Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle Page B

of her head as she pulls the silver charm bracelet out of the box.
    “It’s gorgeous, Nara!” She quickly hands it to me and holds out her wrist.
    As I hook the clasp, she inspects the charms I had the jeweler add to the links. “A horseshoe, a wishbone, a four-leaf clover, a rabbit’s foot, a cat’s eye stone, a hand with crossed-fingers and a locket?” Glancing at me in confusion, she says, “I definitely detect a ‘good luck’ theme here, but what does the locket do?”
    I open it and show her the Corvus engraving the jeweler copied from the one Ethan had placed on my ring. “This symbol is also good luck. Always wear this and it will keep you safe.”
    Lainey rubs her finger over the engraving, then closes the locket and lifts her brown eyes to mine. “Whew, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that about this symbol.”
    Ethan and I exchange glances. “It’s a pretty rare symbol,” I say. “Have you seen it before?”
    Lainey bites her lip and nods. “Yeah, Matt’s been drawing it a lot lately. He said he keeps seeing it and can’t get the image out of his head. At first I thought it was kind of neat, but now I don’t know. He can’t seem to stop drawing it. It’s the same image over and over. Like the one in the locket, but different.”
    “How is it different?” Ethan asks.
    Lainey doesn’t see it, but I notice the tension in his face as she says, “Well, it looks like it started out like the one Nara has inside the locket, but the way Matt’s drawing it, you realize that the one black bird was never a bird at all but thousands of smaller black birds that had formed the larger shape. It gave me a sense that it’s crumbling, or falling apart…” Straightening her shoulders, she offers a shaky smile. “He plans to get it tattooed on his arm, so I’m glad it means good luck.”
    What does Matt’s drawing mean? How is he seeing the Corvus symbol? I clasp Ethan’s hand and ask Lainey in a calm voice even though my insides are tense with worry. “His parents are going to let him get it?”
    She nods. “Yeah, his dad thought it was cool.”
    I shake my head and nod toward her bracelet. “Tell him I said to get the tattoo like the one in your charm if he has to get one.”
    “And for God’s sake, tell him to get it where he can cover it up, like on his hip or something.”
    “Why?” Lainey asks, eyes wide at Ethan’s brusque comment.
    I squeeze his hand to calm him down. “Depending on the job Matt plans to go into, certain ones won’t allow tattoos to be seen. Why limit his options?”
    When Lainey cocks an eyebrow, her gaze shifting to the ink on both of Ethan’s arms, he raises our clasped hands, a wolfish smile tilting his lips. “I don’t plan on having a career that’ll keep me from showing mine.”
    “But it’s definitely something Matt should consider,” I jump in. “I hear removing tattoos is more time consuming and costly than getting them.”
    “Oh crap.” Eyes wide, Lainey moves to pick up her coat. “Matt wants to be a doctor. I’d better get going.” Shrugging into it, she continues, “He was looking up a friend’s name, an artist who does tattoos, when I spoke to him earlier.”
    “Thank you for my earrings, Lainey,” I say as I walk her to my doorway. “If Matt has any questions about the symbol, tell him to call me or Ethan.”
    “Will do.” Lainey nods, then glances at Ethan over my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, you two. See you after the snowpocalypse is over.”
    Once Lainey leaves, I turn to say to Ethan, “That was interesting,” but I bump into him instead. His chest is flush with mine as he cups my jaw. I shake my head and chuckle. “I’ll never get used to your speed—”
    Ethan kisses me, cutting off my comment. I smile against his mouth and press my hands to his hard chest, kissing him back. His fingers slide along my jaw, just before he deepens our kiss.
    My heart pounds and I surrender to the magnetic pull of his mouth moving