Destiny

by Amanda Lynn Petrin

  “Our first clue,” Gabriel showed the tiniest bit of enthusiasm before finally passing out from what must be unimaginable pain.

  “That’s not normal thread,” I pointed out, a poor attempt at distracting myself. It looked a lot thicker than the one Mrs. Boyd used on my clothes, once upon a time. “You had this lying around?”

  “We left the garage as is, maybe as a shrine, maybe because it was hard, but Eli asked us to turn the apartment into a refuge. In our line of work, that requires a very elaborate first aid kit,” Embry explained.

  “You should splurge on an ultrasound machine next time.” I got a smile as he stitched Gabriel’s skin back together. “What happened downstairs?” I felt him tense up.

  “Nothing.” I got the feeling Embry was just as close to Eli as Gabriel. “Eli’s Gift was to see the future. Sometimes he could make it happen, other times the visions came to him. He would share if he thought it could help you, but didn’t see the point in hurting people before bad things happened. There was a man who didn’t like what he saw and kept trying to convince Eli to change it. One day, the man went to the market and shot Eli’s wife, as well as his three remaining descendants. Eli was working in the garage when he heard, so he ordered everyone out, threw a chair into the apartment window and never came back.”

  Chapter Three

  We didn’t leave in the morning as planned. Gabriel spent the next twenty-four hours or so going in and out of a comatose-like sleep. Embry insisted the wound would heal and he would be fine, but we didn’t have real painkillers, so Gabriel spent a lot of the time he wasn’t knocked out asking us to kill him so he could come back without the pain.

  Embry’s face did not betray any emotion as he convinced Gabriel to go back to sleep, but I had to turn away and bite my lip every time he woke up. I couldn’t stand the agony in his voice, but I wasn’t going to cry over it in front of him. I once suggested that maybe we should consider listening and putting him out of his misery. That’s when Embry decided I could only stay in the room with Gabriel if I promised not to say another word about it or interact with Gabriel when he was like that.

  I spent most of my time holding Gabriel’s hand, wishing this wasn’t so painfully familiar, but I also spent time looking into the tracker.

  We assumed they knew where we were by now, even though we were pretty sure we deactivated the tracker when the red light went out. Embry let me use an old laptop from the garage that weighed twenty pounds and still used dial-up to do some research.

  “Any leads?” Embry asked, drawing my attention away from Gabriel, who moaned in his sleep. I bit down on my lip and tried not to react.

  “There’s a serial number on it, so I did some googling and it was apparently sold as a way to track wild animals for conservation projects, using this website.” I brought the laptop over so he could see the map. “It only gets updated every few hours, but that’s us right there.” I pointed to the screen. All the other dots were in clumps, but there were none anywhere near us.

  “Could we use this to see where they are? Maybe know ahead of time when they’re coming for us?” he asked.

  “I have no idea,” I admitted. “I think we could probably figure out where they are when they’re actively tracking him, but…I was able to figure out this much because it was easy, but even when they’re on TV shows talking about tracing IP addresses and all of that tech stuff, I have no idea what they’re talking about. Which means that even if it is something we could do, it will take a long time for me to figure out how to do it.”

  “And I thought I had completely embraced the twenty-first century when I let you convince me to buy a smartphone.” He gave a half-hearted smile as we heard Gabriel waking up again.

  “I think you need to use it for more than phone calls to qualify,” I teased. It was easier than watching Gabriel in pain.

  “The OnStar woman taught me how to use the maps too,” he boasted before I gave in and turned over to Gabriel.

  He was obviously still in pain, but he asked for water instead of a mercy killing, so I happily obliged.

  By that evening, Gabriel was getting up and slowly moving around, so I made dinner. It wasn’t that Embry and I hadn’t been eating while Gabriel was out, we just didn’t make it a priority. I was also pretty sure that getting cut into and slowly repairing yourself, cell by cell, might make you as hungry as dying and coming back to life.

  I made us grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon and apples. I was checking to make sure the cheese was melted when Gabriel walked in, buttoning up his shirt so I could see the white bandage on his chest.

  “You’re up!” I was unable to contain my enthusiasm, but I stopped myself from taking him in for a hug like I wanted to. I had to assume the wound was still painful, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause him more pain.

  “I’ve had worse.” He saw where my eyes went, and only winced a little when he sat down.

  “I don’t ever want to have to see you like that again,” I admitted, putting the food on a plate in front of him.

  “Embry said you found out how they’ve been tracking us. Does that mean we know where they are too?”

  “We don’t, but I found a hacker who insists they can find anything or anyone, so that’s an option.” Even if I didn’t have the computer skills, I was still reluctant to get anyone else involved. I didn’t trust anyone at this point, and I couldn’t have another death on my conscience.

  “Do you mean a tracker?” he asked.

  “No, like a computer hacker.”

  “We’re relying on computers now?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow at me.

  “It’s how they’ve been finding us,” I reminded him.

