It is the end of days…

With no memory of how she left one existence for another, Mika spends her days serving those who need her without the benefit of guards. Unlike her fellow Sisters she was never in love with any of those who ever worked with her. Until five contractors show up to fix the Sisterhood.

They are not battle ready…

Neil, Wayne, Gordon, Ren, and Lennon are not trained guards. They have no idea that their destiny is to be with Mika, far away from the island paradise where they were raised. But when she needs them, they will discover what they were born to do and awaken a destiny in Mika that will change the world forever.

Mika has no guards, they have yet to find her. When five contractors come to work on the new sisterhood she entertains thoughts of them being her guard, but she knows it isn’t so, they have no training and come from a place that has no demons.

This is a favorite scene as Neil describes the island where they grew up.

“Mika is fine. We don’t hold to formality here. Part of leaving the place we used to live was trying to start anew. I know people get hung up on the Sister part, but I’m fine with Mika.” I’d never said that before. I didn’t realize I meant it until I spoke the words.

“All right, Mika then. I can’t accept your umbrella. If I take it with me, and you need to go out, you’ll get wet.”

This was like a math problem they’d given us in early schooling. I knew how to solve this problem. “Come with me. I’ll walk you over with the umbrella and then walk myself back.”

“I can’t have you walking back out there alone. It’s storming.”

I stiffened my back. “I fight demons and things that crawl through the dark. A little weather is not something I need to concern myself with. Come on.”

I was lying, of course. Demons scared me a great deal less than thunder and lightning. I had never been able to make sense of it, but fear was a nonsensical thing. He ran after me, catching my arm. “At least let me carry the umbrella while we walk together.”

Since he was taller, I supposed that made sense. Neil smelled clean, as though he’d recently washed up with soap, and I liked the scent for the few seconds I could before the musk of the rain soaked world overpowered me.

Neil held the umbrella over both our heads, tugging my shirt a little to draw me closer to him. We were both still getting a little wet. He shouted above the pounding rain, “I should never have agreed to this. You have no business being out here. A little water doesn’t cause me any trouble. Why did I say yes?”

“I didn’t really give you a choice.” That was how I dealt with people. It was easier to get what I wanted done rather than spend a lot of time obsessing and questioning it. “What did you mean you don’t have experience with demons?”

Everyone did. It was the world we lived in… the end of days. We’d been taught there wasn’t a family alive who hadn’t lost someone to possession. The nobility hid their possessed relatives better, while the poor suffered in greater numbers publicly.

“We’re from a little island no one around here has ever heard of. It’s off the Western Coast, called Peter’s Isle. We don’t have demons there.”

Now, that was just not possible. “Can’t be.”

He shouted to be heard, but after a few seconds it was like I could only hear him, as though all other sound stopped. “I know it sounds like I’m making it up. But I’m not. We’re a small but steady population of people. Craftsmen. Carpenters. Plumbers. Farmers. Just about everything you really need to survive. And we don’t have demons. We’re very protective of the place. It’s hard to get to. My mother used to say we didn’t have demons because of this giant oak tree in the center of the square in the main part of town. That somehow the oak protected us. Now, I know that’s ridiculous, and I can’t really explain it. But there it is. No demons. No possessions. Three times a year we go onto the mainland and sell our wares. There is a shuttle that goes back and forth daily so if there are small things that have to get done, they can get done. People never try to come who aren’t already there. I know it doesn’t make sense, but it is real. We’re not the only ones either, we know of three other places that are demon-free. They just are. Little enclaves, I guess.”

I listened to him speak as though he’d just informed me the planet was flat and gravity didn’t exist. I knew better than to believe this, yet I was also absolutely sure he was being honest. Above our heads, in the storm, the ravens cawed. I gritted my teeth. They needed to go find Guards. I couldn’t understand them, and cawing at me was useless. The spirits danced around—Neil would not be able to see them—and yet they said nothing, always watching me and never telling me what I was supposed to be doing.

I stopped moving. We were under the awning of the guesthouse. Neil lowered the umbrella. “Neil.” I had to know the answer to a very simple question. It seemed the most important thing in the world for me to find out. “Why are you here then? If you had this beautiful place with none of the filth, none of the evil, none of the things that are destroying us all day by day, what are you doing here?”

I couldn’t believe how easily the words flowed off my tongue. It was nighttime. I didn’t know him, and it was raining. Somehow, I was still able to talk to this man despite all of those factors that should have made it impossible.

“The five of us have always known each other. It would have been impossible not to; the island isn’t that big. We all went to school together. We just all felt one day that it was time to see the world. See what else there was. Meet people.” He cocked his head to the side, looking at the sky for a second then back to me. “My mother called it wanderlust. I don’t know how else to explain. We just had to leave. We’ll go home, eventually. I know we will. For now, we’ve been able to help a lot of people who just don’t have the skills we do.”

That was lovely. I hoped they didn’t live to regret that decision. If I had somewhere safe to stay, I’d never have left it. I’d been born to battle, even chosen it—or so Teagan, Daniella, and Anne told me. “Goodnight.”

He handed me the umbrella. “I’m going to stand here and watch you walk back.”

They really raised men to be kind on his Peter’s Isle. If there were no demons there, then I would never see it. Still, I liked thinking such a place existed.
Royce, Rebecca. Destiny Be Damned (Last Hope Book 3) (pp. 14-18). Kindle Edition.

There is much going on in this book as Mika discovers what she has been denying is true. She is the Oracle. She will go through her dark time to come to the light.

Tense and action-packed, Romantic and Sizzling, Emotional and Satisfying, don’t miss this installment of The Last Hope Series.

5 Contented Purrs for Rebecca!

Rebecca Royce

As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework. I hope, these days, that my parents think it was worth it.

I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. I live in Austin Texas where I am determined to eat all the barbecue in town.

I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I’ve been told I’m a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you’ll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.

In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.

I’d love to hear from you!