War (Book 3 in Destined Series)

29

I wake up with a start and feel Luke jerk awake beside me. Lighting cracks outside and I jump.

"Hey it's ok." he says gently and I nod. More lightning cracks outside the window, followed by thunder. The images fade from view and I take a deep breath.

"What was the nightmare about?" he asks gently and I sigh as he lays down pulling me practically on top of him, but I don't move.

"Death. The light losing." I whisper

"Who's death?" he asks gently and I sob

"Yours. Nick's. Drew's. Mike's. Mine." I whisper and he hushes me but I keep crying.

"I don't want to lose them. I don't want to lose you. I've already lost Grace. I've already lost so much. I've lost Shane. I've lost my parents. I can't bare to lose you too." I sob and he moves me to look at him.

"You will never lose me." he whispers but I shake my head

"Anything can happen Luke."

"Losing me. That's not an option." he says and I nod gently.

"I'm here Christina. Always." he says and I nod again.

"Now, do something for me would you?" he asks and I nod again

"Shut your eyes and think of everything holy, think of everything good in your life. Think of Grace, every good memory of that little girl you have. Think of her and grasp those memories tight. Shut your eyes and grip onto those images if her smiling face. Grip on to the emotions that flew through you Christina. Think of everything good that's happened in your life and shut out the bad. Think of the light and the peace within you, it'll cover the chaos. And with those images of peace, happiness, joy, love, and sanity... Shut your eyes, and go to sleep." he whispers. Without a second thought, my eyes droop shut and everything falls silent. The conflicts in my head subside, the pain and worry within me vanishes, and the light finds its way within me once again.

"Think of me." he whispers. Then sleep takes me over.

~~

I hear her breathing even out and I gently kiss her forehead. I look over her head and out the window staring at the dark sky. Thunder keeps rumbling and lighting flashes, over and over again. Shooting light into the dark world. The door creeks open and I look over.

"Luke?" Nick asks and I nod

"Sorry to interrupt but we need to talk." he says. I nod then slowly move Christina off of me and slide out of the bed.

"You didn't interrupt anything." I say and he nods as we head down the stairs.

"So what's happening?" I ask and Drew looks over at me.

"It's Mike."

"What about Mike?" I ask caution and worry evident in my voice.

"He's dead."

"What?" I hiss low and they nod

"How, when, why?"

"He died only a few hours ago. We don't know the why or how. All I know is what Drew told me." Nick says and I shift my gaze to Drew.

"I woke up in the middle of the night after hearing a door swing shut. I quickly got out and followed after. I saw Mike go outside and stop. He stared up at the sky but didn't move. As I was about to reach the door to push it open and go up lighting struck, and he fell to the ground. He was dead when I ran out there." he says

"That doesn't make any sense. Did the lightning strike him?"

"That's what I thought at first too, but there was no burn marks. He just randomly fell dead." he says keeping his voice low.

"Do you think it's poison?" I ask and they look at me

"We don't know." Nick says and I nod

"Where's the body?" I ask and Drew motions for me to follow him.

"Be sure Christina stays up there. I don't want her to witness yet another life having even taken." I say and Nick nods. I follow after Drew and we come to a stop as he pushes open a black door. I guess there room... I don't know. Either way, we walk in and I look over at Mike.

"Was he acting strange or anything before?" I ask pulling the cover off of him.

"No, not at all. He ate and went to sleep. Nothing seemed off." Drew mumbles and I nod looking down at him. I search Mike for anything out of place, for any weird veins, for anything, but I find nothing.

"There's nothing on him." I say and Drew nods

"That's the problem." he says and I nod. I open his mouth and squint seeing some sort of powder on his tongue.

"Wait a minute." I say and Drew raises an eyebrow

"Sniff that out would you?" I ask and he nods. He shifts into a wolf then sniffs at the powder.

"Poison." he says then transforms back to a wolf.

"Any specific poison?" I ask and he nods

"Wolfsbane. Kills a wolf almost instantly."

"Why would he have it in his system then?" I ask and Drew shakes his head.

"Did he ever seem really distraught I guess?" I ask and he shakes his head again.

"Christina is better at this than I am. Uh- you said nothing was off about him right? Well maybe that was the problem."

"What was the problem?"

Shit...

"Christina." I say and she looks between Drew and I. Nick walks in after her and I glare at him.

"She's hard to keep in one room." Nick says and I sigh.

"Mike's dead. He has wolfsbane in his system." I mumble and she looks past us and down to the dead body.

"He's dead." she says gently and I look up at her.

"We think he poisoned himself."

Someone had to break the bad news to her... Just sucks that it had to be me...

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