Lizzy Ford (4 page)

They didn’t decimate cities out of a sense of vengeance, either.

No, Eden definitely didn’t want to think about what happened next. If not for the attachment she let grow to Xander, she wouldn’t be concerned about tomorrow at all. Simply surviving was enough.

Deep in thought, Eden was unaware of how much time passed. She heard him approach from the direction of the stairs some time later.

“The smell of blood is in the air.” Xander’s honeyed growl was low and rich. “It’s done.”

“How does it feel, boy?” she asked gruffly.

“I drank him dry. I took his mind and made him live through it. Gods, it was better than I imagined! His wife, his daughters, his brothers. I spared no one, but their fates were as painful as I was able to make them.”

“You are all that remains of him.”

“This world is all that remains of him.”

Xander came into her line of sight then. He appeared as if he’d been rolling in blood; he was soaked through with it, his eyes glowing with the wildness of bloodlust. A head taller than her tallest warrior, Xander was thick yet agile, his bulging physique covered in skin the same shade of bronze as hers. His fangs were out.

“I want to crush every last piece of it.” His voice held a familiar fury, one she thought would die with his father. He strode to the edge of the tavern.

“We’ve accomplished what we came for.”

“We’re not stopping.” He faced her. “Look how easy the city fell. I can take the Black God next and the White God. There will be
nothing
standing when we –“

Eden listened. His eyes flashed bright red, his arms gesturing to the world around as he spoke. Hunger was in his face. Xander stopped speaking and was pacing restlessly, as if ready to fight again already.

“I grow stronger with each one I turn or kill,” he said, looking at his hands. “In a thousand lives, how much more can I do? In ten thousand? In a hundred thousand? I will be stronger than all three Gods combined.”

“Is that what you want?” Eden asked.

“What else is there?” He barked a laugh. “We are beyond powerful now,
ikira.
”

“The goal was to protect my world.”

“Why stop there when we can take what we want from either world?”

Eden’s thoughts grew darker. No, she didn’t think beyond the day her journey was over. There was no dulling Xander’s thirst for war and blood like she might retire a sword. She reached into the velvet pouch.

“Because the worlds will end up like this,” she said, indicating the city. “There will be nothing left.”

“No one to oppose us. Absolute power,
ikira.
Is that not what you taught me?”

“It is,” she agreed. “But I value life as well, Xander.”

He looked at her blankly.

“It’s why I’ve done what I have,” she explained. “I chose to sacrifice a few to save an entire world.”

“We have the skill and the strategy. You taught me how to build armies and manage campaigns. Why save a world when we can
rule
them?”

“It was never my intention to rule.”

“We will show the worlds the same mercy they showed me. Each life makes me stronger.” Xander continued, not hearing her. “I want … I
need
more,
ikira.
We can destroy this world and return to yours to rule. Is that not what you wanted?”

He was right. If the immortal world posed a threat to hers now, it might again in the future. She could permanently ensure there was never a chance of such danger. It would only cost her Xander.

Do you remember what he was before you trained him to kill?

Eden watched the pacing predator, admiring the warrior he had turned into while struggling with a new emotion. No, he was more than a weapon. Xander had long ago become her son.

She didn’t like the feeling; she didn’t believe in attachments, not when she was focused on protecting her world from others. Attachments were vulnerabilities, distractions. Even so, she found herself furious at the idea of anyone hurting him.

No one ever would. No matter what happened this day and the next, Xander was going to be safe.  

Eden touched her Oracle magic. It responded, even when it refused to show her the future. With Xander incensed, he wasn’t aware of the trickle of power she pushed into the red gem in her hand. His abilities were beyond those of any immortal she knew. He was able to hear thoughts and manipulate minds in addition to brute strength that allowed him to tear men in two with no effort.

He was stronger than she was, had been for quite some time. It never disturbed her before, because he was on the path she needed him to follow.

