Angel of Destiny (con't)
* * * * *
"Where have you been?" Leandra Leon asked. She targeted a fierce glare at Nick as he walked through the front door of
the apartment he shared with her and Delano.
He didn’t answer.
This made the lioness even angrier. "Nicholas Jeremy Corona, tell me where you’ve been. I know you haven’t been out
running errands. It’s one o’clock!"
Nick stared blankly at his girlfriend. "Where’s Delano?"
"I asked you a question, answer me! Or do you want to be dumped?" She threatened, thinking the macaw shifter would
never risk being humiliated.
His answer cought her totally off guard. "Okay, then I’ll take getting dumped. I was starting to get sick of you anyway."
Leandra gaped at him iu utter disbelief. "But I’m beautiful!" She cried vainly. "You can’t do this to me!"
"You’re the one that suggested it. I simply agreed."
The lioness started screaming insults a mile a minute.
Just as she was in the middle of calling Nick a donkey (if you know what I mean), when a deep, slightly amused voice
spoke from the doorway, "So, are you two lovebirds dualing it out or what? I mean what’s going on?"
"We are not lovebirds, we are enemies now," Leandra growled at Delano, voice low and dangerous.
"Uh huh."
"Delano, let’s just give her some time to cool down. How about we go somewhere else and I’ll explain," Nick suggested
calmly, pretending his ex wasn’t even there.
Leandra silently seethed, contemplating if the guys would survive a blow to the head with a lion’s paw. She threw the idea
away, it would be stupid. Instead she watched as the two guys went into a bedroom. After the door was closed, she
crept up to it, hoping to hear where Nick had been. She got more than she bargained for.
"You were at your BROTHER’S place?" Delano was saying. "What brother?"
*Yes, what brother?* Leandra thought, puzzeled and absolutely lost.
Leandra heard Nick sigh in exasperation. "I just told you, Delano, Devon is my big brother. And I’m going to join Circle
Daybreak..."
Leandra choked and so did Delano. "WHAT?!?! Are you out of your mind? Your our leader here, you can’t just
abandon us."
"...and I want you to, too."
"Oh, great, both of us abandon. Oh no, Black Dawn won’t be after us," the dark haired vampire’s voice was dripping
with sarcasm.
"Delano, I know you’ve wanted to join Daybreak all along. Why else would you insist that softy like me be leader?
Besides, we’ll have half a day to get away. We’re fast, we’ll make it."
Shaking his head Delano put his hands in front of him. "No. You and me, we’re fast. The daybreakers are a penguin
shifter, two weak vamps and three witches that are practically human. They will be our death if we help them. I agree to
go with you to find Circle Daybreak, but I refuse to help our prisoners escape."
"Oh Delano come on..." Nick started, but Leandra stopped listening. Nick and Delano were going to side with the
enemy. *Traitors!* she wanted to scream at them, but then they would know Leandra had been listening and she’d be
dead before she could warn anyone. It was funny though. There were also other emotions running through her. Hurt, for
one. She wanted to just sit and sob. Her ex-boyfriend, the guy she still loved ‘cause no amount of time could make her
stop caring, had just betrayed her and all of Black Dawn. And still another part of Leandra longed to burst through the
door and beg them to let her go with them. Why? She wondered, but the answer was too troubling to concieve.
Leandra wanted to do so many things, but all she did was stay where she was and listen in once again.
"So, tomorrow at 10 am, we go back to the church, disarm the alarm system and get the Daybreakers out. Then we start
driving to the airport. We send the agents off and then drive around the west coast a bit, just in case Black Dawn follows
us, got it?" Nick asked, all business.
There was a moment of silence, then Delano pointed out, "Yes, except when you say send the agents off, do you mean
Devon and Destiny too?"
"Of course," It sounded like Nick would have also liked to add a ‘duh’ in there. "Why?"
"Because, if I’ve read those two correctly, they’re both stubborn as mules. They won’t go."
The blond shifter shrugged. "Then we’ll have to make them. They’ll just be in our way." *And Devon might get killed,* he
added to himself.
