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

dismissed them as merely speculation. I knew there wasn’t a great deal Marvin knew about me, but he gave by far the most helpful information. I was appreciative that Samael discounted him and didn’t take his interview very seriously.

I was watching when Marvin told him, “She is strong. She may hab dropped outta sight, and I don’t hab any idea where to find her, but I’d bet she’s somewhere away from erry-one. Lauren is calculating, and if she thinks someone is looking for her, she’ll be a needle in a haystack. If she isn’t with Max, it ain’t cause of a fight, she must think that it best for him. Maybe best for her, too.”

It was good my visions always have my voice muted because I was screaming, “Shut up, Marvin!” the whole time he was trying to help Samael.

Samael, on the other hand, didn’t press Marvin much harder after he found out the last time he had seen me was a couple weeks ago, and he had only ever talked to me twice in my life. Marvin obviously has a knack for reading people, but Samael didn’t give his advice or answers much weight.

It was clear that Samael was significantly less perceptive than I had given him credit for. He seemed to be walking around aimlessly. I didn’t leave much of a trail to follow, and I was stalking him. I saw his every conversation and knew all of his interviews would prove fruitless.

Rewsna’s voice called me back to reality, at least my reality at this minute, and I heard, “Lauren, I need to see you, we have much to talk about.”

“Do you know how to find me?”

“Yes, I will be pulling into your driveway in a matter of minutes.”

I met Rewsna in the yard. She hugged me tightly. “Mike told me of your plan. How can I help?”

After three days of solitude I was pleased to have conversation with another human. We walked back toward the house while I began filling her in on my surveillance of Samael. “He moves too frequently, he eats in different locations every night. If I just knew where he was going to be, I could wait for him, but the last three nights he’s stayed in three different locations. Each restaurant he has eaten at has been in a different area. It’s as if there’s no pattern to follow.”

Rewsna answered my question before I could even ask it. “I cannot look into his mind. He would know I was there and provide false information.”

“His demon things, does he control them?”

“Yes, he is somehow connected to each one. The one that found you weeks ago in the nursing home didn’t fare very well. You mortally wounded it when you shut it out of your mind. The creature disintegrated right after. That’s why none of his other demons have attempted to possess you - even the ones that lived within Joe, Max and Benny would not have attempted to take control of you.” The sound of Max’s name made my heart flutter, and I was hoping Rewsna had not noticed it.

“Of course, I noticed it, Lauren. He is your other half; the sound of his name should make your body react.”

“Rewsna, I would be much happier if you would stay out of my head while I’m standing right here. That’s the whole purpose of speech.”

She smiled and hung her arm over my shoulder, saying only, “Do not be ashamed of your connection to Max. Just know that if the Beast can take advantage of it, he will.”

I shook my head, “Samael has talked to everyone I’ve ever known, even a few people I forgot I knew, but he hasn’t approached Max. If Samael does go to see him, Max doesn’t have a clue where to find me, and he hasn’t heard from me since Joe died.”

“Yes, that was unfortunate. Max doesn’t blame you for what happened to Joe, not in the least.”

“I blame me for what happened.”

“Lauren, you were defending yourself. Joe wouldn’t have wanted you to sacrifice yourself for him.”

“We’ll never know now, will we? I could have done a lot of things differently, but I can’t undo what I’ve done.”

“What you did was save your life. Regardless, the coroner ruled the death natural causes. No autopsy was conducted.”

I know Rewsna was trying to make me feel better. It didn’t matter what the certificate said, because I knew the truth: while trying to save my own life, I took Joe’s. He was a weak old man. I would’ve been able to get away, but I tried to kill the demon and only succeeded in killing Joe.

“Lauren, Max is very upset. I listened to his mind. You need to hurry up with your vengeance on the Beast because I do not believe Max will be able to survive much longer. I have told you before that the Beast altered your destiny, but in doing so it also altered Max’s. This alternate destiny for Max is troublesome, and he desperately needs you.”

“I know, I look in on him every day.”

“How soon before you put your plan in motion on the Beast?”

“As soon as I can figure out where he’s going to be. Right now, the Beast is so focused on finding me that his movements are sporadic. He hasn’t had any luck getting any real info, on me, though.”

“Only Mike and I know your location. The Beast will not attempt to make contact with either of us, so your location is safe. Call to me if you need me.”

Without another word or thought, Rewsna turned and walked away. Our conversation was over. I watched her drive away, letting her words sink in…”Max won’t survive much longer.” As if I wasn’t already motivated to destroy the Beast, I knew I couldn’t risk losing Max. The plan began to solidify in my head. I couldn’t be sure that Rewsna hadn’t put it there – but it was brilliant, so I didn’t care where it came from.