Ethan tilted his head up, but I jerked out of sight, throwing my back against the cool wall. I wasn’t ready for Ethan to know I’d seen him. I needed to process everything first. I took a deep breath and pulled off my heels, then ran toward the senior hall.
Once I ran outside, I leaned against the building to gulp in the cool night air.
I’d just slipped back into my shoes when Mrs. Meacham touched my shoulder, her forehead creased in concern. “Are you all right, Nara?”
Lainey came running up with the police officer, an expectant look on her face. I waved Mrs. Meacham off, saying, “I’m fine,” and then let Lainey drag me in to the school alongside the police officer.
When we reached the bathroom we’d left Harper in, Lainey and I were shocked to find it empty.
While Lainey followed the officer back outside to give him all the information she could about Harper, I started toward the gym to find Matt for Lainey when he came walking out. “Where’s Lainey?” he asked, frowning. “I thought she was with you.”
After I’d explained what had happened, Matt’s expression turned fierce. He started to go after Lainey, but I grabbed his hand. “Please just be there for her tonight, Matt. She’s been through a lot.”
He set his lips in a grim line. “You don’t have to worry about Lainey, Nara. I’ll take good care of her.”
The look on his face said so much more. He’d really fallen for Lainey. “Tell her I’ll call her tomorrow,” I said, smiling my appreciation. I turned to head back inside the gym, but paused when my gaze landed on Ethan standing to the left of the gym entrance.
He had a baseball-sized hole in his jacket sleeve, disheveled hair, a bruise on his jaw, and a couple of splotches of white ceiling and floor tile on his pants that he hadn’t been able to wipe away, but otherwise he looked unharmed. Regardless how I felt about what I’d just witnessed, I was glad he was safe. I stepped close and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Where’d that insane guy go?” I asked, hoping he’d share.
Ethan settled his arms around me, then jerked his chin toward Lainey talking to the police officer. “What’s going on?”
I was disappointed he’d avoided answering my question, but maybe he wanted to talk to me about it in private. Where had he learned to fight like that? What was Drake? And should I feel any sympathy for someone who’d bragged about killing Freddie and had every intent to kill me in an equally brutal way? Did Ethan know why Drake was after me? Where’d he get a sword that looked just like the one on his back? And he was upset with me for holding back? Question after question popped in my mind, making me dizzy, so I focused on answering his question instead.
While I told him what happened in the bathroom, and then explained that Harper was Drake’s girlfriend, he ran his hands over my shoulders and arms as if proving to himself that I was okay. He gently cupped my face where Harper had slapped me and stared at me with a combination of worry, guilt, and frustration as he murmured, “But I only saw the one.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ethan shook his head. “Never mind. So she got away?”
I snorted my disgust. “Yes. What happened with her boyfriend?” I looked him straight in the eyes, my gaze pleading, Please tell me what happened in the hall, Ethan. Tell me the truth!
Ethan stiffened, his jaw hardening. “He’ll never bother you again. Don’t worry.”
He’d told the partial truth at least. I sighed and laid my head against his chest, seeking his warmth and strong, protective embrace. “Unfortunately, I have something he wants, something he’s already killed for once. I don’t think he’ll stop until he gets it. And even if he really is gone, I have a feeling Harper will eventually come looking for it.”
Ethan tilted my chin, his stunned gaze boring into me. “Something he wanted? What are you talking about? What did he want?”
His confusion was sincere. Ethan didn’t know what Drake was after. “It’s a long story that started with me researching ravens as a way to stay connected to you while you were gone, and it ended with me finding out that we’re both connected to ravens. In different ways, but definitely connected.”
Ethan clasped my shoulders. “We’re both connected? How?” As soon as he asked, his face set in determined lines. “I need to know everything that’s happened. This can’t wait, Nara. Are you ready to leave now?”
My questions can’t wait either. I nodded. “I just have to run inside and get my keys.”
Lainey and Matt walked inside the gym with me. While Matt went to tell Drystan that he and Lainey were heading out and to ask him to bring me my keys, Lainey hooked her arm in mine.
