As soon as he tugged me away from the door, the building’s main doors clanged open and several guys’ amped-up voices floated down the hall.
Footfalls clomped into the hall, and one person said, “The offices are down this way.”
Ethan pulled me into the office’s small storage closet, then shut the door behind us, dousing the room in darkness.
Now that he wasn’t distracting me with bone-melting kisses, I asked in a low voice, “You really didn’t get my TTTWFO text? Why didn’t you call me when you got back from skiing like you said you would?”
Ethan’s chest brushed against my arm. “No, I didn’t get that text, but I think you liked my answer to that one better in person,” he said in a low husky voice. “I was wondering why you were so quiet this week, but instead of calling, I decided to surprise you.”
I smiled and murmured, “You accomplished your goal. Oh, by the way, your cousin sucks at giving messages.”
“You talked to Danielle?”
He sounded surprised. So he really didn’t know. “She answered your phone when I called one night. She told me you were in the shower,” I said in a sour tone. “I asked her to have you call me.”
“She should’ve told me…” he began in an annoyed tone when footfalls came closer to the office.
Another male voice called out, “I’m pretty sure I saw something that’ll work in Coach K’s office.”
Ethan slid me in front of him and whispered, “Shhhh” then rested his hands on my shoulders. I relaxed a little, glad he sounded upset with his cousin. She deserved his anger for not giving him my message.
“We’ll find something to crown the rightful king!” another voice said right before a light suddenly flooded under the closet door, giving off a dim glow inside the small space.
In his excited state, Drystan’s Welsh accent sounded even stronger outside the closet door. Ethan’s fingers tightened on my shoulders, and he moved closer until I could feel his heart thump hard against my back.
A rattling echoed from across the room and one of the guys said, “Damn, this cabinet’s locked.”
“No problem.” Drystan said, then a drawer slid open and someone rummaged through it.
While Ethan ran his thumbs along the back of my shoulders, warm breath rushed against my ear, sending tingles along my neck and scattering down my limbs.
He surprised me when he bent to press a kiss on the back of my left shoulder in the same place he’d just rubbed his thumb. The sounds in the office faded away as a jolt of scorching heat flooded into my skin where his lips connected. I gasped as a cool sensation quickly followed the searing intensity. Goose bumps skittered along my body and the tips of my fingers and toes tingled. Though Ethan hadn’t said a word, I’d felt his emotions. His kiss had been intimate and boldly possessive, as if he’d just branded me, and an overwhelming, tender, “I claim you” message settled in my heart.
You’re mine too, Ethan.
As he straightened, I glanced over my shoulder into his hooded gaze, hoping he could see how I felt.
Ethan slowly turned me around in the confined space. When he gripped my waist, then effortlessly lifted me to his towering height as if I weighed nothing, I grasped his shoulders and mouthed, “What are you doing?”
His smile oozed devilish intent, making every nerve in my body stand at attention. “Fulfilling a promise, Sunshine,” he whispered right before he pulled me close and planted a warm kiss along the plump curve of skin peeking above my bodice. When he moved to give the same attention to the other side, I dug my fingers into his shoulders and bit my lip to keep from making any noise. The raven feather I’d kept from our picnic, the one he’d tucked in my bra as a promise, had fallen out of his journal. I’d been sad when I realized it was gone, but the real deal was far more seductive and intensely emotional. Whenever he touched me, Ethan made me feel so much, it was hard to contain my response.
When he lowered me to my feet, the guys had finally freed whatever trophy they planned to take back to the dance. After they exited the office, I inhaled and exhaled slowly in order to get-a-grip, then straightened my shaky legs and met his gaze. “I can’t believe you expect me to go back to the dance after that.”
The seductive look he gave me sent puffs of steam shooting straight to my belly. “Who says I want you to go back to the dance?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ethan and I had just made our way to the food table when Lainey waved to me from across the room and mouthed, “Bathroom.” then pointed to the gym entrance.
While Lainey skirted the crowd, heading toward the entrance, I looked at Ethan. “Lainey wants to talk to me about something. I’ll be right back.”
