Forgotten Destiny Book One

by Odette C. Bell

  “Dammit,” I spat. I finally gathered together the gumption to walk in.

  Nothing had changed. The store was exactly the same as usual. It was a Tuesday, and all our usual Tuesday customers were lined up on the comfy couches and chairs. A few of them even turned around and said hello.

  I shuffled forward uncomfortably, never unhooking my arms from around my middle. When it came time to waving to the friendly patrons, I barely managed to raise a couple of fingers from my deathly grip.

  Josh was at the counter. Just before I could sigh in relief, hoping that Susan wasn’t shifted at the moment, Josh straightened up, turning around to see me. And Susan? Was right behind him.

  “Get over here already,” Josh snapped, clicking his fingers and patting his thighs as if he were calling me in to heel.

  Susan’s face stiffened. She went from smiling at Josh, to looking as if she wanted to pull me apart with her eyes.

  I paled. And then I paled some more. And then I think my cheeks went and fell off as I lost all blood flow through my body. I brought my hands up and clamped them tightly. “Hi,” I managed.

  “Hello,” Josh said as he waved at me irritatingly. “I’m right here. I know you, remember? Now get over here. Stop wasting our time. You’re the one who wants to push on with this case. Even though it’s foolhardy. You should really learn to pull your head in—”

  I completely ignored him. I bit my lip and mustered the courage to walk up to the counter.

  Susan looked from me back to Josh, then over to me. “You mean this is the idiot who was harassing you at the testing station? The loser you’ve been contracted to?”

  Josh straightened. He was no longer leaning against the bar. His expression soured. “Sorry, who’s the loser?”

  “Yeah, this is Josh McIntosh. And yes, he’s the guy I’ve been contracted to. Susan—”

  “He doesn’t seem that bad,” Susan said as she leaned back from the bar, patted her hands on her apron, and gave him a decisive glance up and down.

  Josh looked as if he’d just won the lottery. A smile cracked across his lips as he leaned in and rested an elbow on the tall counter. “Thank you.”

  “But if he keeps treating you like that, you give me his number, and I’ll give him what for.” Susan had the ability to go from charming to absolutely eviscerating someone in under half a second. A lot of people didn’t get her. I think it just added to her charm. Plus, if you ever wanted a friend who could come out to bat for you, Susan was it.

  That satisfied smile stilled on Josh’s lips, locking in place as if someone had clamped it to his mouth. He straightened and patted down his jacket. “You really don’t need to worry—”

  “Good,” Susan said directly with stiff movements of her lips. “Because I know where you live now,” she snapped.

  Josh looked thrown. I wanted to grab my phone and take a picture of it. I wanted to remember just how he blinked back in surprise, took a stiff breath, and tried to smile.

  The smile, of course, was wasted on Susan. She might’ve thought Josh was cute before, but now – and forever more – she would be on my side. “I’m going to cancel the order for the two sandwiches,” Susan said directly as she crossed her arms.

  “You are refusing me service?” Josh’s voice went up.

  “No. I’m giving Beth the ability to order for herself. You know the one male trait I find the most annoying? Okay, one of the many male traits I find annoying.” Susan tightened her arms further as she jutted her chin out. “The arrogant belief that you know how to order for women. Beth has all the intelligence and taste required to order her own food. You understand that?”

  I’d been wrong. I’d thought in coming here it would cause the argument of the century. It was giving me exactly what I needed, instead.

  Josh was being thoroughly and completely put in his place.

  “What do you want, sweetie?” Susan asked.

  Josh went to open his mouth, then obviously realized Susan wasn’t talking to him.

  “Chef’s special pasta.”

  “Good choice. It’s on the house. Her food is on the house,” Susan confirmed before Josh could get too excited.

  Josh brought his hands up in surrender and nodded. “I understand. Ah, can you make those two to go?”

  “No. You’re sitting down. I need to talk to Beth.” With that, Susan pointed toward a spare table for Josh, walked around the counter, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me out through the back door.

