Destiny

by Amanda Lynn Petrin

  “One lie doesn’t erase a lifetime--”

  “Of lies,” I cut off Charlie’s words of wisdom. “They would come and visit me and make me feel special. I thought of Embry as family, but they’ve been lying to me since the day I met them. They’re here to protect me, but if it comes down to it, they would rather stop him than save me, and I don’t blame them, considering what’s inside of me.” The thought had been gnawing at me since Donovan mentioned it in the motel parking lot, but I had refused to believe it until now.

  “I can’t vouch for Gabriel, but Embry would give anything to see you safe and happy. He loves you more than anything else in this world.”

  “Love and duty are not the same thing,” I argued quietly.

  “He wouldn’t spend fifteen years talking my ear off about how wonderful you are if you were just an obligation,” he argued. “Every spelling bee and class award, when you climbed to the top of the oak tree, when you made the best chocolate chip cookies he’s ever tried...He has spent the last fifteen years telling me how proud he is of you, and showing me how much he loves you.”

  “Maybe both are true,” I suggested.

  “Maybe,” he agreed.

  I looked at him, trying so hard to help me without knowing what was going on. I took a deep breath and admitted, “The Big Bad who is hunting us and has been trying to kill my ancestors for generations was actually married to Annabelle. The first one,” I added in case he didn’t know. “We all come from him.”

  He nodded his head, digesting the information, before he said, “Maybe they kept it from you because they love you and didn’t want to hurt you, or risk you getting hurt?”

  I was surprised by his reaction. “It’s still lying to me,” I pointed out. “About everything.”

  “About a tiny detail that only feels like everything because you just found out about it. I don’t think your ancestry changes anything.”

  “It’s the entire reason we’re here. People are literally dying because of it,” I argued.

  “Because you’re a strong and fierce Owens woman. Not because one asshole slipped his way into the family tree.” I was surprised by the bluntness of his language. “I don’t know if you’re worried this means you’re a bad apple, or have something dark and dangerous inside you, but I knew your Grams her whole life, and there wasn’t an ounce of evil inside her, regardless of who her great-great-grandfather was.”

  “You don’t think that giving someone superpowers to stay alive until they kill me means something?”

  “You don’t know what his purpose is,” he reminded me, knowing way more about everything than I ever gave him credit for.

  “I know what he thinks it is.”

  “Villains often get confused about what they’re supposed to do,” he said with a smile and a wink that got me smiling too. “Would you still like that story?”

  “I would love a distraction,” I agreed, needing time to process my feelings before going back to the guys.

  He looked off like he was consulting his bank of memories, then got into a story that painted my grandmother in a completely different light than when I knew her; the Evelyn only Charlie told me about. I loved how he made Grams strong and fierce, always standing up for people.

  “She chained herself to a tree? Literally?” I verified after his third story, this one about her protesting so they wouldn’t cut down a tree on their university campus.

  “She was part of a nature conservation group and tried to make it a landmark, but the truth of it was that she couldn’t care less about what kind of tree it was or how long it was there. Your grandfather just passed away, and when we were at school together, he carved their initials into the tree and vowed to love her forever.”

  “She was saving the memories,” I understood. “I guess that’s when she started being a shut-in?”

  “She was as carefree and headstrong as ever,” he argued. “Laurel and I were in town when it happened, so once the tree was safe, we took her out to dinner, and she was every bit as sharp and full of plans and ideas as she ever was.”

  “I thought she became afraid of people and leaving home after my grandfather died?”

  “No, that was months later.”

  “When it hit her?” Grief had many stages before acceptance.

  “No, it didn’t have anything to do with Grant, I don’t think,” he said of my grandfather.

  “Was there anything else to explain it? Or did she wake up one day and decide she didn’t want to go outside anymore?” I found the whole thing ridiculous, but I understood that loss made people do crazy things.

  “No one ever told you?” he asked, shifting awkwardly for the first time since we started talking, probably an hour ago.

