Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3)

by Michelle, P. T.

  I lift my shoulders, dropping them in defeat. “Knowing that my dad didn’t leave us for some selfish reason is killing me.” I pause at the sound of Mom talking to Mr. Dixon about dinner and his rumbling reply. “And now she’s cooking something from scratch for him? Ugh, holding back the truth makes me want to pull my hair out, but I know it’s for the best right now.”

  Ethan shakes his head. “It seems like nothing in either of our lives is ever simple.” Kissing me on the temple, he nods to the doorway. “Let’s go make the most of it for your mom.”

  I take a breath and nod, but pause to remind him before we head downstairs, “Mom seems to have conveniently forgotten her past cooking experiments. No matter how they taste, happily choke the crepes down, okay?”

  Nara

  Is there an early pep rally? I wonder as I slip through the school’s main doors.

  People are packed in the atrium, all bunched together, their voices raised in a fever pitch. Everyone’s cheering and yelling. Then as I take in their raised fists and aggressive expressions, I realize there’s a fight.

  Apparently no teachers are around to stop this one. I roll my eyes and try to skirt past the rubberneckers, but someone calls my name.

  Casting my gaze over the crowd, I seek the source. Lainey is standing on the square base of one of the columns flanking the atrium. Her arm’s wrapped around its curved surface while she points to the center of the crowd. I’ve never seen her look so frantic.

  Panic seizes my chest, and I move to the north stairwell curving around the outer edge of the atrium, pushing past people lined along the railing so I can see below.

  Matt’s standing to the side on the main floor, cradling his jaw. Danielle’s a few feet away from him, watching Ethan slam Drystan to the ground with a pounding blow. Amusement glitters in her eyes and her arms are crossed as if she has no plans to interfere.

  “No!” I scream, but the crowd is too loud. No one hears me. They’re too busy yelling and encouraging the fight.

  Drystan rolls to the balls of his feet and wipes the blood off his lip. Snarling, he springs up and twists in the air like a bullet, slamming Ethan in the chest with his feet.

  Ethan stumbles back but quickly recovers, then storms after Drystan with clenched fists and renewed wrath in his eyes.

  My backpack drops to the floor as I run down the steps and shoulder my way through the crowd entranced with bloodlust.

  “Stop it!” I call out, but Ethan and Drystan have locked themselves together with one arm while delivering punches anywhere they can with their free fists.

  I don’t know what to do, so I run and jump onto Ethan’s back, yelling in his ear, “Ethan, stop fighting!”

  Ethan stiffens under me, and just as I look up to say something else to calm him down, I clutch his neck tight and cringe. Drystan’s fist is slamming toward my face in a fast downward arc.

  Ethan jerks upright, then captures Drystan’s fist midair, stopping it as if there wasn’t any force behind the flying fist. As a hush rushes over the crowd, a rumble of fury erupts from Ethan’s chest right before he drops Drystan to his knees with a mere flick of his wrist. Bending close to Drystan’s ear, he snarls, “Be glad I’m faster than you. If you had harmed her, you’d be dead right now.”

  A haze of pain blurs through Drystan’s eyes, dissipating the blinding anger that had been there before. He blinks and stares at my face hovering close to his from my position on Ethan’s back. “Nara?”

  When Ethan grunts and straightens, flinging his hand down, Drystan falls back on his butt, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

  “I know you didn’t.” I sigh and release my death hold on Ethan, sliding down his back.

  The second my feet hit the floor, Ethan quickly pulls me in front of him, scanning my face, his eyes full of frustration and concern. “Why would you do that? Are you all right?”

  “What were you thinking?” While my gaze pings between them, Drystan slowly stands and clenches and unclenches the fist Ethan had in a vise hold.

  Ethan narrows his eyes on Drystan. “He made one snide comment too many.”

  Drystan snorts and pushes on his lip to stop the bleeding. “He came looking for it.”

  “Mr. Harris and Mr. Maddox. My office, now!” Mr. Wallum’s furious voice reverberates through the atrium like a sonic boom, scattering the students.

