Nara clings to me, her hands tight around my waist. For several seconds, I tune it all out and just experience how much she makes me feel. I inhale her floral scent and revel in her soft frame pressing against me. My body has a mind of its own, wanting to mold to her every curve. It takes supreme effort, but I resist pressing my hips against hers. She shatters me. Every damned time. Exhaling harshly, I shake off the shudder rippling through me and take a deep breath to regain my senses. This is not the place to lose them.
My gaze snags her worried green one as I clasp her face a little tighter. I can keep fighting in this godforsaken place when it’s just me, but if something happens to her here, I wouldn’t bother fighting anymore. I’d be done. Gravelly Voice can have me once and for all.
“What are you doing here?” I demand, my voice cold, harsh, but I can’t help it. I’m scared out of my mind for her.
Nara stiffens and pulls my hands from her face, her fingers gripping mine. “I’m here for you, Ethan.”
I shake my head. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you. You’re—”
An ear-deafening roar vibrates the walls just around the corner. It’s way too close. “Come on,” I call over the din and clasp Nara’s hand. Dragging her behind me, I run, my feet kicking up dirt.
We turn down another path, the unseen lion quickly gaining. He’ll be able to see us soon. If I can find a dark space to hide, hopefully he’ll pass by while the lack of light works in our favor.
I run down the darkest passage I can find, then back into a corner and wrap my arms around Nara, holdng her tight against my chest. She’s breathing heavily, her body quivering as she grips my arms around her and looks over her shoulder at me in the darkness. “Ethan, we need to—”
“Shh,” I whisper in her ear as I listen for the lion’s heavy-footed approach.
Just when the lion starts to pass our area, the slow moving spotlight quickly swings back, zeroing in on our hiding place. The beast stops and follows the light, his huge head curving around the corner.
“Sonofabitch!” I quickly push Nara behind me and take several steps away from the corner, creating a buffer for her.
The beast narrows his dark gaze on us and I let out a steady stream of curses. We’re trapped, completely and utterly at his mercy. His sudden low, steady purr says he knows it too. He takes his time, slowly stalking down the long, narrow passageway, his shoulders rising and falling, each pounding step vibrating the ground under my feet.
Nara claws at my shoulder, yelling something. All I can hear is the rush of blood in my ears. I try to think my way out of this, but I have no clue how to get us both out of this situation unharmed. If I attack the lion, that’ll distract him, giving her time to get away. But what happens to her once the ravenous beast is done with me? How long do I stay dead before I come back? The idea I might not come back in time to save her makes it hard to breathe.
She grabs my shoulder again and this time her words spear through my rambling thoughts. “Use your sword, Ethan.”
Nara
Ethan looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind, but I smack at his shoulder and repeat myself, “Use your sword!”
He shakes his head and reaches back to grip my waist, keeping me behind him.
If I don’t do something soon, we’ll both be lunch. I shove Ethan to the side and step in front to face him. The malice dripping off the stalking lion behind me sends a wave of nausea rippling through my belly, but I swallow the fear pounding my chest and keep my focus on Ethan as I cup my hand over his right shoulder. “Ethan, you need to use your—”
A whoosh of displaced air blows my hair forward and Ethan suddenly flickers as a wave of blackness begins to circle me, creating a veil between us. No! I push my hand against the softness. This time I can feel its solid strength as I shove it out of the way, mentally continuing, Don’t try to protect me. I’m here for Ethan. To help him. He needs your protection. Why have you never tried to help him like you do me? Ethan suddenly flickers back in my line of sight at the same time the lion’s swiping paw snags my jacket.
“Nara!” Ethan grabs my waist and yanks me behind him with lightning reflexes. “Don’t ever do something so insane again,” he grits out. “I won’t lose you. I can’t.” A fierce look crosses his face, his gaze never leaving the lion. “When I take him on, I want you to run like hell. Got it?”
“What?” I grab the back of his shirt when he takes an aggressive step toward the creature.
“Come on, you sick bastard!” he yells, raising his clenched fists in the air.
