Forgotten Destiny 5

  All characters in this publication are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Forgotten Destiny Book Five

  Copyright © 2017 Odette C Bell

  Cover art stock photos: licensed from Depositphotos.

  www.odettecbell.com

  Forgotten Destiny

  Book Five

  It's over, or it will be soon. Jason is coming for Beth, and he's bringing the rest of the city with him.

  With warlocks at her door and the Zero Prophecy looming over her, Beth will have to go it alone. It will be the only way to find out who she is and what's really going on. If she can't find out in time, she'll fall and take the rest of the city with her.

  ....

  Tune in for the exciting conclusion of the Forgotten Destiny series.

  Chapters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Lying Witch – Sample Chapter

  Chapter 1

  The portal spell spat us out, and the next thing I knew, I fell backward onto a bed. I heard a thump as Josh landed on the floor beside me, and Max?

  He landed on top of me. His arm was still around my back, and as I fell against it, I pinned him there.

  I stared up, wide-eyed into his gaze.

  And for a few breathless moments, Max didn’t move.

  Then it was as if the situation caught up with me. I gave a delayed scream.

  Max tried to jolt away from me.

  “What’s going on? Where are we? How long will Jason take—”

  Max stood. Then he swayed.

  I bolted upright and anchored a hand on his arm. At least I aimed to anchor a hand on his arm. He shifted, and my hand accidentally clasped his side, my thumb close to his hip.

  I went to jerk my hand back, but Max rested his palm on mine. He gazed seriously into my eyes. “Thank you for saving everyone’s lives back there. If you hadn’t figured out a way to get out of there…” he trailed off and shook his head harshly to the side.

  “Max, are we safe here? How long will it take—”

  “Jason won’t be able to follow the portal spell. That’s one of the advantages of having preprogrammed spells. There won’t be any residue suggesting where we went. He’ll have to find us the good old-fashioned way,” Max said, and there was a specific look in his eyes on the word find. “And as you have already pointed out on several occasions, my brother isn’t a particularly good finder.”

  I allowed my shoulders to deflate, but only a little. I started to stare around the room.

  It was an opulent bedroom, and yet, it was understated at the same time. It was large, and that gave it a sense of gravitas and money, but the bed itself was a relatively simple fourposter affair, as were the linen and pillowcases.

  Just behind Max was a set of large windows. They revealed a startling view down into some woodlands. “Where—”

  “This was my mother’s place,” Max said quietly.

  Alarm spiked through me. “Jason will be able to figure out where we’ve gone, then.”

  Max shook his head. “Jason never knew about this place.”

  My nose scrunched up. “Why not?”

  “Because my mother was a smart woman,” he answered opaquely. Finally he turned his attention to Josh. Though Max still swayed, he took a step away from me, broke my grip, then shifted down to one knee. He placed a hand on Josh’s shoulder, a grim expression marking his lips.

  I jolted up from the bed. It was my turn to stagger, but I bolstered my balance as I too got down on one knee. I felt my heart shaking in my chest. “Is he okay?” I stuttered. “What happened to him?”

  “Jason knocked him out. By the sounds of it, Jason knocked him out before he… came across our… kiss,” he said, his voice quiet.

  Max didn’t say interrupt – that would suggest that the kiss hadn’t been an accident, right? And more than that, it would’ve suggested that he’d wanted it to continue.

  Considering the crap I’d been dealing with, I’d actually forgotten about it. Now I looked right into Max’s eyes, and I took a breath. “You saw that vision, too – didn’t you? When we…” I trailed off.

  “Kissed?” he challenged. It wasn’t a hard challenge – but a soft one. And the smile that spread across his lips as he spoke of it was just as soft.

  “Well?” I asked.

  Max’s smile changed, so did his gaze as it ticked to the left. “Yes, Beth – I saw that vision. I’d seen it before, in fact.”

  At this revelation, my cheeks slackened. “What do you mean? Wait – if you’d seen that vision before, then you knew—”

  “That you would always become a sorcerer, and according to the Zero Prophecy,” he looked right at me, and I imagined even the destruction of the world wouldn’t get him to turn away, “I’m your finder. And together, we will locate and destroy the seven hidden sets.”

  I stared at him in utter shock as that bombshell dropped between us. I started shaking my head. “If you’d known—”

  “Why hadn’t I told you? If it had been that easy, I would have.”

  “Then what made it hard?” My voice became choked.

  “There was a time and a place for me to reveal this, and that time and place never came. But first, we need to save Josh.”

  Alarm peaked through me again. “What do you mean? What happened to him? What did Jason do?” With every new question, my throat became more and more constricted.

  “From the looks of it, and knowing my brother,” Max’s voice descended, “he’s attacked Josh with a vicious spell from behind.” Max brought up a hand and checked the back of Josh’s neck, hooking a finger into his collar and pulling it down. Sure enough, there was a nasty magical burn down the skin.

  I recoiled. I felt sick – right through me, in fact. As if every single cell was filled with nausea.

  It was nausea directed at one fact.

  “You let me trust that man,” I said, voice twisting. Though my words were directed at Max, they were mostly directed at me, too.

