“What?” Lainey’s eyes go wide as she presses her hand to her throat. I can tell by her expression she’s reliving Harper choking her in the bathroom. “What’d she say? What’d she do? Did you—?”
“Lainey.” I grip her wrist. “If you see her, don’t confront her. Run as hard and as fast as you can in the opposite direction.”
“But—but she needs to be arrested for attacking us.”
I squeeze her wrist tight. “Please, Lane. Trust me. She’s changed her hair, her clothes, her entire look. It’s like she’s gone truly crazy. Her eyes are even wilder than they were that night in the bathroom. Maybe she’s on drugs or something. If you see her, run. When you’re far enough away, call the police. Got it?”
When Lainey bites her lip and nods, I pull a piece of paper from a slot in my backpack. “Can you do me a huge favor? Do you think you can get your dad to look up who this phone number is registered to?”
Lainey glances at the paper I slip into her hand, then shifts her brown gaze back to me. “Where’d you get this?”
“Off Ethan’s cell phone.” Unfortunately I couldn’t get Ethan’s phone to power up, which meant I couldn’t check for photos—the first thing I’d planned to do. I had to resort to using the SIM card reader. All I could get from the SIM reader were his contacts: Samson, me, and one other number I didn’t recognize. It had to be Danielle’s. “I’m hoping that number will lead me to the person who can tell me where he’s been,” I tell Lainey.
Her eyes widen. “So it really is true. He can’t remember anything from the past few weeks?”
I shake my head. “Pretty much. He’s had glimpses about us at the dance, but nothing that explains where he went or what he did while he was gone.”
She holds up the piece of paper, eying the number. “Well, obviously he was in D.C. and not Michigan.”
My heart pinches at the reminder. “Maybe. But that’s probably a cell phone, which means the person who owns it can live anywhere. That’s why it’s important to learn the name and hopefully the address tied to the number. It’ll at least give us a place to start.”
“What did Ethan say about it?”
“He doesn’t know I found his phone, and until I can get a solid answer, I don’t want to get his hopes up. Can you keep this just between us?”
“I’ll see what I can do. Speak of the devil,” Lainey murmurs, then quickly shoves the paper into her jeans front pocket as she looks over my shoulder and calls out, “Hey, Ethan. So glad to see you back at school.”
“Hey, Lainey.”
Lainey backs away, waving. “See you at practice in a couple hours.”
“A couple hours? That’s plenty of time for a trip down memory lane.”
Ethan’s voice is directly above my head. How does he manage to sound both annoyed and pleased at the same time?
“The place I plan to take you is a half hour away,” I answer, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder. Grabbing several books, I shove them into my book bag. “Add the half hour back and time spent there and I’ll be late for my practice if I go today.”
“We can make it back in time. I think you’re bailing because you don’t think you can handle an hour alone with me.”
The teasing confidence in his tone is driving me crazy. “You’re so sure of yourself.” I reach up to grab my locker door with every intention of slamming it shut.
Ethan’s hand lands on mine on the locker door as he whispers next to my ear, “I remembered more last night, Nara. You and me, in a very small, dark closet. I lifted you up against me and kissed you in a place I’ve wanted to for a long time.”
I swallow a couple of times to calm my racing pulse. Even though he’s behind me, I sense his gaze has lowered to my chest. My whole body tingles with the attention. Why’d I have to wear a fitted sweater today?
“I said something about fulfilling a promise.” His fingers flex against mine, tightening. “Despite what I can’t remember, I’m very sure about us, even if you aren’t.”
I close my eyes and try to calm my pounding pulse. His seductive reminder of our time together in the closet yanks at my heart.
“What other promises did I fulfill that night, Sunshine?”
The velvet purr in his tone rocks me all the way to my toes.
At that moment, Drystan’s voice breezes by as he walks down the hall. “Hey, Nara, did you find it?”
I inwardly tense even though I’m thankful for the distraction. I’d hoped to find out more about the number I gave Lainey first before letting Ethan know about the phone. “Yeah. Thanks for the tip.”
