Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness (19 page)

And then everything goes black and all sounds cease. I stare and blink, but I can’t see, hear or feel a thing.

“Ethan?”

The moment someone calls my name, my vision suddenly comes into focus. Along with my sight, the smell of blood and sweat invades my senses. Adrenaline still pumping through me, my breathing is labored and my body aches like hell, but every single demon around me is nursing at least one limb while trying to recover from my apparent ape-shit mode.

With black eyes, bloodied lips and swollen jaws, they drag themselves back up from the ground. Vengeance fills their battered faces, and they all lunge for me at once, fists flying.

“Hey, get off him!”

Everyone freezes for split second, then we all glance toward the top of the alley.

Matt’s blond hair stands out in the dim light, worry flashing across his face. “Get off him, you bastards!”

A new level of tension builds inside me.
Shit. I forgot about Matt.

“You know that guy?” The red-haired demon laughs, his gaze shifting to Matt, full of evil intent.

“Run, Matt,” I yell, but of course he doesn’t listen. The second Matt turns into the alley, I grab the guy’s arm that’s around my neck and shove his two-hundred-pound bulk back as if he weighs nothing.
The deal’s off, Corvus. Now give me my—
My sword’s in my hand before I finish the sentence. Straightening to my full height, I flip the sword backward and skewer the bald demon rushing me from behind.

When I look up, the redheaded demon has already knocked Matt to the ground, tossing him down like a piece of used tissue.

I let out a feral growl and yank the sword from the bald man, then spin and stab the tall dark-haired demon. Before the hobbling salt-and-pepper guy can react, I stab him too. While Matt groans and holds his hand to his head, the short dark-haired guy bolts to the redheaded demon’s side.

As I approach in determined steps, my sword gripped in my hand, they both step in front of Matt’s crumpled body. They know he’s their only leverage.

“You’re welcome to try,” I say in a cold tone, stopping a few feet away.

“You can’t kill both of us before one of us snaps his puny body in half,” the redhead leers, confident in his speed despite the fact his right arm hangs uselessly by his side.

I hold his gaze for a second, then give him a ruthless smile. “Which one of you wants to go back to Under first?”

The redhead flicks his eyes to the dark-haired demon. Before he can utter a word, I’m in his face, gripping his neck, my blade already plunged deep into the belly of the shorter one.

The gutted demon gasps in pain, his face reflecting shock. “Didn’t even see me move, did you?” I say, satisfaction spiraling through me. Sensing just how nasty this one is through my sword’s blade, I twist my blade and turn him into nothing but an explosion of moist particles. I’m happy to send him to Under for an extended stay.

The second his buddy is obliterated, the redhead uses his only good arm to pound against my arm, but his fist feels like cloth fluttering against me. My smile turns cold. “You messed with the wrong Corvus, demon.”

He starts to tremble in my grip. “Don’t send me back. He’ll punish me.”

I tilt my head, curious. I know when my sword sends them to Under, the veil wipes their memories of their time in the Mortal plane, but I didn’t realize they retain their memories from Under when they make their way back. “You remember what happens to you while you’re in Under?”

He nods. “He tortures those who get sent to Under now. Why do you think so many are fighting so hard to break through the veil? Here, we’re gods. There we’re given
incentive
to do whatever it takes to stay in the Mortal plane.”

Sincerity reflects in his words, but viciousness and depravity oozes from every pore. It takes everything inside me not to snap his head clean off his body. “You should’ve thought about that before you jumped me.” I jam my blade into his spineless body, a sense of justice rippling through me, but then I grumble my frustration. “You’ve got to be ’effing kidding me.”

Unfortunately, my sword reveals the demon inside him has been hanging out in his body too long. This human’s soul has been fully corrupted. Much as I’d like to send the Inferi to Under for a long ass stay, I can’t obliterate the body too. Not without creating a Furia. Sliding my blade free, I grunt my disgust and release my hold, letting his unconscious body crumple to the ground.

Matt’s groan draws me to his side. Setting my sword down, I help him sit up, then lean him against the brick wall. “Are you okay?”

He shakes his head for a second, his wide eyes jerking toward the alley. “What happened?”

I exhale slowly, relieved he apparently didn’t see everything. “I guess my adrenaline kicked in once that guy knocked you down.”

