Angel of Destiny (con't)
* * * * *
The group of four stopped facing the Devon look-alike who seemed to be the leader. The similarity between the two boys
was all the more prominent now and Destiny couldn’t believe that no one seemed to notice. Standing so near to Devon,
she couldn’t help but notice that he had slightly tensed and was now breathing a bit faster.
"What are you?" were the first words spoken by the look-alike in his deliciously deep and rich voice.
"Witches," was Devon’s immediate, non-chalent reply, voice just as flawless.
The boy’s brow shot up, "The witches have succeeded from the Night World and we are a part of it, what makes you
believe you are welcome amoung us?"
"Well, you see, just because most witches have succeeded, doesn’t mean that all of us have. Sylvia was a perfect
example and look inside us, we won’t turn on you at the end," Devon made himself sound so reasonable it was hard not
to agree.
Devon’s look-alike seemed to accept this, "My name is Nicholas Corona, leader of what is left of the Dark Kingdom.
Don’t be deceived by looks," he added, "Most of us are much older than you’ll ever be."
After a moment of slight shock at the name of the other boy, Devon answered somewhat shakily, "I’m Devon North and
this is Destiny Lennox. We’re pleased to meet your acquaintance."
At the mention of the name Devon, Nick had jerked and then frowned, seemingly contemplating what to do. Now he had
come to a decision. Glaring thoughtfully at Devon, he authorized without looking, "Yes, nice to meet you too, Destiny.
Devon, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Startled, Devon followed his new leader into a nearby store.
Standing so that he now faced the boy ‘witch’ who looked so much like himself, Nick demanded, "Who are you really? I
need to know. You can check me, I won’t tell the others," he added.
Devon gazed directly at the figure in front of him, looking inside his brother’s mind. Right now it was filled with suspicion,
curiosity, nervousness, even a bit of suppressed hope but no deceit. With a calm resolution he decided to tell the truth.
"I’m your older brother," he said simply.
"So it is true. All those dreams I’ve had, they’re all true! But wait a sec," Nick added as an afterthought, "where’s
Chris?"
A blast of anguish flared up inside of Devon. *Don’t let it win,* he told himself, *be happy that you’ve found Nick, don’t
you dare break down now!* Out loud Devon whispered, wishing Nick wouldn’t hear him, "Chris is dead."
Shock, pure and painful, crossed Nick’s face. "What?" he managed to gasp quietly. "How?"
Devon, an unfathomable look of sadness in his eyes, answered, mournfully bitter, "Vampires."
Nick stayed silent a moment longer then nodded. "I’m glad to at least get a chance to know you, Devon," a small, shadow
of a smile tugged on his full lips, "We can get to know each other later. Right now, we should get back to Black Dawn
before they think we’ve killed each other."
* * * * *
"This is Channon," Nick said, pointing to a lithe but muscular boy with silvery-brown hair. Devon’s brother had once
again turned into the harsh and lord-like commander Black Dawn obeyed almost fearfully.
"That’s Ara, Gavin and Leandra." Nick continued and the three shape-shifters smiled at Devon and Destiny rather
unpleasantly, as if to say, *Stay away or suffer the consequences.*
"You know Jason and Lunae and last but not least are Delano, Mariah and Taran." All five were vampires and
deathly beautiful.
*I still can’t believe there’s only ten. I’ll definitely show Delos some more respect next time I see him,* Devon told
Destiny.
*Oh yeah!* She agreed. *But what I’m worried about is that they’ve been too nice. Where’s the catch?*
Nick hadn’t stopped talking and now he said, quite rudely, in Destiny’s opinion, "Of course, before we can truly trust you,
you must first tell us why you seeked us and prove to us your loyalty."
*That’s the catch,* Devon stated in a you-just-had-to-ask tone of thought. Out loud, he answered, ‘Well, this is the deal.
You see, we used to be in Circle Daybreak."
At the mention of the Circle, more than a few members tensed up and just about all glared at the two agents with distrust.
