The Sons of Destiny (The Reluctant Hero Trilogy Book 3) (6 page)

CHAPTER TEN

Daniel

Daniel looked out the window of his father’s private jet and watched as the world quickly passed him by. It seemed almost prophetic.

He was allowed to roam around the jet once they took off, because he couldn’t go anywhere, anyway. No words were exchanged between his father and him after they took off.

Every once in a while, he would glare at the older DiBenedetto with contempt. Daniel wanted to see some emotion come out of him, but only saw a stoic, proud man. He wanted to go over and hit him until his hands were broken and bloody. Something to get rid of the frustration. But then he would feel guilty for thinking such thoughts.

The henchmen paid him no mind either. They focused all of their attention on watching TV or keeping an eye on Dante.

Daniel continued to look out the window as his mind wandered back to Magena, wondering where she was. He assumed that she would have awakened in the same kind of facility that he had, with the same tubes sticking out of her. He hoped she wasn’t in the same one he had been in. His father would have no use for her and she would therefore be discarded.

He had to believe that she was still alive. Perhaps she escaped from wherever they were before. If so, her chances were hopeful.

Still, there was no clue as to where he had been imprisoned. His father loved proving he knew more mysteries than Daniel. Especially now.

The fact that Dante underestimated his son was actually beneficial to Daniel. He now knew he was monitored while with the fake
Jezebel
. He also knew that his father must have already found out what happened there, or else he would have his own son interrogated.

Daniel remembered all the times he tried to get his father’s attention while growing up. Then, when he couldn’t do it by excelling in any one area, he got Dante’s attention by creating chaos wherever he went.

When he realized that his father didn’t seem to care about him, he used his mother as a role model. He smiled when he remembered how loving and nurturing she was. But even she stopped growing as a human being. He also remembered that his father managed a way to destroy her as well.

Shaking his head to clear the painful memories, Daniel decided to plot his next course of action. He knew his father had something to do with where he was and since he knew him so well, he guessed Dante was looking for something unique that would make him a lot of money.

He strained to think of any of Dante’s contacts that would have been able to come up with something that unusual. While traveling in the different world, he felt strange all along. It was as real as it now felt for him sitting on the jet.

Then his imagination got the better of him. Maybe he wasn’t really on a jet and maybe his father wasn’t sitting across from him with a smug grin. Either way, he knew that this had something to do with the weird, phony
Jezebel
. His best guess was the jewels, but the treasure supposedly didn’t really exist. There was no way the treasure could ever be real.
Was there?

That had to be Dante’s diversion. Daniel felt a cold chill go up his spine that told him he was on the right track. He had felt confident that his father was trying to take a non-existent treasure from a Biblical villain who lived a long time ago.
But it is more than that,
he realized
.

“The treasure is real. You want the jewels.” He looked at his father with a smirk. “Good luck with that, Dad,” he said smugly. “You’ll never succeed.”

Dante DiBenedetto had a surprised look as he looked at his son with contempt. “Really? The fact that you, someone who has never accomplished anything, has enough gall to tell me that something I’m doing isn’t going to work, is ludicrous. That is, of course, considering that you even have a glint of what I’m doing. I know you’re not as stupid as you pretend to be, but you could never hope to fully understand the concept of what I’m trying to do.”

Daniel stood and faced his father. He knew that Dante hated anyone trying to confront him on even ground. Because Daniel knew it was why he did it.

He watched as Dante stood up and walked up to him. All the while, glaring at him with anger in his eyes. “
Son,”
he said, sarcastically. “A son is supposed to want to follow in his father’s footsteps. You’re supposed to do what I did at your age. I followed my father, who followed his father before him. There is no time for complacency, Daniel. Despite what some fraudulent psychics say, we only get one shot at life. You can’t get to the end feeling accomplished, without stepping on the backs of everyone who can give you an advantage. If you don’t do it to them, they will do it to you. I hate to be cliche, but
kill or be killed.”

Daniel clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “How can you talk like that?”

