The Grey God

Darian couldn't help feeling dirty for causing her to relive the pain.

"I took back the marker of my family and buried it at their obelisk. I left. Free at last," she said with bitterness. She focused on him again, pain and anger in her gaze. "Now answer my fucking question, Darian."

"If I must destroy a world, I'll do it," he said firmly. "If that's the only way to keep my family safe, I won't think twice. I don't think the Others or Watchers can stop me."

"You'll protect whichever world your family is in?"

"My turn."

She muttered a curse, and the cool façade slipped. Jenn ran a hand through her short hair. The discussion was costing her much more than it did him. As much as Darian empathized, he did what he thought necessary. Only when he'd been broken and faced his past had he been able to let go of his own demons.

"Jonny," he said. "He got to you. How?"

"Chink in my armor," she said. "I met him when he was a broken soul. He thought he'd lost his only family. I took pity on him, not knowing he would become the Black God. Ikir sent me on assignment to spy on him. I went too far. I thought he could be … salvaged. I wanted it to be true. But it's not. I know that now. We all make our choices and live with the results."

"Yes," Darian said. "I'll protect whichever world you are in."

Jenn met his gaze again, surprised.

"The most sacred vow a White God takes is to his family."

"You're not a White God."

"I get to make up my own rules. That's one of them."

After a thick silence, she whispered, "Explains why the Others want to drag me over there. So I was right in thinking it's better they-or Jonny-kills me, before you destroy our world to get to them. In any case, it's my turn."

The glint in her eyes warned him. "Claire."

"Unlike you, a White God had some choice in who he took as a mate. Claire had your spirit. Her beauty was flashier, the kind that drew every man around her, including me. I wanted her, and I got her. But so did a few others at court. I thought the nobles were jealous that I took her as my bride, instead of a daughter from a more prominent family. I believe now the rumors were true," Darian said, at peace after his trip to the immortal world. He'd buried his emotions for Claire there, among the apple trees where he'd first met her. "I was blind to her other side. She was ambitious, driven by her controlling father and then by her own need for power.