The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) Read Free Page B

his three Trackers, except for Charles, had absconded
with the rogues. “I know. But even they sometimes run into
difficulties. They can only track within certain distances and
under specific conditions.”
    Xander was quiet briefly before responding.
“He could, yes. The White God’s powers are known quantities, passed
down from father to son. But each Black God is going to have a
slightly different set of abilities than his predecessor based on
what you inherited from the Naturals before you.”
    “Can those gifts be delayed in appearing?
Like my mind abilities suddenly appearing during year three?”
    “They can. Some can lay dormant for
centuries or millennia before emerging.”
    Jonny’s heart sank. He didn’t have days to
wait for a new ability to emerge let alone centuries.
    “Borrow Trackers from Damian,” Xander
suggested.
    “Yeah, because partnering with the White God
is in my best interest.”
    “If you won’t go to the only person who can
help you, then do what he does. Identify Naturals and vamp them
before he can get to them. It’s the way it used to be done.”
    “Hmm.” Jonny considered what it’d take to
start a program like Damian’s capable of identifying and tracking
Naturals. He didn’t have the manpower or time to stand up such a
tasking. “Or I could just steal access to his program.”
    “Could,” Xander agreed, amused as always by
the tug-of-war between the gods. “You’d face some stiff resistance
from those guarding it.”
    Jonny’s mind was already working through
this dilemma. He reviewed what he’d learned of the White God’s
organization the past few years. Attacking any of Damian’s large
bases of operation was out of the question when he was hunting
vamps day and night. But the recruiting points and three to five
man stations located in cities across the country were more
vulnerable, and each of them had someone capable of accessing the
database where Damian’s recruiting records were kept.
    “Okay,” he said. “I like this idea.”
Satisfied yet not surprised his mentor had once again pointed him
in the right direction, Jonny faced the large vamp. “How’s the
fam?”
    “None of your business, as usual,” Xander
replied.
    Jonny expected the response yet couldn’t
help being disappointed by it. He’d walked away from Xander’s now
stepdaughter, Ashley, four years before. Xander made Jonny swear to
never look back if he ever wanted help, and Jonny had obeyed.
    Sometimes, he let his mind wander to who he
had been, to a simpler life where he slept more than three hours a
day and wasn’t constantly at battle. Sometimes, he experienced a
flicker of regret when he thought about how he had ended things
with Ashley. Not that she’d want anything to do with him. He’d
nearly gotten her and her family killed and in the years since he’d
seen her, he’d killed too many people for him to count. A sweet
girl with a fragile disposition, she was better off without him,
and yet, he still thought of his first love on occasion.
    “Focus on your vamps,” Xander advised. “We
both know how it ends if you come within a mile of my place or my
family.”
    Jonny was quiet. He wasn’t in a position to
take on Xander. No one was. Not even the White and Grey Gods
combined were a match for the Original Vamp. “Yeah. Thanks. Until
next time.”
    He left Xander on the beach. Traveling to
his quiet, isolated headquarters on the Oregon coast, he knew
something was wrong the moment he materialized in the open foyer
area of the main lodge.
    Charles was standing over a bloodied vamp,
his fist raised as if to strike the downed creature again. The two
of them – and everyone else present in the foyer – froze. Jonny
assessed the situation briefly. The vamp on the ground reeked of
human blood and lots of it.
    “Problem?” he asked in the terse quiet.
    Bristling, Charles nonetheless lowered his
hand and stepped away for Jonny to handle the vamp. Hands-on
discipline was one way