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

by Michelle, P. T.

  I frown, not liking his line of thought. “Danielle? She would never hurt—” Harper’s name being announced on the radio flashes through my mind.

  “Corvus can be very territorial.” Mr. Wicklow jumps in, a grim look creasing his goatee around his mouth. “Though it’s usually over actual territory, not people. Corvus don’t like other Corvus hunting demons on their turf. But if Danielle has attached to you and thinks of you as hers, then she would definitely see Nara as a threat.”

  “Why are you so sure Drystan’s not involved?”

  The man shrugs. “Drystan really likes Nara. He lit up when he talked about her recently. He’s no threat to her. Of that, I’m sure.”

  The possibility that Danielle might be behind Nara’s disappearance makes me even edgier. Drystan I can handle, but can I take down the Master Corvus? One thing I know for sure, I’ll die trying to protect Nara.

  My gaze narrows on the man. “Since you’re the authority on all things Corvus, how can I find another Corvus?”

  Mr. Wicklow looks left and then right to the neighbors’ houses on either side of him, then waves me forward. “Come inside. What is your name?”

  “Ethan.” I step in the foyer, but don’t shut the door, my stance tense.

  He gives a resigned sigh. “Nara said she would keep the raven medallion somewhere safe. Can you get to it? Depending on how new a Corvus Danielle is, we might be able to get a location on her.”

  I eye him with suspicion. “The medallion is a Corvus locator?”

  He nods. “I thought the only one was at the Order’s sanctuary, but that one stopped working thirty years ago. When I saw the one Nara wears glowing while she was looking at the globe in my office, I was so excited. It starts glowing after a new Corvus is formed. Over time the glow dims. As soon as we see the glow, we hold the medallion over a map and it would be drawn almost like a magnetic force to the area where a Corvus exists. That was the medallion’s purpose, to alert us so we can find the fledgling Corvus and assign him or her a Paladin.”

  “I thought the medallion was meant to protect a person from being possessed by a demon.”

  He nods. “The Corvus raven symbol itself protects against possession. It doesn’t have to be that particular medallion.” He takes off his watch and shows me the back, where the symbol is etched on the silver. “Each member gets a unique item with the symbol when they’re inducted into the Order. Silver with the symbol seems to be the strongest deterrent.” Sliding his watch back on his wrist, he asks, “Can you get to the medallion?”

  I swallow the knot of guilt in my throat. “I destroyed it.”

  Mr. Wicklow’s face flushes and his eyes bulge. “You what? Didn’t Nara tell you to keep it safe?”

  I hear Patch’s call behind me, but I ignore him and grit my back teeth. “It’s gone.”

  “That’s so disappointing. It could’ve made finding new Corvus much more accurate and efficient, like it was three decades ago.”

  While the old man’s shoulders slump, I glance back to see Patch standing in the middle of the man’s yard. He’s surrounded by so many ravens I can’t see the grass, yet he’s the only one making any sounds. I can tell he wants something.

  “I’ve never seen so many at once. This is more than I saw the day I first spoke to Nara about Corvus. Except for the one, they’re strangely quiet. It’s like they’re waiting.”

  As soon as Mr. Wicklow speaks, I realize what I need to do.

  I hold Patch’s black gaze, wishing with all my heart to see Nara. Help me find her.

  Patch lets out a loud raaaack, then all the other ravens start chattering. Even the birds in the trees begin to join in the cacophony. They’re so loud, Mr. Wicklow covers his ears and shouts over the noise, “Amazing.”

  When Patch suddenly takes off and all the birds in the yard quickly follow, I step through the door and rush toward my car to the sound of Mr. Wicklow calling out. “I hope you find her.”

  The birds circle once while I back out of the driveway. When they take off, I follow the cloud of black wings, my heart lodged in my throat.

  Please let Nara be okay.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Nara

  Drystan eyes Danielle with caution. “Is it going to burn my hand?”

  “Possibly.” She shrugs and holds the sword out, the black and silver raven symbol standing out near the hilt, just like on Ethan’s sword. “But it’s far better than the alternative I offered you, so take it.”

