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

by Michelle, P. T.

  “How dare you fuck with my world like your own personal strategy game!” Fate roars at my dad, expanding his dark cloud so big and fast, he’s curled over us like a California Mavericks wave about to crash down. “I want to draw this out for a your blasphemous acts. I want you to feel pain…”

  “Say it, Dad!” I call out over Fate’s freight train of fury.

  My dad starts to speak, but Fate knocks me back and quickly swirls around my dad, a massive python squeezing. As my father gasps and wheezes for air, Fate’s head appears next to my father’s face, a gloating smile cutting into the smoke. “Even though I’ve dreamed of making you suffer…” He pauses, swiveling his head to look at me. “She’s an even bigger problem.”

  “Dad!” My heart in my throat, I try to run through Fate to free my father, but this time I bounce right off him, falling back on my ass.

  Fate laughs and cinches tighter. As my father’s face changes from bright red to purple, I quickly stand up and scream, “What do you want?”

  “You know what I want,” Fate sneers my way. “Give me your ability. Or poor little Nari will never be reunited with her father. He’ll finally be out of your life permanently.”

  Tears stream down my face and I clench my hands by my sides. My father’s teeth have started to chatter. Fate will either squeeze out his air or freeze him to death. “How do I know you won’t kill us anyway?”

  Fate laughs and flicks a long snaking tail toward me, snapping the whip-like tip against my ankle. “You don’t. But then, what’s the fun of taking your ability if I’m just going to kill you?”

  He has a point. Jumping back to avoid another stinging whip, I gulp down a sob and start to speak, but my father croaks, “I’ll give up my ability. All of it.”

  “You will?” Fate eases his tight grip enough for my father to take a deep breath.

  “No, Dad.” I take a step forward, reaching my hand out. “Don’t agree.”

  When my dad nods, my heart lurches and my stomach bottoms out.

  “Well isn’t this a wonderful surprise.” Smiling, Fate says, “See how easy that was, Nara? His powers are mine now.” A vaporous arm unwinds from the icy cold coil around my father and Fate snaps, smoke puffing off his fingers right in front of me. “Poof. Just like that.” His smoky brow pulls down and his voice hardens. “Now your turn.”

  “You have mine,” my dad says. “You don’t need hers—”

  My father’s head snaps sideways from Fate’s backhanded slap. “Shut up. This is between Nara and me. You’re no longer of consequence.” Fate turns to me. “If you want him to live, you’ll have to give up your ability.”

  “That wasn’t the deal.” My father struggles to free himself even as his breathing turns shallow.

  Fate tsks. “I never made a deal. This is about survival.”

  My heart splinters and tears. Fate’s making me choose between my father’s life or my ability to provide peace for Ethan in his dark dream world. Ethan needs light now more than ever. How can Fate do that to me? Rage fills my chest; I’m being torn from the inside out. A gust of strong wind suddenly tunnels through the empty void around us, whipping my hair, pulling at my clothes.

  As Fate’s vaporous form begins to disperse into the air, he yanks my father tight with the solid part he has left and rumbles his fury at me. “How are you doing this?”

  Whatever I’m doing, it’s working. Fate is losing his strength. I keep my rage high and focus all the air in the room on Fate.

  When Fate fully scatters into pure mist, a howl fills the space before his dark cloud encloses me and stinging icy needles hammer my skin with merciless ferocity. With the strong wind cycloning around him, that seems to be all he can accomplish. I cover my eyes and face with my arms and bite my lip to keep quiet.

  The pain is excruciating, like my skin is being flayed, but I hold it inside and concentrate until the sound of my father’s gasps bleeds through. When I spread my fingers slightly and peek through the stinging mist, I see my dad writhing on the ground, holding his throat.

  I let go of my anger when I realize what’s happening; I’m sucking all our air out to create the wind.

  Once the gale stops, Fate re-forms into a humanoid shape right next to me. Folding his arms, his laughter echoes from all angles in the void. He slowly rubs a pretend jaw as he looks at me, his eye sockets half-closed in contemplation. “Who would you rather kill your father—you or me? Personally, I vote for you, but I have a feeling you’re going to push me to do it.”

