Destiny Defied (The Destiny Series)

by Marx, J. A.

Slapping the table, Isaac warned him. “You’re either in or out.”

  “In.”

  Adventure hatched. The strategy? Employ Etiquette Academy tactics against Hope’s antagonism.

  Isaac fist bumped each friend. “God will add His super to our natural. Or He’s not God.”

  Chapter 23

  The storm passed by dinner’s end, and Isaac sneaked out after Jase who’d left in a rush, looking emotional.

  Maybe it was his father’s therapist genes rubbing off on him, but Isaac felt the need to reunite his friends. Jase and Sabio could not keep cutting each other and expect to survive the week.

  Jase reached the split in the trail near the giant banyan tree and turned around. His angry gaze accused Isaac of meddling. A second later, he flung his arms and rolled his eyes, accepting the intrusion.

  Stuffing his hands in his shorts pockets, Isaac shrugged. “I’m just here to listen.”

  “You sound like your dad.”

  “Thanks.” Isaac leaned against the banyan’s aerial roots.

  His friend dropped to his knees on the damp ground and pounded on his thighs. “Why is this so hard? I wasn’t trying to flirt with Hope at the falls. After that sci-fi energy force struck, leading her on was the furthest thing from my mind.”

  “You acted like her boyfriend.”

  As if reliving the moment, Jase sported a daydreaming expression. “She didn’t react like a normal girl. A slut would have hit on me. A moral girl would’ve slapped me. Hope played with me, like a …”

  Isaac hunkered down with him. “Like a child with a big brother?” The same as she’d acted that morning with the comic book.

  “Stank.” Tears skated down Jase’s cheeks. “I wanna be that big brother, Ize. I want to hug a girl without being cursed by temptation.”

  Isaac lightly punched the musician’s arm. “You can change. I believe in you.”

  “Me, too. For once.” He shoved the dampness off his chin with his palm. “God’s power is real here. Have you felt it?”

  “Yeah.” The other matter pressed Isaac onward, a fracture he wanted repaired. “I need you to make things right with Sabio. I already talked to him.”

  Flicking the dirt from his knees, Jase stood. “That was next on my list.”

  Isaac rose, and someone barreled around the hedge of gargantuan leaves lining the path.

  “Oof!” Akiko ran straight into him and tumbled backward into the elephant ears. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Covering for Jase whose eyes were bloodshot, Isaac positioned himself between the two. “Just stuff. What’s got you on the run?”

  “I’m … taking care of business.” Akiko pulled himself up and took off.

  Isaac figured business meant taking a dump. Hadn’t the Asian done that near the waterfall?

  Returning to the bungalow, Isaac and Jase found Sabio reading at the cast iron table on the deck. With Isaac as referee, the two made amends. Mission completed. He then leaned over Sabio’s shoulder and read the underlined sentence on the page. Something about demons.

  “Weany wudi-wuck.” Jase attempted to repeat Hope’s earlier saying. “It has something to do with coming.”

  The Latin whiz folded his arms. “That’s a form of the first word. Veni. Vidi. Vice. Pronounce it correctly.”

  “That’s no fun.”

  Isaac had better things to do than relearn Latin. “Jase. Play your guitar again tonight. I think the worship stuff has good aftereffects.”

  Demons and worship sounded like a combo that might ignite the fire he wanted to witness firsthand.

  Hope snuck a spoonful of peanut butter as consolation after suffering through Jase’s concert for a second evening in a row. He’d seemed exceptionally engrossed in his skin-crawling, guilty-comforting music. She would’ve rather sunned on a beach with scorpions.

  Peering under the hanging cabinets into the living room, she frowned at what Sabio had in his lap. Not again.

  Jase propped his feet on the coffee table and patted the empty space next to him. “This cushion has your name on it.”

  She’d leave, but the outdoors had a spookiness about it that she wanted to avoid. On the other hand, last night’s puking session at the side of the bungalow curbed her desire to digest another of Sabio’s faith lectures—even though he was speaking to the Ohioans, not her.

