Read Online Destined for Doon by Carey Corp - Free Book Online Page A

scientist from Dublin and the Australian inventor beside him, wouldn’t need much guidance. Both men carried themselves with a confidence born of knowing their place in the world, not unlike my BFF.
    A part of me used to envy Kenna that insight. The girl had practically tap danced from the womb singing “All That Jazz,” her dream to act hardwired into her DNA. Now I realized that knowing your purpose — even being born with it — didn’t make your path easy. All it did was illuminate the obstacles and motivate you to traverse them with a fiercer determination. But everyone needed to learn that firsthand, including the individuals before me. The most I could do was guide them in the right direction.
    With a solid clunk, a frost-coated mug appeared before me, and I was startled into alertness, my ears tuning back into the conversation.
    “. . . it’s quite clear you lot were Called here for some brilliant purpose or epic love story. But what use could Doonhave for a vagabond, document forger, d’you think?” Analisa Morimoto tucked the silky curtain of her asymmetrical bob behind one ear and searched the table, her dark, probing gaze settling on me.
    The sixteen-year-old was fresh off the streets of London. From what I’d gathered, her home life had been plagued with absentee parents lost to drug addiction and prison. She’d barely survived by counterfeiting various documents. If anybody needed a clean start, it was this girl.
    So I pushed off my exhaustion and attempted a trick I’d learned in college-prep psychology. “So you’re looking for your purpose beyond helping Duncan that one time, and you aren’t sure where you fit in.”
    “Right.” Analisa let out a slow breath. It was like watching the liquid leak out of a water balloon as the tension left her body and she slumped back in her seat.
    I hadn’t given the girl a single solution, and yet her relief was almost palpable, simply because she felt understood. Maybe all those extra courses hadn’t been a waste of time after all, even if I’d never set foot in a college now.
    “Analisa should report to the printing press first thing in the mornin’.” Jamie’s deep voice traveled over me from behind as his warm hands settled on my shoulders. Residual anger from the night before made me stiffen. Our “discussion” had ended with us stalking to our rooms on opposite ends of the castle.
    As his thumbs found the knots in my neck and began to rotate with just the right amount of pressure, I could feel the apology in his touch melting away my irritation. He continued to speak to Analisa. “The MacGowans could use a bit o’ updatin’ in their process.”
    Analisa’s exotic looks transformed into true beauty as she beamed a smile at the boy standing behind me. “Thankyou, Prince MacCrae. Will they welcome help from me, d’you think?”
    Although I knew Jamie was trying to be helpful, I had hoped to get Analisa to come to this conclusion on her own. If it was her idea, she’d be more committed to it. The comforting weight of Jamie’s hands left my shoulders, and he pulled a straight-backed chair over from another table, flipped it around, and straddled it, so close his knee touched my thigh.
    “If they don’t welcome your assistance, let me know, eh?”
    Analisa nodded eagerly as two steaming pizzas were delivered to our table. The group dug into the pies and Jamie leaned over to me, whispering, “I’m sorry.”
    “You’re sorry you were absolutely wrong,” I blinked at him with a syrupy-sweet smile. “Or you’re sorry you’re such a mule-headed jerk?”
    “Er . . . both?” One of his brows arched as the same side of his mouth kicked up in a dopy, optimistic smile.
    I giggled. His goofy sense of humor, a side of his personality that he only seemed to let show when we were together, melted me every time.
    “I’ll take that to mean I’m forgiven.”
    I reached over, clasping his large fingers in mine, and nodded, wondering if there was