All Delano said about that was, "Hey, you’re the boss. You know, Leandra’s been awfully quiet," he added.
Leandra started. *Stupid!* she scolded herself. Running silently to her room, she quietly closed the door and wait for the
guys to knock.
Sure enough at the count of three, they knocked her door.
"Leandra? Are you in there?" Nick called, sounding like he didn’t really care. It hurt Leandra in such a way that she
thought someone had just reached into her chest pulled out her heart.
"Are you okay?" Delano added, equally emotionless.
Leandra was about to growl something rude when she realized there was a lump in her throat. Silent tears were cascading
down her cheeks and into her mouth. They were salty. It had never happened before, she had never cried and Leandra
felt rage burn inside of her. Nicholas Corona had made her cry and he was going to pay.
Taking her silence as a sign that she was asleep, the two boys outside her door walked away.
Hearing their bedroom doors close, Leandra picked up her cell phone.
She dialed a number and waited impatiently as it rang. As soon as the person picked up, she began, "Hi Channon? Have I
got news for you..."
* * * * *
Destiny screamed in disbelief. "He’s who?!?! And he’s what!?!?"
"Destiny, Des, come on. Cool it, you’re shaking the walls here," a deep, flustered voice tried to calm her. Devon
Corona’s brow was furrowed. His hands were held up as if to defend himself from anything that happened to fly in his
direction.
The dark haired beauty across from him continued to seeth and glare. "I’ll calm down, all right. I’ll calm down when your
brother- ugh! I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me that before- is cold and dead and lying in a gutter!"
"Oh, please, you know you don’t really mean that," Devon was still trying to reason, but it was as impossible as getting an
infant to stop crying for mommy. It was useless and Devon saw what had to be done. Destiny was going to kill him, but
that just couldn’t be helped.
"I’m telling you Corona," the girl was saying, "Brother or no, I don’t trust that bird one bit. I mean-
"Hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing? You’re not, like, like, King Kong! Put me down this instant, Corona! What
are you trying to do? Prove how manly you are?" Destiny had just been slung over the shoulder of her best friend and was
now on her way out the door, kicking and screaming all the while.
Devon winced as a knee hit him in the stomach. Hard. "Really, Destiny," he said a bit breathlessly, "Could you please
stop with the kicking. It kind of hurts. Besides, this is for the best."
"What? You pretending you’re Tarzan? Oh, I beg to differ! Anyway, since when did you know what’s good for me? Last
time I checked, you didn’t even know what was good for yourself!" Destiny hollered, making sure it was right in Devon’s
ear. She hoped it reached his brain-if he had one- through that thick skull of his.
Apparantly, the comments didn’t reach thier destination. Destiny was plopped down into the passenger side. Then, Devon
reached over to put her seatbelt on since she was obviously not going to do it herself. His fingers lightly glided over
Destiny’s arm and she felt a tingle, but pushed it aside. What did it matter that whenever Devon touched her skin, she
went dizzy? It wasn’t like they were soulmates, no matter how much Destiny wished they were.
There wasn’t much more fight in her, so Destiny shut up and brooded for the rest of the trip. Just as they had reached the
church and she was ready to tell Devon he was forgiven, she sighted Nick and the Italian vampire, Delano standing by the
door. Her anger remembered, Destiny closed her lips and was silent.
@~~>~~>~~
"Here they come," Delano informed Nick. He had spotted them, even though they were still miles away.
Nick seemed to be hyperventilating.
Delano’s eyes widened. "Hey, uh, you okay? They won’t be here for a while. Please, just calm down. ‘Cause if you don’t
I can’t really help you. Come on, Nick, speak to me buddy!"
"I’m alright, really," came the shifter’s shaky reply. "I’m just trying to brace myself for Destiny’s reaction. I value my
life, if you know what I mean. And, I’m hoping that this plan will work," he added.
"Don’t worry about the plan," assured Delano with a shake of his head. "Of course, I can’t help you with that cute little
witch. I’m not going to get on her bad myself, too."