Before I could walk away, he glanced at the locker room doorway on the far side of the gym. “The bathrooms are that way.”
“They’re crappy and smelly. The dance committee got the school to agree to let us use the school bathrooms in the main building for tonight.”
“I’ll go with you then.”
I put my hand on his arm. “There’s always people coming and going to the bathrooms, so I won’t be alone. I’ll be right back.”
As I headed toward the door, I heard Matt yelling above the crowd, “Hurry back for our dance, Lainey!” He spun to the revved-up hip-hop beat while holding something gold—was that a trophy?—above his head. Drystan danced in the center of the crowd, surrounded by a pack of girls, trying to gain his undivided attention. Off to the left, Tarra and Jared sported their Ice Queen and King crowns, while holding court to the entire cheerleading squad and football players’ cheers.
Everyone seemed to be having a blast. I smiled that it had all worked out as I followed a group of girls out the gym and then through the main building’s double doors.
Packed with groups of girls crowded in front of the mirrors, giggling and applying lipstick and in some cases even more makeup, the bathroom smelled of perfume and hairspray.
I shook my head at the girly chaos, then peered under the stall doors for Lainey’s dress and shoes. When I didn’t see her, I frowned and walked back into the somewhat quieter hall.
Where’d she go? I glanced into the darkened atrium—the custodians had only left on the lights at the front of the school for us—and tried to think like Lainey. She wanted to talk, but she had to know the bathrooms would be packed. Which meant…she’d gone to the other girls’ bathroom close to our study hall classroom.
Thankfully, Mrs. Meacham had stepped outside to talk to a parent chaperoning the dance, so I wouldn’t have to sneak past her. My heels echoed in the open, two-story atrium, so I moved to my toes and quickly crossed it, then pushed open the door that led to the sophomore locker halls. Cutting through the locker hall wasn’t the fastest way to the bathroom, but at least that hall had skylights. The rest of the halls were full of shadows.
I’d just turned down the locker hall when someone grabbed my neck and yanked me around, slamming me against the lockers.
“I want my books back, little tweet,” my attacker hissed in a deadly voice.
My shoulders throbbed, but I bit back the gasp of pain from his manhandling and glared at the bald guy towering over me.
Drake!
Before I could speak, he grabbed my throat and slammed me against the locker once more. “I went to all that trouble collecting those books, only to have that little monkey-climbing shit steal them away. When I saw you dancing with that foreign kid, I realized who’d stolen my books.”
“They weren’t your books!” I snapped, while trying to decide which way to run as soon as I got free.
He sneered and dug his fingers into my throat. “I want them back!”
“You won’t get them!” I croaked and grasped his wrist. A sharp-edged cufflink dug into my palm as I tried to jerk his hand from my throat. He was so strong. When he laughed at my failure, I gritted my teeth and tried to lash out with my foot, but my shoe caught in my dress.
Just as I freed my foot and swung it toward h
is knee, he straightened his arm and snickered. “I have a much longer reach now, little bird.”
I frowned in confusion. He talked as if we’d interacted before. His “tweet” reference sounded just like the guy who’d attacked me in the library. Had that guy told him what happened between us? They obviously worked for someone. “Who were you stealing my books for?”
His lips curved in an arrogant, evil grin. “He’ll be your worst nightmare.”
“Why does he want my books?” I dropped my voice to a whisper and let a hand slip from his wrist.
When he leaned in to ask, “What did you say?” I swung my free arm, slamming my fist into the side of his head.
He grabbed his head and stumbled to the side. “You conniving bitch!”
I hiked my hem and took off in the direction of the bathroom. If I could get there, I’d bolt the door from the inside. I prayed Lainey was there, so we could use her phone to call the police.
Hard-soled shoes hammered the floor directly behind me right before he grabbed a handful of hair and pulled me back against his chest in an excruciating, painful yank.
“I’m really going to enjoy torturing you,” he hissed in my ear, then let out a low chuckle. “I’m glad you’re young enough to handle some bumps. I hated that old man going down for the count so quickly. It pissed me off that he hadn’t felt me pin his puny body to that damned raven tree.”
