by W. J. May
“I thought this was what you wanted Jenn,” she said quietly. “Just you and me.”
Jennifer’s eyes narrowed and she stepped forward of her own accord. “If I go down, you’re going down with me.” In a flash, she grabbed a nearby car and literally threw it into the air, sending it hurtling through the sky towards Beth.
Time seemed to slow and Rae reacted on instinct. As Beth lifted her hands protectively in front of her, inadvertently setting the car on fire, Rae leapt into the space in between them, somersaulting mid-air and kicking it back down the other way.
Jennifer screamed as the twisted, molten piece of metal came crashing down upon her. For a split second, Rae saw the look on her face as she watched it fall. But then there was a sickening crash as the car exploded on the pavement, burying Jennifer beneath it in a pile of ash and flames.
“Rae!”
Rae struggled to pull her attention away from the burning car as her mother ran towards her across the lot. “Sweetheart, are you all right?!” She gathered Rae up in her arms, paling in terror as Rae flinched and pulled away.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she assured her mother, popping her shoulder back into place. “I have a healing tatù, it just takes a minute. What about you?” She looked Beth up and down with sudden concern. “You lost a lot of blood, are you okay?”
Beth shook her hand dismissively. “I’ve been through worse.” Her eyes fell on the burning pile of rubble.
Rae followed her gaze. “I just can’t believe it was Jennifer this whole time.” She inhaled and cringed as the thick smoke smell filled the air. “All those moments she was alone with me.”
Beth shuddered in belated rage. “All those moments I should have been there to protect you.”
“Mom, I’m fine,” Rae said again, deliberately now avoiding looking at the fire. “It would take more than a little car tossing to do me in.” She laughed weakly, but the next second, she felt herself collapsing into a pair of strong arms.
Perfect timing as ever.
“We need to stop meeting like this,” Devon murmured into her hair. Rae looked up to answer him, but before she could, his lips were pressed against hers. Ignoring the pain, she wrapped her arms around his neck—pulling herself up higher as the kiss deepened and warmed.
Before she’d nearly had enough, a pointed cough made Devon pull away with a smile.
“Sorry Mrs. Kerrigan,” he grinned, stroking the side of Rae’s face, “couldn’t help myself.”
Much to Rae’s surprise, her mother walked forward and fondly ruffled his hair. “I quite understand. And Devon? Call me Beth.”
Devon’s dimple flashed as he beamed back at her. “Beth it is, Mrs. Kerrigan.” His eyes trailed over the scorched parking lot. “So does anybody want to tell me what happened here? I came out just as I heard a car explode.”
“They said we’d missed the complimentary breakfast,” Rae joked before settling herself back in his arms. She still wasn’t completely healed and definitely wasn’t up for a full interrogation.
“It was Jennifer,” Beth explained quickly. “Jennifer was the one who set the fire all those years ago, and it was Jennifer who attacked Luke to steal my files.”
Devon’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He glanced at the soot-covered, bloody faces of the girls and came round quickly. “That’s unbelievable. But that’s actually what I was coming over here to tell you.” He looked down at Rae with a smile. “Luke’s awake. He came out of it about ten minutes ago and now the doctors have him resting. They say he’s going to be fine.”
Rae closed her eyes in overwhelming relief. “That’s good to hear. You have no idea.” She pulled out of Devon’s arms and tried balancing shakily on her own two feet. “Can I see him?”
Devon shook his head. “Probably not the best idea. His family just got here and I think it would cause more questions than he’s ready to answer right now.”
Rae nodded quickly. “You’re probably right. We’ve got to get back to Guilder anyway.”
“Guilder?” Beth and Devon asked at the same time. “Why Guilder?”
“Because Jennifer wasn’t working for herself. There was somebody else involved. Somebody pulling the strings.” She inhaled a sharp quick breath as the others held their breaths. “And I think I know who it is. You are not going to believe it. I’m not sure I can.”
