The doctor smiles and gestures for us to follow. I start to walk forward, when a jangling sound draws my attention.
Holding my keys in his hand, Drystan smiles. “I’m glad your father is going to be okay, Nara. I think I’m going to head out now though. With this weather, it’ll take a lot longer to get back.”
Nodding my understanding, I walk up to Drystan and push up on my toes to give him an appreciative hug.
As he folds his arms around me, I whisper in his ear, “Thank you for finding my dad, Dryst. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Pulling back, I add, “Hopefully the drive back won’t be too bad, but at least we have school off tomorrow. Drive safe and thank you for everything.”
When Drystan nods and releases me, the cocky grin that hides his true emotions is back. Flicking his gaze to Ethan, he says, “I’m always here for you, Nara. You know that. See you at school.”
Ethan doesn’t say anything to me as we follow the doctor through the door and into the elevator. Instead he reaches for my hand and pulls me to his side once the elevator doors slide open on the third floor.
“Your father’s kind of woozy right now,” the doctor says over her shoulder as we walk past the nurse’s station and down another hall. Before we walk into my father’s room, she says in a low voice, “He’ll be in and out for the next hour or so, but you can go on in and talk to him. He was very agitated when I told him you brought him in, insisting that he see you right away. I finally got him to calm down when I let him know you were fine and right here in the waiting room.”
I nod, and she turns and walks into the room. “Good evening, Mr. Collier,” she says in a friendly voice.
My stomach is a tight knot and my feet don’t want to move on their own. I’m so nervous to see my dad in person after so much time has passed. Ethan rests his hand along my waist and then pushes me into the room, murmuring in my ear, “Time doesn’t strip away love, Nara. He’s family. That’s all that matters.”
“Come closer and let me look at you,” Dad says in a shaky voice.
Emotions clog my throat, but I manage to put one foot in front of the other until I’m standing beside his bed. Still, I can’t bring myself to touch him. I’m afraid if I do, he’ll disappear again.
Dad waits until the doctor leaves the room before he says, “Did you get my videos?”
I nod and tears track down my cheeks. I have to bite my lip to keep from bawling like the scared five-year-old I feel like right now. It’s as if time hasn’t healed the part of my heart that broke that day he left.
“Do you…understand now? I never wanted to hurt you, Nari.”
This time I don’t hold back. Hearing my childhood nickname washes away my fears. I step close to my dad and fall into his open arms, letting all the wasted time pour out of me in a new round of tears.
His big hand cups the back of my head as he holds me close, kissing my hair. “I’ve missed you so much. I thought of you every morning when I woke up and every night before I fell asleep, wondering how your day went.”
I let out a watery laugh and rub my nose against his hospital gown. He feels so thin. He’s probably lost ten pounds during this ordeal. “You must have had willpower of steel not to peek every once in a while. It would’ve been so easy with your ability.” I glance up at him and smile. “I know I would have.”
My dad’s laugh comes out short and forced, as if he doesn’t do it often enough. “I wasn’t taking a chance on cheating. I had to stay away. It seemed to be the only way to keep you and your mom safe. It was definitely the only way the accidents stopped.”
I sit down beside him and clutch his shoulder. “That’s one of the reasons I was so frustrated with your video. There were things I needed to tell you and you just disappeared.”
Tired lines form around his mouth and regret reflects in his eyes. “For once I didn’t see it coming, Nari.”
I think about all my crazy dream experiences lately. “Have you always seen everything? You’ve never been surprised?”
My dad nods. “With very few exceptions, yes. I’ve always seen ahead. There were a few though. Once, a stranger walked right up to me at the airport and told me to pay attention, that something was about to happen. The man wasn’t in my dream, so of course I was instantly intrigued.
“An hour later, I sat beside a man in his early twenties on the plane. We talked about his weekend trip with his buddies, and I asked if he had a family. He told me about his troubled younger brother, and he said he wished he was responsible enough to take care of him, because his parents sucked at it.”