His admission to Freddie’s murder ignited the burning in my stomach, snapping something inside. With a growl of fury, I ground my spiked heel into his shoe and slammed my fist backward, pegging him in the groin.
The second he released my hair, I started to run when I realized I didn’t hear his howl of pain right behind me anymore. I turned just in time to see his arms and legs flailing as he flew through the air down the hall in a blur of white. His body slammed into a set of lockers, denting them before he fell to the floor, heaving an audible grunt. Ethan stood where Drake had been just a second before. He stared down at me with eyes as dark as night. “Get out of here, Nara!”
Hard lines creased his face, making him look much older. I’d never heard such fury in his voice, nor had I seen the kind of vicious look he turned toward Drake when the guy crawled to his knees and sucked in a lungful of air.
“He killed Freddie—a sweet old man who tried to help me. Let’s get out of here!” I grabbed his arm and tried to tug him along, but he effortlessly uncurled my death grip from his arm. His jaw worked for a second, the reproach in his black eyes flickering over my face. He was angry I hadn’t told him.
He turned away from me and said over his shoulder, “I mean it. Get out now!”
His fierce tone spurred me into action. I ran and tried not to wince at the punching sounds or the distinct reverberation of bodies slamming against lockers. Once I turned the next corner, I veered down the hall that led to the girls’ bathroom. I wasn’t leaving Lainey behind.
Swinging open the bathroom door, I called in a breathless, frantic voice, “Lainey, we have to get out—”
I froze. Harper leaned over Lainey, squeezing my best friend’s neck with a gleeful look of vengeance on her face.
Even though red scratches welted Harper’s arms, Lainey was in serious trouble.
“Let her go!” I screamed, rushing forward.
Just as Lainey fell to her knees, her face straining with the need to breathe, I slammed my fists down on Harper’s arm, dislodging her hold.
“Stupid bitch!” Harper turned her fury on me with a vicious backhand. She took advantage of my head whipping to the side to grab my shoulders and jam me against a locked stall door.
I blinked past the pain searing across my face and grabbed a fistful of her pinned hair. Yanking hard, I hissed, “Get off me, you crazy psycho!”
I tried to hit her in the stomach, but Harper turned at the last second and my fist caught her hip instead. She gritted her teeth and grabbed my throat with gleeful, wild-eyed excitement, grating out, “You’re not worth the effort.”
She squeezed and I knew I had very little time to save myself and Lainey. I gripped the top of the stall above my head, then yanked my knees up between us, breaking Harper’s chokehold.
Harper flew at me with payback raging in her eyes, but I shoved my bent knees forward, slamming her in the chest with everything I had.
Harper stumbled a few steps, then caught herself on the sink behind her. Recovering quickly, she lunged for me once more.
“Get away from her!” Lainey yelled at the same time she swung her fisted hands into Harper’s jaw.
When Harper crumpled to the ground, then slithered to her side on the floor, Lainey unclenched her hands and threw herself in my arms, babbling, “God, I was so scared, Nara. I told you she was a lunatic!”
I hugged Lainey for a second, then pulled back to stare at Harper. She looked so innocent and peaceful lying on the floor, her chest rising and falling in steady breaths. “We need to call the police,” I said in a shaky voice. “Do you have your phone?”
Lainey rubbed trembling fingers under her wet eyes to wipe away mascara smears. “There’s an officer patrolling the parking lot tonight, remember? We’ll go get him.”
I nodded. “Did Harper say anything to you before she attacked you?”
“All she said was, ‘I’m tired of you getting in my way, taking up all Nara’s time.” Lainey rolled her eyes. “Crazy, jealous stalker psycho!”
Lainey thought Harper was jealous, but with Harper’s connection to Drake, I was pretty sure her desire to spend time with me had more to do with hoping to get access to my house and stuff, than developing a friendship. She’d attacked me too.
“You go find the officer. I’ll meet you outside.” I worked hard to calm my voice for Lainey’s sake. I wanted to check on Ethan.
Lainey’s hands shook as she pinned a curl that had come loose from my hair. “I’m not leaving you here alone with her.”
