War (Book 3 in Destined Series)

15

I look down at Grace as she sleeps peacefully on my lap.

"How long's she been out?" Luke asks walking into the room.

"Few hours." I say quietly and he nods sitting down beside me.

"What am I going to do with her, when this war finally comes?" I whisper looking over at him.

"You will do what you have always done. You'll protect her like a mother." he says gently.

"She's so young Luke. She's precious, caring, and so vulnerable. I don't want to see her go through this. I don't want to watch her be in pain. I mean what if I can't protect her in the end? Then what will I do?" I ask and he sighs.

"If anyone can protect that little girl, it's you. Don't doubt yourself Christina. You can keep her safe."

"But at what cost?" I ask quietly.

He stays silent as Grace shifts in my lap some. I brush her hair down and look over at Luke.

"Exactly." I say in response to his silence.

~~

"Where was she last?" I ask and Marian sighs then pulls up the map.

"She was here, last time we had eyes on her."

"We?" I ask and she nods.

"Do you really think I'm alone here?" she asks and I shrug.

"Guess not." I mutter

"We leave tonight." I say and she nods.

"They can't have gone farther then a few miles north, if that's the way she was headed." I say and Marian nods.

"Then we start here. Flush them out, then cut them off right about, here." I say pointing to the places on the map.

"Do you think they're in that building though?"

"Why wouldn't they be? It's safe, under the radar, and away from a bunch of people. The people in that town, have never seen their faces before. They'd be safe. They have stores all around to get food, clothes, and other supplies. It sounds like a safe haven to me." I say crossing my arms.

"Let's check it out tonight then." Marian says shutting off the map.

"I can do it alone. Just get our supplies together." I say and she rolls her eyes.

"Fine." she says and I nod. I walk over to the door and push it open. The wind hits me and I look down at the ground below. I whip out my wings, then jump into the sky.

~~

I stay sitting on the couch while Grace plays with her toys on the ground below. Luke left to go get us more supplies with Nick, leaving Drew, Mike, Grace, and I. Drew flops down beside me and stretches.

"You look exhausted." he observes.

"I'm just stressed." I mumble

"What from?"

"This whole thing. I feel the time growing closer and closer, yet I can't do anything about it." I say rubbing my arms.

"Well, that time hasn't come yet. Don't let it ruin your day." he says then stands up.

"What are you doing?" I ask as he walks over to the stereo.

"Drew." I groan as he puts on music. I roll my eyes as he walks over to me and holds out his hand.

"I don't dance. Dance with Grace." I say and she giggles jumping up. She grabs his arm and pulls him away and I laugh leaning back against the sofa and pulling my knees to my chest. They dance around to the music and I laugh more, the biggest smile, covering my face. Mike walks into the room after waking up from his dog nap, and looks at Drew like he's crazy.

"Ima go back in there." he says and I laugh as he leaves.

"Come on Christina, you know you wanna." Drew says and I bite my lip.

"Fine." I sigh out and he smirks as I stand up and walk over. I take Grace's hand in my left hand then take Drew's hand in my right one. We start spinning and I laugh as Grace giggles spinning in circles. I spin away from Drew then back to him laughing as I ram into his chest and step on his foot. He lets out a breath of pain and I give him a sad look, that doesn't reach far as a smile comes to my lips.

"I told you I couldn't dance." I say with a laugh

"No, you said that you didn't. Not that you couldn't." he says and I laugh.

"Oops." I mumble and Grace giggles grabbing my hands and jumping up and down. I catch her in my arms then spin around laughing. The music cuts off and I slow down some.

"Oh, isn't that cute."

I instantly come to a stop and spin around shoving Grace behind my legs. She holds onto me tightly and Drew moves in front of me.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you." Shane says stepping forward.

"Why are you here then?" I ask and he looks over at me, his red eyes vanishing then reappearing as he blinks.

"For you of course." he says moving towards me. Drew steps in front of me and growls. Shane flicks his hand and Drew starts whimpering and falls to the ground covering his ears.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" I shout but I know Shane doesn't care. That's not even Shane anymore.

"Stop it!" I shout as Drew moves into a fatal position.

"Stop!" I shout and Shane finally looks back at me.

"Now that he's preoccupied, let's talk."

"Back away from her now."

I look over Shane's shoulder and see Luke holding a gun up and loaded.

"Lucas! Oh how I've missed you!" Shane says not even turning to face him.

"Back the hell away from her or this bullet will fly through your skull." he says and Shane smirks

"I'm not here to start trouble. So put the gun down and let me talk to Christina."

"You started trouble by walking into this room. There's no way I'm putting this gun down, and there is no way in hell, I'm letting you talk to Christina." Luke growls and Shane flicks his wrist again. I watch the gun fly from Luke's hand and slam into the wall. Another flick, and this time Luke is thrown across the room and slams into the same wall the gun did.

"I'm ten times more powerful and stronger then you both combined, Healer. Now Christina, shall we?"

Healer? No that's not what matters right now.

"Get out of here Shane." I spit and he smirks.

"I thought you'd like to see me." he says and I shake my head.

"Not this way. Not as this monster." I growl out gripping Grace tighter. His gaze shifts down and Grace buries her head in my thigh.

"And who is this?" he asks and I push her behind me as he steps forward.

"Get out." I growl and he laughs. Drew breathes heavy finally being released from Shane and pushes up to his hands and knees. I assume Mike is released too as he shoves open the door and storms out.

"Oh, you have two wolves." Shane says as they glare hard and cold at him. Luke also is released from whatever invisible force was holding him and he pushes up to his feet.

"I just wanted to talk to you. But you've wasted that shot, so yeah. See you on the other side Christina." he says then snaps his fingers and is gone. I instantly drop to my knees and comfort Grace against my chest as she cries.

"Shh shhh. He's gone. It's ok." I whisper gripping her head tightly, yet gently.

"Shhh." I coo and Luke moves beside me. I put my face in Grace's hair and breathe heavy pulling her to me as if it were possible. I look up at Luke and his face says everything I would put into words if I could.

"It's ok." I whisper putting my face back into her hair.

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