  “Told me what?” I asked.

  “She stopped going out right around the time your mom had you.”

  “It was because of me?”

  “It had nothing to do with you, sweetie, Evelyn loved you to the moon and back,” he assured me.

  “But…” I pressed.

  “Your father,” he admitted.

  “You know who my father is?” I was shocked. Every time I asked, it was implied that my mom and dad weren’t all that serious, she never brought him home, and he bailed as soon as he found out she was pregnant.

  “Maybe this isn’t the right conversation to be getting your mind off things.”

  “I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but no one ever talks about my father. I didn’t think anyone knew who he was,” I admitted. My father was listed as Unknown in the Chronicles. Even Henry was named as Margaret’s father, although it didn’t mention his exploits.

  “It really isn’t my place to tell you,” Charlie was apologetic, but wasn’t giving me any answers.

  “And the people whose place it is would rather keep me in the dark and pretend they’re protecting me.” We were back at square one. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t aimed at…”

  “Are you okay?” Charlie asked, leaning in and putting his hand on my shoulder when I suddenly stopped talking.

  “I’m fine,” I assured him, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. “Do you think you and Eric could stay somewhere else tonight? Like maybe Ingrid’s?” I asked.

  “Eric’s already on his back to his dorm. What’s going on?”

  “Someone is coming here looking for me, and I don’t want you to be here when he finds me.”

  “Why are you still here?” he asked me.

  “Because it’ll never end if I keep running.”

  He looked like he wanted to argue, but the look in my eyes must have convinced him. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he set his jaw, but I could see his eyes tearing up.

  “Thank you. For everything,” I told him. I was hoping I would make it through, but this time I planned on being strong like Annabelle, if ever it came down to it.

  “Be careful,” he told me before going home, while I headed for Embry’s villa to prepare them for battle.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Embry and Gabriel were sitting in the kitchen with a rather large sword and an axe on the table between them. You could cut the tension with a knife, but for once it wasn’t aimed at each other.

  “Can I get you anything?” I expected them to yell at me for running off when Donovan was on his way, but Embry showed nothing but concern for my well-being.

  “I’m fine,” I said, looking from one to the other.

  For a minute, the three of us stood there, no one really knowing what to say.

  “I’m sorry,” they both blurted out at the same time.

  “We never knew that he cared about your birthmark. We always assumed he wanted you because you were his descendants,” Gabriel came clean, honestly answering the question I asked months ago, when I found out about the Prophecy

  “Did the other Bearers of the Crescent Moon find out who was hunting them?” I asked.

  “Cass…” Embry said before they exchanged a look. I gave them one as well, so th
ey decided to share. “She came face to face with him and he made her think he didn’t want to hurt her, or her daughter, because they were his blood. She didn’t tell us everything he said, there wasn’t time, but he used it to trick her.”

  “Wouldn’t it make sense to warn me ahead of time, so I wouldn’t fall for his tricks?” I suggested.

  “In retrospect…maybe. But I saw what it did to Beth when she found out, and I couldn’t put that on you,” Embry put his hand on mine, seeking forgiveness, while Gabriel’s eyes widened with the knowledge that Embry told Beth. I was glad he meant it when he told me they had no secrets.

  “Donovan is in New Orleans,” I brought us back to the matter at hand.

  “The car is packed…” Embry tried one last time, but I shook my head.

  “If you absolutely want to take our chances against Donovan…” Gabriel paused, his eyes pleading for me to change my mind. “We have weapons,” he said, taking the axe.

  “You need to listen to us though, Lucy. If I tell you to run to the panic room, you need to run to the panic room,” Embry warned.

  “I’m not going to abandon the two of you to face him when you wanted to take me away,” I argued.

  “Will you at least hide?” he tried instead.

  “What’s your plan?” Gabriel asked, giving me a chance.

  “From what I gather, you guys keep coming back as long as your body isn’t damaged beyond repair. There are cases of severed heads being sewn back on…” I blinked hard to get the image out of my mind. “But you can’t come back from what I did to that woman.”

