Destiny Read online

  The sink slowly turned back to white ceramic and my heart dropped into my stomach. I stood there, frozen, before looking down at my hands. They still felt tingly, but looked completely normal, without a scratch on them. I cautiously took a step forward, to see if she was hiding somewhere, but the sink reverting to its former self told me I wouldn’t find her. The only thing different from before I closed my eyes was a small pile of what looked like sand on the floor where the woman had stood.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “What happened?”

  Embry and Gabriel burst into the washroom, probably expecting an explosion based on the noise. All they got was me, standing alone and in shock.

  “We need to get out of here,” I said, snapping myself out of it. There was an explanation for what happened, I just couldn’t think of it with the ringing in my head.

  “Are you alone?” Gabriel looked around to see what had me so frazzled.

  “Yes.” I looked to the pile of sand that was most likely her ashes.

  Embry and Gabriel were looking for answers, but I knew it was only a matter of time before her husband came to see what was going on, at which point he would either finish her mission, or call the cops on me.

  I ignored their questioning looks and went to leave the washroom, relieved when Embry beat me to the door and opened it for me. I was half-expecting an army of Donovan’s men to be waiting for us, knowing what I did and ready to exact their revenge. Instead, the hallway leading to the washrooms was empty.

  “Let’s go this way,” I suggested once I saw that Embry already had my bag on his shoulder. I brought us to the back door that opened to a row of dumpsters. I could see the road off to my right, but every other direction had tall grass covered in dew. It would be great to hide in, but we wouldn’t get very far, at least not very fast. There was a car parked on the other side of the dumpsters, probably older than me, covered in rust with a duct-taped plastic sheet covering one of the windows. It was falling apart, but would serve our purpose as long as we ditched it before the owner reported it stolen and the cops caught up with us. I was about to make sure one of the guys could hotwire it when I heard the unmistakable hissing of a large bus using its brakes. “Do you have cash?” I asked instead, hurrying towards the road. There was a guy my age walking around the front of a city bus, wearing headphones and looking down at his feet instead of the world around him.

  I looked back towards the diner and saw the husband was no longer sitting at his table, but standing in the middle of the restaurant, looking upset. We did not have time to argue over not having bus fare.

  “I think I have a twenty,” Embry fished it out of his pocket. They followed me into the road but looked at me with confusion and fear. I wondered if my face was as red as it felt, if they could see, maybe not what happened, but that I caused something terrible, without meaning to.

  Luckily the bus driver, a plump woman with tight curls, waited for us to get on.

  “You’re new, child,” she said, looking me up and down as I walked by.

  For the first time today, I looked at myself. It was hidden by the table at the diner, but our adventures from last night were now on full display. Gabriel’s jacket covered most of Sam’s blood, but the mud was everywhere.

  We took our seats and the bus took off. I looked back at the diner through the window and saw my victim’s husband rush through the doors and look around outside. I could almost feel his anger as he kicked the ground and took another look in each direction before going back inside. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding and sat back in my chair. He wasn’t coming after us. At least not for the moment.

  The guys waited for the adrenaline to die down and for my breathing to go back to normal before they both looked at me with all of their worried intensity.

  “What happened in there?” Gabriel’s tone demanded an answer.

  “The woman who came in after me, she was Gifted. One of Donovan’s willing participants,” I swallowed and noticed that Gabriel clenched his fists.

  “Why didn’t you scream, or call for us?” Embry asked.

  “She said she would kill you,” I said simply. “I believed her. She touched the sink and it turned to stone,” I cut them off before they could defend their fighting skills against lone assailants.

  “And she left you?” Embry was confused.

  “The sinks were normal when we came in,” Gabriel pointed out.

  “She died,” I said in a whisper.

  “How?” I felt like the guilt must be written all over my face, but they were waiting for an answer.

  “She was coming at me and I couldn’t find anything to stop her with, so I closed my eyes and raised my hands and…and pouf.”

  “And pouf?” Gabriel asked.

  “There was something that sounded like an explosion and when I opened my eyes, she was gone. The sink went back to normal.”

  “The pile of sand,” Embry realized.

  “Ash,” Gabriel corrected. Neither of them took their eyes off me.

  “Looks like you’ve got powers,” Embry said with a sad smile, sounding worried more than anything. He wrapped his arm around my shaking frame while I kept my hands glued to my sides, terrified of what they might do.

  Chapter Two

  We didn’t get off the bus until the end of the line, at which point our driver told us of some nearby hotels, and showers we could use. We got the hint.

  “Child.” She stopped me when I was on the steps, with the guys on the ground, clocking our surroundings. “I don’t know if they’re the bad situation, or if they took you away from it, but there’s a women’s shelter two blocks that way. Tony will be on the bench, ready to step in if they give you trouble.” The look in her eyes told me she had been there before.

  “Thank you.” I was touched by her concern. “But they’re the ones keeping me safe.”

  “It’s always open,” she called after me when I stepped off.