Drystan turns and walks backward, a cocky grin on his face. “Anytime. Don’t forget you owe me help on my project.”
Ethan’s fingers tighten on mine and I feel the heat in his palm shoot down my arm. “I won’t. See you later.”
As soon as Drystan turns the corner away from the locker hall, Ethan asks, “What’d he help you find?”
Pulling my hand from under his, I retrieve his phone from inside my backpack. “Your cell phone. He suggested checking your car. I remembered which body shop your brother told me they’d towed your car to, so I searched inside. It’s pretty damaged. It kept shutting down when I tried to turn it on.”
As I start to hand it to him, he shakes his head. “Trash it. You would’ve been the only reason I got a phone. Now that I’m back, it’s useless to me.”
“Don’t you want to see if there’s any information on it?”
He shrugs. “You said it’s damaged.”
“Maybe you can get it working. Or at least get it to stay on long enough to check who you called or texted other than me.”
“I guess it’s worth trying.” As he tucks the phone in his back pocket, his gaze lands on the end of the hall where Drystan had exited. “He gives off a vibe that makes me think there’s more to him than he lets on.”
I’m pretty sure Ethan can sense Drystan’s psychic vibe, even if he doesn’t know that’s what he’s sensing. Drystan revealed his ability to find things to me in confidence, so I’m not going to say anything about it. “Drystan has layers, that’s true, but he’s a good guy. He watched out for me when everything went nuts this past month.”
Ethan tenses. “How exactly did he watch out for you?”
May as well get this out of the way. “He’s been teaching me self defense.” I slam my locker shut, then turn back to him. “If you still want to go, we need to go now, but we won’t have time to linger.”
Distrust flickers in his eyes. “Has he hit on you yet?” Before I can answer, Ethan shakes his head. “I see the way he looks at you.”
I roll my eyes. “Calm down. It’s just self-defense.”
His jaw hardens. “Don’t think for one minute he’s teaching you self-defense just to be nice. He’s pushing my buttons by eyeing you like you’re already his.”
He’s so intense my insides quiver, but my inner feminist shouts for me to defend her honor, so I poke him in the chest. “I’m not anyone’s possession, Ethan. I have feelings and emotions and a mind of my own.”
Ethan hooks his finger around mine and bends close. “I’m always aware of your strong mind, Sunshine. As for your feelings and emotions, I want to be the center of them.”
My heart ramps. He’s making it hard to think straight, but one of us has to keep on track. “Before you left you said we couldn’t move forward until you worked things out with your parents.” Let him assume that’s where we left it. If/when he remembers everything that happened between us Saturday night, I’ll deal with the truth then, but I’m not opening up any more crevices in my heart. He’s wedged himself in so deep, it feels like any second the sensitive muscle will explode.
“I was an idiot, on all fronts.” His deep blue gaze searches mine for a few heart-stopping moments, but when I don’t disagree with him, he steps back with a wry half smile. “I suppose I deserve your silence. Let’s hit the road.”
Thirty minutes later, my hands grip the steering whe
el so tight my fingers are numb as I turn into Freddie’s long driveway. I haven’t been back here since that night a couple weeks ago when Drystan and I found the sweet old man’s body all broken and mangled up in that tree. Seeing Freddie’s place again brings the horror and sadness of that night flooding back.
“Are you okay? You look pale.”
Ethan’s deep voice pulls me back to the present. I take a shuddering breath and focus on the house ahead of me, pushing the painful memory to the back of my mind. “Yeah, I’m good. I just want to get this done.”
“Whose house is this?” Ethan asks as I park at the top of the drive.
Without answering, I jump out of the car and rush past the For Sale sign in the yard, heading straight for the backyard. The sight of that sign makes my heart hurt.
“Where’s the fire?” Ethan says, rushing to catch up to me walking through the backyard.
“I just need to get back, that’s all.” My words rush out, sounding strained as I step onto the path in the woods behind Freddie’s house.
Ethan grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop. “You didn’t answer me…whose house is this, Nara? Do they know we’re here?”
