His dream, the one about the Original Vamp, hadn't returned. It seemed too real, and he'd dwelled long on what he could remember of the conversation.
Xander. Original Beings. "Jule?" Darian's voice jarred him out of his thoughts. "You here?"
"Yeah, Darian," he called.
Darian emerged from the kitchen, trailed by a small, shapely woman with dark, curly hair tied in a ponytail. Jule's gaze fell to the necklace she wore.
"Dusty's mate?" he asked, looking her over again. Her smile was quick and warm, her brown eyes dancing. "I thought you'd be more like Attila the Hun."
"I'm Bianca," the woman said in a voice as soft as her eyes.
Jule wasn't sure what to expect when she knelt beside him. Cool, healing energy coursed through him, lulling him into a near doze.
"Done!" she announced. "I can't take away the weakness you feel, but your body is healed."
"How the hell did Dusty end up with someone like you?" he asked and looked down at himself, impressed.
She laughed, a contagious sound, and he saw her effect even on Darian, who had relaxed and sat in a chair nearby. Her presence would have the same calming effect on Dusty, who was the most wound-up man Jule knew.
"Her brother's the Black God," Darian said out of nowhere.
"Always knew women were a curse," Jule said.
"Darian," Bianca objected. "Remember what Dusty said. No stressing Jule out."
Darian rolled his eyes.
"I'm a grown man, woman, I can take it," Jule said with a snort.
"You probably shouldn't be fighting anyone until you're better," she said. "Though I've learned none of you will listen to that advice."
"You keep giving it. It's always nice to know someone cares," Jule replied. "And I bet you never shot Dusty or ran him over with a car."
"That little girl did this?" Darian asked, eyes narrowing.
"In her defense, she thought I was trying to kill her."
"Were you?"
"Yeah, at one point," Jule said. "She's been told some real fucked-up stuff about the Guardians."
"Well, if you tried to kill her, you probably didn't help things," Darian said wisely.
Jule ignored him and tested his body. He rose and stretched, stiff and weak but healed. He hadn't seen a Healer since before the Schism and offered his hand to Bianca. She took it, and he pulled her up.