to her stomach.
“It depends on how long you are here.” The Watcher glanced at her belly. “A full day will make you powerful and probably, a mother.”
Sofi concentrated on stepping through the rubble of what looked like a once-great city. The woman in her screamed for her to leave, to find Damian and have their son in the place they’d planned in a few months. The Oracle side of her knew there was more at stake, that there was no guarantee they’d make it out of the immortal world, if Darian didn’t do what he needed to.
“You’ll be safe here,” the Watcher said, not unkindly. “You did everything you could. We were impressed by your sight and sacrifice.”
“It’s only a sacrifice if they don’t live through this!” she snapped. “I have faith in Darian, not you. We are here because I saw this as the only chance we really had.”
“If this ends as it should, I’d gladly help him hunt down the remaining Others.”
“When this is over, I’ll encourage Darian to hunt your kind as well.”
“We mean no lasting harm to humanity or to your family. We are protecting you the only way we know how.”
Sofi bit back her response. Already, she could feel her body changing in the immortal world. While she welcomed the feeling of newfound power, she was terrified for her son.
“The guardsman will show you to your room,” the Watcher said as they reached the building. “Good luck, ikira.”
If nothing else, she’d have a much better vision of what was to come after a full day in the immortal world. Resigned to a fate she couldn’t determine, Sofi obeyed the Watcher and followed the guardsman through the building.
Chapter Eight
“Just me.” Darian’s voice was low.
Jenn lowered her weapons. She’d heard the crunch of snow beneath boots indicating someone had appeared without her seeing anyone. Darian was only a few feet away, a testament to his stealthy magic. She looked around, the prey she’d been stalking in the forest before dawn now lost. She’d found Darian instead. Warmly dressed and well-armed, Jenn nonetheless felt the predawn chill tickle her neck.
“What’re you doing here, Darian?” she asked.
“Tracking Others. You?”
“You’re certain they were Others?”
“You really need me to answer that question?” Darian snorted in amusement, though she heard the note of tension in his voice.
“I followed Jonny.”
His sudden disappearances without her made more sense. If Darian tracked Others here, she tracked Jonny, and neither was there … they’d gone somewhere together.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Darian asked.
“Why would he be working with them? What would he have to gain?”
“There’s no telling with a Black God.”
“He’s not like Czerno. He has some level of restraint.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Jenn. It sounds like he’s the one manipulating you.”
“My magic no longer works on him, but I’d know if he was messing with my head,” she replied coldly.
“Then you’re deluding yourself.” Darian’s voice carried a dark note, one that made her uncomfortable alone with him in the dark forest. “A Black God does not know restraint.”
“What god does?”
“Is that for me? Cuz you started this mess.”
She rolled her eyes. “Can you track where they went?”
“Gone. Immortal world is my guess.”
Darian’s boots crunched snow as he moved closer. Jenn resisted the urge to leave, wanting to pretend things were as normal as possible between them. Running from a man like Darian would only make him chase her; this much she knew.
“Funny thing is he asked me if I knew where the portal was last night,” she said. “I thought he needed to know for his own purposes.”
“Maybe they blindfold him. What did you tell him?”
“I lied.”
“Speaking of lying, manipulating females,” Darian said, tone lighter. “I brought you something. Hold out your hand.”
“Better be a cheeseburger,” she grunted. She held out a hand. “I haven’t eaten a decent meal in weeks.”
“You and I are probably the only people who consider cheeseburgers a food group.”
He placed something small in her palm. Jenn’s cold hand closed around it as she struggled to identify it. She finally recognized the shape of the necklace she’d given Darian the day before.
“I thought you had to return this,” she said in a hushed voice.
“I did.”
“And … what?” she asked when he said no more.
“It’s taken care of.”
Jenn tucked her knife and gun away and replaced the necklace around her neck with clumsy hands. The metal was cold against her warm skin, and she pulled her scarf on tighter once the necklace was where it belonged.
“Thanks, Darian,” she said. “I hope it didn’t cause you too much trouble.”
“More than you realize.”
Jenn gazed in his direction for a long moment, unable to place the dry humor in his voice. Whatever the inside joke was, he wasn’t about to share it and she didn’t ask. The silence grew awkward, and she found herself thinking of the last time they were together. Her blood warmed at the idea of seducing Darian again. Alarmed by emotions Dusty had warned her were permanent, she took a step away.
“I can’t risk being caught not in my assigned spot,” she said.