  At first, when I’d heard about the Zero Prophecy, I’d been strong enough to push it away. I’d been strong enough to focus on the fact that I felt nothing for Jason. But as time had gone on, I’d allowed myself to feel, because I’d allowed myself to believe.

  Max looked sharply to the side at this. “If I’d had any other option, I would have. But right now, we must get Josh to a healing room.”

  I wanted to push – I wanted Max to reveal every single thing he’d been keeping from me, but at the same time, I appreciated Josh needed help.

  “I can heal him,” I volunteered. “Just like I healed you.”

  “You need to conserve your magic for what’s coming next,” Max said quietly.

  My back itched with a thrill of nerves on that promise. “What do you mean what’s coming next?”

  “I mean that all of the city is now hunting us down. From the police, to Internal Affairs, to Peter Mercure and his gang. Everybody is after us. And by now,” Max clenched his teeth, “Jason has probably found my mother’s diaries.” Max’s tone was defeated, and a shadow crossed over his face.

  Though I still didn’t perfectly understand the significance of these diaries, I’d heard what Max had said back in the sitting room. That with the diaries Jason would be able to find the seventh set. And judging by everything else I’d learned about Jason, he’d use the grimoires, despite my warning.

  I gave a full-bodied shudder. “How much
time do we have left? If Josh accesses the seventh set, then presumably he’ll become a complete sorcerer. He’ll become just as good a finder as you are. And he will track us down.” My voice had a hollow ring to it as it echoed through the room.

  I watched Max’s shoulders deflate. It was as if he’d been a balloon and my words had been a well-placed pin.

  But just before he could appear to lose all hope, he looked at me sharply. “We still have an opportunity. That’s all I know. So we have to take this one step at a time and trust that we can do this.”

  I wanted to tell him there was no way. I wanted to tell him that I was only a partial sorcerer, and if I came against Jason, I would lose.

  But the way Max was looking at me seemed to embody hope itself. It reminded me instantly of my vision back in the past – of the pure sense of resilience Max’s kiss had given me.

  I brought up a hand, locked it on my head, and rubbed vigorously as if I was trying to anchor myself to the present.

  Anchor myself….

  I looked up sharply at Max. “How long have you been having these visions for?”

  He looked away quietly. He spent several seconds of pensive silence staring at the carpet between us until he slowly ticked his gaze back. “Most of my life. It was a gift from my mother. A gift more powerful than the diaries. But, Beth—”

  “It’s time to get Josh someplace safe. You said this place has a healing room? And are you sure Jason has no idea where we are?”

  “I have spent my entire life hiding this building from others. And as an opportunity finder,” for the first time a wry smile pressed across his lips – the kind of wry, in-control smile that I remembered from the Max of old, “when it comes to hiding, my skills are unparalleled.”

  I blinked sharply as I appreciated what he was saying.

  That was the other side of finding, wasn’t it?

  Hiding. Presumably a complete finder would be one of the best-placed people on the planet to hide something they didn’t want others to find.

  “Come on,” Max encouraged as he hooked an arm around Josh’s shoulders. “I’m afraid I’m too weak to carry Josh on my own.”

  I reached down, hooked my arm underneath Josh’s left side, and together, we hauled him to his feet.

  Josh was out-for-the-count. Though his breathing was slow and methodical, that was the only sign of life in the bounty hunter.

  I hated to see him like this. It boiled my blood, in fact, and as I cast my imagination to figuring out what Jason had done to him, my free hand curled into a fist.

  Max kicked open the door to the bedroom, and together we navigated down a wide corridor until we reached another room.

  I took the brunt of Josh’s weight as Max reached forward and opened the door.

  I stared around me. This place was… weird.

  It was a mishmash of architecture. A bit of it looked like a castle and the rest like some kind of contemporary celebrity home. “What is this place?”

  “My mother was a sorcerer. She created this place before she died. Her greatest work,” Max said softly with a reminiscent smile pressing across his lips, “or at least that’s what she’d claimed. In many ways, I suppose her greatest work was me.”

  Though the door swept open before us to reveal the strangest-looking room, I found myself incapable of looking at it as I stared at Max instead. “What does that mean?”

  Max obviously didn’t want to explain himself and instead nodded forward. “Place Josh in the pool.”

  The room led to a cave. I’m not kidding you. The door and walls were there on one side, and on the other side, was… a grotto, I guess. And in the middle of that small cave was a crystal-clear blue pool with a luminescent film of light sitting over the top of it.

  It looked entirely otherworldly.

  “What is this place?”

  “It’s a sorcerer’s healing pool.”

  “Can we use it even though—” I stopped abruptly.

  Max looked at me as he repositioned Josh’s limp arm across his shoulders. “Were you about to ask if we could use it considering we are only both witches? You’re a sorcerer now, Beth.” He smiled.

  There was so freaking much I needed to ask him, but he was right – first we needed to heal Josh.

  If Internal Affairs and Jason and the whole damn city were looking for us, it would only be a matter of time before they found us. We needed all the help we could get. And I could imagine Josh would be itching for revenge on Jason.

  Together, Max and I hauled Josh over to the pool.

