Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2) Read online

  The strength I had felt in my resolve to end this did not subside. I felt the power coursing through my veins, pumping ever stronger with each heartbeat. It wasn’t adrenaline or fear. It was raw, unfettered dominance, an energy radiating from the inside out. I shook my head, “Rewsna, the Beast screwed up again. I’m not sure how, but somehow I’ve taken more strength from him.” I stepped away from Max and back through the vault’s door. The three followed me.

  I reached for the door handle on the double door we had walked through and cautiously opened it, making a concerted effort to turn the knob gently. When the door swung silently open, I made sure Mike, Rewsna and Max were watching, and I gave the open door a sharp tug. I felt the hinges bow under the pressure. I turned to Max and said, “That is unreal.”

  Silence filled the room. I rested the door against the wall. This much power and brute strength was such a foreign feeling. I’ve seen body builders interviewed on television. I was never in awe of them or what they could do, until now. These were people who worked years to sculpt their body, concentrating all their energy on a single task. I was not one of these people. The strength I felt in my body resonated from within and required almost no concentration to unleash.

  Rewsna gasped as she read my thoughts and inserted her own, “Lauren, do you understand what this means? The Council predicted your rise. We knew you would have unreal powers. I never guessed they would be telepathic and physical. If you have taken his strength from him and his power of sight, there cannot be much left.”

  I nodded, but was unable to put my thoughts into words. The fear I had felt for the Beast seemed to have evaporated. My arms found their way around Max. I took his hand and led him out of the building. I could hear Rewsna and Mike speaking quickly to each other but did not care in the least what they were saying.

  We all drove back to Rewsna’s house. I knew she could read my thoughts, if I allowed it, so I purposely blocked her. She glanced at me frequently but said nothing. When I pulled to the curb in front of her house, I put the van in park but did not turn off the ignition. Rewsna must have realized that I didn’t intend to stay, when she said, “Lauren, we must brief the Council and formulate a plan to do away with the Beast.”

  I looked at Max’s haggard eyes and knew my priorities had little to do with the Beast. At this point Samael was no more relevant to me than a spider in a corner. I shook my head and answered, “You can do whatever you want. Max and I have some catching up to do. I’ll be at his house if you need me, but Samael has gone into hiding. We won’t find him unless we go looking, and I can assure you I have better things to do with my time for the foreseeable future.”

  Mike and Rewsna exited the van without argument. I’m sure Rewsna knew any opposition would be fruitless, so she didn’t even try.

  Max said nothing the entire drive back to his house. Peanut bounded happily in the back seat from one side of the van to the other, whining at cars and excited about the traffic. When we pulled up the long drive to Max’s house, I realized that the silence was awkward.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Max interrupted, “I’m going to take a shower. Make sure you call your parents and let them know you’re okay.” He stepped out of the van without another word.

  Chapter 29

  So what makes a good relationship anyway? Common interests, common goals, desire that sets your pants on fire? I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but something had come between Max and me. After we returned to his house, we didn’t talk much at all. Max told me he was exhausted, and I don’t think he was exaggerating because he slept from mid-afternoon until late the following morning. When he did finally pull himself out of bed, he had a quick bite to eat standing at the kitchen counter, gave me a kiss on the forehead, and mumbled something about fixing a fence on the north side of the property. I started to get up and heard, “No, I’ve got it. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

  This initial rejection and his desire to be alone hadn’t set off any alarm bells. Seth had told me he was going to stop by after work, so I wanted to straighten up the house anyway. When Max didn’t come back after a couple hours, I began to worry. By three o’clock that afternoon, I went to the barn and decided to take Max’s horse, Christy, for a ride. It didn’t take long to find him. He was where he said he’d be. I found Max’s truck right away, and, sure enough, he was repairing the fence. I offered to help, but he told me he was just about done and he’d be back soon.

  Seth arrived at six, but Max still hadn’t returned. It was odd not to be fearful of some evil force lurking. Since the moment I had awoken from the coma, my thoughts were nearly consumed by fear. Samael, the Beast, or whatever it was did little to enter my thoughts since Max’s rescue. Wherever Samael was, I knew he was no longer a threat to us. So when Seth arrived, I didn’t even cringe when he wanted to be filled in with details. Seth was excited to hear all about Max’s rescue, and I was happy to have someone to talk to.

  He told me that Amanda was fine. She had told him to tell me “Hello” from her, but he said she was a little too wierded out from Samael’s visit to their house and didn’t feel comfortable talking to me about it. Seth shared with me again the events of their near attack. I could hear his excitement screaming through as he relived the adrenaline rush. Seth sat on the couch perpendicular to the one I sat on. He reached out and took my hand in his. “I know I owe you my life, Amanda’s too. If you hadn’t called to warn me about Samael, we’d both be dead right now.”

  I nodded, because I knew it was true, “You don’t owe me anything. I’m just glad I caught you before he knocked on your door.”

  “Hopefully you don’t slap me for what I’m about to say, but there are some things I need to ask.” Seth was still holding my hand, and he began stroking the top of my hand with his thumb. I had a strange vibe from him but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. “So that whole time we were dating, we really weren’t, right? I mean, you knew that you were supposed to be with Max, and I was supposed to be with Amanda, right?” I nodded that this was the case, even though I didn’t find out about Amanda until after Max was already in my life.