  “Touché.” He bit into the grilled cheese and closed his eyes for a second, savoring it. “Maybe instead of letting some stranger behind a screen keep tabs on them, you could do it with a spell,” he suggested.

  “I’m pretty sure you need magical powers to do that,” I turned him down. He’d said it like he was trying to be helpful, but Embry had also tried to bring up what happened in the bathroom. I was severely in denial and not interested.

  “Luce—”

  I didn’t have to shoot down his next argument, because we heard glass breaking from downstairs before he could get it out. We looked at each other in silence, both of us knowing Embry was in the bedroom, and this was the last location the bad guys had for us.

  “Get your bag and the books. Now,” he whispered to me before Embry came into the kitchen, only partially dressed after his shower, but holding some kind of axe, with a spare one for Gabriel.

  “Get her to the car, I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” was the last thing I heard Embry say before I rounded the corner into the bedroom.

  I shoved all my clothes into the backpack, with the Chronicles and Book of Shadows, then went to find Gabriel in the kitchen.

  “Come on, we’ll take the fire escape.” Embry must have gone downstairs, because it sounded like a battle was going on.

  Gabriel opened the window though it clearly hurt him, and climbed onto the fire escape. It was the kind where the ladder didn’t go all the way down; you had to hang on it and wait for it to lower itself.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Gabriel when it got stuck and he had to use his body’s momentum to propel it down.

  “It’s easier than getting it down when you’re at the bottom,” he assured me, but I could see he was in pain, and when the movement brought his shirt open, his white bandage was turning red.

  The ladder finally budged and made a clinking sound when it hit the asphalt below. Gabriel waited at the bottom for me, but as I grabbed on to the rusted railing to follow, I was pulled back. The air was knocked out of my lungs as I hit the ground.

  “There she is.” The man who spoke looked like he was at least seven feet tall and didn’t loosen his death grip on me. The world started spinning, so I tried to pry his fingers away from my throat, but there was nothing there. Not now, I lamented as the
alley disappeared, and I was brought into a memory from one of my ancestors.

  “I assure you sir, I have nothing. No money…” I was Annabelle, on the side of the road, trying to appear calm and reason with the man who found her there, alone. I could feel how afraid she was, but there was also surprise. She was someone who had traveled great distances before, and never been so accosted. Then again, she’d never been without a male companion. Her father was with her on the crossing to America, and every time she ventured away from home in the years since then, Gabriel or Embry were always by her side. Men looked at women on their own completely different than when they were properly accompanied.

  “That ain’t true, lass. You’ve always got something we want,” the old man said with a toothless smile. It did nothing to dissuade me from my first impression, that he was planning on kidnapping and possibly having his way with her.

  “Please sir, I mean no trouble…” Annabelle pleaded with her eyes, which had worked in the past. She then looked around to see if there was anyone there who could help her, or at least ensure she was relatively safe from being taken away. All I saw were three younger, well-built working men, whose smiles didn’t allow any confusion. These were definitely not nice men, and they were not going to help her.

  “Where are you heading sweetheart?” one of the new arrivals asked, sizing us up.

  “My husband will be along shortly. I’m sure he would be happy to help you with whatever…” she tried to sound as convincing as she could, but I could hear her voice faltering. Lying wouldn’t work any better than the pleading had.

  “You don’t got no ring,” one of them smiled, knowing he had her. No one was coming to our rescue.

  She looked away from the man who was making her uncomfortable to see if there was a branch on the ground or a rock, anything she could use to defend herself. I saw nothing.

  “Darling, I’m terribly sorry I’m late. I promise it will never happen again. Have these gentlemen been helping you out?” At first it was just a voice with a British accent, like Annabelle’s father’s, until she looked up and I saw a dashing gentleman who smiled as he extended his arm for her to take. He could be another brigand, looking to take advantage of her like the other men, but right now he was the lesser of two evils, and she didn’t have a choice.

  “I was telling them you were on your way.” She tried to steady her voice and sound like she believed it. “We should get going if we want to get home before dark.” The other men’s faces dropped, angry they lost their plaything, but her good Samaritan was a foot taller than their tallest and looked strong and sturdy.

  “We should,” he agreed, so she accepted his arm and walked with him. She kept her head high and exuded confidence, while inside she was gripped by terror. She was waiting until she was far enough away from those men to thank this one and leave, at which point we would find out if he actually saved her or took her for himself.

  “I apologize for the impropriety, but I didn’t get the impression that you knew those men,” he said as we walked along, his voice soothing. “I’m Henry,” he put his hand on top of hers like Gabriel used to, making her blush. Soon enough her heartbeat slowed, and I was more and more convinced he was not going to kill her.

  “No, thank you so terribly much for saving me. At first, it was just the old man, but then they were everywhere,” she admitted, trying to shake away the fear they left her with. “I’m Annabelle.”

  “A pleasure,” he assured her. “There are some exceptions, but I do believe most of us gentlemen would prefer to save the damsel in distress rather than be the ones distressing her. Not that you were in distress, of course.”

  “Of course not,” she smiled at him. “I believe I can find my way home from here.”

