Strength & Power: Dark Paranormal Tattoo Taboo Romance (The Chronicles of Kerrigan Book 10)

by W. J. May

  Something appraising.

  Before she could figure out what it was, he pushed to his feet and slipped his coat back over his shoulders, rummaging around in his pocket and dropping some bills on the table.

  “You may have some valid points, Rae, but you’re wrong about one thing.” His bright clairvoyant eyes rested on her for a second more. “He’s not happy.”

  Then he left the diner.

  * *

  The next day, Rae woke at the crack of dawn, jet-lagged to the point of delirium, but bursting with excitement to start the first phase of her plan. She couldn’t lie: she loved the job that the PC offered her, except this was even better. Focus, Rae. What’s the plan?

  Step one: Guilder.

  Slipping into what was quickly becoming her unofficial favorite tatù, she conjured herself a pair of sleek black running tights and a matching black camisole. She slicked her hair back into a long, tumbling ponytail and even added a touch of dark lipstick to complete the look.

  It was something that Molly would call ‘athletic chic’ were she to see it.

  Pleased with her efforts, Rae brushed her teeth, sprayed on a spritz of perfume, and sailed out the door before anyone was the wiser. Moments later, her feet hit the pavement.

  Jogging had never really been her thing; anyone who knew her could tell you that. Even during the time she was training at Guilder, she and Molly would often shirk their runs under the guise of doing more ‘research,’ a spirited activity that secretly translated to pancake breakfasts. Same with when she started training with the Privy Council.

  But she and Julian needed a cover. He couldn’t be relied upon to spin consistent stories that Devon would believe, and she didn’t want to risk the wrath of his hot-tempered girlfriend for dominating all his time. They’d need a go-to excuse for why they would be out of their respective homes so often and spending so much time alone together.

  Rae had decided this excuse would be jogging.

  Unfortunately, she’d also decided that—in honor of Julian—it would be jogging sans tatù.

  It was an idea that looked great on paper, but after only a few minutes of slugging away in the park her body rebelled and she felt the need to cheat.

  Who would ever know, right? She’d still move at Julian’s normal pace; she’d just have a secret safety net.

  The second she slipped into Devon’s tatù, the relief was instantaneous. Gone were the muscle cramps and the shortness of breath. Gone were the general fatigue and the desire to throw fire at the park flowers until she was released from the task. To a fennec fox, running was the most natural thing in the world. It felt liberating, rejuvenating even. By the time she sped up the front walkway to Devon and Julian’s home, she had hardly broken a sweat.

  The door was unlocked, so she let herself inside. Most people would find it unfathomable not to use a deadbolt in the city, but the two homeowners in question weren’t exactly ‘most people.’ Rae grinned to herself as she imagined how excited both of them would be if someone were ever to break in. Julian would call home and warn Devon ahead of time that it was happening, and Devon would lie in wait—silent as the grave, probably with popcorn. Together, they’d make the citizen’s arrest of a lifetime, and most likely they wouldn’t stop boasting about it for years to come.

  She was still smiling away as she breezed through the living room and made a bee-line for Julian’s closed door. The excitement of securing a partner-in-crime to finally help unlock her father’s secrets was almost over-powering, and despite have borrowed Devon’s heightened senses, she was so distracted she missed a couple of key indicators that something may be off.

  The rustling of sheets. The sound of heavy breathing. An occasional moan.

  She pushed open the door without a care in the world.

  Then fled at the speed of light.

  “I’M SORRY! OH MY GOODNESS I’M SO SORRY!”

  She bolted down the hall, but not before the image was burned forever into her brain:

  Julian and Angel…making the most of the morning.

  A glass vase shattered against the wall behind her as she flew past. Switching into involuntary survival mode, Rae was surprised when Cassidy’s tatù floated tentatively to the surface. Then she was severely tempted. Should she turn invisible? Literally just disappear from the face of the earth?

  She was just mulling over the possibility when Julian emerged from the hall, clutching a sheet around his waist and looking like hell just warmed over.

