The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) (34 page)

Jonny studied him. Tasha’s gaze was downcast
as well, and she was tense.

“Tasha, liquidate a quarter of our
properties worldwide. We’re going to make some changes around here,
starting with taking better care of our people,” Jonny said.
“Go.”

She left quickly after sneaking a glance at
Charles.

Jonny crouched in front of Charles. “What
you did was pretty stupid, I’ll admit. You put Ashley in danger.
But … you also knew something I wasn’t ready to admit to myself.”
He paused, unable to recall the last time he thanked his second for
being the diehard loyal, wise vamp he was. “I need someone like you
to continue to guide me and prevent me from falling into the trap I
did with Valon. I need someone who can remind me I have options and
I don’t have to do this alone and who knows a thing or two about
what makes a good leader great.”

Charles was still.

“I’m not going to kill you, Charles,” he
said softly. “I need you by my side.”

“I am deeply
grateful,
ikir.
”

“Just don’t make a habit out of disobeying
me.”

“Never,
ikir.
I did what I thought was right
to protect you.”

“And you were right, as always. Ashley saved
my life.”

Charles appeared to be
trying not to smile. Jonny suspected his humble second was secretly
telling him
I-told-you-so.
“Will she be returning?”

“Yes,” Jonny answered. No part of him
thought Ash was going to walk away, not after everything they’d
been through. “I’m pretty sure she’s going to want a rematch with
you in the sparring ring.”

“It would be my
pleasure,
ikir.
”

Jonny stood. His thoughts strayed to Ashley
once more. If he didn’t keep busy, he was likely to end up at
Damian’s once more, and he doubted the White God was going to be so
accommodating the next time he appeared. “We’ve got some clean up
to do, don’t we?”

“Yes,
ikir.
”

“Let’s get started.”

Ashley sat beside her cousin Jessi in the
guest room adjacent to hers at the White God’s. Brandon slept
peacefully on the bed in front of them, his wounds healed by
Jonny’s sister.

“You’re sure you’re not upset?” Ashley asked
for the tenth time since they’d sat down together. She studied her
cousin’s face.

Jessi was worried. That
much was clear from the lines around her lips, but her nod was
firm. “I want you both to be happy,” she said and hugged Ashley
once more. “Xander and I fought about it for two days, but … he’s
right. I really,
really
hate that. If you tell him I said so, I’ll never
make you fudge again.”

Ashley giggled, amused by the secrets her
two most favorite people in the world kept from one another. “Okay.
I won’t.” Her hands trembled. She was exhausted despite the forty
eight hours she spent sleeping. “I know you never liked Jonny.”

“I absolutely despise him!” Jessi
exclaimed.

“He’s not that bad.”

“It might take me some time before I can
tolerate him at our weekly family dinner.” Jessi pulled away,
frowning. “You’ll still come Thursday night, won’t you?”

“Always,” Ashley promised. “Just promise to
give him a shot.”

“Hmm.”

“If not for him, you wouldn’t have met
Xander.”

“Yeah. Our lives are so much better for
having Xander in them.” Jessi’s features softened. “I keep thinking
I can protect you and Brandon from the world forever. It kills me
to know you all got hurt.” Her gaze went to the still form of
Ashley’s brother.

“He’s strong and smart. He’ll be okay,”
Ashley said. “We’ll make sure of it.” She squeezed Jessi’s hand.
“Will you call me when he wakes?”

“Of course.” Jessi planted a kiss on her
forehead. “Just promise you’ll be careful. It’s bad enough having
one vampire in the family. I’m not sure what to do about two.”

Ashley laughed. “I love you, Jessi.”

“I love you, too, Ash.”

Cat jumped up onto Ashley’s lap. She patted
the vamp cat with a smile. “Just in time. You’ll get to go live
with the rest of the vamps! Aren’t you happy?”

The cat purred. Ashley scooped it into her
arms and left Jessi and Brandon. She made her way out of the house
and walked across the compound to the main gate, which was
open.

Her pace quickened, and her heart began to
race when she saw the dark form of Jonny waiting outside the fence
under the wary gazes of the Guardians. His hands were in his
pockets, his dark hair mussed by the west Texas wind, and his black
eyes on her. As she stepped off the compound, his eyes began to
glow red once more. While contained, raw power made the air around
him shimmer.

By the intensity of his look, he was
assessing her as she neared. His unnerving way of reading her
condition left her a little more uncertain than she’d been with
him. The distance between them seemed to be both too far and too
close, and she stopped several feet away.

“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.

“Good enough,” she replied.

The quiet between them was awkward.

He cleared his throat. “I’m happy you
called.”

“Well, I kind of needed a ride,” she said,
starting to smile. “I feel like I need a vacation.”

“To where?”

“Some place warm. By the ocean. With a
private beach.”

Jonny’s eyes gleamed. “I know just the
place.”

“I might need my own room,” she mused
mischievously.

“Fuck no.”

Her body flushed with warmth from the inside
out and she almost laughed at the giddiness soaring through her.
Unable to take the distance between them anymore, Ashley set down
Cat and flung her arms around Jonny.

He hugged her to him hard and sighed into
her hair. “Are you ready to come home?”

“You’re, like, four years late to the
party.”

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise,” he
whispered.

“You’re sure this time?” she asked and
leaned her head back to see his face.

Jonny cupped the side of
her face. “Are
you
sure you want the Black God in your life?”

“This may come as a surprise, but I don’t
actually hate you.”

