Aunt Sage pulls me over to the couch. Her brow creases as she sits down beside me. “Why do you think he has such awful dreams?”
I shrug and gloss over answering directly. “His dreams don’t define who he is, Aunt Sage. They just give him horrible insomnia. He sees my dreams too and they’ve helped him deal with the darkness.”
She rubs her temples, squinting. “So wait…are you saying he sees your future? He knows about your ability?”
I nod, then snort. “Yes, he does, and you’ll be thrilled to learn he agrees with you. He doesn’t want me to get involved or change anyone’s fate. Ever.”
Aunt Sage beams. “I knew I loved this boy for a reason.”
“So you’ll help me?”
She cups her hands around mine. “I want to know more about why he has these dreams. There might be something we can come up with to block them.”
Unless Ethan locks himself away in a room and never touches another person ever again, then nope, he’s stuck with them.
Everyone has some kind of negative energy: bad pasts, sad home lives, all kinds of crappy baggage they carry around with them. My boyfriend just happens to be a magnet for it. Everything he absorbs morphs into vicious monsters acting out violence and mayhem in his dreams, and he feels and fights against all of it every single night.
“Maybe,” I say, hedging. “But for now, we need to try to help him wake up. I can’t imagine the torture he’s going through.” My eyes tear up as memories of his past dreams rush to the front of my mind.
Aunt Sage nods, her gaze taking on a committed gleam. “What do you have in mind?”
While I wait for my aunt to finish up the piece she’s working on, I check my phone. Immediately several texts come through, one after the other from Lainey and Drystan—an exchange student from Wales I’d become friends with recently. I also have a couple of voice mails, one from each of them.
Once I send my mom a text with an update on Ethan, I scroll through the other texts.
Lainey: Where are you??? WTH, Nara? What is the important thing you needed to do?
Drystan: Lainey said you had something important to do today. Is Dark Boy the reason you’re not here?
Dark Boy? That’s how he sees Ethan? When Ethan had shown up at the dance late on Saturday, Drystan and Ethan had instantly disliked each other.
Lainey: Check out this Virality page link. That’s the sophomore locker hall. Must’ve happened during the dance or on Sunday. Bet the teachers are glad the students had Monday and Tuesday off.
I don’t have to click the social media site link to know how bad the hall looks. I open Drystan’s text next.
Drystan: School was a disaster zone in the sophomore locker hall. Whatever happened, it was violent. You need to get back to training. Where are you? Get your arse out to the park after school today.
Lainey: Drystan’s being such a grouch to Matt and me. I know it’s because D’s worried about you. Text me back and tell me what’s going on. Throw me a bone so I can keep this rabid dog from snapping our heads off.
Drystan: If you don’t let me know you’re okay, I’m going to show up at your house.
Ugh, and those are just the texts. I’m afraid to listen to the voice mails, but I do anyway.
Lainey: “I broke down and called your house before dinner. Ethan’s in the hospital? Something about a car accident? I’m so relieved you’re okay. How’s Ethan doing?” Sighing heavily, her tone softens. “I’m so sorry, Nara. Sending healing vibes Ethan’s way. I’ll let Drystan know. Just call when you can, okay?”
I’m somewhat relieved to see Drystan’s voice mail didn’t come through until fifteen minutes after Lainey’s. That meant he wouldn’t bite my head off like he’d done in his texts. I click the button to listen to his Welsh lilt across the line.
Drystan: I know Dark Boy’s in hospital and all, but I’m serious about continuing your training as soon as possible, Nara. I don’t want that to be you in a hospital bed. Ring me!
I text Lainey first and update her on Ethan. Instead of texting Drystan, I call. He picks up on the first ring. “Hey. How’s Dark Boy—”
“Don’t, Drystan,” I snap, feeling every bit as tired and tense as I sound.
“You ah, don’t sound so good. Want me to bring you some takeaway?”
“Take away?”
“You call it carry out and sometimes fast food here, I think.”