  “You want to blow him up?” Embry raised his eyebrows at me.

  “I want to stop him from hurting more people I care about. If we can tie him up and lock him in the panic room for all eternity, I’m good with that too.”

  “What if things get out of hand? He brings an army and we can’t handle it?” Gabriel asked with a warning look, as if he knew my plan.

  “I’ll run to the panic room,” I partially meant it. Depending on what Donovan came at us with, it might be better for the two of us to be locked in the panic room. Powers work on the inside, but they can’t get out to hurt anyone else.

  The guys had both spent time as soldiers, so they seemed perfectly content to wait for Donovan to show up. I, on the other hand, was a pack of nerves. I felt like I should be practicing or learning more techniques or…anything would be better than nothing. I had the vials of potion I made with Ingrid, but wasn’t sure what would be useful. Donovan could control other Gifteds, and I assumed he had magical powers, but it wasn’t like he was going to be poisoning me or drinking anything I gave him. That left me with the focusing draught. I held the tiny bottle up to the light, wondering if potions went bad, when the guys stood up, alert.

  “Someone’s here,” Embry explained as they positioned themselves between me and the door. There was a loud noise, the screech of metal on pavement, before we all recognized Ingrid’s voice in the backyard.

  “He’s close,” she gave an involuntary shudder, coming into the kitchen and giving Embry a hug.

  “How do you know?” Gabriel asked.

  “Charlie came to my place and said you might need some help,” she explained. “And I can feel his magic,” another shiver. I thought it was because I did the tracking spell earlier, but if she felt it too…

  “Can you tell how powerful he is?” Embry asked before his eyes darted to the ceiling, but I didn’t hear anything.

  “A lot stronger than I am,” she hugged herself, then shook it off. “That was him?”

  “He’s on the property,” Embry agreed.

  “It’s now or never my dear, he’s here,” Ingrid nodded encouragingly to the vial, so I knocked it back and braced myself.

  I was grateful Embry chose to bring us out to the yard instead of waiting in the house for Donovan. It felt good to move. Even if we were exposed out here in the open, it was better than feeling caged inside.

  More than anything, I wanted to wrap a force shield around the four of us, but Donovan might not know about my powers, and I didn’t want to show him all my cards.

  “Pretty brave, choosing her house,” Donovan walked over to us as calmly as if we were old friends meeting in the park.

  Embry, Gabriel and Ingrid stood facing him like statues while I felt like I was made of Jell-O. Or something crumblier.

  “Where’s Richard?” Donovan sounded bored.

  “You didn’t stab him with a tracker as well?” Gabriel stepped forward, more so he could adjust his position to cover me than out of bravery.

  “His went dark.” Donovan didn’t look the least bit concerned about Richard’s well-being, but the lack of knowledge was a mild annoyance.

  Embry must have heard my breath catch in my chest because he reached a hand back to take mine. I hadn’t asked about the jogger because I didn’t want to know what ‘whatever it takes’ meant.

  “Lucy,” Donovan’s focus turned to me. “I have a proposition for you.”

  “Do you want me to rule by Henry’s side again?” I asked, using his name but getting no reaction.

  “Oh, I think that ship has sailed,” his smile was downright jovial, which terrified me. “This one might be better suited for you.”

  “You had my brother killed. If I didn’t take your offer when his life was in the balance, there is nothing you could say or do to make me willingly consider your offer now.” I knew I was stalling, but I had a sudden appreciation for why villains always shared their evil plans before putting them into action on TV.

  “I admit I was wrong in assuming you would sacrifice yourself to save someone you love,” he paused to look at me, his words making my blood boil. “But what about saving yourself?”

  Sam’s death replayed in my mind, and Donovan’s implications brought an anger like I had never felt before. I tried to steady my breathing, but it was no use. “Argh!” I screamed, making a guttural sound that shocked me, as I sent a blast of energy at him.