  I can’t win. She smiled politely at Jase then sat at the dining table, by herself, back to the wall, with a view of all activity. And near an exit.

  The glass door slid open. Akiko tripped over the threshold but caught himself. He gave her a cold glance before plunking down on the floor next to Sabio.

  Back to his grouchy self. She shut the door he’d left open then returned to the table.

  At ten o’clock from her position, Isaac reclined against the wall across from the couch. He batted the beanbag at Music Boy, a two-man juggling act that spanned the width of the room. She considered joining them, but that would put her too far from the escape hatch.

  “‘With God on our side, how can we lose?” Sabio read from the guidebook. “If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, is there anything else He wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?’”

  God put everything on the line? For them?

  “‘And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of His chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us, who was raised to life for us, is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.’”

  What do you know? The relationship required a liaison.

  “‘Do you think anyone’s going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love? There’s no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us …’”

  Burning prongs knifed Hope’s solar plexus. Suppressing a ferocious scream, she folded her knees against her chest and clamped her eyes shut.

  “‘… I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way Jesus our master has embraced us.’”

  Profanities gathered in the back of her throat, but she held her tongue. Pain had her bound in an upright fetal position. She arranged one arm atop her knees and lowered her head to feign sleeping. She needed to scream.

  Gradually, the burning subsided.

  The chair nearest the door scraped against the floor. She opened her eyes to the safetyman’s unwelcome presence. How dare he spy on her? Go back to your beanbag.

  Casually drying stray tears on her sleeve, she uncurled her legs. Her feet touched the cool tile, and she loosened her shoulders to help heat drain from her face.

  Double take. Out the glass door. The sixth person …

  Leaves swayed atop a shadowy hedge of vegetation. The moon’s patchy silver beams spotlighted their illusory mischief.

  “Just us on the island,” Isaac whispered, not even looking over his shoulder to see if anything was out there.

  How stupid am I? Why had she paraded her madness in front of him? None of her island mates supported her loopy notions of being watched. For this, she was grateful. Sort of.

  Isaac unloaded a handful of sunflower seeds on the table. “You looked like you needed company. Got the munchies?”

  If only she could blindfold the alpha dog. The consuming struggle to outlive the last attack had spitefully stripped her of artificial smiles. And, no, she wasn’t in the state of mind to discuss it. She couldn’t even sit up straight. Stuck between the safetyman’s dissecting eyeballs and the kindness squad, she propped her cheek on one fist and faced the squad.

  “Did you guys catch the promise here?” Sabio’s zeal gouged her like bamboo shoved under the nails. “Nothing thinkable or unthinkable can come between us and God. Not even demons.”

  She wanted to drown the sphinx in his
hot tub of philosophical suds. “You actually believe in demons?”

  Sabio met her gaze, evidently undaunted by her accusation. “Do you believe in them?”

  “Demons are nothing more than mythological characters.” She scoffed. “Something out of a child’s imagination.”

  “More like a child’s nightmare.” Yep, he was aiming purposely to triple her misery. “Last night, we talked about the devil getting kicked out of heaven. Remember?”

  “Sure.” Why would an Ivy Leaguer waste energy researching this nonsense? “You claimed that God’s ego resented Lucifer’s narcissism. So God said, ‘farewell, devil.’”

  Sabio gave her a curious-monkey look. “More or less. I guess.”

  “Don’t forget the scary part.” Jase lobbed the beanbag and landed it near her elbow. “When the devil got kicked out, he took roadies with him.”

  If her hand wasn’t busy rubbing her solar plexus, she’d throw the bag, hard. “What’s a roadie?”

  Akiko flashed a waspish smirk and ambled to the table. “You know what roadies are, Hope.” He reached across for the beans.

  “Calling me a liar?” She grabbed the bag before he did. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”

  Jase worked his way toward her. “Roadies help professional performers with their equipment and run errands.” He dragged Akiko away by the neck.

