Dark's Destiny

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2Destiny checked her watch as she entered her home through the back door, shutting it firmly behind her. Dang, I’m running late. A moving shadow drew her attention. “Hey, Sebastian.” He’d been curled up in one of his favorite spots—in the top hammock of the cat tree in the corner.

::I prefer the name Death:: He stood and stretched his long front legs out before him, flexing his claws as he did so.

Plunking her purse on the nearby kitchen table, she rolled her eyes at the huge, long-haired Maine coon cat. All muscle, he reminded her of a panther, except for his brilliant orange tabby coat and the large, pointy ears complete with tufts of whitish hair arcing outwards. Weighing in at just under forty pounds, he was a huge specimen, even for one of the largest breeds of domestic cats. His two extra toes on all four paws gave a mitten appearance, making his feet look even bigger.

“Yeah, well, I preferred the name Pickles. I believe we compromised.” They had this very same discussion several times per week. She patted his head as she hurried to Pru’s home office, her late great aunt’s inner sanctum, so to speak.

Sebastian snorted but jumped down and padded along behind her.

She’d adopted Sebastian as a kitten three years before. Something about him just clicked. She guessed it was because he spoke to her that day—in her mind. Most people would’ve waved it off as her imagination. Destiny knew better. Descended from a long line of witches, she inherited the ability from her father’s descendants. Her mother’s ancestors didn’t hold a lick of magic. Not even Aunt Pru, who was eccentric enough without the addition of such unusual skills.

On the low-wattage end of witchcraft, as explained by her paternal grandmother, the most any of them could do was start a tiny flame without the use of a lighter or flint. Generations of hooking up with non-witches seemed to have diluted the abilities. Fine with Destiny, as she’d more than likely have ended up burning the house down with any of those capabilities. Still, she possessed a single, magical gift—she could hold conversations with her sassy, arrogant cat. No other animals, just Sebastian.

Truth be told, she’d decided that magical abilities had fizzled when it came down to her. Sebastian, on the other hand, possessed plenty. When she considered the entire puzzle, it made sense. Sebastian projected his words into her mind and he understood her spoken words. It was all Sebastian with the gifts. She simply stood on the receiving end of his impressive abilities.

On the other hand, where his cat burglar skills came from, she didn’t bother to guess. As an escape artist extraordinaire, he could sneak into Fort Knox if he wanted. A normal house must be a piece of cake. He’d proven his expert abilities on several occasions—much to her chagrin.

“I have to find this book. Leather bound with a drawing of a flower on the cover.” She spoke out loud to keep herself on task, and as a habit. Since Sebastian could understand everything she said, she always kept him in the loop as a nod to manners.

::Why?::

“A customer bought it from Aunt Pru. He’s here to collect.” She recalled those piercing eyes and knew she couldn’t return empty-handed. No matter what.

Hanging a right, she entered the office only to come to an immediate halt. “Sebastian? What’s this?” She glared at the large white sock on the floor with a mix of trepidation and resignation.

Sebastian jumped up into the office chair, sat down, and started washing his front paws. ::My latest kill::

Destiny sighed heavily. “We’ve talked about this. You can’t go around stealing stuff from other people.”

He ignored her. Just like every other time over the past year that he’d requisitioned one article of clothing or another.

Sebastian wanted out at night to prowl, so he went. Sometimes he brought back items he’d found along the way. Obviously, he possessed a kleptomania tendency, one Destiny didn’t know how to subdue.

She tried another angle. “Why did you take this sock?”

::Wanted it::

“Ugh. You don’t understand. Stealing is wrong.”

He stared at her with his large golden eyes. ::I hunt. I kill. I bring it back::

“You have tons of cat toys to play with.” She picked up a gray play mouse filled with catnip and shook it in the air. “Why can’t you just hunt and kill these?”

::They are boring. No fun. No challenge::

She shook her head and dropped the cat toy back to the floor. “Just promise me you won’t start bringing in mice or rats. The live ones, that is.”

::As if:: He went back to bathing with an unconcerned yet dramatic flair.

Gingerly, she stepped over the errant sock and into the room. Three of the four walls held ceiling-high bookshelves. These were Pru’s prized books, the rarest, and most valuable. For Pru to part with even one of them meant something, Destiny just wasn’t sure what.

She glanced over the mass of literature, unsure where to begin. Paces later, she trailed her fingers along each book spine, searching for leather. That went on for a few minutes until two books, standing next to one another, caught her attention. Pulling them out, she noticed they were quite similar, both old, with leather coverings. The flower on the front varied between the two, but otherwise, they seemed to be related. With one more glance around the room, she cradled her finds until she could drop them in a tote. A momentary impulse had her grabbing an extra-large plastic bag and to wrap around the books before putting them back into the tote.

“Okay, Sebastian. I’ve got to go for a bit but should be back soon. Do you need anything?”

He curled up on the oversized leather chair. ::No::

“See you later, then.” She carried her findings to the kitchen, gathered up her purse, slipped on a jacket, and locked the door behind her.

