by W. J. May
And that was when everything snapped.
Rae felt it happen in slow motion, like a cutting a rubber band. All that it took was an ungodly amount of focused concentration…then the power of persuasion fell away.
“What did I say?” she asked quietly. Samantha looked at her curiously, and when she didn’t answer Rae slowly pulled herself to her feet. “Out of your cold, dead fingers.”
All the color drained from Samantha’s face as she looked Rae up and down. Her body was supposed to be on lock, and yet she was moving. Slowly but surely she was moving closer.
“Stop,” she said quickly. When nothing happened, she tried again. “Stop!”
A note of panic was coloring her voice, and without seeming to think about it she lifted her fingers as if the earliest iteration of her power had been centered on touch.
The ring sparkled in the air between them as she stared back at Rae with a gasp.
“How—how are you doing this?”
A flash of lightning lit up Rae’s eyes as she stepped forward out of the shadows. “Kid, you’re about to find out.”
A shrill scream echoed in the diner, as time suddenly sped back up again.
There was a swish of air, followed by a loud crash as Samantha threw a chair threw the front window. It was the only head start she was going to get. As a shower of breaking glass rained down, she leapt outside into the night…Rae Kerrigan hot on her heels.
* * *
They say that people can do extraordinary things when the stakes get high enough. They can swim for hours. Scale burning buildings. Lift entire cars.
Rae’s knee was sprained in two places. There was a small hairline fracture midway up her shin, and the second she started moving the skin on both sides tore open.
It didn’t matter. She didn’t feel a damn thing.
“STOP!” Samantha screamed as she ran, casting terrified looks behind her as the two of them tore through the streets of London. “I’m TELLING you to STOP!”
A car door opened suddenly in front of her, and she swerved abruptly to avoid breaking her nose. The moment cost her dearly. A second later, Rae’s fist was slamming into her face.
She hit the ground with a sharp cry, curling her knees up to her chest, and clutching her cheek with both hands. In all likelihood, she had never been hit before. In all likelihood, she had never let anyone get close enough to try.
But Rae wasn’t going to be satisfied with one lousy punch. This girl had taken her life, taken her ring, and she just threatened to take her fiancé. Samantha Neilson had it coming.
With the skill of someone who had been trained to do more with less, Rae leapt four feet into the air—grabbing onto the sign for a nail salon, and using the momentum to swing her good leg through the air. There was a sickening crunch as her boot made contact, driving straight down into Samantha’s ribs. A scream was soon to follow, and she tried to roll out of the way, but the next second Rae dropped back to the ground, letting her hands finished what they’d started.
“How did you think this would end?!” she panted, grabbing Samantha by the jacket as she tried to crawl away, and dragging her back. The girl tried to kick her in the face, but she deflected it easily and struck her in the neck. “Did you really think you would get away with it? That you could take everything?! My entire life?!”
The hits kept coming. Each one harder than before.
“Undo what you did!” Rae shouted, kneeling on top of her chest in the rain. “Make them remember me! Make Devon remember! NOW!”
She wound up her fist for another vicious strike but a giant hand clamped down upon her wrist, and she flew backwards with a gasp of surprise.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, lady?”
Rae squinted up in the rain to see a gigantic man staring down at her. His eyes were wide with astonishment, and behind him the beginnings of a crowd had already started to grow.
“You don’t understand,” Rae said quickly. “That girl’s a criminal. She’s trying to—”
But the girl in question was already getting away. The second Rae was yanked backwards Samantha took off sprinting down the street, her wet hair streaming out behind her. A little trail of blood dripping from her feet.
“She looks like she’s about ten years old!” the guy shouted, kneeling to get in Rae’s face. He still hadn’t released her hand and, judging by the level of concern from those pedestrians around him, she only had a few seconds before someone called the police. “You can’t just go around beating the shit out of—”
“Look,” Rae interrupted swiftly, straining up on her toes so as not to lose sight of Samantha in the crowd, “I really don’t want to hurt you. Just let me go, and…”
She trailed off as a titter of laughter echoed through the crowd. It must have looked like a preposterous threat. A drenched little waif, cautioning someone left over from the Jurassic Age. But time was of the essence. Rae didn’t have time to be careful. She didn’t have time to think of a clever story, or play the part of the damsel in distress.
“Let me go…or I’ll have to make you,” she said softly, hoping beyond hope that the man would believe her and release her arm.
No such luck.
“I don’t think so, crazy,” he said, tightening his grip. “You and I are going to stay here until the cops arrive.” He glanced around behind him. “I’m assuming someone’s called—”
Unfortunately, those were the last words he’d be speaking for a while.
In a blur of skill and speed so intense it was almost as if she was using ink after all, Rae leapt into the air, flipping around in a perfect arc and taking the man with her. While he landed on his back, she landed on her feet. His grip slackened immediately, and with a mighty wrench she was able to pull herself free.
The crowd went dead silent, but she took off without a moment’s pause. Without even a glance behind, except to call over her shoulder:
“I’m sorry! Be sure to ice that!”
She didn’t stop running until she was at least five blocks away. Until she was no longer around anyone who recognized her, and could search uninterrupted for her target.
