"How did you know?" she asked with a sigh. "I didn't feel you in my head."
"Bite marks."
She touched her neck self-consciously. She had barely been able to see the marks in daylight and covered them with makeup before going for Thursday night dinner with the family.
"There are only two vamps who can catch you. Me and him, and I didn't do it," Xander added with some amusement. "He scare you?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "I didn't expect him to."
"But you're not satisfied."
"No."
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Ashley didn't expect Xander to react so calmly to the news and was grateful for it.
"Get your fix of bad boys now. I'm considering shipping you off to Damian's Texas ranch for a few years when this is over," Xander added.
She hid a smile, hearing his moody territoriality. He was part of the reason she and Jonny hadn't gone to the Guardians already. Xander didn't want his family used as pawns by anyone. He ran interference with Damian for that purpose. The result: she and Brandon had a pretty normal college experience instead of being absorbed into the Guardian network.
If he were contemplating going back on his position, it was out of his concern.
"I didn't think you'd be like this about it," she said.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Ashley. There are some actions that can't be undone. I'd rather you never know what that means, but you're pushing in this direction."
She peered up at him once more. Xander had the ability to see pieces of the future within a very narrow lane. "You think something bad will happen?"
"I know it. When you fuck with a god, you don't walk away without scars."
"Do you have scars?"
"From multiple gods," he said with a rare smile. "But I can handle the pain."
She swallowed hard. It was the bluntest he'd ever been with her. While it dampened her eagerness to take on Jonny, it didn't kill the urge completely.
It made her think she wasn't fully aware of what Jonny had become. She still saw the young man she'd known in her mind's eye when she thought of him.
"He won't kill or vamp you," Xander added. "He knows I'd find a way to destroy him if he does. Fucking with him isn't going to be a gentle lesson."
Recalling how hard he'd bitten her the second time, she began to think it was well worth the effort not to get caught again, to focus on attacking his vamps without facing him in person.
Though it made for dissatisfying vengeance.