"Jonny?" Bianca's soft voice sounded sleepy. "What happened?" Darian brought her and her husband, Dusty. They materialized behind Damian, who was still glaring at Jonny.
"Hey, B," Jonny greeted her. He glanced at Dusty, the steely-eyed former leader of Damian's assassins he had personally charged with Bianca's safety under the threat of death if Dusty let anyone get within an inch of her.
"Bianca only," Damian directed the three behind him.
Jonny had long since gotten use to the wariness of the White God and his brothers. He'd never do anything to hurt his sister, but the others assumed the worse about him.
He lowered Ashley to the ground gently and crouched beside her. Bianca knelt on the other side and reached across to give him a quick hug. With long, curly black hair, caramel skin like his and large, brown eyes, she was naturally beautiful and the sweetest person he'd ever known. Her Natural healing skill had put them both on the radar of the Guardians and vamps after he fell in with the wrong crowd. Dusty had found her first, and the two fell in love shortly after meeting.
"I've missed you," she whispered with a quick smile before her attention turned to Ashley. She wore a sweatshirt over boxer shirts and looked as if she'd just been woken up.
"You, too," he replied. "Can you heal her?"
Bianca placed her hands on Ashley, one over her heart and one on her forehead. She closed her eyes. The air around her began to glow blue, the color of her healing magic. It was soothing and gentle, and Jonny felt some of his worry start to dissipate under her influence.
"Yeah," Bianca said finally. "But it's going to take some time, Jonny. I need to get her inside."
Jonny hesitated, not wanting to give up Ashley, especially not to the White God.
"I wouldn't ask if it weren't absolutely necessary," Bianca said and touched his hand. "Trust me, Jonny. Okay?"
He studied his sister and nodded finally. "Take care of her, B."
"Anything for my little brother."
Every once in a while, it was nice to remember how close they'd been since the death of their father several years before. The ache of loneliness was always stronger when he saw his sister and recalled all the reasons why they didn't see each other more frequently.
Jonny rose and stepped back, knowing the Guardians were leery of him being anywhere near one of their own.
Bianca motioned to her blond haired, blue-eyed husband, who moved forward to lift Ashley.
Jonny watched for another long moment before turning away.
Ashley was safe. Despite Valon's attempt to kill her, she was going to pull through.