Ignoring them, Destiny took off from where Devon had ended. "But, well, those little do-gooders got a bit sickening and
we decided we had to leave."
"So why didn’t you just go to the Night World leaders, instead of us?" Taran, a blond lamia with mesmerizing gray
eyes glared at the pair suspiciously, while the short, brown haired and blue eyed Mariah held his hand and glared as well.
"We couldn’t just go to the Night World. We both know that Destiny and I would have been killed on sight," Devon
explained, quite matter-of-factly. "So, when we heard that for some reason you’re on the Night World’s bad side, we
decided to help you change that, and in return, we get to join. Reasonable?"
The falcon shifter, Gavin, snorted, "How do you plan to do THAT?"
"Nobody knows we left Circle Daybreak, we’ll get you inside information," Destiny told the group and everyone started
talking at once.
"But," Destiny added before everything got out of control, "We need you to give us a reason why you deserve the
info."
"See, there’s always a ‘but’," Channon barked out bitterly, which seemed completely appropriate, for he was a wolf
shifter.
"Yes, that’s always the case, isn’t it?" Nick replied, in a mockingly thoughtful way.
Destiny decided she really hated him, no matter how much he looked like her dream guy.
"How about a compromise?" Nick suggested, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Something that will both prove to us that
you’re loyal and prove to you we deserve the information you’re offering. Meet us at 28 Midnight Crescent tonight at 7,"
it was an order and Destiny had to work hard at keeping her face neutral. She hated being controlled.
"All will be ready then." With that, Nick and the rest of Black Dawn walked out of the mall, leaving Devon and
Destiny there to wonder what was in store for them that night.
* * * * *
"Ready?" Destiny asked, popping her head into Devon’s bedroom, a blue and silver room across from her own green and
gold one, in the Daybreak safe house.
Devon sighed, something Destiny was completely unprepared for. "I guess. Yeah, ready." He hid his wooden dagger that
was plaited with silver in his belt and walked out of his room.
"Should I ask?"
"No," Devon said, a stony tone in his voice.
Destiny let it go. He was in one of his moods again and it had happened so many times during the last few weeks that she
knew what to expect. He’d be over it by the time they got to their location.
Destiny just hoped that they found what they were looking for soon. She really didn’t like the denizens of Black Dawn. Of
course, there was one lamia, Delano, a tall, dark and handsome Italian. He was the perfect stereotype of the traditional,
seductive vampire and Destiny was beginning to think that if Devon didn’t get a clue soon, she’d hook up with Delano. He
was most obviously single and was eyeing her quite invitingly.
Jumping into the convertible that Circle Daybreak had rented for them, Destiny waited impatiently for Devon to get in the
passenger side. As soon as he was in, Destiny stepped on the gas pedal and sped off, all the while having this kind of
conversation.
"I hate convertibles. All they do is mess up your hair and make you inhale toxic fumes!"
"Then slow down, you’re driving. Besides, why did you ask for a convertible?"
"We live in New York. This is California, I need cool air!"
"Two letters, Destiny. AC."
"Would you shut up! You’re so infuriating, I just wanted to try something new..."
* * * * *
28 Midnight Crescent turn out to be an old abandoned church, almost as majestic as castle Black Dawn had been.
"I never knew there were buildings like this in southern California," Destiny whispered, awed by the church’s magnificence
and this was just the outside. She couldn’t imagine how immaculate the interior would be.
The church was in between 2 houses, the only other structures on the mile long street and therefore was very secluded.
Devon and Destiny were sure it was the grandest building in California. Of course, impossible as it may seem, they’d
never been to Southern California before so they couldn’t really compare.
Before the two companions had time to think further, a deep, feminine voice spoke from behind them. "So you decided to
show up after all. We weren’t sure if you had the guts," the lioness, Leandra smiled haughtily from her place beside Nick.
She was as golden as he, with a predatory air.
"Of course. We wouldn’t miss this for the world," Destiny reply in the same tone.
Leandra glared back at the tall, dark haired agent, a challenge in her eyes.
