Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2)

by Straight, Nancy

  Although Lauren’s words were cordial, her tone didn’t match her words. I couldn’t see the front yard from my vantage point on the couch, but I could hear Dakota entering. Lauren cut right to the chase, “Dakota, why are you here?”

  “I was worried about you.” The two stepped from the hallway and Lauren motioned for Dakota to sit down. Dakota looked around, taking in the room quickly. She saw her answer did nothing to satisfy Lauren’s curiosity. “You know who I am, yes?”

  Lauren shook her head and responded with, “I know you’re married to Max’s boss. For some reason Max thinks you were a nurse that took care of me?” Dakota nodded that this was indeed the case but offered no other words.

  Lauren eyed Dakota carefully, “How is that possible?”

  “I’m a Registered Nurse; I work wherever I am needed.”

  “But you’re a Cabinet member? You are a follower of Samael?”

  Dakota’s voice was very stern when she answered, “Is that something you heard from Samael or Rewsna? Samael doesn’t have followers. He’s not a deity. Let me guess, the Cabinet is full of monsters that are out to hurt you. I bet that’s what you’ve heard!”

  Lauren nodded. It looked like someone had lit a match under Dakota. She was pissed. “Lauren, I represent Doubt. I influence doubt in people who need it. That doesn’t make me a bad person. I am the reason people make good decisions.”

  Lauren looked a bit confused and I knew the feeling – from Samael’s description earlier. Dakota continued, “If you knew you had a job interview tomorrow, it would be my voice that you would hear that tells you your clothes are not right, your resume is not thorough enough, that you do not have the necessary experience. When I come on too strong – and I’ll admit that sometimes I do – a person may be unwilling to take a risk because of their doubt. In many cases, whatever I successfully talked them out of was not something they should have done anyway. In the vast majority of cases, my words of doubt make sure that a person is thoroughly prepared for whatever it was they were contemplating. My doubt is often what makes good things happen in people’s lives. How is that hurtful?”

  In a quiet voice Lauren responded, “I guess that isn’t really hurtful. So what is Samael to you?”

  “He is a part of the same universe. I know him, very well in fact. Do I follow him or does he follow me? No. Do other Cabinet members get together to discuss strategies for taking over the world? Swaying you to help them? No. We do not operate that way. We are autonomous. We are aware of what others are doing.” Dakota took a deep breath. I think she realized that she was getting frustrated with the wrong people.

  After she had calmed herself back down, she continued, “I came here today because I knew the Council was meeting here to kill Max. I knew what that would do to you. I also knew what your repercussions against the world would be. The Council are too stupid to realize they cannot kill Samael. They’ve been trying to eradicate his kind for centuries. We on the Cabinet have embraced his kind, not out of fear but because we know he too has a purpose. The goody-goody Council members regularly do more harm than good.”

  “Samael has been chasing me since I awoke. Rewsna and the Council came together to try to protect me from him. Do you mean to tell me that Samael is no threat to Max and me?”

  Dakota shook her head slightly, “Samael is a demon of sorts. He is capable of horrific things. But he has spent much time as a human, and as a result is capable of profound humanity. I believe if he meant you dead, you would not be standing in front of me right now.”

  Dakota turned her attention from Lauren and looked at me. Her eyes narrowed a little, then she asked, “Max, I am sorry to meet you under these circumstances. Samael has taken refuge in you. I will allow you to make the choice for yourself. I have located a host for Samael. If you want me to, I will try to persuade him to leave you.”

  “Dakota, there isn’t much of a choice to be made. Yes, get him out. I don’t want any part of him in me.”

  “Let me tell you of the repercussions of your decision, so that you might make an informed choice. Because you are a good person, Samael has been feeding off of your positive energy. The host that volunteers to accept Samael is not as well intended. By transferring Samael to the new host, he will continue to gain strength. He will feed off of his new host’s negative energy. The new host is not exactly someone I would think of as a positive personality. Samael will have the opportunity to do harm again.”

  “Get him out, I don’t care how, I don’t care what happens as a result. I just don’t want him in me anymore.” I looked to Lauren, and, without words, I hoped that she felt the same. I didn’t want to share her with Samael ever again.

  “Fair enough.” Dakota walked to me and put her hands on either temple, she looked in my eyes but wasn’t speaking to me, “Samael, I know you can see me. I’ve found you someone who will appreciate and welcome you into his body. You will need to release Max.” At that same moment a tall lanky teenager walked through the door. He was at least my height, light skinned, still fighting a bad case of acne. He wore black jeans, a black t-shirt and had both his eyebrows pierced.

  I could see the excitement in this kid’s features, “Dakota, is it time?”

  Dakota nodded. The teenage boy walked up to me smiling, saying to no one specifically, “This is going to be awesome.”

  It all took less than five minutes. I can’t describe what she did, but I knew he was gone.

  Dakota spoke to the teenager, “It will take some getting used to. He will only have as much control as you allow him to have. I warn you, do not relinquish control to him. If you do, control will never return to you. You will become the parasite.”

