The Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel Series Books #1-3: Paranormal Fantasy Romance

by W. J. May

  Devon paused, biting his lower lip. “It’s possible. Everyone assumes your father started it and your mother was the casualty. Is it really important to you now?” He stared intently into Rae’s eyes. “What’s bothering you, if the letter isn’t so bad?”

  Rae sighed and picked imaginary bits out of her clean nails. It seemed he knew how to read her without even trying. Glancing up, she quietly said, “I want to know my father’s gift. Or curse, if you want to look at it that way.”

  “You’ve seen a picture of his ink, the male version of a witch – like a warlock or sorcerer. He was unique.” Devon ran his fingers through his hair. “Has no one explained this to you?”

  Seeing her shake her head, he continued, “He could mimic other people’s gifts.”

  “Mimic?” Rae’s eyebrows shot up.

  “He had the ability to copy the ink of other people, do what they could do. You know, use their tatù.” Devon stared intently at her, as if waiting for her reaction to the news.

  “You mean he could copy your ink or if he wanted to, he could turn around and copy Andy’s?”

  “He had to come in contact with a tatùed person in order to imitate their gift.”

  “So he could do anything then?”

  “Kind of. He could copy their ink, but if he touched someone else, he’d then take over the power of that tatù. He wasn’t able to retain a gift to use again. Great power, but it still had its limits.” Devon’s eyes met her gaze and didn’t waver. “Does that make sense? Maybe Headmaster Lanford can explain it better.”

  “I get what you’re saying.” Holy crap. I DO get it. “If my father wanted more power or to use his ink to his advantage, he’d need a lot of people around him so he could use their tatùs.” Rae’s mind swirled as memories pushed forward. “I remember he never seemed to be on his own. He told me the people with him were his bodyguards.”

  Devon shrugged and stared at his hands. “I only know what I learned here, so I don’t know much about him. My father was assigned to watch him once so he knows a lot more than me. Sorry I’m not much help.”

  “Dev, you’re a huge help! You’ve been a great friend and I’m lucky to have you mentoring me. You have no idea how much you’ve taught me already.” Gushing on as she was, Rae almost let it slip that her birthday was tomorrow. She bit her tongue just as Madame Elpis opened the library door and in a voice worthy of a drill sergeant, suggested it was time for them to finish for the evening.

  Without saying a word, Devon and Rae gathered their books and walked toward the library doors, trying to hide their amused smiles. She paused halfway there and turned to him once more.

  “Hey, is everything all right with you? You haven’t seemed yourself the past few days. We spend so much time talking about my past and ink-history I sometimes don’t even ask how you’re doing.” She put her hand on his arm as she spoke. Her palm tingled where their skin met, and she felt the energy of it running all the way up her arm.

  He gave her his signature dimpled smile. “I’m all right. There’s some stuff I’m dealing with, but everything’s going to be fine. Just concentrate on yourself for the next few days and hurry up and get that tatù so we can start seeing the crazy things you get to do.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m not sure anymore who’s more curious to find out, you or me!”

  “You’ll be one of the first to know, aside from Dean Carter, who has me staying in the Infirmary the night before. After I’m tested and prodded like some lab rat, I’ll let you know.”

  “It won’t be that bad. The school wants to help you.”

  “Yeah, so I can ask any questions I might have. Right. It’s only so they can monitor my ink. I think they’re worried I’m going to morph into my father the minute I’m inked.” Rae smiled half-heartedly, trying to make a feeble joke of the situation.

  “Guilder tends to know what’s best for us, so it must be a good idea, then. Not the turning into your father part but helping you out with your ink.”

  “Probably.” It irked her the way he always agreed with, and followed, what Guilder thought was right.

  “Madame Elpis is about to open the door again. Let’s get outta here.”

  “G’night, Devon.”

  He paused. “Good night, Rae.”

  It would be a good night, life-changing in her opinion. It just sucks I’ve got no one to share it with.