"But you know," the lamia all of a sudden brought up, "you have to admit that little witch is pretty hot."
Nick’s eyebrow archec disbelievingly. "Are you on cheap drugs?"
"No!" Delano exclaimed. "I’m hurt. All I was saying is that maybe I should ask her out."
The blond boy snorted. Yes, snorted. "Ask her out. Right. She’ll slap your freakin’ skull ‘till the brains leak through.
If you have any. Which I doubt, since your siding with her, the enemy."
The only response Nick got was laughter. After the Italian finally calmed down, he said, "She’s the enemy again? You
mean you dragged my all this way, risking our lives, just to show how much you hate her? Nick, buddy, you’re being too
harsh."
"And your hormones are going crazy."
"So? I seem to like it."
This just made Nick groan and roll his eyes. Which made his friend break out in laughter again.
"What’s so funny?" A musically digusted voice asked from the parking lot.
Without having to turn around, Nick knew who it was. *My life is over,* he though greiviously, then turned to face his
worst nightmare. An angry woman named Destiny McNite.
* * * * *
Destiny waved a slender hand in front of Nick’s now perfectly composed face. "I said, what’s so funny. And why’s
Delano here, you little blue chicken?"
Nick ignored the insult to his animal shape and calmly stated, "Delano is here because he can help us."
A snort was Destiny’s reply. "Yeah, help us get caught. The only reason I’m going with you at all is because your brother
here has no common sense of his own. I’m here for protection, so don’t think you can get away with anything."
An amused smile played on Delano’s lips. "Yes ma’am."
"Let’s just get this over with, all right? We want to be out of here as soon as possible." Devon shot a pointed look at his
partner. "What’s the plan?" He asked his brother.
"It’s very simple really. We get to the security system, disarm it, then get the agents and go. I think we should then-" Nick
was cut off by Destiny.
"That’s your brilliant plan? Disarm the system? Devon and I could have done that ourselves!"
"No," the shifter said calmly, "you couldn’t. Only I know where the system is and the password to disarm it."
Again, Destiny made a very un-ladylike sound and rolled her eyes. Yet she stayed silent and followed the others when
they seemed to vanish behind the church.
Nick had disappeared into the cluster of trees behind the church and Destiny realized he had told the truth. She and
Devon probably would have been unable to find the alarm system in the trees, wouldn’t even think to look there.
After moving to join Devon and Delano, Destiny finally saw Nick’s powerful figure emerge from the small forest. "Let’s
go," he called tartly, then turned and headed towards the back door.
Noiselessly they all followed. It was Delano that broke the silence.
"I think, that the two of you should go into the room alone," he said slowly, calculatingly, as if expecting objection.
That was exactly what he got from Destiny. "So you guys can lock us in? I don’t think so!"
Trying to calm her, from behind Devon put his hands on Destiny’s bare shoulders, exposed by her tank top and her skin
began to tingle. *Not now!* She moaned, feeling the shivers up and down her spine. *I want to battle it out with
Delano!*
"I just mean," her hansome opponent was saying, "that they’ll freak out if they see me or Nick. You two could talk to
them, prepare them."
Devon gently agreed while taking his hands off Destiny’s skin, bringing her both infinate disappointment and relief.
By this time, Nick had reached their destination. "Ladies first." He flashed a charming smile.
Destiny raised her eyebrows, unamused. "Just don’t lock us in and I won’t have to kill you," she threatened, perfectly
serious.
Devon gave her a pleading look.
Immediatly, Devon approached Monaco and Destiny hurried towards the other vampire. The team had been here almost
two weeks and it was immpossible to guess how many times they had been fed, if at all.
"How’s Monaco?" Destiny asked softly after both vampires had been untied, concerned. He was a close friend of
Devon’s and Destiny wasn’t sure what her partner would do if he was dead.
"He’s coming to," Devon responded, sounding like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Destiny hadn’t been
aware of his worry until now. "And Aria?"
A surprised yelp escaped the dark haired witch as the Lamia she held suddenly pierced her wrist. "She’s fine," Destiny
grumbled, but underneath it, there was obvious relief.
