by May, W. J.
“I LOVED HIM!” Jennifer screamed, tears and blood rolling down her face. “I loved him more than you ever did! More than you could ever love anyone!” she spat, her voice burning with anger. “You never understood love, Beth. You had that stupid adolescent love for Simon in your head. The one before he turned into who he was meant to be. You never could let that go.”
“Oh Jenny,” Beth shook her head, looking suddenly sad, “you’re wrong again. See, I found a love deeper than anything you ever felt for Simon. A love you’ve never known. The love a mother has for her child.” Her face grew hard. “A child that you tried to take away from me…”
Rae was hardly breathing. She’d inched her way over to Kraigan to make sure he was okay, but neither one of them could drag their eyes away from the two women. There was something horrifying about it, but something final. Like a chapter that had finally come to a close.
“Rae,” Beth turned suddenly towards her, looking as calm and peaceful as when they were back on the farm with Molly training to hit that far tree, “get down.”
Rae barely had time to pull Kraigan with her to the ground before the wave of molten fire crashed over their heads. There was time enough for Jennifer to scream. One final pitiful sound.
Then all was quiet.
Chapter 5
Rae walked up the front steps to her mother’s house, clutching the smoldering remains of Jennifer’s leather jacket. It was all that remained of her. The only thing that survived the blast.
And, while Rae didn’t know why, she felt the need to keep it.
The door pulled open before she could even touch it. Julian was standing on the other side. One look at his face and Rae knew that he’d seen everything. Without saying a word he pulled her into his long arms, squeezing her tightly before stepping back to allow the three of them inside.
Neither Beth, nor Kraigan, nor Rae had said a single word on the way home. It seemed as though there was nothing left to say. Jennifer was dead. They were alive. It was over.
The other three were frozen in various states of waiting in the kitchen. Julian must have told them what had happened. The second Rae walked through the door Devon leapt to his feet and crossed the kitchen in three long strides. She was in his arms the next second. His racing heart began to slow as he held her against him, and she felt his chest relax in a long, worried sigh.
Gabriel had also peeled himself away from the wall when she walked in, but when he saw Devon and her embrace he casually reassumed his original position, as if he hadn’t moved in the first place.
“So,” Molly murmured, giving Rae’s hand a quick squeeze, “Julian told us. We pulled out some bandages and gauze and stuff for Kraigan. It’s in the bathroom upstairs.”
Devon pulled back and looked Rae up and down in sudden concern. “Sweetheart, you’re bleeding.”
Rae glanced down in surprise, seeing the steady red drip onto her coat. The gashes from where Jennifer had kicked her in the face still hadn’t healed, and, in spite of her ability to heal herself, for some reason her body hadn’t switched into Charles’ tatù.
“I don’t…” her voice trailed off as her fingers came up to her face, “I didn’t realize…”
“That’s okay,” Devon’s fingers closed around hers before he brought them to his lips, “you were probably in shock. Your body didn’t switch over. We can get you cleaned up upstairs. Right after Kraigan—”
Kraigan shoved past him in that moment and stalked away up the hall. The gang stared after him in wonder, but Rae merely sighed. Although she hadn’t meant to at the time, it seemed she had fundamentally altered things when she volunteered to take Kraigan’s place. Now there was no going back, and Rae wouldn’t have even if she could. Now all that was left to do was wait and let the chips fall where they may.
“Let’s go upstairs. Let me take care of that,” Devon said softly, brushing her hair back to get a better look at the abrasions on her face.
Rae nodded robotically before glancing suddenly behind her. “Mom?”
Shouldn’t they say something? Talk about what happened? Jennifer was dead. How could they just carry on with their night like nothing had happened?
Beth looked tired—three decades’-worth of tired—but she still managed a small smile. “Go upstairs, honey. Devon will sort you out. We can…we can work it out in the morning.”