  Drystan hisses as he takes the sword in his right hand. His skin bubbles and sizzles and the smell of burning flesh makes me want to hurl. After a few seconds, he grunts past the pain, then swishes the sword around in a circle as if measuring its weight.

  I glare at Danielle, but my voice shakes. “A Corvus sword won’t kill me.”

  Grabbing my hand, she looks at the scar on my palm. “Ethan told me about his sword cutting you. I’m not sure why, since you’re neither possessed by a demon, nor Corvus, but if it can hurt you, it can kill you.” A pleased smile curls her lips as she drops my hand. “And the great thing about this scenario is that Drystan kills the girl he has a crush on and my sword will obliterate you, leaving no evidence behind. A perfect end to you.” Patting the top of my head, she smirks. “Don’t worry about Ethan. I’ll be there for him during his grief.”

  She glances at Drystan, her tone all business. “Take care of her now.”

  He shakes his head, his mouth set in a firm line. “Not until I find out where she’s keeping the book.”

  Danielle rolls her eyes. “Why is it so important to you?”

  “You really don’t know?” His eyebrow lifts with cocky arrogance. “It’s rumored to hold the key to destroying the Master Corvus—something Lucifer will greatly reward me for when I present it to him.”

  When Danielle laughs, I look at her in disbelief. “You think that’s funny?”

  Danielle puts her finger on her pursed lips, her dark eyes dancing with secrets. “The Master Corvus doesn’t exist. It’s just a fairy tale meant to throw demons off. We’re everywhere. We’re many, with power and strength.”

  I gape, my stomach dropping. “You lied to Ethan?”

  She snorts. “Of course I lied to him, but I am special. Sadly my adoptive father couldn’t accept my superiority over his Corvus. He blocked my ideas on hunting one time too many. I wasn’t going to let Ethan do that to me too.”

  As the meaning of her comment sinks in, I say in a low voice, “The fire that killed William wasn’t an accident, was it?”

  Danielle’s gaze narrows, then she shrugs. “How do you think I figured out how to block Corvus from seeing demons? While the fire raged at our home, burning evidence of his death, demons I’d been chasing the night before attacked.” She lifts her sword toward the vial around Drystan’s neck. “With all the Corvus ash floating through the air, I couldn’t see the demons’ faces in the human bodies they inhabited. In his death William’s ashes showed me how to hide a demon in plain sight.” She shrugs unapologetically. “He just didn’t get the bigger picture of the battle we wage with demons. I’d totally evolved beyond him.”

  Her accidental discovery is so incredibly dangerous to Corvus. Why can’t she see that sharing this information with a demon could have devastating consequences? “You’ve gone dark, Danielle. You need help.”

  Her gaze slits on me. “You influence Ethan too much. His love for you is unnatural. Because he left D.C. before he accepted his Corvus, he didn’t know demons had apparently followed him. His mangled car in the shop reeked of their trace. I had to take care of them myself since his memory had been wiped.” She puts her face close to mine, gritting out, “Ethan putting you first goes against everything Corvus stand for. Hunting demons is our purpose, the only thing we should be looking out for. Nothing else matters.”

  Straightening, she tosses her hair over her shoulder and looks at Drystan. “Get this done now so we can move on.”

  He eyes her with a wary gaze. “You�
��ll still hold up your end of the bargain?”

  She dips her head in a curt nod. “This one time I’ll make an exception. You’ll live. Now take care of her.”

  I know there’s no way I can outrun both of them, so I turn to Drystan. “Before you kill me, can I have one request?”

  His lips quirk. He has all the power and he knows it. “If you tell me where the book is.” He glances at Danielle. “It might be worthless according to you, but I still want it.”

  I lift my chin high, my pulse bulleting through my veins. “It’s buried in my yard by the tall tree outside my window.”

  When the demon nods, I know he realizes I want to say my peace with Danielle and he won’t interfere. I turn to face her. “You never deserved the honor of being Corvus.” As she opens her mouth to reply, I aim my right fist for her face. When she easily blocks my punch, I sling my stronger left hook and clock her in the jaw.

  Swallowing my howl of pain from my throbbing knuckles, I take advantage of her stumbling back against the door and bolt away.