  Just when he starts to move toward my dad, Ethan appears between my father and Fate. “You got what you wanted. Leave them alone.”

  While I rush around them both and squat beside my dad to make sure he’s okay, Fate sneers at Ethan. “What are you doing here? You can’t interfere.” Fate’s tone elevates as his body begins to vibrate back and forth in agitation.

  Ethan’s commanding voice booms in the open space. “I told you to back off.” His bicep muscles flex against his black T-shirt as his hands curl into fists by his sides. When Fate just snorts at him, Ethan relaxes his fingers and his sword instantly appears in his right hand. “I won’t tell you again.”

  Fate tries to zoom around him to get to me, but Ethan blurs between us, matching Fate’s supernatural speed with his own. Pointing his sword toward me, Ethan says in a forceful tone, “She is mine.”

  Fate roars and starts to blink in and out. “I want—”

  The second he blinks back in, Ethan’s hand lashes out. He grips Fate’s throat, holding him still. Pulling Fate’s face down to his, he says in a fierce tone, “I know exactly what you want. It’s not yours to take.”

  Fate tries to morph, but Ethan’s hold seems to have locked him in his current form. “Defy me and I will destroy you, Fate.”

  Darkness rolls off Ethan in pulses of power and vengeance. The impact rushes against my skin in intense waves, making goose bumps form.

  When Fate looks at me and chokes out, “He doesn’t know,” the defined realization and true alarm forming across his amorphous face tenses everything inside me. Something feels wrong. I jerk me to my feet and hurry to Ethan’s side.

  I’m not sure if he can kill Fate, but I’m not taking the chance. Touching Ethan’s tense arm, I push his sword’s point away from Fate’s neck. “You can’t destroy him, Ethan. Everyone has a fate.”

  When he looks down at me with pitch black eyes, and I hear, I don’t, in my head, a deep abiding sense of loss and loneliness flows through me, squeezing my heart. I swallow and clasp his arm fully. “But you have a destiny. As much as Fate ticks me off, I still need him. We all do. Just like you need me.”

  One corner of Ethan’s mouth crooks and he mutters, “Lightweight,” before shifting a calculating gaze back to Fate. “You don’t have the authority to take what you did.”

  I gape, then look at Fate. “He doesn’t?”

  “They shouldn’t be able to see me.” Fate gathers his composure, then glares at him defiantly. “If they offer it to me, I can take it.”

  Ethan shifts his attention to my father, who’s sitting up watching us with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Do you willingly give your ability to Fate?”

  When my father nods, I drop to my knees beside him. “Why? You don’t have to, Dad.”

  Ethan holds my father’s gaze for a second, then dips his head in a curt nod. “Good choice.”

  Nara

  We all jerk awake at once and my father instantly pulls his arm from Ethan’s hold, scowling at him in the dark room. “How dare you risk my daughter’s life like that.”

  Ethan looks at me and then at my dad, confused. “I didn’t, Mr. Collins. I told Nara she couldn’t be included. That was the only way I agreed to help. Did you see Fate?”

  When my father blinks at Ethan like he’s gone mad, I realize who had purposefully pulled me into Ethan’s dream world, and who’d just threatened Fate: his Corvus. I quickly stand and pick up my crystal necklace where it had fallen onto the bed.

&
nbsp; “It’s not Ethan’s fault, Dad. He insisted that I stay out of it, but I fell asleep too. I must’ve touched you when I rested my head on the bed. It was an accident.”

  My father points to Ethan. “He was in complete control over his actions, Inara. He’s dangerous and reckless. Can you imagine the chaos in our world if he had destroyed Fate? Especially now that I’ve given up my ability—”

  “I wasn’t there.” Ethan stands, his hands fisted by his sides.

  “The hell you weren’t,” my dad snaps in a low voice. “You threatened Fate with that damned sword of yours. If it weren’t for Inara talking you down, who knows what might’ve happened.”

