The Grey God (War of Gods 4) (29 page)

Four lives down.

Darian awoke feeling as if he’d just survived a hurricane. He’d had another of his episodes; his body hurt as it always did. One second, he’d been in the immortal world. The next …

“Jenn!” he breathed.

He threw off the covers, gaze sweeping the room. It was his room at Damian’s. Darian yanked open the door and strode into the hallway.

“Sofi!” He pounded on her door before opening it. Her room was empty. “Bianca! Yully!”

“I’m here, Darian,” Bianca’s voice came from down the hall. She appeared at the top of the stairwell.

“Bianca, where’s Jenn?” he demanded.

“Darian …”

He saw the answer on her face and stopped. “Where’s Sofi?”

“Resting. She had Adrian. Darian,” Bianca said quickly as he turned away, “we can’t find Damian, Dusty, or Jule.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, they’re still gone.”

“What does Sofi say?” Darian’s body rippled with power and emotion.

“She says they’re alive but she can’t find them.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“I’ll wake her up. She’s in the study.”

Darian retreated to his room and pulled on clothes. His hands shook as he fumbled to lace his boots. He wouldn’t think the worse, not unless Sofi confirmed it. He didn’t know how he left the immortal world, but if he made it, Jenn could. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met. She
must
survive; he wanted nothing to do with a world if she wasn’t in it.

He jogged down to the study, stopping at the sight of the bassinet beside Sofi’s favorite chair. A tiny form, with white-blond hair and swathed in a blanket, slept peacefully. The Oracle looked exhausted, worry on her features. Bianca was pacing.

The sight of the child hammered home his desire for a future with Jenn.

“Sofi, tell me she’s not dead,” he said. His heart pounded hard.

“I don’t know. I can’t See anything. It’s like my vision is being jammed. I can See other things, but nothing about any of us. Or Damian. The Watchers said they’d be safe. I thought when we got back, they’d be here.” The note of distress in her voice was echoed on Bianca’s face.

Darian was pensive. He stepped closer to the bassinet and peered at the sleeping child.

“I’ll find them, Sofi and Bianca, I swear it,” he said. “There are Others and Watchers on the planet. They must’ve escaped before the immortal world collapsed. No one could do this but them, especially to an Original like Jule. Where’s Yully?”

“Sleeping. She’s been up with me for over a day,” Sofi said. “Bianca knocked her out.”

“I think I know where to start,” he said, focusing on the sense that told him where the immortal intruders were. “Sofi, can you see Jenn?”

“I can’t see anything, Darian.”

“How did I get back?”

Bianca and Sofi shared a look before Sofi said grudgingly, “Xander brought you.”

“And where is he?”

“Gone. We think he went after Jule, but we don’t know. Something about how Originals stick together,” Bianca said.

“Even if he finds them, he won’t help us. I traded my trump cards,” Sofi added. “Darian, you have to find them.”

Darian nodded, hearing the strain in her voice. His gaze went to Damian’s son again.

“I’ll go now. What of the Guardians, were they brought back?”

“With their powers. Whatever you did down there, you reset the balance,” Bianca said. “Jonny … I don’t think he’ll wait for the truce to be up.” Her words were hushed.

“It’s okay, Bianca. You know he loves you, but he has a duty to fulfill,” he said. “Sofi, did you recall Pierre from his vacation?”

“He’s on his way back.”

“If anything happens, contact me,” Darian ordered. “Anything, Sofi.”

She nodded.

Darian left them in the study, wired with energy. He located the nearest Watcher and Traveled, appearing in a small attic. The Watcher turned away from the window, surprise on its face.  Darian snatched it by the neck and slammed it against the wall.

“Talk,” he snarled.

“They’re alive.”

“
Who
is alive?”

“Your brothers.”

“What did you do to them?”

“Saved them.”

“Bullshit!” Darian said and shook the small creature. “If you lie, I’ll snap your neck and move on to the next one.”

“
Ikir,
I am serious. The Others planned to snatch them all. If they couldn’t find them, they couldn’t take them.”

“Where could you hide them that no one can find them?”

“You were supposed to close the gateways,” the Watcher said with a note of sadness. “The immortal world is gone.”

