The Grey God (War of Gods 4) (18 page)

Seeing her name there surprised him, but it seemed only natural a woman he’d watched and admired from a distance so long would be his mate. He simply hadn’t wanted to face what his instincts told him. He’d been drawn to Jenn since he’d started to recover his mind. It was not the hard, fast, lustful connection he felt with his first mate, but a deeper connection. Attraction had given way to admiration and respect over the months as he sparred with her and saw her in action. He’d mated with Claire days after meeting her. He never knew more than lust for her.

But Jenn was different.

His gaze went to the line above his.
Adrian.
Damian would have a son, a future. Darian never thought it possible, yet seeing the name of his little brother’s son made him want more out of life. Would the name of his own son or daughter ever be written beside his and Jenn’s name on the monument?

Darian rubbed his face, his fingers running the length of where the deepest and most knotted scar had been. Sometimes he still felt it there, even knowing it wasn’t. He pulled the necklace Jenn had taken from the immortal world and rose, wanting to see why it was so special to her.

He made his way through the orchard and over the wall at the other end, stunned by the mess that had been the immortals’ imperial city. Distressed by the damage, he jogged to the central square, where smaller obelisks marking lesser immortal Houses rose out of the ground.

He searched until it was almost too dark to see, finally coming to the one with the same marks as Jenn’s necklace. He knelt and then hunched to see the names at the very bottom of the small obelisk.

Jenn, Finian, Talia.

A husband and a daughter. As the lower ranking of the married couple, the name of Jenn’s betrothed was added to her family’s record, indicating he was likely the son of another servant. A small dirt hole was in front of the obelisk where she’d dug up the necklace.

Darian sat for a long moment, comprehending why Jenn viewed the immortal world with such bitterness. He didn’t know if she still yearned for her husband during a time when marriages among servants were arranged, but there was nothing that could soothe the ache a mother felt at losing her child.

Her loss was darker than his. He began to understand her reluctance to be involved with him and how thick the walls around her heart were, if she spent the years since the Schism learning how to shut people and emotion out.

Why she’d been able to walk away from him when he knew he couldn’t have walked away from her. Which was stronger: her fear of being close to anyone again or her sense of duty to protect a fellow Guardian from the Others?

Probably both,
he told himself.
She doesn’t realize I have nine lives, like my cats.

He buried the necklace again, satisfied the Others would have no overt reason to grab her. She’d be in danger no matter what, but he wasn’t about to give them the rope they sought to hang her.

As much as he didn’t know what to think about having a new mate after the disastrous relationship with his first, he knew one thing: her life was now his priority. He’d been content to play around with the Others and test his magic. If he wanted to protect Jenn, there would be no more playing. Hunting, extermination, as methodical and merciless as he knew himself capable of. He’d learned a few things about killing from the previous Black God, lessons that would now serve him well.

He trotted back towards the orchard, pensive. Of course, Jenn herself wasn’t completely off the hook. They were overdue for a discussion, one she’d been unwilling to start but that he would see through. He’d have to figure out how to start a conversation she didn’t want to have. She was strong and stubborn enough to walk away from him.

He had a mate.

Darian paused mid-step, not at all certain he was worthy of a mate. Her name was written on the obelisk. He’d admired her for so long, and their kiss in the basement made him feel as nothing ever had. Some part of him had known long before he saw her name written.

Darian ran to the wall of the orchard and vaulted over. He landed hard and looked around at the only remaining beauty in the immortal world. As mixed as his feelings were, he knew he couldn’t let the Watchers and Others do the same thing to the mortal world.

He stepped through the portal through worlds and landed in the desert. It was afternoon in the mortal world. He sensed several Others and Watchers on earth. He needed more weapons before he began hunting them down. This time, the Watchers wouldn’t get off easy. He’d rid the planet of both.

Resolved, Darian Traveled to Texas, his presence in his sister-in-law’s room waking her.

“Darian?” Sofi asked, her blue-silver eyes glowing in the darkness of predawn.

“You can’t tell me you’re actually surprised to see me,” he teased. “Your fortune cookies forget to tell you I’d figure out what you didn’t tell me about Jenn?”

“You know I can’t tell you those things.” Sofi pushed herself into a sit and rested her hands on the top of her stomach.

“I know.” He pulled a rocking chair from the corner to her bed and sat. “But everyone else knew.”

“You’re not here this early to bitch at me about that,” she said with some of the moodiness he’d come to expect from her since learning of her pregnancy.

“I want to kill Watchers,” he said. “Give me a reason not to, and I won’t.”

“They freak me out.”

“Is that a yes, go ahead?”

She hesitated. “You don’t need my permission.”

“I need what insight an Oracle can give me about something that might just cause the end of the world,” he pointed out.

“I hate the Watchers right now. I want them all dead. But I think your focus should be on the Others.” Her eyes swirled, and he felt her cool power surround him.

“Just give me any indication I’m not going to ruin everything,” he added.

“As long as you do your duty, you won’t,” she replied after a pause. “If Watchers and Others are allowed to do their will here, they’ll destroy both worlds. Darian, you can’t let that happen.”

“I just need to discourage them both from coming,” he said. “Even if I can’t close the gateways between worlds.”

“You can’t close the gateway. You will have some very difficult choices soon,” she said. “I don’t see your job getting any easier, Darian.”

“Sofi, tell me about Jenn.”

“Darian, I can’t—“

“Sofi, please. I know you’ve done so much for me already, but I need to know. I can’t go through what I did before. I can’t lose her like I did Claire,” Darian said quietly. “Could you live through losing Damian?”

“You’re not playing fair!” she snapped.

