Damian's Assassin

"Yet you warned me," the Black God stated.

"I did."

"It wasn't you influencing Talon."

"The Others betrayed you and chose Talon to replace you. I cannot let that happen, lest the balance sway permanently, and all is lost," the Watcher said.

"No one will replace me!" The Black God was bristling with checked power that made her inch away from him. The Watcher looked at her.

"Then keep the healer with you," he said with resignation. "She has the power of ancient healers to return to life that which otherwise wouldn't live. What's been set into motion can't be stopped, but you at least have a chance if you have her."

"Get outta here!"

Bianca's mouth was slack as she watched the Watcher disappear in a wink of light. She'd wanted to yell at him to save her, and he'd all but guaranteed the Black God would enslave her!

"Stay here," the Black God ordered and disappeared. She sagged, horrified and fatigued. Looking around, she realized why the tiny living room was so familiar.

It was her father's.

She pushed herself up, cold inside and out. Without even asking where she lived, the Black God brought her home. The apartment was identical to when she'd left it a week before yet seemed somehow foreign. She couldn't explain the sense that she didn't belong despite the pictures of her and Jonny on the walls and all her things sprinkled around the room.

She made her way to the notebook near the desk phone.

Aaron. Her eyes went to the wall clock. She was supposed to meet him in a few hours. Such a normal thing seemed … weird.

With a frown, she wondered why she'd never seen it before, why she wasted seven years trying to make things work with someone who couldn't hold a candle to the man she was meant to be with.

Her hand went to her throat, where Dusty's necklace dangled. She belonged with him, even if she was second rung to his war against bad guys or even if he was never able to devote himself to any one woman at all. She was doomed to fall for men unable to commit to her!

She rubbed her face and wobbled towards the bedroom, determined to change before the Black God returned for her. A few minutes later, she sat in the living room, granola bar clenched between her teeth while she tied her shoes.

She felt him appear, as though the AC was suddenly set to high.

"Why don't I show you what I'm going to do to that little shit of a brother of yours?" he asked with a slow smile and a gleam in his eyes that made her breath catch.