"Are you being treated well?" he asked.
"I'm still standing."
"You're worried about something."
"Being surrounded by vamps all day makes you jumpy."
"Jenn-"
"I'm fine. Really. This isn't a safe place for you to be, Darian. If I need something, I'll send a message, okay?"
Her verbal slap stunned him. The words were purred in her husky voice yet felt as if they'd been shouted. Jenn offered another half-assed smile then turned and walked away. Darian watched her, startled by her abruptness. He hadn't seen her since they sparred last, when Damian interrupted and swept her away to loan her to the Black God for a month. They'd been joking and sparring and having a good time.
Now this. Jenn wanted nothing to do with him. But it was more than that. Something was off here, and it wasn't just Jenn. Darian looked around him, irritated at her rejection but also aware she'd never treat any Guardian like that without a reason.
Jenn didn't look back but strode straight to the mansion and inside. Darian remained for another long moment before Traveling to the nearest town, determined to figure out what was going on.
*****
Jenn closed the door firmly and drew a deep breath before facing her awaiting surveillance team. The three vamps were spread out around the foyer and trailed her like bloodsucking puppies as she moved down the hallway. Those vamps she passed hissed at her. There was one place in the mega-mansion where she found peace: the gym. Most of the vamps were late to wake in the mornings, the effect of their nocturnal lifestyle.
The women's locker room was empty. Jenn entered and went to her locker. She opened it and muttered a curse. One of the vamps had left her another deer head at the bottom. They were passive aggressive with her, hazing her when the Black God and Xander weren't around. There was a note affixed to the deer head, and she suspected it said the same thing as the other notes on animal heads she'd found around the house. You're next, Guardian. At least there's no blood on my clothes, she told herself. She changed, left her folded clothing on the bench outside the locker, and slammed the locker closed. The backpack she kept with her as she exited the locker room into the gym area. It held all the weapons she could cram in there. She'd learned the hard way what happened if she left her weapons in her room. They had a habit of disappearing.
Her surveillance team had set up already. With them was a fourth vamp, one she wanted desperately not to see. Xander, the Original Vamp, stood over seven feet tall and was built like a boulder with dark hair and the glowing, red eyes characteristic of vamps. One of five Original Beings, he'd landed on earth when the Originals escaped from their immortal exile. He'd been a thorn in her side ever since.