  The two went at it, scuffling for no apparent purpose.

  Shaking her head at the impromptu wrestlers, she threw the beanbag at Sabio. “And this has what to do with getting banished from Olympus … er … heaven?”

  Sabio, with his guidebook, crawled clear of the wrestling ring. “The devil’s roadies are called demons, or fallen angels. They run Satan’s errands, while the good roadies—I mean, angels in heaven—serve God.”

  Hope snarled at the boisterous duo. “Stop!”

  Jase and Akiko froze mid-squeeze and stared at her, breathing heavily. Jase’s gaze dropped toward the tingling midsection she was again massaging.

  If he told them what happened at the waterhole, I’ll die. She narrowed her eyes on Sabio. “So. What kinds of extraterrestrial errands do demon roadies run?”

  Seated on the edge of the coffee table, the Ivy Leaguer twisted his stoic features into a caring expression. “They torment humanity. Cause pain and suffering. They keep people as far away from God as possible.”

  The farcical images of tiny, winged, rabid creatures crossing her mind aggravated her as much as Sabio’s mask of kindness did. “And God can’t stop their mischief?”

  Akiko escaped a scissor-grip. “God can stop anybody from anything. Especially liars.”

  “Oh yeah?” She gritted her teeth. “What’s his hold up? Devil roadies?”

  “Timing.” Akiko’s mocking inflection spit at her. “Just when you think nobody knows what you’ve done. Bam! The truth comes out.”

  “No!” Sabio’s shout made Akiko flinch. “Freewill. And mercy.”

  Hope slapped the table. “You’re all contradicting yourselves! Why would an all-powerful puppet master authorize insubordination?”

  “He’s not a puppet master.” Sabio foot-shoved the Asian into the musician then focused on her. “He’s God. He gave His creation freedom to choose His way or to go another path.”

  “What idiot wouldn’t choose the other path?”

  “The other path leads to …” Sabio closed his mouth, then his eyes. Did he not have an answer for once?

  Silence weighed down the room.

  She had successfully tangled the sphinx in his mythological muddle. “The path leads where?”

  He opened his eyes, his expression peaceful. “It leads to God’s complete absence, eternal suffering, and torment. Choosing His way leads to endless love, peace.”

  The elusive peace? For a bunch of religious nonsense, this debate shouldn’t be disturbing her this much.

  God. Equal judge, equal pardoner. His complete absence leads to ultimate torment, as if all present suffering rendered only a taste of eternity. What a pessimistic faith.

  She leered at her island mates. “You guys actually believe this depressing dung?”

  “It’s the truth.” Isaac had been so quiet, she’d almost forgotten about him.

  Wishing today was over, she whispered loud enough to be heard, “How could anybody believe such foolishness?”

  Conflicting voices in her head crippled her from distinguishing her own thoughts. Wanting to run, wanting to stay, she’d pay anything to escape this wretched, frightening state of mind.

  “You have worthy points to debate, Hope.” Sabio’s peaceable tone alleviated nothing.

  Drumming her fingernails on the table, she sneered at Isaac, wishing he’d disappear. She chanced a look at Jase, the only non-intimidating mug in the room. She still couldn’t understand how his music affected her.

  Freewill. Demon roadies. A God who judges and pardons equally. Shutting her eyes, she tried to expel the confusion but ended up with visions of Swedish Fish suffocating in a dry moat. The itch to flee won over, and she scooted her chair back.

  Isaac’s fingers clasped her wrist. “Feeling okay?”

  Startled by his touch, she started to stand. “Of course.”

  He held her fast. “Your pulse is racing, and you’re shaking.”

  “Am not.” She yanked her arm free and clenched her teeth so he wouldn’t see them chattering.

  Leaving the bungalow, Hope trudged down the trail, marched through the tree tunnel, and didn’t stop until she reached the water’s edge. She wrapped her arms tightly about herself and scrunched her shoulders, feeling naked and strangled.

