Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (manga ereader txt) 📕

Chapter 18

Lauren

A light knock on the door sounded as I looked at Max. I could hear Renny’s thoughts before I opened it. It was already 11 a.m. “Good Morning, Lauren. Good Morning, Max. The Council is waiting in the lobby for you. Are you ready?”

Max responded before I had a chance, “Renny, I want you to know, we’ll have no part in a murder.”

“Max, Lauren asked us here. I believe she has some information for us. We have no plans to murder anybody.”

When we got to the lobby I saw all the familiar faces. Mike, the Council member who could actually communicate with animals, stood up to say hello, “How’ve you been? How’s Peanut doing?”

I couldn’t help but smile back, “He’s doing great. We all are. Thanks for asking.” Max and I leaned into a couch centered in the room. Renny and Mike were on a couch directly across from us, and everyone else were huddled around in a circle.

“Thanks everyone, for coming. I have some information for you, but I’m going to need some information from you first.” Renny’s eyes stayed fixed on mine. “I’m going to get right to the point: you’ve told me I have the power to change destinies. How does that work?”

Renny never dropped her gaze, “Lauren, no one on the Council has this skill. You and Max are the only ones that will be able to work this power. You bent Paul’s destiny without even trying. You know better how to use your power than any of us.”

Paul was a friend that was supposed to have died during a home invasion. I delayed his death and ultimately bent his destiny, without even realizing I had done it. “I don’t buy it. You are supposed to be the good guys. Prove it to me. Tell me what you know.”

Silence was the only answer I received. I waited for a response longer than was comfortable and finally stated, “If none of you know, is there anyone you can think of who may know?”

Heads shook, but it was Mike who finally spoke, “Lauren, I don’t know anyone else who has ever bent destinies. It’s not exactly a power we want you to use. Destinies are mapped before individuals are born. Altering them, even in the slightest of ways, can only result in changes to their life’s map.”

“So, let’s say for argument’s sake that Max was supposed to live a long life with me. Could my concern with his potential murder by the Council have made the Cabinet appear?” Renny’s eyes went wide for a second as she contemplated. “So, in effect, my involvement with Max actually allowed his destiny to play out when the Council would have ended his life decades too early.”

“Is that what happened?” A tall, heavyset, white-bearded, Santa-looking man asked. I recognized him but had never been introduced. When I first started experimenting with my power of sight, I had looked in on Renny. She and the Santa-looking man had been in mid-conversation.

I held out my hand to him, “I’m Lauren, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

Santa took my hand, “It’s my pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Tom. Is that what happened? Is that how Samael was able to escape?”

“If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be asking.”

Renny looked at Max. “I had always assumed you had summoned Dakota and the Cabinet. You didn’t?”

Max shook his head, “No, they just showed up at an opportune moment.”

Renny turned her attention back to me, “So when you needed the Council’s help, we were all able to drop everything and come to your assistance. So, too, you have the Cabinet’s services. It seems you have been bending destinies for some time, without either group the wiser. Fascinating.”

Whispers erupted in all directions as the realization hit us all. My power wasn’t to wish destinies or outcomes to change; it was to influence others to make destinies what I needed them to be. When the whispers gave way to wide eyes and gaping mouths, I asked, “Is it odd that the entire Council would come to a single person’s assistance?”

“Yes.” Renny’s eyes still concentrated steadily on mine.

“Is it odd that the entire Cabinet would come to a single person’s assistance, as well?”

I heard her voice before I saw her step through the door, “Yes, it is unprecedented.” Dakota walked directly up to Max and me in the center of the Council’s circle. “It is also unprecedented that Renny and I be this close, though since I’ve met you, we are becoming something short of fast friends.” Dakota directed her question to her nemesis, “Tell me, Renny, do you notice anything different when Lauren is around us?”

Renny gave a sideways glance, “How do you mean?”

“I mean, we’ve never been able to spend so much time together. It’s as if you are positively charged and I negatively, with Lauren as our ground. Although I detest being anywhere near you, it does not pain me to do so when I am in the company of Lauren. Do you not feel the same way?”

“I despise you, Dakota. The sight of you makes my skin crawl. But, you are correct: I am not physically pained to be close to you when Lauren is near.”

“Shall we test our theory?”

“How do you propose we do that?”

“Come with me to the parking lot. Lauren, you stay inside.”

We all watched as the two women stood up, walking shoulder to shoulder, and began their exit from the motel lobby. As soon as the double doors opened for the two to exit, it was obvious something had changed. Both women’s postures went rigid. They took only a few steps outside before turning around and nearly sprinting back to the Council gathering.”

Dakota was the first to speak, “Do you know what this means?”

“That you all are going to start calling me Dr. Feel-Good?”

“If that is the name that you prefer, I believe we can accommodate that title.”

“Ah,