  While Ethan and Drystan head for the main office, Lainey runs up and hugs my neck tight. “God, I thought Ethan was going to kill him.” Pulling back, she touches my face. “Are you okay?”

  I nod as I scan for Danielle. Where’d she go?

  “I tried to stop them.” Matt holds his chin, rocking it back and forth in his hand.

  “Like you could’ve stopped them.” Lainey sighs and turns from me to gingerly touch his jaw. “This has been brewing between them ever since that scrimmage.”

  “I’m just glad Ethan listened to me,” I finally say, adrenaline still pumping through me.

  “He sure as hell wasn’t listening to me,” Matt says. “I got an elbow in the jaw for my efforts.”

  “That’s because you got in the way,” Danielle says in a dry tone from behind me. “If he’d meant to hit you, you’d be hurting a lot more than you are right now.”

  Matt rolls his eyes. “Guess I’ll count myself lucky then. Drystan’s going to feel every punch tomorrow.”

  Danielle snickers. “It could’ve been much worse for him. He’s lucky Ethan held back.”

  Lainey eyes Danielle, her brow pinched. “You talk like you’ve seen Ethan fight before.”

  Danielle brushes her long hair over her shoulder. “I have. We’ve trained together for a while.”

  “You can move like that?” Matt looks at her, awed.

  Lainey shoots a cocked eyebrow my way. “Trained together?”

  “Yeah, Ethan told me he and Danielle took defense classes when they were younger,” I quickly say as I untwist Lainey’s backpack strap on her shoulder.

  “Yep, that’s what we do, defend,” Danielle agrees, a slight smile tilting her lips.

  Before Danielle can say anything to unravel the story I’ve just made up, I gesture to the empty atrium. “We’d better get to class or Mr. Wallum will be after us next.”

  Lainey, Matt, and Danielle turn toward the main hall, but Lainey pauses when I don’t immediately follow. “Aren’t you coming?”

  I nod to my backpack, relieved that it’s still sitting on the staircase. “I have to get my stuff and head to my locker first. See you in study hall later.”

  The hall is quiet as I open my locker and switch out books for my first class. My hands are still shaking, but I manage to hang my backpack, then retrieve the books quickly. As soon as I shut my locker door, Danielle’s standing behind it, her face bent to my level. I gulp back a yelp of surprise, then snort my annoyance.

  “You’re pretty good at making shit up on the fly,” she says, grudging respect in her eyes.

  I’m not in the mood to deal with her right now. “What do you want, Danielle?”

  Straightening, she jerks her head toward the atrium. “You see what happened out there today. This is why you need to break it off. Things were getting heated fast and if you hadn’t stopped Ethan…” She trails off, spreading her arms wide.

  “You could’ve stopped them,” I snap, angry she’s trying to blame me.

  She folds her arms and shrugs. “Corvus take care of themselves.”

  “Then why did you need Ethan’s help to deal with three demons?” I swipe my hand between us as if brushing off a table. “The Master Corvus should’ve been able to wipe them up like yesterday’s crumbs—”

  “Do you want Ethan to die?” she cuts me off, her mouth set in a thin line.

  “Of course not!” I grip my spiral notebook so hard the metal rings dig into my fingers. “What kind of question is that?”

  “A valid one. You’re a weakness, a liability for Ethan. He and I are the same. We welcom
e the rush and the risk, but we also have each other’s backs as equals. You aren’t Corvus. You don’t understand us. We get each other. We’re truly connected at a spiritual level.” Smiling, she leans her back against the lockers and bends her knee, propping her booted foot against the metal. “Did you really think he could resist me?”

  I narrow my gaze and turn to face her. “What are you saying?”

  She tilts her head back and releases a low, throaty laugh, then crosses her arms and rolls onto her shoulder to face me. “You’re so naive, Nara. Ethan and I are more than friends. God, his mouth is pure sin.”

  “You’re lying.” Before I realize what I’m doing, I’ve dropped my notebooks and am shoving her back against the lockers. “Ethan would never—”

  “Lie to you?” She raises her eyebrow and easily unhooks my grip from her jacket, pushing me away like an annoying fly. “We both know that’s not true.” Her chin raises a notch. “Go ahead. Ask him. I’ll even give you a hint. You talked to me that night.”

