The White God materialized seconds after Jonny's power withdrew from the area. He was accompanied by the three Original beings who acted as mediators during negotiations and disputes, and the vamp Jonny trusted most.

"Jonny." Damian greeted him. The White God appeared pensive rather than happy about the Others being gone. Jonny knew why before the words left his mouth. "I know you'll want a truce to recover, but I'm not inclined to agree this time. Not without strict terms."

"I wiped out your enemies. I think some leeway is due," Jonny replied.

"Even so … I think it's time the training wheels come off. I've overlooked a great deal to give you some space to grow. I've got -"

"Before you dictate how I should do my job," Jonny interrupted, holding up his hands. "I'm one step ahead of you."

The Original Vamp, Original Human and Original Immortal watched, off to the side, their presences all but forgotten by Jonny and Damian. The Grey God was cleaning his nails with the sharp tip of a knife, listening and quiet.

"I'm creating a catch-and-release protocol," Jonny began. "You leave my vamps alone. In turn, we no longer kill humans but continue to use them as a food source."

Damian crossed his arms.

"That's not possible," said the Original Human, her pale features tight and luminous eyes on Jonny. "Your people are animals. You can't teach an animal to respect its food."

"We're not animals," replied the Original Vamp. Seven feet of solid muscle and pure menace, Xander was one of Jonny's on-again, off-again mentors. "Jonny and I spoke at length about this. It's plausible."

"The kid can't do much harm anyway at this point," the Original Immortal agreed. Tattooed and dark skinned, Jules was one of the White God's adopted brothers. "Most of his vamps are dead."

Jonny tensed at the reminder of his failure to protect his people.

"You want me to trust you can manage your vamps well enough to ensure they don't kill?" Damian asked.

"Yes," Jonny replied. "If one of mine kills a human, I'll discipline the vamp."

Damian snorted. "Discipline."

"That's vamp lingo for kill," Xander said, amused.

"It's a good idea," the Grey God chimed in. "But I've met some of your vamps. They ain't gonna like it."

"Then they will be disciplined," Jonny replied firmly.

"I'm trying to figure out if you're capable of doing this or trying to trick me," Damian mused. "I'm not opposed. But, Jonny, your adjustment period has been a great deal of trial and error, with the emphasis on error."

Anger stirred within Jonny. He understood the concern after his first year or two of disastrous attempts at leading the vamps, but he also knew Damian hadn't been close enough to see his transformation. "I can handle my vamps," he said with great control. Every bone in his body wanted him to tell the people before him to fuck off and walk away to do what he planned to anyway. It was one thing to rule over the vamps, quite another to swallow the idea he was still viewed as incapable of handling his duty by outsiders whose opinions didn't matter to him. Unfortunately, they also had power, and he was forced to be diplomatic rather than explain to them in no uncertain terms that his domain and his vamps were his to rule.




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