Rae nodded again and headed mechanically down the hall. On the way past him, Gabriel caught her eye. For all the things he might have been feeling, his expression was truly unreadable. A million unspoken things were dancing behind his eyes as they locked onto hers, but before she could even register what was happening she was up the stairs.
Devon locked the door to the bathroom behind them and sat her down gently on the counter. He reached automatically for the bottle of rubbing alcohol left out for Kraigan, before remembering himself with a small smile.
“Do you want me to? Or would you rather use Charles’ tatù?”
Instead of answering, Rae closed her eyes and felt as the familiar ability floated to the surface of her skin. There was a warm sort of buzzing, and the next thing she knew the stinging pain in her face was all but gone. All that remained now was a dull ache that radiated through her entire body.
One that she didn’t think had anything to do with the beating she’d taken.
When she finally looked up, she realized that Devon’s eyes were locked on the jacket she was still clutching to her chest. It was stained with her blood now as well as Jennifer’s. At least, in the places it hadn’t been burned clean through with Beth’s vengeful fire.
He didn’t ask her why she kept it, and for that Rae was grateful. He simply eased it from her fingers and set it on the counter before starting up the shower. As he did so, a tiny glass bottle slid out of the jacket pocket and fell upon the floor.
They both looked at it in surprise, astonished that it was there and that it hadn’t broken or melted with the fire.
Devon knelt down and held it up between careful fingers. There was scribbled writing in permanent marker on the side, and he squinted as he tried to make it out.
“I think this…” His eyes widened in wonder. “Rae, I think this is a bottle of the serum Cromfield’s been working on.”
She stared at him for a long time before staring down at the bottle.
“Sample 3V421,” he read off the side, “with extraction ‘A.’” He paused for a moment, thinking, before he said, “Didn’t Angel say that the latest batches were infused with samples of her blood to be used as a paralytic?”
“I don’t…” Rae simply shook her head and covered her face. This day needed to end. It had gone on long enough and she didn’t have it in her tonight to answer any of these questions.
“I’m sorry,” Devon said softly, setting down the bottle on the counter and drawing her back into his arms. “It doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is you’re safe. You all are.”
Rae pressed her face against his chest, breathing in the steam with short ragged, gasps. “Not Jennifer.”
Again she felt him sigh.
“No, not Jennifer.” He kissed the top of her head. “Life doesn’t always make sense, and the heart doesn’t always understand what the head realizes.”
* * *
Considering the showers Rae and Devon had shared in the past, this one wasn’t even remotely romantic. She had stood perfectly still as he helped her undress—slipping off his own clothes without a word as he joined her under the warm water. Then, with the gentlest hands she could imagine, he began slowly rubbing her clean.
Little streams of caked-on blood poured off of her and ran down the drain as he passed over them with a soft washcloth. He poured a dash of lavender shampoo onto her scalp and began slowly working it through with his fingers, taking care to keep the suds from her eyes. When he was finished he kissed her forehead, wrapped her up in a towel, and carried her off to bed.
Get it together, Rae. You’re acting like a child, she thought
as he tucked her tightly beneath the covers before slipping under himself. I am a child!! her inner self screamed.
Rae couldn’t get it together. She wasn’t sure she ever would after today. She wasn’t remotely okay. She had seen things today, things that somehow topped her list of crazy things that had happened to her. Or maybe it was an accumulation of everything, from the fire as a child, the abduction and betrayal from Lanford… the list just went on and on.
Ever since she’d gone to Guilder and realized what she was, realized what her name implied, she had been fighting against a clear enemy. Fighting evil on the side of good.
But this? Jennifer? Her mentor and her mother’s former best friend?
How was she supposed to be okay with this? How was she supposed to be okay with any of it? The simple answer: she wasn’t. At least not tonight.
With a broken sigh she turned on her side and curled up beneath Devon’s arm, resting her cheek against the smooth skin on his chest.
She simply couldn’t handle any more drama tonight…
* * *
“Why the hell did you do that?!”