  “Where to?” I asked the guys, looking around the busy street. If I had managed to convince someone to bring me here last summer, I would have admired the Gateway Arch that towered over their skyscrapers and spent hours watching old boats pass by on the Mississippi River. As it was, the hustle and bustle of the city put me on edge, with every person we crossed a potential threat to be avoided and feared.

  They gave each other a look, then reached a decision with head tilts and shoulder shrugs. Keisha’s parents used to do that while she narrated for me in a whisper. She usually diffused any tension with her wild imagination, but the conversation I pictured them having in my head wasn’t very funny. It went something like:

  “Will it kill her?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Do we go anyway?”

  “We don’t have a choice…”

  “She’ll probably die either way.”

  “This way,” Embry ushered me over once they were on the move. We went from the main streets to the side streets until we reached back alleys that, while creepy, made me feel less out of place.

  “Tip Top Body Shop?” I asked when we stopped. Gabriel stayed with me while Embry went to see if it was open.

  “This was Eli’s place, once upon a time. It shut down over a decade ago, but as far as we know, he still owns it, and it’s really old, so they can’t tear it down.”

  “The guy who lost an ear and was half-deaf for decades?” I asked of Eli, getting a nod. There was a blue circle plaque beside the door, so I went closer to check it out. “He was from here?” I asked. “Established 1905 by Elias Nettle, oldest garage and gas station in Missouri,” I read out loud.

  “First life and everything,” Gabriel agreed. “I think by the end he was pretending to be Elias Nettle the Eighth or something. Family-run since the day it opened,” he smiled.

  “Why did it close?” I asked.

  “His line died out.” His tone was simple, but I could tell from his face that it was anything but.

  “You were close?”
<
br />   “We all were.”

  I made a mental note to ask Embry, who motioned us over once he got the front door open.

  “You’ve done this a lot?” I asked.

  “Eli had a lot of qualities, but he was never going to be the one to help you in the middle of the night.”

  “Because of his ear?” I asked. It might be hard to hear if you were sleeping on your only ear.

  “Even before that.” I got a tiny smile from Gabriel.

  “He just wouldn’t come?” After Terrence and Caleb who selflessly housed us while we were on the run, risking their lives in the process…I had trouble picturing a friend of theirs that selfish.

  “He couldn’t hear you over his own snoring. It was horrendous. The phone, knocking, sirens, nothing got through to him once he fell asleep. He would wake up every morning at six, without an alarm, but good luck if you needed him before then,” Embry shared.

  “This is how you would sneak into his shop in the middle of the night?”

  “Exactly.”

  “We once spent hours trying to wake him up after we kidnapped him for his bachelor party. We were not as careful as we should have been in transporting him, and we started drinking long before we tried to wake him,” Gabriel admitted.

  The inside looked like an abandoned garage. Usually, when a business closes, the owners liquidate their inventory, selling whatever they can to recoup their costs. They would also go through the normal steps and procedures to close down a business, at least on a daily level. This place looked more like everyone got up mid-workday and left. There was a car up on the pillars with two tires off, tools and paperwork all over, a desk calendar with future appointments… The only sign that it wasn’t a working garage were the lights being off and the inches of dust coating every surface. When Gabriel said Eli’s line died out, I got the feeling it was all at once.

  “We can stay here tonight and head out in the morning,” Embry suggested.

  “We can’t go home anymore,” I pointed out.

  “Where do you want to go?” he asked me.

  “Far away from Boston.” I was horrified at the idea of going anywhere near the people I loved. “You said we had a breather now, that we were safe for a while, but Donovan knew we were at the diner. He called that woman and told her I was there.”

  “That phone call could have been anything.” Gabriel argued.

  “But it wasn’t. Maybe everyone out there knows what I look like, but she wouldn’t have come after me if Donovan didn’t make her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Embry said like he had failed me, yet again.

  “I don’t understand how they keep finding us.” Gabriel was angry. “We knew they would come to the plantation, but we were careful after that. The safe house, the motel…we did everything right.”

  “Wounds heal but they sometimes leave a scar,” I admitted. “I asked her and that’s what she told me,” I shrugged, not sure what she meant by it. I had a lot of emotional scars that were never going to heal, but physically I was fine.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Embry voiced what I was thinking, then looked to Gabriel, to see if he had any ideas.

  “It wasn’t like they followed us, we ditched our phones, we traveled in a chicken coop and…you died,” I said when it hit me, but they both looked at me like I was crazy.

  “We both died, but that wouldn’t help them find us. It’s not like sparks go up and light the sky.” Embry didn’t understand.

  “She said some wounds heal, but they always leave a scar. That’s true for normal people, but when you guys come back, the wounds are gone, right?”

  “Like it never happened,” they agreed.

  “You once told me you always buzz at the airport because there’s shrapnel in your shoulder from…”

  “The wound healed, but the scar is on the inside. They put something in me when they found us at the plantation,” Gabriel realized.

  My excitement at figuring it out died when I understood the implications. “That’s my theory, but it sounds too high-tech for him, so it’s probably not…”

  “Don’t underestimate him. He’s not alone. Even if he is as clueless as you would expect from someone his age, which I don’t think is the case, his followers are kids your age. Some of them probably work at Google or Facebook,” Embry warned.

