Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness (2 page)

I might dream my next day every night when I fall asleep—well, I still would if the ring I wear to keep demons from trying to possess me didn’t block my dreams now—but supernatural tattoos? Yep, they exist. They do if you’re intimately connected to a Corvus. Whereas the sword tattoo running diagonally down Ethan’s back can turn into a kickass demon-obliterating weapon, I just have a white feather on my right shoulder blade.

His sword can dispatch demons back to Under.

My feather can apparently plot points on a map.

Woohoo, I’m
so
badass.

I’m still fuzzy how my feather went from sitting in my hand to a pen with red ink. All I remember is feeling compelled to douse the bright spots flickering in my eyes every time I stared at the world map on my desk. Touching each spot with the feather pen worked, and before I knew it, I’d mapped out all the Corvus’ locations across the world. I’m not certain I could repeat the process again; the whole experience felt very out-of-body. And I have no clue why the top of my feather turned black after that.

“What did you say, Nara? You mumbled something.”

“Huh?” I pull out of my musings, my thoughts still whirling.

Ethan’s brow creases with worry. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just thinking.”
How I have no idea what I’m looking for on this map. Or how I’m supposed to help you. Michael has far more faith in me than I do.

“Michael has interacted with many people in our lives, keeping our paths together. He’s even talked to you a few times. Why hasn’t he ever spoken to me?”

“While we were talking about the raven book she created for Michael, Madeline told me that angels can’t talk to Corvus. Something about the Corvus spirit existing at a higher vibrational level.”

Ethan grunts his frustration and rubs his jaw. “Carrying around a highly evolved raven spirit seems so surreal. Half the time I feel like I’m going to wake up in a sleep-drool puddle next to a raven-inspired graphic novel I fell asleep reading.”

“Oh, so the main character in this hypothetical graphic-novel-inspired dream finally gets the girl all to himself?” I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head toward my rumpled bedcovers.

Ethan smiles and runs his knuckles along the side of my throat, his blue eyes warm as they slide over my face. “For that alone, I’m very, very glad this is no dream, Sunshine.” Pulling me close, he presses his lips to mine, then nods to the map. “Okay, so Michael thinks what you’ve mapped here is important. Did he give any idea as to what you’re looking for?”

I stare at the purple marks. “These marks represent me tracking unusual events—like power grid surges, a massive sink hole, or a train derailment—that have coincided closely with natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. Cross-referencing those events provides an area where potential cracks might form in the veil between our Mortal realm and the Under realm. And those cracks are where Madeline said demons can break through.” I slide my finger across the red dots I’d added using the feather. “You confirmed these are Corvus all over the world. I know there’s something I’m supposed to see here—” The song “Perfect Strangers” by Deep Purple blasting from my phone cuts me off.

When Ethan’s eyebrows shoot up at the old song, I snicker and walk over to grab my phone off my nightstand. “Once my dad and I have caught up on the last decade he missed from my life, I’ll change it.”

Ethan shakes his head as I put the phone to my ear. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“I’m about fifteen minutes away. I hope I didn’t wake you, but I decided I wasn’t going to miss another holiday with my daughter. I plan to stay in Blue Ridge for a few days, then head back to D.C. after Christmas. I know your mom’s not around, so I thought I’d swing by.”

“You’ll be here in fifteen minutes? I just woke up.” I gulp, my gaze jerking to Ethan’s in panic.

“Why do you sound surprised? Didn’t you already dream this?” my father asks.

“Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Kind of tossed and turned.” I bite my lip to keep from laughing when Ethan pauses in the process of putting his shirt on to flash me a wicked smile, fully confident in his ability to keep me awake most of the night. “How’d you know Mom’s not here?”

“I may have given up my ability to see my next day when I faced down Fate, but I still have my government connections, Nari. It was easy enough to find out that your mom flew out on Saturday and that she’ll be returning on Monday. I thought we could spend the morning discussing how best to approach her about why I left.”

Ethan moves to my side and lifts my free hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. I don’t want him to go, so I pout at him and answer my father. “Okay, see you soon.”

Once I hang up, Ethan gestures to the map. “Looks like we’ve got a lot less time to study that now.”