“Jonny didn’t threaten you, did he?” The dark note was back, the one she didn’t like.
“Not directly. Just made it clear I’m not allowed to leave.”
Darian growled, sounding more animal than human. Jenn started away from him.
“I’ll be fine, Darian,” she called over her shoulder. “Twelve days left. Enough time for me to figure out what Jonny’s doing with the Others. I’m in no danger.”
“Bullshit.”
“If I don’t figure out his plans before the truce is up with Ikir Damian, every Guar
dian on the planet is fucked. They still don’t have their powers back,” she said. “I can’t have you distract me from my mission right now.”
“Interesting choice of words. In any case, considering I’m the one that broke the balance between good and evil, immortal and mortal, you aren’t the one with the fates of the Guardians on your shoulders.”
“I can help fix it.”
“It’s not your personal responsibility to make this right.”
“Would you do differently?” she demanded, facing him. He’d been following her, this time silently, and she was surprised at how close he was.
“No,” he said. “But I wouldn’t try to do it alone, either.”
“This coming from the man who drops into secret meetings of Others?”
“Don’t make me pull rank,” he warned. “Because the Grey God’s orders trump your better judgment every time.”
Jenn grated her teeth. He wasn’t going to be dissuaded. That he remained so calm when she felt ready to explode again only made her tenser. It was too dark for her to see his features, but she heard his resolve.
“We can talk about the fact you’d have no issue working with any other Guardian but me if you want,” he offered. “I’m giving you an easy out. Just say yes, no more secrets about this mission, we’ll work together from here on out, yadda yadda, and we can move on.”
“Very well. You can help me, so long as you don’t get in the way,” she replied. Jenn turned and walked towards the fortress again.
“Thank you, ikira.”
She bit her tongue and marched back to the lair, just as snow began to fall again. Vamps awaited her in the foyer. She readied herself for a fight, making certain none of them had orders to jump her yet, and then continued to the panoramic window. Snow fell heavily outside. Jenn brushed flakes from her jacket and sat, changing boots. She found a supply room and acquired several pairs of boots, fully knowing she’d come back with wet feet every time she left.
A glance towards Darian showed his intense gaze on her, not the vamps surrounding them. He looked away and turned his back to her, stance guarded as he paced short distances back and forth, like a caged panther. Jenn couldn’t help feeling more comfortable here than in the forest, when it was just the two of them. He ceased pacing and cocked his head to the side.
“I’ve got three,” Darian said for her ears only.
“Maybe they’re with Jonny.”
“I’ll check it out.”
Before she could ask to go with him, he Traveled. Jenn tied her boots quickly and swapped out jackets. She darted to the door and whipped it open, trying hard to sense if Darian reappeared close enough for her to follow. A moment passed, and her frozen breath drifted upwards.
“I know you’re not paying room and board, but you’re running up the bill,” the Black God said from inside the fortress.
Jenn turned and closed the door. The Black God looked around him, disoriented, as if he’d been dropped into the foyer and not Traveled there himself. She wondered if Darian was right about the Others blindfolding him somehow.
“Darian was here. Said he found some Others nearby,” she said, watching Jonny carefully.
“I need more heads for my collection,” the Black God said with vehemence. “I’m losing vamps right and left to them.”
“They’ve started attacking?” she asked, unable to detect any duplicity in the anger he directed at the Others.
“Yesterday. It’s another reason I was so harsh with you last night,” he explained. “If you go back to Damian, I have no leverage to get him to help me.”
After her discovery in the forest, Jenn wasn’t certain what to believe. The Black God didn’t give off any of the signs she knew would mean he was lying. His anger looked too real to be faked. If he wasn’t working with Others, then what was going on?
“Something isn’t right,” she voiced.
“More than you know,” he replied. “How do I fight an enemy I can’t see until it’s wiped out a few dozen of my vamps?”
“Darian can.”
“Until you leave.” The flash of darkness crossed Jonny’s face again. “Then where am I?”
“The Grey God is sworn to help,” Jenn reminded him. “He’ll rid the planet of anything that comes from the immortal world to threaten us.”
“No, Jenn,” the Black God said with a shake of his head. “I’ve heard about the Grey God that existed long ago. Xander told me everything. I know why he was killed. It’ll happen again.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“The Grey God existed for a very short time, and he was supposed to balance out the two worlds. But he didn’t, Jenn. Darian was born in the immortal world. He belongs to that world. He will end ours to preserve his.”