Rubbing his hand across his thigh, my dad holds my gaze. “In my dream, he didn’t talk about a brother. He just flipped through a magazine. The different scenario from my dream was so unexpected that the stranger’s odd comment wouldn’t leave my head. The whole time the guy on the plane talked about his brother, my chest kept getting tighter and tighter. I finally turned to him and told him to go get his brother. Actually, I insisted on it rather vehemently.” My father snorts, then palms my cheek with his warm hand. “He must’ve thought I was crazy, but I knew all about loss. I didn’t want him to have to experience it.”
I stare at him with wide eyes. “Did the guy go get his brother?”
He lowers his hand back to his lap and nods. “I think he did. I saw him head for the ticket counter instead of the terminal exit.”
My dad’s story is too close to Samson’s experience for it to be a coincidence. But there’s one way to know for sure. “What did the stranger who told you to pay attention look like?”
Tilting his head, he stares at the wall behind me. “He was tall and blond. Well dressed. I remember his eyes were an unusual color. Kind of golden.”
It’s surreal enough that my father helped save Ethan, but the fact that the blond man was responsible for pointing him in that direction is even more puzzling. My dad makes the fourth person he’s interacted with who ties back to either me or Ethan. Who is he? He obviously wants me to help Ethan, but if he won’t tell me how I’m connected with Corvus, then what is his purpose?
“Nari?” My dad waves his hand in front of me, yanking me out of my musings. “Are you okay?”
I inhale deeply and nod. “Yeah, I was just trying to think if anything like that has happened to me.”
His eyebrows raise. “Has it?”
“Nothing like that. You mentioned other things that happened you hadn’t expected. Do you remember them?”
Pushing his hand through his hair, my dad exhales deeply. “There was an inexplicable building implosion five years ago. Then a subway collapse last year, and just recently a massive sink hole that swallowed an entire amusement park, killing hundreds.”
His comments remind me that I wanted to show him those videos. I quickly grab my phone. “Watch these.” I play the two videos I’d saved: One of the plane crash from when I was little, and the recent train wreck. Once both videos finish, I ask, “What did you see?”
Sadness fills his gaze. “I’d forgotten about that plane crash. Probably because no one was hurt. Did the train wreck just happen?”
When I nod, his shoulders sag. “What I see in those videos is my failure.”
“You didn’t see anything else? Like what caused these accidents?”
He slowly shakes his head. “Do you see something more?”
I grip his hand. “Yes, I do. It’s hard to explain. It’s like some kind of atmospheric rupture. I don’t think these events are ones you could’ve predicted.”
My dad blinks. “How can you see this? And why do you think I couldn’t have seen them?”
“Because I only saw the cause while watching the videos. Oh, and once in real time, but never in my dreams. As for how I can see them, I have no idea. I thought I inherited the ability from you, but apparently I didn’t.”
“What do you think they are?”
I shake my head and protect the Corvus secret. “I have no idea.” When he stares at me, I shrug. “So tell me why
you didn’t see your kidnapping coming?”
He runs a hand down his face. “A fire alarm went off in my apartment building in the middle of the night, so I didn’t see my entire day. The next day, I remember leaving the coffee house and then everything just went blank.”
“I believe someone in your office set you up.”
His dark eyebrows elevate. “What?”
“Either your secretary or your boss is involved, or somehow connected with the men who kidnapped you, Dad. My dreams showed a connection. It’s why I had you admitted in this hospital under a different name…and also why the police were called to take care of the men who took you. In my dream, when we tried to contact the people at the agency you work for to send help, suddenly you were moved to a different hotel.”
My dad pushes the heels of his hands against his eyes, then shakes his head and blinks to keep his eyes open. “How did you get me out?”
“Ethan rescued you—” Cutting myself off, I walk to the door and pull it open. Ethan’s just outside, leaning against the wall. I smile and wave him in. “Come on. I want to introduce you.”