Another check of the watch caused her to grimace. “Definitely the shortcut.”

Right on the dot, Destiny hurried through the front door of the café. She’d been playing a game of beat-the-clock since she left the bookstore. The time would have been more than ample if she didn’t have to sit and wait at the salon. Her hairdresser worked on another woman, a chatty one at that, when Destiny arrived. Finally, twenty minutes after her scheduled appointment time, Destiny hopped into the seat. After a quick trim, she’d dashed home, praying along the way that she found the text without any issues. Otherwise, she could still be in the small room, tearing it apart to find the elusive object. As a bonus, she thankfully hit the stoplights at just the right moment to zip across town. Her car wasn’t new or fancy, but it could hit the speed limit in a few seconds and handled as nimbly as a race car. For that, she kept the little blue Toyota around. That, and the fact that she’d just paid it off free and clear. That alone endeared the vehicle to her.

She took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimmed lights inside before finding Dark sitting with his back to the far wall, in a booth, well away from others.

His gaze locked on her, sending a small shiver through her body.

Odd. Very odd. Never before had she responded to a man in such a way. Sure, she’d seen sexy men before, but none of Dark’s caliber. He didn’t only possess a gorgeous, sculpted physique that modern-day artists would drool over. There was something different about him. Intelligent. Determined. Alpha. He reminded her of a quiet but deadly predator. More than capable of taking care of himself and anyone else he chose to shield.

Her dating history held some great lessons. She had crashed and burned every time. To hope this might be different, with a man who resembled the sculpture of Adonis, bordered on ludicrous. Still, stranger things have happened, right? I’m not a complete urchin. Just not in his league.

She sighed and latched onto reality. He’s a customer. Give him the book and move on already.

Destiny collected herself and crossed the distance separating them. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

He shook his head. “Not at all.” He eyed her with interest before his gaze flicked back to the room.

Plopping down, she sat the bag on the small table and then removed her jacket. “I wasn’t sure which one was yours, so I brought both.” Ever so carefully, she pulled the first one out and showed him.

Dark’s eyes widened just a smidge before the already deep blue iris darkened a shade or two. He reached out with both large hands to take the first hardback, holding it up like he might study a great work of art.

Destiny tilted her head and watched the emotions spill across his face. Skepticism all the way to relief, judging by the easing of tautness and the corners of his mouth curling up. He sat back slightly in his seat.

“Is that it?”

He nodded once. “Yes.”

“Good.” She smiled readily, thankful she’d chosen correctly.

“What else do you have in the bag?”

Dutifully, she pulled the other leather-bound manuscript out for his inspection. “I couldn’t read the writing, but the cover matched your description.”

Dark froze as he stared at the second book.

“What is it?”

He drew in a breath. “Do you know what you have there?”

“Well, no.”

“Open it.”

She flipped open the cover to a middle section of the manual, then frowned. “It appears to be some sort of old recipe book.” The words were in another language, but the titled section and layout of the lines reminded her of a modern-day cookbook. Or perhaps poetry. She turned more pages before noticing something peculiar. Angling the book this way and that, she tried to make out the nearly invisible print that filled in the gaps between the boldly written words. “There’s something wrong with this. A printing error.”

“Let me take a look.” Dark plucked the text from her hands and focused on the page for a long moment. He glanced back up at her. “What did you see?”

“It’s like there’s something written between the lines. I can only make it out when I turned the book a certain way. Very hard to read, like the words come and go.”

He stared at her as if trying to figure out some sort of puzzle. Finally, he moved to take the seat right next to her. Turning the page, he held the hardback up for her. “Tell me what you see.” He placed his finger in the center of the page.

Destiny frowned. “I can’t read the language. Some of it looks familiar, some not.”

“Tell me the letters.”

“A. R. D. E. B. I. T. Ardebit.” She tried to pronounce the word, stumbling over the last syllable. She looked up at him.

“Keep going.”

She turned her attention back to the page. “The next line is symbols, not letters.”

“Draw it out for me.” He handed her a pen and a napkin.

She drew what appeared to her as a less than sign. “This is the first letter. The spacing is a little wider with these letters, compared to the prior ones.” She made more drawings, concentrating to get the sharp angles correct. Finished with the first word, she pushed the napkin back to him. “I have no idea what that is, but that’s what it looks like to me.”

He lowered his chin as his lips parted. “I’ll be damned.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Dark scanned the room, then leaned closer. “You can read the runes.”

“Huh?”

He grinned wide. “You can read the runes.”

Destiny gaped at him. “Runes? You mean the ancient languages of King Arthur and such?”

He shook his head. “The precursor to Latin. I can read Latin. The word you spelled out to me is in Latin. These symbols are runes, though.”

“I can’t read anything. It’s just letters. At least I can make the alphabet out. This down below is like hieroglyphs to me.” The closest she got to Latin was the genus and species for plant names. That wasn’t much when it came to subjects of conversation.