Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2) by Straight, Nancy (novels in english .TXT) 📗

only guess was the cleaning lady. She made a cross over her chest and spoke quickly and quietly. I couldn’t tell if she was praying or talking to me. I stayed on the floor scanning every inch of the room. Samael was gone.

Had he left me to die or just cut off oxygen to my brain long enough for me to pass out? The lady started pulling me up from the floor. Of the thousand or so words streaming out of her, the only thing I understood was, “Policia.”

I responded quickly and with what little authority I could muster, “No Policia.” Four years of high school Spanish class and the only Spanish fragments I could say to this day were: Where’s the bathroom? I need a beer, and No police. Pretty sad, but I always told myself if I ever made my way south for spring break, those phrases would be enough to get me by.

I forced myself off the floor and told the woman, “I’m okay, I just fell, No police…No policia.”

Her eyes widened as she looked at my neck, but she didn’t argue with me. Maybe she assumed it would be fruitless. Maybe she was illegal and didn’t want to get tossed back to whatever country she came from, or maybe she just didn’t care. Whatever the reason, she agreed and darted out of the room. I looked around. I didn’t have any luggage to begin with, so checkout would be a snap. The lady rushed back seconds later with a plastic baggie filled with ice. She motioned to my neck and said, “Cuello, Hielo por cuello.”

I turned back to the mirror, hoping that in some strange mix of fate I wouldn’t see Samael in it this time. I looked at my neck and the outline of ten very distinct fingers were as visible as if they had been drawn with a purple magic marker. I put the ice on my neck and headed out the door.

I found myself surprised again. My van was waiting exactly where I left it. He didn’t kill me and he could have. Why did he let me live? His plan all along was to kill me, why would he just let me go? It didn’t make any sense. As I got behind the wheel and cranked the engine, I could still hear Rewsna’s voice echoing deep in my mind. This time I answered. “Rewsna, I’m here, I’m okay.”

Her voice came back so loud a megaphone might as well have been pointed directly in my ear. “Lauren, where are you? You aren’t with Max. It is the Beast. He isn’t Max. Get away from him now!”

“Rewsna, relax. He’s not here. He left.”

“You got away? How did you escape?”

“He showed me who he was, then choked me until I was unconscious. I don’t think he wanted to kill me. He has Max somewhere. We have to find him.”

“Can you find Max? Is he alive?”

I hadn’t summoned my tunnel, but I knew Max was alive. I would have felt it if he weren’t. I didn’t have a clue where he was, but I knew deep down that he wasn’t dead. “I don’t know where he is; we’ll find him.” I put the van in drive and made my way to Rewsna’s house.

****

It’s strange how a single mission can unite people so deeply. Our entire focus was centered on one mission, finding Max. I still wanted to destroy the Beast, but that was secondary.

Rewsna and I met at her house on the beach. To my delight, Mike and Peanut were waiting when I arrived. I felt awkward as I approached. If I had trusted Mike and Peanut, the Beast would have been destroyed yesterday. But if he had killed the Beast, wherever Max was being held, we might never find him. Mike had to have seen my action as a betrayal. But as I replayed the whole situation in my head, if given the same circumstances a second time, I doubt I would do anything differently. I had always trusted my own senses so implicitly, yesterday is the only time I can remember that I completely ignored them.

Mike stepped toward me. The uncomfortable feeling I had felt when I pulled up began to morph and I felt self-conscious. I knew I deserved whatever it was he wanted to say to me, so I braced myself. He stood less than two feet from me. To my surprise he reached out with both arms and took me in a strong embrace. “Lauren, I’m so sorry, it was my job to keep you safe. I have no right to ask for your forgiveness, but I failed you and I’m sorry.”

As I stood in Mike’s embrace I was thrown completely off guard. He somehow thought I would be upset with him that I made an idiot out of myself? Mike was a real piece of work. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I made a mistake. I should have listened to you.”

“I could see you believed it was Max. I knew it was the Beast. I should have just told you. I had never been that close to him before, and I froze when he first came up. If only I had reacted more quickly. Lauren, I’m really sorry.”

I looked at Rewsna, not believing my ears. He blamed himself for my mistake. His guilt over what I did only made me feel worse. I kind of wish he had come out of the house yelling, accusing me of being a moron. That would have been more accurate, and I wouldn’t feel like such a jerk. “Mike, you were really brave, and I was really stupid. Could we just leave it at that and drop it?”

“I just want you to know it won’t happen again. I won’t freeze up like that. I’ve played the whole scene over and over. I know if I got a do-over, I would have taken the shot.”

“I don’t think you froze up, and it’s