Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness (8 page)

When my dog’s only response is to tilt his head like he’s desperately trying to understand me, I smile. “Never mind. Do you want to go out?” His ears jump up, right before he bounds to the front door. I laugh and grab his leash from the coatrack. “Come on. We may as well take care of this before Mr. Dixon gets here.”

The moment I open the front door, Houdini jerks out of my hand before I can attach the leash to his collar. I call for him to stop, but this time he pins his ears to the side of his head and bolts after two rabbits. Tufts of snow kick up behind his big paws as he darts around the side of our house. A moment of worry sets in, but it’s freezing out, and Houdini has never taken off from my yard before when he’s been let off the leash. He’ll be back before too long. Sighing, I start to close the door when Mr. Dixon’s car pulls into the driveway.

I wait while Mr. Dixon unfolds his tall, lanky frame from his car, then carries a wrapped box the size of a small microwave up the walkway to our door.

“That’s definitely bigger than a breadbasket,” I tease, eyeing the huge white bow on top of the red box.

The brisk air ruffles his short hair as he shifts the box in his arms. “Yeah, it’s a bit awkward.”

Stepping out of the doorway, I gesture toward the tree. “You can put it under there.”

He follows me inside. “I was hoping I could hide it. Your mom might guess what’s in the box. I want to surprise her.”

I shut the door and stare at the box. “What is it?”

“A crock pot,” he says, a hint of a smirk tilting his lips.

I hold back an instant desire to snicker at such a strange gift. Clearing my throat, I keep my face as straight as possible. “Oh, I don’t think she’d guess that in a million years.”

He shrugs, his amusement melting into a smile. “There’s another gift inside—that’s the best part of the present. I want her to be surprised, so yeah, I’d like to hide it. Maybe in your garage behind a storage box on the shelves?”

I lift my hand toward the garage door in the kitchen. “Go for it.”

I follow him out to the garage and pull down a big plastic storage box to hide the gift behind. Once he places the gift on the shelf, I slide the box back into place, covering it up.

As we enter the kitchen once more, he asks, “Can I get a glass of water, Nara? Been running around all morning and haven’t even had time for lunch.”

“Sure.” I turn from pulling down a glass to see Mr. Dixon’s standing there with a butcher knife in his hand and murderous intent in his eyes.

The glass shatters across the floor, but before I can take more than one step, he rushes me. Shoving me against the counter, he presses the sharp edge of the knife against the side of my throat.

I instinctively claw his hand, trying to pull the knife away, but he’s just too strong. He doesn’t budge. As pinpricks of pain radiate from my neck and fear shoots through me, my phone starts to ring on the counter. Ethan’s ringtone. He must sense I’m in danger. My phone continues to ring and ring.

“No one’s going to help you. Least of all that Corvus. I’ve made sure to let some of Lucifer’s demons know there’s a Corvus here in town. They’ll be coming after him soon enough.” David’s voice is harsh and grating, so unlike his usual pleasant one.” When my eyes snap to his, his tone turns almost conversational. “It’s been a while. What did the demon call you that night at the school?” David tilts his head, sifting through memories, then gives me a cold smile. “Ah, yes, little bird.”

As soon as he says “little bird” I know which demon has possessed my mother’s boyfriend; the same demon that took over an evil guy named Drake so he could attack me during the school dance. All because the demon wanted Freddie’s book.

My heart beats harder. I keep my attention on him and hope the mistletoe I set on the book is completely covering its blue edges.

Only this can’t be him, can it? I shake my head in confusion. “He…he obliterated you that night. I saw it happen. You’re supposed to be gone…” I trail off when another option occurs.

David’s face contorts in anger. “Being jabbed by that Corvus’ sword hurt like a motherfucker, but he didn’t just send the Lucifer demon—that Inferi—who’d taken over my body to Under. Your boyfriend’s sword also separated my soul from my body when he killed me, allowing
me
to take over any body I want now.” He glances down at Mr. Dixon’s hand fisted around the knife, then pushes the blade even closer. “Your teacher getting it on with your mom gave me perfect access. I just had to wait until that other Inferi stopped sniffing around here before I slipped into good old David’s lanky frame. Who knows…maybe I’ll stick around and see if your mom is cougar material.”

“Don’t even think of going near her,” I say, baring my teeth at the demon.

