Damian's Oracle (19 page)

“I don’t give a fuck about Czerno, Claire. I
loved Darian. I love Sofia. At one point, I think I loved you,
too.”

“We can - “

He pushed her away from him and drew a deep
breath, withdrawing a pistol from the small of his back.

“You’re a
traitor
,” he spit the word.
“You’ve killed so many, and I’ve been too afraid to see you for
what you are. Tonight, you’re nothing to me.”

She stared at him, her surprise the first
genuine emotion he’d seen. He gathered his power and sent it
towards her, wrapping around her tightly.

“Claire, your immortality is revoked.”

“Damian, don’t!” she shouted as the invisible
hands stripped her of her immortal gift. They dropped her to the
floor. She scrambled up and stared at him, terrified.

Damian took aim with the pistol and fired
into her heart before she could make another sound. She dropped. He
stood over her, watching the life fade from her eyes. Images of his
brother played through his thoughts, images of Claire’s father
presenting her to him, of their visible love, of his death, of his
own involvement with Claire …

They hit fast and hard, even as he exited the
compound and destroyed it with a flash of power. He stood and
watched it burn, feeling as if a part of him burned with it.

A part of him did. What was left of Darian
went up in the second funeral pile in his honor. Damian closed his
eyes to the heat and light, tormented by his brother’s death and
his own cowardice.

Forgive me, brother.

Miles away, she couldn’t shake the feeling
that something was very wrong with Damian. His mind was closed, his
home videos playing too faintly for her to hear. Whatever he was
going through, he was doing his best to block her.

“C’mon, kiri,” Dustin said, poking his head
into the library.

She unraveled herself from her favorite chair
near the window. Dark had fallen an hour before. She pocketed her
list and trailed him to the area just beyond the patio, where the
scent of hot dogs and s’mores greeted her long before she reached
the small group circled around a bonfire. Linda and Traci were
there. She hid a smile at the look on Linda’s face. The brunette
stood between Traci and Rainy, as if she were trying to broker a
peace deal between two warring countries.

Traci was stunning, from her supermodel body
to her delicate, elfin features. Her arms were crossed, and though
she smiled at Lon, Sofia could see her level of comfort was equal
to hers among the giants that towered even above a supermodel.

Relief flooded Linda’s features as she saw
Sofia. She hurried from between the two warring factions and hugged
her. Sofia forced herself not to recoil, afraid to touch
anyone.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Linda whispered.
“This is
awful.
”

Sofia felt Rainy’s hard gaze but avoided his
heated look.

“Traci, come here!” Linda called, flashing a
smile.

The supermodel all but bolted from the midst
of the male forest around her.

“This is Sofi. She saved your life.”

Traci’s hand fluttered to her stomach, and
Sofia’s face flamed.

“I’ll get you some food,” Linda said,
bouncing away.

“She’s so sweet,” Traci murmured as she left.
“I’d go crazy here if not for her.”

“I completely understand,” Sofia said.

“Linda says you’re newer than me. This world
will screw with your mind.”

“Yeah.”

An awkward quiet fell, and she sensed Traci
was as reserved as she was. Linda returned with two hotdogs and
handed one to each of them.

“You have to eat for three now, Traci,” she
said cheerfully.

Sofi pitied the beautiful woman as a stricken
look crossed her features.

“There goes that modeling career,” she
whispered.

Pierre walked by and snatched Sofia’s hotdog.
She was grateful; the scent was both nauseating and infuriating.
Linda eyed him.

“She doesn’t eat,” he called over his
shoulder.

“You’re not starving yourself, are you?”
Linda asked, turning to her in concern.

“She’s blood bound,” Pierre supplied,
unasked.

Sofia glared at him, her embarrassment
deepening at the look the men around the fire gave her. Any hope
she’d had of them not understanding how different she was died.
Their looks ranged from amazement to surprise to Dustin’s look of
disapproval aimed at Pierre.

“What does that mean?” Traci asked.

“It means, she doesn’t eat,” Dustin said,
coming to her rescue. “Why don’t you all sit down? Grande, Lon,
move.”

They complied, and the three women sat in
lawn chairs.

