His freezing shower did little to calm his blood, and he was pissy before he saw the number of voice mails and texts awaiting him. He strode from the bedroom, tucking his gun at the small of his back. The condo smelled of breakfast, and he looked around, satisfied to find it clean again.

"Dusty, I made breakfast," she called as he passed the kitchen.

"I'm late."

"I made it to go," she said cheerfully.

He altered his path for the kitchen. She handed him a baggie with an egg, sausage, and cheese sandwich. Her eyes sparkled again, her face glowing. She didn't meet his gaze and spun away when he took the sandwich. He retrieved orange juice from the fridge.

"Do I have to stay here all day?" she asked.

"Yep."

She didn't complain, but he felt her disappointment. She was too lively to be trapped in the condo on her own. He remembered his cruelty from the night and glanced at the couch. For the second time in as many days, he almost felt bad. She'd been through hell at Talon's hands.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm okay. Still feel a little tired."

"I shouldn't have been a dick," he said. "The bed's big enough for both of us."

"I don't do one night stands, Dusty," she said, face red again.

"Bianca, I won't touch you," he replied, then added, "unless you want me to."

"I can't tell if you want to kill me or sleep with me," she said with a laugh.

"I do want to fuck you," he replied. "Still borderline on the killing."

She gasped and gripped her neck, as if fearing he was some sort of vampire out to suck her blood. Dusty fought back an amused smile. His sense of humor wasn't well understood by many. He hadn't thought it as harsh as it was, just like he thought nothing of killing anything in his path, but seeing the look on a normal human's face reminded him he'd been close to losing what humanity he possessed for quite a while.

"I feel like I should apologize for ... whatever it is you're feeling," he said with what he hoped sounded like a sincere attempt to empathize. "I'm not used to dealing with humans."

"I kinda got that," she said. "You could try a little more not to scare me so much. This isn't exactly easy being ripped from my life."

"I imagine not."

"You've never ... I mean, I guess you didn't go through the same thing?"

He was quiet for a moment, his thoughts going to the life he'd lived before the Schism. Damian found him just before and adopted him first as his servant then as his brother, once they were thrown from the immortal world into the mortal realm.

"I did go through it," he said, not wanting to disturb emotions he'd buried long ago.

"Do you want to talk about it? It might help me," she said hesitantly. "I'm so sorry, but with my gift, I felt you had some sort of pain, maybe you lost someone once, long ago? I felt it in Jonny when our father-"

"No." The sharpness of his tone made her jump. "I have to go."

He closed his eyes to Travel out of the condo, aware he'd snapped at her once again. When he opened them, he was in his study. Toni was asleep at the computer.

... Maybe you lost someone once. Her words followed him, and he rubbed his face. He hadn't thought of his sister or his loss for some time. To be reminded first by a woman who should be dead and again by a Healer of some sort ...

He shook out his shoulders and nudged his XO awake, not wanting to deal with the thoughts. After all, he wasn't going to live long enough for his feelings to matter.

"Got something, boss," Toni said instantly.

"Good, what?"

"Intercepts picked up a call Talon made to one of his guys who we know plans his recruitment fairs. He's planning something big for the weekend, and it sounds like his pop will be in town for it."

"How big and where?" Dusty asked.

"They're putting out an announcement to every vamp east of the Mississippi River. Talon's renting out a country club between here and Pembroke Pines," Toni responded.

"What's the event?"

"Allegedly, Talon's been given demigod status. Might be a promotion party. Might be something else. We can't figure it out. But there will be a few thousand bad guys within a stone's throw of us ..."

"Pull in everything we can from the east coast sectors," Dusty said. He heard his sister's voice in his mind again, promising they'd meet again soon. He didn't have to wonder where he'd die-only how.

"We're down to skeleton crews already," Toni said, facing him. "Everyone's in Europe."

"Make a call to Jasmine in Latin America and see what we can get from them. Have Jenn twist a few arms for details and to validate the intercepts. And ready an emergency evac plan, just in case. Talon's a violent fuck, and the Czerno-Talon combo will be worse than the incoming hurricane."

"Where should we evac to?" Toni asked.

"I don't care. Pick one of the spots Sasha identified." He strode out and down the hall, stopping to pound on Sofi's door. She opened it and frowned, as if knowing why he was there.

"Sofi, what can you tell me about this weekend?" he asked.

"I can't see much yet on my own," she admitted. "My crystal ball doesn't work as well as it should. But, what I've seen thus far is that it could be really bad."

"Define bad."

"Talon's a demigod, and he thinks he can take on Czerno. I don't know if he's going to try Saturday or if he's just flexing his muscles. Can you bring in someone for me to check their future?"

Sofi's skill relied mostly on reading the future of a specific soul by touching them, and he'd not let her within miles of a vamp since taking over her guardianship. She was too young of an Oracle to have mastered her ability yet.

His thoughts turned to Jonny, who'd been taken to the Guardians' barracks.

"Maybe," he said. "What else?"

"That's all I can say, except ..." A look of pain crossed her face. Her irises swirled again and her frown grew.

"I don't make it, do I?" he asked, even knowing he shouldn't.