  The demon lets out a belly laugh. “He taught her that move.”

  “Shut up.” Danielle grunts as two sets of feet hammer the wood floor in fast pursuit. “Get her, you sack of shit. It’s your fault she’s not already dead.”

  I run around the side of the bleachers and head for the door that leads into the school, praying it’s not locked. My arms jolt hard when I run into it. Pulse racing, I shove with all my might, but it refuses to budge.

  Excruciating pain suddenly splinters through the back of my head. Danielle has a handful of my hair and she yanks, hissing in my ear, “You little bitch! I want to kill you myself but my Corvus won’t let me.” When she twists her fingers tight in my hair, I yowl and try to pull her hand off, but she just uses her hold to turn me around and shove me into Drystan.

  He laughs and hooks his arm around my throat as he moves behind me. Slicing Danielle’s sword through the air near my body twice, he says, “Aren’t you going to beg for your life?”

  I grit my teeth. “You’ll enjoy that too much.”

  When he chuckles, Danielle moves behind his right shoulder and says in a low, spiteful voice, “Make it hurt before you twist the sword and disintegrate her completely.”

  Resting the sword’s point against my stomach, he says near my ear, “Are you ready to die now?”

  “Just stab her!” Danielle snaps, her voice close, as if she wants to watch my agony.

  My breath gushes in frantic pants, but I manage to get out, “Ethan will kill you both.”

  “Danielle’s right,” the demon says. “He’ll never know what happened to you.” He lifts the sword and I tense my stomach as he swipes it in a fast downward arc right past me and into Danielle’s gut.

  While Danielle gasps in shock, followed by a groan of pain rushing past her lips, the demon glances over his shoulder and pushes the sword all the way through her, letting out a pleased laugh. “Did you really think you could trust a demon?”

  Gripping the back of my neck in a vise hold, he flips his other hand around on the sword’s handle and turns to face her. “How does it feel to be skewered, Corvus? We might not remember our lives after being sent to Under, but we never forget the pain.”

  Oh God, this is an Inferi, not a Furia, I realize as Danielle hisses, “Fuck…you!” hatred lacing her voice. Blood seeps over her hands and down her clothes, dripping onto the toes of her boots.

  “You’re the one who just got screwed.” As she falls to her knees, he leans over and muses out loud, “I wonder what happens when a dark Corvus is killed with its own sword? Will you go to Under?”

  “No, Drystan,” I beg from my bent position, since he dragged me to his level when he bent to talk to her. “Please don’t let him do this.” Tears drip off my face as I fruitlessly try to uncurl his tight hold from my neck.

  Drystan glances at me, but an eerie blankness reflects in his hazel eyes. Smiling, he returns his gaze to Danielle and twists the sword. “Buh-bye.”

  When Danielle explodes, I wince. Up close, I realize her obliteration doesn’t create ashes like I thought I’d seen when Ethan killed Drake. It’s a haze of fine mist. Most of the cloud had burst into the air, but some of the moist droplets had splattered on my nose and lips. As I shudder and quickly swipe my sleeve across my face, the fog hanging over us completely dissipates.

  The Inferi straightens and pulls me upright. He sulks at his empty hand. The sword had disintegrated right along with Danielle. “Well damn, I wanted to keep that.”

  When his eyes shift to me, a sour taste fills my mouth. A cold smile tilts his lips and he rubs his thumb with bruising hardness along my neck, his eyes lighting with lust. “But I still have you. Might as well let the boy enjoy himself before I kill you.”

  The second the demon starts to pull me toward him, I reach up and grab a fistful of his hair and twist. Slamming the side of his head against one of the metal bars supporting the bleachers, I quickly release him and jump back.

  The Inferi holds his head and lets out an ear-splitting howl. He whirls on me, but sways from side to side, slightly unsteady on his feet.

  While he’s still groggy, I rip the leather strap holding the vial of ashes from around his neck, then duck his wildly swinging backhand to hop onto the bottom bleacher. Running up the stairs, I intended to stomp on the vial, then head straight across the bleachers and jump off the other side, but the demon lands on a stair below me, blocking my exit.