My fingers twist in his shirt, holding tight. “I’m not running.”
“Damn it, Nara! He’ll kill me like he always does. I’ll come back just so one of these sadistic beasts can tear me apart all over again, but I can’t watch that happen to you. I won’t.”
Like he always does? He’s been dying over and over in these dreams? I’ve got to get him out now.
Glancing up at the tall walls, I desperately wish some of the stones would come loose, slowing the creature’s advance, giving us a chance to get away. The walls begin to vibrate and a few of the stones at the top of the wall shake free. As they slam into the lion’s head and then hit his hindquarters, the lion rears up on his back legs and turns around, roaring his fury at the unknown source of his pain.
Ethan tries to yank free of my hold. His fists curl tighter, his shoulder muscles tense; he’s going to strike out at the beast, hoping to attack while the lion’s distracted. I grind my teeth and eye the stone wall next to us, directing more stones to fall. With each big boulder that rains down on him, the lion grows angrier. We have to get out of here. If I can make stones fall, can’t I find a way to leave? I reach for a small rock jutting out of the wall next to me and imagine that it’s a doorknob. When the rock turns, I exhale a surprised breath of relief and push harder, welcoming the sound of stone scraping against stone.
Ethan jerks wide eyes my way as I push the stone door fully open. Before he can hesitate, I grab his hand and tug as I cross through, but he bounces off the doorway as if an invisible force won’t allow him passage. Only our connected hands hang across the threshold.
Amazement flickers in his eyes. “How did you do that?”
The lion shakes his head and stumbles groggily. When he realizes his prey is escaping, he snarls and takes a running leap for Ethan. Long claws curled in shredding mode, he opens his mouth wide, aiming his sharp teeth for his victim’s head and neck.
“Believe, Ethan!” As I tug on his hand, the lion’s downward arc slows to a stuttering frame by frame pace. While the beast falls toward Ethan, I continue, frantic, “You need to believe you can come through.”
Ethan blinks and shakes his head. “How?”
The frames start to speed up, the lion falling faster and faster; his claws curve viciously, a maniacal snarl lifting his open snout. Unsure how to reach Ethan, I realize our connection is the key to getting him through and jump across the threshold straight into his arms. “No, Nara!” He tries to set me away, but I wrap my legs tight around his hips, locking myself to him.
“Together ’til the wheels fall off. Remember?” I pant out, then press my mouth to his as if it’s our last kiss. I pour every ounce of passion, worry and intensity I feel for him into my lips on his. If he’s going to die, then we’ll go together. I won’t leave here without him.
Claws slice along my arm, splitting the muscle all the way to the bone. Tingling numbness sends a shock of cold shooting through me while warm blood spurts across my skin. As that arm goes limp, I sob against his mouth and clutch him harder with my uninjured arm, then pull him with me as I lean backward with all the strength I have left in my body.
We stumble against the threshold, passion and fear coalescing into a frenzy of pounding hearts and strong emotions. The second we slide along the stone wall and clear the doorway, the lion screeches and tries to jam his massive body through the small opening.
We fall to the groun
d together at the same time the lion shoulders his way through the doorway, stones exploding off the opening in his furious wake. The fall knocks the wind out of me, sending pain down my spine, but I squeeze my eyes shut and ignore it, focusing only on Ethan.
As the lion rears his head back and opens his maw wide, then slams his massive teeth toward our heads, I grip Ethan’s face, forcing his blue eyes to connect with mine and say forcefully, “Wake up, Ethan! I don’t want to die here.”
Ethan and I sit up together, gasping in the darkness. My hand supporting his back stings painfully and I yank it away. As I glance at his back, peering past his hospital gown opening, his sword’s cold metal has already started to meld into his skin once more. A few seconds more and it’ll turn back into a sword tattoo slashing diagonally along his spine from shoulder to waist.