Matt rubs his temples, his gaze dropping to my sword. “That raven symbol. I’ve seen it before.” Closing his eyes, he shakes his head, then opens them to stare at the blade once more.

“Where’d it go?” he asks, his disbelieving eyes returning to mine.

I feign ignorance. “Where’d what go?”

He gestures to my side. “There was a sword right beside you.”

“That guy hit your head hard enough to knock you out for a minute. You’re groggy, Matt.”

“I saw it!” he insists, quickly scrambling to his feet. The second he stands, he sees the unconscious redhead lying on the ground behind me. “That’s him. That’s the guy who came after me.”

I grip Matt’s arm, intending to lead him out of the alley. “I know. It’s probably best we’re not around when these guys come to.”

Matt pulls free of my hold. “We should call the police. They attacked both of us.” I turn to face him and Matt’s eyes widen as I step into a sliver of light coming from a building across the mall. “You’ve been stabbed. Jesus, Ethan!”

I move the torn material back and glance at the cut on my arm. It’ll be healed by tomorrow. “It’s just a surface wound. Listen, Matt, I hit these guys hard enough to knock them out. I’d rather them not see us when they wake up. They could press charges.”

“
We
should be pressing charges.”

I shake my head. “It’ll be their word against mine, and since they’re all knocked out, it might not look so good for me.”

He stares at the fallen guys and mumbles, “Wasn’t there five of them?”

“No. Just four,” I say, leading him away from the alley.

Matt looks like he wants to argue, but he lets me direct him back around to the front of McCormicks. Once we reach a pool of light near the main door, I say, “I think we should chalk this up to a life lesson about staying away from alleys.”

“I saw a sword sitting in the snow beside you, Ethan.” Matt spreads his hands wide in front of him. “It was about this long and it had a symbol on the blade near the hilt, the same one I’ve been seeing for a while. It’s a raven yin-yang design.”

I rub my jaw. “I’m familiar with that symbol and a sword, but not a real one. What do you mean you’ve been seeing it for a while?”

His gaze narrows. “Tell me where the sword went first. Before I blacked out, I saw you use it on at least three—well, maybe it was two—of those guys. If you gutted them, how is it possible that they’re still alive?”

I raise an eyebrow. “It was dark in the alley, and I had several guys jump me at once. One of them pulled a long knife. What you probably saw was
me
getting cut, not them.”

A determined look crosses Matt’s face. “I saw what I saw, Ethan. I might’ve blacked out for a minute, but when I opened my eyes again, you were squatting next to me, and that sword was on the ground beside you.”

I wrack my brain and decide appealing to his logical side is the best course. “If the sword was on the ground, where did it go? You would’ve seen me pick it up. Did you?”

My question draws a frown from Matt, doubt creeping into his eyes for the first time. “I—didn’t see you pick it up.” Sighing, he pushes a shaky hand through his short hair. “I’ve seen that symbol before.”

I quickly turn and pull my shirt up so he can see the sword tattoo on my back. “This is probably where you’ve seen it, and maybe even where you got a sword idea in your head. You must’ve seen me changing in gym.”

“I guess it’s possible I saw it while passing you in the locker room during class change over. Though I think I would’ve stopped and stared. That’s a lot of ink. An impressive tattoo for sure.” When I lower my shirt and turn back around, he asks, “What does that symbol mean?”

“It represents balance and protection.”

His blond eyebrows pull together. “That’s good, right? So why have I been seeing it flash through my head? Well, what I see is similar, but not exactly the same. In my mind, the symbol used to look like the one on your tattoo. Then later, I saw the black bird breaking into hundreds of smaller birds. For a while I saw both images, but lately it’s just the second one.”

“You said the image flashed through your head. How long have you been seeing it?”

He exhales, his breath stuttering out. “The past couple of months.”

A couple months?
A group of people walk up behind us, so I pull Matt off to the side and say in a low voice, “Do you remember when you started seeing the image?”

