Xander's Chance

"I don't want to do that, though," he added. "It's been my experience that watching people get killed in front of you tends to leave you more traumatized than functional, and I need you functional. But I can demonstrate. Do you want that?"

"No," she whispered. Grass brushed the skin above her ankle, tickling her. A cool breeze ruffled her curls. "This is really happening."

"Yeah."

"Are you taking me back?"

"When you agree to do what I want. I can move you from one place to another with no effort. I want you to think about what I can do to your cousins, if I felt like it. Or, I could bury you in this field, where no one will ever find you."

She swallowed hard and crossed her arms to keep him from seeing her hands tremble. Tall and lanky, Jonny didn't look like some sort of inhuman creature.

"You're really a vampire?" she asked.

"More or less."

"What does that mean?"

"He's the Black God, the leader of evil in the human realm," another voice answered. "His army is made up of vamps."

Jonny turned to face the person Jessi hadn't heard arrive. He was a small man with eyes that were more purple than blue. There was something about his face that scared her. His features were beyond pale, to the point of translucent, his gaze unblinking.

He made Jonny seem warm and welcoming.

"She's intriguing," the man said to Jonny. "Just the one we seek."

"We were discussing her task," Jonny, the Black God, said in a tone that was cautious. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I mean no disrespect, ikir," the newcomer said. "I was curious to meet the woman who will claim the gem."

"Now you have. Get out of my backyard." Jonny stepped in front of her.

Jessi resisted the urge to move away. Both were bristling with stormy energy that made her body tingle unpleasantly. She was silent, watching. Jonny was pissed, his stance like Brandon's when the cousin was on protective mode when guys at the mall flirted with his sister.

For a moment, she was certain the newcomer was going to hit the teen. At last, the purple-eyed man bowed his head. He disappeared with a wink of purple light.

Jessi blinked, staring at the space where he'd been.

"I hate those fuckers," Jonny muttered. "You on board, or am I eating you for dinner?"

Startled, Jessi almost laughed. She caught herself quickly. "On board."

"Good. We've been monitoring the target for awhile." Jonny faced her once more and pulled free a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here's the address and time to show up. You're going to be a temp for a week. You'll have to get rid of the person who's supposed to be there."