Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (12 page)

Desiree let out a low
, throaty giggle. “It’d look cool on some guys arm. If my brother had it,
he would
never
have worn
a long sleeve top again.

“What’s your
tat
?”
Molly asked
.

Alecia turned
, holding
up
her shirt
.
Etched o
n her creamy white skin
la
y
a skeleton
.

“It’s so cute. I think my nephew’s got some Lego skeleton that looks just like it.” Desiree said, her breathy voice
m
ore distracting than her words.

“
It
looks like some G
oth
ink
,”
Molly quipped.

Alecia dropped her shirt and turned, rolling her eyes.
“That’s
exactly
what my mother
said
,
when she saw it.
She thought I was going to d
ye my hair black and turn Emo
.
She
was
just
over the bloody moon
after
my father told her I got
a letter from
Guilder
Boarding School
.
She thinks Guilder’
s going to correct my bad habits.”

“What’s Emo?” Molly
asked, scratching her head.

Alecia laughed.
“My mom’s totally lame.
Instead of saying Goth, she
says
Emo.
She’
s
so old-fashion
ed
.”

“
W
hat can you do?” Desiree asked
. “Not about your mom but your ability, I mean.”

“It’s
kinda
complicated
.
” Alecia
began cracking her knuckles
. “
In basic terms
,
I can scan a body for
weaknesses – like a disease or a break or something that’s off
.
I’m still trying to figure it all out.
I
hope when I graduate I can get a job
work
ing
for the military
or at
the triage in
a hospital.”

“That’s a pretty impressive talent.” Rae
was dying
to
reach out and touch
Alecia’s shoulder
to get a better understanding of the tatù but shoved her hands in her pocket instead.
I’m not my fathe
r. I can wait and ask.

Alecia stepped back toward the couch
,
but Molly had slipped in behind her
to see the tatù closer
.
Alecia
stumbled over Molly’s foot and
fell sideways,
crash
ing
into Rae’s hip as she threw her hands out to avoid falling face first into the ground.

Rae
shivered as
the new tatù
absorb
ed
into her veins and core.
I didn’t do that.
A pang of gu
ilt swept through her even as she tried to reason that wishing for the tatù hadn’t made Alecia stumble.

“I’m so sorry,” Alecia said, her eyes huge with fear. “I-I didn’t mean to bump into you. I’m really sorry.”

She’s scared
I’m like my father.
Rae
gave her a sympathetic smile
.
Guess I’m not the only one who worries about that still.
“I’m fine. But I think I just picked up your tatù.
Are
you okay?
”

“
Sorry about that,” Molly said to Alecia
then
scurr
ied
over to Rae. “
Try it on me.” Molly grabbed
Rae’s
hand and pressed it against her forearm. “I broke my left arm when I was seven. Can you tell?”

“Ask Alecia to try it on you. It’s not my tatù.” Even as she said the words
Rae pressed her brows together and, totally absorbed with the new ability, focused on Molly’s bones.
She quickly let go of Molly’s arm and tried to hide a shudder.
That’s gross.
She watched silently as Alecia explained how her ability worked. Rae knew already.
Like a probed camera pushing through Molly’s ar
m
, Rae
had watched
three layers
of skin
pe
e
l aside without actually moving. A thick red hose
had
passed through her tunnel of vision along with
some kind of
thin layer of shiny, creamy white
stretchy stuff. A bit of pinkish red that reminded Rae of roast beef and then some
thing
hard and white with a thin
zigzag
line on it.
Bone.

“
There’s still a faint line where it’s healed but the bone at that part is actually stronger now than the rest.”
Alecia
smiled. Her ability obviously got her excited. “Rae, y
ou’re not
squeamish
, are you?”
Alecia rubbed her hands together.
“
It takes a bit of getting used to
,
but it’s really not that
bad
. It took me like six or seven months to figure out
how it worked
.
My aunt thought I was psycho when I asked her how she hurt her leg.
She had this bad bump.”
Alecia
laughed
, her whole face
lighting up
.
“It happened like a month before
,
but the bruise had done something to her bone
,
and she didn’t even know it.
Freaked her out when she
went for
a checkup and he
r doctor
found it.
A piece of the bone had chipped
,
and her muscle was starting to grow around the little piece. She said she’d been complaining about
it being
sore but
she just
figured it was arthritis or something
.
”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you just copied my ability
when I stumbled. Can you work it now, like, could you tell on Molly?
”

Rae nodded.
“How’d you cover up
– when your aunt asked
?”
Totally fascinating.