  Ethan’s gaze swings to me, but I look at my dad and attempt to smooth things over. “It was just a dream, Dad. Well, the way your mind interpreted everything that happened.”

  “The intent behind it wasn’t,” Ethan says in a flat tone, shifting his gaze to my dad. “If you saw me go ballistic on Fate, it’s because he threatened Nara. The reason I offered to help you face him was never about you.”

  “It wasn’t?” My attention darts to Ethan, but his stays focused on my dad.

  “It was to protect Nara. She had mostly figured out a way to keep Fate at bay, but with you back in her life, Fate would come after her again. And this time, he’d use you against each other. That’s why I offered. I wanted Nara safe. Giving up your ability was the absolute best thing you could do for her.”

  “At least that we agree on.” My dad grunts his annoyance, crossing his arms.

  Ethan nods. “You really don’t have your ability anymore?”

  My dad shrugs and rubs a hand across his jaw. “I won’t know until I go back to sleep. Speaking of which…” He glances at the clock, then at me. “It’s almost midnight. Shouldn’t you be with your aunt?”

  I raise my hands and let them drop to my side. “I wanted you back in my life, Dad. Enough that I was willing to go up against Fate to make sure of it.”

  “Fate went after you, Nari, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.”

  “I have this ability for a reason. I might as well use it to help you.” When all I get is a strong parental stare from my father, I sigh and zip my jacket closed. “Aunt Sage said I needed to be back by midnight and I will be.”

  As Ethan and I turn to leave, my father says in a quiet voice, “Thank you for helping me.”

  I turn back to him. “You’re welcome, Dad. I’ve really missed you. I’m sorry.”

  He shakes his head, a bemused smile forming. “I’m free, Nari. Before, I couldn’t walk away. My conscience wouldn’t let me. Now I don’t have a choice. I won’t be able to do this job anymore.”

  I nod even though it makes me a little sad. I liked having something unique in common with him. “Good night, Dad. Good luck with all the security people tomorrow.”

  As I walk out the door, he says in a low tone, “Night, sweetheart. See you soon.”

  Just as Ethan and I enter the stairwell, my dad’s last comment hits me. “Oh, no. What if my dad just shows up at our house and Mr. Dixon is there?”

  I start to turn back around, but Ethan grabs my hand. “Your dad can’t expect that your mother didn’t have a life all these years while he was gone. Let your parents work out their issues on their own.”

  “But I’ll have to explain to my mom about my ability so she’ll believe my dad and understand why he left.”

  Ethan lifts our clasped hands to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “Show your mom the videos he left you first. Then talk to her.”

  Nodding my agreement, I let him lead me down the stairs.

  We ride to the Inn in silence. I worry my lip the whole way, wondering when he’ll ask about “his” appearance during the confrontation with Fate.

  Once we reach the parking lot, Ethan cuts the engine and turns to look at me. “Were you going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “About the Corvus putting you in danger tonight.”

  He can’t know what his Corvus did. He won’t understand. “Ethan, I told you. I fell asleep.”

  “That’s a lie.” Ethan slams the flat of his fist against his chest, his nostrils flaring. “I fucking want to kill the bastard!”

  “Calm down.” I spread my hands wide. “Okay, so he pulled me in, but I think it’s because he knew what you wanted and acted. It wasn’t working, Ethan. My father hadn’t seen Fate and most likely wouldn’t have without my help.”

  “Fate could’ve killed you and your father.” Ethan stares out the windshield and sets his jaw. “And I wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

  I reach for his hand and grip it between mine. “Your Corvus is powerful, Ethan. He would never have pulled me in if he didn’t think he could keep me safe.” I snort, thinking about the way he’d held Fate by the throat. “He’s arrogant for a reason. He truly scared Fate.”

  “Do you think he would’ve actually killed Fate?” Ethan asks, conflicting emotions pulsing in his deep blue eyes.

  “I think he’d do anything to protect me. Just like you would.” I thread my fingers through his. “I believe your emotions are intertwined with his. He feels what you do just as strongly.”

  Ethan grips my hand, his expression turning hard. “I don’t like him feeling any emotions toward you.”

