War (Book 3 in Destined Series)

33

"Christina!" I jerk awake and blink at the bright light shining in through the windows. I groan looking up at Nick.

"What the hell Nick?" I ask and he rolls his eyes

"It's two in the afternoon." he says and I huff sitting up.

"So? Maybe I wanted to sleep longer." I mutter and he rolls his eyes.

"Well, there's some people downstairs wanting to speak to you." he says and I raise an eyebrow.

"Just come down." he says and I huff but climb out of the bed anyways and follow him down. I slow at the bottom of the stairs and Luke looks over at me. He nods me over and I slowly walk over. I take his hand and he pulls me outside and I freeze.

"Oh my god." I say.

Hundreds of people stand in the front yard, Shane before them all. Our eyes meet but I look away and turn my attention back to the people.

"What are they all here for?" I ask and Luke smiles down at me.

"They're here to help."

"Help?" I ask then look back out at them.

"We heard you've been losing your warriors. I found some."

"Uh we." Luke says and Shane nods.

"We." he says and I look at Luke.

"You two did this?" I ask and they both nod. I walk down the stairs and all the people drop to their knees before me. I look at Shane and he smiles as I walk over.

"I thought you were staying neutral?" I ask and he nods

"I was. But then I remembered we have a reason to fight for the light." he says and I stare at him is disbelief.

"You're good." I whisper and he bites his lip

"I wouldn't go that far. I've still done many bad things, and my eyes are still the red of destruction. But I'm trying." he says

"Why?" I ask and he shrugs

"For you." he says gently and I bite my lip

"Shane I-

"Not for your love Christina. Just for you." he says gently and I smile. I pull him in for a hug I bury my head in his chest.

"Thank you." I whisper then step back and he nods.

"We only have a day left. Let's make the best of it and train these men and women for this battle." he says and I nod smiling. Luke walks over to us and holds out his hand to Shane as I walk away.

~~

I walk over to them taking a deep breath.  Shane and Christina look over at me. She smiles then walks away. I turn to look at Shane, and pushing past the red eyes I find my partner is still in there. I hold out my hand and he slowly takes it.

"I hope you can forgive me for all I've done." he says to me and I shake my head.

"I'm not the one you need forgiveness from." I say and he looks over at Christina.

"I don't think I'll ever truly get her forgiveness." he says and I cross my arms.

"You'd be amazed." I say and she looks over at us with a smile.

"I always am when it comes to her." he says and I nod.

"Me too."

~~~

"That's good." I say smiling as they continue to practice using knives and guns and such. I walk over to Luke and he looks over at me pushing his hair back as he moves from the punching bag.

"You think they'll be ready?"

"Nobody can be ready in less then a day. But I think they'll be close to it." I say and he nods.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you ready?"

"It's what I was born to do." I say and he nods.

"We'll Miss Born Ready, wanna come do one on one combat with me?"

"Yeah. I probably need the practice." I say and he nods. I follow him outside and sigh when the fresh air hits me.

"God it's nice out here." I say and he nods.

"Last day of peace on earth." he says and I nod.

"Alright. Let's get this going." I say taking off my jacket.

"Alright." he says and I smirk. We get into stance, then he takes the first lunge.

~~

"Down! Ha!" I shout and he groans

"Damn." he mumbles and I help him up.

"You got me down three, I got you down two." I say and he smirks.

"You've definitely not lost your fighting skill." he says and I raise an eyebrow.

"Did you ever doubt me Lucas?" I ask and he laughs

"No."

The door opens and Luke and I look that way as Shane steps out.

"What are y'all doing out here?"

"Combat." Luke says and I nod.

"Ah. Well can I steal Christina for one minute?" he asks and I nod.

"Keep warm. I'll be back in a minute to even up the scores." I say and Luke rolls his eyes as I head over towards Shane.

"You and Luke gotten close?" he asks motioning me inside and I nod.

"Yeah. We have." I say with no guilt at all.

"That's good."

"Yeah." I say. A small smile makes its way onto my face, but I quickly mask it as we walk into the room with all the other people.

"So what's the problem?" I ask Shane, trying to figure out why I was brought in here.

"Just want you to check them out for a few, then you can go back to combat with Luke." he says and I nod

"Will do." I say and he nods. We walk around and I check everything out. They look good. Really good. I have a team, and we actually might have a shot at winning. I smile at Nick and Drew as they help train the guys and they smirk back at me. I wave as I walk by then head into the other part. I check everyone out and spin catching a knife right before it stabs into my chest.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" a woman cries and I smile shaking my head.

"No problem, just be sure you hit the target next time." I say and she nods quickly then scurries off.

"Nice reflexes." Shane says and I smirk

"I learned from you." I say and he smiles

"Well, the old- you know what it doesn't matter. I learned from you." I say and his smile widens. We continue to walk around and I nod in approval when we reach the front again.

"You did good." I say and he smiles. Without thought I pull him in for a hug and he sighs gently wrapping his arms around me too.

"I missed you. This you." I say moving back some to look up at him.

"This is the Shane that left that night. The Shane, I know you really are." I say then pat him on the shoulder and slide by him. I walk out into the summer air and smile as Luke looks over at me.

"Still warm?" I ask

"Yes mam." he says and I smirk

"Good. It would be no fun to kick your ass if you weren't." I say and he rolls his eyes

"It's cute that you think you'll actually kick my ass."

"I've done it twice. Third time's a charm." I say then drop into stance.

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