“You want to hit me.” Dante laughed. “Do it! Come on! I give you my word that I won’t sic my men on you and I won’t hit you back! I just wanted to finally see some backbone from the spineless jellyfish that I spawned! Do it!”

Daniel stood still, ready to jump, but did everything in his power to control his urge. He knew that his father didn’t like to lose. If the son did beat the father, then the henchmen would beat the son. Daniel was certain of that.

Instead, Daniel just grinned knowingly and sat back down. “Not yet,” was all he said. “Not this time, Father. But some day, you will cross the line.”

Dante smirked and walked back to his own seat. When he sat down, he was breathing hard—real hard. He gasped, and he grabbed his chest. Daniel could have sworn he saw beads of sweat on his father’s brow. But he did not offer to help. Dante had brought it all on himself.

He was a greedy, mean, old man. He liked the man he had become and really believed Daniel was a wimp. He would never change.

Daniel did not feel a need to impress his father. He had gone to Sunday School a few times as a child, and he believed that the stories he heard there were true. Wicked King Ahab and his heinous wife, Jezebel were portrayed as evil.

God did not hesitate to honor the good men, like Abraham, Moses and David. Everything the Bible said about Jesus had the ring of truth in it.

Daniel looked up and saw that the plane was landing in an open field. A Bedouin camp was about a mile away, over by a barren hill. They had not even left Israel. He prayed, “Forgive my father.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Magena

Magena disliked having to ride in the back of the van with no seats. Outside of the odd number of duffel bags to cushion her when sharp turns were made, there was nothing else to secure her in one place for too long.

It wasn’t long after that she met the third Son of Destiny, Simeon, when he, Levi, and Reuben rushed her back into the van.

Simeon was out of place with his two brothers. They all had neatly trimmed hair. He had long, black hair which needed a comb badly. He preferred dark green clothing and always wore sunglasses.

She didn’t really have a chance to talk to him, because as soon as he appeared, he belted out, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” He had a stack of papers that he threw at Levi and then climbed in the van.

Simeon looked around constantly, as if he thought someone or something was going to surprise him. He obviously didn’t like surprises. His energy level was off the charts. From the look of his fingernails, he used them as a snack.

His driving was no different than his appearance. “Does Simeon have to drive that fast?” Magena asked, with great concern in her voice. Mostly, for her own safety.

Reuben looked back at her and Levi sitting in the back from the passenger seat and sighed. “Sorry.”

Levi smirked. “I know this must be very fast paced, compared to what you’ve been through, but we need to get
there
as fast as we can.”

“Can we get there without crashing?” she miffed. “Where the heck is
there
, anyway?”

Levi shook his head while he organized the mess of papers that Simeon threw at him. “Our intel found where we think Daniel DiBenedetto is being held.”

Her eyes shined with a glimmer of hope. “Why didn’t you say that to begin with? Let’s get this van moving!”

Levi forced a smile. “I thought you might be interested in that.” His smile faded almost as quickly as it appeared. “We also have information that Daniel’s father is headed toward the physical location of where you appeared when you left the virtual world.”

Magena was shocked. “How on earth did you get that information since I’ve been here?”

Levi locked eyes with her. “What do you think all of these papers are about? Intel from all over the world. We have to weed out the secondary information from the important. The Sons of Destiny are more than just Jacob’s sons, Magena. We are an intricate organization with ties in just about every major country on earth. We have spent decades—no, a century—building contacts and keeping an eye on the world. We look for situations pertaining to the Biblical artifacts. You would be surprised what we have accomplished since our inception.”

Reuben had a Cheshire grin. “God bless Jacob and our mother, Leah.”

Levi narrowed his eyes at him, as Magena looked even more puzzled. “Why your ancestral mother?”

“She gave birth to six of the original sons of Jacob. The Sons of Destiny are all pure descendants of them. We will guard Israel from impurities in the bloodlines.”

“So what is Daniel’s dad doing in Israel?” Magena asked as if she already knew the answer.

“Don’t you get it?” Simeon exclaimed from the driver’s seat. “This isn’t a video game anymore! DiBenedetto is as twisted as they come and it ain’t getting any better!”

