The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) (22 page)

“You ready to use a little control this
time?” Charles asked.

“Yeeeeeees!”

“Then you can show
ikir
you’re ready to go
out on a raid.” He lifted his chin to indicate something behind
her.

Ashley twisted. Jonny was present, arms
across his chest and dressed as if he, too, were present to spar.
Her emotions surged once more at the sight of him. She didn’t
entirely understand why not all of what she experienced was anger.
He deserved to receive the full force of her fury and
vengeance.

Instead, she found herself admiring the
shape of his tall, muscular frame, his wide shoulders and chest,
flat abs and long, lean thighs, and hated herself more for being
attracted to the person who hurt her more than once.

Charles tossed her the key to her chain.
Ashley unlocked it.

“Ikir,
you’re up,” Charles said. “No rules.”

“So he can use his Travel ability?” Ashley
asked and rose.

“And you can use your speed. It’s a fair
fight.”

There’s no such thing with
Jonny.
Ashley tossed the key and blindfold
back to Charles and turned to Jonny. Whenever they faced off, her
heart began to race and warmth bloomed inside her. “If I win, I’ll
go on a raid.”

“Whether you win or not, I’ll decide later,”
Jonny replied, stoic. He shook his arms out, his athletic form clad
in black workout pants and a loose t-shirt. His intent gaze was on
her as usual, his frame poised.

No part of her was willing to admit he was
probably right about her body giving out on her if she hadn’t
rested. Her urgency to find Brandon was too strong for her to care,
and she had wanted to kill Jonny alongside the rogue vamps when she
awoke and realized how much time had passed.

“Begin,” Charles said. He stepped back to
give them more room.

I wish I had real
knives,
Ashley thought darkly. She drew a
breath and lowered herself into a fighting stance. “Bring
it,
ikir
,” she
ordered.

“Trust me. I will, Natural,” Jonny replied.
The corner of his lips curved up briefly.

Ashley anticipated his first move. He
vanished and reappeared behind her. She smashed an elbow into his
cheek and then kicked. Both blows landed perfectly, and Jonny
cursed before vanishing once more.

She closed her eyes so she could focus her
senses on the faint charge of power preceding his appearance. When
he materialized, he was close enough to knock her off balance as
she twisted out of his reach.

Their lethal dance continued with each of
them landing blows and neither getting much of an edge on the
other. Ashley hated knowing he was able to win easily. He could
move fast enough to touch her, and a single touch was all it took
for him to cripple her from the inside out with his power. But he
didn’t this time. He seemed genuinely interested in facing her on
her terms as much as possible.

Charles monitored from the sidelines,
yelling instructions to both as they sparred.

“Think first, Natural!”

“Hit harder,
ikir!
”

Gradually, she became aware of two things.
The first, Jonny was what Charles claimed – brilliant at
maneuvering her where he had neither the speed nor agility to match
her skill. And second, she was holding her own against someone
capable of Traveling. His advantage was his power, which meant she
was able to face anyone on the planet but a god and win. She had
never fully believed anyone capable of defeating her without being
faster and better than she was, and she began to understand a
little better how Jonny’s mind worked.

Sparring – and battle in general – were
incredibly accurate gauges of a person’s inner fortitude as well as
physical strength. Jonny was resourceful and shrewd in his use of
the terrain, her body, even her speed against her. He fought her
directly when he needed to and Traveled to reset the battlefield to
his advantage.

Through it all, he was in complete control
of himself and his emotions. Ashley quickly realized how methodical
he was, how calculating each move became once he set it in motion.
Even when she landed blows, she had to wonder if he was giving up
hits in one instance so he could outmaneuver her in another. Her
athleticism was a good defense but not the best offense against
someone manipulating her into position.

It was through Jonny’s technique that she
began to understand what Charles was telling her to do: to fight
with a strategy for winning rather than fighting simply to fight.
Jonny treated this as a chess match while she normally just tried
to Hulk smash her opponent.