  They locked eyes and Rae turned a sickly shade of green, feeling as though his beloved girlfriend had just worked a freezing power on her.

  “Jules, I’m so—”

  “What the hell are you doing?” he cried. “Don’t you knock?!”

  “I’m so sorry!” she shrieked, still trying to scrub the image from her mind. “I know our plans were for a little later today, but I thought we could get an early—”

  “WHERE IS SHE?!”

  Rae shrank back against the front door as Angel’s voice echoed down the hall.

  “I’M GOING TO STRANGLE HER WITH HER STUPID PONYTAIL!”

  Julian cast her an unsympathetic look, and she tried desperately to defend herself as the terrifying girl crashed around in the bedroom, getting dressed.

  “Why didn’t you see me coming in?” she countered, grasping at any and all straws she could think of. “This isn’t just on me—”

  “I was a little busy,” Julian fired back, blushing to the tips of his ears.

  Rae covered her eyes. “I remember.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, sheer panic took over and she heard herself saying, “On the bright side…your arms are looking super toned—”

  “Get out of my house!”

  She gulped and yanked open the front door, “Gladly.”

  “NOT SO FAST!”

  Angel appeared suddenly before them, and the look on her face was worse than anything Rae could have imagined. There was finally a splash of color in her porcelain cheeks, but whether it was from being interrupted or that move Julian was doing earlier, Rae couldn’t tell.

  She tried to break the ice with a tentative smile of surrender. “Good morning, Angel. Hey, remember way back when I accidently walked in on you and Jules,” she gulped, “…cuddling? Well, no harm, no foul right? I say, let’s just let bygones be bygones—”

  In times of trouble, she had a regrettable habit of speaking only in idioms.

  A fork lodged itself in the wall right next to her head and she jumped back with a little yelp.

  “Hey, hey,” Julian quickly intervened, sensing that weaponizing the utensils was just the beginning of a slippery slope. “Honey,” he took Angel cautiously by the hand, “why don’t you take a nice shower and calm down? I’ll deal with this one.” He jerked his head to where Rae was bouncing nervously from foot to foot, muttering something about burying the hatchet.

  Angel gave him a lethal look, before her face melted into the sweetest of smiles. Upon seeing it, Rae breathed a sigh of relief. But Julian’s reaction was exactly the opposite. His entire body stiffened in alarm, freezing up to the point where it looked like he wasn’t breathing.

  “Uh…Jules?” Rae whispered anxiously.

  It was then that she realized ‘freezing’ had been the operative word.

  “Are you serious?” she said a little louder, her blatant disbelief giving her boldness in the face of fear. “You actually froze him?”

  Angel turned that same dangerous smile onto her. “Well, I wasn’t planning on it. In fact, I was planning on my morning turning out a lot differently. But thanks to a certain—”

  “What’s going on?”

  Both girls whirled around as Devon wandered down the stairs, staring around the living room in wonder. Rae sucked in a quick breath. Really? Did she have to come over the second that he decided to take a shower? Did he have to walk downstairs without a shirt? Did her cheeks have to blush like that?!

  Angel folded her arms across her chest, hardly spa
ring him a second glance. “Nothing. Go back upstairs,” she snapped.

  However, Devon was rarely one to do as he was told. He was already behind her when she made the command, and was examining Julian with a look of tired disapproval. “Angel—what did I tell you about freezing people in the house?”

  Her hands twitched impatiently. “You said you’d consider it.”

  Devon’s head snapped up and Rae bit back a smile. “No. I absolutely did not say I’d consider it. I said never, under any circumstances, was it to happen. Do you remember me saying that?”

  Angel’s chin jutted up and she sniffed. “Must have slipped my mind.”

  His blue eyes narrowed infinitesimally. “Let him go.”

  Incensed, Angel whipped her head around, sending her white blond hair spraying out in a wide arch behind her. “Look, Wardell, I’m kind of in the middle of something—”

  “Now, Angela.”