“Oh, no. I’m fine, but thanks. You’re going to have to back off on the training stuff, Drystan. Ethan takes priority right now.”
“You didn’t see the school, Nara. It felt very wrong to me.”
Oh, I saw it. Got to witness the whole violent mess happen in real time during the dance. Drystan’s feelings are “spot on” as he’d say in that accent of his.
I sigh. “I agreed to self-defense training, but we just need to hold off for a bit until Ethan’s better. That’s all.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“You sure you’re fine, Nara?”
I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “I’m good. I’ll see you at school soon.”
He blows out a frustrated breath and I know he’s probably shoving his fingers through his messy, blond-streaked hair. “Right. See you then.”
Before I can reply, he clicks off.
I turn to my aunt who’s coming through the door from her shop. “Ready?”
She walks up to me and sets a heavy silver ring in my palm, her face pinching in concern. “Are you sure this is safe?”
Possibly not. Fate may well kick my ass all over Ethan’s dream world. I force a confident smile. “Of course. I’ll be fine, Aunt Sage.”
She presses her lips together as she sets a smaller version of Ethan’s ring on my palm. “Since you’ll be in there too, it’s better for you both to have one. I’m coming with you.”
I quickly shake my head, grabbing her arm when she turns to reach for her coat. “You can’t. It’s going to be hard enough to sneak back into Ethan’s room.”
“What?” Her hazel gaze swings back to me, narrowing. “Why would you have to sneak in?”
I curl my fingers into a fist around the rings, hoping the metal absorbs some of my positive thoughts for Ethan’s recovery. “I um…kind of insulted Ethan’s parents when I was in the hospital room with them, so they banned me.”
“Nara! Why would you do such a thing?”
I shrug and release her arm. “They deserved it. Trust me. There’s a reason he lives with his older brother.”
“Oh.” My aunt’s tense shoulders slump a little. “That’s sad.”
“It is, but I’m not going to let their pride stop me from helping Ethan.”
My aunt’s fingers brush my furrowed brow. “Is it safe for you, Nara? You can’t get stuck in Ethan’s dream world too, can you?”
Get stuck? I hadn’t thought of that possibility. When I walked in his dreams in the past, Ethan’s presence had pulled me out of each nightmare I experienced, and a few times when things got really extreme a sudden soft darkness had folded around me, shielding me completely from all the violence. Ethan had been surprised when I told him about the dark comfort. Nothing protected him from the violence in his dreams but himself. So even if Ethan’s incapable of helping me, I have to trust that the comforting darkness will be there, obliterating the horror. I nod with confidence. “I’m not worried, Aunt Sage.”
“That makes one of us.”
I grip her hand. “I promise I’ll call you as soon as I wake.”
Her gaze holds mine for several seconds, then she nods, pushing me toward the door. “It’s late. By the time you get to the hospital it’ll be ten.”
“I’m hoping the late hour means his parents have already gone to their hotel for the night,” I say as I shrug into my coat. “I seriously doubt they’ll stay with his brother.”
As I enter Ethan’s floor via the stairs, the two nurses sitting at the station across from the lobby don’t notice me walk up behind
the standup, life-size animatronic Santa. They’re watching Samson sleep in a wooden backed chair, his head propped up by his hand and elbow on an end table next to him. I’m so relieved he’s not in Ethan’s room, I give myself a second to calm my thumping heart after running up five flights of stairs and listen to the nurses talking about him.
“Poor guy,” the young, redheaded nurse says to the older woman who’s filing paperwork away in a lateral file. “He looks so uncomfortable. Should we get him a blanket?”
The older woman pulls her half-moon glasses down and observes Samson with a stern look. “He wasn’t happy I kicked him out of his brother’s room, then he refused to leave when I told him he should go home and get some rest. Said he wanted to be here when his brother woke up. I told him to come back fresh in the morning, yet there he sits, sleeping fitfully.”