“I don’t play fair. That’s Damian’s job.”

Sofi was silent. He felt her grappling with his question and willed her to help him.

“You both have choices to make,” she said carefully. “How you handle this is important, Darian.”

“What the fuck does that mean? How I handle
what
?”

“I mean, you need her. She doesn’t know she needs you. If she pursues the course she’s on, well, it’s not good, from what I can See.”

“What course, Sofi?”

“The one that takes her away from you. She has some serious decisions to make. Yours are probably already made, if you’re half as stubborn as Damian,” Sofi replied.

“You think I should leave her alone to decide?”

“I think you need to be careful to keep from driving her away. I also know her—and our—danger increases every day. It’s not something she can fight.”

“I can,” Darian said, thinking of the Black God and the Others. “So I have to give her space and protect her. Then everything will work out okay.”

“Not exactly. It’ll only work out okay if she takes her place at your side. Every other path ends very badly.” Sofi’s voice took on a dark note.

“This is one shitty fortune cookie,” he said with a frown. “I can’t make her choose me.”

“No, you can’t.”

Darian scowled. It wasn’t the answer he wanted. The way things were going, Jenn would probably choose her own death over being with him. In her mind, she’d probably be protecting him. But she was his mate. There were no limits to what he’d do to protect her. There was a lot Sofi wasn’t saying, this much he sensed. He wondered what it was.

“Earlier today, you all acted really weird,” he said.

“I’ll tell you why next week.”

“After whatever happens, happens?”

“Exactly.”

“You’re in danger, too,” he said.

“We all are, Darian. There’s a lot riding on the choices you make as the Grey God.”

“I’m not sure I like how that sounds.”

“You shouldn’t. But you can do it. Trust your instincts, no matter what,” Sofi added. “Now, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“How does time work in the immortal world?”

He studied her. “What do you mean?”

“What happens to people who move between worlds?”

“Why are you asking this?”

“Please answer the question.”

“Nothing happens to those who pass between worlds. At least, from what I remember, nothing did. The only time something happens is when you’ve been in one world more than twenty-four hours. Then you’ll become what you were, what you would have been had you been in that world your whole life. Mortals will age faster in the immortal world and immortals age very, very slowly in the mortal world.”

“Do those who cross over have increased powers?”

“Yes, if you’ve been there a day and until you get back to your own world for a full day. Sofi, you aren’t thinking of going to the immortal world, are you? You’re a powerful enough Oracle,” he said.

“Sometimes it seems like it’d be nice to have a bit clearer vision,” she admitted. “But I know it’s not worth running into Others.”

“Promise me you won’t go,” he urged. “There are ancient laws that forbid it.”

“I wouldn’t know how to get there,” she said. “Don’t worry, Darian. I have a good head on my shoulders.”

“I know.” He was about to press her to make an actual vow when she sighed.

“Now, get out of my room. I’m exhausted.”

“You have to tell me if you’re in any sort of danger, Sofi.”

“You’ll know soon enough. We’ll be fine, Darian. Just do what you were brought back to do.”

Darian rose, not wanting to leave when his family was in danger. Sofi waved him away before sinking into the bed again and pulling the covers up. Darian hesitated one moment longer before he located a small group of Others near Jonny’s lair. He Traveled to them, wanting to blow off some of the emotional build-up and kill those that threatened everyone around him.

When he’d gone, Sofi flung off the blankets. She got dressed and looked at the time, her heart pounding harder and harder as she moved towards the door. She’d had dreams of Damian, Jule and Dusty being picked off one-by-one by the Wathers. And now, it was her turn. She’d almost made it when she heard the voice.

“Hello,
ikira
,” the Watcher said. “I know you’ve Seen this moment.”

“I have,” she whispered. “I was going to get Bianca.”

“We already got her.”

Sofi turned, clenching her fists. “Damian.”

“They are safe for now. The Others can’t find them.”

She wasn’t sure whether to trust him or not but nodded, praying he was telling the truth. The Watcher extended his hand. Sofi grudgingly took it, terrified of what was to come. Her visions were all over the place this night, and she wasn’t sure what she’d initially thought was the right path would actually turn out well.

“You know where we’re going?” the Watcher asked.

“The immortal world,” she answered. “Part of your plan to manipulate Darian.”

“Seems we have the same plan, if you didn’t tell him.”

Sofi ground her teeth. They Traveled to a place where it was cold and dark but didn’t stay long. The Watcher led her to a hole in the back of a tunnel, and they emerged in a sunny, warm world. As if a shaken bottle of soda had been uncorked within her, her magic swelled and burst from her body. She staggered at the sensation, taking in the crumbled world around her.

The Watcher steadied her. Several of his guardsmen stood nearby, their uniforms emblazoned with green cuneiform symbols. He waved them away.

“You know this is for your own good,” the Watcher said, leading her towards one of the only standing buildings she saw.

“I don’t know that,” she answered. “My vision isn’t strong enough to See that. I do know the alternative will see us all killed.”

“A full day after you’ve been here in the immortal world, your vision will clear. You will see as you never have before.”

“I will become as if I’d lived here my whole life, isn’t that right?”

“In a sense, yes. The most powerful Oracle in millennia.”

“What of my child?” she asked, hand going to her stomach.

“It depends on how long you are here.” The Watcher glanced at her belly. “A full day will make you powerful and probably, a mother.”

Sofi concentrated on stepping through the rubble of what looked like a once-great city. The woman in her screamed for her to leave, to find Damian and have their son in the place they’d planned in a few months. The Oracle side of her knew there was more at stake, that there was no guarantee they’d make it out of the immortal world, if Darian didn’t do what he needed to.