by Lizzy Ford
* * *
“Really, Jule?”
Jule chuckled. He’d sensed the arrival of his brother just before Yully left the cottage. Dusty slammed the door behind him and entered the living room, his sharp gaze taking in every dark corner before he sat. The man looked like an ancient Greek prince with blond hair and chiseled features.
“I figured you’d never settle for a woman,” Dusty said. “Especially that one.”
“I don’t think we control it,” Jule replied, looking him over. “You’re pretty well armed for a social visit.”
“You just put me in an awkward position.”
Jule studied him. “You came to kill her.”
“The Watchers paid a visit to Damian. Little bastards said she had to die. They wanted your head, too, but Damian set ’em straight,” Dusty replied. “But yes, I came to kill her, until I saw the medallion.”
“This is going to give Damian some heartache with the Watchers.”
“Not at all. Damian will tell them to go to hell. He wouldn’t order your mate killed any more than he would his.”
“The thing is, I’m not sure she’ll make it out of this alive anyway,” Jule said and rubbed the back of his neck. “Damian and I spent months in Europe trying to figure out why our Guardians were disappearing here. The Others weren’t just helping Czerno, they were killing them off, too. My … mate’s house is sitting on the bodies of tens of thousands of Guardians.”
“Tell me she didn’t know,” Dusty said and sat forward. “If you want her gone …”
“No, Dusty,” Jule said. “She didn’t know. She’s in a rough spot.”
“We’ve figured out the Others are creating some sort of weapon.”
“Old news, Dust-man. She is the weapon.”
Dusty was quiet, and Jule searched the floor for his shirt and jacket. He had an Other to stalk.
“That doesn’t bode well for either of you,” Dusty said at last.
“Tell D if anyone kills her, it’ll be me,” Jule replied.
“It won’t come to that.”
“I hope not. I need some of your toys, Dusty.”
The assassin obliged without question, stripping off weapons and handing them to Jule. Jule positioned them around his body.
“D’s coming soon, Jule,” Dusty said quietly. “He’s getting ready to make a stand against the Other. Whatever you need to do, do it fast. The minute he sets foot in Ireland, there will be no way to keep things quiet.”
“Got it,” Jule said.
“I’ll let D know what’s going on. Take my phone. I’ll get another.”
“Dusty.” Jule looked up from strapping a knife to his calf and accepted the phone. “Thanks.”
The assassin gave a trace of a smile, closed his eyes, and disappeared.
Armed and ready, Jule Transported himself to the Guardians’ local station, where he startled Rourk.
“Contact my second-in-command, Sasha, and tell him to discreetly send me a couple dozen Guardians,” Jule ordered. “And, all the Naturals who can Transport.”
“Will do. Thought you might be interested in something I found in Sean’s notebook,” Rourk said and rose, handing it to him. “He’d long thought the girl and her father were unusual. He kept notes on when they visited town and where they went.”
Jule took it. Rourk had highlighted several portions of Sean’s tiny, neat writing.
“The girl visited the town nearly every weekend, and her father accompanied her once every few weeks. It’s all pretty boring stuff: shit they ate and drank, the license plates on their vehicles, typical surveillance stuff,” Rourk said. He leaned forward to flip a couple of pages. “Until you get to here. This was only a few days ago, when we all lost our magic.”
Jule read through the portion dated four days ago, when the Black God’s mantle had changed hands.
They stayed till closing, and I followed him out. He was driving … Jule skipped through the details of Yully’s car.… Another figure followed them. The unidentified male was seven feet tall, dark hair, with eyes that glowed like a vamp’s. I couldn’t read him; my powers were gone as of that morning. I obeyed the emergency protocol issued earlier in the day and didn’t approach the vamp. He followed the Other and the girl. The Other didn’t notice him, perhaps because of the strange issues affecting magic. The entry went on with no more mention of the mysterious vamp.
“I thought it was weird, because we haven’t seen a vamp in over a year anywhere in Ireland. I’d have noticed a seven-foot-tall vamp, and even if we didn’t, the Other would’ve,” Rourk said. “It might mean nothing, but I wanted to tell you.”
Xander. Jule recognized the description of the Original Vamp.
Another memory emerged, one that reminded him that long ago, he’d been assigned to ease Damian’s transition to the White God, which was how he met Cassandra, a human, in the mortal realm. An Original was released at the transition of a Black or White God in the mortal world to ensure the immortals didn’t try to take over during the vulnerable period when a new God learned his powers. Jule had chosen to stay with Cassandra instead of returning to the immortal realm when the Schism occurred.