  Every time she separated herself from the Ohioans, she sensed herself sink deeper into a noxious flask with a neck too slender to squeeze out of. If she were a Swedish Fish in a castle, the boys were the moat.

  Why did she leave?

  Catch twenty-two.

  She’d left because of the violating compassion that saddled her whenever she was with the Foursome. She couldn’t deal with all the undeserved, humane treatment they smothered her with. Yet she preferred that sensation to the noxious flask.

  The strangling flask began to crack, which could only mean one thing.

  Hope spun away from the ocean to confirm the presence. “Why are you here?”

  Chapter 24

  Isaac rose from the table, ready to pound Akiko. “You called her a liar.”

  The Asian shrugged and chuckled. “She was mocking you guys. I defended you.”

  Sabio pinned Akiko to the floor then looked at Isaac. “We’ll handle the roadie. You take care of damage control.”

  Satisfied with that plan, Isaac went out to the deck. He skimmed his gaze from one path to the other until he glimpsed a shadowy figure veering toward the beach. He started after her.

  A few yards down, he entered the tree tunnel. The silver palmettos arching over his head, dripping from the recent storm, completely darkened the path. A pale glow indicated the exit twenty feet ahead.

  Midway through, warmth brushed against him. Strange energy. A presence.

  “Hope?” He swiped at the spider webs wrapping his face but felt only air.

  Like a youngster spooked inside the Haunted Mansion, Isaac charged ahead. He scraped past foliage, burst out of the trees, and jumped down the sandbank. Shaking off the chills and quieting his heart, he figured GI Jane had been the teasing ghost in the tunnel.

  Near the water’s edge, moonlight silhouetted Hope’s tall frame, declaring her innocent—but not alone.

  Isaac squinted, honing in on the figure behind her.

  A shadow?

  He looked up at the sky then back at Hope. The moon was in the wrong position to cast a shadow behind her and too dim for that much detail. He hastened toward them.

  The figure vanished, and Hope spun around. “Why are you here?”

  His mind had obviously played tricks. Isaac glossed over his embarrassment with a smile. “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.”
>
  “Why? Is the sand demon going to eat me?”

  If she feared someone was stalking her, why did she venture out alone? Was she attempting to defy her paranoia?

  Isaac empathized with such madness after his scrape with the tree tunnel phantoms.

  What was it with these guys? Hope’s comment about sand demons didn’t turn Isaac away as desired. She folded her arms. “What do you want?”

  His fingers wormed into his front pockets. “I want to know what was going on earlier.”

  “When was that?”

  “You looked in pain at the table.”

  Where was that blindfold? She turned to face the ocean, thinking for sure he’d come to justly scold her for her rudeness. “I needed to go on a walk. Get fresh air.”

  “I don’t buy that.”

  She spun back around. “If you don’t believe me, you must already know. Why don’t you tell me?”

  “You were shivering. I could feel it.”

  “Isaac—” Ugh. She scraped her fingers through her hair with frustration. “What is it you want from me?”

  His mane flounced in the breeze. “I want you to be honest with me. Trust us.”

  “Trust you?” She flung her hands. “How can I trust someone I don’t know? I don’t even know myself. This could be some drug-induced amnesia, and you guys are playing a head game with me.” She tapped her chest. “Expecting blind trust isn’t fair to me.”

  His fists settled against his waist. “You saw the wreckage on the beach this afternoon. Do you really believe we’d go to that extreme just to derange someone?”

  She conceived of such a scenario with ease.

  “Are we your enemy, Hope?” His strapping frame exuded strength but not in a threatening way.

  Depravity didn’t fit the Foursome. She swallowed a lump of emotion and packed down an absurd urge to cry. She was already too vulnerable. Not knowing, not understanding, and feeling completely lost consumed her.

  I’m going crazy.

  Was he still expecting too much from Hope? She had nerve, accusing them of playing head games with her. What about him couldn’t she trust?