I gave her arm a gentle squeeze and frowned at the slight red marks marring her pale neck. “You’ll probably bruise pretty bad, which will freak your dad out. If you don’t want him putting you under lock and key, I suggest scarves until they’re gone. Until they find Harper, we’re going to have to keep an extra eye open.”
“You sound like you’ve been through this before,” she rasped, respect reflecting in her tone. “I had no idea you knew all those moves. Thank you for saving my life.”
Sadly, there seems to be a glut of people trying to strangle me lately. I forced a confident smile. “We both have Drystan to thank. He’s taught me a lot about self-defense. And you wield a mighty two-fisted hook yourself.”
When she snorted and glanced down at her swollen knuckles, I asked, “What did you want to talk to me about in the bathroom, anyway?”
“I was going to ask what Jared wanted, but—” She broke off, then shrugged. “After what just happened, I really don’t care. Matt and me…” Her gaze ate up every inch of Matt as he talked to Drystan on the dance floor.
Her happy sigh made me laugh. “I told you he liked you! Who’d have thought that with all the scheming you two did, you’d end up falling for each other? Ha, I love the irony. I’m so happy for you both.”
She gave me a knowing grin. “I’m glad to see Ethan showed. Though he had to have already been on his way when I sent him the picture.”
“What picture?”
She clicked on her photo button on her phone and showed me. She’d sent the picture she’d taken while she helped me get dressed yesterday, the one of me with the sexy pout. She’d also added the text underneath…This is what you’re missing!
No wonder Ethan came in blazing. I was just shaking my head at her when Matt strolled up and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Ready to go, Lainey?”
As she nodded, he looked at me. “Drystan said he’d bring your keys in a sec.”
After Lainey and Matt left, it wasn’t long before Drystan came off the dance floor. Sweat glistened in his hair and he had a girl hanging on each arm.
He nodded to the girls and said, “I’ll meet you ladies at the food table in a minute.”
I watched them walk off and giggle to each other with an amused smirk. “You so didn’t need a good luck charm tonight.”
“Come with me,” Drystan said in a serious tone. All sense of the happy-go-lucky Drystan he’d projected to his dance partners completely disappeared as he clasped my hand and pulled me over to a café table off to the right of the band’s stage. After he handed me my keys, he slid a chair out, then grabbed what he’d hidden under the table. “You left this behind.”
I stared at the bundle of silver silk in his hand, and my face flamed when I remembered where I’d left my mother’s shawl. I’d been so distracted by Ethan’s heart-stopping kiss that I’d completely forgotten I’d dropped it in the coach’s office. Drystan must’ve found it when he was there with his buddies.
“Thanks,” I said past my gulp of embarrassment, pulling the material out of his hand.
I lifted the shawl and two items unrolled from the silky material, falling to the floor. I bent to grab my mask, while Drystan retrieved Ethan’s.
When I reached for Ethan’s mask, he didn’t release it. My gaze locked with his worried green one as he spoke in a hushed voice, “I don’t se
e him. At all.”
Welcome to my world. I don’t see Ethan either. I nodded my understanding, my mind far away. I was ready to be alone with Ethan. “I know.”
Drystan frowned and shook his head, refusing to release the black mask. “No, Nara, what I’m saying is…I see darkness. Total ’effing blackness!”
Ethan definitely had an on-the-verge-of-eruption vibe I’d never seen before tonight. From the way he acted when he saw me with Drystan, to the fight in the hall with Drake. That fight was beyond frightening—the violence, the powerful strength, the focused detachment as he rammed him with a sword!—but even though I couldn’t explain any of that yet, through it all, Ethan had still thought of defending me and another innocent person. He was still Ethan. Drake was pure evil. Of that I was certain.
I laid my hand on Drystan’s jacket sleeve and nodded. “I’m the light, Drystan. I’ll be fine.”
I started to turn, but Drystan clasped my wrist. “If there’s enough darkness, even light can be completely consumed by it, Nara.”