Rae jerked awake with a gasp as the light suddenly snapped on. The sky outside was still dark but that didn’t seem to matter to Kraigan, who was standing in the door frame with his arms folded angrily over his chest.
His glare only intensified as she bolted upright and pulled the sheets up to her chin.
Tatùs flipped through her at a dizzying pace, trying to decide which one would be the most effective. Her body didn’t seem to know what Kraigan was after. “Kraigan, what are you—”
“What the hell did you think you were doing?!”
In all the time they’d spent battling each other, she had never seen him so angry. He was literally beside himself.
Devon threw a protective arm around her, his eyes flashing while simultaneously holding the sheets securely at his own waist. “Kraigan, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing, but you need to get the hell out of here right now!”
“YOU HAD NO RIGHT!”
For a moment, both Rae and Devon fell into stunned silence, just watching in shock as Kraigan lost the composure that reminded her so much of her father.
“YOU HAD NO RIGHT SAYING THAT TO HER!”
“Who? What?” Devon looked at Rae in complete bewilderment. “What’s he talking about? What the hell’s going on?”
Rae simply stared at her brother, unable to look away. “I offered to take his place,” she said quietly. A small part of her was surprised that Julian had failed to report this. She assumed it was for her benefit. There was no way Devon was going to take it well. “Jennifer was about to kill him and I did the only thing I could think to protect him. I offered to take his place.”
Right on cue Devon paled in rage. He made as if to stand up before remembering he was naked, and hastily clutched the sheets around his waist. “Why the hell would you do that?” he yelled, echoing Kraigan’s exact words without seeming to realize it.
Rae blushed, but kept her eyes on Kraigan. “You’re my little brother.”
Kraigan shook his head back and forth so fast it was like he was using a tatù. “No, you can’t pull that shit on me now. Not after everything that’s happened—”
“Everything you made happen,” Rae countered evenly. “I never wanted any of that. I never wanted to hurt you, Kraigan. Like it or not, you’re family.”
“STOP SAYING THAT!” His skin had gone bone-white and his hands were trembling. It seemed the great Kraigan had finally met his match. But it wasn’t by any enemy of his own design. He had been beaten by something greater, something he didn’t understand. Something that was tearing him apart. “Why did you have to…” Actual tears flew angrily off his face, and he stared at Rae like he actually wanted to kill her. “You can’t just…you ruined…” He struggled to catch his breath. “You had NO RIGHT to do that!”
Before Rae could answer, the door behind him pushed open and Kraigan fell forward a step, turning around with a glare as a head of shaggy blond hair stuck itself into the room.
“Hey guys, having a midnight get-together without me?” Gabriel asked cheerfully. His eyes travelled from Rae and Devon’s stricken positions over to where Kraigan looked like he might be contemplating jumping out the window. His eyes slid back to Rae and started at her feet under the thin sheet, up to her chest where she was clutching the sheet. “Kinky threesome…” he murmured. “You guys might hate each other, but you do realize that you’re still technically related, right?”
“Get the hell out of here, Gabriel!” Devon shouted. “Both of you!”
Rae wrapped the sheet around her like a dress and flushed beet red, wishing very much that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
“But I just got here,” Gabriel said with that same impish grin, perching on the edge of the bed just far enough away that Devon would have to release the shared sheet if he wanted to try to expel him by force. Something Gabriel was obviously banking Devon would not be willing to do. “Anyway, what’re we talking about? The yelling’s half muffled by these old walls.”
“What are you doing here, Gabriel?” Rae asked tensely, trying to pull herself together while making sure that everything important was still covered.
Gabriel’s eyes lingered a moment on her flushed skin and bare shoulders, before he flashed a casual smile. “I was just coming in to check on you after the night you had.” His gaze flicked quickly to Devon as his tone soured. “I didn’t know you had company.”
