See what is…

I woke to Neil’s mouth on mine. He tugged me against him tighter. He was hard and needy. His hands were everywhere. “Mika,” he whispered against my lips, “fly with me.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant exactly, but then it didn’t matter because it was like his words dragged me back down into sleep, this time into his arms. We flew together. How was this possible? I looked up at him. He had wings, black ones, like the ravens. I wrapped my arms around him. I didn’t know how we were flying. Were we asleep?

I couldn’t tell.

“Stop overthinking it, my love, and fly with me.” The wind gushed against me, and I shrieked, joy filling me for the first time in a while.

Neil spun us in a circle. “Hate to lose you, but I have to share.”

What? Neil tossed me in the air and Wayne caught me. He had wings, too. I kissed his chin. “How is this happening? Is it a dream? A memory?”

He dropped down then soared us back up. “Does it matter?”

I supposed it didn’t. I decided just to enjoy the sense of being in the air, free and fast with no cares in the world. I wasn’t even surprised when Wayne tossed me to Gordon. He held me tight. He flew just a tad slower than Wayne, and I thought it might be because he gazed into my eyes so intensely he couldn’t concentrate on keeping up the speed.

“I love you, Mika. I’m so happy you could fly with us today.”

We spun in a circle, and then Gordon passed me to Ren. He shot straight up like an arrow flying into the sky, and I held on, enjoying the feeling of being out of control. I wasn’t in charge of this moment, he was, and I’d never been so happy to let someone lead. Drops of water hit my cheeks. The higher we flew, the more drops I encountered.

Ren stopped, hovering where we were. “Trust me?”

“Always.”

He nodded. “I’d never let anything happen to you.”

I knew he wouldn’t, which was why when he let me go, I was so shocked. I fell toward the ground fast for all of three seconds. I screamed, and Lennon’s arms were around me. Ren rushed down, pausing just next to us for one second. “I told you I’d never let anything happen to you.” He kissed my cheek before he burst back so high I couldn’t follow him anymore.

Lennon and I hovered, and I was glad for the moment to let my heart rate slow. “I can’t believe he dropped me.”

“Only so I could catch you. You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the ground.”

I loved the feel of the sun on my back and the way the wind bumped Lennon and me around gently. He must have had enough of staying still because he slowly flew left before he picked up speed, darting us around.

I was laughing so hard that I eventually ended up crying, tears of happiness flowing down my cheeks.

See what is…

I woke up to the sun coming down on me. The guys slept soundly, no one moving, no indication that any of that had ever happened.

Had that been a dream?

Did it matter?

We pulled into the Sisterhood in the middle of the next day. I didn’t know how everyone else was feeling, but I was short tempered and mentally done. I needed to stop traveling. It was time for me to stay where I was.

No one must have had a vision we’d be coming. There was no one waiting at the gate for us.

See what is…

I kept hearing the true Sister Superior in my head. I would love to know what I had to see. I’d gladly see it already. My bad mood was really out of hand.

Lennon jumped down and opened the gate for us, and we drove inside the Sisterhood. The door to the main house—flying buttresses and all—flung open, and everyone piled outside. I turned my focus from the Sisters I didn’t know to the group that I did. Anne, Daniella—who had covered her mouth with her hand—and Teagan.

If none of them had a vision, that meant divinity wanted this to be a surprise. Neil got off the carriage then helped me down.

Anne walked to me first. I braced myself. I’d broken the rules doing this, and I had no idea what kind of welcome I would get. This might be a fight to stay, but I intended to win. Even if the island wasn’t about to become dangerous, I wasn’t made for hiding in the fog.

She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back even as I digested that it was happening. “Are you okay, Anne?”

“We missed you. And it’s felt so wrong that we basically sent you away blind. You can see right now, can’t you?”

I nodded, pulling back. “I missed all of you, too, and there’s a lot to say.”

Teagan was next. She didn’t hug me, but then she wasn’t as much a touchy person as Anne was. “How? You should be dead.”

I shook my head. “Teagan, you yourself know that every decision, every action, every thought we have determines our future. I decided that wasn’t going to work for me. I decided it was also not going to kill me. I’m strong. Too strong to hide, too strong not to fight. I belong here.”

Daniella had embraced her daughters, and her husbands circled all of them as well. I’d gotten the girls home. That was key.

Teagan must have turned on her power. She blinked several times. “How is that possible? We’re closer to our future now—the one we want. How could that be? When everything showed differently?”