Beside Destiny, Devon shot his younger brother a look that said, "Let’s go inside before they kill each other."
Nick’s lips curved almost invisibly. "Girls, we didn’t come here to fight. Now come on Leandra, Destiny, into the church."
He took Leandra’s arm and reached for Destiny’s as well, but she pulled away.
*I can’t believe that guy,* she told Devon silently fuming. *He may look enough like you to be your brother, but he’s
NOTHING like you! He’s so arrogant! And I can sense there’s something he’s hiding.*
Devon mentally smiled. *You don’t know the half of it!* he thought to himself. *He’s not like me? Destiny, how many
times have you called me arrogant and annoying and self-centered in the last couple of weeks? Besides, there’s a lot
they’re all hiding and you know there’s no way we can change that.*
Destiny didn’t answer. She and Devon had just entered the interior of the church and she was too awed by it’s
majesty to speak.
The pews were a tarnished gold colour and on the windows, stained glass told the tales of the Bible. The floors were of
marble and the lights that glowed faintly on the ceiling above, covered everything with a golden glow.
Faintly, Destiny wondered how this place could still have electricity, but didn’t really care. She was slightly disappointed
when Nick didn’t stop walking, but soon her disappointment turned to anxiety. *Soon,* she realized, *I just might find
out what had happened to those missing Daybreak agents, but what will Devon and I do? We haven’t figured it out yet!*
Destiny wanted to kick herself for being so stupid but it was too late now to think about it. Nick was already opening the
basement door.
He led them down the stairs and down the hall, finally stopping at a door.
"Are you two ready?" Nick asked the two agents. "This is your only chance to get into Black Dawn. If you fail this test,
you die. Got it?"
Nick added to his older brother, This left Devon utterly confused, had Nick just implied he knew they were spies? However, Devon couldn’t think
more on the subject, for Destiny had nodded that she was ready and his brother was opening the door.
What was on the other side made Devon’s eyes widen and Destiny gasp.
* * * * *
At the agents’ reactions, all of Black Dawn tensed, suspicion growing in their eyes. All that is, but Nick. His smile was sad
but determined, a knowing look in his aqua eyes.
None of this Devon nor Destiny took in. All they saw was what they had come to California to find. The missing Circle
Daybreak team. All the members were there. Monaco Lopez, an Hispanic Old Soul turned vampire with wise green eyes.
Aria Hillborn, a petite red-haired Lamia that was not much different from Poppy North. Oriel Arlin, a tall, lanky,
violet-eyed witch whose late father had been a Harman. And Leila Manchots, a silver haired and eyed penguin shifter
who, not surprisingly, hated all warm climates including California. All were bound and gagged and all were unconscious.
Most were covered in dried blood.
"You two look shocked," Ara, the red-haired macaw shifter observed, obviously amused.
"What never seen dead bodies before?" Lunae spat out nastily.
Destiny almost believed her. The Daybreakers certainly looked lifeless, gaunt and pale. She caught herself from saying
something that would cost all their live however, when she saw Oriel’s chest rise. If one of them were alive, surely the
others were too.
Putting on her best ‘queasy’ face (which wasn’t very hard), Destiny replied shakily, "I’m just not used to seeing so much
blood. I don’t like it, that’s it. I am a witch after all," she said it as if that explained everything. *I just hope they don’t
catch on to us,* she added as an afterthought.
Black Dawn still looked ready to pounce on Devon and Destiny.
"Guys, we’re just surprised that you would go this far to get into the Night World, that’s all," Devon assured, trying
desperately to ease them. "We’ll definitely offer all the info we get."
The group relaxed slightly. They were going to get what they wanted.
"Okay. So, we’ve got that taken care of," Nick smiled grimly. "Now, when is the soonest you can get the information?
We don’t want to stay here forever and we need to figure out our next move before we can go."
"Well, how about we meet here tomorrow night at the same time?" Destiny suggested, hoping she and Devon could
be out of the city with the four agents by then. "Then we can talk about what to do next."
