"I don't have a choice," she replied. "Darian isn't stable. I'll be fine."

"I'll take care of it," he said.

"No, Dusty, Darian needs me."

He said nothing, his decision already made.

"Dealing with you is like beating my head against a brick wall!" she snapped.

"Then stop beating your head," he advised. "I'm not Damian or Jule; you can't sweet talk me into anything. You're in my house. You live by my rules. You know I don't compromise."

"You're a dictator." She sighed and picked up his hand, placing it on her head. Dusty relaxed and smoothed her hair back like he might a child's.

"Boss, you can send her to behavior modification training," Pierre suggested.

Dusty wasn't sure how Pierre ever made it through the Guardian basic training with his lip. While he made a good match for Sofia, Dusty had never met any Guardian with such a loose interpretation of discipline. For Sofia's sake, he refrained from saying what he'd like to say to the Guardian.

"Boy or girl?" he asked, genuinely happy about Damian and Sofia's first child.

"Boy," Pierre volunteered.

"The next White God," Dusty said. "Sofi, that's awesome."

She smiled, meeting his gaze. The silver of her eyes flared and swirled as she gazed at him, an indication she was reading either his future or his mind.

"No, kiri," he chided. "None of that shit. You were late on purpose today so we'd happen to stop by the stash house."

"Whatever, Dusty."

"Don't even try to lie, kiri," he said with a chuckle. "I've almost killed you once today." He'd served as Damian's executioner for thousands of years, a position he found fitting for his general dislike of the human capacity for evil. There was right and wrong, good and evil, and every human but the woman before him had fallen for some temptation of the dark side. After millennia dealing with the dark side of humanity, he didn't think there was anyone else pure left.

"I know you love me," she said. "And yes, maybe I did set today up."

"Congrats," he said. "I'll be an uncle."

"Yep." He couldn't help feeling thrilled at the prospect of Damian's son. Damian himself would be overjoyed, and Jule-the third adopted brother in their threesome-ecstatic. He pulled out his phone to text Damian.

Bro, come visit soon.

He hadn't heard from either Damian or Jule in two weeks. He suspected Damian sealed the European region to prevent magic moving in and out. Even so, he should've heard from one of them by now. In all their years together, they'd never been out of communication more than a few days.

He sensed something wrong but kept it from the petite woman beside him, who had enough of her own issues to deal with. He'd have to track down Darian soon, though what the unpredictable, volatile Grey God was doing was beyond his ability to guess. He'd activate the GPS later and hunt him down if he wasn't in the mansion that served as the Guardians' headquarters.

The drive home was quick as he dwelled on his thoughts. He escorted Sofi to her room, and was surprised to find the Grey God in his room. He knocked once before entering.

Darian lay on his back staring at the ceiling with brooding golden eyes, his horribly scarred body hidden under turtleneck and gloves and socks, even in the safety of his room. The only skin not covered was his face and part of his neck, both of which were channeled and knotted by scars. Darian-who was older than everyone but Jule-was going through what Sofia called a teenager phase as he struggled to re-establish his identity after thousands of years as a brainwashed slave.

"Dusty, did you ever consider working for the Black God?"

"No," he said without hesitation, accustomed to Darian's odd questions.

"You would have been good at it. He hates humans, too."

"I hate evil," Dusty replied.

"But hate is evil, isn't it?"

"I don't give a shit, Darian. I don't second-guess what I do, who I am, or who I serve."

Darian rolled onto his side with a noisy sigh. Dusty couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten stuck with a pregnant Oracle and an equally moody teenager with godlike powers and no ability to control them. It definitely wasn't because he was the most patient of the three brothers.

"I want to go sail boating," Darian said.

"If you're headed towards the tropical storm in the Gulf, you can't take any human or Guardian with you," Dusty said, drawing a chair near the bed and seating himself in front of the Grey God.

"I don't know how to sail!" Darian replied in irritation. "Who cares if I kill a stupid human?"

"It's rule number one: protect humans at all cost. You know this. Rule number two applies to Guardians. I won't let you sacrifice any of my Guardians so you can jump into the middle of a hurricane."

"Fine." Darian bit off the word. "Why don't I have minions like the White and Black Gods? Damian gets Guardians, and Czerno gets vamps. It's not fair."

"I'm not Sofia. Don't bitch to me," Dusty said. "We need to talk about something."

"Gods, what now? More fucking rules?"

"I'd like to ask a favor of you. Sofi's pregnant."

Darian sat up, joy crossing his ugly features. Dusty gazed at him, reminded of the man Darian used to be before he was destroyed by the Black God himself. He hoped one day Darian took his place beside the other gods. Darian wrung his hands like an excited child at the news.

At the very least, Dusty hoped Darian grew out of the terrible twos.

"Boy or girl?" Darian asked.

"Boy."

"That's so awesome!"

"Yeah. But Darian, she can't help you and be pregnant," Dusty said quietly.

Darian's gaze grew pensive. "Dusty, I can't deal with this on my own," he said, gesturing to his head. "There are so many bad things in here ..."

"You'll have to try, Darian."

The Grey God's face grew stormy, and anger colored his features. "I'll figure it out on my own," he said resolutely. "If that means I go crazy and break the rules, you'll just have to kill me. It's okay, Dusty, I'll accept that fate. You're the only one allowed to kill Guardians. You can kill me."

"Darian," Dusty said with patience he didn't quite feel. "Sofia needs you right now. You can help her."

"How?"

"Right now she could use some company," Dusty suggested. "She looks terrible."

"I would never hurt her, Dusty," Darian said and stood. "I'll take care of her and the baby. I promise. I can deal with the mess in my head. I have to, because Damian's going to be gone for another week and a half, and then a lot of bad stuff is about to happen, but whatever. I have to help Sofi."