“Do you eat s’mores?” Linda prodded, handing
her the plate going around.

“Lin, we’ll talk about it later,” Lon told
her softly. “Just skip the food.”

Did they think she was a freak? She couldn’t
tell. Linda was too easy going to be affected by much of anything,
and the men seemed more surprised than anything else.

It’s the greatest honor to be bound to a man
like Damian.

Han’s words returned, and she forced herself
to relax. No matter what anyone else thought, it was her reality.
It must not have been totally unheard of if they all understood
what it was.

“How long have you been a part of this
insanity?” she asked Linda.

“Two years, or just under. It’s kinda neat to
know we’re helping save the world from bad guys.”

“You seem pretty happy,” Traci observed.
“Maybe in two years … “

Sofia saw her pain and couldn’t help but
empathize.

“He loves you,” she said quietly. “I saw it
in his face when he almost killed me for being anywhere near
you.”

Traci’s gaze flew to her. There was turmoil
in her pale blue eyes.

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” she asked, one
eyebrow arching. “I’ll make his life a living hell if so.”

Sofia shook her head.

“Jackass,” she muttered.

Sofia exchanged a look with Linda, and the
chipper woman took the hint.

“You guys excited about shopping Saturday? I
have a few places picked out already. This has to be my favorite
time of year, and the one time Lon promises not to dissect our
credit card bills.”

“Yeah, I can think of some places I’d like to
go,” Traci said. “I’ve been living in the bachelor pad with the
guys for three months now. I definitely need some girl stuff.”

“We’ll totally load up. Rainy will have to
get used to pink stuff being everywhere.”

“That he will,” Traci said with a small
smile.

“Are there more of us?” Sofia asked
Linda.

“Naturals mated with Guardians?” Linda
grinned. “Yep. We have our own support group. I’ll send you the
link to our online forum. There aren’t many of us, and we’re all
over the world, but we’re really close knit. We have to be. Who
else can you tell about your husband beheading five vamps?”

Sofia gave a surprised laugh.

“I can’t believe all this,” she said. “It
doesn’t seem real.”

“Hon, it’s as real as it gets,” Linda assured
her. “You’ll have to make some sacrifices, but it’s worth it.”

Her adoring gaze went to Lon. Sofia exchanged
an understanding look with Traci.

“Maybe in two years … “ Traci said again.

“Can you have cocoa?” Linda asked.

“Nothing.”

“I don’t understand what blood bound is,”
Traci said.

Sofia took a deep breath.

“Well, Czerno’s henchmen killed me. Damian
brought me back, but I can’t live without … his blood. I need it
instead of food.”

“How romantic!” Linda exclaimed.

“I don’t really think of it that way,” Sofia
said, eyeing her. “It kinda hurt getting killed, and it really
sucks not being able to eat food.”

“It is romantic,” Traci agreed. “What a
wonderful story.”

“You think so? You don’t think it’s
crazy?”

“No!” they said simultaneously.

“Sofi, none of us are normal. Maybe in the
human world, it’d be totally insane. I don’t mean that in a mean
way,” Linda said quickly. “But you have a new family now, and it
doesn’t sound crazy to me at all. It sounds like a fairytale.”

Traci was gazing at her intently. Sofia saw
the tears form in her gaze.

“Excuse me,” Traci said, standing. “Sofia, is
there a restroom?”

“We’ll be back,” she promised Linda

They walked towards the house, reaching the
patio before Traci started crying. Sofia stood helplessly for a
long minute.

“Traci … “

“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s my hormones. Or maybe
I’m just not … this is so unreal!”

“Pierre, go please,” she said, knowing he’d
be there when she turned. “I’m not going past the bathroom.”

He moved away without returning to the
group.

“Come on,” she said, placing a hand on
Traci’s arm.

She guided the crying woman inside to her
library and dug through the small satchel near her favorite
chair.

“I’ve been crying for a week straight,” she
said. “I’ve figured out which tissues are the softest.”

Traci choked on a half-laugh, half-sob and
accepted the packet of tissues. She sat down, sobbing her heart
out, and Sofia sat near her. God how she understood the uncertainty
and confusion Traci felt!