He laughed, a pleasantly warm sound from a
man who rarely smiled. “I kinda figured that out,” he teased. “I’m
sure, Ashley.” He grew more serious. “I’ve spent too long trying
not to love you. I want to spend the rest of our lives showing you
how much I care about you.”

Speechless at the sentiment, Ashley felt
tears sting her eyes.

He rested his forehead against hers, and she
breathed his scent in deeply. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“For what?” she asked.

“For being strong enough to love me despite
what I am. For reminding me what it means to fight for something
and someone.”

She melted against him with a sigh. “I love
you, too, Jonny. Freaky Black God powers, fangs and all.” She
winked. “Like I said. The vampire thing is kind of a turn on.”

Nuzzling her head aside, he nipped at her
neck before sinking his fangs into her. He sipped rather than drank
before withdrawing from her neck. “Just had to make sure you’re up
for what I have in mind,” he murmured.

“Which is …”

He grinned wickedly. “Why don’t we go find
out?”

Ashley laughed, unable to recall when she’d
last been this happy.

The White God and his mate, the Oracle
Sofia, watched the young lovers embrace outside the walls of the
compound.

“I told you so,” Sofi whispered.

Damian wrapped his arms
around the tiny frame of his mate. “I know,
kiri,
” he said softly. “You’re always
right. Except when I’m righter, which I was about Jonny not being
able to resist a strong yet vulnerable woman who won’t put up with
his bullshit.”

She laughed. “This makes me happy. I don’t
know if I should feel that way about the Black God or not.” She
twisted to look up at him. “You’ve been enemies for so long.”

Damian smiled down at his mate and pulled
her against him. She pressed her cheek to his chest, her arms going
around him. “I think it’s okay. They’re a good pair,” Damian said.
“I think she can keep him from doing anything stupid, and he’ll
protect her from herself. I think this is the beginning of a very
different world than anything we’re used to.”

“Yeah. It is,” Sofi replied. “We’ll see an
era of peace for quite some time. The Watchers will honor their
promise and Jonny has the additional motivation he needs to keep
his vamps in line.”

“Can I call it or can I call it?” he
boasted. “And I don’t even have your Sight.”

“I don’t know how you do it. You’ve always
had so much faith in the good in everyone.”

“Not always. Not until I learned even I was
salvageable.”

“You were never lost.”

“I was,” Damian replied. “Until you.”

Sofi gazed up at him, smiling, her clear
blue eyes circled by molten silver. When she used her gift, the
silver swirled around her eyes, transfixing anyone who looked at
her. “I would’ve found you. Eventually.”

“On the contrary,
kiri,
I would’ve found
you,” he assured her. “You’re my world.”

“And you’re mine.”

They gazed at one another for a long, tender
moment.

“Papa!” Five-year-old Aidan, their son,
raced towards them from the direction of the house. He had Damian’s
blond hair and golden eyes – and his mother’s molten silver
circling his irises. “I won!”

Damian released his mate and knelt to greet
his son with a bear hug. “What did you win?” he asked. Aidan was
large for his age but still far smaller than Damian, who towered
half a head at least over the tallest person in every crowd.

“We’re going to play vamps-and-guardians
later, and I won!”

Sofi laughed. “Aidan, sweetheart, you’re not
supposed to tell people what you See of the future. Remember?”

Aidan sighed.

“Gods help me,” Damian said and pulled away
to look at Aidan’s grinning features.

“Come
on,
Papa!” Aidan shouted and started
away. “It’s time to play.”

“Go on, Aidan,” Sofi told him with a smile.
“We’ll be right there.”

They watched him race back towards the ranch
house, pass the Guardians milling around the gym, and join Dusty
and Bianca’s dark-haired, twin toddlers. Aidan took the hand of
each girl and began tugging them towards the building renovated
into a play area for the ever expanding brood of children housed at
the compound.

“Two Oracles,” Damian said. “I guess there’s
a first time for everything. Peace with the Black God, a future
White God with Sight.” He shook his head and rose. “I have no idea
how I’m going to stay sane.”

“You’ll figure it out.” Sofi rested against
him, and he hugged her once more. “You always do.”

In truth, he was kind of looking forward to
a life of peace with his family after so many thousands of years of
managing a world filled with turmoil and pain. What had started
several years before as an attempt to keep his former enemy from
obtaining an Oracle had changed the course of everything.

Damian swept Sofi up into his arms. She
smelled of vanilla and baby powder today, an earthy-innocent
combination that made his blood burn hotter. “Aidan needs a
brother,” he said, holding his mate’s gaze. Her features flushed,
and this time, when her eyes swirled, it was out of desire.

“The next one’s a girl,” she murmured.

“Just when I thought things were getting
better …” Damian winked.

She laughed.

“Boy, girl. As long as you’re in my arms,
and our family’s together, I really don’t care.” He walked with her
back towards the ranch house and disappeared inside, the love of
his life in his arms.

The War of Gods Series

Damian’s oracle

Damian’s Assassin

Damian’s Immortal

The Grey God

The Damian Eternal Series

Xander’s Chance

The Black God

Continue reading for an exclusive peek at
“Omega” (releasing October 2015)

In a modern world ruled by territorial Greek
gods, the human race has been oppressed, exploited and now, nearly
destroyed by the constant infighting of gods.

However, a human girl with the power of a
goddess is coming of age. Alessandra is the Oracle of Delphi – the
last prophesized – and bears the mark of the double omega. Soon
after she turns eighteen, Alessandra is told her destiny: to step
between the warring gods and the human race and save her world from
certain ruin.