"You die, but it's not the end for you," she said, ever the cryptic Oracle. "At least, I hope it's not."

A chill ran through him. She shook away the dark thoughts. Dusty didn't pry; she shouldn't have told him what she did. They gazed at each other for a long moment.

Damian needed to know. Dusty didn't know why Talon would choose Miami to make a stand, unless he wanted to take out as much of the Guardians' infrastructure as possible should he find some way to beat Czerno. Amassing thousands of vamps in the same place wasn't a good sign. Even the Black God didn't normally act so brashly. Dusty had maybe a thousand Guardians assigned to North America remaining after he sent all he could spare to the European front.

"I'm prepping an evac plan for you," he said, rising. "Pack a bag, just in case."

"Darian's probably going to ask you if he can go visit the cat."

"He can go this morning," he said.

"I'll let him know. Am I still grounded?" she asked, pinning him with a cold glare and crossing her arms.

"You're on parole. The next time you leave the compound without telling me, you'll be grounded until Damian returns."

"I hope it's soon," she said, a look of longing crossing her face.

"Don't worry, Sofi," he said. "And if this Miami thing gets as bad as we both think it will, he might have to come back soon anyway. I have to go."

She gave him a hug. As a stranger to human affection, he'd never quite gotten used to her hugs. He squeezed her back and left. Toni awaited him in the foyer.

"Boss, Jasmine wants to know how much more you're going to fuck her over this year. She means that respectfully," Toni said. "She said she'd tell you that in person if you hadn't already taken her Traveler."

"If she's available, have her come to Miami, too," Dusty said. "We're going to need all the help we can get." He whipped out his phone and trotted down the stairs, typing a response to one of the many texts he'd received.

He froze on the bottom step, the hair at the back of his neck standing up. He'd had this sense before, when Darian was proclaimed the Grey God. Dusty followed his instincts to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. A slight man with white hair, velvety green eyes, and a fatherly smile stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"I tried to call you, but you didn't answer," the Watcher said.

A Watcher appearing in his kitchen was the worst sign of impending doom yet. As members of the oldest beings in the universe, the Watchers saw all. According to the divine codes, they were forbidden from interfering in human affairs, unless they felt like it, which they'd decided to do for several months. Dusty didn't know how they chose when to interfere with the mortal world, but when they did, it normally resulted in some sort of universal catastrophe, like the Schism that split the divine world from the physical one and nearly wiped out humanity and divinity alike.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

"You found the healer?"

"You know I did."

"We destroyed all the records predating the Schism, but I thought you might want to know something about her," the Watcher offered.

"Do tell."

"What do you want to know?"

"Why is she special?" Dusty asked.

"She's an exceptionally powerful healer, the kind that haven't been seen since before the Schism," the Watcher explained. "She can help finish what Sofi started with the Grey God, and she's of value to Czerno."

"Why would Czerno need a healer?"

"He doesn't yet, but he will, when he realizes the Others he entrusted are working against him. He's weakening, Dusty. He's flaunted the divine codes for too long."

"There must be a Black God," Dusty mulled, only vaguely aware of the Others, the Watchers that favored humanity's demise.

"Precisely."

"Then what we've heard is true: Talon wants his job. But Talon can't kill him," Dusty surmised. "Why can't I contact Damian or Jule?"

"I had to seal the hemispheres. The White God is safe and well, but there are incidents that must unfold here before they can return."

"You got anything else?" he snapped. Dusty glared at him, hating the way the Watcher community doled out knowledge at their convenience and not his.

"Jonny's special as well. You need to keep him safe. Oh, and the tropical storm will become a hurricane late Saturday night."

"I really don't give a shit about the weather."

"I texted you my email address in case you want to email," the Watcher said and held up his phone.

"Why would I want to email you?"

"I forgot. You don't like electronics. I understand. Darian can email me if he wants."

Dusty spun on his heel. He'd never understood the Watchers or any of the otherworldly beings Damian or Jule had known pre-Schism. He'd been a kid when Damian found him and a human when the Schism occurred. Damian granted him his god-powers after the Schism, whereas Jule was expelled from the divine world for crimes he'd never discussed. As the youngest, non-natural deity-like being, he didn't have the history-or the patience-D or Jule had with such creatures as the Watchers.

"Toni," he called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, boss!"

"Call together the planners and have them meet me here later. We need to dust off a few ops plans for this weekend."

"Groovy!"

"I'm going to the gym." He wolfed down the sandwich Bianca made him, unable to remember the last time he'd eaten breakfast. Or at all. In a few days, he'd be dead, and food wouldn't matter.

Chapter Six.

"Oh, my god, cookies!" Darian exclaimed.

Bianca jumped at the voice and peered out of the kitchen at the man named Darian. He was dressed in all black again from turtleneck to heavy boots despite the heat of early afternoon, the color emphasizing the zero body fat of his lean body.

"Sunny!" he called.

She couldn't get over seeing a grown man acting like a teenager. She pulled the last of the cookies from the oven and set them on top to cool.

"If you sit on the couch, she'll come to you," she offered, watching as Darian searched the condo.

"I've never had a cat," he said, excited. "What do they eat?"