Lucid, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #2)

by Patrice Michelle

  Harper looked directly at Lainey for the first time, a slight smile on her pale oval face. “Yeah, it’s a big change, but I’ve taken classes at private schools here and there, so I’m used to a structured school system.”

  “Well, private and public schools are two entirely different animals.” Lainey made sure the teacher wasn’t looking, then flipped open her phone and settled back in her seat. She held Harper’s gaze as she typed on her slide-out keyboard. “You might want to ditch the prep school clothes. You look like you’re going to church or something.”

  Harper’s lips twisted. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

  “No problem,” Lainey said, then glanced down at her text screen.

  She completely missed Harper’s sarcasm, but I didn’t. Inwardly snickering, I smiled at Harper, then said to Lainey, “You didn’t text me when you got home last night. How’d it go at the vet’s yesterday with Lochlan?”

  “Loch’s going to be fine. He did have to get a cast, though.” Sitting up, she pinched her thumb and forefinger together. “You should see his tiny wittle cast, Nara. I made them put a manly dark green one on him. Of course, Dad went ballistic when he got to the vet’s office and saw Lochlan. He spent a half hour talking to the vet until he was assured his ‘little guy’ would make a full recovery. Dad took today off and stayed home to keep an eye on him.” She sighed. “Told you he loved that dog more than me.”

  “You could always offer to go hunting with your dad.” When she rolled her eyes, I smirked. “What’d your dad say about the trap we found?”

  Lainey leaned closer, eyes wide. “You should’ve seen him out there last night with his police flashlight. He tromped around in those woods for hours, pulling up every single trap he could find. He’s already got someone at the office tracing the numbers stamped on them.” Her voice filled with pride. “This poacher doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “Poacher?” Harper jerked a concerned gaze from Lainey to me. “Sorry for interrupting, but I’m hoping to become a vet. I hate hearing stuff like this.”

  “Ugh, the horrific condition we see some animals come into CVAS…” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “Makes me want the government to establish an eye-for-an-eye law.”

  “You work at CVAS?” Harper shifted forward in her seat, brown eyes lit with interest.

  I nodded. “I volunteer.”

  “I’ve been thinking about doing an internship there. Do you think they’d want more help?”

  “Always.” I grinned. “Just call and ask for Sally. She’ll get you an application.”

  Harper jotted Sally’s name on a piece of paper. “Thanks, Nara.” Peering up through her hair, she asked in a less-confident voice, “Do you think you could meet me there after school today and introduce me to her?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. I can’t today. I’m heading over to Central’s library after school.” She looked so disappointed, that I added, “But I’ll be happy to call and give her a heads-up that you’re coming.”

  As Harper beamed her thanks, Lainey sent me a text.

  Lainey – 2:20 p.m. ~ I have the BEST idea. Meet me by my car after school.

  Once Harper went back to studying, I texted Lainey.

  Me – 2:25 p.m. ~ Will do.

  I already knew what she planned to tell me, and I wasn’t sure how, but I was going to do everything I could to talk her out of it.

  * * *

  The moment I exited through the double doors at the end of the school day and saw Lainey leaning against Matt’s Jeep, chatting with him, I realized how I was going to solve my library dilemma, and stop my best friend from hatching some kind of crazy scheme.

  In my dream, Lainey told me she had the “best idea evah to deal with Jared” but she refused to elaborate, other than to say her idea involved Matt, before she drove off. When I pointed Matt out to her yesterday, I’d hoped that seeing him moving on with his life would help her get over Jared. I didn’t expect her to use him to deal with her “Jared issues” or worse, to get back at Jared. Neither scenario was fair to Matt.

  “Hi, guys,” I said.

  Lainey’s eyes widened. While Matt’s attention was on me, she jerked her head toward her car, telling me to “go wait over there.” I ignored her signal. “Thanks for offering to go to the library with me, Lainey.”

  Lainey frowned. “What are you talking—”

  “Don’t you remember?” I met her irritated gaze. “Since I helped you with that project yesterday, you promised to help with mine today.”