I feel like everything’s in slow motion as I glance over my shoulder toward the deck on the back of Freddie’s house. The shattered glass door has been replaced, the yard perfectly manicured. You’d never know a violent murder happened here. “This is Freddie’s house.”
Pulling away, I start up the path. Ethan is right on my heels. “Freddie? Did he live alone?”
I can only nod. The lump in my throat grows bigger as I get closer to Freddie’s raven sanctuary. As soon as I see the thirty-foot-tall enclosure of chicken wire surrounding a cleared area with a few trees inside, I stop so fast Ethan slams into my back.
He grips my shoulders to steady me as I stumble forward. “Are you really okay? Whatever this place is, it’s upsetting you. I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
I don’t look back at him. My attention is frozen on the big oak tree in the middle of the sanctuary and the missing limb where Freddie’s body had been impaled. The police and firemen had sawed it off in order to lower his body to the ground. I blink rapidly, trying to erase the image from my mind, but my hands start to tremble while my legs feel as if the bones are melting inside them. Maybe I can’t do this.
Ethan squeezes my shoulders, then pulls me against his chest. “Let’s leave. This is a bad idea. Seeing you like this…it isn’t worth it. Not to me.”
Familiar sounds suddenly erupt all around us as thirty or so ravens let out guttural calls and begin to swoop down from the trees, flying into the opening in the sanctuary.
The lump in my throat gets larger and tears form in my eyes, but this time for a different reason. The birds are welcoming us. They must have been the ones who protected Freddie’s body that night. His own ravens had been taken to another sanctuary. I can’t understand them, but I hear the greetings in their soft croaks and throaty raaaaacks.
“Amazing,” Ethan whispers in my ear as more birds continue to swoop in by the dozens. The ravens find space in the trees, filling every branch. Others settle on the ground when no more perches can be found.
Once the horde of incoming birds slows to a trickle, one last black bird glides into the sanctuary and lands gracefully on the back of the circular bench surrounding the oak tree. He’s massive and looks so familiar I hold my breath until he turns his one white-feathered eye toward us. “Patch!” I call out, releasing a happy laugh.
He bobs his head up and down, then flaps his wings, letting out a low guttural welcome. The birds’ and Patch’s warm presence is exactly what I need to help me through this.
“Patch? You’ve made a pet of one of them?” Ethan sounds dumbfounded as I pull away and rush inside the sanctuary.
“Hardly,” I snort over my shoulder as I move toward the massive raven. “He just allows me in his personal space. I haven’t seen much of him lately. I’ve missed his crazy antics.”
Ethan starts to follow me, but I hold my hand up. “No, stay out there for now.”
When his mouth turns down, I spread my hands toward the birds. “This is what we’re here for. I didn’t know if they’d come. I’d hoped they would, but…”
Ethan leans against the sanctuary’s doorway, shaking his head. “I don’t understand, Nara. How did you get all these ravens to follow you here?”
I hold my hand out to Patch, who pecks at it. “Hey, be nice,” I say softly. He dips his head and puffs up his neck feathers, making me laugh. “Show off.”
As soon as I turn to address Ethan, he pushes off the doorway, alarm in his gaze. “Nara, watch out.”
A flutter of black appears in my periphery right before Patch lands on my shoulder, his bird feet gripping my jacket. I smirk and fold my arms. “It’s all right. He would never hurt me.”
Ethan’s forehead crinkles. “Ravens can be unpredictable.”
“Not as much as you might think.” I gesture toward Patch, who’s currently swaying back and forth on my shoulder. “Think of Patch…of all those like him as an extension of you.”
He crosses his arms and shakes his head. “I know I have a connection to ravens, but they’re just birds.”
“Oh really?” The one way I know we’ve connected in the past was when Ethan thought about me. I bite my lip and tell myself this is to help him remember. “Think about touching me.”
A sensual smile tilts his lips. “I’d rather do that than think.”
Okay, maybe this isn’t the best idea, considering I’m supposed to be keeping my distance from him. Then again, it’s the only one I’ve got. I purse my lips. “Just do it.”
