by W. J. May
“Let me ask you something,” she said as they walked up a cobblestone path to the front door, “this file you read on Devon…when was it created?”
Luke gave her a serious look as though he knew what she was thinking. “That’s the thing, Rae. They’re being constantly updated as new information comes in. It’s not just speculation based on the past—someone is actively adding to them.”
“But not Devon.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “He would just never do that. There’s no way. I’ve never met anyone more loyal to the Privy Council.” Trust me. It’s becoming a huge problem.
Luke looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he just pulled out his keys and shrugged. “If you say so.” He sounded skeptical. “It’s your life. I trust you to know who to have confidence in.”
Although she was touched by the vote of assurance, Rae shook her head wearily. “That’s like the question of the year, isn’t it? Who to trust? I feel like I’m constantly asking that question. Treating my friends like suspects.” She glanced up at him. “Building up walls against new people.”
“Hey,” he knelt down suddenly and took both her hands, “if there’s someone who deserves to be a little defensive, it’s you. Think about what you’ve been through in the last few years.” He straightened up and shook his head in amazement. “Remember, I’ve read your file too.”
He pushed the door open and Rae was hit in the face with the overwhelming smell of household cleaners. “Whoa,” she took a step back, bringing her hand up over her mouth, “did you bring Windex here to die?”
He laughed in a rush of nervous energy. “Sorry. When I knew you’d be coming here tonight, I didn’t want any clues of anyone or anything to catch me, or you. I’m afraid I might have gone a little overboard rushing to get things hospitable.”
Rae giggled as she stepped inside. “Well, it’s very…clean.” Actually, when she looked around, it was a pretty awesome apartment.
The first thing she noticed were the floor to ceiling bookshelves—something she’d seen once in a magazine and always wanted in her own house. They were stacked high with everything from classic poetry to sci-fi adventures. She trailed her fingers across their stiff spines as her eyes wandered around the room. It was a man’s house, there was no denying it. The colors and furniture were classic male. But there was a welcoming air to it as well. A softness that left room for further interpretation. In short, it was a great apartment just waiting for a female touch.
Luke shuffled his feet nervously in the corner, waiting for her verdict. “Well?” he finally asked, watching as she examined an unused blender.
“It’s great,” she said brightly, looking up with a grin. “Actually, it’s exactly the kind of place Molly and I are hoping to get in a few months.”
“Really? I decorated this one!”
Rae couldn’t tell if he was excited that she approved, or excited that the person she was moving in with was Molly and not Devon.
“So that’s going to be after your graduation?” he asked, leading her to the kitchen and turning on an antique coffee maker. Rae glanced around the cupboards and pulled out two mugs, setting them down beside him.
“Yep. We want to be somewhere close enough to get to work, but still within the city limits. It’s such a new idea, I actually haven’t really gotten a chance to think it through.” She closed her eyes in a sudden grimace. “Like what a little tyrant Molly is going to be about decorating.”
Luke chuckled and began pouring their drinks. “It can’t be that bad…”
Rae shook her head. “You have no idea. You should have seen when she joined up with the Privy Council and became a spy. Her whole vocabulary and wardrobe shifted accordingly. I can only imagine what her inner decorator will look like.”
She mentally braced herself for marathons of extreme home makeover as she took a scalding gulp of coffee. The caffeine instantly revived her, making it feel a bit like she’d switched to Riley’s cheetah tatù. Luke clinked his mug against hers and downed half of it in one gulp.
This was nice, she couldn’t help but think. Coffee in the kitchen. Casual conversation about normal topics. Not running around the countryside dodging psychopaths and burning things down.
But that wasn’t why she was here.
With a brisk smile, she set the mug on the counter. “Enough about my impending tutorial on Feng shui. Can I see the box?”
Luke’s smile faltered for a second before he set down his mug as well. “Sure. It’s in here.”
He led her back to the living room and she took a seat as he rummaged through his bag. A second later, he pulled out a small brass case, about the size of a shoe box. Rae’s heart leapt as he set it down on the coffee table in front of her. It was the same kind of dulled brass as the key.
“Would you…?” Rae looked up in surprise to see Luke hovering near the door. “Would you like me to step out for a minute so you can go through it by yourself?”
“Oh…” Rae paused, she hadn’t considered that possibility. Her mind raced with a dozen pros or cons, but she silenced them all and looked up in Luke’s face with a calm smile. “No, please stay.” Their eyes met. “I trust you.”
His whole face seemed to shine as he returned the smile and took a seat beside her. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said softly. Then a little louder, “You ready to do this?”
Rae took a deep breath. “Only one way to find out.”
She turned the key in the lock and opened the lid with gentle fingers, careful not to disturb the contents of the box. Then both she and Luke held their breath and slowly leaned forward as they peered inside. If Rae was hoping for a family heirloom, five secret passports, or a stack of baby photos, she was sadly mistaken. All there was inside was a thin stack of papers and an old VCR camcorder. She leaned back against the cushion, feeling almost let down.
Her mother’s entire legacy fit in a shoe box.
Then she set her jaw in determination and lifted out the papers. It was one shoe box more than she’d had yesterday. She’d take it.