Moments of silence passed as both vampires just drank.
"We should untie the others," a deep and currently groggy voice said. Destiny recognized the owner as Monaco Lopez.
It wasn’t until now that Devon and Destiny realized Oriel and Leila were fully conscious, waiting patiently to be freed.
His tone didn’t go unnoticed. As she cut the hemp that bound Leila, a smile tugged on her lips. *I’ll bet he doesn’t
want to telll the others their captor is his brother.* She laughed silently. "I’ll tell them," Destiny told a very relieved Devon.
"Tell us what?" An already energetic Aria asked cheerfully despite the fact that she still may not escape the church with
her life.
Destiny grinned wickedly. "That outside the door right now are the two members of Black Dawn that helped us get to you
and they want to join Circle Daybreak. And what’s even better is the fact that one of them is Devon’s little brother!"
Jaws dropped as if to say ‘What brother?’ and ‘Helped you? You must be kidding!’ Devon’s relief quickly died from his
face.
Monaco raised a hand in front of his chest. "Okay, did I just hear right?" The incredulous question was directed at
Devon.
"Yes." He almost looked ashamed. Almost.
"Alright. Okay," Monaco slowly nodded his head, thinking. "Well, people, we’ll just have to accept that. We have to get
out of here don’t we?"
Outside the door, Nick and Delano had been listening. Hearing Monaco’s resolution and knowing they couldn’t wait any
longer, they walked in as calmly as possible and ushered the others towards the back door.
Halfway down the hall however, Nick halted, making everyone collide into one another. Admist their complaints, he said
puzzeledly with knitted brows, "Is something burning?"
Realization hit everyone at the same time. There was a mad dash for the back door. A stampede really.
Delano reached it first. Even for him, the doorknob was hot to the touch, so he tried just breaking the door down. It
wouldn’t budge.
"Sh- Ugh!" Destiny cried in frustration after also trying to fell the door to no avail. "I can’t believe we didn’t notice this
before!" Then as if the thought had just dawned upon her, she turned on Nick, furious. "I’ll bet you planned this!" It was
irrational, but Destiny wasn’t in a compeletly rational state of mind at the moment. No one was, save Monaco, but he was
an Old Soul.
"No!" Nick was taken aback by the accusation. "If I really set this up, would I be here with you now? I’m not a wolf for
heaven’s sake!"
Theere was no time to answer.
Leila, the penguin shifter, screamed as a burning beam collapsed in front of the group, trapping them in a very confined
space. From the flaming void now left in the ceiling, a wolf and lioness jumped down.
As soon as Leandra the lioness reached solid ground, she located Nick and sprang, trying to maul him. He had foreseen
this and was already changing into a macaw. A bird couldn’t fly well in such a small space though, and Monaco realized
this immediatly. He rushed over to help, as did Leila.
Devon was also on his way when a movement caught his pereferal vision.
Channon wasn’t as picky as his teammate had been. He just attacked whoever was closest, which happened to be
Destiny.
All she heard was Devon and Delano both desperately screaming her name. And all she could feel was the heat, oh the
intense heat as the werewolf sprang, making her bang her head as she fell and surrender to the flames.
* * * * *
"Destiny! Destiny!" Devon cried out, horrified, totally oblivious to the burning pieces of debris falling on and around
him. *Oh Goddess, he’s going to kill her! I’m going to see her die!* The thought tore at his heart, his sanity, bringing
unbearable pain. Devon hadn’t even realized he could feel so deeply.
Almost unconsciously, he drew his dagger out of it’s sheath and ran towards the werewolf. Preoccupied with Destiny, the
wolf didn’t notice Devon’s attack until almost too late. This led to Channon turning and ruining the blond witch’s aim, but
was still dealt a blow in his left side. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough and the wolf was barely hurt.
