The Grey God (War of Gods 4) (12 page)

She shook her head and walked away.

Darian didn’t know when he’d lost his ability to speak clear sentences, but the idea Jenn scrambled his mind made him want to laugh. And run away. He wasn’t sure which instinct was stronger.

Half a moment before she stepped through the portal, she triggered a magic alert that reverberated through him.

“Jenn—” he shouted then dived forward. He snagged her wrist as she dropped into the invisible portal to the immortal world.

Jenn dangled into the other world. Darian glimpsed an orchard with flowering trees and emerald grass as he ducked his head through the portal. He knew that orchard, and an ache grew at his core. It was not the time for memories, not when Jenn was caught between the two worlds.

“You found it,” he said, bracing himself to haul her up. He lifted her back through the portal and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to solid ground again.

“Wow. It’s not quite what I remember,” she said, leaning away from him to peer at the ground. The portal was camouflaged by sand and shrubs.

“It’s like heaven,” he agreed quietly, regret in his voice.

“I don’t remember it that way. I was young when the Schism occurred. I remember nothing but blood and death.” Jenn pushed his arm away and stepped to the side to avoid the portal.

Darian blinked his memories away before squatting. The portal was invisible, unless someone fell through it.

“What’re you thinking?” she asked.

“I know where they are, but I don’t know how to close them.”

“You need sensors of some sort. I think positioning Guardians here would get too many of them killed.”

“I can’t be in two places at once.”

“We’ve got all kinds of clandestine technology. This will be easy to set up. If nothing else, we can bury motion sensors a few feet away, if you think the Others will sense anything close to the portal.”

“The first time I meet them here, they’re going to know it’s not a secret,” Darian said with a shrug. “I don’t care what they know.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Darian. You killed one. What if they bring a dozen?”

“They won’t kill me. Might knock me on my ass for a bit.”

“And then they’re loose in the world while you recover. You need monitoring equipment, preferably something they can’t sense so you know what you’re getting into before you show up with guns blazing.”

Darian watched her. Jenn found a stick and carefully returned to the portal, tapping the ground to find where it was solid. She drew a line in the sand around the portal. It was a rough circle about four feet in diameter. Her assessing gaze took in the surrounding area.

“This’ll work. Can I borrow your cell?” she asked.

“Where’s yours?”

“Xander crushed it.”

“You couldn’t call for help even if you needed it,” he said, frowning. He handed her his phone.

“I believe that was his intent,” she said, unfazed.

Darian didn’t say what he wanted to, that she was as big of a fool as he was. Jenn stepped away to make a phone call, and he circled the portal. He wanted to see what was on the other side, even if it brought up memories he wanted to forget. Maybe, just maybe, he’d get some closure, if he could return to where everything went wrong.

“They’ll send a team down,” Jenn said, returning to his side. “You said there’s another for Watchers?”

“Yeah. In a cave.”

“We can send someone to assess what we can do there, too.”

“This is good. We set up sensors and shit, and I can then go hunt down and kill those who are here. I’m not telling anyone where the portals are, though. No telling what Jonny would try to do if he knew.”

“Smart. He’s lost right now, like …” She stopped herself.

“Like I
was,
” Darian said firmly.

Jenn turned the assessing gaze on him again then flashed a smile. “Sure, hon,” she said, clearly disbelieving.

“You, too,” Darian complained. “What will it take for me to convince you?”

“No need. I know you’ve changed. I’ve watched you turn into
you
. I’ve watched Jonny turn into the Black God.”

He sensed there was more. “And … what?”

“I don’t know. Gods know I’ve done stupid shit in my life and seen people from all walks of life. Call me naïve, but I spent most of my life around bad people who deserved what came to them. I don’t like seeing good people become unsalvageable,” she said with a shrug.

“You think I’m unsalvageable?”

“Jonny is. I don’t know about you yet.”

Darian took this in. He didn’t consider what others might think of him, outside of his family. He didn’t think of himself as unsalvageable in the least. He would never be what he once was, but he wasn’t Jonny, headed down a dark path. He was headed down his own path, that of the Grey God, a creature that never existed before him.

“We all make our choices,” he said, puzzled. “Or maybe this isn’t about me at all.”

“There’s a station near here. I called in an order for some equipment. Should be there this evening.” Her gaze went north.

Just like that, she was cool and professional again.

“Wait,” he said and took her wrist.

“Don’t touch me, Darian,” she warned and yanked away.

“You’re just going to open a can of worms and walk away?”

“We have work to do.”

She pushed the location of the station into his mind then disappeared, Traveling without him. Darian lingered, unable to figure out exactly what was wrong. The cool, sexy Jenn he’d sparred with was incapable of being ruffled. Now, she was edgy and terse with him.

He circled the portal once again, stalling, before finally Traveling to the nearby station. The two Guardians assigned to the small adobe house in the middle of a Mexican village stood out front with Jenn. The small town had only dirt roads, and his glanced lingered towards a farmers market under the awnings in the center, a couple of blocks away. The scent of
barbacoa
made his stomach rumble.

The two large Hispanic Guardians glanced towards him when he entered the yard marked by a stone fence.

“Darian, this is Chapo and Larry,” Jenn said as he approached. “
Ikir
Damian’s brother, Darian.”

“A pleasure,” the man named Chapo said and shook Darian’s hand.

“They’ve seen some guardsmen come through here,” Jenn told Darian.

“We’ve adhered to
Ikir
’s mandate of no engagement, though we followed them around,” Chapo told Darian. “Looks like they were scouting the town. Came through twice a few days ago and haven’t seen them since.”

