The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) (10 page)

“The last thing you want is them coming
after you,” Charles advised.

Jonny considered. He hated the idea the more
he thought about it. Damian would never admit he couldn’t handle
his own people, and the White and Grey Gods looked down on him
already because he was relatively new compared to the
ten-thousand-year-old immortals. They treated him like he was a
kid. He had spent enough time working with them to fight Others to
know what to expect and now, he wanted them out of his life and
domain.

“No Damian,” he said. “I’ll ask Xander to
run interference.”

Charles said nothing. Jonny often suspected
his advisor didn’t approve of his choice of occasional mentor, but
Charles wasn’t about to speak out against the Original Vamp
either.

“I’ll go warn him now.” Jonny Traveled to
the beach where he met Xander. The ocean soothed some of his angst,
and he waited in the quiet night for the huge vamp to appear.

“What?” Xander demanded.

This sucks.
Jonny hated to admit weakness, especially when he
knew how far he’d come the past few years. He wasn’t the same
scared teen who killed a god and assumed his place. He was the
master of a broken domain without the knowledge of how to fix
it.

“My vamp problem is bigger than I let on,”
he allowed.

“Figured.” Xander drew abreast of him, his
red eyes glowing in the night.

“Half my vamps have gone rogue in protest of
me being the Black God. They’ve started acting out, and it won’t
take long for Damian to get involved.”

Xander listened. Jonny looked at him
briefly. If Xander had any idea what he was doing with Brandon and
Ash, he’d have confronted him rather than waited for Jonny to
summon him. This secret was safe, at least for now.

“I need some space and time to hunt them
down,” he finished.

“Hmm. How are you handling the
traitors?”

“The way you taught me. No mercy,” Jonny
said. “I’d rather have half as many who are loyal than risk the
others betraying me again.”

“Betrayal’s a bitch.”

Jonny glanced at him. Uneasiness slid
through him for reasons he couldn’t really identify, aside from the
fact he’d heard those words from Ashley the day before. He wanted
to think he hadn’t betrayed her, that he’d put space between them
when he realized she was more than a means to an end. He’d done it
out of concern for her best interest as well as his. At the end of
the day, she was a good girl, and he was the leader of creatures
that preyed on humans.

“I knew you had potential.” Xander smiled.
“In that case, I’ll talk to Damian. No guarantees. He won’t take
the loss of human life lightly.”

“Have him give me a month.”

“You think you can clean up the mess by
then?”

“I have a plan,” Jonny replied. “If I can’t
handle it, I’ll go to Damian.”

He wasn’t about to admit it had been four
months and he was struggling to track the rogue vamps. But with
Brandon’s help and their new talisman, in addition to the Trackers
they planned to vamp, he had a shot at succeeding.

“I owe you. Again,” Jonny said
unhappily.

“We’ve got an eternity to settle up.”

Jonny didn’t want to think about how many
favors he’d owe over a lifetime of being an immortal. He promised
himself not to come to Xander again. He had already lost track of
what he owed Xander. The vamp was dangerous, even if he did seem to
want Jonny to succeed.

And if Xander ever found out about Jonny’s
interactions with Brandon and Ashley, he could imagine the vamp
cutting him off completely if not siding with Damian and helping
the White God destroy Jonny’s vamps. His situation was always
precarious. The politics he’d learned to play as the Black God, the
balance he struck between needing human blood to live and killing
only when necessary in order to stay under the radar. He didn’t
sweat lying to Xander, but he knew better than to turn a completely
blind eye to the danger the large vamp posed if Jonny wasn’t
careful and focused on the bigger picture.

Jonny started to leave before recalling the
question he asked every time they met. He had to give the
appearance nothing had changed.

“How’s the fam?” he asked.

“None of your business,” replied Xander.

Satisfied the vamp had no idea, Jonny nodded
and Traveled back to his room.

The ginger-haired girl from the rooftop
Friday night awaited him in bed.

“Hey,” she said and sat up with a smile.
“How was work?”