  “’ello, everyone,” Drystan said, strolling up beside me.

  I nodded to acknowledge him, surprised I hadn’t seen him at all today. Guess we were on opposite class schedules. “Hi Drystan, what did you think of your first day at an American school?”

  “Drystan? What happened to Maddox?” Lainey tossed a knowing look my way.

  “New country, new name. Right, Inara?” Drystan winked, then yanked his leather jacket’s collar up around his neck to ward off the brisk wind. “American schools aren’t much different than schools at home. “Well,”—he paused, grinning—“other than the ladies can’t seem to get enough of my accent.”

  Despite his cocky comment, the way he said “enough,” like “e’nuff” and dropped the h off hello would totally attract the girls.

  Lainey snickered. “This is perfect. Since I need to chat with Matt about something, Drystan can go with you to the library and charm all the college girls while you research.”

  Drystan glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “I can?”

  “Lainey,” I began, reaching for her. The second my hand touched hers, a bolt of electricity shot between us.

  “Ow!” Lainey jerked her hand away and frowned at me as if I’d done it on purpose.

  I’d yanked my hand back too, rubbing my throbbing fingers. That really hurt. Like, all the way to my teeth kind of hurt. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Damn! I even heard that one.” Drystan gave a confident laugh as he intentionally hooked his arm in mine. “I’m not afraid. Come on, Inara. Take me to Central’s library. I’ve been meaning to head in that direction anyway. I hope they’ll have some old videos I’ve been looking for.”

  Static sparked through my sweater, underneath my jacket, as Drystan pulled me away from Lainey and Matt. I glanced back at Lainey, whose head was already bent toward Matt’s in conspiracy fashion. I’d lost my chance. Apparently, Fate had adjusted his tactics to keep me from interfering…in a very painful way. Just how high of a voltage could the human body take? Did Fate have the ability to amp it to a deadly level? I really didn’t want to find out.

  * * *

  As I pulled into the library’s parking lot, Drystan glanced around, his green eyes scanning the bold white columns framing the main library’s entrance. “I can see why it’s such a popular college. It’s visually appealing.”

  “‘Jeffersonian’ is the quickest way to describe the architecture.” I swept my hand to encompass the column-infused, sprawling campus.

  We mounted the stairs toward the library entrance and he mumbled, “It’ll be ironic if I run into my uncle while I’m on campus.”

  I paused on a stair. “Your uncle’s a student?”

  Drystan gave a half smile. “No, he’s a guest, visiting at the request of the history department.”

  “How funny that you’re both here at the same time,” I said, continuing my climb.

  “Yeah, it’s right funny, but I don’t plan to see him while I’m here. He’s paying for my expenses, so I’ll honor his request that I get back into football while I’m here.”

  “I’m assuming you don’t mean American football. Now you’re talking my language. Well, we call it soccer here.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “You play?”

  “What? I don’t look like I’d play soccer?”

  Drystan shook his head, clucking his tongue. “The girls who play football back home don’t look like you.”

  We’d re
ached the entrance, and I laughed, ignoring my warmed cheeks as I pulled the door open. I hadn’t expected his indirect compliment. “I take it you aren’t close to your uncle?”

  “How can you be close to someone you’ve never met?” Drystan held the door for me to proceed him inside.

  “You’ve never met him?”

  “I didn’t even know he existed until after my dad died. He started calling, trying to convince us to move to England.” He lifted his shoulder, then let it drop. “I’m only moving for my mum. I couldn’t care less about getting to know my uncle, even if he’s supposedly ‘taking us under his wing’.”

  Drystan wore his resentment like an invisible cloak of protection. I started to ask him if his uncle and mom also called him Maddox, but his gaze was already locked on the media room in the back corner of the library. “While you’re researching, I’m going to talk to them.”

  Before he walked off, I asked, “What kind of video are you hoping to find?”

  His lips tugged upward. “An old-school one.”