  “So, you were never remotely attracted to me? We were really just friends, and I was too dense to see it?”

  “I don’t know if I would say dense, but I don’t believe either one of us was really in it for a long-term relationship, at least not a physical one.”

  “You’re wrong.” Seth’s eyes left mine, but his hand held mine tight, “Lauren, you were all I ever thought of, the only one I ever wanted, at least until I met Amanda. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great and everything. I do love her, but I don’t have that same connection with her that I had with you.”

  I took in a swift breath trying to figure out how to react without overreacting, “Seth, your connection with Amanda is different than the one with me. We’re very close friends; you two are supposed to be together.”

  He shook his head, “She can’t finish my sentences; she hasn’t known me my entire life. She is wonderful and I do love her, but if I had to choose between you two – she knows exactly what number she would be.”

  “I hope it’s first choice. Amanda is the one to share your life with.”

  “She’s great, but we both know she is the one I settled for, because I couldn’t have you.” Seth’s eyes left the floor and found mine again.

  “Amanda is pretty amazing. I don’t know that you settled. You are supposed to share your life with her.”

  “When Max stopped coming to see you at the nursing home, I was there. Most of the time, three days a week. I knew all your nurses. I knew when they changed your meds. I read books to you. Amanda never once complained. She’s pretty smart. She had to have known that I wanted to spend time with you, even if you weren’t all there. Initially she came with me, but after a while she figured out my time with you, was really my time with you. I’m sure it hurt her, but she never once asked me to stop.”

  “Seth, you know how I feel about
Max, why are you telling me all this?”

  “Because I promised myself, if you ever did wake up, that you should know that I never really gave up on us. I was ecstatic when you woke up and Max wasn’t even in the picture. I thought I had time to ease into your life, give you a chance to see that we could be something more. Once you woke up, Max came back and poof, you were gone. I never got to tell you anything. Then when all of this craziness happened, it only made me want you more all over again. Lauren, I would give anything to be with you.”

  Seth was still holding my hand and his was shaking. My mind was nothing but a whirlwind of responses, to my embarrassment not all of them were negative. I started to answer when I noticed Max standing just inside the door staring at both of us. Hate radiating off his skin, I expected his rage to engulf us all when he said, “Don’t mind me, I’m going to go shower.” Seth dropped my hand and Max walked down the hallway. I heard the bedroom door slam shut.

  “Seth, I don’t think of you that way. I never have.” I could see the hurt on his face. He sat up a little straighter, bracing himself. “You need to go home to Amanda.” I stood up and followed Max.

  I could hear the front door close and knew Seth had left. I turned the door handle to the bedroom, but it was locked. I knocked on the door, but there was no response. Standing there in the hallway, I didn’t know what to do. I waited for several minutes dumfounded. What could I have done differently? I didn’t know Seth was going to say any of that. What had Max heard? Did he think Seth and I were reconnecting right there in front of him? He couldn’t think that. He couldn’t believe that, right?

  I walked back to the living room and waited, and waited, and waited. Max never came out of the bedroom. At nine I was a nervous wreck and again went to the bedroom. The door was still locked. This time I knocked louder and called to Max through the door. He didn’t answer, and he didn’t unlock the door. I tried talking to him through the door, but he ignored me. I started to walk away, but something inside me said not to. I knocked one more time. No response.

  I grabbed the door handle and jerked it, the handle coming off in my hand. I reached into the locking mechanism and unsecured the latch. I swung the door open and there was Max lying on the bed glaring at me. I was right not to let this wait until morning.

  Max’s voice was monotone, “Great, something else for me to fix.”

  “I’ll fix it. I think you’re pissed off at me when I didn’t do anything to deserve it. I need to talk to you.”

  “Okay Super-girl, what would you like to talk about?”

  “Why are you so angry with me?”

  “I don’t know, Lauren, take your pick. Seth holding your hand in our living room was just icing on the cake. How about that you slept with Samael? How about that I had to be rescued by my girlfriend? How about that I deserted you when you needed me most, or the fact that I wasn’t there to protect you in the first place? Seth was right, you know? If I really loved you I never would have left. I would have stayed no matter how bad it hurt to see you like that. But I didn’t.” I moved closer to put my arms around him, but he pulled away from me.

  “You missed Gramp’s funeral. You missed it because I couldn’t keep you safe. The whole time I kept looking out over gravestones to see you. I thought you’d come. Then it hit me. You weren’t there because you were afraid. I was more upset about you not being there than I was about putting Gramps in the ground.”

  My voice was shaky, my eyes were clouded with tears, and all I could say was, “I’m sorry.”

  “Great, you’re sorry. I did the only thing I could think of, I found Samael. I told him he could do whatever he wanted - to me, so long as he stopped trying to hurt you. My last ditch effort to try to save you - what a joke! That was a nightmare, but I was perfectly okay living it because I thought you’d finally be safe. Then he told me he spent the night with you, and I nearly came unglued.”

