Damian's Oracle

by Lizzy Ford

  He leaned forward. He’d hurt her tonight. He didn’t want to hurt her. Ever. Even with all his powers, his armies, his ability to read minds, he didn’t know how to make things right with her. True, they had eternity to figure each other out, but he didn’t want her turning cold like Dusty or jaded like Jule. He loved her fresh innocence, her selfless courage. He loved her hugs, though he’d never experienced hugs since he was a babe. He liked that she sought him out, not the leader of the Guardians, not the White God, not the Defender of Mankind. She wanted him, the man behind the titles and the power.

  He’d treated her like shit tonight, and he was at a loss as to how to prevent the tortured existence that became the fate of most oracles.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket. He snatched it and transported himself out of her room. Jule’s message brought him back to the unpleasant task ahead of him.

  I’ll be in town in a day or two. Dusty told me everything.

  Grimly, he returned to his duties of entertaining his guests, feeling as if he needed to do something for his little oracle.

  “Sofia.”

  She stirred from her trance, mind replaying scenes of Darian’s death. Darian had quieted as the scenes of his violent death played through her dreams. He sat in the dark corner of her mind, still and silent.

  “We must go, Sofia.”

  Pierre spoke from her doorway, framed against the light of the hall. The clock read 2:38.

  “Right now?”

  “It’s important.”

  The thought of Czerno loose somewhere in the house made her sit up quickly. She still wore the gown, though strands of hair blinded her and she knew her pillow would be filled with makeup. Pierre eyed her and crossed to her bathroom, tossing several items into her travel bag. She fixed her hair while sliding on her shoes.

  “Is Czerno here?” she asked.

  “Mon dieu non!”

  “Then what’s the rush?”

  He waved her out and led her at a quick pace to the front door.

  “You look terrible,” he said, considering her.

  “Rough night,” she muttered and snatched her makeup bag from him.

  A town car with darkened windows awaited them. She spent the next half hour in the dim lighting of the car fixing her makeup with Pierre’s persistent pointers. They entered a large neighborhood and drove the same few blocks a few times before stopping in front of a large adobe hacienda walled off from its neighbors.

  “Go inside. I’ll wait til you enter the gate. You’ll be safe.”

  She hesitated then exited the car and shivered in the late night breeze. The town car left as she stepped inside the gate. She knocked on the door. When no one answered, she knocked again. It wrenched open, and a man in a black trench coat Damian’s size looked her over once.

  “Not tonight. Get the fuck outta here.”

  And slammed the door. Sofia took a step back and silently urged Pierre to hurry. Damian’s men were not the type she wanted to piss off.

  “Why are you not in side, mademoiselle?” he asked, agitated as he trotted through the gate. “It’s not safe out here.”

  “You said it was.”

  “It’s safer inside.”

  Sofia swallowed a retort. Pierre pounded on the door with the discretion of a jackhammer. The door opened, and a different, blond man looked them over before stepping back.

  “Pierre,” her bodyguard said, clapping him on the arm.

  “Everyone and their mother is here tonight. You might as well come in,” was the surly response.

  “What happened?”

  “Rainy was supposed to protect a Natural he found. The vamps fucked her up real good tonight.”

  “What’s her talent?”

  “Tracking.”

  She trailed them through the house that resembled a frat house. The only décor consisted of international beer bottle displays and pictures of scantily clad women or cars. The living room was equipped with a massive flat screen television and worn furniture. They reached a second foyer where the man in the trench stood with a caramel colored man covered in blood and a third.

  “This is the Tucson Sector team,” Pierre said. “They’re the Guardians at the operational front of our war. Their job is to kill the vamps and any other of Czerno’s creatures while minimizing collateral damage.”

  “You mean without killing anyone else,” she said, crossing her arms again.

  “It’s one of our most sacred creeds: we do not kill humans. Sometimes we find Naturals, humans with the ability to track Czerno’s creatures or to heal our kind or some other natural talent.”

  “Like me?”

  “Sorta.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’re in a category all by yourself, but if it gets my point across, sure.”

  “You’re an ass, Pierre.”

  He moved away from her to meet the others. The tension of the stiff forms in the foyer was overwhelming. Without Pierre, she’d never set foot in such a dangerous situation.

  “Rainy, Ving, Justin, this is Pierre,” the surly blond said.

  The three looked at him, the bloody man - Rainy - with pure hostility. The other two were too occupied by whatever happened to do more than glance at the newcomer. Ving - the man in the trench coat - looked at her.

  “What the fuck? Lon, did you let her in?”

  “Yeah. She’s with him.”

  The four looked at her. If she ran, they’d eat her, she was sure. So she stayed put and hugged herself more tightly. Pierre was at ease among his own kind.

  “You a doctor?” Rainy demanded.

  “Damian sent her,” Pierre answered.

  Rainy hesitated, then threw open the door he guarded, glaring at her. Pierre motioned her forward, and she went, afraid of what she’d find. As she passed Rainy, she looked up at him and saw the lines of worry in his face. His gaze was stormy, but there was more there, a profound sadness that made the large man more human.