Jonny sat to take off his shoes. Most days,
he appreciated the sense of normality his spellbound dinners
provided. Today, however, he couldn’t help thinking it’d be nice
for once to be able to talk to someone honestly about how concerned
he was about his empire.

“Great,” he replied. “Lots of busy work from
the boss.”

“You should tell him you need real
work.”

Jonny snorted. “Yeah. Not sure he’ll listen.
How was your day?” He forced himself to ask, already knowing the
answer. He’d brainwashed her upon leaving this morning so she’d
think she spent the day at her mother’s when she’d actually been
stuck in one of the rooms down the hallway.

“Great. I went to my mom’s and …”

Jonny ignored her response. It wouldn’t be
her he confided in. It took him a week to drain one of his victims.
He wanted no real connection to any of them, for they all met the
same fate. The temporary companionship was pleasant. He loved
falling asleep with a woman in his arms and loved the
no-strings-attached relationships even more. He had the best of
both worlds: dinner, sex and a new woman every week.

It wasn’t possible for his life to be
normal, no matter how he missed the sense of companionship that
came with having real friends or a girlfriend.

He was the Black God. He was never supposed
to be anything more than the leader of the vampires. He’d accepted
that, though it didn’t mean he couldn’t find some solace in the
warm body of his victims before ending their lives.

“How do you kill a god?” Ashley asked
several days later at the weekly family dinner.

Everyone around the dinner table froze.

She glanced up from the home cooked meal
made by none other than a vampire that didn’t eat real food. Xander
had stumbled into celebrity stardom and was still king of the
networks with his cooking show and the ongoing television series
about a vampire trying to fit into the human world. He had met
Ashley’s cousin Jessi when she was sent by Jonny to be his personal
assistant – and to steal a necklace of great power Xander
possessed. Their perfect love story was one that made Ashley swoon
and her heart flutter every time she thought about it until she
recalled her own foolish involvement and Jonny betraying everyone
she loved.

Jessi was staring at her hard, though Xander
appeared unfazed, as usual. The large vamp was sawing through raw
steak, his backup food source to human blood.

“How do you kill a dog?”
echoed the raven-haired three-year-old son of Xander and Jessi
seated beside Brandon. The child had begun repeating everything his
elders said several months before. Ashley was always amused,
especially when an occasional
fuck
he’d learned from Xander slipped out and threw the
house into chaos.

“Why do you ask?” Jessi was the first to
speak, her maternal defensiveness always on high alert.

“Just curious.” Ashley shrugged.

“Brandon,” Jessi snapped.

“Why are you looking at me?” Brandon
replied. “I didn’t ask!”

The baby in the next room began crying.
Jessi rose immediately. “This isn’t over!” she called over her
shoulder.

When she was gone, Xander sat back.

“This isn’t over,” repeated Alex.

Ashley returned her gaze to her food. It was
impossible to lie to Xander. She shouldn’t have said a word, but
the question wasn’t one she could ask anyone else.

“You don’t,” Xander replied in his naturally
gravelly voice.

“Can you do it?” Ashley asked.

“Can you –”

“Alex.” Xander touched the boy’s arm. He
fell silent with a smile.

“Jessi told you not to use mind control on
your son,” Ashley reminded him, entertained.

“If she wants him to survive to adulthood,
she’ll make allowances.”

Brandon laughed and Ashley giggled.

“What was that?” Jessi called from the
living room of the spacious La Jolla mansion overlooking the
ocean.

“Nothing,
kiri
,” Xander replied and
leaned forward and pinned Ashley with a look. “If
you
want to survive to
your next birthday, don’t say another word about it.”

Brandon bit back a laugh, while Ashley
covered her mouth. The most powerful immortal in the universe was
leery of attracting the ire of his short, blonde wife. Their
interactions had always been a source of laughter for Ashley, and
she used the distraction to try to suppress any thoughts of Jonny
the way Xander had taught her when dealing with a mind
manipulator.

“No one can kill Jonny but a godslayer,”
Xander continued.

“I meant in general. Not just him,” she
said. “Like, how does someone kill Darian or –”

“I can read minds, Ash. You know how I feel
about lying and deception.”

