The Chronicles of Kerrigan Box Set Books # 1 - 6: Paranormal Fantasy Young Adult/New Adult Romance

by W. J. May

  It was Rae’s turn to feel confused. “Why would an artist draw a portrait of someone five hundred years in the future?”

  “Cromfield worked for the monarchy at the time. Because of his, uh, talent, he had a lot of free time to work on his inventions.” Carter held the paper up, his eyes flitting back and forth from it, to Rae.

  Cromfield. The name had been on the brass plaque by the book. Rae remembered it now. “His talent” obviously meant a tatù. “Why did he draw that portrait?”

  Carter shrugged. “We’re not exactly sure. We intend to pool our resources and find out.”

  “Maybe stealing the entire book would be better,” the man beside Carter muttered.

  “Before the Xavier Knights do,” another man said and glanced meaningfully at Rae.

  Rae took exception to the strange expression on his face. Look away Kemosabe. Ain’t nothing for you over here.

  Carter, obviously sensing Rae’s temper was very close to the surface, cleared his throat. “I believe this conversation can take place tomorrow. I think these two have gone over what they need to share with us. Thank you, Julian. Rae.”

  Julian stood. “I’ll drop my gear off tomorrow if that’s alright.”

  Carter nodded before turning to Rae. “I’d like to speak to you tomorrow. Come to my office at the house after classes.”

  The sternness in his voice caught her off guard. Oh, am I in trouble? Rae’s ears burned. “Me?” She pointed at herself. Why did she feel like she was in trouble?

  “Yes. The house office.”

  “Okay. Where’s that?” Rae should have just asked Julian but she was too tired to edit herself anymore. The strain of hiding her distrust of almost everyone around her, the lack of sleep, the after-effects of her adrenaline high from the heist and the lack of real answers had her on edge.

  If Carter was annoyed, he didn’t show it. “When you come through the main gates, the road veers to the right and leads up to the Tudor mansion. My office is second on the left. I’ll be there. After school.”

  “Okay.”

  She followed Julian, who seemed more than ready to leave, to the door. She paused when Jennifer came by and touched her arm. “Good job today. I’ll see you tomorrow, after you talk with Carter?”

  Rae nodded and smiled at Jennifer, thankful for the kind, simple words. She was grateful Jennifer didn’t push her. She couldn’t take any more tonight. “Sounds good.”

  Chapter 16

  Never In a Million Years

  The next day, Rae jogged by the gate and checked both directions of the road for any sign of traffic. She had spent most of the day trying to figure out what she had done wrong. She assumed she wouldn’t be called up to Carter’s office if she wasn’t in trouble. She had to admit she had been out of line the night before, to hold everyone hostage for her questions. She circled around and around the argument that she had a right to ask questions juxtaposed against the fact that she signed on with PC knowing that answering questions wasn’t what they did. She had gotten herself so worked up over it, she had decided to burn off her nervous energy on the way to her meeting. She was regretting that decision. “Jogging here was a dumb idea,” she muttered to herself. She switched on Devon’s tatù and listened up the road.

  Nothing.

  She walked by the gate entrance and entered her code. A moment later the heavy iron gates opened and she jogged through. Instead of heading to the left toward the training facility, she veered right and followed the old, cobblestone drive toward the Tudor mansion.

  Carter had said his office was the second door on the left when you stepped inside the house. What were the chances there would be a code to the building and she’d set off a slew of alarms?

  When she reached the steps she pulled her ear buds out, and stuffed her iPod into her pocket. Her pony held her hair up but she still checked to see if any locks needed a tuck behind her ear. As she walked up the steps she let her eyes wonder at the architecture of the old building. It seemed vaguely familiar, but she figured it most likely had something to do with the fact that half the buildings at Guilder looked nearly the same.

  The door was unlocked, but Rae didn’t miss the security camera hidden neatly in the stone fixture by the door. It looked like a worn down gargoyle, but the glass eyes shouted “camera” to her.