He chuckles, then the pain in my neck sharpens and a slight metallic taste fills my mouth. I’d been right about the other option; during their fight at the school dance, Ethan’s sword had sent the Inferi inside Drake’s body back to Under. But apparently Drake had been possessed too long by a Lucifer demon and his human soul had been fully corrupted. Ethan’s sword had killed Drake, turning his soul into a Furia—a single demon bound to Lucifer’s will and doomed to roam the Mortal world.

My fingers dig at David’s wrist, and I try once more to pull the knife away from my throat. This time, when I tighten my fingers and grip his skin, David glances at my hand in annoyance, noticing my hold on him for the first time.

“Stop screwing around!” he bites out. “I want that raven book you stole from me. And you’re going to tell me where it is.
Right now
.”

I jump when Houdini throws himself against the front door. Vicious snarls and frenzied defense mode barking alternate between scratches on the door. He smells the demon in our house.

During a split second of silence, a text comes through on my phone, drawing my attention. The second David follows my line of sight, instant recognition of the book’s edge underneath the mistletoe sparks in his eyes.

Laughing, he lowers the knife and leans over to push the plant out of the way, but his hand just stops. It’s like he’s hitting an invisible wall and a force field is protecting the plant. Even when he tries to use the knife instead, the knife diverts away. He can’t touch it.

Exhaling a breath of relief, I start to skirt past him, but he yanks my arm and shoves me against the island, his fingers digging into my skin painfully. “It must be the plant. Remove it.”

I lift my chin high. “You killed an innocent old man just to get that book. I’ll never give it to you.”

He snarls and sets the knife back against my throat. “Now, Nara!”

I try not to think about the stinging pain and shake my head as I grip his wrist, squeezing tight. David hisses, then slits his eyes and flexes his wrist, the blade applying pressure to my neck once more. “That book can elevate me much higher in Lucifer’s domain. He might even allow me entrance into Under as one of
his
demons in payment for bringing it to him.”

When a trickle of warm blood slides down my chest, my stomach roils with nausea. “You can’t have it,” I say, cinching my fingers like a vise around his arm.

An eerie growl rumbles from deep in his chest. “I have no issue slitting your throat and leaving you to die choking on your own blood if you don’t hand it over—”

David’s focus narrows on my hand on his wrist. Hatred flares in his eyes right before a foul smell quickly fills my nostrils.

As I fight the need to gag and wonder if the horrible odor is his demon stench, he dips his head and the blade against my neck slackens while he takes several deep breaths. At the same time I realize David’s fighting the demon inside him, my brain identifies the awful smell: burning flesh. The raven yin-yang symbol on my ring meant to protect me from demon possession (of the Furia or Inferi variety) must be pressing against his wrist.

A rumble of rage erupts from the Furia right before his attention swings back to mine, full of cruel and lethal intent. While the knife twitches torturously against my neck, I flatten my free hand on David’s chest and stare into his eyes. “Fight him, David!”

My palm begins to tingle with heat, and then the demon thrashes his head back and forth, shrieking like excruciating pain is flooding through him.

Horror briefly tears across Mr. Dixon’s face, and the sight makes me think of Drystan. The terror he must’ve felt being trapped inside, a puppet to evil’s every whim.

That the demon dared to mention my mother’s name spikes my protective nature. Rage flares like a rumbling volcano, traveling from my belly up my chest, and then past the lump in my throat. I’m so outraged, I’m able to distance my mind from the pain the knife’s inflicting. Spreading my fingers on his chest, I dig into his flesh and grit out with every ounce of will I’ve got, “Get out of him now!”

A flash of glaring white light shoots out of several points from David’s body at the same time my expanding chest and burning lungs suddenly collapse inward in a painful exhalation. I gasp for air as my arms and legs turn to jelly, and my whole body starts to tremor. The second the light fades, David and I both stumble back, and the knife in his hand clatters to the floor.

I take a deep, shuddering breath, then exhale my relief. I’m so drained and shaken by whatever-the-heck just happened, I have to grab the edge of the counter to keep from collapsing. Cool air hitting the blood on my neck brings both chill bumps and sharp pain, reminding me I’m hurt. I quickly grab a dishtowel to staunch my wound, while my teacher slowly shakes his head, blinking his way back to consciousness.