  I cut in, “I thought he was you. I didn’t know.”

  An icy voice responded when he said, “Yeah, sucks that you can’t tell the difference. Once he had bedded you, the next thing I know you’re rescuing me and you have some super human strength. I’m glad you aren’t scared anymore. I’m glad you don’t need me anymore. But here’s the real kicker, I don’t need you anymore either.”

  Max rolled onto his side as I stood frozen. I couldn’t reach out to him. I didn’t want to. My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest. Tears streamed down my face, and pain, real pain grabbed hold of me. I turned away and walked back down the hall. I didn’t take any clothes or anything, just picked up my keys, my wallet and Peanut’s leash. I left that night, finally understanding what Rewsna had said when she told me that my destiny had been altered. Peanut and I went to the little rented house I had in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t collect my thoughts. In my final stand against the Beast, I had lost the only thing that I had been living for.

  Chapter 30

  Max.

  I heard the front door close behind her. I knew the hurt look she gave me and could see that she would never forgive me. I stood up from the bed to look out the window. The gravel hadn’t yet settled from her departure. She really was gone.

  To think three days ago I would have done anything, said anything, or killed anyone to make sure she was okay. In the last five minutes I just hurt her more than Samael ever did, probably more than he ever could. I couldn’t bring myself to go after her, that would be weak and it wouldn’t make things any better for her. The ache in my chest would eventually go away. I couldn’t take the chance on being with her, not now, maybe not ever.

  It’s funny how there are times when wanting someone to be safe is worth more than your own existence, worth enough to make a deal with the devil himself. The thought of Samael made my skin crawl, but I sought him out anyway.

  Lauren meant more to me than my own life. I knew from the start when she told me we were destined for each other that she wasn’t just using artistic words or being overly dramatic. I have become so in tune with her that when she watches me through her special powers, I can actually feel her presence. After she had run away from Gramps, Benny, and me, I knew she was still looking in on me. I could feel Lauren watching me; every time she did, I could feel a wave of heat rush over me. Not heat like a fire, but the heat shining on you on a cool morning after the sun breaks through the clouds to give warmth to everything it touches.

  After she took off from Gramps’ house, I must have left her forty voice messages asking her to come home. She never returned one. She never came back. I thought if I went back to my house she’d see me there, see our life that we had tried to build, and just walk through the door. I could feel her watching, but she never came back. After a week it felt like the walls were closing in on the house. I knew I couldn’t wait another day, not another hour. I needed to do something to bring her home - anything.

  Samael had been by the house with some private investigator story. He left his business card. Rewsna had told me to watch out for him so I knew to play dumb at the time. The idea was that if he didn’t know I was onto him he might give up his hunt for Lauren. His card set on my kitchen counter for days. I ran through all the possible scenarios: killing him, framing him for a crime of some kind, I even considered trying to get help from Rewsna and the Council she had talked about. But in the end, I did nothing and just kept his card there on the counter, knowing that the Beast had only one mission in life - to find and to finish off the woman that I loved.

  She wouldn’t come home to me, she wouldn’t call, and it seemed like she was checking in on me less and less. Finally I had an idea, hair-brained at best, but I owed Lauren and had to do this for her. I grabbed Samael’s card and called him. “It’s Max. I think I have some information that might help you find Lauren. Can I meet you somewhere?”

  Samael offered to come to my house, but I declined and told him I’d meet him in his office building downtown. The entire drive to him I argued with myself about the insanity of my plan,
but when I left my truck in the garage, I knew this was the right thing. I couldn’t do anything for Lauren while she was in hiding. Gramps’ funeral had been the day before. When she didn’t come, I knew she was too scared. I couldn’t do anything to stop Samael’s attack nearly three years ago, I didn’t do anything for her while she was in a coma, and I almost lost her when she was staying with me this time. My only option was to meet this guy head on, do whatever I could do to get him to leave her alone.

  I stepped through the door. Samael’s charm had evaporated when his eyes met mine. He eyed me suspiciously. We stood sizing each other up, until he finally said, “Shall we go on with this charade that you want to help me find Lauren, or are you going to tell me why you are really here?”

  I took a deep breath, straightened my back, and said in as manly a tone as I could muster, “I want you to leave her alone. I’ve come to offer myself to you. You can do anything you want to me, but I want this thing between you and her to end now.”

  Samael cocked his head for a minute as if studying me, then chuckled at me, “What makes you think I want anything from you?”

  “She’s a good person. She’s never done anything to hurt anyone. She can’t see her friends or her family, she can’t have a normal life because she’s sure you’re going to find her and hurt her again. I want it to stop. I’ll take anything you dish out, I just don’t want her involved anymore.”

  “Interesting. You really came here without a weapon of any kind, didn’t you? You must think that we are somehow equals and you can reason with me?”

  “No, Sir, I don’t, but I came here to make a deal with you. You do whatever you want to me, you leave her alone. You give me your word and I’ll give you mine. I would never give my word if I weren’t willing to back it up.”

  “So in essence, if no harm comes to Lauren, you will submit to me? You will willingly give yourself to me?”