He drops the phone on the bed and sighs. “It’s the only way I could keep my brother from finding out about Danielle while I’m training. Having to explain her means explaining far more than my brother can handle.”
“How do you know? Have you tried?”
“Have you told your mom about your dreams?”
I shake my head, annoyed that he has a point. “How does your brother think you got your car?”
“Samson thinks my dad took care of the bill.”
Ugh, do guys ever communicate? “Whatever.” I don’t even bother buttoning my shirt. I just put the medallion back on and tug my sweater over it. Ethan’s standing beside me as I shrug into my jacket.
“Please don’t go, Nara. I’ve tried to explain. I don’t text anyone on it. Just meeting times and stuff.”
I step into my shoes and pull out my keys. “It’s late. I have to go.” Before I walk out of his room, I glance over my shoulder and say, “Oh, your cousin sends her triple-X love.”
Ethan
“Shit!” I dig tense, shaking fingers into my scalp and welcome the pain as I pace the room after Nara leaves. It takes everything inside me not to go after her, to pull her close and press her heart to mine. To show her she can’t deny what’s between us no matter how mad she gets at me. I start to grab my keys and follow her, so I can make sure she gets home okay, but I know I’m the last person she wants shadowing her.
Finally being able to touch Nara, to be given that trust and have it yanked away, makes my chest ache. Her floral smell still floats all around me, the softness of her skin tingles my fingertips and her sweet taste lingers on my lips, but it was watching her react to my touch that made the whole experience with Nara pure heaven.
I never wanted it to stop. Fucking hell.
Now that I’ve had a taste of a deeper intimacy with Nara, I want her so bad I’m shaking with need. I clench my hands to keep from punching my bedroom wall and try to shake off the pent up yearning that’s making it hard to focus my thoughts.
Being unable to think straight isn’t a good place for me to be while hunting demons. It almost got me killed tonight, but I managed to keep my head in the game. Even though we didn’t find Harper at that club, I learned a couple other places she might hang out, thanks to a guy who wishes he’d never met me. At least there’s one less demon roaming Blue Ridge now.
I should feel good about that. A part of me acknowledges the accomplishment, but another part resents feeling conflicted and tense about all this Corvus stuff. Maybe once my full memory returns, my body won’t feel like it’s in a constant state of tug-of-war. As soon as Nara left, my entire frame started tensing up again. It’s like she unwinds me somehow. I don’t know how to put to words the calming effect she has. All I know is…I hate feeling like the darkness inside me is gaining major ground. I thought I had it firmly shoved away, but it seems to be claiming more territory lately.
You really didn’t think you’d gotten rid of me, did you? Gravelly Voice laughs heartily. You don’t want to know or accept me. But I’ll always exist. You live in the dark. Own it. Solitude is your only true companion, the only thing you can depend on. Everyone else will just disappoint you in the end.
“Fuck you!” I growl and rake everything off my desktop, sending books, pens, papers, and cups to the floor.
I hate that even an ounce of what he says is true. And since Danielle didn’t mention anything about Corvus having a constant “other” voice talking inside their heads, I never mentioned my persistent pain-in-the-ass companion. I only told her about my nightmares. She’d said when the Corvus spirit first merged with a body, the person would think they were losing their minds; they suddenly saw things that couldn’t possibly be real, they had memories that weren’t theirs and had talents they’d never been taught (at least that answered where my untrained ability to play guitar came from).
Once they learned that their Corvus carries memories of previous hosts before them, they had a much easier time accepting the spirit and eventually adapted. If Danielle knew about the voice, she really would think I’ve lost it. And she’d probably stop training me.
Danielle’s the one who screwed up your reconciliation with Nara. Not me.
Raging anew, I quickly send a text back to Danielle.
Ethan: Do NOT text me any more. I’ll text you when I need to know where to meet.
Danielle: Why is sending you a text suddenly a crime?
