The Grey God

Four lives down. Darian awoke feeling as if he'd just survived a hurricane. He'd had another of his episodes; his body hurt as it always did. One second, he'd been in the immortal world. The next … "Jenn!" he breathed.

He threw off the covers, gaze sweeping the room. It was his room at Damian's. Darian yanked open the door and strode into the hallway.

"Sofi!" He pounded on her door before opening it. Her room was empty. "Bianca! Yully!"

"I'm here, Darian," Bianca's voice came from down the hall. She appeared at the top of the stairwell.

"Bianca, where's Jenn?" he demanded.

"Darian …"

He saw the answer on her face and stopped. "Where's Sofi?"

"Resting. She had Adrian. Darian," Bianca said quickly as he turned away, "we can't find Damian, Dusty, or Jule."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they're still gone."

"What does Sofi say?" Darian's body rippled with power and emotion.

"She says they're alive but she can't find them."

"I need to talk to her."

"I'll wake her up. She's in the study."

Darian retreated to his room and pulled on clothes. His hands shook as he fumbled to lace his boots. He wouldn't think the worse, not unless Sofi confirmed it. He didn't know how he left the immortal world, but if he made it, Jenn could. She was the strongest woman he'd ever met. She must survive; he wanted nothing to do with a world if she wasn't in it.

He jogged down to the study, stopping at the sight of the bassinet beside Sofi's favorite chair. A tiny form, with white-blond hair and swathed in a blanket, slept peacefully. The Oracle looked exhausted, worry on her features. Bianca was pacing.

The sight of the child hammered home his desire for a future with Jenn.

"Sofi, tell me she's not dead," he said. His heart pounded hard.

"I don't know. I can't See anything. It's like my vision is being jammed. I can See other things, but nothing about any of us. Or Damian. The Watchers said they'd be safe. I thought when we got back, they'd be here." The note of distress in her voice was echoed on Bianca's face.

Darian was pensive. He stepped closer to the bassinet and peered at the sleeping child.

"I'll find them, Sofi and Bianca, I swear it," he said. "There are Others and Watchers on the planet. They must've escaped before the immortal world collapsed. No one could do this but them, especially to an Original like Jule. Where's Yully?"