Damian's Assassin

*****

The Oracle Sofia felt the youth enter the library like a cold breeze in a sauna. Bianca's drowsy cat warmed one of her thighs, and it hopped off to hide beneath the table opposite her. Her evolving power told her more than she wanted to know, even before she faced him. Choppy scenes of the boy's past and future blinked into her thoughts.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the boy called out in a quiet, nervous voice.

She wasn't sure what she expected when she faced him, but it wasn't the gangly young man with large, uncertain brown eyes. His memories and thoughts played like home videos, similar to those of her mate, Damian, and his adopted brothers. Only those touched by fate had such vivid memories that entered her mind unbidden. The boy was meant for greatness-- and darkness.

"Come in, Jonny," she said. "Sit down."

He hesitated, visibly unsettled by what she knew were her spinning silver-blue eyes. He obeyed and sat across from her, shifting in his seat several times under her gaze.

"I'm Sofi, the White God's Oracle," she started. "I can see parts of the future and more importantly for you, a person's soul."

His eyes widened, and he shifted again. Something flickered in his gaze, and she guessed he had an inkling of what awaited him. Her throat tightened as she looked at him. The fate awaiting the young man was one she wouldn't wish on anyone, even the Black God himself.

"It's bad, isn't it?" he whispered. "I'm bad, aren't I, or I wouldn't have done what I did to B."

"Good and evil exist in all of us," she said, not sure what to say. "You … you're meant to maintain a vital balance in this world. You're a god-slayer, Jonny, and you must kill a god. It's your fate, but I feel like you know this. How?"

Jonny's gaze darkened, and he rose, pacing to the window. She watched the memories in his head.

"Dreams," he said. "I almost died when I was a child. B cured me, but I felt like I was touched by something then. It makes no sense, but I couldn't ever leave that night behind."

"What do you see in your dreams?"

"Darkness." His voice caught. "Evil. Death. I didn't think it was real until … until Talon. The dreams got worse, and then I went to Talon's one night. I couldn't remember anything until I saw Bianca again and she fixed me in the hospital. But the darkness was still there, like Talon put something evil in me."

"Talon didn't. You'd been protected by other immortal beings called the Watchers until it was time for your fate to unravel. Talon made you immortal and awoke your gift," Sofi replied.