  Max stepped inside it and shivered as he took Josh off me and pulled him bodily into the water.

  I knelt against the edge of the pool, the hard stone digging into my knees. “What do I do?”

  Max looked at me, and his expression… was like a man remembering a dream. The best dream of his life, to be exact. “Do as you did with me,” his voice was gentle and quiet. “Try to heal Josh. But do not push all your magic into it. You won’t have to. That’s the point of the pool. The water will magnify your healing properties and allow you to expend a little magic for a lot of effect.” With that, Max ensured that Josh was propped up with his back resting on the edge of the pool so he couldn’t drown, and Max tried to get out.

  I shoved a hand forward and spread my fingers wide. “No, stay in there with him. You need to be healed, too. I did what I could for your cut – but you’re still weak. And I’ll need you strong.”

  Max opened his mouth to protest.

  I looked up at him hard. “It’s my duty to protect you, finder. And I have every intention of doing that.”

  Max met my gaze, and… I swore centuries passed between us, maybe even millennia. Millennia that opened the door back into a long-forgotten destiny. A destiny I was finally remembering.

  Maybe Max appreciated that I would not back down, because he sighed, shifting back into the pool. He nodded at me.

  I pushed forward until I could easily hook my fingers into the edge of the water. I closed my eyes, and I thought. At first, I simply tried to concentrate like I would when I was using my finder magic. That is to say, I made it an intellectual affair. But all too soon, it became clear that wouldn’t work.

  “If you’re having trouble generating healing magic – I suggest you do whatever you did when I was injured. Focus on the same thoughts,” he encouraged, voice low.

  The same thoughts?

  I tried not to blush as I locked my attention on the vision – on the memory of that kiss. It had possessed just the right warmth, just the right hardness. It had been just right in every way. And as I concentrated on it, it filled my mind, spread to my heart, and thrust that door open once more.

  I felt tendrils of magic leaving me. Max was right. It didn’t appear to take that much effort on my part to fill the pool with light – just a smattering of magic.

  I half opened an eye to see that the luminescent film that had covered the top of the pool was now glowing as brightly as a thousand candles. I almost jerked back in surprise, but Max shook his head. “You’re doing it. It won’t take long. Keep concentrating on your memory,” he added.

  … He knew what I was concentrating on? Or was that just a lucky guess?

  Though the old Bethany would have blushed at the fact Max probably suspected I was replaying our kiss in my head, the current Bethany understood just how much trouble she was in.

  I kept my eyes closed, and I focused on the doorway to my heart.

  I don’t know how long it took. Maybe it was seconds, maybe it was minutes. Maybe it was a good hour. But eventually I heard the slosh of water and looked up to see Max standing.

  He nodded at me.

  Half a second later, Josh gasped. He jerked forward in the water, but before he could conk his head on the edge of the pool, Max steadied him with a hand. “You were knocked out by Jason. We escaped the house. Beth healed you. This is a sorcerer healing pool,” Max explained everything with quick breaths.

  Josh blinked at
me wildly. Then he swiveled his head to the pool, then up to Max. “… Jason knocked me out?” Josh brought a hand up and felt the back of his head, obviously searching for some wound. He frowned when he couldn’t find one. “I think I remember now. The bastard,” he added as his lips stiffened. “But where the hell are we?”

  I looked up at Max, wondering if he would tell Josh the truth.

  Max didn’t hold anything back. “We’re in a home crafted by my mother. She was a sorcerer,” he added. “And we’re safe, for now.”

  Josh’s cheeks slackened. “I’m sorry – your mother was a sorcerer? I never knew that. I thought she was a finder.”

  “Correct. She began life as a complete finder, but,” Max switched his gaze to me, and his stare was penetrating, “like many other complete finders, she was uniquely placed to become a sorcerer.”

  Josh brought a hand up, slammed it over his face, and rubbed up and down. “This is insane. Jason attacked me. What the hell was he thinking?”

  “He’s working with Peter Mercure – or something like that,” I managed. “Internal Affairs are after the seven hidden sets. And they don’t want to destroy them as per the prophecy’s wishes – they want to use them.” Even repeating those words took me back to that scene. It took me right back to that moment when I’d been pinned in the floor and I’d stared up at Jason only to realize that he’d betrayed me. He’d been betraying me from the beginning.

  … Or had he?

  His emotion had seemed sincere. And unless he was playing a very clever game, he genuinely thought that he was the sorcerer and I was his finder.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Josh’s voice became constricted with terror. “Internal Affairs is working with Peter?”

  “Peter is the head of the X Gang,” Max revealed.

  Josh twitched. From his cheeks to his hands, it was like someone had suddenly passed an electrical jolt through him. It was lucky he was sitting down.

  Josh brought a hand up, clamped it over his mouth, and appeared to breathe through his stiff fingers. He shook his head. “That bastard. I always knew he had secrets to hide, but being the head of the Xs?”

  “There’s more. He’s been taking warlocks – criminals – from the police and using them as his private army. Or maybe the police have been giving them to him. I don’t understand that bit yet.” I looked sharply at Max. “Do you know more?”