Changing to half and half form, the older and stronger boy now fully faced his opponent, menacing look in his eyes. This
may not have been good for Devon, but it gave Delano a chance to pick Destiny up and scramble out the now burned
through back door. *At least she’ll live,* the blond witch thought with a grim smile, *I hope.*
The fact that Devon would have to kill Channon to get out of the builing alive was becoming painfully clear. Checking
around to see if he had any resources other than his silver knife, Devon was dismayed at the sight he beheld. All eight
members of Black Dawn were now in the fight. And his team, having only 6 warriors left, most being very weak, were
obviously losing.
There would be no help in that direction, so Devon quickly directed his attention again to Channon.
The fight began.
Having almost no advantages, all the witch could do was block and ocassionally strike out desperately, hoping to hit a
weak spot. All this happened amidst the flames that were coming ever closer and every substancless stab of his silver
dagger lessoned Devon’s chance of escape. Not for the first time, Devon wished he was as good a fighter as Rashel the
Cat or her soulmate Quinn. He just didn’t have their power, their zanshin.
Quickly weakening, the witch was ready to give up when a piece of the ceiling caught his eye. The burning beam was
ready to topple at any moment. This was the perfect opportunity, his only chance, really.
Making sure the werewolf didn’t notice his trap, Devon led his opponent directly underneath the piece of wood as it
made it’s descent. Immediately Channon was engulfed in the flames, his last terrible scream piercing the air.
The other denizens of Black Dawn, seeing one of their most powerful was surely slain, suffered a brief moment of
hesitation. It was all the Daybreakers needed. They dashed out the flaming back door, pausing only a second to stop,
drop and roll or put out a flame on someone else’s clothing.
Nick ran to his BMW which Delano was at the moment ready to drive. Devon was jumping into the driver’s side of his
own car, the rest of the Daybreak team in tow.
As he started up the car, Aria cried out incredulously to Devon, "You’re just going to let them take Destiny!?!?"
"I trust them," Devon answered in a tone that provided no room for arguement. He was already following the BMW out
of the parking lot and onto the street.
Quite a while later, Devon heard Delano’s voice in his mind, "I think we’re safe for now. I’m pulling over."
The witch nodded his agreement, knowing the Lamia could see him perfectly. The convertible was right behind the
BMW as it pulled into a gas station.
*Besides,* Delano added almost sheepishly, *we need gas. We were almost empty to begin with.*
Everyone jumped out of the two cars. Immediatly Aria stomped towards Nick, looking like a very angry little pixie. She
could be very hotheaded and you didn’t want to get in her way if you knew what was good for you. Devon knew his
brother was going get a big, bad piece of the young Lamia’s mind.
Leila cooly followed her friend. That was the way she did everything, cooly and efficiently. For a penguin shifter, for any
shifter actually, she was incredibly composed and co-ordinated. She had needed to be after he whole family had been
killed by vampires-just for swimming in their pool-and she had been hunted herself.
"You almost got us killed!" Aria was screaming, not caring who heard. "We almost didn’t get out of there! You are
crazy, totally crazy and unorganized! Why couldn’t you even keep your own team under control!?!?"
Nick stood in front of her and despite his height, cowered away from Aria trying desperately to calm her down. Looking
around him making sure there weren’t any Night people around, Nick tried feebly to think of an answer. "Almost doesn’t
count, Aria. We did get out, and now..."
Nick’s brother stopped listening. Oriel, who had headed over to the BMW to see how his second cousin was doing, was
calling to him.
Devon rushed over to the other witch. "What is it?"
"She’s coming to."
* * * * *
Devon’s breath caught in his throat.
Delano had also heard. "Can you..." He asked Monaco gesturing at the pump.
The Old Soul smiled knowingly and nodded, already starting the job.
"Is she alright?" Delano asked hesitatenly from the driver’s seat.
Destiny herself replied grogily, "I’ll be fine as soon as I know where I am. And why are you guys all staring at me like
I’m part of some freak show?"
"She’s definately okay," Devon laughed.
Behind them, a car honked. They all started.
"Whoa! How long have we been here?" Oriel said as Destiny sat up and he got in beside her. Monaco climbed in on the
other side.
"Long enough," said Delano, pulling up beside Devon and Destiny’s rented convertible. "We should be heading for the LA
airport."