The younger nurse’s face softens. “He has such love for his brother. I think his dedication is admirable.”
The older woman snorts and quietly shuts the filing cabinet. “Won’t do his brother any good if he gets sick from exhaustion. At least the parents have more sense. They left for their hotel a couple hours ago.”
As the nurses continue to discuss Ethan and his family in low tones, I creep down the hall away from the station. At least the nurses confirmed what I needed to know; Ethan still hasn’t woken up.
I reach Ethan’s room and quietly enter. The room lights are off, but parking lot lights outside the window allow enough illumination to make my way through the room.
I quietly unzip my backpack, then slip the crystal necklace on over the medallion necklace. Once the cool crystal is nestled inside my shirt, I move over to Ethan’s bed and am relieved to see they’ve removed the straps. Slipping out of my shoes, I gently ease myself into the bed beside Ethan and lift his hand toward my mouth.
Pressing my lips to his knuckles, I slide the ring my aunt created onto his ring finger, then slip the smaller ring just like his on my own hand. My fingers lace with Ethan’s and I clasp our hands together. Ethan’s masculine smell washes over me, reminding me what it felt like to fall asleep with his arms wrapped around me just four nights ago.
Before I found out he’d lied to me.
No matter what secrets he’s kept from me this past month, I can’t turn off my love for him. He affects me deeply. And he always will.
What if I never get to feel his touch again? A sob gathers in my chest, vaulting its way to my throat. I swallow back my swirling emotions and tighten my grip on his hand. When he wakes up, he’ll explain everything.
Once my churning stomach settles, I lay my head on the pillow beside him and lean against his shoulder. Closing my eyes, I whisper, “Please let this work.”
Chapter Five
Ethan
The massive lion-headed creature digs unforgiving claws into the dirt, its angry roar reverberating off the tall stone walls boxing us in. I yell and wave my arms in wild abandon, putting on as fierce a show as I can in the hopes I’ll fool it into thinking I’m as big as he is.
Other battles echo all around, sounds of unknown creatures’ claws scraping and jaws snapping before a huge body slams into stone walls elsewhere in the maze. At least those beastly fights have some semblance of fairness. My only weapon is my mind, but even if my spirit continues to fight like a junkyard dog, my body can only take so much before these never-ending scenarios infect my mind like a gnawing disease.
A huge light roams across the top of the maze’s stone walls, like a prison guard’s spotlight highlighting every hiding space. The creatures seem to have terrible vision and instead depend on their sense of smell and hearing to hunt.
Apparently my movements only manage to piss this particular beast off.
He dips his head and snarls, then whips his scorpion stinger tail back and forth. Poison spews with each thump against the narrow walls, leaving melting singe marks on the rough stone’s surface.
When the creature pounces, I dodge, taking off down the narrow corridor. The ground shakes from his pounding weight, and the hair on the back of my neck rises with each expelling snort from his snout. I approach a T in the corridor, then take a left. Relief washes through me that this new path seems to go on for a while.
The beast slams into the T, shakes its head, then snarls his fury before bounding in my direction. I turn right down another path, my chest burning. Thankfully, I’d made the right decision. A long corridor with many branches sprawls ahead of me.
The lion-scorpion shortens the distance between us rapidly. I glance back to gauge how close, then dig my shoes deeper in the dirt. Tensing my thighs, I ramp up for a burst of speed. When I face forward once more, the layout before me changes, shortening to less than twenty feet with a dead end straight ahead.
“Unfuckingbelieveable!” My shoes skid on the dirt floor and my legs strain and flex as I dig my heels in to avoid slamming into the wall. I finally stop, just inches from the unyielding stone surface. I curl my hands into tight fists. Another change with no rhyme or reason. No way to determine a pattern. The only consistency in this world is inevitable, torturous pain.
My hand suddenly tingles and I glance down to see a silver ring appear on my finger; the dragon with symbols along its back reminds me of the tattoo on my arm. Well, the one I used to have. My forearm’s a blank slate now. Seeing the ring makes me believe I’m not alone, like someone’s watching over me. I’ll be damned if I’ll go down without one hell of a fight this time.
