Damian's Assassin

Dusty rubbed his face, wanting nothing more than to kill Darian where he sat but knowing only the Grey God could un-fuck what he'd done. He'd spent so long hoping Darian became what he once was. His gaze returned to the Grey God, who looked both pleading and tortured. The Darian he'd known was gone. The shell of a man before him was too weak to ever measure up to Damian's noble brother.

"Get away from me, Darian," he said.

"Dusty, please! Sofi made me come. I can fix the village!" Darian pleaded.

"I don't give two shits about the village, Darian! Bring Bianca back!"

"I can't, Dusty. I'm not strong enough!"

"You sent them to that temporal dimension! Bring them back," Dusty said, not understanding how Darian had punctured a hole between the mortal and immortal worlds. The two worlds were sealed after the Schism.

"I don't know how."

"They're stuck?"

"Czerno can bring them back."

"And kill Bianca when he does," he said. "You fucked up good this time, Darian! I can't fix this one."

"Czerno … I know he can …" Darian struggled visibly. "He and Damian can use the portals. I think … no, I know they have to be able to, if I can."

He felt sick to his stomach and wondered how Bianca had become so much a part of him in so little time.

"I can fix the village," Darian said again.

Dusty didn't care about the village. He wanted Bianca back. He wanted Darian dead. He didn't want to die this weekend. The last was a thought he never expected to have. He'd never had a reason to live if the immortality thing didn't work out.

"Dusty?" Darian asked. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"After this weekend."

"I deserve it."

"You do."

"Can I save the village first?" Darian asked in a sad voice. He sniffled and stood.

"I don't care what you do," Dusty snapped. "When dawn hits, I'm wiping every trace of that village off the planet. You wanna solve both our problems, be there when I do." He stalked away, sensing how hurt Darian was.

The Grey God didn't follow, but Speck-- who'd been lingering in the shadows-- did. Dusty strode to the small gym behind the main house, stripping off his jacket and shirt as he did so.

"Boss," Speck called, trotting after him. "You want us to prep a clean-up crew?"

"Do it."

The Sector Chief remained in the doorway, watching as Dusty unleashed his fury against a punching bag. He fought it until his anger subsided, unable to shake the sense of fear. He'd last felt the cold sense of impotent rage when he was a child and his family was slaughtered before his eyes. Somehow, he'd survived and was auctioned off like an animal with several other children his age. Damian saw him and bought the herd of them, freeing all but him. Damian's mother, an Oracle as crazy as she was powerful, told her son about the slave child with blue eyes who'd one day change the path of fate.