Ethan: No more XXX stuff. Nara saw it and flipped.
Danielle: At 3:00 a.m.? Tsk, tsk. Didn’t think she had it in her. Color me surprised.
Ethan: I mean it. No more texts.
Danielle: Training and regaining your memory come first.
Ethan: I’ll decide what’s important.
Danielle: Do you want to die?
When I don’t respond to her text, she sends another.
Danielle: Fine. Whatever.
Tossing my phone down with a grunt of frustration, I quickly pick it back up and send Nara a text.
Ethan: I’m sorry. That wasn’t how it looked. That’s just Danielle being Danielle. Let me know you got home safe. We can talk tomorrow, okay?
I pace and wait ten minutes. When she doesn’t text me back, I send another.
Ethan: I’ll keep sending texts until you answer.
I wait another ten minutes, and just as I start to type another text to her, Nara answers.
Nara: Home.
Just one word. The lack of any other response—not acknowledging my question or even just railing at me—says a lot.
Told you, solitude is your future. It always has been.
Gravelly Voice doesn’t sound gleeful like I expect. He sounds resigned, almost sad, and for some reason that’s even harder to swallow.
“Shut the hell up!” I fall into bed, knowing I’m in for a sleepless rest of the night.
Chapter Sixteen
Nara
Patch’s glass tapping wakes me late in the morning. I yawn, surprised he’s here at eleven as I quickly step to the window to let him in.
“Morning, Patch. What have you been up to?” As he steps onto the windowsill, I glance outside and all traces of snow are gone, and gray storm clouds are brewing. “Wow, it’s warm. This weather is so weird for December.”
The bird’s presence reminds me of Ethan and how angry I was last night. I’m still not happy, but while trying to fall asleep, it occurred to me that he was using “guy logic” in his need for a way to communicate with Danielle. I consoled myself with the fact that he’d kept his contact with her on his phone to a minimum in the past and finally fell asleep, just frustrated that our night together had been ruined.
Of course, all night long I dreamed about Danielle in the forest again. Then the scene switched to her standing next to my desk in my bedroom while I’m trying to translate a document. She flicked her long, gorgeous hair over her shoulder and lectured me about Ethan’s training schedule. I might have woken up less upset with Ethan, but Danielle was definitely on my “I’m going to deck that girl sometime soon” list.
Patch hopping onto the back of the seat near the window pulls my mind out of the clouds. The raven pauses and turns his head back and forth, glancing around the room as though looking for something.
I smile at his head twitching. He’s looking for Houdini. “Houdini’s having a sleepover.” I sweep my hand around the room. “See? Not here. You don’t have to be on your guard as much today.”
Patch bobs his head and makes several tok, tok sounds, then flies over to my desk to wait for me to give him some paper to shred.
I turn on my laptop and while it’s booting up, I ball up a piece of paper and set it in front of him. When he looks at me like, “What am I supposed to do with that?” I snicker. “Since you ditched me for a while, I’m challenging you today. You’ll have to figure out how to unravel it before you can shred it.”
While Patch pokes his beak at the new object before him, I slide Freddie’s book out from betwe
en my mattress and think about Fate’s statement: The answers start and end with the book. Go back to its creation.
I flip through the pages, my brow furrowed as I read through it front to back once more. Unless the book is written in some kind of code, I’m not really sure how the pages on raising a raven can help me. Sliding my necklace over the spine, I watch the hinge pop open, then pull the necklace off so the hinge closes.
“Whoever came up with this design to hide that scroll was genius,” I murmur.
Patch looks up from batting the ball of paper on my desk with his foot, letting out a frustrated gronk. “Fine. I’ll give you a hint,” I say and pull one corner of the paper out of the ball. As soon as I set it down, Patch dives onto the corner, attacking it in full shred mode.
I laugh. “You’re welcome for unlocking the puzzle for you.”
The raven completely ignores me, intent on his mission of destruction.