Matt squints, sifting through his memory. “It wasn’t long after Drystan came to live with us. I remember because I wanted to tell him but was too freaked out about it.” His expression tenses once more. “I’ve tried to research the symbol, but nothing pops up on the web. All I know is…each time I saw it in my mind, I felt compelled to draw it. The whole experience was so out there, I didn’t tell anyone about my drawings, but Lainey happened to see one and asked me about it. She’s the only person I’ve shared this obsession with until you.” His face tenses. “It’s driving me crazy that I keep seeing it.”

I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Lainey said you planned to get a tattoo.”

“Yeah. I asked an artist buddy of mine if he’d do it for me. He’s doing tattoos on the side. The guy’s talent is through the roof. I didn’t tell him about the imagery, visions...whatever it is. Do you think if I got it inked…” He pauses and swallows. “That maybe the image I keep seeing will go away?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know what the symbol you’ve been seeing means. Regardless if it makes the vision stop, I do know that the one on my back gives a level of protection. If you’re going to get a tattoo, get that one.”

Matt nods, his expression resigned. “Lainey told me that I should consider where I get it done so I don’t lock myself out of certain jobs later.”

I release him and offer a half smile. “Yeah. Good point.”

A group of people walk out of McCormicks, cutting off our conversation. I nod toward the door. “You want to come inside and listen to the band? They’ll be playing a few more songs soon before packing up for the night. I’ll be here for another half hour, then I have to be at Nara’s by seven-thirty.”

Matt grins. “That’s why I’m here.”

I turn and open the door. “Good. I’ll have someone to talk to while my brother completely ignores me for the new girl in his life.”

“You came here on a date with your brother?” Matt follows me inside, laughing.

I shake my head. “No. I invited Emily tonight because she’s new in town and she’d asked for my brother’s number before. She was the nurse who took care of me at the hospital.”

As we wind our way to the table and Matt sees where we’re headed, he nods toward Samson and Emily and mutters under his breath, “Their chairs are pretty close together. I’d say they’re getting to know each other
real
well.”

I snort, then step up to the table, grabbing my jacket off the back of my chair. “Hey, Samson and Emily.” I try not to wince as I quickly shrug into my coat to cover the wound on my arm. My ribs definitely took a beating tonight. What the hell happened while I blacked out? I don’t like the fact that I lost a chunk of time. Just when I say, “This is my friend, Matt,” the lights go down and Weylaid starts playing. I have to raise my voice to be heard over the music. “He’s going to hang with us for a bit.”

Once Emily shakes Matt’s hand, her attention quickly shifts to me. “That was some amazing guitar playing, Ethan. Thanks for inviting me.”

I nod and mumble my thanks. I feel my brother’s heavy gaze on me, but I refuse to look at him. He’s going to rip into me when we’re alone. Even though I don’t drink, a beer sounds really good right now. Unfortunately, ordering one would probably send Samson off the deep end, so I turn my chair toward the stage and settle in for more music.

A half hour later, snow coats our hair as my brother and I head toward the deck after he walked Emily to her car parked on a side street. I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything to me yet, but I’m not saying anything to disturb the peaceful silence between us.

We’re almost to the parking deck before Samson speaks. “Were you ever planning on telling me?”

I dig my hands a bit deeper into my jean pockets. “It’s no big deal.”

“No big— you mean like the cut on your brow?”

I tense, feeling defensive. “Some guys were trying to mess with Matt when I went outside to meet him. I jumped in to—”

“How is it that I had no idea you played?” my brother cuts in, saying what’s really on his mind.

I shrug, but refuse to look at him when we enter the parking deck stairwell. “I just picked it up recently.”

“Recently? Ethan, you played like someone who’s been playing all his
life
.”

“Yeah, it just came to me.” I skip up the stairs ahead of him. Opening the door to the floor we’re parked on, I hold it until he follows me out. “I can’t really explain it any better than that.”

Samson shakes his head. “You still should’ve shared.”

I lift my eyebrows. “Does this mean you’re going to share why you got so mad at Mom and Dad earlier?”

He frowns, then turns to walk toward his car.

That’s what I thought.
I quickly fall into step beside him, a half smile on my lips. “So, you going to ask Emily out?”

We’ve almost reached his car, when my brother clamps his hand on the back of my neck. Yanking me toward him, he curls his muscular arm around my neck, then knuckle-noogies the top of my head, driving the snow into my scalp. “You’re going to tell me next time, right?”