Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2) by Straight, Nancy (management books to read .TXT) 📕

and $200 in my pocket. I thanked Seth profusely and promised I’d call him tomorrow. As I got into the truck, I opened my to-go bag from the restaurant and gave Peanut his dinner. We made our way to one of the county parks. The park ranger was gone for the night, but I filled in an envelope and put the $12 dollars in the drop box. As I tried to settle in for the night in the cab of the truck, my thoughts went to Max. My eyes were closed and the familiar tunnel appeared in front of me, so I stepped through and was transported to Joe’s house. Max was pacing the floor of the bedroom looking as distraught as I’d ever seen him. I stepped out of the bedroom to find Joe and Benny asleep in their rooms, nothing awry. I went back to Max’s room, and he was still pacing; he picked up his cell phone, looked at it, and set it back down.

The worry was evident on his face. I couldn’t stand to see him like this. I reached out to touch his hand as he walked by; just like the last time, he couldn’t feel me there. He didn’t see me watching, and for all I knew he thought something terrible had happened to me, again. I pulled myself back to my reality and looked at the cell phone staring back at me from the seat.

What would be the harm in calling? If whatever was in him was still there, it would know my number but that was it. If it was gone, I could at least tell Max that I was okay. I took a deep breath and dialed his number.

Max picked up on the first ring, with a very apprehensive voice, “Hello, this is Max.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. His voice was normal, and I could feel the relief washing over me as I responded, “It’s me.”

“Lauren! Are you okay? What happened to you? Where are you?”

“Max, I’m fine, I know you’re worried. I just wanted you to know I’m okay.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m safe.”

There was a long pause until he finally said, “I woke up face down in the grass and you were gone. I’ve been going out of my mind. Are you coming back tonight?”

A single tear escaped my eye when I told him, “No. I just didn’t want you to worry. Stop pacing; you’ll wear out Joe’s floor.”

Max exhaled deeply, “You were here? You were watching me?”

“Of course, I was. I wanted to make sure it was safe to call you. You seem to be back to your old self.”

“Lauren…I don’t know…I mean…what happened?”

“It doesn’t matter, but it isn’t safe for you when I’m there.”

“Lauren, what happened?”

“Max, I don’t want to talk about it. I knew you were worried about me, so I wanted to call and let you know I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

“If nothing happened, then come back.” I could hear the urgency in his voice.

“Max, if I come back that thing will know. I can’t risk anything happening to you or Joe.”

“Lauren, where are you? I’ll come to you. Just tell me where you are, I’ll leave now. We can go wherever you want. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. We can run away - just you and me, we never have to see anyone or anything again. You pick the place: the beach, the Midwest, Disneyland, wherever you want.”

“Max, I can take care of myself. You’re safer there with Joe. I’ve got Peanut. I need to take care of some things.”

“No! Just tell me where you are. Rewsna said we needed to stay together, remember? Just tell me where to meet you. Lauren, I can’t lose you again. The last time I thought I lost you I went to a really dark place. If you leave again, I don’t know that I’ll survive. Just tell me where you are. Lauren, don’t leave me behind.”

“I’m sorry, Max, I love you. I’ll call again soon.” I disconnected the call and powered the phone off. Peanut was looking at me as if he had understood the entire conversation. I reached into the back seat and petted him, telling him we would be okay. He must have known how much I hurt right now. He laid his head on my shoulder and whined slow and steady.

I thought back to the very first time I met Max in my dream. He told me we had to meet, and we had huge obstacles to overcome. I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t tell me we would be fighting demons and beasts, or I might have run the other way. No, nothing could keep me away from Max, at least until today. Today I had been lucky. Max and his family were all possessed, probably by the same thing that had attacked me in the nursing home. When I left, so did they. Joe’s heart couldn’t be that strong. I was lucky that one of those things didn’t accidentally kill him in the process. That look in Max’s eyes - that dead look. I couldn’t risk one of those demons taking up home in him.

I was doing the right thing. As long as I stayed away from Max, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to possess him again. It would have been easy to look back in on Max and make sure he was okay, but I knew that seeing him would just make me want to call him again. I needed to stay far away from him. Some people go their whole lives without knowing real happiness. I had known pure undiluted passion, a love so strong my heart hurts at the possibility of not seeing him again, and a chemistry that no two elements on earth could ever achieve. I just needed to be content with the fact that I was lucky enough to have more love in a few weeks’ time than most people