“Because you brought your war here!”

“Because there was no other way.”

The Watcher Traveled, disappearing from Darian’s grip. He spun as the creature materialized on the other end of the attic.

“Now I can hunt you all down one by one. You can’t disappear into the immortal world. Fish in a barrel,” he said.

“Your kind is not exactly protected against us. You can’t stop us all.”

“I think sending a message or two of what happens if you fuck with my family will be enough.”

“For us, yes,” the Watcher said. “We’ve never meant any harm to you. For the Others, it’s a different story.”

“You’ve always used us.”

“Whatever you think, it’s for the greater good. We set this chain of events in motion before the Schism. It was necessary.”

Darian wanted to destroy him, but he needed to know where his little brother was first. He drew a calming breath.

“
Ikir,
I can take you to them.”

“Do it.”

The Watcher held out his hand. Darian took it, and they Traveled to a locker cold enough for his expelled breath to hang in the air. Three bodies were lain out on three separate tables.

“They’re frozen,” he said, shocked.

“A form of stasis. Neither living nor dead. Off the Others’ radar. We used magic on their minds and the freezer for their bodies. They’re undetectable.”

Darian strode to Damian’s side, touching his cold skin. Panic rose within him at the thought of losing his little brother, especially now that Damian was a father.

“They could’ve interfered with our plan.”

“You’ve used everyone to win a war that none of us understood. How can you consider yourself acting in the greater good?” he snapped, moving to Dusty’s body next.

“This was the only outcome we could allow. You were the only one who could do it. You never would’ve done what you did if we didn’t … stack the deck, I believe you say here.”

Darian wanted to explode, release the fury and energy within him.

“It had to be done.” The Watcher’s words grew quieter.

“Tell me how to wake them up.”

“Bianca.”

“That’s it? No aftereffects?”

“None that we know of. We’ve never frozen immortals before.”

Darian looked at the Watcher, who seemed amused at the idea.

“We will not interfere with your hunt of the Others,” the Watcher added. “We are … content here now.”

“I’m not content with you here.”

“You may need us to help with the Others,” the Watcher continued, ignoring Darian’s words. “You may call upon us as needed. We moved our magic source into this world in anticipation of your actions. The Others were not so fortunate, though the Originals all escaped. We’d rather they didn’t.” The Watcher looked at Jule’s still body.

Darian felt sick, understanding just how cunning the Watchers had been in their pursuit of destroying their enemies, the Others. They’d been patient, setting up their ultimate victory over the course of tens of thousands of years.

When the Others were dead, he’d turn his hunt to the Watchers. He needed Jenn to help him plan how to track the hundreds of creatures on the earth with the power to do what they want, unopposed, except for him. His odds were better than they had been against thousands of them.

Jenn had a mind for strategy. Darian’s spirits dampened. She had to be alive. He couldn’t believe otherwise, not after all he’d been through to keep her. He’d even made his peace with Claire before feeding the treacherous bitch to the sociopathic Original Vamp. Her second death wouldn’t be as quick or painless as her first at Damian’s hands.

Darian wanted to ask about Jenn but didn’t. He feared the answer, and he’d never let one of these creatures see him vulnerable. He glanced towards the Watcher to find the space empty.

“Hang in there, little brother,” he whispered to Damian and then Traveled back to the study.

Sofi and Bianca sat, one on each side of the bassinet, peering into it at the fidgeting baby god within.

“Bianca.” Darian motioned her over.

She approached, a sad smile on her face. Darian couldn’t help but pity her as well; her eyes were circled with black and puffy, as if she’d been crying recently. He held out his hand, and she took it without question. When they reached the meat locker housing her mate, Darian planted both hands on her shoulders before she turned.

“They’re alive. Don’t freak out. You just have to bring them back.”

She frowned and pulled away, twisting to see the three bodies. She gasped and rushed to Dusty’s side, touching his face with her hands.

“Oh, god, Darian!” Her voice rose in panic.

“They’re alive, remember? Just do what you do,” he said, remaining where he was. Already, he felt her magic in the air as she channeled it into her mate. He waited and watched, tense.