Nick pretended to pout. "So late?" He asked, enjoying Destiny’s unease. "I guess that will have to do. Anyway, it’s
late, I’ve got things to do. Let’s go. We’ll be back tomorrow." With that, he locked the door and pushed past the group.
The rest of Black Dawn were in tow behind him, making sure Devon and Destiny also followed.
* * * * *
Nicholas Corona watched as Devon and Destiny finally got in their car after they thought all the others had left. He had
told Leandra that he had some errands to run and said she could take the BMW. Leandra had obviously relayed the
message to the others, for they hadn’t looked for him when he had disappeared.
It took a second for Nick to register that his brother and his friend would be leaving in a moment. He still had a hard time
believing that Devon had betrayed him. But it was true. He’d seen with his own blue-green eyes, Destiny trying to open
the locked, church doors after everyone was gone. And he’d heard them say that they had to be out of town with the
other Daybreak members before the meeting tomorrow night.
It seemed that was this was always the case. Nick met someone, got to trust them, then he was stabbed in the back.
Well, this time he wouldn’t just sit there and stand it. Brother or no, Devon was going to pay.
Seeing that Destiny was already pulling out of the parking lot, Nick began to shape-shift. *Ugh,* he thought bitterly, *I
just hope no one from the zoo is looking for an exotic bird tonight. If they do, they’ll be in for a surprise.*
@~~>~~>~~
"So, how are we going to get them out?" Destiny McNite sighed in frustration.
"Like I said before, I don’t know," was the answer she got from Devon Corona, the boy sitting beside her in the
convertable. "All I do know is that we have to get them out before Black Dawn brings them to the Night World elders.
Not to mention the fact that I think my bro- er- Nick is onto us. The best plan of action would probably be to get them
out as soon as possible and try to be out of here before the meeting."
"What are we going to tell Thierry tonight?"
Devon groaned, another question. "Nothing. I don’t want him to know."
Destiny looked around. "Do you get the feeling someone’s watching us?"
"What? What does that have to do with anything?"
"I don’t know. Forget it. Maybe we should go back tonight and see if there’s a broken window, or someplace we can get
in. The church isn’t guarded."
"We don’t know that, Destiny," Devon said, with as much patience as he could muster. "Besides, I’m way too tired to do
anything else tonight."
Destiny glanced at the clock. "You’ve got to be kidding! You’re the one who said we should get this over with as soon as
possible! Besides it’s not even 10 o’clock yet and you want to call it a night?!?! Of all the times to drained, Devon
Corona, this is NOT one of them."
"Well, you can’t blame ME! If I remember correctly, last night in New York, YOU kept ME up all night with your
chattering to your flock of hens!" Devon shot back angrily.
Now Destiny was fuming. She pulled over so abruptly the car behind them almost crashed. "Don’t you dare call my
friends a flock of hens, Devon Gabriel Corona! What gives you the right?!"
Devon looked heavenward as if begging the Gods and Goddesses for help. He sighed, anger vanishing as quickly as it
had come. "Look, I’m sorry. I had no right to insult your friends. We should be concentrating on how to get Monaco and
the others out of there. Let’s just forget about it, alright?"
Destiny made a somwhat rude sound. "Yeah, just forget about it. It never happened. I’m always giving into you. Goddess,
why?" She muttered as she pulled back onto the road.
"You know, you’re right. I do get the feeling someone is following us," said Devon after they were on their way again.
The driver didn’t answer and the rest of the trip was made in silence.
* * * * *
10:02 PM
Sitting in the tree outside of his brother’s open window, Nick silently fumed. How could Devon look so innocent knowing
that he had just put his brother’s life on the line? *Maybe he doesn’t know,* a part of Nick suggested. He pushed it
aside. Devon must have known that if Black Dawn found out about this, Nick would be dead in the blink of an eye. It
didn’t matter how strong he was, he couldn’t win a fight with ALL of them.