Clasping Ethan’s hand, I tug him inside and start to speak, but my dad’s eyes are closed. Heart racing, I step close to the bed and watch his chest, then exhale a tense breath when I see he’s breathing fine. I turn toward Ethan. “Guess this is one of his ‘out’ phases the doctor mentioned would happen.”
Ethan grabs the two chairs in the room and sets them side by side so we can talk quietly while my dad naps. As soon as he settles into the seat beside me, I reach for his hand. “I’d like your permission to tell my dad about your ability. Would you be okay with that?”
His mouth presses together for a couple of seconds before he speaks. “No one is supposed to know about Corvus.”
I quickly shake my head. “I won’t mention Corvus stuff. I just want to tell him about your ability and your dreams. He doesn’t have to know how you do what you do or where your ability comes from. I seriously doubt he’ll question it considering we don’t know how ours works. It just does.”
Ethan laces our fingers together. “Why do you want to tell him?”
I nod toward my dad. “I want him to know that he made the right decision. That something would’ve happened to us if he’d stayed.” Swinging my gaze back to Ethan, I tighten my grip on his hand. “I want to tell him that Fate is a real entity and that we can help him face Fate.”
Ethan’s jaw muscle jumps. “I don’t want you to have anything to do with Fate, Nara. Not ever again. I almost lost you the last time.”
By the slant of his mouth, I can tell he’s going to be stubborn about this. When I stand, he doesn’t release my hand, so I turn and slide into his lap. “I need to do this for my dad, Ethan. To help give him the same peace that you gave me. I’m willing to chance facing Fate again if I can give him that.”
Ethan wraps his arms around my waist and stares into my eyes. “I’m not willing to risk you. That fact has never changed and it never will.”
I touch his jaw. “Then come with me to talk to Fate.”
He shakes his head. “I’ve never been able to see your conversations with Fate. For that matter, are you even sure you’ll be able to see your father talk to him?”
“Hopefully I can help my father talk to Fate. I can’t imagine Fate passing up a chance to have us both there at the same time. And I think you can be there to help somehow. This last time I heard your voice calling to me right before your Corvus saved me.”
“You’re ignoring the whole point that you had to be pulled out the last time.”
I smooth the scowl lines on Ethan’s face with my fingers. “Are you really going to let your Corvus one-up you like that?”
The lines on his forehead only deepen. “You have no idea if this will work.”
I lay my head on his shoulder and say, “You’re right, but I have to try.”
Ethan touches my chin and tilts my head so he can meet my gaze. “I’ll help, but under one condition.”
I grip his jacket and sit up, relief flowing through me. “Name it.”
He runs his thumb along my cheek. “That you and I go someplace where we won’t be interrupted and have an honest talk about us.”
So much emotion swirls in his gaze I can’t begin to decipher what he’s thinking, but I quickly nod. “Of course. Whatever you want.”
Ethan exhales a deep breath, then starts to nod, but jerks his gaze to my dad. “Did you plan on helping him try to see Fate here?” When I nod, his eyebrows shoot up. “You don’t have your crystal, remember?”
I can tell by the look on his face that he’s relieved.
I smirk. “Then it’s a good thing I asked my aunt to bring a necklace from her Inara Designs Collection, isn’t it?”
“Nara,” Ethan begins just as someone knocks lightly.
My Aunt Sage’s curly red head appears from around the door.
“You made it,” I say in an excited whisper. I slide off of Ethan’s lap and then help my aunt take off her coat.
I don’t even get a chance to hang her coat up before Aunt Sage quickly pulls me into a tight hug and speaks into my ear. “You and I are going to have a talk about all of this later, Inara. You scared me to death!”
“I’m awake. You don’t have to whisper,” my dad says from the bed.
“Oh, Jonathan…” My aunt quickly moves to the bed and hugs her brother. Tears stream down her face as she leans back and pats his cheek. “I was so scared for you. I’m still not sure what to do or who to contact at your office about all this.”