After a long moment, the color returned to the assassin’s face. A few minutes later, Dusty sat up suddenly, sucking in air and gazing around him wildly.

“What the fuck happened?” he breathed. “Where are those fucking little green-eyed trolls that did this to us?”

Bianca threw her arms around him. Dusty’s frame relaxed. Darian watched them hug, until the ache at his core grew too strong. He moved to Damian’s side, grateful his brother would soon be back on his feet. He smiled, wondering how Damian would react when he found out about his son.

Darian’s thoughts grew darker as he thought again of Jenn. He may never have the chance to hold his own child. He’d never take another mate. He let himself admit a thought he didn’t want to face: that if Xander had brought him back and not Jenn, there might’ve been a reason.

“Bianca, can I leave you here with them?” he asked, restless. “I need to go.”

“Yes, of course.” The Healer’s voice radiated happiness that made Darian sink lower into the black thoughts in his mind.

He left them, Traveling to the portal in the desert. The sun had set, and the bright moon made the sand glow like snow. He crouched next to the circle Jenn had drawn around the portal. He reached forward and rested his hand where the gateway had been. His hand didn’t sink into another world. It remained on the sand.

He sat back and stared at the portal listlessly, knowing the immortal world was no more. He couldn’t remember what happened, only that one of his episodes had come on when he was in the pillar of magic. He didn’t know how Yully and Charles made it back or if Jenn had been with them. He’d blacked out then, waking in his room.

Furious at his own weakness, Darian lay back and stared at the sky. His magic danced around him, bending starlight and night into a subtle light show. He watched it. If Jenn escaped, she’d have contacted him by now. He’d felt her surrender in their final kiss. She wouldn’t run from him again. Of all the magic he contained, none of it would bring her back.

He’d lost her as soon as he finally won her, all because he couldn’t control the spells he still suffered from his years in slavery. He’d saved the world and lost his partner.

Darian watched the sky turn from dark to dawn, unconcerned with the chilly desert morning. Only when the sun peeked over the horizon did he decide to leave, preferring a dark place where he could dwell with his dark thoughts. He checked the portal one last time then stood, turning away. His heart felt like a brick in his stomach.

“Hey.” Damian stood a few feet away.

“Hey, little brother. Glad to see you’re not a Popsicle anymore.”

“Even Bianca can’t get rid of the headache. I don’t know what possessed them to freeze us.”

“I’ll kick their asses. Don’t worry,” Darian assured him. “I saw Adrian.”

“That’s, ah … wow. Wasn’t expecting that.” Damian said then grinned. “I’ve got a lot to learn about being a dad.”

“You’ll do fine. You’ve always excelled at everything you’ve done.”

“You raised me. I know the lessons you taught me will help him turn out well.”

Darian smiled, touched by the words.

“How are
you
?” Damian asked.

“I’ve got nine lives. I’ll survive,” Darian replied.

“I’m really proud of you and the girls, Darian. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Darian agreed softly. “I’m probably gonna start hunting down Others today. The Watchers made a mess of this.”

“I’ll help you. There’s got to be a way to track and mark them. Jule and I have a few ideas.”

“We’ll worry about it later. Go home. Enjoy your family, D.”

“They’re your family, too, Darian,” Damian said firmly.

“I know.”

“We’re moving the headquarters again. Seems like the Black God is done playing. His vamps started stalking our Guardians this morning, and I lifted the ceasefire mandate.”

“Good to know.”

“Whenever you’re ready, we’ll be in northern California,” Damian said. “Also, there was some sort of disturbance reported near the local Guardians’ station. Might be some guardsmen loose in Mexico who escaped before the immortal world collapsed. I told them you might be by.”

“I’ll check it out,” Darian said, grateful for something to do. “I’ll be by later.”

Damian studied him, the White God’s power swirling in the space between them. Darian sensed his concern but couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. Not yet. Maybe in a few thousand years, after he’d killed every Other and Watcher he could get his hands on and found some way to numb his pain. He’d go home then. For now, he couldn’t fathom an existence in a home filled with a family when he’d lost his other half.

“Take care, Darian,” Damian said.

“You, too, little brother.”