  “Give that back,” he snarls, his hands curled into tight fists.

  He recovered faster than I expected. I bolt higher up the stairs, the vial swinging between my clasped fingers as I try to think of a way to destroy it. It can fall through the stairs if I try to stomp on it while running. Glancing up, I realize there’s only one way to break it. My lungs heave as I head for the top of the bleachers.

  The wooden stairs shudder under my feet with his heavy footfalls in fast pursuit, but I don’t take my eyes off my goal. As soon as I reach the top stair, I turn and run across it. Swinging my hand away from my body, I slam the vial as hard as I can against the cinderblock wall.

  The glass shatters and the demon lets out a horrific roar, then hops the last three stairs, landing on the top. My heart slams against my chest as the bleacher stair vibrates under his thundering feet. I’m running out of room to run and we’re easily twenty feet up with nothing below to break my fall. I’m not even sure if there’s enough room for me to “roll” out of a jump this high like Drystan had taught me to do.

  I stop when I have two feet left on the bleacher stair and turn to face the Inferi behind me.

  He’s five feet away, leaning against the wall, a smile of pure malice on his face. “Looks like you’ve run out of room.” Pushing off the wall, his gaze narrows. “I’m going to make you suffer for destroying that vial.”

  He takes a step toward me, and something slams into the wall in front of him.

  A Corvus sword is embedded halfway, the raven symbol between us. “Take one step closer to her, and I promise your trip to Under will feel like an amusement park ride before I’m done with you.”

  The demon stops short and turns a hateful gaze on Ethan standing at the bottom of the bleachers, his face a ruthless mask.

  Shoulders tense, Ethan’s poised like a panther ready to pounce, his solid black eyes locked on the Inferi with predatory anticipation.

  Rolling his head from one shoulder to the other, the demon cracks his knuckles and smiles at Ethan. “Come and get me.”

  Ethan shoots up the bleachers so fast I don’t even see his feet move, but when the Inferi quickly turns and pulls Ethan’s sword from the wall with a hard yank—I decide I can’t let Ethan die like Danielle did.

  As the demon turns toward Ethan, I lean against the wall for leverage and kick my foot out, jamming my shoe hard against his hand.

  The sword clatters to the stair below, and I quickly squat, barely avoiding the Inferi’s fist swinging for my head. Cinderblock
dust explodes over me as I slide down the next stair and push the sword through the opening.

  Ethan grabs Drystan by the throat and squeezes hard. The Inferi sneers and chokes out, “Me or her. Choose!” Before I can dodge out of his way, he jams his foot on my shoulder, sending me tumbling over the edge of the bleachers.

  So many regrets flash through my head as I hurl toward the wood floor below; all my thoughts happen in an instant, yet seem to go on forever.

  I’ll miss not learning and sharing new things with my father. I won’t get to watch my parents grow close again. I failed to help the Corvus, and probably made things worse. Being unable to tell Ethan about Danielle’s death. I hope Ethan eliminates this Demon. He knows too much. And Ethan and me, that’s my biggest regret. So much wasted time…

  “Open your eyes, Nara. I’ve got you,” Ethan breathes against my temple, then presses a kiss there. He’s holding me tight against his chest, his arms cradling me close.

  I blink and stare up into his eyes, then quickly glance around the gym. “Where’s the demon? Ethan, you have to go after him.”

  Ethan sets my feet on the floor, then pushes my hair out of my face. When his gaze drops to my torn shirt, his jaw muscle jumps. His fingers tremble slightly as he lifts the material and sets it right against my chest. “There’s never a choice when it comes to you.”

  I grip his waist. “You have to go after Drystan and send that Inferi to Under. He killed Danielle with her own sword. He needs to forget everything he’s learned. Its dangerous for him to have that kind of information against Corvus.”

  Worry crosses his face and Ethan cups my jaw, his expression focused. “I’m not leaving you.”

  I shake my head and sigh. “How did you find me?”

  His lips set in a hard line. “I knew something wasn’t right when I woke up and my dreams from the night before were completely blank. Your dreams. Patch and his cronies led me here.”