“Nara?” Ethan says, bewilderment creasing his brow. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
His voice sounds scratchy, probably from the tube they removed earlier. I take calming breaths and pull my sweatshirt over the cut on my palm, curling my fingers against the material to soak up the blood. Once his breathing evens out, I say, “You’re at Jefferson hospital. Welcome back to the land of the living.”
His eyebrows pull together. “A hospital?”
I nod. “I have a several burning questions, but I’ll ask the most important one first. Where have you been for the last month?”
Deep brackets form around his mouth, disbelief filtering in his expression. “I’ve been asleep for a month?”
My heart jerks and something close to panic grips my chest. “Uh, no. You’ve been in a drug-induced coma for a couple of days to reduce swelling in your brain from a car accident. I’m asking where you’ve been for the past few weeks prior to your accident. You certainly weren’t working things out with your parents like you told me you were.”
Ethan rubs his hand down his face, looking thoroughly exhausted. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Nara. The last thing I remember is driving you to a special place for a picnic…” He pauses, then looks at me. “Was it an early birthday surprise?”
Chapter Six
Nara
I stare at him with wide eyes. Oh God. He doesn’t remember any of it?
Ethan’s deep blue eyes shift to a darker shade, reflecting confusion and worry. He really doesn’t remember. His heart monitor goes off, beeping like crazy. We stare at each other and as each beep comes faster than the last, my nerves ratchet even tighter.
“Nara?”
He lifts his uninjured hand toward my face, but I slide off the bed just out of his reach. The second my feet hit the floor, Samson bursts through the door. The light flares on as the younger nurse quickly follows him into the room.
“You’re awake. Thank God.” He gives me a quick, surprised glance before rushing to the other side of the bed and addressing his brother in a mock stern tone. “’Cause it’s hard to kick your ass when you’re sleeping.”
“He doesn’t remember.” My tone is flat as I move to the foot of the bed so the nurse can check Ethan’s vitals.
Ethan’s dark eyes burn into me, but I keep my attention on Samson and nod to acknowledge his worried gaze as it flicks to me.
“What don’t I remember? What’s going on, Nara?”
Ethan’s tense tone wills me to look at him, but I can’t.
The younger nurse fluffs Ethan’s pillow behind him, her voice upbeat, “Temporary memory loss is normal after a head injury. It may take time, but your memory usually returns.”
“Head injury? What don’t I remember?” Ethan repeats, his voice harder this time.
“We don’t know. You’ve been gone a month, Ethan,” his brother says quietly. “Do you know a Danielle? Nara says you were with someone named Danielle.”
I lower my gaze to the ring I slid on Ethan’s finger and study the religious symbols etched along the back. A dragon circles the entire ring’s surface with symbols etched along his back and down his tail. The symbols are exact replicas of the ones in the flames around the dragon tattoo on his arm.
Ethan’s fingers twitch, the only indication he notices the ring on his hand. “Who’s Danielle?”
Heart racing, I lock my lips and shake my head as I stare at the pillow behind his head. Ethan shifts until he’s in my line of sight. “Who is she?”
“You told me she was your cousin,” I say, the unspoken accusation burning in my throat. I want to yell at him, to demand answers, but the pucker on his brow and the slight downturn of his lips tells me what he can’t.
Ethan starts to speak when the older nurse pushes through the door, the attending doctor one step behind her. She instantly frowns in my direction. “What are you doing in here? No visitors allowed, young lady.” Grabbing my shoulders, she turns me toward the door.
“She stays,” Ethan says in the firmest voice I’ve heard since he woke.
The woman’s hands on my shoulders tighten. “It’s hospital policy, Mr. Harris. Miss Collins has to leave. Your parents insisted she not be allowed in.”
“They banned Nara from seeing me?” He turns angry eyes to his brother. “How could you let them do that?”
“Calm down. I planned to talk to them,” Samson soothes.
“It’s fine.” I shrug the nurse’s hands off. “I was just leaving, anyway.” I have to get out of here before I break down. Ethan’s dream world exhausted me. My head hurts and the cut on my palm burns as if it’s on fire. Before I turn away, I glance Ethan’s way and the second our gazes meet, the bewilderment, confusion, and yearning flickering in the blue depths sends deep pain shooting to my heart. “I’ve got school tomorrow. I’m so glad you’re awake. Means you’re getting better. I’ll see you…later, I guess.”