"You're a good man, Darian. Take care of Sofi," Dusty ordered. He watched the change, irritated by the bizarre mood swings and cryptic ramblings that defined Darian's speech lately. "And follow the rules."

"I will. I'll make sure she rests and I'll go with her everywhere so nobody hurts her."

"Good man," he said again. "And if you need anything, come to me."

"I won't," Darian said. "I mean, I won't need anything, and if I do, I'll come to you. We don't have much time; we better go shopping for baby clothes."

Darian watched the confused Grey God leave, never imagining he'd deal daily with this type of drama in addition to managing the battles against the vamps in the western hemisphere. His second-in-command and executive officer, Sasha, was in Europe, along with everybody he'd been able to spare. It left him more hands-on with the western front than he'd been in hundreds of years. Once Damian came back, Dusty was going on his first vacation ever.

He glanced at his watch. He'd messed around with Jenn only a few hours earlier and already felt the need to unwind again. He rose and left Darian's room for the foyer, where Toni was waiting for him.

"Hey, boss!" Toni greeted him cheerfully. "We interrogated the kid we found in the Camaro the other night. He's kind of a spaz. I think he's on drugs."

"Was he initiated yet?" he asked.

"No, not yet. You want us to keep him or cut him loose?"

"Cut him loose with a GPS tag. We'll see where he goes. He have any good info?" Dusty asked.

"Good, no. Weird, yes. He seems to think Talon is the Black God."

"That idiot?"

"Apparently Talon's telling folks he's being crowned the next Black God," Toni said with a grin.

"Crowned? Don't think that's how it works. White Gods inherit their title, but Black Gods normally get hacked to pieces by their successors. I'm not old enough to know how," Dusty said, convinced Talon was psychotic in addition to sadistic. They strode into the sticky heat towards the gym between the house and the garage.

"Me neither. Czerno will eat him alive. Boss, I was gonna ask if you needed an XO while Sasha is out," Toni ventured.

"You want the job?"

"Definitely."

"It's yours," Dusty said, somewhat relieved to have a little more help. "Move your shit here. I need an hour in the gym then we'll go over the logistics issues you're inheriting."

"Groovy, boss." Toni saluted him with a smile and jogged to his car.

Dusty strode into the gym and peeled off his shirt. He'd gone a week with an hour of sleep. If Darian lost his focus and disappeared again, he suspected it'd be another week before he had a chance to sleep. If Talon was planning to challenge Czerno to a showdown here in Miami, Dusty would never get another wink of sleep again. His phone rang as he reached for a dumbbell.

"Sir, this is Speck in Ohio, Southeast Sector. We're seeing something strange out here. Not sure what to make of it. You got someone free to take a look?"

"I'll be right there," Dusty said, retrieving his shirt. He hung it up only for it to ring again. "What, Sofi?"

"Someone's going to ask you a question tomorrow morning. The answer is Mercy Hospital."

"Is that all you'll give me?" he asked.

"Yep."

"I'm headed to Ohio. I'll be back later."

"Dusty, you need to get some rest," she said, concern in her voice. "The world can wait for you to sleep for a few hours."

"Bad guys don't stop doing bad things just because I need a nap," he said. "I'm okay, Sofi, I promise."

"I worry about you."

"You're the only one."

"You'll have to get used to it pretty soon," she said.

"Damn Oracles!"

"Have a good trip."

"You'll get yours," he promised. "Any minute now Darian's going to beat down your door."

"Remember: Mercy's."

He hung up and tucked the phone away, amused. He closed his eyes and summoned his power to Travel, one of the most useful gifts Damian granted him. When he opened his eyes, he was in Speck's backyard. Speck was waiting for him, at his feet a creature Dusty couldn't identify. Grimly, he realized he wouldn't be catching a nap for some time.

Chapter Four.

Bianca awoke in a cocoon. The sheets were so fine and light they seemed to melt against her skin. The bed molded to her body with each movement, encouraging her to stay there even longer. Her hair was damp at the roots but her long curls as bouncy and cheerful as she felt fatigued.

She rolled onto her side, body aching from exertion. The sheets smelled of a man with an ensnaring scent, a mixture of dark musk and soap. She breathed it in again before climbing from the bed.

His room was clean to the point of anal, his color scheme black on white. Even the pictures on the wall were black and white photography in black frames. He had no family pictures, no trinkets or doodads like she had all over her apartment. There was an alarm clock on the nightstand beside the black base of a lamp. It read 6:23AM.

The door to the room was closed. She eyed it nervously, not wanting to venture past the safety of the bedroom. Crossing the threshold into the bathroom, she paused to look at herself in the mirror with a grimace. She wore an oversized shirt and boxer shorts, neither of which was hers.

However, on the counter was a folded pair of jeans, a set of matching bra and underwear, and a sweater. She looked at it, flushing to think someone had taken the time to figure out her sizes.

Even the bathroom was too clean, she noticed. The towels on the towel rack appeared to have their creases ironed into them. Similar to the bedroom, there was nothing on any of the flat surfaces, not even dust. Whoever lived here had nothing personal to show, no pieces of his personality for her to dissect before she faced him.

Unnerved by the idea of being somewhere she clearly didn't belong, she opened drawers until she found a pair of shears. She changed and took the shears, hiding them against her body as she approached the door.

With a deep breath, she opened the door, uncertain what horror she'd face next. The rest of the spacious apartment was decorated in an identical black and white color scheme as the bedroom. Black furniture, white carpets, black granite countertops in the kitchen, white walls and cabinets.