“Might be a good thing Guardians are largely powerless,” Darian said. “You might’ve had some nasty visitors otherwise.” He couldn’t imagine waking up to find an Other sitting in the corner. He’d thought the Guardians’ loss of magic a curse until he started thinking about how the Others couldn’t sense a Guardian that had no magic.

The Watchers blamed
him
for stripping the Guardians’ magic when he froze time, but he began to wonder if they hadn’t done it themselves. Whoever did it, it was working in the Guardians’ favor right now.

“The team should be here soon,” Jenn said with a look at her watch.

The tattooed Larry motioned for them to enter the one-story house. The village and exterior of the house looked run down and barely out of poverty, but the house’s interior was immaculate. Low-key, contemporary furnishings in light wood colors and pale neutrals were mixed with splashes of color: the navy blue rug, lime couch pillows, cinnamon drapes, and yellow floorboards. The open floor plan ran from the living area through a kitchen to a formal dining room area that had been converted into an office on the other side.

“I love this place,” he said, intrigued by the colors. “All we need is some
barbacoa
.”

The two Guardians gave him a curious look. Suspecting he’d missed something important, Darian joined them in the office area. Larry sat before a Mac, pictures of the portal on the computer screen before him.

“We’ll set up cameras here and here,” Jenn said, indicating two spots on one photo.

“Under the bushes,” Larry added. “We’ll have to check them every few days. The dust storms here can knock over trees.”

“When did you take photos?” Darian asked.

“At the site. I sent them to Larry,” Jenn replied.

“Wow, you’re good.”

Jenn eyed him, as if suspecting he was being sarcastic. He wasn’t. His normal way of doing business was to plan the best he could then leap in. He wasn’t lucky enough to get killed. Jenn took planning to another level, one he didn’t know was possible after so many years without technology. Sofi had taught him to use his cell phone and Dusty had taught him the computer. He’d been fascinated by the amount of technology Dusty and Jenn used to track vamps in Miami.

“Motion sensors there,” Chapo added. “And the solar battery farther back. It’s big and ugly. They’ll see it otherwise.”

“I called for the infrared cameras. We should have good night vision, too,” Jenn added. “You guys need someone else to help monitor?”

“We got nothing going on with the mandate,” Larry answered. “We’re good.”

“I’d say to monitor it for a couple of days and get a feel for any trends in time they enter and exit. Unless you have something you want them to look for, Darian?” She turned to him.

“Nope. Sounds good.”

“When the cameras get here, you’ll have to go with them to make sure there are no ugly surprises.”

“Yes,
ikira,
” Darian replied.

Jenn’s eyes narrowed.

“Meant respectfully,” he added.

“Watch it,
ikir
,” Larry said, smiling. “She’ll take you out.”

“I imagine so,” Darian said. “I’ve pissed her off enough for one day.”

“I’ve got to check in with Jonny,” Jenn said.

“I’ll walk you back,” he said and held out his hand. He kept his voice casual. He was worried about her, more than he’d let on. She was too independent for him to voice his concerns for her. He thought she’d refuse him but she caved and took his hand.

They Traveled to see Jonny pacing in front of Jenn’s window. She pulled loose from Darian and strode to him. Darian hung back and watched, arms crossed. The two spoke, and he felt Jenn’s magic in the air as she exerted what control she could over Jonny. The young god seemed in a good humor, though his gaze flickered nervously to the vamps awaiting him. After a short exchange, Jonny walked away, joining the vamps.

They walked past Darian, with the Black God hesitating before continuing on. Darian watched them leave, not surprised Jonny didn’t approach. They’d been almost friends at one point, but they’d both change dramatically since the days of squabbling over cookies Jonny’s sister, Bianca, made.

“He wants a daily headcount of how many Others you killed,” Jenn said, approaching him.

“He can’t tell me that himself?”

“That’s not the way he works. Basically, he trusts me fifty percent of the time, Xander fifty percent of the time, and no one else.”

“I take it you and Xander don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye.”

“It’ll be easier to get my way when Xander isn’t here,” she said with a faint smile. “It’s rough going toe-to-toe with an Original Being.”

“You’re brave,” he said, genuinely impressed she’d attempt such a thing. “I like that.”

“We’re both foolish.”

“Speaking of which, I need to go set up monitoring shit and kill some Others.”

Jenn raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask to accompany him this time. He suspected she was relieved he was leaving, even if he didn’t understand why.

“Keep this. If something happens, I’ll contact you,” he said and handed her his phone.

She took it. “I’d tell you to be careful, but I don’t think you’ll listen.”

He smiled and closed his eyes to Travel. He had some ideas to test about killing Others. When he figured out how to do it without also ending up dead, he’d figure out what had fallen between him and Jenn. First, the monitoring equipment.

Jenn waited until he’d been gone for a few minutes, her thoughts more insistent than she wanted. Interacting with Darian was too appealing. He was easy to talk to, despite knowing his history and his elevation to a god. He listened and watched—traits that made her wary. She pocketed the cell, grateful for his consideration. After her two weeks in the Black God’s chaotic camp, she’d almost forgotten what it was like to be in an organization that took care of its own.

Jonny was gone on another daytrip. She was growing suspicious of his frequent journeys. Nothing seemed to come out of them. At least, nothing she could see. He kept no notes on his computer about the mysterious meetings. He’d taken Xander with him twice. He never said where he was going aside from
to town
.

Another thought pushed this one out. Before she talked herself out of it, she Traveled back to the Others’ portal into the immortal world. She’d recognized the orchard she’d nearly fallen into. The last time she saw it, it was on fire.

Eyes on the ground, she retraced their steps until she found the circle she’d drawn. She stared at the ground in the center of the circle, emotions building within her. Normally, she was a master at hiding her feelings. These emotions had taken thousands of years to bury and were bubbling up again, too strong for her to ignore forever.