Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (26 page)

Where a girl had been only a few minutes before, a woman now stood
.
Rae couldn’t believe
that
she was looking at herself.
The dress gave Rae
’s
small chest curves.
Its
empire waist gave her legs added length and she admired the shape of her ankles and calves.
S
he did a slow twirl,
her grin turning
into a full smile when she
caught a glim
p
se of
her tatù.
The silver in the dress made the fairy’s wings sparkle more than
usual
.
It felt like the wings fluttered on her skin
.

Wait till
Devon
sees
me
.
She couldn’t wait to see his face.
Leaning
towards
the mirror, she
wipe
d
a smudge of mascara.

Bang!

Rae jumped, her levitation tatù almost causing her head to hit the ceiling.
She spun, arms extended and ready to do whatever she need
ed
to protect herself.

“What the heck?” Molly shouted, jumping out of the way as Rae landed.

“Sorry. Instinct sometimes kicks in and my tatùs react before I do.” Rae checked her heels to see if they were alright.

“You
lose
control?”

Only when I think
someone’s after me
.
“
I’m working on it…” Rae shrugged. “I hate it when
that
happens.”

“That’d be bad if it happened in public.”

“It
wouldn’t
happen then. If I feel I’m in danger, it’s like my
tatù
kicks up a notch.”

“Yeah, ‘cause
I’m a little bit dangerous,”
Molly sang.

Rae grabbed a face to
w
el and tossed it at her. “Very funny. I’ve been a bit on edge since
Alecia got hurt in here
, and nervous tonight wearing this fab dress.” Rae grinned sheepishly. “It kinda pulls me out of my usual. I feel very
—
uh
—p
retty.”

“You’re welcome
. N
ow hurry up
! Reece’s here.
”

The two of them rushed down
stairs,
slowing to a more decorous
walk as they passed
by Madame Elpis’
room
.
Thankfully,
the door
didn’t open.

Pushing through the doors
,
Rae
wonder
ed
how Molly could move so fast in
her
dress without it riding up or
personal
bits falling out.

Reece
, looking exactly like the photo Rae had seen,
waited outside
Aumbry
House, leaning against a cast iron
lamppost
.
A big smile brightened his face when he saw Molly.
He wore a very expensive suit; distinguished, yet still maintaining
a certain
youthfulness.
Rae liked him without even speaking to him.
The way he
stared
at Molly was enough for her.

“Molls
, y
ou look fantastic
.”
H
e reached out to swing her around in a full circle.

Rae watched them kiss and cuddle.
Swallowing hard, she tried to suppress her jealousy
. T
hey felt no shame in public
--
and
had nothing to hide.

“This is my best friend, Rae
.”

“Hello
.” He reached his hand towards her.

“Hi
.
” She shook his hand. “
It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Same here.
Molls
hasn’t
stop
ped
talking about you.” He grinned
.

“I don’t think
she stops talking at all.
” Rae
laughed
and shot a glance at her friend
. “I wouldn’t change a thing
about her.”
Molly roll
ed
her eyes and mouth
ed “whatever.”

Reece
released a deep, throaty
chuckle
. “You’re probably right
,
but with a body like hers, the chatter’s fine with me.” He reached down to squeeze Molly’s
bottom
;
a knowing look pass
ed
between the
couple
.
Could
people read things between her and
Devon
as clearl
y
as
this
?

“You look very handsome
.
” Molly
grabbed his jacket and pulled him close to her
.

Rae took it as her cue to leave. “Why don’t you guys catch up?
I’ll go see
if Julian and
Devon
are ready.”

“See
y
ou
‘
na bi
t
.” Molly’s voice
came out
muff
l
ed against Reece’s neck.

Rae headed to Joist House and
took the stairs two at a time to
the top floor.
She knocked on
Devon
’s door first.
As she waited
, she
glanced
down to straighten her dress and fix the shawl.