It wasn’t the easiest task.
The rain was getting heavier, and the edges of the darkened London streets were already beginning to blur. Everywhere she looked, there was a sea of black umbrellas. Moving like little pawns across a soaking-wet chess board. Darting from awning to awning, dodging puddles all the while.
…except one.
Rae sucked in a quick breath. She stood up on her toes to see better, and when that wasn’t enough she hopped up onto the hood of a nearby cab.
“What are you doing, lady? Get the heck down!”
He honked his horn repeatedly, but Rae didn’t notice. A wide smile had spread across her face as she gazed out into the rain. Gazed out at the little brunette darting a few streets away.
A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky as Rae threw herself off the car, tearing up the middle of the road like a goddess of vengeance. Cars swerved and drivers screamed, but she didn’t care. She kept her eyes only on her target. And she was getting close. She was getting so close—
Until Samantha spun around and saw her.
For a second, the rest of the world faded away and it was only the two girls. One charging forward in slow motion. The other freezing with a look of sheer terror.
Then several things happened at once.
Samantha called out something unintelligible to a mother walking past on the sidewalk. The woman stopped, eyes glazed over, and tilted her pram slowly towards the street.
Rae reeled back in horror as the baby carriage went rolling into oncoming traffic. Even so far away, she could hear the screams. The cab that was racing towards it wasn’t going to be able to stop in time. No one else was close enough to save it…
And that’s when Rae did the unthinkable.
That’s when she gave up the chase.
With a panicked cry she hurled her body backwards,
changing all her momentum on a dime. Giant sprays of water arched off her feet as she charged back in the other direction, throwing her entire body between the baby and the car.
There was a loud thud. A muted crunch. A tiny cry as the stroller went flying back up onto the sidewalk where it belonged.
Rae blinked slowly. Wondering why she was lying on the ground. Wondering what all the noise was, and why those dots of red were tinting her vision.
Then the world went black, and she saw no more.
Chapter 12
Rae opened one eye first. Then the other.
The world above her didn’t make sense.
Fluorescent lighting. Cracked tile ceiling. A muted television in the corner. The smell of antiseptic heavy in the air. She pulled in a halting breath.
Wasn’t I just outside? Where’s Samantha—
Then the pain set in.
“Freakin’ ow,” she exhaled with a small gasp, trying to hoist herself up on her elbows.
No such luck.
A dozen tubes and wires stopped her, crisscrossed over her body like Christmas lights. A plastic bag was leaking into her veins, and the second she spotted it a rhythmic beeping coming from somewhere just over her head started racing in panic.
No, no, no!
Rae’d been held captive enough times to be wary of waking up in strange places dosed with mystery narcotics. She’d been burned, beaten, bruised, bludgeoned… and that was all just by her friends during training in the Oratory. In the off-season she had been kidnapped, drugged, chained, locked in a dungeon. You name it—it had happened.
She’d learned to see zebras where others might see a hospital.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” a gentle voice soothed as an equally gentle hand stopped her from ripping out the IV. “It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re in the ICU.”
A dozen disoriented blinks later, Devon slowly drifted into focus.
He had that pale, worried look that she knew so well. Considering the guy was a world-class spy, he often wore his emotions right there on his sleeve. But the second he saw her coming out of it his face melted into a breathtaking smile. “Hey, stranger.”
Her lips parted, and she gazed up in confusion. “Devon.” She swallowed painfully. “What’re you doing here?”
He blushed and pulled his chair a few inches closer to the bed. They were in a dimly-lit room. The kind with a single cot, a wheeled tray, and two chairs along the side. “You didn’t have any ID when they found you,” he murmured. “No one on the street had any idea who you were, so they called the only number in your phone. Randall.”
A searing pain shot through Rae’s eyes and she leaned back into the pillows, slowly trying to piece it together. Given the little tap-dance Samantha had done on Randall’s brain, she was guessing he wasn’t exactly up for phone calls.
“When he didn’t answer, they called the only other person in your phone.” Devon blushed again, and lowered his eyes to the floor. “Me.”
Rae nodded slowly, trying to follow along. Then her head shot up with a sudden frown. “Wait…”
She didn’t have Devon’s number in her phone. After breaking her old one irreparably in the diner’s bathroom, she’d bought a burner. The only number inside belonged to her employer. Which begged the obvious question—
“I programmed it in,” he admitted, still unable to meet her eyes. “The night I met you at the diner. You went to the bathroom to freshen up, and I…put my number in your phone.”
She could think of nothing to say. Truth be told, she was having trouble focusing on anything at the moment. Every time she tried, another shooting pain rattled through her teeth. In the end, she could manage only a quiet, “Oh.”
That worried look came back. His eyes tightened as they flickered up to the bags of drugs pouring into her veins. “They have you on some pretty heavy meds. That taxi really banged you up.”
Her eyes drifted in and out of focus. “…Taxi?”
Without thinking he leaned forward and took her hand with a soft smile, wrapping his fingers carefully around the wires. “Didn’t you hear? You’re a hero. Saved a baby whose carriage rolled out into the street. Threw your body in between the kid and a cab.” The smile grew abruptly tender. “You saved the kid’s life.”