“I can always destroy it later.”

When he frowns, my shoulders sag. Waiting isn’t an option. If demons got a hold of this map, they’d know every single Corvus’ location. And right now there’s at least one demon who’ll be sniffing around my house for a book he thinks I still have the second he finds himself another body to inhabit. Turning to the map once more, Ethan and I spend the next few precious minutes we have alone together studying it one last time, hoping for some kind of inspiration to strike.

Ethan finally glances at me and shakes his head. “I’ve got nothing.”

A knot of failure curls in my belly, especially since I have no idea if I can replicate the map again. “Me either.” With a sigh of frustration, I begin to fold the map up once more.

While we watch the folded paper quickly burn to ash in my trashcan, Ethan stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

“You still have Freddie’s raven book. Fate said it’s important. Why don’t we try looking over it? Maybe with both of us reading through it, something will click.”

I nod, appreciating that he seems to know how bereft I feel without me saying a word. “It’s in a safe place for now, buried next to Freddie’s gravestone. I’ll get it later so we can have time to look through it.”

Ethan’s hold on me tightens, his warmth surrounding me as he murmurs against my ear, “I might have to leave for now, but I’m glad I have your forever kiss, because I’m never letting you go.”

Butterflies explode in my stomach, unraveling the knot. I rest my head against his shoulder and glance up at him, smiling. “I love you too. Now go before my dad arrives to see you leaving just as the sun is rising. That would
not
go over well.”

“He’ll never see me.” Ethan cast an arrogant smile my way before leaving my room in a blur. I snort when I hear the front door shut behind him a split second later. Good to know his Corvus speed can come in handy in other ways too.

Once the map is nothing but black ash, I walk over to my window and open it to let the room air out. Patch is waiting on the ledge outside, but the second the raven gets a whiff of the smoke, he flies away with an annoyed
gronk, gronk
. “Aw, don’t go away mad,” I call after him while I dump the ashes out my window, but I know it’s for the best.

My father might not know about the Corvus history in our world, but with my help he did share Ethan’s nightmares, which is how he was able to finally see and confront Fate, so he’s very aware of what Ethan’s sword can do—at least in a dream world. He doesn’t know that the sword came from a tattoo on Ethan’s back or that the demon that Ethan killed in that dream wasn’t just horrific nightmare imagery, but a memory of Ethan’s. And since I’m not sure if my dad saw the raven yin-yang symbol on the sword, the last thing I want him to see is a raven with a white spot of feathers around its eye hanging around outside my window. No need to give him too many dots to connect.

This constant “keeping secrets” thing is for the birds.
I chuckle at my own internal pun, then quickly turn to get dressed and straighten up before my dad arrives.

The house smells like brewing coffee by the time my father knocks. Houdini does his normal alert bark and puts himself between me and the front door. But the moment I pull it open, he gives my dad a quick you-pass-the-test sniff, then bolts for the family of rabbits currently living in a burrow under the nativity scene in our front yard.

“Houdini!” I call sharply. He skids to a halt, kicking up tufts of snow and turns his head my way, giving me a pleading look that totally says,
But I just wanna chase them. C’mon, can’t I? Just a little.
“Leave them alone and do your business.”

After he barks once at the strange car parked in front of the house, then schleps off to sniff for a spot among the trampled down snow, my dad shifts his green eyes back to me, dark eyebrows raised in amusement. “Looks like you’ve got that big guy well in hand.”

I shrug and pull the door wide for him. “He listens to Ethan better than me.”

My father’s mouth presses slightly at the mention of Ethan’s name, but he doesn’t say anything. Taking off his fedora hat, he sniffs the air once he steps inside and grins. “Bless you, Nari. You made coffee.”

I laugh and wait until Houdini trots back inside. The second my dog enters, he instantly seeks my dad’s location. Finding him setting his trench coat and hat on a stool next to the island, he immediately walks up to my dad and sits down, waiting to be patted.

“You’re a big lug, aren’t you?” Dad says rubbing Houdini’s head.