“What are the papers?” Luke asked curiously, leaning back to give her a little space.
Rae flipped through them with a concentrated frown. “They look like files of some kind…all with her picture posted on top…” Her fingers traced the photo as she scanned down to read the rest. “Wait a minute—these are missions! A record of all of the missions she went on for the PC!”
Luke peeked over her shoulder and made a low whistle. “Your mom broke in to the Empire State Building? I’m seriously impressed.”
Rae’s face glowed as she soaked in all the precious details. “Yeah, well it sounds like she was seriously impressive.”
“Like her daughter.” Luke gave her a soft nudge.
Rae blushed but kept reading. “There’s something else here too—a marriage certificate.” Her face paled as she looked at her father’s handwriting. “It said the ceremony was carried out by Father Amos at St. Stephen’s Church, right here in London.” She looked at Luke eagerly. “I wonder if he’s still there.”
“Maybe.” Luke pulled out the camcorder with a frown. “Geez, I haven’t seen one of these things in ages.” He pushed eject and a cassette popped out into his hand.
Rae sucked in a deep breath, almost afraid to hope. “You don’t happen to have a VCR, do you?”
“My dear, you underestimate me.” He got to his feet and pulled back the sliding door on his entertainment stand. “I always keep one for times such as these.”
He slid in the tape and rejoined her on the couch, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze as he settled in beside her. She scooted to the edge of the cushion and kept her eyes fixed on the screen. She couldn’t believe it. Any second now, there was a chance she was going to see…
Mom.
The static cleared onto a beautiful face—a face Rae had seen pieces of while looking in the mirror for as long as she could remember. She felt like if she closed her eyes, she could already d
raw it from memory, but she didn’t dare look away. If she looked away, her mother might not be there smiling at her when she looked back.
“Hello my darling.”
Two silent tears slipped down Rae’s cheeks. She knew that voice. She could swear she felt the tatù on her lower back warming in reply.
“My sweet, sweet Rae. If you’re watching this, it means I’m not there to tell you these things in person. And for that, I am truly sorry. This world is not a safe place, I’m afraid you’ll grow to learn that lesson better than anyone. All I can do now is equip you the best I can. And so, my dear daughter, there are some things you need to know.”
The video had been recorded in the kitchen of their old house. Rae recognized the curtains blowing in through the sunny window. The first blossoms of spring could just barely be seen popping up outside. This had to have been made just a few months before the fire.
“Things are happening, Rae. Both inside the Privy Council and out. It’s getting harder and harder to know who to trust. Too many locked doors and hushed meetings. I feel like something big is about to happen, I just don’t know what.”
She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and Rae silently mimicked the same gesture. So that’s where that came from…
“I’ve been gathering files. Not just my mission reports, look deeper Rae. I know you know how.”
Rae’s breath caught in her chest as she remembered the code and the secret language. She did know how. She just had to remember. There must be more to those files than met the eye.
A distinct sound of gravel on tires in the video made Beth jump around with a start. When she turned back, her eyes were panicked and she spoke faster than before.
“Rae listen to me, I don’t have a lot of time. There’s something else. Some big project your father is working on. I keep hearing him say something about the device. But what’s more is that I don’t think I’m the only person undercover here. There have been too many slip ups. Too many leaks that no one can explain. I think someone else close to us is leaking information. I think there’s a mole in the Privy Council.”
Rae felt like she was watching the video through a tunnel—trying desperately to keep focused on what her mother was saying, when in reality, she just wanted to freeze the image and stare at her face. An intermittent creaking sound kept interrupting the feed—something Rae felt like she should know but couldn’t quite place.
“This is unbelievable,” she whispered suddenly, covering her face in her hands.
“What is it?” Luke asked anxiously, rubbing her back in concern.
“That sound in the background is the swing set. I’m playing outside.”
He opened his mouth in silent horror and they both turned back to the tape. Her mother was half on her feet now, leaning in to the camera as quick footsteps walked in from outside.
“Rae the thing is, I don’t think the mole is working for the Xavier Knights or anybody else that’s on our radar,” Beth whispered frantically, glancing over her shoulder. “Honey, you’re not going to believe this, no one is, but I think I know the person behind all of this. By now, chances are, you’ve probably heard of them too. It’s—”
There was a grating screech in the VCR followed by a sharp acidic smell.
And just like that…the tape was gone.
Chapter 6
For a minute, it seemed everything froze.
The room went instant quiet. Enough that you could hear the second hand of Luke’s watch slowly ticking away as smoke spiraled up from the VCR.
Then everything inside Rae exploded.
“What the hell happened?!” Her shrill screech echoed in the tiny room. “Get it back!”
Luke got to his feet and ran to the VCR in a flash. When he pushed up the flap to retrieve the tape, the burning smell of molten plastic hit their nostrils. He yelped and pulled back his hand, waving it through the air to cool the burn.
“I have no idea why it did that,” he said in astonishment. “This machine’s old, but it’s brand new.”