“I have possibilities. Not destiny. They picked me for this job because they want me to do it. I’m a different Oracle. I have my own rules.”

Teagan scrunched up her face. “I really screwed this up.”

“No, I got to experience life as a blind person, which taught me never to underappreciate my sight. I learned I was pretty tough, and I met my husbands’ families. I saw where they grew up. I know where we come from. Katrina is possessed by a shadow. The one that started all this mess. She let it inside of her and…”

Cold moved through me, and I stopped talking.

See what is…

I turned from Teagan and Anne to where Krystal leaned against the doorframe of the house, watching me from inside the circle of Sisters I needed to meet. The guys weren’t really just men. We weren’t really just women. We were spirts. They were birds.

See what is…

There was something about Krystal that was just wrong.

Demons had been humans.

I walked toward her, and she widened her eyes.

“Mika?” Neil called out to me. They would be feeling my concern right now. They ran fast behind me, surrounding me in a half-circle.

I touched her hand. Like Teagan, I wasn’t a real touchy person outside of my guys. I’d touched Krystal before, and I’d paid little attention to it. Had she always been this cold?

Maybe I just hadn’t seen what was right in front of me. “What are you?”

Everyone had gotten silent. I stared at her, not letting her lose my eye contact. This wasn’t Krystal. Whatever was in front of me didn’t belong. What had Reed told her when she asked after powers? They were where they’d always been.

Why didn’t Krystal have her powers? Because this thing wasn’t really Krystal, and although she might have been able to fake it for a while, in the long run, our powers come from divinity and they couldn’t be copied. Not by whatever this was.

She hissed in a breath. “You know, after years of enduring this, it’s going to be a relief. Even if Katrina doesn’t like it.”

Krystal changed shape. I backed up. She was some kind of shifting demon. I hadn’t known there were such things. The guards all moved. There were too many Sisters here unprotected. Wayne grabbed onto me, tugging me even further backward. When my shock lifted, I resisted.

Whatever this was that wasn’t Krystal had taken its true form. I took a deep breath. I wouldn’t show it I was terrified. I wouldn’t indicate how I wanted to vomit at the thought that we had all been living with it for some time, told it secrets, believed it to be one of us.

“See what is.” That’s what I kept hearing. “I see you.” I pointed at it. “You’re a demon.” Okay, I had to do better than that, but I was stunned. Wayne let go of my arm. He understood I wasn’t going to be moved away. “Clara,” I called over my shoulder, “what level demon is this?”

They hated to be labeled. I hadn’t been afraid of the thing on the road, and this one—huge, almost as big as Beelzebub. The size meant the second it moved, it was going to take down the awning on the house, horned, with beady, red eyes and a green body—wasn’t going to know that it rattled me.

Whatever it was, shapeshifter or not, I could manage it. My power jerked to life. How had it managed to hide itself from my abilities? How had Katrina? Those were questions for another day.

“Um, level two, Sister Mika,” Clara called out to me.

I shrugged. “I think it’s a three. The horns are kind of repulsive looking. But other than the hiding in the shadows, I don’t see anything about this foul creature that says two to me. Kind of pathetic actually.”

The demon roared at me and rushed forward. Sisters, most of whom didn’t have powers, and two very talented ones who could probably take it down, too, surrounded me. But this one was mine.

I squeezed my fist together, and the demon roared. That was right. I had it. The demon’s life was tight in my hand. I squeezed the energy right out of the thing.

Until it exploded into nothingness.

“Wayne.” I turned around, knowing he’d catch me when the blackness took me under. I could squish demons in my hand. That didn’t necessarily mean I should.

That was a distinction I wasn’t grasping nearly as fast as I should.

“How did you know?” Gordon whispered in my ear in the darkness. Next to me, Wayne snored. He wasn’t the reason I was awake. I’d passed out, and now it seemed like I might not get any more rest the remainder of the evening.

Outside, ravens cawed. “What are they saying?”

“Question for a question?” Gordon’s tone was teasing, not upset.

Neil rolled over in a cot across the room, muttering something in his sleep. Ren and Lennon were silent, their breathing even. I was glad they could rest. They’d certainly earned the break. Too much had happened and too much time on the run. It wore down even the toughest of souls.

“I knew because she looked wrong. I had a dream where we were all flying together. Since then, I can sometimes see you guys as though you have wings. It changed my sight. I can see what is now. She looked wrong. That’s the best way to describe it. I wish I had known earlier. I… She was here a long time.”