  She made a rebellious sound, but flicked her fingers in the air. “Fine.” There was a quiet gasp as Julian sprang back to life, but she didn’t even bother turning around to see. “Now, as I was—”

  “I didn’t mean to see you naked!”

  Rae cowered against the open door, already crippled by the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The other three turned slowly towards her—their expressions ranging from amusement, to rage, to utter bewilderment.

  “Alright…I definitely missed something,” Devon murmured.

  “Oh, come on,” Angel snapped viciously, “like you didn’t hear.”

  He pointed to a pair of earphones draped around his neck. “I didn’t. I’ve had to start listening to deafening music anytime you and Jules start to…” His voice trailed off as his eyes flickered to Rae with sudden understanding. “…oh.”

  “Yeah,” she muttered, her face turning red, “oh.”

  The corners of his lips twitched as he held back a smile. Then he cocked his head towards Angel before saying, “So she’s about to kill you then, huh?”

  Rae paled. “Not if she has even a single merciful bone in her body.”

  Angel’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s assume I don’t.”

  Devon chuckled as he walked casually in between them. “It’s always one thing or another with you, isn’t it, Kerrigan?” He glanced back at her with a genuine smile, and for a moment the rest of the world seemed to fall away. For a moment, they were just themselves again—Devon and Rae. Inseparable. Not a care in the world. For a moment, everything was as it should be.

  Then he remembered himself and stepped deliberately out of the line of fire.

  “Well, good luck with that.” He grabbed a shirt from a pile of clean laundry on the kitchen table and slipped it over his head. “Remember your training, and you’ll do fine.”

  Julian ignored the joke and turned to him with a frown. “Where are you going?”

  Only someone who had known Devon a long time could have detected the minute pause before he answered. “Debriefing for the Collins case. I’ll only be a few hours.”

  The frown deepened, and Rae could have sworn she saw Julian’s eyes flicker clairvoyant-white before darkening back to brown.

  “Cool,” he said easily. It was casual, but he didn’t miss a single detail as he watched Devon pack a briefcase. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Later.” Devon slipped past Rae with a polite nod and disappeared down the steps.

  She was far too hung up on the ‘polite nod’ to think of much of anything else, but Angel and Julian shared a quick look behind her back, staring after Devon’s car as it raced down the drive.

  It was quiet for a long time before Angel finally cleared her throat. “So why are you dressed like some kind of Nike assassin anyway?”

  Rae looked down at her clothes in dismay. She’d thought she’d done a spectacular job. Then she remembered their cover and straightened up importantly.

  “I’ve taken up jogging,” she said with just a hair too much enthusiasm. “Julian has, too. We decided to go out at least once a day.”

  Angel didn’t blink. “Jogging?”

  Rae faltered a moment, but held her ground. “Yes, jogging.”

  Angel turned to Julian. “You hate jogging.”

  He shook his head innocently. “I love…jogging.”

  The word lived and died in the air between them. The more times they had said it, the more ridiculous it seemed to sound, and the more ridiculous Rae felt in her carefully crafted spandex.

  Then, all at once, Julian sighed. “Fine. We’re not really jogging.”

  Angel grinned. “You think?”

  Rae tensed, but kept her eyes on Julian and trusted he would come through for her.

  “The truth is I’m helping Rae with a project that’s near and dear to her heart. Something personal.” He took a breath and looked at his girlfriend intently. “It’s something I promised to do.”

  A shiver ran up Rae’s spine as she stared between them—both impressed by his quiet honesty, and worried as to whether or not it would work.

  Angel’s face didn’t give much away. She simply stared back at him for a long moment before cocking her head to the side. “And I take it nobody else knows about this personal project?”

  He shook his head, and she paused, absorbing it.

  “And I take it you’re not going to tell me what it is?”

  There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, but he shut it down with a small smile. He shook his head again before stroking her hair back from her face. “Not my story to tell, love.”

  Please let this work. Please let this work.

  “Okay, fine,” she conceded suddenly. “You two can keep your little secret.”