“Jonny, that’s not true. Darian is a Guardian first and foremost. He’s sworn to protect our world.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“It’s the same with every Guardian.”
Jonny gazed at her for a long moment, more troubled than ever. He glanced at his vamps, several of which had moved closer while pretending not to listen. Jenn held her ground when the Black God marched towards her. He took her arm and hauled her down the hall and up the stairs to his chamber. Jenn bristled, but Jonny locked the door and ignored her, striding to his desk.
He dug out his black notebook from the depths of a desk drawer and held it out to her. She hesitated then took it, trying not to act too eager to read its secrets. She’d been looking for it for weeks now.
Jonny flung off his coat and boots then sat in a chair in the living area, brooding.
Jenn approached when he stilled. She shrugged out of her coat without releasing the notebook and sat across from him on the black couch. The notebook was filled with diary-like entries. She flipped through it.
“What am I looking for?” she asked.
“This was Czerno’s before it was mine.”
She looked up, surprised.
“My entries start where the red string is. He didn’t write in it the last month or so before his death, but look at his last entry.”
She did so, hands almost shaking in anticipating. This was the Holy Grail for a spy! The plots and minds of two Black Gods in the palm of her hand!
Jenn flipped to the string and read the short entry. She frowned.
“Read it aloud,” Jonny ordered, leaning forward.
Jenn obeyed. “They’re going to get rid of me. This much has been clear for months, since the Oracle made her appearance. It was so before the Schism, when the White God took an Oracle as his bride and was himself betrayed. If I am fortunate, I will have the Grey God at my command before my demise. They cannot destroy me when I will determine which world survives.”
“Which world survives,” Jonny repeated. “Now, read my entry from the day I met Xander, four weeks ago today.”
Jenn flipped. Jonny’s handwriting was harder to read, tiny and tight, where Czerno’s held a calligraphic flair.
“He promised to take me to the immortal records when he finds the door to the immortal realm, the ones that will tell me about the Grey God,” she read. “If we can’t stop the Grey God, the mortal world will not survive. Jonny, what are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you that Darian is about to destroy one world. It is his destiny as the Grey God. It almost happened millennia ago. It will happen this time,” the Black God said. “The Others want to prevent it. They showed me what they can do and wiped out every vamp I have on the East Coast. I thought the Guardians were cursed without their magic, but the Others can’t track them. Instead, they track and kill my vamps. I hate them, but I finally threw my hat in the ring with them to stop Darian and to stop them from slaughtering my people.”
She heard his words but couldn’t quite digest that Darian would knowingly destroy any world. Jonny and his predecessor clearly believed the Grey God was a danger to their own world.
“He has no choice. And he won’t pick ours, Jenn,” Jonn
y continued. “Xander said he spoke to the Oracle, and the Oracle confirmed that one world would die.”
He won’t pick ours. Jonny’s words bounced around in her thoughts as she recalled the look Darian had given the portal they stumbled upon. He’d been yearning and delighted, even claiming the immortal world to be heaven.
“No, Jonny. He won’t forsake his duty,” she said and rose, agitated.
“What makes you so certain?”
Two weeks ago, she wouldn’t have known which way Darian would go. But he’d changed again. He would hold his duty over his fascination with the immortal world. Especially if he saw it as she did. The world was in shambles.
“I know he won’t,” she said. “Are you certain one world must die?”
“Why do you think the Grey God existed and then was killed? This time, Xander says Darian’s fate is not the same as his predecessor. But neither has his choice changed.”
“There’s nothing that would make him choose the immortal world over ours.”
“What motivation does he have to choose our world?” Jonny argued, approaching her. His agitated air was filled with magic. “The Others told me he was enslaved by a Black God. There’s no Black God in the immortal world!”
“There are no humans there, either,” she pointed out. “As the White God, he was sworn to protect humanity.”
“As Grey God, he’s destined to destroy a world. Are you comfortable saying it won’t be ours?”
“Yes, I am!”
“I’m not. And if I can’t protect my world, I’ll find a way to destroy him.”
“Jonny, he’s not your enemy,” she said. “The Others are your enemies. They’re setting you up to betray you.”
“They won’t, not if they want …” Jonny ran his fingers through his hair. “I made them a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” she breathed.
“One that will see my vamps protected and the worlds both survive.”
“Jonny—”
He held up a hand. “It also might save our world, Jenn. They’re going to stop attacking Guardians, too, and they’re going to focus on Darian. Xander says they can’t kill him, but maybe they can keep him from destroying our world.”