* * *
They stopped at the hospital to have Beth’s wound checked and then stitched up. Somehow, though the doctor couldn’t explain it, the wound had cauterized, as if it had been burned. Nobody said anything and everyone seemed to be looking in a different direction when the doctor asked.
The ride back to Guilder was quiet and uneventful. When they pulled onto the drive that led between the two towers and the walkway bridge with its Oriel windows, Beth leaned forward and looked around in awe. “So this is what it looks like,” she murmured, staring out the window at the sweeping grounds. “I hope all the memories come back.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Argyle came here, it was an all-boys school.”
“Rae changed all that,” Devon said proudly. “They opened the school to girls specifically to let her in.” He nudged her with a grin, but Rae was in no mood to smile. She kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
When they pulled up in front of the main building, Carter came running out to meet them. Rae had sent a text to meet at Guilder, not at his office at the Privy Council.”
“We heard about what happened,” he said in a rush. “This whole time it’s been Jennifer, I can’t believe it!”
“It wasn’t Jennifer,” Rae said again as she bypassed him and marched straight for the library.
Carter cast her a strange glance, but kept talking as he, Devon, and Beth trailed along after her. “By the time the PC agents got to the hotel, the fire had mostly burned out. But…” he seemed hesitant to tell them the rest. “…there was no body. No sign of Jennifer anywhere.”
Devon threw up his hands. “What the hell do you mean there was no sign of her?! She was trapped under a burning car—we all saw it.”
Carter shook his head. “She must have gotten away.”
Beth folded her arms across her chest. “That is absolutely unacceptable—”
“So she got away. That’s no surprise.” Rae shrugged as they entered the library and she led them down to a specific row of books. “There’s one more person out there trying to kill me. It’s nothing new.”
Devon, Beth, and Carter looked at her like she was coming unhinged, but she turned to them with fresh determination.
“She’s not the mastermind, she’s not the one in charge. Neither was my dad, for that matter.” Her mind travelled back to the memory, to the moment when the mysterious man and she had locked eyes. “I know who is. I saw him in Jennifer’s mind. I know what he looks like, and I know I’ve seen him here before.”
She began flipping through pages of books with ridiculous speed and the rest of her entourage shot each other worried looks.
“Rae,” Devon said softly, “this is the historical section. Everything here is at least a hundred years old—”
“Found it!” Rae cut him off with a sudden smile.
She slammed a book down triumphantly on the table and ignored it as the librarian hissed at them to be quiet. The page she’d opened to was an unlabeled sketch, hand drawn and a bit fuzzy, but there was no denying it was the man from Jennifer’s memory. The man who’d set this whole thing into motion.
“That’s him,” she said with certainty. “That’s the man behind everything.”
Devon stared at the page with a blank expression, but Beth and Carter shot each other an inexplicable stare.
“That’s…not possible,” Carter murmured.
“Why?” Rae asked impatiently. “Who is he?”
Beth paused a moment, staring at the page, before she turned to face her daughter.
Carter looked at Beth, then slowly to Devon, before finally settling o
n Rae. He swallowed hard. “That’s Jonathon Cromfield.”
THE END
The End in Sight http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015HGNL0C
Book 6 – End in Sight
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
End in Sight
Book VI
By
Copyright 2015 by W.J. May
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Description:
END IN SIGHT is the 6th Book of W.J. May's bestselling series, The Chronicles of Kerrigan.
When life couldn't get any more confusing, fate steps in and throws a curveball.
Rae Kerrigan should be ecstatic. She's found her mother and Devon has admitted he wants nothing more than to be with her. Except Jennifer, her mentor, was someone she thought she could trust and it turns out she was after Rae for the same reason as Lanford had tried her first year at Guilder.
There is a new face for the enemy now. Jonathon Cromfield. Except he's not really new, is he?
Rae must go charging head first into danger in order to protect the ones she loves and like her father, no one is going to stand in her way.
End in Sight is the sixth book in the Chronicles of Kerrigan series. Book 1, Rae of Hope is currently FREE.