  I could hear shouting in the front yard. I stood up to see what had caused the chaos. A convoy of ten black SUVs arrived, one right after another. The people who had been milling about in the front yard enclosed in a tight knit circle, with the black SUVs surrounding them. Each vehicle had four occupants; none made a move to get out of their vehicles. Dakota stepped into another room and reappeared wearing the same outfit as the teenager that now shared his body with Samael.

  I know my face only registered confusion. I stood closer to Lauren, trying to discern what to make of this convoy of SUVs. As I peered out the window, all ten SUVs remained encircled around the Council members. In unison, by some strange inaudible signal, all four doors opened to each vehicle and the occupants stepped out in unison. It was one of the eeriest sights I had ever seen. Forty people began walking to the house.

  “What the hell is going on?” I shouted.

  “Murder is not acceptable, regardless of whether the Council wanted to murder you or if they want to murder this young man. We needed to create enough of a diversion to permit safe passage.”

  The door opened and about half the people made it into the kitchen, while the other half were crowded around outside of the door. The teenager and Dakota mixed in with the others, and they all walked back to their vehicles. Everyone returned to an awaiting SUV, turned over the ignitions in unison and drove away. It looked like a motorcade leaving our house. It had the desired effect, as no one from the encircled Council made a move to follow.

  I walked to the front door and locked it. I called out with my voice and thought as loudly as I could, “Rewsna, you are no longer welcome in our thoughts or our home. If you invade either again, we will not hesitate to hunt you or your Council down, regardless of the repercussions.” I could see the hesitation on Lauren’s face. “Lauren, if you do not agree, say so now.”

  Lauren followed, “Renny, I owe you my life, but listen to Max’s warning. Do not return.”

  Renny’s response was crystal clear, “I will leave you to your new destiny. Good luck. You will both need it.”

  Lauren, Peanut and I walked down the hall to the bedroom.

  Chapter 36

  Lauren.

  Months passed. We finally had our normal life. No one from the Cabinet or the Council contacted us again. It was some
time before we were able to function separately. So much chaos had surrounded our relationship that in the days and weeks that followed Max’s exorcism, neither of us could bear to be more than a few feet away from the other. Eventually we began to believe that normalcy was something we could really savor and could count on for years to come.

  We decided to stay in Ridgeville. Max went back to his work as a paramedic on the night shift. It was difficult to find a job with matching hours, so I started my own business from the house. I took what was left of my savings and built kennels. I started a dog boarding business, taking care of other’s dogs while their owners were out of town. Peanut’s training must have cost his original family an arm and a leg because once I figured out the commands to give him, there was very little he wasn’t willing to do. I decided that in addition to the kenneling service, I would become a breeder and train working dogs.

  I read books, visited other canine training facilities, and scoured the web. I sought advice from veterinarians, K9 handlers in police departments, but got my greatest wealth of knowledge from Peanut. I didn’t expect for my hobby to turn a profit for at least a couple years, but knowing how much I owed my safety to Peanut, I wanted to be able to give the same peace of mind to others.

  Max supported my career move, and he never did get that apartment downtown close to work. He arrived home every morning around eight a.m. and left for work at six p.m. His schedule was predictable: three days on, followed by three days off.

  As the months rolled by, winter passed. We were well into spring, and this was Max’s second day off in his latest work week. He and Peanut were out in the barn, I assumed cleaning the stalls. I was weeding flower beds when the two of them came up behind me and startled me.

  Max kissed the top of my head, reached down for my hand, and pulled me to my feet. “I’m ready for a break, come inside with me.”

  Peanut stayed outside on the porch, preferring to lie in the sunshine. Max held my hand and led me down the hallway. When we got to the bedroom, he closed the door and leaned me up against the wall much the same as he did our first night together. He could still give me the tingly arousal sensation without much effort on his part. His touch was just as electric as it had ever been. Max undressed me where I stood, then took a step back, as if taking me in for the first time. I got a little self-conscious; I still hated the scars all over me and did my best to avoid seeing myself naked. Max wore an odd expression when he stated, “Something’s missing.”

  In a mock perturbed voice I answered, “All my clothes Smart Ass, are you planning to join me?”

  “It’s not the clothes. Something isn’t right.”

  I was frozen in place. The last time something didn’t feel right, all hell nearly broke loose. He followed with, “I know what it is.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring, and slid it onto my finger.

  I was speechless. My gaze fixated on my hand.

  “Don’t move, this is the image that I want of you. I think of you all the time, but when I’m at work, this is the vision I want stuck in my head of who is waiting for me at home: you, wearing nothing but my ring on your finger.”

  Bowled over by his words, I stood motionless.

  “You already know I would do anything you asked me to. I guess it’s your turn, will you marry me?”

  I’m sure he expected a sarcastic answer because that was my nature. I’m equally sure I disappointed him, because the only word I was able to get out was, “Yes.”

  We spent the rest of that afternoon in our bedroom.

  ****

  The next morning Max brought in the newspaper. He had it partially unfolded, and I watched the color drain from his complexion. I don’t think he saw me watching him at first. As soon as he realized, he quickly folded it up and nonchalantly walked into another room. When he emerged his hands were empty.