“Sixty seconds!” Charles belted out.

Ashley hit harder, moved faster, danced
swiftly. Sweat dampened her clothing and hair. She smelled Jonny’s
sweat and masculine scent as well, and it only made her more
fevered.

“Thirty seconds!”

Jonny switched tactics suddenly. She landed
four solid blows in a row – more than any other single instance –
before he disappeared.

This time, he didn’t reappear immediately.
Ashley remained in place, breathing hard, senses alert, and eyes
closed to await the charge of his return.

“Fifteen!”

She waited.

“Ten! Nine. Eight.”

The tingle of electricity came from her
right. She whirled to confront him only to feel the tingle behind
her instead. Using her momentum to double her speed, she spun
completely around to block his blow. And then she sensed it – the
setup he’d worked to create. A tree was on one side of her,
limiting her movement, and Jonny the other.

“Five. Four …”

Jonny Traveled closer and shoved her into
the tree, one arm braced against her back while the other was
wrapped in her braid and pulling her head back.

“One.”

Ashley panted, locked in place and fully
aware someone half as fast as she was had just beaten her.

Jonny’s hot breath was on her neck. She
tensed, her eyes flying open to stare at the trunk and blue sky
above. She waited for him to bite her.

Jonny lifted his head instead without
releasing her.

“Speed versus strategy,”
Charles said, approval in his voice as he approached. “Do you still
doubt me,
ikir
?”

“I never doubt you, Charles. But this was
sparring. When Valon comes for me, it won’t be a game.”

“Did you go into this fight considering it a
game?”

Ashley listened. Jonny was breathing hard,
his lean form pressed to hers.

“I didn’t think so, no,” Jonny replied.
“There wasn’t as much at risk though.”

“Speak for yourself!” Ashley bit off.

Jonny released her hair and stepped far
enough away for her to ease back from the tree. “This was real to
you?” he asked.

“Every time is real to me,” she replied.

“And that is what you can
learn from her,
ikir.
The Natural fights for her brother every second she’s on her
feet,” Charles said. “She lacks discipline and strategy, which you
do not. But you lack –”

“–
heart,” Ashley finished
for him. “You’re a cold, robotic bastard who’s forgotten how to
feel.”

“I was going to say you lack sufficient
motivation,” Charles said with a grimace. “Nothing quite so
human.”

“You mean a purpose beyond strategy,” Jonny
said, hands going to his hips.

“If you’re not fighting for something then
why bother?” Ashley replied before Charles could. She looked around
to see most of the vamps in camp had formed a ring around them to
watch their god battle the Natural.

“There’s no place for emotion in what I do,”
Jonny said.

“You have feelings whether or not you want
to. And suppressing them is stupid and will backfire on you.”

He considered her before looking to Charles.
“I don’t want to go down that path.”

“Ikir,
you will have to choose one of the path you detest in order to
win. Either the White God assists, your develop sufficient
motivation beyond strategy.” Charles moved closer, as if concerned
the other vamps might hear him. “Valon is faster, stronger and
smart but not as smart as you. This won’t be a game to him,
ikir
. This won’t be
completely about the implementation of strategy.”

A flicker of something – unease? – went
across Jonny’s normally impassive features. Ashley watched the two
of them for a moment, sensing the battle with Valon was of more
importance than either was letting on. She didn’t know why when
Jonny couldn’t be killed.

“I’ll work on it,” Jonny said finally.
“Right now, I’m starving.” His focus slid to her.

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Do I get to go out
tonight?” she prodded.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

She almost erupted at him but ground her
teeth to keep from saying something that might prevent her from
ever going out to search for Brandon again. His indecision left her
scared he meant to keep her at the camp while the others fought
rogues.

“We could use the
help,
ikir,
”
Charles’ words were almost too quiet to hear. “Especially after
last night.”

She gazed at him quizzically. Charles was
harder to read than Jonny, who had tensed either at the reminder or
the soft-spoken support of her going on raids.