  Josh was technically my protector, but he didn’t get involved. He’d obviously met his match in Susan, and he was smart enough to know not to push.

  As soon as the door swung closed behind us, Susan let go of my hand, took a step back, and let it all spill. “Beth, why haven’t you called?”

  “Because my life has been going to hell. And every single day it’s been getting worse,” I answered honestly.

  Maybe my answer had a fair amount of truth behind it, and the emotion cracking over my face reflected that, because Susan stopped. She didn’t continue the argument. She flagged, her shoulders sagging. “You should’ve told me, Beth. From the get-go. I would’ve been there for you. I could have stopped jerks like that from walking all over you.” She jammed a thumb toward the door behind us.

  I brought up a hand, tried to neaten my hair, gave up, and nodded. Though my blond hair was usually criminally straight, for the past few days, it had looked as if rats were nesting on my head. Maybe Susan noticed this, because she took a step back and flicked her gaze up and down me. “You look awful.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s really not a compliment. I’m worried about you, Beth. Especially if you have to put up with idiots like that.”

  For the craziest moment, I opened my mouth to say that Josh wasn’t all that bad.

  I was actually about to defend the guy. I stopped myself in time. I shrugged. “I can’t get out of the contract.”

  “Why not? I’ve done as much research as I could in the past several days. You still have rights, Beth. And we can totally get you the best witch rights lawyer in town.”

  “They cost a bomb, Susan.”

  “We can pool the money we were going to use for the deposit on the café.”

  I looked up at her. She was being serious. Owning her own café had always been Susan’s dream. Now she was ready to hand it all away, just for me.

  We shared a moment – one that washed away all the animosity that had been boiling up since that call in the testing office.

  I managed a smile. “Thanks, but it won’t work.”

  “Don’t be a defeatist – we have to try.”

  “I’m not exactly an ordinary witch.” It was out before I could pull it back. Then again, why hold onto this secret? Two out of the four kingpins in town already knew. And I was pretty sure from the way Helena reacted that Max had been the one to tell her.

  “What exactly does that mean?” Susan asked slowly, picking over her words carefully as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  I brought up a hand, locked it on my brow, and dragged my fingers across the skin. I closed my eyes, but when my life didn’t magically change, I forced them to open. “It means I’m something called a finder.”

  “I’ve never heard of that.”

  “Neither had I.”

  “Beth, what’s going on?” There was now no hint of anger in Susan’s voice. It had been thoroughly replaced with concern.

  “Look, I have rare powers. And because I have rare powers, I’m under a protection order. No lawyer – no matter how expensive – is going to be able to pull me away from Josh. He’s one of the only people in town I can be contracted to.”

  Susan opened her mouth, possibly to reel off every other fact she’d learned about witches over the past several days. She stopped. She could obviously see the defeat in my eyes. She brought up a hand, clutched her chin, and tapped her fingers on her jaw. “There’s gotta be something we can do. I mean if he acts like that, there’s got to be som
eone who can pull him into line.”

  I snorted, and a friendly, warm smile played across my lips. “There is. You. Thanks for earlier.”

  She smiled back. Abruptly, she pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you, Beth. And I forgive you for not telling me.”

  We pulled away. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

  “If that asshole is rude to you like that again – I’m not kidding, give me his number. Text me, and I will call him personally.”

  I kept smiling. “I’d like to see that.”

  “Can you stay long?”

  “I guess we can stay for lunch,” I reluctantly agreed.

  It wasn’t reluctant because I didn’t want to see Beth. It was reluctant because… I wanted to find Howard sooner rather than later. He was like one of those Easter eggs my parents used to hide when I was a toddler. I had to find every single last one, or I would go insane. And though there was only one Howard, I instinctively knew that to understand exactly what was going on here, I had to find every piece of this puzzle and figure out why he’d run before it was too late.

  Chapter 9

  I hung out with Susan for a bit, filling her in on every detail I could remember. Though, of course, I didn’t share the actual details of the case I was working on. Everything about Josh being a tyrant, relegating me to my room, and insulting me at every opportunity, however – I told her every detail I could remember.

