Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (read full novel .txt) 📗

“Way to go, Sport. Look on the bright side. Go ahead and lend me your body. I’ll make sure you go out with a bang!”

“Get out!” Bert roared, loud enough that anyone on the street passing by would have heard. Within seconds, his doorbell rang. “Wonderful, Samael, is there anything else I don’t know about? One more surprise might actually do me in today.”

Chapter 22

Lauren

I received a strange call from Dennis asking what Detective Ross had asked about during our midnight interview the other night. He mentioned that the detective wasn’t himself lately and wanted to make sure that nothing had happened that Dennis needed to be aware of. When I pressed him for further detail, Dennis would only share that Detective Ross had been under a great deal of stress and was having problems in his personal life. I shared that we had an interesting conversation that night, that I believed he might also be under the same influence of Samael, but that I still didn’t know any additional information about Samael that would be of use to Dennis.

Max and I decided we needed to meet with Bert away from the police station, to try to help him in some way. We found the detective’s home address and decided to try to catch him in the morning before our meeting with the Council and Cabinet.

Detective Ross came to the door. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, Detective Ross?”

“Yes, who are you?”

“I’m Lauren and this is Max. We wanted to talk to you, about Samael.”

Detective Ross stiffened, but nodded, and held the door for us to come in. “So, what did he do to you?”

“Um, that’s kind of a long story. Detective Ross, you do know what Samael is, right?”

“I know what he is. He’s usually shouting at me and hasn’t said a word since I opened the door for you two. I can hardly wait to hear where this is going. Call me Bert.”

“Bert, Samael’s bad news.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“So he’s not in there with your permission?”

“I’m not sure how he got in here to begin with. I was interviewing Jimmy Jacobs, and then I had a black out. Once I was coherent again he asked my permission and I gave it to him, but that was before I found out what he was doing to my neighbor. I’ve been trying to get him out, but he won’t leave.”

“Would it be okay if I talked to him?”

“I’m not going back into the dark, if that’s what you mean.”

I looked at Max, not understanding what Bert meant. Max shrugged and answered, “Samael should be able to hear, Lauren. Just let him talk; you don’t have to go anywhere.”

Cautiously I began, “Samael, I know you can hear me. The Council and the Cabinet know where you are. It’s only a matter of time.”

A wicked grin spread on Bert’s face, “So you came here to warn me? I’m touched, truly touched.”

“Not to warn you, to ask you to let go of Bert. Let him go before they kill him.”

“I’ve always liked your dramatics, Lauren. You and Max won’t allow them to harm Bert. Why do you think you’re here? To watch? I think not. Or maybe, Max, are you volunteering to host me again?”

“No!” We both shouted in unison.

Max looked squarely into Bert’s eyes, “You need to leave him, Samael.”

“But I like this body. Obviously, it doesn’t have the perks of yours.” Samael’s gaze looked from Max to me. “Speaking of perks, Lauren, I’ve missed you, terribly. I’ve been on your mind as well, yes?”

“Sure, the same way I miss a cavity after I go to the dentist. We aren’t playing with you. Get out, go wherever you go when you aren’t leeching off of a human.”

“Ahhh, that is the question. Where does one go when he has been defeated? You remember the dark, Lauren? I spent decades in a cave, hiding in the dark. No. Not again.”

Max spoke up, “Bert, I know you can still hear us. Can you force him out? Try to push him away.”

Daggers looked back through Bert’s eyes, “Max, I’m hurt. Bert allowed me in fair and square. Much the same as you did.”

“I only hosted you to get you to leave Lauren alone. Detective Ross has a life to get back to. You’ve had your fun. You’ve been enough of a disruption. Let him go.”

That same wicked grin shone through when Samael responded, “Yes, Bert let me have quite a bit more fun than you ever did! We’ve had a couple interludes with a very lovely lady. I got to play ‘real life’ cops and robbers. We’ve become rather chummy. I am surprised to see you two again. Lauren, is so protective of you. I thought she’d not let you within spitting distance.”

My stomach turned at what this could mean. I didn’t dare ask.

Bert spoke, “Listen, I appreciate what you two are trying to do. Samael has made a mess of a few things for me lately, and I need to break out the cleaning supplies.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have to go turn in my badge and gun to the chief – I was suspended. I have to meet with my Union Rep. to try not to get tossed out on my ass, permanently. I’ve got to meet with a patrolman who took pictures of Samael’s conquests etched all over one of my neighbors. And I need to explain to Internal Affairs why I ‘borrowed’ fifty thousand dollars.”

“Bert, he tricked you. He promised you a lot of things. Samael is evil. You can break free. You can have your life back.”

“I’ve made a mess of everything. My career is over. For what?”

Max was encouraging Bert. “You still have your life. Take your body back. Tell him he’s not welcome. Tell him to get out.”

“You think I haven’t tried that?”

I could hear Samael’s voice through Bert’s words, “It really is a pleasure to