  The entrance had the same black and white marble floor as Aumbry House. Rae’s eyes quickly adjusted to the dimness with the help of Devon’s tatù.

  She straightened and pushed back her shoulders. Whatever Carter wanted, she was prepared to defend herself.

  The second door to her left did not have the typical Tudor wood design like the others facing the hall. It had been built with some kind of very modern metal. Rae didn’t have any problem guessing why.

  She raised her hand to knock and hesitated. Using a number of different tatùs, she ever so lightly pressed her fingers to the door, hoping to sense what was behind it. No luck. She shrugged and pounded on the door.

  It must not have been clicked shut properly as it opened halfway. Inside, Carter sat behind a large oak desk similar to the one she had seen him behind her first week at Guilder. He still carried that same dominance, just now, without the hostility toward her. Maybe she wasn’t in trouble.

  Carter glanced up from his desk. He sat bent over, signing papers and flipping through some files. “Have a seat, Rae.”

  She settled into the nearest wooden chair and waited, fidgeting nervously.

  Finally, after what seemed like a long time, but was probably about three minutes, Carter motioned just behind him with his hand. An older man standing in the shadows near the wall, wearing a uniform Rae didn’t recognize, stepped forward. Carter handed the file of papers to him. “It’s done.”

  “We’ll process this right away,” the bulky man said in a short, brisk voice.

  Rae tried to read the badge on his chest, but he covered it with the manila folder before she had a chance. A strange feeling in her gut suddenly made her want to stand, not sit. She rose and wiped her hands against her jeans and glanced at the door the officer had just exited from.

  “Sit, Rae. You are not excused.” Carter closed his pen and tossed it on his desk. He leaned back and put his feet on its edge. “I wanted to speak with you.” He dropped his feet back to the floor and leaned forward. “There are events about to unfold which you should—you deserve to know.”

  Hairs rose on the back of her neck. “What’s going on?”

  “Please sit,” he repeated again.

  Rae clenched her fists. Her nervousness came out as anger. “No!” She puffed her cheeks and forced a long breath out. “Please just tell me what’s happening.”

  Carter’s eyes met hers and he stared at her a long moment. He stood and came around his desk, leaned against it and crossed his ankles as his hands gripped the edge of the desk.

  Rae took every detail of his posture in. He’s trying to appear casual. Whatever he has to say, can’t be good.

  He shifted and set his feet shoulder width apart. “We’re releasing your half-brother, Kraigan.”

  Blood rushed past Rae’s ears, drowning any noise momentarily. Kraigan? “Wh-Whut?” She cleared her throat. “What? You can’t do that!”

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course you do! You don’t let him out!” Maybe the Privy Council did want her dead after all.

  “Things are already in motion. I can’t stop them.”

  Rae threw her hands up in the air. “Yes you can. You’re the bloomin’ president!” She had no idea how in the world the Privy Council thought this was a good idea.

  “It’s not that simple.”

  Rae stared at him in disbelief. “He tried to kill me! Not that simple my arse!” Her heart hammered at an erratic beat. Kraigan would hunt her down and finish what he started. He would never stop, and Carter was the one to let him out, the one who signed her death warrant. “Why?”

  Carter folded his hands, his long fingers
perfectly interlaced together. “We don’t know how, but someone, or some group, knows who I am. No one knows who the president of the Privy Council is… there’s either a mole within, or we’ve been infiltrated.”

  “So how does releasing Kraigan from prison help?” Another thought crossed her mind. Carter’s tatù. “Why don’t you just check everyone here? Your tatù would show if anyone has something to hide.”

  “I can’t put our entire team in a line-up and interrogate them! It’s unethical.”

  He’d used his ability on her, and now he wanted to say it was wrong? Bull! “You can do it without them even knowing.” Kraigan had taught her that. He had even showed her how to block memories she didn’t want Carter to see.

  “How do you know that?” Carter watched her suspiciously.

