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

them know that Max did a completely selfless act. His action could bring nothing but pain on himself, but ultimately saved the world from Samael. I promise I’ll contact you soon.”

“He saved the world from Samael? How did he accomplish this without our help? I know Max is fond of the Cabinet members; did they assist with this? It cannot wait, Lauren. We need to know how you achieved Virtue.”

“It’s going to have to wait, Renny. I’ll contact you soon.” I blocked the rest of her communication. I couldn’t afford for us to have a repeat of the last time the Council knew that Samael was inside Max.

“We don’t have much time. Renny just contacted me. It seems your little invitation to Samael resulted in your ‘badge of Virtue.’ She’s anxious to see the circumstances.” I turned to Bert, “You have your life back, what’s left of it. I need to talk to you privately.”

Bert and I stepped outside, “I don’t know how to thank you two enough…”

I cut him off, “You can start by listening to me. Samael made a shambles of your life. He’ll do it again, if you don’t do exactly what I tell you.” Bert’s face lost its color. “You need to accept responsibility for all actions, even if you feel like you weren’t in the driver’s seat. You need to make amends with your neighbor, clean up the mess you made at the police department, and never, I mean never think of Samael again.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget him.”

“That’s the wrong answer. You need to get with Jimmy, tell him the same thing. He can’t let on to anyone that Samael was ever a part of the equation. He cannot think about him or remember any of the conversations he had with him. The only way to destroy Samael and send him spiraling from this earth is to trust that he no longer exists. If you two continue to think of him or harbor fear that he could return to you one day, he will. Do you understand?”

Bert nodded. “But what if…”

“There are no buts. If you want your life back - take it back. Max and I are going to get rid of him, but you and Jimmy need to do your part, too. Forget him, don’t think about him, and never, under any circumstances tell anyone about him.”

“If we do all that, he’ll be gone for good?”

“Yes, you have to trust that he doesn’t exist. You’re a strong man, and Jimmy’s got a lot of penance to do, but if you two can trust in this outcome – all of humanity will reap the benefits.”

“Never thinking about him again?”

“Go to a hypnotist. Go to a priest - whatever it takes. Get the word to Jimmy, no more thoughts, ever.”

Bert walked back into his house, and Max walked out without saying a word. As we stepped to the car wordlessly, I watched the expressions on Max’s face and knew he was having an internal conversation with Samael. From the looks of it, I was glad not to be included. I knew I needed to have an internal conversation of my own.

Chapter 23

“Renny, can you hear me?”

“Yes. Share the details of Virtue. We are all ecstatic for you!”

“Soon. We are still on to bring the Council and the Cabinet together this morning, right?”

“Yes, Lauren, just as you requested.”

“Great, I’ll see you then.”

“Wait! Lauren, you have achieved Courage, Passion, Virtue in the span of less than five years! Your souls are nearly complete. Empathy and Trust are the final pillars, and you and Max will have completed your souls!”

“Thanks for the recap. I get it.”

“Lauren, assuming you are successful with the last two, you could join the Council. We would be honored to have you.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. You said ten members, so basically someone would have to die. Plus, I don’t like the idea of being on a hit squad.”

“We – are – not - a - hit squad!”

“Renny, not interested. But I do want to know, once we’re done, what happens?”

“Happens? You live out the remainder of your life in a calm bliss. Life will not throw challenges at you. When you pass over from this life, you migrate to the eternal.”

“So this is our last life together?”

“It may be your last human life, yes. But there is so much more waiting for you. The eternal is what every soul attempts to achieve. Only very few are successful.”

“Great! So we get these last two pillars, no more demons, telepaths, or anything else supernatural involved in my day-to-day, right?”

“Lauren, I have come to think of us as friends. I would like to think that even after you achieve your last two pillars, we will still remain close.”

“Renny, reality check. We are close out of necessity. Max and I have put a plan in motion that will yield fantastic or horrific results. If they’re fantastic, we’ll complete our souls by the end of today. If horrific, you’ll likely be burying us by the end of the week.”

“Show me.”

“At the meeting today, I’ll share all the gory details with both teams. Samael will either be gone or he’ll be running the show.”

With that statement, I broke communication with Renny and blocked her again. The longer I “spoke” with her, the sooner she would be aware of what I was up to. I was driving. I could see Max was still preoccupied with the barrage of questions, comments, requests that Samael was no doubt blasting him with. After I knew Renny couldn’t hear my thoughts any longer, a plan began to unfurl in my head. I stopped at a convenience store to get something I knew I’d need.

The rest of the drive I stole several glances at Max: he looked like he was somewhere close to pain. I put the truck in park outside our motel room and asked, “Max, how’s it going?”

A frustrated look stared back