“Fine.” His lips quirk, and as I see all kinds of sexy thoughts scrolling across his face, the birds begin to titter and hop around as if agitated, but nothing else happens.
“Concentrate.” I huff, setting my hands on my hips. “Walk outside the sanctuary behind the wire.”
Ethan grunts, but does as I ask. “Why am I out here?”
I nod to the fence between us. “Pretend you can see me but you’re unable to reach me.”
“How is this any different from reality?”
“Ethan. Now, think about what you’d do if nothing stood between us.”
I ignore the scowl on his face. “Close your eyes.”
As Ethan let’s his eyes slowly close, I do the same.
“I don’t like this.”
The hurt in his voice pulls at my heart. I can tell he’s talking about more than this exercise.
“Just…think about me, about us,” I say. “Imagine what you’d think about if we could only talk on the phone. What would you wish for?”
“You. With nothing between us.”
His wish, full of heat and want, carries on the sharp cold wind whipping through the bare trees. The longing wraps me in a layer of warmth, tugging at my heart, making my body tingle.
A sudden rush of softness blows past my cheek, whipping my hair around my face. The earthy scent of pine and wintry air fills my nose, and a dark wall of warmth blocks the afternoon sun, providing its own protection against the crisp air stinging my cheeks.
I smile when I feel Ethan’s fingers softly running along my jaw.
“Is this really happening?” Ethan asks from his position on the other side of the fence. “Whatever I think, you can feel it through them?”
“Yes,” I say over the swarm of ravens circling around me. Sighing, I give in to my own pent-up longing and lean slightly into the birds’ wings so Ethan can feel me press against him. Here, with the wall of birds transferring our feelings while blocking Ethan’s view, I take advantage of a chance to be close to him without risking my heart. “Do you feel me?” I whisper.
“Amazing,” he calls over the rushing sound of bird wings, his voice full of awe. “I remember this part. Were we talking on the phone?”
“Yes,” I say again, and try not to whimper when warm hands cup my face and gentle thumbs revere
ntly trace along my cheeks. I inhale deeply and try to draw in Ethan’s own unique smell. I’ve missed him so much.
The cyclone of circling birds pulls in closer until I can feel every part of Ethan’s body pressing against mine, from chest to thigh. It’s so real, I even feel his breath on my cheek, his fingers lifting my jaw.
“I miss you,” I whisper just for my ears.
Ethan’s lips press against mine in a soft caress, then his fingers slide along my jaw, threading into my hair. God, it’s so amazing. I want it to be real.
My eyes flutter open for a split second, but it’s long enough to see that Ethan’s towering over me, his broad shoulders blocking the rest of the sun as ravens continue to fly around us.
I gasp, but before I can take a step back, Ethan hooks a hand on my nape in a firm grip, locking me in place. “Not as much as I’ve missed you, Sunshine.”
“Ethan, that wasn’t the point,” I say, pushing on his chest to create space between us.
As our connection breaks and the birds began to scatter, I’m stunned by the heat and desire swirling in Ethan’s deep blue eyes. “I’ll never accept a substitute for you, Nara.”
My face flushes even as my heart clings to the belief he’s speaking about something much deeper than the ravens; he’s talking about us. I pull out of his hold and take a step back to raise shaky hands to my face. “I think it’s best if we stay focused on getting your memory back for now.”
Ethan’s hand falls to his side, frustration in his gaze. “You’re punishing me for something I can’t remember. I’m still stuck on trying to remember a picnic, where all I can picture is you and me alone in the woods, the warm sun and a blanket. I would’ve finally been able to kiss you in all the places I’ve wanted to for as long as I wanted.”
You did kiss me in several intimate places. It just wasn’t during that picnic. While the enticing memory flickers through my mind, I’m careful to keep my face neutral as I tilt my head. “You’re forgetting that I still have my memory. Regardless if your reasons were to protect me, you still lied and that is very real to me. Let’s keep this—” I draw my hand back and forth between us “—on a friend level and work toward finding answers until you can tell me everything.”
Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3) Page 10