Find me when you’re ready. The Oracle will know where I am, Xander had said.
“Jule?” Rourk asked at his silence.
“It means nothing.” Pulling himself from his spotty memories, Jule looked up at an expectant Rourk. He wasn’t sure what was going on, and he wasn’t about to worry Rourk more by admitting there was a seven-foot vamp with unlimited power loose somewhere. “I think Sean made a mistake.”
“I suspected as much,” Rourk said. “I think we’d know if there was one in town.”
Jule offered a smile and handed the journal back to the Guardian. “I’ll be back later. Watch your back until I have someone else assigned to station.”
“No worries,” Rourk said.
“I’ll bring in someone quick,” Jule said.
“I took Sean’s job at the pub. Figured it’d keep my mind off things,” Rourk replied. “Sean was like a brother to me.”
Jule heard the quiet note of sorrow in the Guardian’s voice. He and Sean had been assigned together at the station for over a decade. He patted Rourk on the shoulder.
“Do what you need to, Rourk. If you need a vacation or anything, take it.”
“Thanks, Jule.”
Spirits dampened, Jule watched Rourk leave for the pub before Transporting himself to the forest side of the Other’s property. He opened his senses. Yully wouldn’t be home yet, and there was no tingling of power that would indicate the Other was present. He Transported himself into Yully’s room and looked around briefly before stepping into the quiet hallway.
An hour later, he returned to Yully’s room empty-handed. He stood there, frustrated, as another thought hit him. He wasn’t sure what he sought, but he’d hoped to find some trace either of the Guardians the Other killed or the Other itself. The Other’s bedchamber had been empty, as if the otherworldly creature was permanently gone. Jule crossed to Yully’s wardrobe on a hunch and opened it. It, too, was empty, as if the Other had fled and was taking Yully with him.
The hair on the back of his neck rose, and he tensed, waiting for the creature to materialize.
“Are you done playing these games?” the Watcher asked.
“What games, Watcher? You have all the keys to this puzzle,” Jule replied. He faced the small man with glowing green eyes.
“You have them, too. You’re refusing to see that.”
“If I had the keys, I’d use them!”
“Xander visited you, didn’t he?”
“Nothing but a fever dream,” Jule said.
“You know that’s not true.”
“You want me to believe I’m an Original Being?” Jule asked, amused. “I have Guardian powers and nothing else.”
“If you returned to the immortal realm with me, I-- ”
“No.”
“So you’d rather stay here and watch
the world fall apart,” the Watcher said. “You’ve always been a selfish creature, Jule. You chose a human and serving the White God over the immortal realm at the Schism, despite the need for your power by your fellow immortals.”
Jule was quiet, trying hard to remember something from before the Schism besides brief glimpses of Darian and Damian.
“If what you say is true, and I am an Original Being, I would’ve been released to ensure Damian’s transition to the White God went over smoothly. But it didn’t, did it,” he said slowly, thinking hard. “It couldn’t, not with you and the Others at war with each other. You tried to bring that war here.”
“Common knowledge the war spilled over,” the Watcher snapped.
“The only thing that prevented you from succeeding was …” Jule said. Tension hung in the air between them. “It was me, wasn’t it?”
The Watcher said nothing.
“And now, you want me and Damian to run the Others off,” Jule finished. “You’re using us.”
“I’m protecting you.”
Jule laughed. “Gods, I never thought I’d hear the truth from a vamp first!”
“If you find Xander, you must tell me where he is.” The Watcher stepped forward. “He hides from us too well.”
“Lucky bastard.”
The Watcher’s face reddened. “Jule, you don’t understand what-- ”
“I’m starting to understand,” Jule said, temper at its limit. “You exiled me for trying to protect the mortal realm. Did you see what I did as a betrayal, because I chose my role as a Guardian over helping you wipe out the Others and anyone else in the way?”
“I’ve tried to help you, Jule. Good luck finding her without me.” The Watcher disappeared in a flicker of light.
Jule felt the sudden loss of the connection between Yully and him like the heat going out on a cold winter night. Furious, he paced. Pissing off the Watchers was never a good thing. Despite their ambivalent position on humanity, they’d been somewhat helpful thus far. Yet no part of him regretted the idea of chopping them out of the picture completely. If he was what everyone seemed to think he was, he didn’t need them. He needed his power.
Find me when you’re ready. The Oracle will know where I am.
He needed to find a vamp named Xander.