For the first time in her life, she felt something other than conviction about what she had done. Her adopted son was no longer needed in her world. He fulfilled his purpose, only he was not going to be able to live a normal life in the mortal world like she was. Their ways had to part, because there was no place for her weapon in a civilized society.

Did she cut him free as he was? A menace to the worlds that would destroy then be destroyed?

Does he live or does he die?

Of all the emotions she expected to feel on the day of her great victory, anger and guilt were not among them.

“I want to bestow upon you a gift, Xander,” she said. “Your vengeance has been achieved, and my world saved.”

He faced her. “What is it?” His features were open with her; he had never entered her mind unbidden or used his skills or magic against her.

But she was the only one. If she tried to talk him out of the course he wanted to take, she wasn’t certain the hold she had on him would overcome his bloodlust.

I need more.

“A choice,” she replied. “Between power and immortality.”

“Power.”

“You would choose power over life?”

“Always,” he said without hesitation.

“Even your own life?”

“Yes.”

“We are a lot alike,” she murmured. “Driven to our causes. Blind to what victory brings.”

“This world can be
mine
.” Xander’s attention was on the streets that flowed with blood.

“Yes, it can,” she agreed.
But it won’t be.

Eden funneled her magic into the gem. She pulled it free. The spark of fire in the rough ruby was enough to draw Xander from his musings. Protective of his sole treasure, he had never entrusted anyone else with guarding it.

“Power without mercy is dangerous, son. Does any part of you see this?”

“I’ve never known mercy, and I’ll grant it to no one.”

“I’ve shown you what kindness I possess.”

“I’m the only you’ve spared,” he pointed out.

Eden gazed at him, seeing more than the adopted son or bloodthirsty predator she created. She saw herself reflected in the pacing vampire. They shared much more than ambition and similar mind magic.

“Mercy is something neither of us understands,” she agreed. She was quiet, weaving a second spell into the crystal. He was too strong for her to place the spell on him without him agreeing at least in part. “Will you do something for me, Xander?”

He glanced at her, waiting.

“Your gift comes with one condition,” she said. “You must learn mercy.”

He scowled.

“Call it a favor to me.”

The predator paced, not outright rejecting her request but not responding either. She held out the necklace. Its spells were hidden to him, until he placed it around his neck. Xander’s eyes went from the gem to her, the only person in either world that he trusted.

He suspected nothing, especially not that his use to her was gone. Or that she cared deeply about what happened to him. Or that what she did was to make him less of a threat to their enemies.

“Do you agree?” she asked.

“Very well. Absolute power for learning mercy.” He sneered at the words.

The gem flared. He snatched it from her, instinctively replacing it around his neck.

He froze. Eden braced herself, uncertain how the first spell would affect him. Red fog filled the air around him. It swirled and eddied before finding its way to the gem. The smoke funneled into the red ruby, disappearing into its depths.

Xander frowned. She sensed him testing his bonds. The second spell hadn’t hit yet, or he wouldn’t be on his feet.

“What is happening?” he asked at last.

“I righted a wrong,” she replied. “I didn’t give you power, son. I granted you immortality. No weapon made by man or immortal can kill you. In exchange, you no longer influence the vamps you create. You no longer access the power created when a human is vamped. The crystal sustains you for eternity and binds you.”

The surprised look on his face bothered her. He wasn’t expecting betrayal on the day of their victory.

“The second spell will teach you mercy. You and I have no capacity for such a thing, but we will learn. If you take an innocent life, you will feel the same pain that life does, only you will feel it thrice over,” she continued. “To give you a sense of what it’s like to harm an innocent, you will first feel the pain you’ve caused throughout your life. One day of pain for every innocent you’ve harmed.”

The idea of him in pain caused the familiar vise around her chest to return. She made him what he was, but his suffering was necessary to ensure his survival.

“Your immortality will ensure you survive the pain,” she added.

His shock wore off, replaced by anger. He gripped the gem.

“You have a choice, Xander,” she said. “The gem can be destroyed to release its magic, but by doing so, you lose all that remains of your mother and me.”