As Nick watched his brother sitting on his bed, innocently reading an LJ Smith novel, he realized that he couldn’t just kill
Devon after he got the info like he’d planned. Nick knew that he wouldn’t be able to do it. *So what am I going to do
after I get what I want?* He asked himself. He ended up pushing that thought aside too. Nick didn’t feel like thinking, just
doing. Besides, he’d figure it out when he got to the problem.
"I never knew you read mushy vampire novels," Nick said, stepping through the open window.
Devon started. "Goddess!" He exclaimed, but quickly recovered. "Hi Nick! What are you doing here? You mean this?"
Devon held up his copy of the Vampire Diaries, "It’s just something to pass the time."
*He doesn’t suspect at all.* The revelation made Nick’s head spin. He peered at his brother from behind the lock of
golden hair that had just fallen over his eyes. Again, Nick was shocked to see how much those features looked like his
own and how trusting they were.
"Why Devon?" Nick blurted out before he could stop himself. His voice held all the anger, hurt and betrayl he felt. "How
could you decieve me like this? Do you realize that I’ll be dead at 7:03 tomorrow night when you and Destiny don’t show
with the info?"
"Huh? Wait, what?!?!"
"I know why you and that little witch are here. It’s obvious. To rescue the Daybreak members. I also know you plan
to be far away from here by this time tomorrow at another safe house." For some reason, Nick felt he was on the verge of
tears. "And I’m here to ask you to stay. I know it sounds selfish, but if you don’t, I’ll be the one to die."
An astonished look was still plastered on Devon’s angelic face, but he was now able to do more than just stutter. He rose
from where he was seated and crossed the room to where Nick was leaning against the wall, staring at the floor.
"It’s not selfish to want to live, Nick," Devon said softly, gently. He put one hand on his little brother’s shoulder, the other
lifting his chin so Nick looked up into Devon’s sea-green eyes. Nicholas Corona’s were like the eyes of a child, and right
now they were terrified.
"Maybe you should tell me what’s going on," suggested Devon.
He eased Nick onto the couch beside his bed, then grabbed a chair, pencil and pad of paper. Using a very pathetic
Tweety Bird voice, Devon began, "Now, Meester Cwona, pwease start fwom ta beginnig. Tink back to when you were
just a wee lad. Is tat when your pwoblems began?"
Nick choked on his laughter. "Well now, Tweety, you see..." he tried imitating Sylvester, but failed miserably and was
consumed in another fit of laughter.
Finally, Nick asked seriously, not quite sober but working hard to get there, "Okay, forget Sylvester. You really want to
know?
Devon nodded.
"Will you tell anyone unless I say so? You know say, let’s just pick someone out of the blue, Destiny?"
Chuckling, Devon put the pencil behind his ear and tossed the pad of paper onto the bed. "Oh, we’re not obvious at all.
Don’t worry."
"Okay. You asked for it," warned Nick. "Let’s see, since I was a wee lad..."
"Er, let’s just start with why Black Dawn would kill you. If they chose you as leader, why would they murder you because
of this?"
Nick had to laugh at the ‘Oh no! What have I started?’ look on his big brother’s face. It had been so long since he’d felt
genuine happiness and acceptance but just half an hour with Devon had brought back all those lost emotions. Nick told
him that, then started to explain his predicament. "You see, Black Dawn didn’t exactly choose me. After Prince Delos
destroyed most of the denizens of the Dark Kingdom, a Lamia named Marco, had led us. But the shapeshifters were tired
of being ruled by vamps so they proposed that Marco and a chosen shifter fight for the role. Being Lamia and naturally
arrogant, Marco agreed. I wasn’t supposed to fight, it was supposed to be my ex-best friend, Channon. But when the
time came and it was obvious he wouldn’t step down until he was dead, which would be very soon, I stepped in. I figured
if I won, I’d figure out how not to be leader then. When I think about it now, it should have been impossible for me to kill
Marco, but I did. And just my luck. Delano, who had ‘refereed’ the fight decided to be traditional and no matter how
hard I tried, I couldn’t get out of the role. All the shifters and vamps, excluding Delano have hated me since. The only
person that would stand up for me would be Delano and no one likes him either. The only reason we’re still alive is
because I came out of that fight without a scratch. They’re afraid of me, but this would be the perfect opportunity to gang
up on and get rid of me."