“Nara!” he calls, but I force myself to walk out the door, my back ramrod straight.
The second the door closes behind me, Ethan freaks. I hear him thrashing around, yelling my name. So many emotions rush through me, I can’t process them. I bolt down the hall and fling open the stairwell door. As I take the stairs, I try to hold back the sobs, but they come anyway.
It’s probably for the best that I’m not allowed in Ethan’s room right now. I’m angry, resentful, furious, heartbroken, and sad; the rapid spiraling of feelings is so mired I can’t separate them. Seeing me this upset would only aggravate him more. At least I think it would.
Then again, the Ethan I thought I knew isn’t the Ethan who’d shown up at the dance a few days ago either. The Ethan at the dance had been much darker. That night he’d been dangerous, but also thrillingly protective and intimately possessive, and he’d branded his mark on me in a way that left me eagerly anticipating his return.
I bite my lip as I reach the main floor and shove the exit door open. Running into the parking lot, I gulp in the frigid night air. I’m scared by how attracted and deeply connected I felt to that Ethan, whose bold touch set my body on fire, and who left me wanting to take our relationship to a whole new level of intimacy.
Is the Ethan from this weekend gone? Was all that we’d shared a lie too?
Will the answers that connect me to Ethan through the ravens be lost forever if he can’t remember?
I get in my car and crank the engine, my body shaking from more than just the cold.
As my gaze strays to the fifth floor where Ethan’s room resides, I set my jaw and suppress my emotions. What if Ethan’s car wreck wasn’t an accident? What if he was pushed off that road? Without his memory, he has no clue the kind of evil that’s out there waiting for him. I’m not even sure what that evil is—only he seemed to know. That knowledge might be locked away with his memory, but it doesn’t change the fact he’s still in danger. That we both are.
Regardless of how mad I am that he lied to me about his whereabouts the past few weeks, I have to help him get his memory back. The ravens still connect us. And I need to figure out why I was led to a book about ravens with a secret compartment. I’ll paint the broad picture for Ethan, the
n guide him into filling in the details. We both need answers, and the only way we’ll get there is if he can remember what he’d planned to tell me when he returned.
“I can do this,” I murmur. Exhaling a harsh breath, I ignore the hurt squeezing my chest and grab my steering wheel with a firm grip.
“You look like shite.” Drystan leans against the locker next to mine as I spin the combination. “I take it since you’re here, Dark Boy’s awake.”
“I didn’t sleep for shite last night.” I cut a quick glance his way, only catching a glimpse of his leather jacket before shoving several books in my backpack, then zipping it closed. “And yes, Ethan woke up.”
A low chuckle erupts from his mouth. “Is that how I really sound?”
Just as I meet his hazel green gaze, Lainey wraps her arm around my shoulders. “Yes, that’s exactly how you sound, Drystan. Nara has you down, boy.” Turning to me she says, “You going to see Ethan now?”
“I’ve got too much school work to catch up on. Plus, his parents are there. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Huh?” Lainey says. “He’s your boyfriend. You wouldn’t be intruding.”
“Yeah, I’d want Lainey smothering me with all kinds of extra attention if I were in the hospital.” Matt buries his nose in Lainey’s auburn hair as he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her back against his chest.
While Lainey laughs and ruffles his short blond locks, I start to lug my backpack up on my shoulder and wince.
Drystan grabs my hand and tugs it toward him, frowning at the bandage I’d wrapped around my palm. “What’d you do to your hand?”
I pull my hand back. “Nothing. Just a cut.” Before I can hike my backpack onto my shoulder, he grabs it from me and slides it onto his. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your car.”
Lainey nods to me, pleading in her eyes. She’s telling me Drystan needs to talk, so I shrug and fall in step beside him. I know she’ll call me later.
Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3) Page 5