  Oops. How do I cover this one? She faked a shrug. “I just assumed…”

  “You’ve mimicked my tatù?”

  Rae blinked. Of course! Not that I’ve actually, really tried it. “Yes. That’s how I figured it out.”

  Carter nodded. He pushed off his desk and began pacing. “I’ve tried to use my ability on Kraigan. I hoped to find out who had taught him everything and had my suspicions that he knew I was the PC president. He’s figured out how to block me. To prevent me from seeing anything in his past.”

  “Everything?” Had his tatù disappeared the night she mimicked his tatù and took it away from him? “Does he still even have his tatù?”

  Carter stopped pacing. “Why do you ask that?”

  Kraigan obviously wasn’t saying anything to the PC’s. “I just thought I might have taken it away from him when we fought. I used his tatù last and mimicked it. He hollered and cried like a baby.” She shrugged, trying to play it cool. “I figured I stole it from him and he lost his ability.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I don’t know. We haven’t tried to test him to see if he is using his ability.”

  Rae stared at him in disbelief. “Bullcrap! You were pretty much ready to skin my tatù when I got inked. There is no way you wouldn’t be doing the same thing to Kraigan.”

  Carter had the decency to look guilty. “I’m sorry about that,” he said quietly.

  “Sorry about what? Treating me like a lab rat instead of a human being? Or not getting the answers when you wanted them?” Rae’s hands planted fists on her hips, and she began tapping the toe of her sneaker against the floor. “What do you know about Kraigan? And tell me the bloody truth!”

  “There’s not much to share. He won’t talk. You know more about his tatù than we do. You probably know more about him than anyone.”

  Because I’m related? Not by bloody choice! “He’s just waiting for the right moment. Don’t let him out. No good will come of it.” She sounded like her Uncle Argyle.

  “He’s already being transferred and the paperwork’s been filed now. It’s too late.”

  Rae shook her head. None of this made sense. “I don’t get it. Do you want me to die? Is this because I was a brat at the debriefing last night? Talk about harsh!”

  Carter walked around his desk and pulled a weird looking metal object out of a drawer. He set it on the desk and pressed the side button before checking his watch. “We have about a minute before they’ll figure out how to clear the scrambler. Listen carefully. I can only say this once.”

  Rae leaned in as Carter’s voice lowered.

  “Kraigan’s involved in whatever is going on. His tatù is still there even if he hasn’t used it. He knows something or will lead us to whoever took care of him before he arrived at Guilder. Someone like him didn’t plan his implantation into the orphanage and Guilder heist all by himself. He has connections. Those people are responsible for trying to assassinate me. They are trying to tear down this house we’ve built.”

  Whoa, change gears. “And expose us?” Her father was right, the Privy Council was like a house of cards. She had been so worried about whether or not to trust the Privy Council, she was starting to think like her father. She needed to choose to be with them, or against them. There was no way she would be able to sit on the fence for too long. At the least, she needed to figure out what the other side wanted from the PCs… or her.

  She needed to get back to her dorm and read that journal. There had to be something in there. Some kind of clue. She had let other things get in the way, but now, there was no more time to delay.

  “That’s why we need Kraigan released. No matter the risk.”

  “What am I supposed to do?”

  Carter stared at her, his face solemn.

  Suddenly Rae knew what he was thinking. A slight glimpse into the future with Julian’s tatù and she knew. “No! He won’t believe me.”

  “He might.”

  She shook her head with emphasis. “No. He won’t. There’s no way he is going to believe I’d switch sides. That I’m becoming my father.” Her last words came out as a whisper, as if the mere thought of saying them aloud would jinx it and make them true. “I’m not going to have my friends think it might be true.” She couldn’t bear to hurt Molly, Julian or Devon – even for a short while. “There’s got to be another way. I’ll find it. I’ll figure something out.”

