Damian's Oracle

"Yeah, that's it. You heard of him?"

Jake was so quiet, she thought he left until he spoke again.

"Sofia, will you come with me somewhere?"

"Not during daylight." If not for the painful sunlight, she would've looked up at the hushed note in his voice. Her body was beginning to ache more, from her battered hands to her bruised cheek from when she'd fallen after fainting the night before. A deeper ache, as if she had the flu and every muscle in her body was on fire, was made worse by sleeping on the cold floor. She was in pain she didn't understand. A tear trickled down her cheek.

She'd never been moody or wimpy or weak! In high school and college, she played co-ed soccer and basketball. Since leaving college, she'd stayed in shape through the local gym, where she lifted weights and forced herself onto a cardio machine twice a week. She wasn't in tip-top shape, but she wasn't weak!

"What the hell happened to your apartment?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to get up?"

"No."

"You've always been so fucking stubborn. I'm trying to help you!"

She hurt too much to move. If she were perfectly still, she could deal with the pain.

"You want something to drink?"

Her head ached too much to respond. He returned a few minutes later and rustled her blanket, setting a cup beside her.

She drank the cool fruit punch, grateful as it chilled her parched throat. She soon felt relaxed and drowsy. When her phone rang again, she stretched for it and found she couldn't move.

"Sorry, Sofi, but I'm taking you somewhere safe," Jake's voice warbled. "You gotta trust me."

*****

Jake watched her slump again and rubbed his mouth nervously. He snatched her phone as he squatted beside her and tossed it in the sink above their heads, stretching to turn on the water. He wasn't sure how well Czerno was tracking her, but the Black God's men had grown daring enough to tear apart her apartment. It wouldn't be long before they came for her.

He lifted her and carried her to her bedroom, finding a spot on the bed that had avoided being shredded or covered with junk from her dressers. He quickly changed her out of her clothes and into one of his own long T-shirts, fearing her clothing would be bugged. He dialed Laney as he moved around her room.

"Yeah," Laney's gruff voice came over the Bluetooth.

"I'm bringing in a package."

"The one D's looking for?"

"Yeah."

"You heard him-ship it to Tucson," Laney instructed him. "She willing to go?"