  I shake my head. “Your Corvus is protective vengeance, sadness, and loneliness all rolled into one. He’s spirit, who happens to feel a connection to me through you. You’re not allowed to be jealous of something powerful enough to keep us both safe.”

  Ethan cups my neck and pulls me close. “He can have out there.” He glances past the windshield, then back to me. “But he can’t have you.”

  “I’m only yours.” I kiss his jaw, then look at the clock on his dash. “It’s midnight. We need to get inside.”

  As we walk under the Inn’s awning, I slide my arm around his waist and look up at him. “Thank you.”

  He hooks his arm around my shoulders, glancing down at me. “For what?”

  “For rescuing my father and helping him face Fate. Oh, and for being a buffer tonight so my aunt can’t lecture me as soon as I walk in the room.”

  “Well, when you put it that way, I am pretty awesome. Maybe you don’t deserve me.”

  When I poke him in the ribs as we enter the building, Ethan pulls me close and presses a tender kiss to my lips, murmuring, “You’re so worth it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Nara

  On the way back to Blue Ridge early in the morning, Ethan yawns several times.

  “Was the cot that uncomfortable?” I ask, wincing. “Do you want me to drive?”

  He shakes his head and clasps my hand. “Sleeping in the same room with you and not being able to touch you was very distracting. Made falling asleep impossible.”

  My stomach flutters and I bite my lip. “So you just stared at the ceiling all night long?”

  He pulls my fingers to his mouth, the heat of his breath warming me all over. “Why would I do that when I could watch you instead?”

  Heat shoots up my cheeks. “Don’t tell me if I snore. I don’t want to know.”

  He gives a secret smile and kisses my knuckles. “You make the cutest little sounds in your sleep.”

  As my face flames, I glance down and notice my voicemail light blinking on my phone. When I see it’s from my mom, I look at Ethan. “My mom left a voicemail last night. That’s not good. She always texts.”

  Does she know I wasn’t at Lainey’s? My stomach tensing, I click the voicemail button and listen.

  “Hey sweetie, I hope your project is going well. I just wanted you to know I changed the code on the garage. Someone tried to break into the house last night while I was out to dinner with David. I’m really glad you stayed at Lainey’s! We have some damage to the doorjamb, but thankfully they didn’t get too far.” Sighing, she continues, “My guess is Houdini scared them off. David stayed over, and he’ll be here with me today while the ala
rm people are installing a security system. See you when you get home and I’ll give you the alarm code then.”

  Hanging up, I quickly dial our house. “Hey, Mom. I just got your message. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine—please put the keypad to the right of the garage door in the kitchen—sorry, Inara, they’re getting ready to install the panel. When will you be home?”

  I glance at the clock. “In a half hour.”

  “Sounds good. I’m glad you have a day off from school today. I need you to run some errands for me since I’m stuck here right now.”

  “Okay, Mom. See you soon.”

  As soon as I tuck my phone away, Ethan glances away from the road. “What happened?”

  “Someone tried to break into our house while she was out to dinner last night. Mom’s there with the security system people now. I hope it wasn’t Harper.”

  Ethan’s brow furrows as he threads his fingers with mine. “After I drop you off at Lainey’s, I’ll get a quick shower and stop by. I’ll be able to tell if a demon was there.”

  Exhaling an unsteady breath, I squeeze his hand.

  Nara

  Before I hop in the shower at home, I check my text messages. My aunt has sent one.

  Aunt Sage: Jonathan’s interviews with the security team are done. He wasn’t kidding about their promptness. His secretary was the one who set him up. Her husband was 300K in debt for gambling. She sold your father out to pay off an angry loan shark. The doctor wants him to stay one more day and will release him tomorrow. He insists he’s fine, so I’ll be home late tonight. Got to get ready for the Blue Ridge Artisan show this weekend.

  Apparently my dad didn’t mention Ethan and my late night visit to his sister. I wonder if his ability really is gone. I quickly type a text back.

  Me: I’m glad he’s doing well and that they caught the people responsible. Thank you for all your help.