Read Online Damian's Oracle by Lizzy Ford - Free Book Online

language
to the man on the other end. Her grip tightened on the wheel, and
she assumed he spoke to Damian. He didn’t appear out of thin air to
stop her, and she made it to the airport terminal, where she
stopped in front of the Delta sign and handed Jake the keys.
    If she failed to make it on the plane, she
didn’t doubt D would drag her back. She was pretty sure he would
find her no matter where she tried to go.
    Damn them all.
    She strode into the airport and checked in,
very careful not to brush up against anyone for fear of the jarring
visions. She didn’t relax until her plane was in the air, and only
then was she able to relax only when she sat pressed against the
window to prevent her elbow from touching the man beside her.
    Several hours later, just as dawn was
breaking, she entered the disaster that was her apartment. Sofia
dropped her backpack onto the kitchen counter, taking in the
damage.
    “Hello, Sofia.”
    She froze at the familiar voice.
    “I was worried when you didn’t show for your
appointment.”
    She turned, startled to find the man in front
her of the same make and mold as Damian’s men. The doctor’s eyes
were the color of cold steel, his face stoic and large form tense.
His hair was silvered.
    “Dr. Czerno?” she managed. “You’re not a
doctor, are you?”
    “No, Sofia.”
    She stared at him and edged around the
kitchen island. Sofia darted for the door, but he snatched her arm.
His visions were more than just his death; they were the first
person experience of torturing and killing of many, many others, as
if she were mutilating others. She staggered under the
weight of them, dropping to her knees.
    He released her.
    “I think you see what I am about,” he
said.
    Tears streamed down her face as screams
echoed in her mind.
    “I can carry you or you can walk out.”
    “Walk,” she managed, shuddering at the
lingering visions that left an acrid taste in her mouth.
    “Let’s go.”
    She pushed herself off the floor and rose.
The kind of creature that could do such things to other men left
her no doubt he’d do the same to her if she didn’t obey. She
shivered and hugged herself as they emerged into the cold Virginia
dawn.
    A chauffer opened the door to a town car as
they neared the street.
    Run! Run!
    As if hearing her thoughts, Czerno gripped
her arm again. Sofia sagged, crippled by the burning visions. He
shoved her into the car, and she crawled as far from him as she
could.
    They merged into traffic. Czerno raised the
privacy glass with the push of a button.
    “Tell me, love, just how powerful are
you?”
    She shook her head.
    “Still transforming, I see.”
    And he smiled, a cold smile that did not
reach the death in his eyes.
     
    * * *
    Damian turned the cell back on and emerged
from the Marriott’s conference room, the random place chosen by his
spy chief for this week’s intelligence briefing. The situation in
Europe plagued him, as did the declining number of Guardians. This
would be the first year he’d gone into the negative in a thousand
of years. He was losing established Guardians – mostly in Europe –
and an entire class of new recruits.
    Dusty’s suggestion of bringing in every
regional commander and station chief for interrogation was sounding
better. As a former assassin and interrogator, Dusty didn’t much
care for people to begin with. Dusty’s skills were legendary, but
Damian had held off on what he considered a reign of terror for his
regional commanders. Dusty’s interviewees rarely lived through the
ordeal, and he wasn’t yet ready for that step.
    His cell rang before it could upload the
number of voicemails and texts.
    “I’m done, Han. What’s up?”
    “This message is from Dusty. He wants to know
what the fuck you were doing that you couldn’t answer your
phone.”
    “I’ll call him,” he promised.
    “We have a serious issue,” Han said in a flat
voice. “You need to get to NOVA now. ”
    “Consider me there.”
    Han had never led