  By the end, she was sitting back in her chair in the break room, her arms so tightly clenched, she looked like she was attempting to squeeze her torso in two. “This guy is a Class A jerk. The kind of twisted fool who never learned to get along with other people. I bet you he’s hiding some scars,” she suddenly blurted.

  I shook my head, grabbing another mouthful of the pasta. Susan had already announced to Josh that I would be eating with her. I would have to take tips from Susan, because Josh was like putty in her hands.

  “I doubt he’s got scars. I think he’s just a jerk.”

  Susan shook her head knowingly. “No way. He’s definitely got something lurking in his past. Like you said, you suspect he doesn’t own the house he’s living in.”

  “I know he doesn’t own the house we’re living in,” I corrected. “And he is so incredibly overprotective of it.”

  “I think that’s a clue. I think we need to find out who the house belongs to.”

  I snorted. “Who exactly is the finder here?”

  “I hate to remind you this, but I’m usually the one who can find your purse when it’s missing.”

  “Good point,” I chuckled. “I guess I won’t need to worry about my purse going walkabouts anymore. Still, to return to the original point, I don’t think Josh is a complicated guy. I think he is exactly the opposite of a complicated guy.”

  “You’re wrong. Definitely a scar there. What else do you know about him?”

  “I think I’ve told you everything. As for his back history, all I know is that he did a stint in the Army.”

  Susan’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward as if she actually wanted to pounce on that fact. “That’s it.” She pointed at me and waved her finger over the table. “I bet you he’s got scars from his days in the Army.”

  “There hasn’t been a war for a while. I really doubt he saw any real action. He was in the warlock corps, so I imagine he just did magical target practice or something.”

  “All of those are assumptions. Plus, I’ve got a feeling,” Susan said as she leaned back and slapped a hand on her stomach. “He’s definitely got some scars. And I imagine if you pry into his history as an Army warlock, you’ll start to find them.”

  I stared at her blankly. “Why would I even want to find them?”

  “Because they’ll be the key to unraveling Josh and finding out what he’s really about.”

  I looked at her askance. “You’re assuming I even want to do that. It won’t help me, anyway. Josh is always going to be… Josh.”

  “Gosh, that’s a lot more polite than I’m used to,” Josh suddenly said from the doorway as he marched in.

  I jumped and actually squeaked like a surprised mouse.

  Susan? She rounded on him, blasting up from her chair as if she had a jetpack strapped to her back. “What the hell are you doing in here? Only staff members are allowed to go behind the counter. Do you want me to call the cops on you or something?”

  Josh quickly brought up his hands and leaned back as if he were trying to hold off a tiger. “I don’t want any trouble. And calling the cops wouldn’t help. I have every right to track my PO down. Speaking of which,” Josh clicked his fingers, and I knew what he was about to do – slap his thigh and tell me to come over. He shot a wary glance Susan’s way and cleared his throat instead. “Bethany,” he said in a stilted voice, for the first time using my full name, “we need to get out of here, now. I’ve already paid for my sandwich,” Josh added as he kept his hands wide and spread.

  “There’s something up?” I abandoned my fork full of pasta and stood, my brow crumpling and my heart quickening.

  “I just want to get out of here and get some work done.” He clapped his hands together. You could have only just met the man, but anyone would be able to realize he was lying. “Now, where’s the back door?”

  “We don’t have a backdoor,” Susan announced as she stared at him warily, as if she suspected he was about to run around, stealing everything.

  Josh snorted. “What kind of functioning café doesn’t have a backdoor? All kitchens have backdoors,” he stated defiantly. “So tell me where yours is.”

  “Even if we had a backdoor, I wouldn’t let you use it.”

  “So you do have a backdoor?”

  Susan looked at me. “I think you’re right – he’s just too simple.”