"Airport?" Devon and Destiny said sharply in unison.
"Yeah." Nick peeked into their car. Aria and Leila also came to the windows. "So all of you can get back to wherever
Circle Daybreak operates from."
"Wait a minute," Oriel held up his hand, clearly confused. "I thought you guys wanted to join Circle Daybreak. So why did
you just imply you’re not going with us?"
An ‘isn’t it obvious’ look appeared on Nick’s face. "We have to take care of Black Dawn before we can join you or
they’ll be after us forever. If anything, those guys can hold a grudge."
"I hope you don’t mean Devon and I are supposed to leave too ‘cause you’re crazy." Destiny had fully recovered from
her bump on the head. "Monaco’s team can go. But you two are on our team now and we don’t split up." Or maybe not.
Everyone inside and outside of the car just stared. Finally Leila said softly, "Girl, I think you hit that pretty little head of
yours just a bit too hard."
Devon agreed one hundred percent. "I think you need to get your head checked, Destiny."
"No, no, I’m serious." Destiny protested, turning to Nick and Delano. "I owe you guys an apology. I mean, Nick couldn’t
possibly have planned to set the church on fire and Delano saved me, and well, I guess I owe you for that."
No one objected when Destiny said Delano had saved her. As far as anyone else knew, it was the truth. But Devon
was slightly hurt that no one realized. He certainly hadn’t forgotten, some of his wounds were still bleeding. But he wasn’t
about to say anything. Destiny would think he was out for glory or something.
"If Destiny and Devon are staying," Aria was saying stubbornly, "then we’re staying too."
Devon felt he had to speak up. "No, Aria. Your team is going. This is our assignment. We’ll finish it. Not you."
There was no more argument. Everyone knew what Devon was saying, ‘This is our fight and we’re the only ones who’ll
die in it.’
In silence, they broke up into two groups. Devon, Destiny, Aria and Leila in the convertable. Nick, Delano, Oriel and
Monaco in the BMW.
Their trip to the airport was made mostly in silence. A comment was tossed here and there, but the air was too thick with
tension to really have a conversation. Even the girls who hadn’t seen one another for months and definitely had much to
tell each other, hardly said a word. Everyone knew what faced them when they got to the airport. Not only would there
be disgusting toxic fumes, confusing terminals and horrifying papers where they had to make up crazy facts about
themselves to deal with, they would have to say good-bye. And while Monaco’s team would head for safety, Devon and
Destiny’s would most likely plunge into the heart of danger. Even death.
At LA International, Monaco half-heartedly tried one last time to change the other team’s mind’s, but he already
knew it was useless.
"Just be careful," he finally sighed.
Devon smiled, looking almost regretful. "You know we will."
"And remember," Aria added, "call us if you need help. Even better, keep us informed."
Destiny laughed, a strained sound, like she knew something horrible was about to happen. "Now you’re starting to sound
like Thierry."
Nick decided to change the subject. "Okay, so you’ve got your tickets? You better not lose them. I had to wait in line ten
whole minutes, then get Delano to influence them to get those things for free." He put his hand to his forehead in mock
fatigue. "It took a lot out of me. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it again for another 5 minutes!"
This, at least, made everyone smile as they parted ways.
The remaining team waited until the plane had taken flight, them headed back for thier cars.
"I can’t believe I’ve found out Devon has a brother, saved the Daybreak team and survived a fire in just one day!"
Destiny exclaimed as they stepped out into the sunlight. "What time is it?"
"4 pm." Delano answered, not bothering to look at his watch.
Destiny frowned. "If you can tell the time like that, why are you wearing a watch? Wait, don’t answer that. I know.
Accessory. Anyway, wow! It’s only four! I’m starved, let’s eat!"
There was a chorus of agreement and for the time being, Destiny felt safe and at ease amoung her new team. Little
did she know that in the shadows, there was a falcon, listening to her every word and watching her every move.
* * * * *
PART 14:
PART 15:
PART 16:
PART 17:
PART 18:
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