Rae stared at him a moment, trying her best to remember, then lowered her eyes back to the bed feeling a little overwhelmed. Her right leg was in a thick cast, and judging by the sharp little jolts of pain every time she took a breath she had cracked a rib or two as well. Not to mention the scrapes and abrasions painted across her fair skin like a checkerboard.
“The kid’s okay?” she asked weakly.
A wave of emotion welled up in Devon’s eyes, and he nodded solemnly. The chair eased a few inches closer, and a tentative hand stroked back her tangled hair. “He’s fine. I think his mother’s thinking of re-naming him after you.”
Rae tried to laugh, but ended up coughing painfully.
Devon reached forward in concern, and pressed the button to up her flow of morphine. “You’re okay,” he soothed, giving her fingers a soft squeeze. “You’ll feel better in a second.”
She bit her lip and nodded, closing her eyes as she breathed through the pain. To be honest, she almost welcomed it. The sharp sting kept her awake. Helped her focus.
Samantha was still out there…now was not the time to be closing her eyes.
So, he heard I was a hero, huh? I’m just glad he didn’t hear the other part. The part where I was racing down the streets of London, trying to beat down a sixteen-year-old girl…
“Why am I still in the ICU?” she mumbled when she was able to take a full breath. Her injuries were severe, but not critical. Shouldn’t the hospital save this bed for someone else?
Again, Devon’s cheeks colored with a sheepish blush. “You don’t technically need to be here, but the regular ward didn’t have any private rooms available.” Rae looked at him questioningly, and he shifted guiltily in his chair. “And I may have insisted on a slightly higher level of care…”
As if on cue the door pushed open, flooding the room with artificial light. A busy medical staff member rushed inside, then stopped in her tracks. The lines of boredom and worry melted away, and her face lit up with a bright smile when she saw Rae staring back at her. “Well, look who’s awake!” She set down her armfuls of supplies and walked to the side of the bed, automatically taking vitals. “Welcome back to the land of the living. I’m Doctor Dani.”
Rae lay there obediently as she was shifted, poked, and checked. The examination was followed by a cursory scribbling of numbers into her chart.
Devon casually stretched up in his chair, but Rae couldn’t tell he couldn’t see them.
When the doctor was finished, she looked down with a more critical gaze. “How are you feeling? Try to be specific, okay?”
Rae shot a sideways glance at Devon before shrugging self-consciously. Her master plan of seduction didn’t exactly include hospital gowns and charting. “I feel fine.” Two pairs of doubtful eyes bore into her, and she begrudgingly amended, “It’s a little hard to pull in a breath.”
Devon made a compulsive movement in his chair as the doctor nodded pragmatically.
“Yes, that’s to be expected. You cracked three ribs, and that’s not even mentioning the damage that taxi did to your leg.” Her face tightened sympathetically. “I’m afraid you’re going to be feeling it for a while. On that note, I wanted to talk to you about your support system.”
Rae stiffened as the woman glanced down at her chart.
“As of yet we don’t have any family listed. Is there someone you’d like us to call?”
Rae shrank down further onto the pillows, well aware that Devon was watching her every move. The nurse noticed her hesitation also, and was quick to explain.
“I only ask because you’re going to need some help for a while getting around.” She ticked things off her fingers in a routine sort of way. “Getting groceries. Getting in and out
of bed. I would automatically suggest you take some time off work, but that’s not really in my purview—”
“Actually,” Devon piped up, “I had some ideas about that.”
The doctor’s eyes cooled as she looked at him. “What a surprise. Our resident dictator has a helpful idea…”
Rae blinked in surprise, then turned towards him with a smile. “Has someone been playing nurse?”
It was the actual medical person who answered. And, judging by the edge to her voice, it was a discussion she’d already had many times. “Playing hospital administrator is more like it. Or playing God…”
Rae turned expectantly to her fiancé who, in turn, stared innocently at the ceiling.
“I may have put in a call to the mayor at one point…”
“The mayor?” The doctor’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Just the mayor?”
“…And maybe one or two members of Parliament.”
Members of Parliament? Was he serious? Rae blinked, trying to focus. It certainly looks like he’s serious!
“Your little guardian angel over here has had the whole hospital on high alert,” the doctor continued, glaring at him with obvious dislike. “We were thinking of having him removed…”
Devon set his jaw and stared the woman down, refusing to give even an inch. “Maybe I wouldn’t have had to make so many phone calls if the people in this establishment lived up to its national ranking,” he snapped. “I could have gone to med school, picked a specialty, and written the order myself in the time it took to get her medication.”
The woman’s fingers tightened over the chart into little claws. “If you have such a problem with the way we do things, then maybe you should—”
“Call the mayor?”
Overwhelmed by the ferocity of it all, Rae started laughing. But just as quickly, she succumbed to painful coughs. Devon quickly leaned forward to help prop her up, while the doctor muttered something about getting an order to up her pain medication and hurried off.
Devon waited until she was gone before turning back to Rae with a conspiratorial whisper. “I wanted to just bust you out of here. Take you to see a friend of mine.”