“It just ate my tape! The only video I have of my mom!” Tears spilled down Rae’s cheeks as she sunk to her knees in front of the broken machine. “Can you fix it? Please, please fix it, Luke! I need to get it back.” Her fingers reached up towards the screen. “I need to see her again! I can’t—”
“Hey.” Soft hands caught her and drew her into a gentle embrace. She didn’t know how long she sat there, sobbing wildly into his chest as the image of her mother slowly faded into black.
She had been there. Right there. And now, Rae didn’t know if she would ever see her again. She should have used her bloody phone and videoed it at the same time. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It probably had some inside mechanism to self-destruct.
When she finally pulled herself together and caught her breath, she looked up to see Luke staring down at her with tender concern. She hastily wiped the tears from her face, and couldn’t resist the nagging guilty feeling when he stroked the back of her hair. She pulled away quickly. “Thanks,” she muttered, straightening herself up, “sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Luke exclaimed. He hadn’t moved from his position on the floor, silently allowing her to come back if she wished. “You just saw your freakin’ mother. I understand the tears.”
“It’s not just that.” Rae acknowledged the real source of her pain as she put it to words. “She didn’t say anything about—” Her voice cracked and she took another second to calm herself down. “She didn’t give any indication she might be in hiding. What if she’s not alive? This could all be just me desperately hoping. I mean, if she really was, wouldn’t she have come back to get me? She loved me. She wouldn’t have left me.”
The truth settled around her like a dense fog.
She sighed. “I thought I’d open the box and find out that she was out there somewhere, waiting for me.” She laughed derisively at her hopes. “I half expected an address, for Pete’s sake.” More tears fell down her face, but she ignored them as she stared grimly out the window. “I’m an idiot.”
“Rae,” Luke took her hands again, “you’re not. For the last few years, your world has been turning on a dime almost daily. First, you find out that you belong to this secret world of people with supernatural abilities. Then, you find out that your parents did too. Then, you find out that your dad was a madman and you have a half-brother who wants to kill you.”
Rae shook her head at the surreal absurdity of what he was saying.
He squeezed her wrist. “All I’m saying is you’re entitled to a healthy bit of doubt. You’re well within your right to refuse to take things at face value.” He pulled back and looked at her squarely. “Why did you think your mom might still be alive? You have to have a good reason.”
“In truth?” Rae sighed and opened up her palm. “Because I found out I have her ability.” A curling blue flame shot out from her skin.
Luke jumped back in surprise.
Rae stared almost hypnotically at the fire as she slowly coaxed it up her arm and across her body. “Fire can’t hurt me. So I figured fire couldn’t hurt her as well. And since she was said to have died in a fire…I thought she couldn’t really be dead.” A few seconds passed, and when Luke didn’t say anything, she looked up to see him staring at her in fright.
He caught her looking and tried to force a strained smile. “Okay. So fire can’t hurt you…” His voice trailed off as he stared at the flames coming up from her skin. “Rae? Do you mind putting it out anyway?!” he suddenly exclaimed. “You see, not only is my apartment not fireproof, but I’m working really hard to resist the urge to cover you in a blanket.”
In spite of everything that had just transpired, Rae surprised herself with a sudden giggle. “Stop, drop, and roll, huh?”
“It’s not funny,” Luke tried to snap, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising. “Just…put it out, okay?”
“Fine.” Rae obeyed and the fire vanished i
n a poof of smoke.
Luke shook his head and offered her a hand up. “You never cease to amaze me, Kerrigan.”
“I like to keep people guessing.” She tried to be casual, but her voice grew soft and sad as she looked again at the blank screen.
“Hey,” Luke distracted her, guessing her thoughts, “the video might not have specifically said your mom was alive, but it sure didn’t say she was dead either. If fire really couldn’t have killed her, then I’d guess there’s definitely more to the story than you’ve always been told.”
Rae forced herself to nod and tried to take comfort in his words.
“There was a calendar mounted on the wall behind her,” Luke continued, “said the date was March eight. This evidence box didn’t get put together and filed on its own. Let me check some security cameras around the area. Maybe, with any luck, I can stumble onto something that we can use to help you find her.” He tilted up Rae’s chin with two fingers and smiled coaxingly. “You can’t give up now, Rae. There’s still a chance.”
Rae pulled in a shaky breath and smiled back. He was right. There was still a chance.
A small chance.
A chance teetering at the end of a dead-end trail which had left her with a broken VCR and no more clues.
But a chance nonetheless.
“Thanks, Luke.” She shut the box and slipped the papers into her coat. “I should probably get back to my friends.” She checked her watch. “It’s coming up on an hour. I’m pretty sure they’ve worried themselves into a fright.”
“No problem.” Luke grabbed his jacket and held open the front door. “I’ll walk you.”
As she breezed past him onto the walkway and they started down the cobblestone path, she felt that stabbing guilt once again. Luke had risked everything to help her, and in return, she’d smoked up his house, drank the last of his coffee, and broken his VCR. Now, to top it all off, he was willingly escorting her back to where Devon was waiting.
She snuck a peek at him from the corner of her eye. If she hadn’t known what had just happened back at the house and where they were going, she might have thought this was just a good-looking guy on a late-night stroll with his girlfriend.