  “We need to take it out before we leave here.” Gabriel gave Embry a look and a subtle nod in my direction.

  “Later tonight,” Embry agreed.

  “We can take care of it later, because we need supplies, and a clean environment to do it in, but from now on, I’m not being the kid who has to be protected from the truth. I know you want to protect me, so you can keep all the evil people away, but I will be right beside you when Embry digs around inside you to get it out,” I warned Gabriel.

  “Not offering to do the honors?” he gave me a sad smile.

  “I would if there was no one else,” I assured him. “I’ll be there to hold your hand and help in any way I can, but I would rather not cause you pain if I can help it.”

  “Luckily for you, Embry enjoys it.” Gabriel gave me a smile while Embry rolled his eyes, not dignifying the accusation with a response.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said instead, showing me to the apartment above the garage.

  I was expecting a messy bachelor pad, with stuff lying out as if the owners left in a hurry, like the garage below, but it was empty. Or I should say devoid of anything personal. There were fresh sheets on top of the night table and neatly folded towels on the sink’s counter, along with a pack of hotel toiletries. There were no photos, no knick-knacks, absolutely nothing to even hint at who Eli was.

  I took the shampoo, conditioner and body wash, then put the water as hot as it would go, which still left a lot to be desired. At first, I let the water rinse off the dark brown crust, telling myself it was only mud, determined to keep it together. The blood was caked onto me, so it was indistinguishable from the crusted mud, until I looked at the stained water circling the drain.

  It brought me back to the plantation, to watching Gabriel’s blood swim down the drain, but at least he came back. I was traumatized then, but this was so much worse. Sam was gone. Forever.

  Once I was as clean as could be on the outside, I put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, with Gabriel’s jacket on top. The chill wasn’t letting me go.

  I found Embry in the kitchen, making mac and cheese. All I could smell was cheese and butter.

  “We also have a healthy salad,” Embry assured me without turning away from the pot he was stirring.

  “Thank you.” I took a seat and filled my plate with salad. His ‘healthy’ salad had a dressing made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey over a bed of mixed greens, cashews and raisins.

  “Is it ready?” Gabriel asked, coming in with his shirt off, looking like he’d been lifting weights, with his headphones in and sweat glistening.

  “Pretty much.” Embry turned around and saw his attire. “Trying to look pretty for me?” he teased.

  “I don’t know how butchered I’ll be by the time you’re done with me. This might be the last time I can do anything,” Gabriel defended himself.

  “Until the next time you die,” I said dryly.

  “This smells delicious. Thank you,” Gabriel said after a slight pause, where we all sat in silence. I didn’t mean to be bitter and make things unpleasant, I just couldn’t help it.

  “It’s perfect,” I seconded.

  “Gabriel also picked up some dessert,” Embry cautiously smiled once we were done with the meal. Gabriel went up to the freezer and came back with cookie dough ice cream.

  “Will the Big Bad be intimidated if I weigh three-hundred pounds?”

  “No, but we feel better about ourselves when we supply you with comfort foods and tell ourselves they make you feel better.”

  “All better.” I gave them a smile and took a spoonful of ice cream.

  The guys gave each othe
r looks again, then both got up and walked out of the room. They looked at me with confusion when I followed them.

  “No more keeping things from me, remember?” I pointed out, walking past them into a room with a table ready for surgery. There was a garbage bag under the ledge of it to catch the blood, and a tray with the instruments Embry would need.

  Gabriel shrugged at my determination, then took his place on the table.

  Embry looked at me, then to Gabriel, and sighed. “Hold him down,” he let me take part. He took out a scalpel and hand sanitizer and moved with purpose. I wanted to ask what he was doing with this stuff, but I had to prove myself if I wanted them to stop leaving me out. By the time I figured out how I was going to control Gabriel without getting in the way, Embry had spread the sanitizer and put the scalpel on the skin.

  “You’re going in blind?” I asked, shocked.

  “Do you have an ultrasound machine lying around?” Gabriel countered, like I was the one being ridiculous.

  “No anesthesia or anything?” This was going a lot faster than I expected. Embry pressed hard enough on the scalpel that he drew blood, but didn’t cut yet.

  To answer my question, Gabriel took out a bottle of Jack Daniels and downed a few gulps of liquid courage. “Go,” he told Embry, who nodded to me.

  I did my best to hold Gabriel down, but he was used to pain, and mostly gritted his teeth through it. He barely moved while Embry dug around inside him, but I kept one arm and my body weight across his chest, in case. My other hand found his and held it throughout the procedure.

  My biggest fear was that I was wrong, and Embry wouldn’t find anything inside him. That he would poke around and cause immeasurable pain before giving up and bringing us back to square one. Fortunately for my guilt, after some very pointed looks from Gabriel, Embry eventually pulled out a tiny black device. If that didn’t confirm my theory enough, there was a flashing red light at the end of it. “We got it,” Embry told his patient, holding it up so Gabriel could see. He handed it to him before grabbing a needle and thread to stitch him up.