As my gaze swings back to the book, an idea forms. I quickly thumb to the front, looking through the acknowledgements and past the author and illustrator names to a listing for the book designer: Madeline Strauss.
I start to type her name into the Internet search engine when a breaking news alert pops up on my screen.
Train derails in Paris, France. Cars torn in half. Hundreds are injured. The number of casualties are yet to be released. An investigation is underway as to the cause of the derailment.
I click on the news feed to watch the reporter, but the video instantly cuts over to an eyewitness’s cell phone that caught the accident on camera. As I watch the event unfold, my jaw falls open. All anyone else will see is the train jumping off the track and then ripping apart.
That’s not what happened. I saw a huge ripple between our world and the veil push the train off the track. Then three balls of fighting angel-demon fury tore open the veil surrounding our world like a cheap zipper, ripping the massive train car in half. The opening they tore through, warbled, then it sucked backward, closing instantly as if it had never happened.
The screaming people are oblivious to the whirling dervishes that slam to the ground among the wreckage and smoke. If I had blinked I would have missed it myself; they turned to spirit form that quickly. I’m pretty sure Ethan would have brought it up if he had remembered me telling him that I can see this kind of anomaly happening. I transfer the video to my phone to show Ethan later; three demons coming through the veil at one time seems like a lot. Not to mention it wasn’t that long ago that I witnessed a similar event on the way to school. This can’t be normal for demons to fight their way into our world this often. Otherwise the angels aren’t doing their jobs very well.
Shaking my head, I type in Madeline’s name and discover there are seven Madeline Strauss’ living in England, but none of them appear to have anything to do with publishing. I dig deeper and click on the website of Madeline Strauss, a designer of wooden puzzle boxes.
I glance at the book’s clever concealment department and nod. This has to be her. Clicking on the contact form on her website, I compose an e-mail.
Dear Ms. Strauss,
I recently inherited a certain book with unusual properties that I think you were responsible for creating. I would love to discuss it with you. In case you’re wondering, I also own the necklace that goes with the book.
Sincerely,
Inara Collins
I read over the email once more, making sure that I don’t give anything away, but that I also included enough information so that Ms. Strauss knows I’m supposed to have the book. As soon as I send the e-mail, Patch squawks, demanding my attention. He’s taken the paper ball to the floor, but still hasn’t figured out how to pull it apart.
Laughing, I walk over and pick up the paper. “You want this? You’re going to have to get it.” As soon as I toss it across the room onto my bed, the bird quickly flies over and retrieves it in his beak, then flings it toward me. It lands at my feet and I snicker as I pick it up once more.
“Oh, you want to play, do you?” This time I toss it onto shelving behind my desk, where it lands on a pile of books. Patch starts to fly toward my shelf, but quickly lands on my desk where he makes harsh clicking sounds while bobbing his head up and down. He’s scolding me for putting it where he can’t easily fly to get to it.
I walk over to my desk and decide to try something I never have before. Sliding my hand slowly toward his feet, I say, “If you want it, you’ll have to let me help you.” Patch eyes my hand warily and takes a couple steps back. I inch my fingers closer. “How bad do you want it, hmmm?”
Fluffing his wings, he pigeon-walks toward my fingers, surprising me when he steps onto my hand. Amazed by his trust, I slowly tilt my hand so he knows I’m going to lift it off the desk soon. Patch quickly side-walks up my hand, to my wrist, then he moves to my arm as I raise it off the desk. “See that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
The raven isn’t looking at me though. He’s eyeing the ball of paper and clenching his claws into my skin. “Okay, okay,” I say, trying not to wince. “Here’s your reward for trusting me.” The second I get close enough to the books, he hops off. Watching him navigate over taller books, then shorter ones, fully intent on his quarry makes me laugh. I start to help him over an extra tall notebook when an incoming email beep pulls my attention away. I turn to check it out and quickly open the email, my heart racing.