Devon’s chest rose and fell with quick, shallow breaths as his fingers tightened in rage. “Why the hell wouldn’t she? I’m her damn boyfriend, Gabriel—get it through your head! She’s with me!”
In spite of the look of lethal promise on Devon’s face, Gabriel stayed perfectly composed. “I only meant that I was under the impression the two of you weren’t allowed to…visit while under Beth’s roof. I wonder what she would think about it…”
“Oh come on, like you’re really going to tell her,” Rae hissed.
“No honey,” he reached across the bed and squeezed her ankle under the sheet, “I’d never do that to you.”
“That’s it!” Devon finally stood up, taking his half of the sheet with him. “Get out!”
Rae yelped and struggled to keep herself covered as Gabriel stood up with a chuckle. “Nice ink, man. I’ve never really seen it up close.”
Devon clenched his jaw. “I’m going to count to three and if you’re not out of this room, I don’t care how hurt you are, I swear I’m going to tear you to pieces.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” Kraigan muttered from the corner. He was still looping on his same, desperate argument; the only one completely oblivious to the boys’ fight. “I would never have done that for you.”
For the first time, Rae cocked her head to the side and rose to the bait. “Really? You would have just let her kill me?”
He turned back to her with a scowl. “It would have saved me the trouble, so yeah.”
“Oh, you are so freaking unbelievable—”
But the second Kraigan said his words, the two other boys seemed to have forgotten about each other entirely and they both turned to Kraigan in a rage.
“Say that again,” Devon threatened, leveling him with his eyes. “I don’t care what tatù you may be carrying at the time. Probably Jennifer’s, but mark my words; Rae might not be able to do you in herself, but she’s a better person than I am. If you threaten her even one more time I’m going to throw you out the window. We’ll see if you can survive that.”
“If you can,” Gabriel took over, rising up from the mattress and folding his arms as he positioned himself in front of Rae, “then I’ll come down there and you can see how they train bookkeepers to fight nowadays in person. I promise, it won’t be something you friggin’ like.”
Kraigan’s eyes flashed and he flew forward, bringing them toe to toe. “Coming from the guy who looks like he’s been fed through
a wood-chipper? Yeah, I have to say I like my odds—”
“I’d take that bet.” Rae hung her head in dismay as Julian suddenly slipped inside. He was wearing nothing but a pair of low-hanging pants and a smile as he glanced around the room. “I’ve been watching from my room for the last ten minutes to see how this played out, but then I realized I could just watch it all in person!”
“Great,” Rae muttered, still hiding her face, “now it’s a freakin’ party.”
“Conjure us some popcorn,” Julian instructed, taking a seat on the bed beside her. It was only then that he glanced down in surprise. “Rae, you do realize you’re not wearing anything, right?”
Her eyes snapped shut as she struggled to rein in her temper. “Yeah, I’m pretty clear on that Jules, thanks.”
“Could everyone just GET THE HELL OUT?!” Devon commanded.
“Not until she and I straighten this out!” Kraigan cried.
“And not until I get at least a glimpse of what’s beneath those sheets…” Gabriel gave Rae a seductive wink.
“That’s it!” Devon roared, pacing forward in a makeshift sarong, “I warned you!”
“Dude,” Julian looked scandalized, “why is everyone naked?!”
However, before anyone could come to actual blows, the door banged open again.
“What on earth is going on in here?”
The conversations flying around the room came to a temporary stop as Molly walked inside, throwing the door shut behind her. She blinked around in disorientation for a second, her eyes resting on each of the frozen men before her eyes came to rest on Rae.
In moments such as these, a good best friend would know what to do simply by the look of panic in her friend’s eyes. Considering the level of chaos in the room, Rae slipped into Maria’s telepathy, just in case.
Molly, get me the hell out of here!
Molly’s eyes grew wide and she nodded slowly. Then she turned to the guys with a look so lethal, it had no place on the face of a mere stylist.