“Simeon!” Levi yelled. “Will you please just concentrate on driving? I would like us all to get there in one piece!”

“Why do you let him drive?’ Magena whispered to Levi.

He just shook his head as he put his index finger to his mouth, then carefully glanced at Simeon. “He wants to.”

She placed her head in her hands and sighed. “If your network is so powerful, are you sending someone to intercept Daniel’s dad?”

“Not now.” Levi shook his head. “As big as our organization is, we have people occupied with other important situations. We can’t spare the manpower.”

“Well then, what’s the worst that can happen?” she asked again, thinking she knew the answer.

Levi exhaled. “You were in direct contact with the virtual world and brought out something with you on your clothes that had originated within the other world. Daniel is now out there and vulnerable, which is why we have to get to him first—before the Jezebel figure, Yasmeen, calculates how to get out into the real world. She could bring the Hive of Baal with her and have her own army.”

“That’s not the worst part,” Reuben added. “Tell her about it, Levi.”

“I was planning on it,” Levi returned with a huff.

“Tell me what?” Magena asked with desperation. “What now?”

“We anticipated that something or someone that originated in the virtual world might make it out into the real world,” Levi said with some reluctance. “We have a section of the Sons that specifically researches the
what ifs
of the alternate world. Once we realized what was going on with the virtual world, several of our members created many possible antidote scenarios—just in case.”

He took in a deep breath and continued. “If Yasmeen comes out to our world, there’s a possibility that she will be endowed with amazing abilities. One of which…”

“One of which?” Magena asked, impatiently. “What one?”

“One of which could quite possibly be the ability to absorb… Satan’s thoughts. Possibly even his actions. In fact, she might be able to consume the entire entity emitting the evil, if it’s strong enough.”

“What are you talking about?” Magena narrowed her eyes as her jaw dropped. “Am I now in another virtual world?”

“No! You’re in the real world, sister!” Simeon blurted out.

“Are you kidding me?” She moved closer to Levi. “Then is what you’re telling me about Yasmeen is that she’s going to become some sort of
super villain
?”

Reuben chuckled.

“I wouldn’t put it like that, Magena,” Levi replied, while seemingly trying not to freak her out any more than he had to. “Jezebel was evil during her time on earth. Over the centuries, her evil spirit grew, while her body lay dormant.”

“How could Yasmeen portray her if she lay dormant?” Magena demanded answers with her tone. “Also, wasn’t she eaten by dogs?”

Levi nodded. “Yes. That’s what the Bible tells us. Please remember that there could have been more to her death than we actually know. For some reason, an evil spirit was attached to Jezebel. Since the devil had her soul, he might have found a way for her demon to possess someone else after her death. Now mind you, that person being possessed would have to be at least a 99% match for compatibility. It could have taken decades to find someone that compatible.”

“Dante invented someone compatible. Yasmeen,” Magena said quietly, with a tone of realization. “She could have never been found in the real world, but she was found in the virtual world, and now she is possessed. I was just starting to try to understand what was going on in the virtual world. Now I know. Dante is possessed.”

“We agree.” Levi scratched his chin. “We believe that Yasmeen was created especially as a vessel to house the demon of Jezebel. We don’t think that DiBenedetto had any idea about that when he got a hold of the program, though.”

Magena sighed. “He thought he was in control, when it was actually the demon who created the program who was in control.”

The van passed some military-looking men that were dressed like Levi and Reuben. They were marching like soldiers. “Who are those guys?” Magena asked.

“They are part of our organization,” said Levi. “There must be trouble up ahead, or they wouldn’t be marching.”

The van, suddenly, came to a screeching halt. “Oh, no.” Simeon was unusually quiet after he spouted those two words.

“What’s wrong, Simeon?” Levi asked, with great concern in his voice.

“We’re here,” Simeon answered.

“What’s wrong with that?” Levi responded, while making his way to the front of the van to look out the front windshield to see what his brother saw.

Simeon shook his head, and said, “Somebody was here before us. From the looks of things, it wasn’t anyone on our side.”

They both jumped out of the van. The other Sons of Destiny arrived on foot.