My dad sets his lips in a thin line. “I’ve been with my team for a long time. It’s so hard to believe they would betray me like this, but worse is that they would turn their back on their own country. There’s one person I can call to speed things along. I’m sure the Nationsafe Security team is already investigating the men the police arrested at that hotel. Can I use your phone?”
We wait while my dad dials a friend who works for the CIA and gives him the information for his boss, his secretary, and two other higher-ups in the Department of Defense who knew about the secret division he worked for.
“I’d like you to dig deeper into all four of those names, much deeper than traditional background checks. There must be something we missed. One of them is responsible for my kidnapping. Yes, I’m receiving medical treatment, but am still having moments of grogginess. No, I’d rather not disclose where I am right now. Once you start investigating, you’ll find their connection to the terrorists that were apprehended tonight at the Reardon. That’s where they held me hostage. No, I’m not sure what happened. I was heavily drugged. I just woke up in an alley. I’m going to turn this phone off. In a few days, once my head is fully clear, I’ll come in for a full statement.”
He shuts my aunt’s phone completely off, then hands it to her with a sigh. “I guarantee you they’re already tracing it. I’ve probably got less than twenty-four hours before the Nationsafe team descends on this hospital.”
Turning to me, he says in a stern tone, “I don’t want you here when they arrive.”
He’s sending me away this time? My heart sinks. “Why?”
His expression softens and he lifts his hand, gesturing me to his side. As soon as I move closer, he takes my hand in his. “They got their hooks into me a long time ago. I don’t want them reeling you in too.”
Don’t worry, Dad. I promised Fate that’ll never happen. Nodding my understanding, I look at Ethan. “Then we don’t have a lot of time.”
“A lot of time for what?” Dad and Aunt Sage say at the same time.
Gesturing to Ethan to come stand beside me, I say, “Dad, this is my boyfriend, Ethan Harris.”
When Ethan reaches out to shake my dad’s hand, my father holds on to Ethan’s hand for a second too long. “Why does your name sound familiar?”
Ethan shrugs and pulls his hand free. “I don’t know. We’ve never met before.”
My dad looks into Ethan’s eyes f
or another second or two, then narrows his gaze slightly. “I want to thank you for helping rescue me, but my fatherly side isn’t pleased my little girl was involved in this at all.”
“You and me both,” Aunt Sage murmurs from the chair next to the bed.
“Would you two stop judging!”
“Nara didn’t go near the terrorists,” Ethan says to my dad.
“Ethan is the only reason—” Ethan slides his fingers between mine, cutting me off. I want so badly to tell my father everything, but Ethan shakes his head, so I temper my response. “I have a mind of my own, and nothing you can say will ever stop me from doing what I feel is right.”
Just as I finish speaking, the doctor knocks and walks in. “I wanted to let you know that visiting hours end in fifteen minutes.” Looking at my dad, she continues, “Once your family leaves, I’ll check back in with you.”
My father nods to the doctor, then jerks his gaze to me as soon as she shuts the door. “I’m your father. I’ll always want to protect you. That’s my job.”
Stepping close, I touch his shoulder. “Sometimes, it’s the kid’s job to protect the parent. I smile, then tilt my head. “When you feel the drug grogginess coming on, does it feel different from just being tired?”
He nods. “Yes, it’s a heaviness I can’t control. It just comes over me.”
“Then we’ll have to wait until you actually need to sleep. Your dreams won’t be right until the drugs are completely gone.”
His hand clamps around mine. “Why are we waiting for me to see my dreams?”
My gaze shifts from my dad to my aunt and then back. “So you can meet Fate.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nara
“Absolutely not!”
My dad’s adamant refusal to let us help him face Fate surprises me.
Of course, the whole time I was describing that Fate was real, and how the vengeful entity went after me for changing others’ fate, I never look at my aunt. Hearing her gasps in the background are hard enough. I know when she finally gets me alone, she’s going to rip into me for not telling her the whole truth—how Ethan’s dreams and the crystal have allowed me to see Fate in the past.
Destiny, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #3) Page 29