Damian's Immortal (War of Gods 3) (15 page)

He understood her fear. If he crossed an
Other, he knew exactly what the risk was. The woman before him was
just discovering her power and was on the leash of a creature that
knew neither compassion nor mercy. Jule hesitated only a moment
longer before he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

She leaned into him, yielding as the
intensity of the bond between them grew hot and demanding. Whatever
she’d accidentally done to him in the alley, she’d sealed them
together in a way he never thought possible. Their souls already
linked, all that was left was for their bodies to become one as
well.

“
Stay with me, and he’ll
never hurt you again,” he whispered against her lips. “I swear
it.”

“
You can’t stop what
comes, Jule. Only I can,” she replied. “I can’t stay more than
tonight.”

Her words lit his blood on fire, and he
eased her back against the couch, their magics swirling around
them.

* * *

Yully slept deeply until the next morning
and awoke rested. The bedroom in the cottage was chilly with the
door to the living room closed. The first thing she felt was the
bond to Jule, who was in the next room. It was warm and sweet, like
a summer rain. Their lovemaking seemed to cement what was between
them. Without touching him, she still felt the ebb and flow of
energy.

Her father would notice her absence.

Yully rose and dressed herself, preparing
herself mentally to tell Jule she had to leave him. Her hand rested
on the doorknob. Their bond felt permanent, and she had no idea
what to do about it. She opened the door. He reclined on the couch,
shirtless. Her eyes fell to his frame, and she took him in with
hunger and appreciation. He looked up as she exited the bedroom.
His gaze was calm and intense, and she flushed beneath his
scrutiny.

“
You’re leaving,” he said
before she could speak.

“
I’m afraid I
must.”

“
I brought your
car.”

A heavy silence fell, and she met his gaze
finally. She wasn’t sure what she expected from him, but she was
relieved to see he was neither angry nor sad. Desire rose within
her, and she suppressed it with effort. Her body ached to feel
whole again, as she had last night in his arms. She felt the sense
of being centered for the first time in her life and knew it was
because of the man before her.

“
It wasn’t the last time,”
he said with a small smile.

“
Jule …” she said with a
frown.

“
I told you once,
sweetheart. I’ll always come for you.”

“
Yully. My name is Yully
Hughes.”

“
Nice to meet you finally,
Yully Hughes.” He rose with feline grace from the couch and
approached, hand outstretched.

She took it, and he pulled her in for a hug
that made her sigh.

“
Run where you will,
Yully. I’ll find you.”

“
I don’t know what to
think about that,” she admitted.

“
Consider it a
fact.”

“
And when my father finds
you lurking in the bushes beneath my window?”

He released her and pulled free the necklace
around his neck. Yully eased away as he placed it around her neck.
She touched it, as thrilled to wear his symbol as she had been her
father’s. She lifted both coins and looked down.

“
The stars in the center
mark the generation of an immortal’s bloodline. One being the
first.”

“
You’re third generation,”
she said.

“
The oldest. The first two
generations are extinct, from a time before time. Admittedly, I’m
the youngest of the oldest immortals and the only immortal on Earth
of my generation.”

“
My father is fifth
generation,” she mused.

“
Another ancient
bloodline. There are few of us. Anyway, this is to remind you
there’s always a safe place for you, whenever you’re
ready.”

“
Thank you.” She squeezed
the coins in her hand. “I have to go.”

He kissed her forehead and stepped away.

Yully left him in the cottage, tugging the
door closed behind her. She turned and gasped, staring at the large
man before her. He was dressed in black, and his chiseled features
and striking blue eyes were perfect enough to have been sculptured.
For a long moment, she thought he was there to kill her, with his
severe look and the ready stance.

His gaze dropped to the necklaces at her
neck before he stepped aside. She fled around him and into the car,
locking the doors and speeding away from the cottage.

* * *

“
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.