“Nara?” He glances around, completely confused. “When did I get here?” Wincing, he rubs his forehead. “Why is my head pounding?”

I somehow tuned out Houdini while the demon and I battled wills and my life was hanging in the balance, but now my dog’s ferocious growls are all I hear. David tenses at the sound, and he takes in the broken glass and knife on the floor. He swings his gaze back to me, and his eyes widen at the trickle of blood on my chest.

“God, are you okay?” He takes a step toward me, hand raised to help. Then he pauses, unsure what to do. “What happened?”

Before I can answer, the front door flies open. Houdini and Ethan rush in. Houdini’s fur is raised and his teeth are bared as he snarls and jerks his head around, looking for me. Ethan’s stance is deadly, his eyes as black as sin when they lock with mine.

The moment they both bolt for the kitchen, I quickly step in front of Mr. Dixon and call out, “Broken glass!” to Ethan, then address my dog, commanding, “
Stay
, Houdini.”

When Ethan grabs Houdini’s collar to keep him back, I nod my thanks and speak to him in a calm, but firm tone, “Mr. Dixon just had a blackout episode, but he’s okay now.”

“What?” Ethan’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. He directs my dog to sit, but Ethan’s stance remains battle-ready, his eyes darting suspiciously to Mr. Dixon behind me. “Let me talk to him, Nara.”

“He’s good, Ethan. Trust me.”

“I—I don’t even know what’s going on. Or how I got here.” Mr. Dixon blows out an unsteady breath, then gestures toward my neck. “Or why you’re bleeding, Nara. Please tell me I didn’t do that?”

“No.” I turn to him. “It was an accident. It happened when you blacked out. We’d just finished hiding Mom’s present in the garage and then came back into the kitchen when you started stumbling all over the place. It’s like you were sleep-walking or something. You grabbed a knife and kept saying there’s an intruder in our house.”

He pales, dread in his eyes. “So I did hurt you.”

I shake my head in fast jerks. “Not on purpose. I don’t blame you at all, David. When I raised my voice, you snapped out of it. Like you woke up. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Mom. But maybe you should go home and get some rest. You look exhausted.”

“I’ve never slept-walked in my life,” he murmurs in confusion, glancing down at the glass all over the floor. “I’ll stay and help you clean this up.”

He’s visibly shaking and his voice is hoarse. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to lose a period of time and then wake up to bloody chaos and mayhem all around you. I’d be freaked out too. “Ethan will help me. You should go home. Mom will be back soon. You don’t want to spoil the surprise for her. Don’t worry, David. Honestly, everything’s fine now.”

When Mr. Dixon mumbles more apologies and then starts to get upset all over again, I turn imploring eyes to Ethan and mouth, “Please help him.”

He sighs and steps forward to grip Mr. Dixon on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll feel better after you get some sleep. Maybe you blacked out because you aren’t getting enough rest.”

Ethan’s calming touch works, and David inhales and exhales slowly, nodding. “I slept eight hours last night, but for some strange reason I do feel extremely tired.”

Once Ethan walks Mr. Dixon out, I rush to the bathroom to grab the first-aid kit and see how much damage Drake’s demon did to my neck.

Staring in the mirror, I sigh with relief that the wound is only a couple inches long and doesn’t appear deep enough for stitches. An emergency room visit would be much harder to hide from my mom.

Houdini sits right outside the bathroom doorway and whines. I glance his way. “It’s okay, boy. I’m fine.”

Ethan enters the bathroom, his face unreadable. He reaches for the alcohol swab in my hand. “Let me do it.”

His voice is even, but his eyes are still mostly black and very little blue. He needs to calm down as much as I do. I release the swab and nod, tilting my chin up. The second the wet cotton hits my cut, I wince.

Ethan tenses, but doesn’t talk while he cleanses my wound and washes the blood off my chest. While he attaches a bandage to my neck, his voice is gruff. “You’re going to need to wear something to cover this up until it heals.”

“I know,” I say quietly.

Ethan cups the back of my neck, his thumb gently rubbing the side of my throat. “Was he looking for the book?”

I nod.

His brows pull together in a deep frown.

“He almost got it too. I’d just returned from retrieving it and brought it in the house. Mr. Dixon called about Mom’s present and got here before I could hide it.” My lips quirk. “The mistletoe I’d set on top of it kept the demon from touching it.”