  He was caught off guard for a moment, so the blast pushed him back a couple of feet before he tossed it to the side, barely even losing his footing.

  “My, how the generations have diluted your magic,” Donovan chuckled to himself before sending a green orb at us. I conjured a force shield, but instead of bouncing off, the green orb pushed against my shield, digging its way in like Mr. Fraser tried to do to my mind. It took Ingrid putting her hand on my shoulder to help me push the orb off.

  I had been praying Donovan would come alone, without an army, because I truly thought we could defeat him. We outnumbered him, and everyone insisted my magic was powerful, so I believed them. Even holding on to the moonstone and to Ingrid’s hand did nothing more than put dents in Donovan’s metaphorical armor. I threw everything I had at him, trying to protect Embry and Gabriel as they faced him with their medieval weapons. If we managed to coordinate our attacks, he would go slightly off-balance, but I was the only one who could get close enough to him without risking being controlled. If four against one was giving us trouble, three against two would destroy us.

  Ingrid was the first to fall. She tried altering Donovan’s perception of reality, but it was like he could sense the guys once they got close enough, and he had no qualms about half-hazardly sending blasts of energy and sparks in every direction. Even if he couldn’t see where we were, he still had a pretty good chance of hitting one of us. And unless something substantial stopped them, his curses were endless, which put everyone in the neighborhood at risk.

  Eventually, Donovan sent one of his green orbs at Embry, then immediately sent one at us. I had already conjured a force shield to protect Embry from the brunt of the blast and couldn’t conjure another one fast enough. Ingrid tried to use her magic to send the orb back to Donovan, but she only managed to slow it down before it hit her square in the chest.

  In the time it took me to get to Ingrid and see that the blow was fatal, Donovan had already frozen Gabriel’s axe midair and reached out to to
uch him. Time froze, or at least I could swear my heart stopped while Gabriel’s expression went from shock to a blank slate to determination as Donovan took over his mind. Gabriel turned away from Donovan, set his sights on me and pounced.

  I had my hands ready to conjure a force shield, but Embry cut in between us before I had to find out if I could have gone through with fighting Gabriel to save myself.

  “Get out of here Lucy,” Embry called to me, every blow between him and Gabriel constricting my heart tighter, the sound of metal on metal so much worse than nails on a chalkboard could ever be.

  Dodging orbs and blasts had brought me closer to the stables than to the villa, with Donovan and Gabriel between me and the panic room, as well as the getaway car.

  I stepped back slowly as Donovan made his way towards me. He wasn’t sending anything at me, but he had his hands at the ready. I was convinced he would stop me if I tried to run.

  “Have you reconsidered?” Donovan asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. It was good to know that our defense was exerting him, if nothing else.

  “I want nothing to do with you,” I told him, calculating my chances of escaping on horseback to be somewhere below zero.

  “I’m not sure you understand. Turning me down means you die within the decade. No matter what.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” I stood as tall as I possibly could, to show him I meant it and he didn’t scare me, even though he did.

  “Then you leave me no choice.” For a moment, he stood there, palms facing upwards, shaking his head at me. The next, he had covered the distance between us and wrapped his surprisingly strong hands around my tiny, fragile neck. I tried to freeze him, to buy myself some time, but none of it worked. I couldn’t stop him, levitate him, move him away from me, or bring anything over. I was helpless.

  I screamed, using my hands to try and release his grip, but the weight of him brought me down to the floor. My lungs were aching for air, but all I could think was that I couldn’t let him take my heart.

  Embry had mentioned that there were places on the property where Gifts and magic didn’t work. This was either one of them, or I had exhausted all of my powers. Since Donovan was on top of me, strangling me instead of using his magic on me, I assumed I wasn’t the problem. I tried to rip his fingers off my throat or push him away, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked, so I dropped my arms. I thought I had given up, but my hands had other plans. They travelled along the ground, searching for something they could save me with, and found a rock. I lifted it up and brought it smashing into Donovan’s skull.