  After he strolled away, I straightened my shoulders and headed for the card catalog. I already felt better having someone with me. Once I turned off my phone—per the instructions in ALL CAPS plastered every five feet in the library—I pulled out Ethan’s journal and turned to the feather-marked page. I jotted down the name of the article, the title of the newspaper, and the date on a scrap piece of paper before closing the book to rifle through the cards for the library’s call number location for the article.

  At one point, my neck tingled as if someone were watching me, but the intensity in my dream had been much stronger than the low vibe I felt right now. I scanned the entire library, then let out a sigh of relief that no one was looking up from their books. Every single student on the main floor had his or her head down, studying.

  “What are you looking for?” Drystan whispered in my ear, making me jump. With a triumphant smile, I showed him the card I’d just found, then jotted down its stack location on a scrap of paper. “It’s an article I discovered while surfing. Since it was from thirty years ago, I could only find a snippet about it on the Internet. I want to read the entire article.” As I slipped the card back into place in the catalog, I asked, “Did they have your video?”

  Drystan rocked on his heels. “Yep, they’re copying it onto a flash drive for me.” He held up his phone. “Said they’ll call me when it’s done.”

  “Uh, we’re supposed to turn our phones off. How come you get to keep yours on?”

  A dimple displayed in his right cheek. “I got special permission.”

  “Let me guess…” My gaze narrowed. “The girl working the counter swooned over your accent.”

  He flashed an unrepentant grin, then nodded toward the paper in my hand. “You ready to find your article?”

  The long hall toward the stack elevators didn’t feel nearly as ominous with Drystan by my side. It was still shadowy, but I could ignore that when I had someone to distract me. “So, tell me what’s on this video.”

  Drystan walked beside me at a leisurely pace. “I’m looking for new techniques.”

  “New techniques? On an old video?”

  He smirked. “Old techniques I can adapt in new ways.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask,” I snickered. “But if the library is letting you check out a copy, it can’t be too risqué.”

  Drystan’s light brown eyebrows lifted up and down with his grin. “This technique requires loads of stamina, acute depth perception, the ability to think several steps ahead, and guts. It involves your entire body and mind. It isn’t for the faint of heart.”

  We’d reached the elevator where a sign had been taped over the button. OUT OF ORDER.

  “Great. Out of order.” I sighed, then glanced at Drystan. “Now I’m totally curious…what kind of technique requires all those things?”

  “Parkour.” Turning to our left, Drystan pulled open the stairwell door and held it for me.

  “Parkour?” I used my foot to push the metal chair that blocked the way to the stairs off to the side.

  “Yeah. You’ve never heard of it?”

  I shook my head and continued climbing the steps.

  “Parkour is like a form of exercise, except it’s so much more than that. I guess you could consider it a form of training.”

  “Training for what?” I reached for the fourth floor door.

  “Combat,” Drystan answered in a clipped, matter-of-fact tone.

  I paused as I pulled the door open. “Combat? Who do you plan on fighting?”

  Drystan’s serious expression melted away. “Nobody, I hope. It’s meant to be defensive more than offensive.” He shrugged. “Parkour came in handy from time to time back home.”

  “For exercise?”

  “Among other things,” he said dryly.

  Drystan was an open book with hidden passages. “I’d like to see this parkour.” My tense shoulders relaxed the moment we walked into the room and the motion sensor lights popped on, illuminating the dark room.

  He tilted his head, contemplating. “It’d be much easier to show you than try to explain it.” Drystan grabbed my hand and squinted at the scribbled note clutched in my fingers. Releasing his hold, he pointed to a MICFICH sign hanging down from the ceiling at the back of the thirty-by-thirty room filled with tall bookshelves. “Guess that’s the section you want back there.” His brow puckered. “Do you know how to work the machine?”

  “I’ve used one before.”

  After I’d spent twenty minutes riffling through the microfiche bin for the article I was looking for, I sat back in my chair and huffed my frustration. “I can’t believe it’s not here. The microfiche with the one article I want seems to be missing.”