  Chapter 14

  Gifting

  Trying to fall asleep knowing what would happen seemed next to impossible. Rae had empathy for what Molly had gone through back in September. She wished she could talk to her now. But Molly lay snoring on her bed, and Rae had no intentions of waking her. Instead, she lay buried in her sheets, thinking about Devon’s knowledge of her father. As she grew drowsy, her thoughts stayed on Devon and she fell asleep dreaming about him. It turned out to be a night full of vibrant and pleasant dreams.

  Rae felt herself waking and tried to will sleep to pull her back down. She liked her current dream. It was vague but nice. The feeling of Devon being beside her, his hand warm on her lower back, keeping her safe. She wanted to enjoy the feeling a few moments longer. However, sleep didn’t return, and the dream slipped out of her grasp. Lifting her head to check the time, she suddenly remembered what day it was.

  Tempted to jump off the bed and rush to the mirror, she had to fight to control herself. Rae settled for trying to tell if anything felt different inside her. She started cataloguing every twinge, twitch and pulse searching for something that might stand out.

  Molly’s alarm stopped her train of thought. She watched Molly, still lying prone on the bed with her eyes closed, hit the nightstand and then the wall with the back of her hand.

  The light went on without the switch even being touched. Impressed, Rae realized Molly was getting better with using her ink. The last time she’d tried that trick she’d blown out all the fuses in the building. Madame Elpis went around with crazy hair that day because she couldn’t use her hair dryer to tame it. Since all the other residents of Aumbry house had been in the same predicament, no one had laughed. Molly had gone on about her business as if nothing were wrong. The memory made Rae smile.

  Molly groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her face. Rae quickly shut her eyes and pretended to still be asleep. She heard Molly stumble to the closet and grab her toiletries. Something heavy and soft landed on Rae’s bed, followed by an “oops.” She must’ve dropped her towel and brushed against Rae’s arm as she picked it up. Molly flipped the light switch off and shut the door.

  In a flash, Rae hopped out of bed, grabbing the wall to steady herself. She flinched when she got a shock and blinked at the sudden brightness. Dummy! I hit the light switch. She rubbed her eyes. No worries. The better to see my new ink with.

  Dashing to the closet, she swung the door open to the full-length mirror. She lifted her pajamas as she turned. She stared in stunned silence.

  The tatù was there all right, and quite large – bigger than the other girls’ inks she’d seen. It spread across most of her lower back. On her pale, white skin lay a beautiful, unique figure with…Rae squinted to see an outline behind the ink…wings. A fairy etched in hues of pink, purple and green with glittery sparkles on the dress and wings. How in the world did it sparkle? She’d never seen anyone’s tatù glitter before?

  Rae craned her neck to see it again. Below the inked girl lay an ornate design with Celtic detail and small circles with wiggly lines. Excitement flowed through her veins. They were miniature suns, part of her mom’s ink!

  The tatù looked totally awesome. Not scary at all. It wasn’t some witch or warlock or sorcerer. Hers was delicate…tender. Like a fairy.

  She spun around and spoke to her image in the mirror. “The sins of the father are not the sins of this daughter. I might not be able to undo the past, but I’m not being punished for something my father did!” She did a happy dance, wiggling her butt and moving her arms alternately in a pumping motion.

  Today was the best day of
her life. Nothing could ruin it – no proverb of truth, no Friday the thirteenth, nothing. Finally, my birthday, my tatù!

  Now, she just needed to figure out how to use it. She had less than forty-eight hours before she’d have to pretend it was her birthday all over again.

  Rae stopped dancing and stood perfectly still in the middle of the room. Closing her eyes, she lifted her arms and focused on every feeling inside of her, trying to determine if something felt different. She sensed a quiet buzz but wasn’t sure if it was coming from the room or inside her. “Probably just the hum in my ears from the excitement.”

  A light tingling in the tips of her fingers caught her attention. Different than when your hand falls asleep, but she couldn’t figure out just how. Going back to the mirror, she took another look at the tatù.

  Definitely a fairy, wings and all. Hmm…wings… Maybe she could fly or levitate. Shutting her eyes tight, she focused her thoughts on flying and slowly opened one eye to see if she’d floated off the ground.