“Simple. I want …
need
power.” Fury was in his voice. His hand was clenching and releasing the gem. He didn’t remove it.

“You didn’t carry that bauble with you for twenty years to sacrifice it now.”

His hand dropped from the necklace. The emotions flying across his features were too quick for her to follow. She held her breath. Accustomed to extreme risk, she nonetheless was not fully certain that enough of the boy remained to counter the beast Xander had become.

“You betrayed me,” he whispered. “Like my father.”

“I am doing what I must. Your life is important to me, more so than the amount of pain I must put you through to sustain it,” she replied. “Protect the gem. Whoever has it will have the power to control you – and your magic.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know.”

She knew the moment the second spell hit. His body went rigid, and confusion crossed his features. Xander staggered and dropped to the rooftop, his body convulsing.

Eden flinched. She spent twenty years healing him. Her only solace: the lesson was worth teaching. It was all that might keep him alive. She crouched beside him.

“One day, you’ll understand,” she said quietly. “It may not feel like it, but you’ll survive this. Trust me.”

He gave a strangled cry of rage and pain in response. Eden gazed at his writhing body a moment longer before she rose.

This is how you dull a sword after victory.

With another brief hesitation, Eden turned and walked away.

“Watcher,” she said, pausing by the stairs. She suspected he was observing what happened.

The Original Watcher appeared, confirming her instinct.

“Tell your kind he is no longer a threat,” she directed. “The vamp army I created is gathering at the bridge on the western edge of the city. Send your people there to destroy them, if it pleases you.”

His eyes went to Xander, who writhed in pain on the other side of the roof.

“Your allies will. Not. Touch. Him.” Eden said sharply. “Do you understand?”

“Provided he poses no danger to us, yes.”

“He won’t. He is paying the penalty for the loss of a hundred thousand innocent lives. He won’t walk for years. That necklace will absorb new magic and prevent him from accessing the depths of his current store.”

“It’ll make a good target for your enemies. His power will be strong enough to destroy a world soon.”

Eden shook her head. “Not unless someone can withstand the release of his mind magic. The gem is protected by it. Even I would fall to his manipulation, if he were to use it on me. No, Watcher, the gem will kill any who touches it.”

“You leave him in such pain, destroy your armies and walk away,” the Original Watcher summarized. “You alone emerge unscathed.”

“Wrong,” she said. “I held two things dear: my cause and my Xander. Today, both are gone.”

The Watcher studied her and then nodded. “Go in peace, Eden. You will be needed here again one day. I will handle the vamp armies you created.”

Eden didn’t dwell on the peculiar statement. Watchers shared what they wanted, and she had no desire to find out what that was. Seconds later, she was back in the mortal world, where she belonged. Instead of victorious, she felt only regret.

Chapter One

Present Day

Los Angeles

Xander made his way through the rave. Multi-colored strobe lights pulsed around the overcrowded, vampire-themed club while electronica drowned out most attempts at conversation. The air was filled with marijuana smoke and the scent of bodies sweating as people danced, drank or huddled with friends. His glowing red eyes didn’t draw attention in a club where everyone was pretending to be a vampire. It was his size – combined with a prey’s instinctive sixth sense warning it of a predator – that caused people to move away from him.

He always fed at night, and hunger made his senses sharper, especially when he was surrounded by so many potential sources of dinner. His fangs were out in anticipation. With his choice of prey, he narrowed in on a gorgeous blonde who seemed out of place, one of the few not wearing fangs or dressed from head-to-foot in black. She wore a tight red dress and sky-high heels that would put her at his chin, no small feat given he was seven feet tall. She was just the way he liked them: sexy, sleazy, experienced. `

He lost her somewhere around the bar and enjoyed the idea of hunting his next meal-toy. He’d give her the same offer he gave every woman: fuck him or not. None had yet to refuse, and all consented to the orgasmic night of sex and blood. He didn’t turn them into vamps or kill them; he had an agreement with the local Guardians – charged with protecting humans from vampires like him – that he’d let them go. In exchange, they left him alone.