Devon bit his lip. "I see your point. But you know, it seemd to me that Black Dawn holds nothing for you. Do you really
want to help darkness win?"
Silence envelpoed the room.
It was a tough question. Before Nick had met Devon, he would have definitely said yes. Now he wasn’t sure.
Time passed and Devon waited patiently. He seemed to already know the answer.
"No," was Nick’s final reply.
"It wasn’t your idea to kidnap the Daybreak team either, was it? Devon ventured on.
Nick shook his head. "How can you read me so well?"
"I’m your wise and all-knowing big brother, remember?"
Nick smiled. "Ah, yes. That would explain it."
After that, both brothers were silent, not sure what to say next.
"Why didn’t Tormentil kill you when you were brought to the Dark Kingdom?" Devon finally asked.
Surprised, Nick stuttered, "How, how did you know..."
"I’ve been having dreams too."
"Oh."
"So, are you going to tell me?" Obviously, Devon was going to press the issue.
"Nick shrugged. "I can’t because I don’t know. Th only reason I can think of is that I’m a witch, but that doesn’t make
much sense either."
Devon just sat in the chair and blinked. "You’re a what?"
"Well, now I’m also a shifter. But yeah, you guessed right. You’re a witch too. And so is Destiny, for that matter," Nick
replied rather calmly, like this was the kind of news one heard everyday.
"No, that was just our excuse. We’re not really witches."
"Come on, Dev.You look like I’ve just told you I’m a Martian, come to steal your brains! It’s not that bad!" Then he
added, "I can’t believe Destiny never told you before. She must have known."
"It’s just one surprise after another today, isn’t it?" Devon remarked, seemingly more to himself than Nick. "But anyway, I
was thinking, you should join Circle Daybreak."
Startlingly, Nick didn’t have much of areaction. "I was wondering when you’d get around to that. Of course," was all he
said.
"G-great." Obviously, Devon was stunned yet again.
It doesn’t take much to surprise you, does it?> The former leader of Black Dawn commented, amused. "Okay," he
continued aloud, "since you don’t seem to want to talk, I will. So, now that I’m on your side, our first task should be to
get those four agents outta there. I’ve got a plan. I’ll explain it tomorrow when I see you and that little witch of yours. Just
meet me at the church and 10 tomorrow morning, okay?"
All Devon could manage was to nod.
"Alright. And now, I will leave it to you to figure out how to break the news to the little witch," Nick smiled wickedly,
getting up. "It’s obvious she hates me, so it won’t be easy. I wish you good luck and hope you’re still conscious after it’s
done." In three strides, he was at the window.
"Nick?" Devon stopped him right as he was about to go out.
"Yeah?"
"What do you shapeshift into?"
A look crossed Nick’s face as if to say, ‘You just had to ask, didn’t you?’ "A macaw."
Devon coughed, trying to conceal his laughter with no luck. "You’re a PARROT?!?!"
"No, not a parrot. A macaw."
"Still, when there’s so many more powerful and useful animals to be, you choose a squaking bird???" Devon was still
grinning from ear to ear.
Nick scowled. "Oh shut up. I didn’t have a choice. Tormentil decided I’d make a perfect squaking bird ‘cause I cried a
lot when I was a baby. Now, can you blame me? All babies cry. And Delos is older than me, you’d think Tormentil
would be used to screaming kids. But no, he couldn’t stand it, so for some twisted reason, he turned me into a macaw."
Seeing that his brother was still very amused, Nick sighed. "Fine, laugh. I don’t care. Just be sure to be at the church
by ten!" Then he turned, shifting into the stupid animal his brother was laughing at him for and flew out the window. A
dark blue shadow against the darker bluish-violet of the night.
* * * * *
PART 7:
PART 8:
PART 9:
PART 10:
PART 11:
PART 12:
PART 13:
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