  Turning, she walks off as if she’s just informed me I have pepper in my teeth, not delivered mind-rending, heart-ripping news.

  Once she exists the hall, I pull my phone out of my pocket and find Ethan’s phone number, then scroll through our history to the date I called his phone and only spoke for a few seconds. As soon as I find the call, I quickly flip through my pictures looking for the one I took of the hotel receipt I’d found in his pocket while he was in the hospital.

  My legs start to shake and I lean back against the lockers, sliding down the cold metal until my butt hits the hard floor.

  The dates match.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nara

  For the first time ever, I skip the rest of my day at school.

  Actually, I skip the last two classes of the day once Lainey informs me in the hall that Ethan and Drystan got ISS (in-school suspension) for fighting. It’s not like I can concentrate anyway. I didn’t tell her about my conversation with Danielle, mainly because I’m holding on to the belief that Danielle’s a lying bitch out to destroy our relationship.

  Either way, whether she’s lying or not, I fear for Ethan’s future. How can the Master Corvus do this to him? What kind of agenda does she have…other than to own him body and soul? The thought burns my stomach.

  I have no idea when I’ll get a chance to speak to Ethan at school, so I get in my car and drive around until I find his. Parking next to the black Mustang, I drape my wrist over my steering wheel and settle in for the final bell.

  After the last bell of the day goes off, I wait until every car in the student parking lot is gone but mine and Ethan’s. When I see Matt’s Jeep return to the school entrance an hour later to pick up Drystan, I open my door.

  Five minutes pass before Ethan strolls out of the school. He’s halfway through the parking lot before he looks up and sees me leaning against his car door. The warm wind blows my hair around my face, but I don’t take my gaze off him as I push the strands out of my eyes.

  Ethan digs his hands into his pockets and picks up his pace. Once he reaches me, his mouth sets in a stubborn slant. “I’m not going to apologize for hitting him. He deserved it.”

  His shoulders are tense, his expression unforgiving.

  I just shrug. “I don’t want to talk about Drystan.”

  Surprise flickers in his eyes, then he smiles and starts to step toward me, but I take a step back. “I’m going to ask you something and I want the truth.”

  Ethan gives me a wary look, then shrugs. “Okay.”

  “Did you sleep with Danielle?”

  He scowls. “Hell no! Why would you ask me that?”

  I press my lips together, thinking about that hotel receipt. “So you’re saying you didn’t share the same bed with her?”

  His shoulders tense for a second, then he shrugs. “Once, while we were out hunting. We ended up having to share a room. We were dead tired and the hotel only had one left.”

  I clench my jaw. “Did you kiss her?” When he starts to shake his head, I hold up my hand. “Truth, Ethan.”

  Ethan rubs the back of his neck, then exhales. “I woke up to her kissing me, but once I realized she wasn’t you, I pushed her away.”

  “But you kissed her,” I say calmly while my body shakes on the inside.

  Ethan lifts his hands. “Technically, yes, but on purpose, no. There’s a big difference,” he says, giving me a pointed look.

  “What the hell, Ethan?” I unwound time to stop Drystan from kissing me before the dance! “Were you ever planning to tell me?”

  “Were you?” he blasts back, fury stamped on his face.

  “What are you talking about?”

  He stares me down, the muscle in his jaw working, and I turn and open my car door.

  “Nara, wait.”

  Ethan tries to clasp my hand, but I shake him off. “Don’t, Ethan.” Closing my door hard, I lock it and refuse to look at him. I don’t let the tears fall until I can no longer see Ethan in my rearview mirror.

  Nara

  I’ve only been home long enough to let Houdini out when my phone buzzes with a text from Drystan.

  Drystan: Today’s the last day of this weird warm weather. Want to meet me in the park for a session now?

  I consider refusing because my emotions are all over the place, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since he and Ethan fought. Danielle was right about one thing; Drystan was lucky Ethan held back. I don’t want him going after Ethan again.

  Me: I’ll change and meet you there in fifteen.