  Rae’s lips parted in surprise, but Julian just smiled knowingly.

  There was more to his hot-tempered temptress than met the eye. But just as he turned on his heel to get dressed, she reached out and caught his arm with an impish smile. “Just keep in mind, Jules, every second that you’re away, I’m going to be up in the bedroom planning a rematch. I only hope I don’t get too bored waiting and decide to move on to something else…”

  He hesitated for a second, completely thrown off course, before shaking his head with a grin. “That’s cruel.”

  “Oh, just go,” Rae interjected. “I don’t want to spoil your fun twice in one day. Whatever it is we end up doing can wait until tomorrow. I’ll just head home.”

  “Actually, Rae?” Angel’s eyes were fixed on the open door. “One of the four horsemen of the apocalypse is here to see you.”

  One of the…what?

  Rae closed her eyes as the cloying scent of self-importance and too much aftershave washed over her. She had a sinking idea of who that might be.

  Turned out, she might be going to Guilder after all…

  Chapter 5

  “Mr. Mallins.” Rae turned around with a sickly smile plastered to her face. “What an…unexpected surprise.”

  He stood wearing his usual eighteenth-century attire—complete with gloves and a driving cap—darkening the doorway like he owned the place.

  “Miss Kerrigan,” he smiled faintly as his eyes swept the room. “Keeping busy as usual, I see.”

  His gaze rested briefly on Angel still poised to kill, then Julian still clutching a towel around his bare waist, before landing on Rae. The tension in the room was undeniable, but it seemed to do nothing more than feed his efforts. He took his time, making them all twitch. “I decided to stop by because I heard a rumor you might be headed over to Guilder today.”

  Rae’s heart skipped a beat. How the hell had he heard that? She’d only just decided to go last night. Had she told anyone besides…?

  Her eyes flickered to Julian, but he frowned and shook his head a fraction of an inch. He hadn’t told anyone.

  She was about to ask Mallins himself, but the man interrupted—droning on in his dry monotone, “As fate would have it, I’m heading that way myself. I came to offer you a ride, as well as my company.”

  Rae
truly didn’t know which was worse. “How did you…” she tried again, but Mallins’ lips turned up in a cracked smile. One look told her everything she needed to know. He wasn’t going to say where he’d gotten his information. She might as well ask the kitchen sink. “Well, that’s very,” she cleared her throat, mind scrambling to come up with a plan, “that’s very considerate of you.”

  Again her eyes flashed to Julian, but he was looking just as confused as she was. Confused, with a good deal of well-deserved agitation thrown in.

  This was the President of the Privy Council they were talking about. Well, one of two acting presidents. Point was, there was no way in hell he just went around making house calls, offering ex-agents rides back to the school. There was something else going on here, and given the man in question they could only assume it was something rather sinister.

  Julian stepped forward protectively. “Mr. Mallins, if you don’t mind, I was also going to Guilder this morning. Perhaps I could join the two of you.”

  Rae slipped into Maria’s telepathy. Thanks, Jules.

  Except Mallins wasn’t having it. He fixed Julian in his cold, emotionless stare, clearly sending shivers up everyone’s spines. “I’m afraid that’ll be impossible. Miss Kerrigan and I have things of a rather sensitive nature to discuss.” His eyes travelled once more between Julian and Angel, before narrowing with a faint smirk. “Besides, it looks like you were in the middle of something.”

  Julian’s handsome face flushed as his fingers tightened reflexively on the towel. He cast Rae another frustrated look and it appeared as though he might try to intervene again, but Mallins was looking at Angel now, and his attention was immediately diverted.

  “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” Mallins inclined his head slightly, though he didn’t extend his hand. “My name is Victor Mallins. And you are…?”

  Rae had to give Angel credit—she was quick on her feet.

  “Jaclyn Hunter. Nice to meet you.”

  Mallins smiled slowly, and Julian’s knuckles turned white. “Miss Hunter.” The smile widened. “The pleasure is all mine.”