“Ash, let’s talk,” Jonny said and stepped
away.

The crowd around them dissipated as they
left the sparring area. Ashley trailed him, her insides twisting
and her nerves on end as she considered what she’d do if he refused
to let her leave.

Jonny returned to his suite without
speaking. She was close to screaming when she closed the door
behind her. Brandon wasn’t much of a talker, but he was better than
Jonny about not leaving her hanging. He sat on the barstool of the
pub-style dining table tucked near a corner and leaned down to
untie his shoes.

She paced and watched his methodical
movements, wanting to hurry him so he’d give her a straight answer.
Finally, she approached him.

“You’re killing me, Jonny!” she uttered.
“Are you going to let me search for Brandon or not?”

Jonny sat back, at eye level with her from
his seated position. “We had a bad night last night,” he started.
“Charles estimates we lost about eighty and we’re still searching
for another ten. Valon hit us hard.”

“I can help.”

“If you’re well enough.”

“Even if I’m not … Jonny, I can fight better
than a squad of your vamps. Charles knows it, too.”

He reached out to cup her neck in one large
hand. He pulled her closer to him until she stood between his
parted thighs. Uncertain what to do with her hands, she rested them
on his lean thighs and quickly grew too aware of his body heat
reaching her through the thin material. A shiver of heat and tickle
of energy went through her at his nearness and the heady scent of
him after their sparring session. She held his gaze and willed her
weakness to lie low for now. Her breathing quickened, and her
stomach fluttered beneath the intensity of his look.

“Healing runs in my family, Ash. I can’t do
it well to others, but I can feel it if you’re not ready for
another night like the one you had.”

Her heart fell. “You can patch the seizure
before it drops me.”

“Not if you’re in battle and I can’t feel it
coming.”

“Jonny,” she wetted her lips, terrified he
meant to keep her from her brother. “Brandon needs me. Your vamps
need me. If I start to feel it coming on, I’ll stop fighting and
leave.”

“You think I believe that?” Amusement was in
his gaze. “I couldn’t scare you off with sucking your blood. You
won’t stop with Brandon in danger.”

True.
She didn’t know what else to say.

“I said I’ll consider it, and I will. I know
Charles could use the help,” he added. “I’ll check your body closer
to the raid time.”

“I will do anything, Jonny,” she whispered.
She searched his face. “Anything in the world.”

“That’s dangerous, Ashley,” he said just as
quietly. “I’m not the person you knew. I won’t walk away.”

“I know that.” She swallowed hard, eyes
going to his lips. “I can help you with what Charles was trying to
tell you.”

Jonny lifted an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Meaning …”

“The part of you that’s afraid to feel. I
can help you remember,” she said.

“You think I’m afraid of something?” He
appeared genuinely surprised.

“Maybe not afraid. Maybe … unwilling. You
forget, Jonny. I knew you before you were … this. You have a heart,
and it’s a very good one. You’ve just forgotten how to use it.”

“That person had to change to become who I
am now,” he said firmly.

“Not all of you had to. You care about
me.”

“You’re a means to an end.”

“I’m a tool you won’t send onto the
battlefield when you think I can’t handle it. Some part of you
cares. I’ve always known it, no matter what bullshit you tell
me.”

“I’m protecting my best asset. It’s what a
good leader does.”

“You sound stubborn like me now!” She
started to laugh.

“Emotions will not win this battle with
Valon,” he replied. “Strategy and planning will.”

“That’s not true,” she
said. “If you don’t fight with your heart, you lose. This isn’t a
game. This is your
life
we’re talking about. Or maybe, it is a game,
because your life can’t be taken from you like mine can me. Maybe
that’s what’s missing.”

“That’s not entirely accurate,” he replied.
His eyes were beginning to glow red, like they had when he kissed
her. “Valon is a godslayer. He’s the only person on the planet who
can kill me.”