  Apparently we’re not the only ones taking advantage of the warm day. Several groups of people are enjoying the playground and picnic areas when I arrive.

  I walk up to Drystan sitting on a nearby bench. It looks strange to see him in athletic shorts and a T-shirt while the grass is winter-yellow and the only trees with foliage are the pines, but I’m dressed the same way. We’d be sweating like crazy five minutes into training otherwise. The beginnings of a black eye are starting as well as a bruise along his jaw. Otherwise, he looks pretty good for someone who started his day with a brawl.

  “You ready for a run first?”

  Drystan glances up at me, squinting against the sun. “You know I’d never intentionally hurt you, right? I’m sorry it came that close.”

  “I know.” I wave my hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “You don’t want to talk about it?”

  I shrug. “Only to say, ‘don’t ever get into a fight with Ethan again.’”

  He scowls. “Protecting your boyfriend?”

  I roll my eyes and shake my head. “No, I’m protecting you. Oh, and by the way, since you asked me to point it out, what you just now said, that was you being an ‘arse,’” I say before I take off running toward the wooded path. I’ve already entered the cool forest of pines at the backside of the park when Drystan catches up.

  “For the record, I’ve said more annoying things to him in the past.”

  I lift my knees higher to jump over a fallen branch lying across the path. “Apparently you reached your quota. Quit trying to antagonize him.” I glance his way. “In case it wasn’t crystal clear today, he can absolutely pound you into the ground if he wanted to.”

  “It’s all that darkness,” Drystan says on a snarl, clenching his hands tighter as he runs slightly ahead of me.

  We run for another half mile before Drystan veers off into an open space we’ve used in the past. I smile at the slack line he’s left stretched between two trees. “Why is it still up?”

  He lifts his hand. “We haven’t been on it in a while. I thought you’d enjoy doing some tricks on it before I took it down. Then we can work on some defense moves if you want.”

  I point to the tree. “But we didn’t bring the ladder.”

  He bends at the knees and cups his hands together. “I’ll give you a boost up.”

  Grinning, I step into his hand and wrap my arm around his neck to keep my balance as he instantl
y lifts me toward the slack line several feet above our heads. My fingers grip the inch wide flexible nylon, then I curl into a ball and try to pull myself up, but it’s so springy and wobbly, I just end up upside down with my hips and thighs holding me on the line.

  I laugh at my ineptness. Drystan would have monkey-climbed up on the thin line in five seconds flat. “This didn’t work out so well.”

  Drystan’s grinning like he’s having a hard time not laughing. “I think you’re doing great.”

  “Har, har. Tell me how to get up on this dang thing.”

  Moving beside me, he bends his knees slightly so his face is close to mine. “Straighten your body as much as you can. Pretend a line has been drawn from your head to your toes if you have to. I’ll make sure you don’t tip over. Once you’re ready, I’ll roll you over on the line, which should end up at your bum.”

  I hold my arms stretched out. “Like this?”

  “You have to straighten your legs too.” Grabbing hold of my thigh, he says, “Go on. Straighten. I’ve got you.”

  I take a deep breath and as I slowly uncurl my body, the line bounces. Drystan moves under the line and presses a hand to my stomach, keeping me balanced on both sides.

  “I’m going to roll you now. You ready?”

  When I nod, he starts to turn me. As I flip onto my back, the loss of balance sensation is so strange that it makes me instantly want to bend. As I yelp and start to curl inward, Drystan says, “Make yourself stiff.”

  I throw my arms out to the sides, making a big T. Suddenly I’m lifted off the line and shifted until I feel it pressing against my butt.

  Drystan moves his hands to my lower spine and the back of my thighs. “Now you can start to sit up. Do it slowly and with as little movement as possible. Remember to keep your balance centered.”

  A few seconds later, he moves out from under me and grins, spreading his hands wide. “You did it.”

  I grimace. “You really don’t expect me to bounce my way to a standing position on this like you do, right?”

  He steps forward and grabs my dangling ankles. “Why not. You’ve got the ability. You just lack the confidence to believe you can do it.” To prove his point, he pulls down on my ankles slightly.