“Not if it’s the brightest kind of darkness.” I smiled at his baffled look and squeezed his hand, then walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ethan stood just inside the entrance of the gym with his arms folded. A sour look creased his face as I approached.
“I don’t like him touching you, Nara.”
“I know.” I sighed and breezed past, leaving him with nothing to do but follow me out of the entrance and into the cool night air.
Before I’d taken more than ten steps, he grasped my elbow and pulled me to the side. Taking the shawl out of my hands, he said, “It’s freezing out here,” then wrapped it around my shoulders the way I’d worn it earlier.
Once he finished tying it, he said, “What’d he say to you?”
I tilted my head and decided to tell him the truth. “He thinks you’re bad for me. That you’ll consume me.”
Ethan’s gaze narrowed and his jaw muscle jumped as he gazed back toward the gym with sheer dislike.
I ran my finger along the twitching muscle. “Do you plan to consume me, Ethan?”
His gaze snapped back to mine and he clasped my shoulders, pulling me so close I had to crane my neck to meet his darkened gaze. “Not in the way he meant.”
Every bone in my body melted at the heated look in his gaze as he stared at my lips with hungry intent. But instead of kissing me, he pressed his lips tenderly to my forehead and spoke in a desperate whisper, “You totally break me apart, Nara. You’re the only one who has the power to do that. You consume me.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and met his tortured gaze, hoping he saw all the love I felt for him reflected in my eyes. “Take me home and then we can talk.”
* * *
“What about your car?” I asked Ethan as he pulled mine into the garage.
He cut the engine. “I’ll get it later.”
The moment we walked inside, Houdini came charging at Ethan in a full-on attack mode. I screamed out, “No, Houdini!” at the same time Ethan grabbed either side of Houdini’s jowls and pulled him down to the floor.
“Settle, boy!” he said in a fierce, commanding tone.
While Houdini alternately squirmed and growled as if he were confused as to what to do, Ethan glanced over his shoulder. “Hold him for a second while I take my jacket off.”
I grabbed Houdini’s collar. “I’m so sorry! He’s never done this before.” It wasn’t easy holding a hundred-pound straining ball of muscle at bay while Ethan shrugged out of his coat. “Help!” I said when my heels began to skid across the floor. Houdini was growling less, but he was sniffing the air like crazy.
Ethan tossed his jacket on the floor and Houdini yanked out of my hold to dive onto the coat with vicious ferocity.
“That should keep him busy for a while.” Ethan smirked, then clasped my hand and pulled me upstairs as Houdini began to shred the jacket.
“But your coat?” I resisted, freaked out by Houdini’s behavior and the sound of tearing fabric.
Ethan snorted and tugged me along. “He recognized evil’s scent all over me. He’s the perfect guard dog. You’ll have to tell me how you convinced your mom to let you have him.”
Was that an indirect reference to Drake? With one last look at Houdini downstairs, I let Ethan pull me down the hall and into my room.
After he shut my door, I said, “Mom let me get Houdini after I almost got shot.”
Ethan whipped around. “What! Someone tried to shoot you? Why are you just now telling me?”
“I’m not even sure if it was an accident or intended,” I replied, holding my hands up in a calming manner. I shrugged. “Well, at least that’s why Mom agreed. I’ve always wanted a dog, but after someone broke into my room and Gran got hurt, I was determined to protect myself and my stuff, hence…Houdini.”
“Hold on…slow down. Tell me everything from the beginning,” Ethan said just as Houdini began scratching at the door to be let in.
Ethan opened the door and grabbed Houdini’s collar when he tried to bound into my room. “Not tonight, buddy. I’m taking care of Nara.” He pointed to the doorway. “You can guard the door.”
With a quick bark and a look to me, and then Ethan as if to say, “But, this is what I always do,” Houdini held his ground.
Ethan patted his head. “She’s safe.” Houdini looked at me once more, then trotted back out and pivoted in a quick circle before laying down right in front of the door.