“You again.”

She turned at Rainy’s voice. His green eyes
shifted from her to Traci. Sofia hesitated then stood. She left
them alone and returned to the group, deep in thought. The growing
night chill drove Linda into Lon’s arms, and she relaxed near the
fire. The men spoke among themselves, swapping war stories and
discussing the Tucson Sector’s influx of vamps. They ignored her,
and she rested her head on the back of the chair, their low talk
and the warmth of the fire lulling her into another trance.

Images flowed behind her eyelids, most too
fleeting to catch. Damian’s home videos played, intertwined with
those of others, until a wave of power washed over her. She jerked
upright. The men had frozen in mid-speech and were looking towards
the mansion.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dustin said, eyes
locked on the house. “He’s had a rough day.”

Their gazes lingered before they returned to
their conversations. Sofia glanced at Dustin and stood, concerned.
Damian was not one to lose control. If he had, something horrible
had happened. She closed h+er eyes, searching for the home videos.
Visions of his brother.

Claire’s death.

Stop.

His command was so sharp she jumped. She felt
more compelled to him now than ever before.

“Sofia,” Dustin called as she stepped towards
the house. “Kiri, you’ve never seen him like this.”

“He needs me,” she said.

He searched her gaze and pursed his lips but
lifted his chin towards the house.

“Pierre, stay,” he ordered.

“
I’m
not going in there,” Pierre
assured him, earning him another look of disapproval.

The sense of power increased tenfold as she
entered the mansion. The lights were on, but shadows crawled from
the corners and choked the lights until they were shriveled,
glowing orbs. The shadows clung to her as she stepped into the
hallway. They moved like smoke, shifting and swirling as they
crawled the walls. They formed a fog at her feet and trailed her
towards the stairwell.

She swallowed hard. Damian needed her.
Shadows chased her up the stairs and flew down the halls, coating
the floors and walls in shallow, black fog. The power swirling in
the air around her grew as she neared Damian’s door, and she was
reminded of the tension in the air before a thunderstorm. Only this
was equal to a hundred thunderstorms.

She didn’t know what Damian was, but he was
beyond Superman powerful.

Leave.

His command reached her as she opened his
suite door. He stood on the balcony, visible beyond the transparent
curtains rustling in the moving fog. She hesitated before moving
forward again.

“Sofia.”

The warning in his voice was plain. His
whisper reached her across the room.

“No,” she told him.

Fear unfurled in her breast, and she clenched
her fists. Shadows crawled over the world around her, and the
tension in the air made it hard to breathe. The hair on her arms
and neck stood up. She’d never seen him not in control. His powers
were quiet and exploring, crawling over the physical world.

The air around him was even harder to
breathe. Her breaths quickened, and her heart pounded.

“You need me,” she managed.

“I need
nothing
from this world!” he
said with an undertone that was purely inhuman.

His fury, pain, and sorrow choked her. Her
eyes watered at the soul wrenching emotions. She’d never felt pain
like his!

“Damian.”

He whirled and stalked towards her, his face
a mask of fury. She retreated until the balcony railing trapped
her. He planted his hands on either side of her and lowered his
face to her level. His presence was overwhelming, and her body
reacted with both terror and lust so strong it made her head
spin.

His eyes were black, fathomless, the eyes of
a god among men.

“Tell me, Seer, what do you See?” he rasped
in the inhuman voice.

Her breaths came in short gasps, but she
refused to back down. She belonged to his world as much as he did.
She belonged to
him.

“I see a man who just lost the last
connection to someone he loved to his soul,” she whispered.

The burst of furious power shot through her,
the shockwave rattling the windows of the house. She closed her
eyes. An eerie quiet followed, and she expected him to be deciding
her fate: would he shove her over the rail or kill her as he had
Claire?

She opened her eyes when nothing happened,
shaking from both cold and fear. Damian’s head was bowed, his tense
body still. Compelled to him like nothing else in the world, she
touched his face with a quivering hand. He was still for a long
moment before he nuzzled it. She raised the other hand to his other
cheek, sensing his resistance. A moment later, it melted, and he
embraced her. She wrapped her arms around him, at home again.