She snapped her hand back and stared at him, overwhelmed. The man before her was from before time, before life, before everything. He clasped his hands behind his back. The memories rippled through her then coalesced, locking themselves away in the back of her mind.
"Watcher." Dustin's warning growl was cold. He took her arm, pulling her behind him. Her gaze was riveted to the man before her. His green gaze switched from her to Dustin, never blinking.
"I mean no harm, Guardian," the Watcher said.
"What are you?" she breathed, the images swimming through her thoughts.
"Ikira, I am a Watcher, one of those who guards the Guardians," he said with another of his warm smiles. "My job is to make sure the pendulum never swings too far into the court of the Black God."
"Bullshit," Dusty snapped. "You have no loyalties to either God."
"True, but it's always been in the Watchers' best interest to ensure humanity perpetuates. The Black God doesn't share our view."
"Master." Darian's voice was monotonous. "I obeyed you. Kiri is safe."
She turned to see his gaze on the ground, his body braced as if for a blow. Heartbroken by his return to the slave he was, Sofia was stopped from comforting him by Dustin's grip on her arm.
"I know, Darian," the Watcher said. "You did well. If I may, ikir?"
He looked to Dustin. Dustin gave a tense nod and pushed her behind him, out of the Watcher's path. He was coiled and ready to snap if the Watcher so much as looked at her too long. She wasn't about to contradict the cold executioner when he was in this mood.
The Watcher approached Darian, who knelt in response to a silent command. The Watcher placed both hands on his head. Darian jerked.
"Tomorrow, when you awake, you will no longer be a slave. You will become the Grey God, who you were born to be," the Watcher told him.
"I thought Watchers had a policy of non-interference," Dustin said in a measured tone.
"We do, ikir, unless the balance is so disturbed that we must interfere." His words sent a chill through Sofia. "You will see me again, ikir. "And you, ikira. You will remember the secrets I gave you one day, when you must use them."
She didn't like the ominous words and looked up at Dustin again, seeking to gauge just how serious the situation was. He was pale beneath the golden skin. She crept closer to him. If he was worried, she had a reason to be terrified.
"My dear Darian," the Watcher said in a softer tone, "I cannot take the pain of the memories you will experience in the morning when you remember the whole of your existence. Do not be consumed by them. You have a great fate to fulfill in this life yet."