A door slammed, startling her
.
This time s
he didn’t jump but i
nstinct told her to be on guard
,
so
she
cautiously
turned to see who
had
made the noise.
Blinking in surprise, she
pressed
against the door when she saw
who
stomp
ed
towards her.

“Kraigan?”

“What’re you doing here, Kerrigan?”
Man
,
our names sounds alike.
He wore jeans and a polo.

She laughed.
“I cou
ld ask you the same thing.”

“
I was j
ust conversing with
Julian
.
”
He
glanced back down the hall and then
looked her up and down. “Dressed
in
that, I
assume
you’re going to the dance.
”
He
grinned
.
“Don’t be throwing yourself at
the
boys
, the school’s not going to know what to do with you.
”
He
sauntered
down the hall.

Oh no he didn’t
—
Rae
knew he was teasing but she was
thankful he
had
n’t
see
n
the back of her dress.
“I hope you’re not going dressed like that. Or is that your best outfit from the orphanage
?
” she
joked back.

He
reached the end of the hall and
turned back to her at
the stairwell door.
“Ha ha. I went to the local charity shop and bought an Elvis tuxedo in baby blue.” He faked a very obvious anxious look. “You don’t think it’ll be too much?”

She laughed. “It’ll be perfect. Just make sure it covers your tatù.
The
Privy
Council might take you in for questioning.”
Speaking of covering
—
“Kraigan?” she
called as he disappeared through the doorway to head down the stairs.

“
Yeah
?”
He
popped his head around
.

“Where’d you get the Privy Council photo?”

“Why?
We did great on the report.
Who cares?”

“Me.
I covered your ass
when
Carter drilled me
.”

He
raised an
eyebrow
. “
Oh. Sorry. Looks like I owe you one then.” He winked a
s
his head
once again
disappeared
through the doorway
. “I’ll see ya at the dance.”

“You so owe me!” She yelled at Kraigan and caught his laughter
floating up from
the bottom of the stairs. She
pounded
on
Devon
’s
door, ad
ding her foot
for good measure
.

“
What’s with the yelling out here?
”
Someone called
from
the other end of the hall
.

Rae nea
rly threw an electrical current
with her hand
at
the
figure
before she realized who it was
.
Julian
.
She leaned and glanced
back and forth
in the direction Kraigan
had
originally
ca
me from
and Julian standing by his room door
.
He
relaxed when he saw her.

“
Screaming at a guy isn’t going to get him to answer the door faster
.”

“
I wasn’t yelling at
Devon
. Kraigan and I were joking around.
”

Julian
’s
eyes lit up
. “
Wow.
You look
awesome
.
” He leaned against the wall. “
Why’
re you
banging so hard on Dev’s door?”

She looked down at her hand, still banging on
Devon
’s door.
“
Oops
.”
She dropped her hand and laughed. “I’m a dipstick.”

Julian laughed, coming over to her.

“You heard
me,” She nodded towards the door. “
Though it seems
Devon
might be going deaf. Think he’s okay?” Worry started to dig into the
p
it of her stomach.
Has his tatù turned off again?

“Why not mental telep’ him?
It
’s probably easier…and quieter.” A twitch played with the corners of his mouth
.

Snapping her fingers, she nodded.
She closed her eyes and searched for Maria’s
power
among the hum of tatùs
inside
her.
She found the familiar string and exhaled as she focused on
Devon
.

“
A
re you
okay
? I’m
at
your door.

“Can you find him?” Julian asked.

She hit her forehead when she realized
Devon
wouldn’t
be able to respond.
She had the
tatù
,
and it only went one way.
She
started to
turn, about to
answer
Julian
,
whe
n
the
door open
ed
.
Devon
stood
with only a towel wrapped loosely around his hips, toothbrush in his mouth.

He pulled the brush out.
“Sorry
.
I
was in the shower
, music on and shaving
.
”
He whistled as his gaze traveled slowly up and down the length of her
body
.
“You
are
amazing.
”