Her shoulders sagged. “I know,” she mumbled.
“I just … thought you’d be mad.”

Xander eyed her.

“For the record, I just do what Ash says,”
Brandon said, sensing the vamp’s dissatisfaction.

“Shut up!” She slapped his arm.

“Let me guess. You thought no one knew you
were running around beating up vamps,” Xander went on. “But Jonny
figured it out.”

Ashley sneaked a look at
him. He didn’t
appear
angry, but it was really hard to tell with Xander. “How did
you know about the vamps?”

“The local Guardian station called me.
They’ve been tracking the movements of a certain vigilante, one
they hope to bring into the organization,” Xander replied. “One
they can’t track because said vigilante appears to be a mind
manipulator as well as a Natural warrior, which is virtually
impossible.” He eyed Brandon. “Unless it’s a fighter and mind
manipulator working together.”

Brandon mumbled something under his
breath.

Ashley cleared her throat. “Okay, so yeah.
We’ve been tracking vamps and beating them up. And yeah, Jonny
found out.”

“I couldn’t care at all about the vamps. I
do care about how he found you,” Xander said. “And what his
intentions are.”

She started to reach for the fang scars on
her neck then stopped, knowing this was an interrogation, even if
it occurred over the weekly family dinner.

“He told me we need to back off,” Brandon
replied.

“Me, too,” Ashley seconded.

The uncomfortable quiet was broken up by
Alex banging his spoon on the table. Ashley toyed with her food.
Brandon was staring at his water glass.

“Brandon, take Alex to his room,” Xander
said finally.

Brandon bolted up, and Ashley glared at him
for abandoning her.

When they were gone, Xander rose and
motioned for her to follow him. He led her outside to the private
beach that stretched a quarter mile in each direction. The sun was
close to setting, the ocean breeze cool.

Ashley crossed her arms, sensing she was in
trouble, and walked alongside him.

“I know your motivation for learning to
fight,” Xander started. “I know it’s because of what happened.
You’re not stupid enough to challenge Jonny, are you?”

She sighed in exasperation. “It’s not stupid
to beat up his vamps and help humans!”

“It is if your goal is to get to Jonny.
What’s your plan, Ash?”

“Xander … I …” she stopped, uncertain what
to say that wouldn’t get her in more trouble.

“I can keep him in check when you’re not in
his business. When you cross that line, I’ve got a problem, Ash.
You know how precarious the balance is. You’ve watched me manage it
for the past four years.”

“Yeah,” she agreed softy and kicked at a
shell in the sand before her.

“It doesn’t seem like it, but there are
boundaries. Some I shouldn’t cross but will and some I simply
can’t.”

“What do you mean
can’
t? You’re the most
powerful person in the world,” she said, gazing up at
him.

“And you are a strong woman who deserves the
right to make her own life choices,” he pointed out. “You know what
I could do to you? Fuck with your mind to the point you never have
your own thoughts again? Make you forget who you are? Assign you a
different personality?”

She nodded. Despite knowing what he was, she
had never feared him. He loved Jessi – and her and Brandon – in his
own way.

“That’s a line I can’t cross out of respect
for you. With that comes the responsibility of not interfering in
your life decisions. If you choose to go after Jonny, I’ll make
sure you survive, but I’ll also make sure you learn for yourself
how foolish such a move is. I won’t stop you from fucking up your
life, Ash. I’ll help you fix things when Jonny fucks you up. Just
keep in mind any danger you draw to you is also drawn to
Brandon.”

She listened, understanding she had the
freedom to do as she planned – at a cost. Xander wasn’t going to
bat for her if Jonny followed through on his promise. She recalled
Jonny’s strength and ability to slow her down if he touched her.
Brandon didn’t have the luxury of being able to fight like she did,
though he could at least become invisible to any and all immortals
at will. The defensive mechanism was his only protection from Jonny
and the Guardians.

“I won’t let anything happen to Brandon,”
she whispered. “Jonny’s too afraid of you to do anything bad to
me.”