  Nothing. Not even a hint of fluttering or flying. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She had no idea what she could do or how to do it. If only she’d told Devon about today. At least someone could help her figure it out.

  It wasn’t hard to see she had a unique ink, but were any other tatùs similar? “I gotta check at that bloody chart again.” Too bad you couldn’t look it up online…or maybe? Her laptop only needed to be opened and she’d have full access to searching.

  Rae glanced at her watch and realized Molly could be back any moment. Deciding to give the ink probing a break for now, she grabbed a random pair of jeans and top from her closet.

  One look in the mirror had her ripping everything off. The jeans dropped too low and the shirt would lift if she bent or leaned over. Too easy for someone to catch a glimpse of my Celtic pixie. Scrambling through her closet, she pulled out a charcoal black dress, the only dress she’d brought from New York. It was short sleeved, so she’d need a jacket, but at least no one would be able to see her tatù. She huffed and puffed doing the fastest change job of her life, trying to make sure she fully covered her ink before Molly returned. Finally the last thing she needed to do was fix her hair. Hmm…up or down?

  Hair down, she held two barrettes in her mouth and pulled the sides up to clip it out of her face. Laughing to herself, she added a few of the butterfly wing clips she’d worn at the dance.

  Molly returned just as Rae leaned close to the mirror, blinking mascara on the way Molly had shown her.

  A whistle erupted from the doorway. Molly looked Rae up and down. “Wow, girl, you’re all fancy for classes this morning. ‘Bout time you started listening to my style suggestions.”

  Rae almost poked her eye with the mascara brush. “I-I figured I’d dress up…since we don’t have classes on Sunday. You know, for my birthday.”

  “Great idea!” Molly came and stood behind her. She touched Rae’s back, making Rae step forward and bash herself into the mirror. “Careful, you’ve got a few lose hairs stuck to the back of your dress. I like that you’re wearing your hair down. It flatters the outfit. I keep telling you that you need to dress up more often. However, it’s too cold for short sleeves.” Molly disappeared into her closet, clothes flying out and landing on Rae’s bed across the room. Molly stepped out with a short-length, beige leather jacket with a simple plaid pattern inside. “It’s Burberry. You can keep it if you want. I never wear it.”

  Rae slipped it on. It went perfect with the dress.

  “Thanks. I love it!”

  “Consider it a birthday present.” Molly laughed.

  Rae’s smile faltered. Did Molly know? Then she realized her roomie didn’t have a clue, and instead of being nervous, she felt guilty. Sheesh, if it’s not one thing it’s another. “Th-Thanks, again.”

  “Don’t mention it. Now, can we head down and get some breakfast? I’m starving.”

  Rae leaned over and hugged Molly. “I’m glad you’re my roomie.”

  The two made their way to the Refectory. Filling their trays, Rae bumped into Maria in line, her hand banging into Maria’s as her tray slid along the aisle.

  “Oops, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “It’s fine. I think you shocked me,” Maria rubbed her hand.

  They sat down at their usual table. Haley sat babbling to the twins something about her family planning on going skiing in Switzerland over the Christmas holidays. She glanced at Rae, her mouth open but no words coming out. She narrowed her eyes. “My goodness, who’re you trying to impress?”

  Rae could feel her cheeks heat up.

  “No one.” Molly plopped down beside Haley. “It’s for her birthday this weekend. She’s wearing my Burberry coat.”

  Haley rolled her eyes. “About time you get that sacred tatù the entire school has so anxiously been waiting for. Finally, it’ll be over so we can all move on.”

  Rae wondered if hot tea would do permanent damage to Haley’s face if she threw her cup at the bitch. The girl knew how to take the wind out of someone’s sails, didn’t she?

  “Ignore Haley,” came Maria’s quiet voice. “She’s just green with envy. She’s jealous of your looks, your personality and the way every guy in this school stares at you. You have a history to talk about. She can’t compete.”

  Rae nodded at Maria, the voice invasion no longer as daunting as at the beginning of the school year. Thanks Maria, I know you can’t hear me, but I appreciate it.