  Drystan’s head popped around the edge of the bookcase. “You couldn’t find it?” He’d been wandering around the stack, humming various Welsh songs I didn’t recognize while I searched through the entire year of articles.

  “No.”

  He squatted down beside my chair and held out his hand. “Let me see where it’s located.”

  “I’ve looked through the entire section.” I pointed to the paper with the article’s supposed location lying on the desk.

  Drystan picked up the piece of paper, then rubbed his thumb across the numbers several times, his gaze focused on my chicken scrawl.

  I snickered. “It’s not going to grant you three wishes.”

  His green eyes flashed amusement as he grabbed the bin from my lap. Flipping past the section I’d looked through twice, he skipped to an entirely different year, then pulled out a handful of microfiche. He quickly fanned through the stack before pulling out a thin square of plastic with a triumphant smile. “Here it is. This whole section had been filed in the wrong year.”

  I gaped at him. “Um, thanks.” As I took the microfiche from his hand, I saw that the plastic edge was labeled with the year I’d been looking for. “How in the world did you know it would be there?” Even more amazing, how did you know that this particular microfiche held the article I sought? There were at least ten other misfiled microfiche he could’ve chosen from. Only a machine could read the microscopic print.

  Maybe he was just guessing, I told myself as I slid the microfiche under the lighted viewer, then began to scroll through the articles. When I slowed to a stop at the article I wanted, Drystan peered over my shoulder, reading out loud in his lilting accent, “‘Crows and Ravens All Over the World Fall Out of the Sky: Biologists Speculate.’” A pause. “That’s a right strange subject. What’s it for?”

  I tensed, not planning to share the reason behind my research. I cast a suspicious sideways look his way. “Not any stranger than you finding it without x-ray vision. Seriously, how’d you do that?”

  “Talent.” Just as Drystan gave a confident grin, a song began to play. I smiled when I recognized his ring tone as one of the Welsh songs he’d been humming.

  He grabbed his phone from his back pocket. “’ello? That�
��s brilliant! I’ll pick it up on my way out—Oh? Okay, then. Be right down.”

  Hanging up, he started to walk backward. “The media room closes in five minutes. I’m gonna run and grab my flash drive. Be right back.”

  Glad for some brief privacy, I waved him on, then turned back to read the article. After I’d scanned the article twice, I took notes on the basic gist in the leather journal.

  * Thirty years ago, crows and ravens inexplicably dropped from the sky at the exact same time all over the world.

  * Two-thirds recovered after a few minutes and flew away, but one-third of the Corvid birds in the Corvus genus died across the world that day.

  * After studying their bodies, scientists speculated something stunned them and that their drop from the sky had caused their hearts to stop.

  * No one could point to any worldwide phenomenon that could’ve caused the birds to react the way they did. No weather event, no atmospheric event, no environmental event…nothing correlated across the entire world at the exact same time.

  I’d just jotted down the last note when the lights popped off, sending the windowless room into darkness. The only light came from the machine in front of me. Apparently, I’d been so focused on the article I’d barely moved. I stood on tiptoe and waved my arms above the tall bookshelves to activate the motion sensor in the lighting.

  Nothing.

  I sat back down with a sigh, then quickly put the microfiche back. Once I’d shut down the machine, the stairwell door click closed. I snorted, wondering why Drystan bothered to be quiet when he came back. On his way out, he’d let the heavy metal door slam like a garbage truck on trash day.

  “Hey,” I called out. “Do me a favor and move around back there so the lights will come back on.”

  I was surprised he didn’t respond. Maybe he’d tried and it didn’t work, so he was just waiting on me by the door where the exit sign’s red glow gave off extra light. Hugging the leather journal to my chest, I tugged my backpack up on my shoulder. My eyes had started to adjust to the darkness, and I realized I could make out my hands and stuff, so light was coming from somewhere. At least it was enough for me to make my way back to the stairwell.