I gestured to Harper’s prone body. “She’s knocked out, but just in case, I’m going to grab a chair or something to block her in the bathroom.”
“Good call.” Lainey glanced down at Harper once more and squeezed my hand. “This is crazy!”
I gave her a gentle push toward the door. “Go! I know it’s darker that way, but take the senior hall back. It’s shorter.”
Lainey started toward the senior hall, but she paused at the sounds of fighting going on down the locker hall. I shooed her, mouthing, “Hurry!” Once she was out of sight, I moved fast, grabbing a chair from our study hall classroom to block the bathroom door, but since the door swung inward, I was pretty much out of luck.
When a loud, crashing boom echoed, I dropped the chair and left Harper in the bathroom to backtrack to Ethan.
The screeching and fury reverberating in the sophomore locker hall as I drew closer turned my legs to jelly. I wanted to run in the opposite direction, but I had to know Ethan was okay.
I peered around the corner and covered my mouth to keep from making a sound. Dark marks marred several areas on the floor, a few of the lockers and parts of the ceiling. Claw-like rips gouged through the metal on an entire wall of lockers. At the end of the hall closest to me the floor had a huge hole of crumpled and smashed tile as if something or someone had been slammed into it with terrific force.
Drake stood on the far end of the hall and Ethan stood close to my end, facing each other with murderous looks. They panted and bolted for each other at full speed. Drake snarled and leapt in the air toward Ethan first, but Ethan veered to his left and ran up the side of the lockers, before springing off them in Drake’s path.
Unlike Drystan, who’d used at least one handhold to climb, I didn’t see Ethan use anything but sheer momentum to run up the side of the lockers. He let out a fierce roar and clotheslined Drake, sending the guy flying back into the lockers once more.
Before Drake could recover, Ethan stood in front of him, grabbing him by the throat. He lifted Drake high against the dented lockers until his dress shoes dangl
ed off the ground. The look on Drake’s face was sheer evil as he hammered a hard fist into Ethan’s shoulder. The horrific, guttural sounds that came out of him didn’t sound human.
When Drake released a grunt of laughter, my insides tensed.
“That little bitch of yours actually taught me something. Want to see?” Suddenly Drake curled his legs upward, and guilt rushed through me when he used the same move on Ethan I’d used on the guy in the library. Ethan slammed to the floor, a sickening sound that knocked me in the gut. I bit back a cry as the force of the impact cracked the floor all the way down the hall. Ethan slid several feet, his body spinning like a top, scattering broken floor and ceiling pieces in his wake.
Drake didn’t wait for Ethan to recover. He vaulted into a run and took a flying leap after Ethan. I pulled my hand from my mouth, intending to warn Ethan, but he blurred into action. He curled into a roll, then pushed up on the balls of his feet, his head down, hands on the floor…and his back to Drake.
While Drake arced in the air toward him, I screamed, but only a wheeze came out. Ethan grasped something lying among the floor rubble and calmly stood. Fisting his hand around a silver-handled weapon—was it a knife?—he looked up, his face a study of focused concentration.
Gravity and momentum pulled Drake toward him, but Ethan didn’t move. He took a step back, bent his knees slightly, then jammed his right arm in a backward motion at the very moment Drake landed on him.
Drake’s body arched off Ethan’s back as if he’d been wounded, yet he didn’t pull away. Something held him in place, keeping him from sliding off. That’s when I saw the silver tip of something sharp poking through his back. Yellow smoke exploded out of Drake’s body like a detonated airbag. The horrific screech that accompanied it made me shudder. Just as quickly as the smoke appeared, it disappeared. In a blink it had vanished.
“For Nara…and Freddie,” Ethan gritted out in a tone of finality, then twisted his hand to the left.
As Drake’s body exploded into a fog of thick dust, I gaped while the famous saying about death, ashes, and dust popped morbidly into my mind. I blinked, trying to see past the hazy cloud of Drake’s ashes. What had Ethan used to obliterate him? Just as Ethan straightened, I caught a brief glimpse of a sword in his hand with a black feather decorating the blade and a raven symbol near the hilt.
Lucid, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #2) Page 27