  Maria’s smile faltered and her eyes went huge. A glass of juice slipped from her hand. Girls sitting beside her quickly jumped up to avoid the spill. Everyone reached for napkins to absorb the orange liquid.

  Maria stared at the table, extremely focused on cleaning. Without looking at Rae, she inner spoke again. “How the heck did you just do that? I have NEVER had anyone reply to my thoughts before. Your birthday’s Sunday, but you can talk to me now? Are you having some pre-power?”

  Rae froze with a spoonful of oatmeal halfway to her mouth. Had she thought-spoken to Maria? She could feel the inner buzz inside of her again. Staring directly at Maria, she tried again. Panic set her heart racing, but curiosity won over.

  You can hear me?

  Maria nodded, still staring down.

  This is crazy. Rae shifted in her chair, trying to appear like she was just eating, not going out of her mind with anticipation. I can’t believe it. Sorry I scared the crap out of you. I had no idea I could do this. She paused, debating if she should tell Maria and decided to go with her gut. Can you keep a secret? My actual birth date’s today, but everyone here thinks it’s the fifteenth. I just wanted to see what my ink was before the school started treating me like a lab rat, so I didn’t tell anyone about the mistake.

  Maria smiled at her bowl of cereal. No one at the table even noticed the two of them. “It’s all right, you don’t need to apologize. You just surprised me by answering back. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably keep it a secret as well. What’s your tatù? Is it the same as mine?”

  Rae found it easy to converse this way. She noticed Maria picked up her pace as well – like they were just thoughts, not words in a conversation. My ink’s different. I’m going to check the chart later. She paused, unsure if she should share the ink’s image. She liked Maria and needed to tell someone. It looks like a fairy, with wings and everything! There’s also a neat Celtic design along the bottom. She shrugged. I guess my gift’s some kind of telepathy. I thought it meant I could fly. I was really hoping, but I tried getting airborne this morning. Unfortunately, gravity wouldn’t let me go.

  Maria covered her mouth to hide a laugh. “I’m glad you didn’t try jumping out your window to see if you could fly. Remember, your gift’s pretty raw at the moment. It’ll take some time to strengthen and sort itself out. You have to learn to work with it and train it. Or have it train you as some of the professors say. I’m excited for you and, to be honest, I’m a little excited for me. This’ll help improve my skill, as well.�
�

  Rae nodded as Molly leaned over, tapping Rae’s temple.

  “You listening in there? I just asked if on Sunday, after you get back from the Infirmary, of course, you want to sneak out? You know, celebrate your birthday properly?”

  “Ummm…” Rae didn’t know what to say. She glanced around the table.

  “Come on, be devious,” Molly said with a mischievous smile. “You’re the last of the gals to get inked. We’ll head out to the sporting fields. I’m sure we can get some of the guys to come as well.”

  “That’d be a riot,” Haley said. “Except we’ll get caught on the fields. Too obvious from the buildings.”

  Rae saw the disappointment on Molly’s face and just couldn’t let it stand. “There’s a clearing behind the forest. I walk there all the time.”

  Molly jumped around, all excited. “Wouldn’t it be a riot?”

  Haley tapped her long, manicured fingernails against the tabletop. “I’m sure Riley, or one of the older guys, could get us some festive drinks.”

  Molly’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You mean, alcohol?”

  Rae nodded absentmindedly. She’d been listening but also trying to talk to Maria since Molly’d poked her. Had she lost the telepathy? Or, since her gift was still new had it somehow powered down? She could still feel the electrical buzz running through her body but couldn’t figure it out.

  “Rae! Yes or no to the party?” Molly poked her in the ribs, creating a shock. It actually made Rae and Molly jump apart. “Sorry! That was a strong one.”

  “I’m okay.” Rae laughed, rubbing her side. “The party sounds like fun. However, aren’t we a little young to be drinking?”

  Haley snorted and tried mimicking an American accent. “Well, in big ol’ America, yous peoples huv to wait ‘til yer super old, like twenty-five to drink.”