Clenching my ring hand closed in a tight fist, I whirl to face the creature thundering toward me and raise both fists, snarling, “Come on, you overgrown cat. You’re going to have to work harder than all the bastards before you for this kill.”
The lion comes to a lumbering stop. Pawing the ground, he lets out a low, threatening rowrrrr that sounds both leisurely and amused. He rolls his head slowly from side to side, an indication he plans to toy with me before he deals the killing blow.
My chest expands with fury. This repeat nightmare has the same ending—me in pieces on the ground, blood everywhere, my muscle and sinew flossing some random beast’s teeth. I refuse to let him enjoy it. This time I don’t wait to be attacked first, I jump onto his massive head before he can lunge.
He roars and tries his best to fling me off, but I use my hold on his mane to pull my legs away from his snapping teeth, dragging myself onto his back. He tries twice more to reach me with his mouth, but fails, so his barbed tail arcs, its poison arrow zinging for me. Keeping my grip tight on his mane, I swing myself down his other side at the last second.
The stinger barely misses me and enters his shoulder. The beast screams in pain. I don’t have much time. He’ll pull the stinger free of his muscle any moment. I move quickly, wrapping his long mane around and around the temporarily stuck barb.
The lion finally yanks his tail out of his shoulder, but growls furiously that his hair is now tangled in the barb; each swishing tug causes him to yowl even louder. I flip him off and smile, then turn to run. Before I take two steps he throws his hindquarters sideways and slams me into the wall.
Pain explodes along my spine; my breath propels from my lungs. As my vision blurs, I’m close to losing consciousness. I hammer my fist against his hipbone and kick hard, aiming for his groin. There’s no room for honor when your life hangs in the balance.
Somehow I blindly manage to hit home, and as soon as the creature screeches, I shove his body away and slide free.
I run faster than I ever have before, but I refuse to celebrate that this is the first time I haven’t been cornered and devoured by whatever new creature the never-ending maze conjures. I’ve only temporarily put off gasping painfully back to life, my splattered guts and dismembered limbs magically intact once more. A temporary reprieve from a torturous death is the sickest kind of torment; it allows the mind more time to dwell on the upcoming, inevitable agony. Even knowing this, I still fight.
The lion roars as he struggles to turn his massive body in the narrow space
. Edging around, he vaults after me in fierce pursuit, but I tune out his loud fury when another sound captures my attention, striking true fear in my heart.
“Ethan! Where are you?”
Nara’s terrified call sends a cold chill slicing through me. “Nara, keep talking so I can find you!” I smack the side of my fist against the stone wall as I run. The thought that any of these creatures could do to her what’s been happening to me fuels my speed. I have to get to her, to protect her. Zooming around the corner, I look left and right as I listen for her voice.
“I’m in some kind of maze. What’s that roaring? Ethan, oh God, are you in there with it?”
I follow the echo of her last words while trying to keep worry from my voice. “I’m coming, Nara. Keep talking.”
“I’ve been looking for you. Ugh, the sounds and smells…it’s like this place is feeding on your fears. The flashing light is giving me a headache.” As darkness consumes the space once more, she grows quiet, then shrieks, “Aack! Something just slithered past. Ethaaaaaan.”
For whatever reason, I’m able to see in the darkness. The lion had gone in the opposite direction earlier. I shut out the concern he’ll find us and keep talking. Nara takes priority. Dashing around another corner, I call out, “Follow my voice. As soon as the light strobes back through, run toward it. I’m coming.”
“Following,” she says as the sound of her feet hitting dirt floats my way.
The moment I see her, my heart jerks. I pull her shaking body into my arms and gather her close, breathing into her hair. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” I say over and over. I stroke her soft hair, cup her jaw, then run my thumbs along her cheeks. I can’t stop touching her.
Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3) Page 4