  She entered, and he closed the door behind her. A bloodied woman lay on the bed, unconscious and breathing shallowly. A brunette woman worked to stabilize her, and Sofia froze in place.

  She didn’t want to see more death.

  “Can you give me a hand?” the woman called over her shoulder. “I need this hung high.”

  She held up an IV bag. Sofia forced herself to take it. The woman looked up at her, surprised. She was in her mid-20s with crystal clear blue eyes and porcelain skin.

  “I thought you were … nevermind,” she said, scurrying around the bed. “It’s better you help anyway. The boys are clumsy.”

  Sofia looked down at the beautiful woman on the bed then jerry-rigged the IV over a lamp to keep it elevated.

  “Is she going to be ok?” she asked, then realized how stupid her question was when she could see the future.

  “I’m not sure.”

  She sat down on the bed, careful to keep the blood from her gown, and touched the woman’s face, bracing herself. What she saw amazed her, and her eyes watered, this time out of relief and happiness. Traci.

  “She’s bleeding internally,” she said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s her spleen. Can you fix that?”

  The brunette paled.

  “Rainy!”

  The door flew open. Sofia stood as his hot gaze fell to her, sensing he wanted no stranger near the woman.

  “We need to take her to the hospital, now.”

  He shot forward and gathered the woman in his arms while the second woman scrambled to grab the IVs.

  “Where the fuck is Damian?” Rainy roared as he tore through the house.

  Pierre motioned her aside as the mad rush went through the house to the garage.

  “I want to go, Pierre,” she said, following.

  “Yes, please come,” the brunette urged. “I don’t know how you know this, but I stopped asking questions awhile ago. C’mon.”

  The men piled into two Tahoes, and the woman led her
to a small Honda. Pierre crammed himself into the backseat.

  “I’m Linda.”

  “Sofia.”

  They were quiet the remainder of the trip while Sofia dwelled over what she’d seen in Traci’s future.

  What was Damian doing? Why had he sent her, and where the hell was he? She knew he could heal people. Was he that busy?

  She hung back as they entered the hospital and watched the emergency room personnel take Traci. Linda flashed her a strained smile that made her feel welcome for the first time in a week before the pretty brunette gave the blond man, Lon, a hug and kiss. He relaxed visibly with her in his arms.

  They waited. Rainy paced, flung himself into a chair, then paced again. She didn’t like seeing someone else suffer the way she did every time she thought of Toby or Jake or others dying. She approached him. His gaze raked over her.

  “Rainy,” she said, clearing her throat. “Traci’s going to be ok.”

  “How the fuck would you know?”

  “I just do.”

  He stared at her.

  “Who are you?” he demanded, approaching her so quickly she backpedaled. His jaw ticked, and his fists were clenched. She cringed away from him as her knees hit a chair. He was ready to snap, and she didn’t want to be the first one he took out when he did.

  “Careful,” Pierre warned from nearby.

  “Down boy,” Ving said, taking his arm.

  “The babies are ok, too,” Sofia added.

  They all froze, and a look of surprise crossed Rainy’s stormy features.

  “The what?!”

  She said nothing, realizing she’d told him something he didn’t know.

  “Sofia found the internal bleeding. If I were you, I’d listen to her. Traci will be fine. Sit your ass down,” Linda said, planting herself between them and physically pushing the man who towered over her.

  To her surprise, Rainy obeyed, though he sat across the room and stared at her. She curled up in a chair, afraid to move too quickly under the tense Guardian’s gaze. A doctor emerged soon after, hesitating as his gaze swept over the room full of massive, bristling men until Linda came forward.

  “Are you next of kin?” he asked.

  “More or less,” she said with a smile.

  “Come with me.”

  “Sofia,” Linda waved her over.

  Rainy started to his feet as she rose, and she stopped.

  “Dude, chill,” Lon said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  Pierre drew nearer, and Linda waved her forward again. Sofia went, trailing them down a hall with antiseptic-laced air to an open bay with beds separated by curtains. Traci was alone at the far end of the bay.

  “She’ll be alright. We had a scare there, but she pulled through. We’ve stopped the bleeding. She’ll have to remain here for a couple of days.”

  “Thank God,” Linda breathed. “And … uh, her babies are ok?”

  “She’s in the early stages of pregnancy, no more than eight weeks. We’ll be watching for signs of trauma. It’ll be another two weeks before I’ll feel comfortable imaging her uterus to see the fetus.”

  Sofia listened as she approached Traci’s bed and gazed down at the unconscious woman. The woman was hooked to a ventilator and IVs, her battered face clean and pale. The doctor left, and Linda joined her.

  “Czerno is a monster,” she whispered.

  “He is,” Linda said. “Lon - my husband - has had his own run ins with Czerno.”

  “So have I.”

  She felt Linda’s gaze.

  “It’s why they do what they do, to protect humanity from that fate.”

  At her curious look, Linda continued.

  “Their war, it’s been going on for thousands of years. Damian is their leader. Lon says he’s not … normal, if you’d call any of them normal. I guess D is something less normal than my Lon. Anyway, the war between Czerno and D is for the fate of us puny humans.”

