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

reached to pick it up and my fingers would not grasp it. In the last several weeks, I had experienced a bunch of new sensations, but watching my fine motor skills disappear before my eyes was terrifying. This was the first time Samael had controlled my body. Although he wasn’t making my hand do anything, he wasn’t allowing me to control it either.

“Samael, you’ve spent the last few minutes trying to convince me you aren’t such a bad guy. A little advice: don’t go near Lauren, don’t control my body, and ignore my thoughts – don’t comment on them.”

“Those are three very reasonable requests. I can abide by all three. I only ask that you not tell Rewsna or any of her friends about our little arrangement.”

I spent the next several hours alone with my own thoughts. If Samael was listening in, he gave no hint that he was even remotely interested. I did research on the internet for demonic possessions, and he didn’t laugh or comment on any of the techniques described for exorcism. It was one o’clock before I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I looked in the cupboards and refrigerator, and, unless I wanted to eat sweet pickles and crackers, there weren’t many other options.

I grabbed my keys and decided to go into town for a late lunch. I stopped at Burger King and saw a customer come out in an old green army jacket. I thought of the robber who shot Lauren three years ago. A wave of sadness washed over me as my thoughts migrated from Lauren’s robber to my time in Afghanistan and the friends I had made there. I had not contacted anyone since my return. I hadn’t even watched the news to see any updates. Since I got back I had been all-consumed with Lauren.

A little two-seater BMW drove past me in the parking lot. I did a double-take to see if it was Seth. It wasn’t. A flashback to when Lauren and I had first met, right after the shooting: Seth had given her a ride home from school. He lifted her out of his passenger seat and twirled her around in the air a few times. She looked happy and carefree. Seeing her with Seth, I had gotten crazy jealous and took off.

Remembering that Samael could see and feel everything I could, I made my thoughts return to the war I recently left. Opening myself up too much to him couldn’t possibly be a good thing.

I knew being alone with my thoughts was a terrible idea. I would just be opening myself up to more information for Samael. Before Lauren’s accident I had been an EMT, a pretty decent one, too. There were days that I worked so hard that I could think of nothing except my job, what I was going to eat, and how soon I could get some sleep. Given my current circumstances, getting back into that mode wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Instead of returning home, I drove to the Charleston emergency dispatchers’ office to see if they were as short-handed as we had been before.

To my amazement, when I opened the door to the head honcho’s office, the man behind the desk wasn’t my old boss, but Randy Newton. “Wow, either that is the fastest promotion I’ve ever seen or you’re taking a nap in the wrong office.”

Randy looked up from an enormous stack of papers. Recognition wasn’t immediate, but when he realized who I was, his expression was more than welcoming. “Max, I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again! What is this, old home week? Come in, sit down.”

I was pleased that he both remembered me and wanted to hear what I had been up to. “Actually I got back to town a month ago. I was in the Navy Reserve and got activated for a year, spent it in Afghanistan. But after a month back I think I’ve watched about as much television as I can stand, so thought I’d stop by and see if there were any openings.” Actually, I hadn’t watched television hardly at all, but telling him I’d been chasing and evading a demon might have gotten me a quick boot out the door.

Not surprisingly, I could see the relief on his face. They must still be as understaffed as I remembered. Without missing a beat, Randy asked, “How soon can you start?”

“I need to dig my uniforms out of storage, but I think I could be ready tonight if you needed me.”

Randy reached for his clipboard with a schedule hanging off, “Great! How many hours do you want and is there any time you can’t work?”

“I’d like as many hours as you can give me, and I don’t mind working the eves.” Eves was what we called the 7pm to 7 am shift. “But put me wherever you need to.”

“I could really use you tonight at 7. Are your certifications up to date?”

“As a matter of fact, that year tour in Afghanistan as a Corpsman kept me up to date, and I have a few more quals than when I left.”

We chatted for a little while longer before I stepped out. Randy was a guy I had met in a coffee shop with Lauren not long after she had been shot by a robber. Out of the blue Randy introduced himself and sat down with Lauren and me. By the end of our conversation, he said he wanted to volunteer to be a paramedic. I remember him being really excited at the time. I introduced him to the dispatcher the next day and then took a leave of absence a few days later. Volunteers come and go, but it turns out he made his way up the ladder from driver, to paramedic, to dispatcher and was promoted to the lead dispatcher last year.

Randy and I finished catching each other up. I didn’t go into any great detail about myself, but he was just as talkative