  Carter sighed. “He’s being released tomorrow. Think it over tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Chapter 17

  Need You

  It didn’t seem possible that life could get more complicated. But it had. Rae left Carter’s office and walked across the cobblestones in a daze; buried in her own thoughts; trying to make sense of what Carter had just told her. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and partly on auto-pilot she pulled it out and answered it without checking caller ID first. She presumed it was Jennifer. “I’m on my way.”

  “Really?” a male chuckled. “That’s impressive.”

  “Luke?” She paused beside the iron gate that led to the training facility. This is so not a good time.

  “Hey Rae. Whatchya doing?”

  She smiled, despite all the stuff running through her head. “Not much.”

  “How was school today?”

  She laughed. School had been the easy part. “Good. What’re you doing?”

  “Working. Just taking a break at the moment.”

  Rae didn’t know what to say next. She knew now was not the best time to be on the phone with a boy, but this little bit of normal felt like a lifeline. She wracked her brain and imagined seconds turning into moments. Molly never had this problem. “What do you do?” Lame, but at least it wasn’t silence.

  “Sometimes I crunch numbers, or gather data. Mostly I try to make sense out of nonsense.”

  Rae walked to the gate keypad and entered her number, the heavy iron gate slowly opened. “Sounds like the most exciting job in the world.”

  He chuckled. “I bet I can surprise you. Meet me for dinner tonight and I’ll tell you all about it. Even show you where I work.”

  Dinner? Like a real date? After her long day yesterday and then the crap news she had just heard? She didn’t think she could fake happy. She still had training with Jennifer to go through. “I’m not sure I can make it tonight.”

  “How about just an ice cream cone then? Half an hour and I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

  The slight pleading in his voice made her smile. “I’ll try. I have to meet some—I need to see a professor. I’m not sure how long the meeting will be. How about I text you when I’m finished?”

  “Sounds good. I’m working a bit late so I’ll text you where to meet. Do you still have a car to borrow or would it be better if I picked you up at Guilder?”

  “I think I can borrow one.” Julian probably wouldn’t mind if she borrowed his one more time. I need to buy my own car soon. I can’t go on borrowing vehicles. She slipped through the door that led down the hall to the gymnasium. “I gotta go. I’ll text you later.”

  Rae pushed the door open to the gymnasium and stood watching several groups of people training. One
group was scaling a crazy-looking wall with little knobs on it. Rae watched and realized they were throwing the knobs and then climbing on them. Totally cool! Behind them, partially hidden by the wall stood Jennifer. Her hands moved in simple motions as she spoke to someone Rae couldn’t see. She seemed pretty intense.

  A gasp of surprise slipped out of her mouth when Rae moved past the wall.

  Devon. No, no, no, no, no! I can’t do this right now.

  His head turned to shoot her a quick glance. He had obviously heard her before noticing her. There might still be a chance to escape... then Jennifer paused and turned to follow his gaze.

  Rae swallowed and tried to appear relaxed and normal. Devon must have been somewhere sunny. He had a good tan, which made his blue eyes even brighter. He smiled and quickly tried to hide it but not before Rae noticed his dimple. She wished she could make him smile again to see it one more time, and at the same time wished he wasn’t there.

  “Hi,” she said, trying to not appear awkward.

  Jennifer looked at her, then Devon and back to Rae. “You spoke to Carter?”

  Rae sighed and nodded once. “You know?”

  They both nodded.

  “You okay?” Devon asked.

  Rae’s eyes snapped back to his face. Why do you care? As much as she wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment, she coached herself to act normal. “I guess.” She glanced behind her. “Can we not talk about this here?” Please can we just make Devon leave? It hurts too much.

  “We probably shouldn’t. It’s classified info.” Jennifer pointed to the doors that led to the offices. “We can talk in there if you want.”

  What’s there to talk about? Her feelings? She had spent enough time with a counselor back when her parents had died, to never want to go through that again. Plus, the thought of being in a room alone with Devon and Jennifer, seemed like the worst possible move at the time. “There’s nothing to say. He’s out.”

  “We’ll stop him, Rae.” Devon said fiercely. He’s not going to hurt you.