Once Ethan shut my door again, I shook my head in amazement and pulled off my heels. “You’re going to have to teach me how you do that. He listens to me really well, but not that well.”
Ethan clasped my hand and tugged me over to sit on my bed, then he grabbed the chair from my desk and set it across from me. As soon as he was seated, he grasped my hands. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”
“Before I tell you anything, I need to know…are things better with your parents now?”
Frustration flashed through his eyes, but he gave a quick nod. “It’s as good as it’ll get.”
That was something at least. I took a deep breath, then said, “You should always trust your instincts when it comes to me. If you get a vibe something’s wrong, it probably is.”
Ethan released one of my hands and jammed his through his hair, frustration written on his face. “Why, Nara? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
I clasped his free hand in both of mine. “I didn’t want to pull you away from your family. I wanted you to have the time you needed to heal, not just for you, but for us. It’s what you said you needed, remember?”
Ethan went pale and I thought I saw remorse flicker across his face before he closed his eyes tight. Then his fierce blue eyes drilled into me. “You always come first, Nara. Keeping you safe is most important to me. Above all else. Do you understand?”
When I looked down and nodded, he clasped my chin and lifted my head so I had to look at him. Running his thumb across my bottom lip, he pulled it from my teeth. “Now tell me everything.”
And so I did. I told him about Fate’s new scare tactics and the guy who attacked me in the library. When I got to the part about my library attacker wanting me to give him my journal and how I flat-out refused to give it up, Ethan looked confused. “What journal?”
“Oh!” I jumped up and retrieved both his leather journal and Freddie’s blue book from under my mattress. Ethan turned the chair sideways as I handed him the journal. “This was supposed to be a surprise for you when you returned, but under the circumstances, I may as well give it to you now.”
Ethan thumbed through my raven journal, while I paced and told him the rest. Well, most of it. Just like I protected Ethan’s secret, I protected Drystan’s as well, making up another reason as to how Drystan and I recovered the books from Drake’s locker. I also left out my training and my lucid dream concerning Drystan—Ethan was jealous enough.
I refused to discuss the news about my dad. I wasn’t
ready to pick open that fresh wound on top of the others I was tearing apart. When I was done, I stopped pacing and cracked open the window for some much-needed air. I was flushed with anger and exhausted from reliving the emotional memories. Telling him brought it all back in its crushing, heartrending glory.
Ethan stood and cupped my face, his expression shattered. “Don’t you ever put yourself at risk like this for me again, Nara. I’m not worth it!”
I clasped his hands, pulling them down. “Didn’t you hear me? Yes, this started out about you, but we’re connected, Ethan. Somehow, all this raven stuff…I was supposed to find that book, my necklace unlocked its secret. Freddie knew I was the one, knew it in his heart.” Tears surfaced when I thought of Freddie. “And now he’s gone because I thought the book wasn’t meant for me.”
Ethan pulled me close and his hand trembled as he pressed my head to his shoulder. “That Drake bastard could’ve done to you what he did to Freddie, Nara!”
I snorted a half laugh. “That’s what Drystan said.”
Ethan stiffened. “I’ll give the guy that. He’s right. As much as I hate to admit it, I owe him for being there for you.”
I pulled back slightly and mimicked Drystan’s accent. “He’s actually a right nice bloke once you get to know him.”
“I hate his accent!” Ethan bit out, his face darkening.
I’d tried to lighten the mood, but my comment about Drystan was probably pushing it. I laid my hands on his chest and had to stand on my toes to press a light kiss to his lips. “You must’ve grown a couple of inches while you were gone,” I teased, trying to distract his thoughts from Drystan. Touching his hair, I continued, “I like your haircut. Now I can always see what you’re thinking.”
With a grim look, Ethan stepped back and sat down in the chair. He rested his forearms on his thighs, then hung his head, saying in a low voice, “What I’m thinking is that I’m not worth your love, Nara. I’m not worth all the effort you went to, the danger you put yourself in for this journal.” He paused, flicking his hand to indicate the leather book on my bed. “I don’t deserve this.”
Lucid, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #2) Page 28