  “Excuse me?” Josh began, and I could hear from the specific tone of his voice that he was just getting started. Then he obviously thought better of it, shook his head, and smoothed as much of a grin over his face as he could manage. “Like I said, I don’t want any trouble. We need to get out of here, now.”

  “… Are you avoiding somebody?” I asked.

  Josh paled.

  “He’s definitely avoiding somebody,” Susan leaned toward me and whispered.

  “Fine, okay, I’m avoiding somebody. But we still have to go. So is there a window around here or something?” He looked around the small enclosed breakroom. It was nothing more than a glorified storeroom. There was a table, but behind it was nothing more than stacked boxes. So no, there wasn’t a window.

  “There are some windows in the kitchen. But they’re just vents. And you’d need a ladder to get to them.”

  “Then where is your ladder?” Josh actually asked.

  I took a step toward him. “Who are you trying to avoid? I mean, you’re the only government sanctioned bounty hunter in town. There shouldn’t be anyone—” I stopped abruptly.

  The answer I was looking for, I found.

  I’d only ever seen Josh look this flustered once. “Max,” I muttered quietly.

  Josh stiffened as if someone had injected his muscles with starch.

  “Jesus, who is Max?” Susan muttered to me. “Mr. Cool and Calm over here looks like he’s just about to pop.”

  Josh brought up a stiff finger. “Firstly, thank you for calling me Mr. Cool and Calm. Those are my greatest traits. Secondly, I’m not about to pop. I just want to avoid him. Considering what happened last time,” Josh let his lips move around each word hard as he looked at me.

  I shivered and swallowed. “I don’t think there’s any way around it, though. Susan’s right – we’d need a ladder. Even then, the windows are pretty small. And it’s a pretty long drop to the street outside.”

  “I’m nimble. I’m willing to give it a go. Now where’s that ladder?”

  “You can’t be serious. Who is this guy you’re trying to avoid?” Susan looked right at me.

  I looked at Josh. It was like we were
in some kind of Mexican standoff.

  But I was by far the weakest player in this standoff. All Susan had to do was growl, and I gave up, considering my recent history of lying to her. “Maximus C. Knights,” I managed, my stomach shaking with every word.

  Susan made a suitable face. It was somewhere between surprise and plain amazement. “Are you telling me that Maximus C. Knights is in this store?” She brought her hands up and pointed at the floor. Excitement was starting to flare in her eyes. “God, do you think he would pose for a photo? We’ve only ever had minor celebrities in here.”

  “To answer your question, Susan, Max would pose for a photo if it benefited him. For he only ever does things that benefit him. But to answer the question that you really should ask – don’t go there,” he growled, the first time he’d showed any pluck in front of Susan.

  I was surprised when Susan didn’t go to her default reaction of snapping back at him. She looked at me strangely. “What have you had to do with Max Knights? And more to the point, why haven’t you told me?”

  I looked at my hands. Why hadn’t I told Susan? Because I couldn’t get my head around what exactly had happened. Max was….

  I’d dreamed of him last night again. Just stupid damn dreams. No real content – it was just like I was tracking his whereabouts at all times. I hadn’t told Josh about them – of course I hadn’t told Josh about them, but it was starting to become clear that it had something to do with my powers….

  “Beth?” Susan snapped down low.

  “Don’t push her,” Josh snapped back. “But if you do want to be a good friend,” he emphasized the term good friend, “then help us both get out of here without him seeing.”

  I still wasn’t facing anyone. I was just staring at my hands.

  The last time I’d seen Max, he’d left me with more questions than answers. I found myself turning around. “Don’t bother. I want to face him,” I said as I walked to the door.

  “Oh, hell no,” Josh snapped as he got in my way, grabbed my shoulders, and held me to the spot. He looked right into my eyes. “Nothing good will come of this.” There was something different about his tone. The look in his eyes? It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Josh looked like he knew what he was speaking about. And no, that wasn’t what I was finding surprising – or maybe it should be, considering Josh never knew what he was talking about. The point was, there was real import and experience behind Josh’s tone, making me wonder once more just what the history between Max and him was.