Dear Inara,
I would prefer to video chat with you if possible. Do you have the capability on your computer? If so, use this email address and log in.
Excited, I send an email back.
Just give me a few minutes and I’ll ping you.
Once I get the video program pulled up, I run a brush through my messy bed hair, then hold my breath while dialing the video call. A few seconds later, a woman with a soft gray bun and friendly brown eyes pops up on my screen.
“Hello, Inara. It’s nice to meet you.”
I smile and nod. “You can call me, Nara, Ms. Strauss. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.”
“It’s no bother, dear, and please call me Madeline. I’d hoped I would get to meet the person whom the book was meant for. It has been so long, I’d almost given up.” Pausing, she nods and smiles at the shelving. “I see you have a friend behind you.”
Patch has finally gotten to his paper and figured out how to unravel it. Now he’s walking back and forth across several books with the paper in his beak, shaking his head like a dog with a prized bone.
I laugh and return my gaze to the screen. “Meet Patch. He’s been trying to figure that out all morning.”
She chuckles, then her expression settles. “I’d like to see the book you e-mailed me about if you don’t mind.”
I retrieve the book from my desk and hold it up to the camera where I turn it so she can see the front, the spine and the back. “Here it is. I was hoping you could tell me more about it.”
She pulls a pair of black half-moon glasses from the top of her head, dropping them to her nose as she leans close to her screen to peer at the book. Glancing at me above her frame’s rims, she says, “You said you have the necklace too?”
“It was a gift from my grandmother. It’s right here.” I quickly lift the charm lying on my desk toward the book’s spine. Once the charm attaches to the symbol on the spine and the metal piece at the bottom of the book pops open, Madeline presses her hands to her cheeks, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“I didn’t know if I would get to see the two pieces come together in my lifetime. I’m so happy to see this, Nara. Truly happy. Please, can you tell me what was inside?”
Disappointment is so strong, my hands tremble as I set the book and necklace down. “You don’t know?”
She smiles gently and shakes her head. “I have no idea. A young, handsome man with unusual eyes the color of a lion’s came to me a long time ago. He asked me to create the book cover and hand paint everything you see on it. He gave me every detail. At the time I thought it was an o
dd request, but I love puzzles so I did as he asked. I truly enjoyed working on that piece. It was by far the most unusual item I’ve ever made. And it also came with such a huge reward and responsibility, I’ve never forgotten it.”
“So you don’t know anything about Corvus then?”
“I didn’t say that.” A mischievous sparkle lights her pale green gaze. “I said I didn’t know what was eventually hidden inside the book. I do know, whatever it was, it’s very important to the Corvus.”
I grip my desk and lean forward in my chair. “You know about Corvus?”
Madeline bobs her head. “Of course, my passion is history. I read everything, and I’ve always had a strong curiosity about ravens. Why do you think I was chosen to create the book? I’d been researching ravens’ existence across various mythos and legends, their presence in battles and in all types of religions. I kept trying to connect the dots, but our world is too large, the references too scattered and seemingly as unconnected as the stars.
“As my reward for creating the book, I was told the story of how Corvus came to be. I’ll bet you didn’t know the real reason the raven didn’t come back when it was sent out from the Ark after the great floods, do you? It wasn’t because he was selfish. The raven was a messenger sent to let the Master Corvus know to get ready to start over.” Flipping her hand, she makes a pffft sound. “The raven had the most important job, but the poor bird has been portrayed as untrustworthy in history, while the dove and its olive branch got all the glory.” Pausing to shake off her frustration, she tilts her head and studies me. “Though I’ll admit, I didn’t expect someone so young to be the one responsible for unlocking the book’s secret.”
I grimace slightly, feeling inadequate for not remembering what was inside. “Can you please tell me more about the Corvus? I’m supposed to help, but I feel like I’m still in the dark. Where did Corvus come from? And do you know anything about the Order?”
Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3) Page 18