I’m kind of taken aback at how Houdini acts around my father. Usually he’ll stick to my backside like my shadow until he feels he can trust the person, but he’s not like that with my dad. For whatever reason, he’s giving him instant trust, which makes me smile. “He likes you.”

My dad glances up and continues to pet Houdini. “I take it your mom’s able to tolerate him with her allergies?”

“So long as I vacuum a couple times a week.”

He nods his understanding. “I’ve always wanted a dog, but worked such long hours it wouldn’t have been fair to get one.”

I tilt my head and watch my dad get down on one knee to rub Houdini’s jowls, then scrub his fur on his neck. He looks like he genuinely enjoys playing with my dog. Who knew they’d take to each other so quickly.

I walk into the kitchen and take down a couple of mugs from the cabinet. My dad and I seem to be dancing around the real reason he’s here. It’s like neither one of us wants to have to discuss the fact that Mom thinks he abandoned us.

Fate.

Ugh, if the human race didn’t need that narcissistic being, I’d have let Ethan’s Corvus slice the vengeful entity to shreds with his sword for threatening my father’s life in Ethan’s dream world. His shadowy, merciless ways have been the biggest wedge in our family for far too long. But now that my dad can’t see the future in his dreams any more, he can’t meddle in other people’s fates, so Fate’s no longer interested in making his life a living hell.

I pour both mugs full of black coffee, my mind wandering. How do I tell my mother that dad left to protect us from a supernatural force? Because to do so, I’ll have to tell her I’ve kept my ability from her too. Would Mom see that revelation as a double betrayal? My stomach churns just thinking about it.

“You okay, Nari?”

I smile and hand him his cup of coffee. “I’m good.” When I sit down on the stool next to him at the island, he nods to my cup and takes a sip from his.

“You drink it black? Unusual for your age.”

“Sometimes.” I take a couple of sips, then shudder and grimace. “Okay, never, but today I need full strength to fuel me if we’re going to brainstorm how to approach Mom.”

My father’s expression turns serious and he sets his cup down. “You’re nervous.”

I nod. “I just don’t know how she’s going to take it.”

He stares into my eyes, understanding finally reflecting in his own. “You’re worried she’ll blame you somehow, aren’t you?” Palming the top of my head, he lowers his own until our gazes meet. “She could never blame you, Nari. You’re her everything. Always have been.”

I want to tell him just how
not
well she took his leaving us when he releases me to clasp his mug. But it feels too private. Like he shouldn’t know how much mental anguish my mother went through—the years of depression and therapy it took to get over thinking her husband just up and abandoned her. I think that kind of detail should come from her…if she ever decides to share it.

“I do think showing her the videos is a good idea, but I’d like to be there when you do,” my dad says, holding his cup up.

I shake my head in fast jerks. “No, Dad. I have to ease her into—”

The sound of the garage door opening yanks my attention to the back door. Panic ramps my heart. “Crap. She’s home early.”
Probably to shop for a dang Christmas tree with David.

My father stands, appearing relaxed and unruffled while I grab the coffee cups and dump them in the sink. “We have to talk eventually,” he says calmly.

“But not this way. You can’t just shock her like this.” I say in a fast huff, grabbing up his coat and hat and shoving them in his arms. Nodding toward the stairs, I say, “Please go upstairs to my room and give me a chance to talk to her first.”

“Inara…” he begins, a parental look settling on his face.

A car door slams outside and the garage door starts to shut.

My palms tingle, sweat seeping to the surface. My breathing turns labored. “Please, Dad. Do this for me.”

“Very well.” He sighs and sets his hat on his head, then heads up the stairs.

“I’ll call you down in a few minutes,” I quietly call after him before he disappears around the corner.

“Hi, Mom,” I say, my voice pitched higher than usual. Clearing my throat, I quickly follow up. “You’re home early. Did something go wrong with your meeting?”

She nods and unwinds her scarf from her neck. “The person I was supposed to meet with came down with the flu. Apparently it’s spreading like the plague through that office and no one bothered to tell me before I flew out there.” Walking over to the living room window, she peers outside and unbuttons her coat. “Who’s car is sitting outside our house? Did Ethan get a different car?” Turning her light blue eyes my way, she frowns. “He’s not upstairs is he, Inara?”