  Max was nothing if not a creature of habit. Every morning he ate breakfast and looked over the paper. Today he walked into the living room without a word, turned on the television and one of the morning news shows came to life. When I followed him in the room to sit with him, he turned the channel to the movie channels and began searching. I could feel his tension.

  We started in the middle of a movie we had both watched at least ten times. After fifteen minutes seeing that he was still preoccupied with something, I picked up the remote, paused the show, and asked, “What is it that you aren’t telling me?”

  Max swallowed, his mouth opened but nothing came out. I sat watching him as his skin grew even paler. He finally choked out, “I didn’t know…I wouldn’t…I thought…” he trailed off.

  I hadn’t seen him this upset about anything in months, and my mind quickly went to Samael. “It’s Samael, isn’t it? What did he do?”

  Max took a deep breath, “That kid, the one that Samael went into, he just went on a killing spree. He killed nine people yesterday.”

  Chapter 37

  I stared at Max, dumfounded that this could have happened. Dakota’s warning echoed in my mind, and I had trouble forming a sentence. “This wasn’t our fault. We couldn’t have stopped it.”

  “We could have; we chose not to.”

  “Our choices were to keep Samael inside you or let the Council murder you. Those are the choices you’re referring to?”

  “All I know is nine people are dead right now, that should be alive. That kid wasn’t as strong as I was, he couldn’t shut Samael down. I should have just let the Council destroy him. None of this would have happened.”

  “You don’t know that! The kid might have been trouble before Samael set up house inside him.”

  Panic stung me. I couldn’t call to Renny for advice; I had sent her away and helped to deceive the entire Council so Samael could get away. I thought back to the dream Max had shared with me so long ago. Five enormous obstacles would be in front of me; two I had managed without problem: Courage and Passion. Virtue, Trust and Empathy were still to be presented, and I had a feeling that allowing Samael to transfer to the teenager was likely a failure on my part for Virtue.

  Max stood up from the couch and began walking out of the room when he must have realized I was still shell-shocked. He stepped back into the room, taking my head in both his hands, and leaned down to gently to kiss my forehead. “I need to make this right, Lauren.”

  “We need to make it right. Remember? The Dynamic Duo.”

  Max shook his head, “I knew things were going too well. I should have anticipated something like this. I really thought after all we’d been through we were really going to be able to marry and to start a family - just be normal.”

  “We still can.”

  “Not until all this is behind us. Really behind us.” I watched him walk out the door without giving me a second look; I couldn’t make my own legs move to follow him.

  I was supposed to be able to change someone’s destiny, that’s what I’d been told. How could I change an event that already happened? How could I bring those nine people back to life? Renny’s voice spoke to me at that moment, “You cannot give life back after it was taken away. That is not bending a destiny, that is called resurrection, Lauren. They are gone.”

  In the months of silence I nearly forgot the feeling of Renny’s telepathic voice. The uneasiness I felt was short lived as I knew I needed her help again. “What can I do?”

  “You can help us destroy Samael. His evil will only grow. He gets stronger every day. Soon he will be able to shift his shape again.”

  “What about Max?”

  “I do not understand your question?”

  “Max was marked by a demon thing – that one that I can’t pronounce. He was possessed by Samael. If he gets anywhere near Samael, it could happen again, right?”

  “We can only assume that Samael has regained most of his strength. We do not know if Max is at a greater risk than anyone else, but as I’ve told you from the beginning, you and Max are stronger together.”

  “I didn’t ask for any of
this.”

  “Of course, you didn’t. Do not let these circumstances pull you apart. Find Max before he makes a rash decision.”

  I bolted from the house like a maniac. My head swung to the right, then the left searching in all directions for Max. My eyes showed me nothing so I closed them and could feel Max was close. I opened my eyes looking to my right knowing this was where I’d find Max. I began to run in that direction when I could see Max emerging from the guest house.

  Max saw me approaching quickly with a stunned look on his face. I could see he was looking behind me to see if I was being chased. When he was sure there wasn’t any imminent danger, he held out his arms to me and I collapsed into them.

  “Lauren, what’s going on?”

  “I just talked to Renny. She told me to find you before you did something rash.”

  “I was just letting Julio know we were going to be gone for a few days, that we needed him to take care of the kennels.”

  Relief must have spilled over my features as he said, “I want to talk to Dakota. She seemed to know something like this would happen, she… kind of warned us.”

  “Just don’t leave me, okay?”

  “Why would I leave you?”

  “We just need to stay together. The only time anything bad ever happens to one of us is when the other is not right there.” Max nodded at my conclusion.

  “Well, my soon-to-be wife, I think we should pack some clothes and go to where everything happened. My guess is that’s where we’ll find Renny and Dakota.”

  “No matter what we learn, we stay together, right?”

  “We’ll never be apart again. You’re my other half, I don’t function well without you.”

  Note from Nancy: Thanks so much for reading Destiny’s Revenge! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please return to the bookstore where you purchased Destiny’s Revenge and write a review.