  “Why would creatures like them bother?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m glad they do. I’ve only met Damian once, when he saved Lon’s life after Czerno chewed him up and spit him out. His men worship him. He’s helped all of them somehow, though he terrified me the time I did meet him.”

  “He has that affect on people.”

  “Are you one of the Naturals, like Traci?”

  “Not really.”

  Sofia heard her unasked question and moved away.

  “Is she having boys?”

  “Girls, two of them.”

  Linda laughed.

  “Rainy with two girls? No way! He’ll be inconsolable.”

  Sofia smiled and looked at the pretty woman beside her. There was a natural sense of cheerfulness to her that she liked.

  “May I … could you shake my hand?” she asked lamely.

  Linda’s brow furrowed, but she held out her hand. Sofia gripped it, the touch enough to reveal a future like Traci’s, filled with love and joy.

  “Am I pregnant, too?” Linda teased. “That’s an awesome pregnancy test, by the way.”

  “No, you’re not,” Sofia answered with a smile. “You will be soon.”

  Linda grinned.

  “We better get Rainy in here before he tears down the hospital looking for her.”

  “I’m not staying. He’s an inch away from wringing my neck,” Sofia said, following. Her stomach growled.

  “You wanna get some food?”

  She bit her lip and crossed her arms.

  “Sure.”

  Linda sent Rainy to Traci and walked with her to the cafeteria. Pierre trailed them at a distance just out of earshot, and Linda looked at her curiously.

  “He’s wearing the color of the bodyguards,” she observed. “You must be someone important.”

  “Not really. I’m a lost sheep.”

  “Strange. You seem to know what you’re doing.”

  “I’m … new to Damian’s organization. One week new, to be exact. I don’t really know which way is up right now.”

  “Wow, Sofia. First, welcome, and congrats! These are the finest men you’ll find anywhere.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Second, who’s your sponsor?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, no one gets in without a reason. Someone brought you in.”

  They sat at a table near the windows.

  “Why did they bring you in?” Sofia asked.

  “Lon found me. I’m a Natural. I have the ability to levitate things.”

  “Really? Like anything?”

  “Yep.”

  “So, if Lon said something stupid to you, you could toss him into the air and leave him there until he agreed to treat you with an ounce of respect. And if he didn’t, you could leave him there and do whatever the hell you wanted for the day.”

  Linda looked at her, and she realized she’d said too much. She cleared her throat, anger spiraling through her again.

  “I guess I’d never thought of that,” Linda admitted, a smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. “But yeah, I could do that.”

  Sofia watched her take a bite of a muffin, at once longing and agitated. She was hungry. After her explosion at Damian, she’d have to beg for food. And she’d never demean herself to that man. She’d just have to starve to death.

  “I do understand how frustrating this all seems when you first join. Well, you don’t really choose to join.”

  “You’re telling me,” Sofia said with emotion. “One day I’m normal. The next, I can’t stand daylight and Damian is beating down my door.”

  “Damian?” Linda’s amazement increased. “Damian’s your sponsor?”

  She nodded.

  “I totally have to tell Lon. Hold on a sec.”

  Sofia watched as she whipped out a phone to text Lon.

  “You have no idea how special you are if D is your sponsor. Or how lucky.”

  “Lucky?”

  “Yeah, sure. He’s dreamy, runs his own um, business, and he’s got, like, Su
perman powers. He’s like a modern day king who’s in charge of the superheroes trying to beat down the evil villains.”

  Sofia recalled how much her first meeting with him had scared her. His aura of power, his command and confidence, the sense that – whatever he was – he was something humankind wasn’t prepared to face.

  “He’s just a good guy,” Linda continued. “He’s been after bad guys for thousands of years, and he’s never gone to the Dark Side or quit or anything. That says a lot for someone, you know? He’s good to his men. Lon and the others adore him. I like him, even if he scares me.”

  This world is so fucked up I don’t know why I bother.

  His cranky words echoed in her thoughts, and she smiled to herself.

  “They do so much to help people,” Linda said, looking down as her phone dinged. “Lon doesn’t believe me. Oh, well. Where is Damian?”

  “I’m definitely not his keeper,” Sofia said with a shrug.

  The sun peaked over the horizon, reminding her that she’d gotten only a few hours of bad sleep. Linda texted back and forth with her husband for a few minutes.

  “Traci’s awake. I’ll be right back,” she said, hopping up.

  Sofia gazed out the window, mulling over the night. She began to suspect Damian sent her there so she could meet the other women dragged into his organization. Or maybe he wanted her out of the house so he could kill the traitors.

  Oh ye of little faith.

  “I hate that,” she answered.

  I know.

  “What do you want, Damian?”

  I owe you an apology.

  “Well, man up and do it in person.”

  “A little testy today, aren’t we?”

  She jumped, watching as he folded himself into the small chair across from her. His scent made her heart quicken and her drowsiness dissipate. Her breath caught as she gazed at him, and she looked for any sign he was still angry at her. His golden eyes were calm, his large frame relaxed with the feline grace that made her hormones wild. His power was checked but his unusual presence enough to draw the looks of those around them. Most moved away quickly, sensing there was something about him that just wasn’t normal.