  “As you wish.” He released her, so she was free to go. “I don’t mean to impose, but it would put my mind at ease if I could walk with you until you truly were at your home, or at least no longer roaming the countryside on your own. Beautiful women should never wander on their own in foreign lands.”

  “I’m afraid it’s only me,” she admitted. “I probably shouldn’t tell that to someone I just met, but you’ll never stop following me if you wait for me to be properly accompanied.”

  “I wouldn’t mind.” He looked into her eyes, and I could feel her cheeks redden as she swallowed hard. He was obviously flirting, but unlike the other gentlemen, he was not making her uneasy. If it weren’t for the fact that her heart and love life were in shambles, she would have been receptive to his advances. “That is very independent of you.” He went back to being polite, looking ahead instead of at us.

  “Or incredibly foolish,” she acknowledged.

  “There’s a fine line between foolishness and bravery. For example, I can’t tell if it is rather brave of me, or completely foolish to ask if I could call on you tomorrow.”

  I watched him nervously rubbing his fingertips together while Annabelle debated his proposition in her mind. Her first instinct was to apologize and tell him she was taken. It seemed like less of a lie than the truth, that although her heart belonged entirely to another, she was currently without attachment. Hadn’t she come here in an attempt to move on with her life? To find someone who was neither Gabriel, nor Embry and try to be happy. “I believe it would be both foolish and brave of you,” she said as he was about to turn away again. “Lucky for you, I am choosing to reward bravery today. I would love for you to call on me.” I could feel her heart break a little as she said it, but I knew she wasn’t going to end up with Gabriel, and I liked Henry so far.

  “Then it shall be my pleasure.” He smiled and she tried to dismiss the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, the voice that screamed for her to stay away, that he was not the one she should be with.

  “This is me.” She stopped at the gate to her a little cottage.

  “My task is done. I bid you a wonderful evening and look forward to our next encounter.” He tipped his hat before continuing along the path, as Annabelle let herself into the house that still felt like someone else’s, though it had nearly been a year...

  I woke up to find the man who’d been holding me was now unconscious at my side, with the battle raging in the kitchen rather than the garage downstairs. I knew the guys would want me to keep going and find a car or something, but I had no means of contacting them, didn’t know where we were going, and was convinced I would fare better with them than alone.

  Everyone was preoccupied with their own battles, so I was able to climb back into the apartment through the window, carrying a broom from the balcony like a weapon.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Embry asked, knocking one of the assailants out with the blunt end of his ax.

  “Helping.”

  “You need to figure out how to control those things,” Gabriel said of my tendency to relive memories from my ancestors. He wasn’t happy with me, in the way Mrs. Boyd would get upset when I snuck out the window and she couldn’t find me.

  “You’re preaching to the choir,” I sighed, shoving my broom into someone’s stomach, letting Gabriel knock him out once the man doubled over.

  A woman who’d been on the floor got up and rushed at me. My first instinct was to put my hands out to somehow brace myself or stop her, but I barely lifted them when I remembered what happened last time and felt the tingling start. I froze, paralyzed with the thought of killing someone else, when Embry hit her on the temple with his elbow. He shot me a look I had never seen on him before, at least not directed at me, where his nostrils flared, before I hurriedly picked up my broom handle. I stood at the ready, like I hadn’t been about to let that woman get to me so I wouldn’t have to relive her death in my nightmares.

  Soon, there were five bodies on the ground, with the three of us still standing. “They won’t be out long,” Embry warned, exchanging a look with Gabriel. All I could tell was that they were worried, and we needed to leave fast. My guess was that more people were coming, and Gabriel was nowhere near
ready for another fight. He barely made it through this one.

  Embry went first to get the ladder back down to the street, and I went second to ensure no one would grab me from behind. Once the three of us were clear, Embry took off through the alley, gently guiding me while keeping a brisk pace. We rounded three corners and I felt like we were in a maze before we finally stopped in front of a residential garage. It was white once, but the paint was so cracked that it was more of a moldy brown now.

  “Eli kept a getaway car?” I asked when Gabriel took the keys out of his pocket rather than breaking a window to get in.

  “He wanted it to be a refuge, but sometimes the bad gets in,” he shrugged.

  Chapter Four

  We drove to a train station, at which point Embry used cash to buy three tickets. There was half a dozen scheduled stops along the way, but Florida was our final destination. He did it as three separate transactions, with three different tellers, at least fifteen minutes apart.

  “What’s in Florida, other than Disney?” I asked Embry while we waited for them to call us for boarding.

  “I don’t know,” he raised his shoulders before casually looking around, as opposed to Gabriel, who was actively scouring the room for threats.

  “We’re going to wing it?” I was pretty sure that wasn’t in their DNA.

  “There will be a stop somewhere along the way where we will get off so someone else can take our places. Three people who could pass for us, at least from a distance. They are the ones who will enjoy Florida,” he said under his breath.

  “But you won’t tell me where we’re going?”

  “Nope.” He crossed his arms.