“You knew when you knew. That was the best you could do. No one could ask more from you.” He kissed my cheek. “I had the same dream. Thought it was just me.”

I rolled onto my side. “Did that really happen?”

Gordon’s smile lit up the night. “Maybe it did.”

He kissed me gently. “The ravens are saying something kind of interesting, actually.”

Well, that was just vague enough to be concerning. “Which would be what?”

“They’re saying that you’re pregnant. Are you?”

“I…” Truth was I hadn’t given it a single thought. We used to believe we were infertile, but we understood that to be a lie now. Teagan and Anne had been surprised by their pregnancies. I hadn’t given it much thought, not even to prevent it. I’d never thought I’d live long enough to have this happen.

When had I last bled? I didn’t even know. “I might be, Gordon.”

“All right, everyone up.” His voice traveled through the room. Wayne sat straight up, his covers falling down, and the others jumped to their feet.

“What is it?” Wayne tugged me against him. “Are you hurt? Danger? What?”

“She’s pregnant.” Gordon grinned.

I had not been prepared for this, but I supposed we were all in this together. They started speaking all at once. The gist seemed to be happiness. I took a deep, steadying breath. What was any of this for if not happiness? Small gifts in long days. As long as the world still spun, seeking joy was the reason for everything.

---

Nine months later…

I clasped my sleeping son to my breast, letting him feed. I closed my eyes. His labor, ending five hours earlier, had taught me I really hadn’t understood anything about pain when it came down to it. Magic could hurt, but it was my very human side that had nearly died bringing him into the world.

The local doctor had saved us both. I stared out the window. Divinity wanted me here as the Oracle but apparently couldn’t intervene when it came to a breech baby.

In any case, Warden was born healthy. At the moment, that was about all I could care about. I was pretty sure he looked exactly like Ren, with slightly darker skin. It didn’t matter. We weren’t going to concern ourselves with which one of the guys was his biological father. As had been very clear when they’d each held him an hour earlier, they were all head over heels in love with him.

I’d finally come to understand why the mothers I saw in my visions arrived here so terrified. I’d thought I understood their terror. I hadn’t had a clue. Nothing was going to separate me from Warden. Not ever.

A knock sounded, and Wayne, who had passed out in the chair next to the bed, jumped to his feet. They had all been awake during my thirty hours of labor. The difference was now I was loaded with energy and couldn’t sleep. They, by contrast, were either knocked out or asleep on their feet.

Wayne opened the door, and Daniella stood there. She handed him a drink, keeping her voice down, and left.

He walked over and set down the drink next to me. “She says it’s for the pain and won’t hurt the baby.”

I didn’t have pain yet, but I was sure it was coming. “Thanks.”

The other four shuffled into the room. I thought I’d sent them all to rest, but they’d clearly not listened. “If you stay in here, all of you, then you will wake up every time he does.”

Neil shrugged. “Who needs sleep?”

“Not me.” Wayne yawned before he collapsed in the chair.

Gordon gently cupped the back of the baby’s head before he lay down next to us. “I want to be up if you need anything.”

Ren scooted in on the other side of us. “It’s better for both of you if we all stay in here.”

Lennon squeezed my feet. “Need anything now?”

I was really okay and told him so. I brought my eyes back to the window. The moon was full, and the thunder in the distance told me the weather was about to be bad again. It might be a weather demon. I didn’t know. My powers had been off for the last weeks, while my body got ready for the baby, and they weren’t turning on now.

I held Warden tighter. The winds had changed lately. The ravens were circling faster but not talking to the guards. I thought there was likely more happening than just the birth of my beautiful boy.

Teagan said there was a path to our future—the one we wanted. It was right in front of her, but the details were fuzzy. That meant we could fall off the way and not even know. She cared more about that kind of thing than I did. While I found visions of the future interesting, and sometimes important, I would never base my life on them.

I believed in us. We were strong, powerful women. We had a path to walk and the will to travel it. With our five loves watching us, helping us, loving us, we could win this war and defeat the evil that would rule us. I loved my men fiercely. We would have a future. I would make it happen.

I was the Oracle, and although I’d had to be blinded to do it, I’d finally learned how to see.

---

Thank you so much for reading Destiny Be Damned (Last Hope 3). If you have a second and could leave a review, I would be so grateful. Reviews really help authors. If you would like to stay in touch, please join my newsletter or come to my Facebook page dedicated to Last Hope and meet other fans of the series (I hang out there too sometimes). And please be on the lookout for Compassion Be Damned (Last Hope 4) coming soon!