Follow Rae Kerrigan as she learns about the tattoo on her back that gives her supernatural powers, as she learns of her father's evil intentions and as she tries to figure out how coming of age, falling love and high-packed action fighting isn't as easy as the comic books make it look.
Series Order:
Rae of Hope
Dark Nebula
House of Cards
Royal Tea
Under Fire
End in Sight
Hidden Darkness
Twisted Together
Mark of Fate
Strength & Power
Last One Standing
Rae of Light
We’re born, we live, we die.
It’s that simple.
At least, it’s supposed to be…
Chapter 1
We’re born, we live, we die.
It’s that simple.
At least, it’s supposed to be…
“It’s not Jonathon Cromfield,” Carter said flatly, staring at the image. His body stood rigid and tight, exhaustion clearly showing on his face but his eyes were defiant.
Devon, still dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and looking worse for wear himself, leaned forward. “It is, sir,” he pointed to the caption scribbled at the bottom of the page, “look.”
Carter threw his hands up in exasperation. “No, that’s Jonathon Cromfield.” He gestured to the drawing. “I’m saying, it’s not Jonathon Cromfield. The man died over five hundred years ago. He’s not the mastermind pulling the strings behind what’s happening now. It’s impossible.”
“There’s no date of death. At least from what I can remember,” Devon continued tentatively, giving Rae the automatic benefit of the doubt no matter how outlandish it seemed. He glanced at her, his blue eyes bright. “It just says he was born in 1491—”
“That proves nothing,” Carter insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at them as if they were children—younger children, that is. “Just that he hadn’t yet died when the drawing was commissioned.”
Rae squinted as she stared at the picture intently. Same neatly trimmed curls. Same devious look sparkling deep in his eyes. Yes, definitely. It was the same man. She’d seen him just an hour ago, standing in her living room…from twelve years ago. When did my life get this confusing?! She nearly laughed out loud. Just before I turned sixteen, and it just keeps getting more confusing every day. “It’s him,” she repeated firmly. “That’s the man I saw. I’m one hundred-percent positive.”
“It’s not poss—”
“James,” Beth, Rae’s mother, cut Carter off, “it’s him.”
“Okay, so, it’s him.” Carter’s face paled, but he didn’t argue with Beth. “I don’t get it. I’ve seen a lot, but this…” He shook his head. “How does this make sense?”<
br />
Rae’s face scrunched in consternation. Figures, Carter. Sure, she could swear it up and down all day, but the second her mother opened her mouth, he was an instant believer…
“Not the time, Rae,” Devon murmured, guessing her thoughts before she spoke them. She shot him a petulant look, but held her tongue. He chuckled quietly and put his arm over her shoulder.
“Well, what about his tatù?” Beth asked doubtfully.
There was no power that allowed a person to live forever, but perhaps he could have planted himself within certain dreams and memories before death?
Carter shook his head. “His tatù was similar to Julian’s—he could predict the future. That’s why we have his drawings. It’s what made him so valuable to Henry VIII. The king thought Cromfield was his best shot at getting a son. In a way, he’s one of the reasons why Guilder was built to begin with.”
“Who’s Julian?” Beth leaned over and whispered in Rae’s ear.
Rae glanced at her quickly. “Oh—right.” In the whirlwind of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, Rae had forgotten how confused her poor mother must be, how much she was taking on faith. “Julian’s one of us. He’s a good friend. He went to school with me, but was in Devon’s class—a year older. They both graduated last year and started working for the Privy Council together. He’s living on Guilder’s campus, helping mentor, like Devon. You’ll meet him soon—he’s a great friend, one of my best.” There was so much she wanted to tell her mom and knew now wasn’t the time.
“Which still leaves the question: if Cromfield died half a century ago—how was it that you saw him talking to Jennifer in Beth’s memory?” Devon asked with a frown.
“I don’t know…” Rae admitted. “But I know one person who could help us find out.” She looked up at Carter expectantly.