Alecia shrugged.
“
I j
ust
made up some lame excuse like
I
’d
remembered the bruise and wondered how she was doing.
Then I p
retended to
be
surprised when she came over
,
and told me
that
she
needed surgery to fix it
.
”

“I bet she thinks you’re a Saint,” Desiree said.

“Or, she’s totally freaked out by you,” Molly added.
“And won’t come near you
, your parents or your house again
.”

Alecia said nothing, just chewed her lip.

Rae punched Molly in the arm. “Molls – again?”

Alecia sighed. “I don’t know all the medical stuff yet
,
but it’s totally
fascinating
to see how the body functions
.
I’m putting pieces together to figure out how stuff works. As long as I can keep my grades up, I want to get into pre-med. Then no one will freak out
on
me.”

“Ignore Molly, Alecia. She’s got a habit of saying stuff that most people don’t even think of. She’s –”

Madame Elpis
barged
into the Games Room
, saving Molly from the verbal lashing Rae had been about to give her.

“Ladies
!” Madame Elpis cawed. “
I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
Can I assume you’ve all introduced yourselves?”
She held her
clipboard
tight under her arm.

The
newbies
fell silent and nodded their heads.
Rae
smiled inwardly
, recalling the feeling of meeting Madame Elpis
for the first time
.

“Yes, Madame Elpis
,” Molly said, using her I’m-talking-to-a-teacher voice. “
I was about to ask if they
wanted to go for lunch.”

“
Good!
You girls are hard to catch up with. I was looking everywhere
.
Devon
suggested I check back here.” She pulled the
clipboard
out and made a few marks. “
Desiree and Alecia
are
on your floor
.
Help them carry
up
their cases.
”
She turned and headed out of the room.

Guess happy-
in-love-
Elpis left with the summer holidays.

“What’s her
tatù
?
” Desiree whispered. “The woman’s
like a hawk.”

Rae and Molly
burst out laughing
.

“
It’s a
magpie
--
a crow
,” Rae said.

“And s
he suits it to a tee
,
”
Molly
giggled
.

“Hey, did you hear
Madame
Daisy Elpis is dating Professor Lockheed’s brother, Donald?”
Rae
tried
to keep a straight face
, preparing for the joke
, then sho
ok
her head
in
disappointed disbelief
when nobody laughed.
Does no one in this blasted country watch Disney cartoons? Come on!

Chapter 5

Kraigan

S
everal hours later, Rae stood watching her
friends try to make a decision.

“
Can
someone
please
make up their minds
,
and choose a movie?
”
Molly
paced
back and forth on the sidewalk
, her shadow long against the setting sun behind her
. “We’ve been standing outside the theatre for twenty minutes now
.
” Molly stomped her foot.
“
I want popcorn
!
”

“Why d
on’t you
pick? T
omorrow
is
your
birthday
.
” Julian offered.

“
Phew,”
Devon
mumbled. “
Sounds good to me
.
”

“That’s very nice
of you to remember my birthday.” Molly stopped
moving
.
“
Seems like
,
at this
school,
we only remember our
six
teenth, the big tatù one.
No one seems to care about the others.
” She
pouted
momentarily
be
for
e
her face brightened
.
“How
about
the
Bond flick?
I hear the new
double-oh-seven
is the best by far.
S
o hot.
”

Rae pretended to
tie
her shoelace
until she saw the dark outline of
Devon
’s shadow. She
straightened
and fell into step with him, sharing a sly grin.
They purchased
their tickets, then bought
snacks
and
head
ed
into the
semi-dark
theatre.

Still t
aking her time
,
get
ting
a straw and napkins
, Rae made sure
she
and
Devon
were the last to enter the row, getting the seats closest to the aisle.

“Hey, did you hear
there’s a
new guy coming this term?” Nicholas asked.

“New guy?” Molly sat up straight
er
, raising her eyebrows. “Is he cute? What’s his
tatù
?
” She paused, her chin dropping as she stared down her nose at Nicholas. “
Or is he like thirteen years old?”

“
S
ix
teen
actually
,” Nicholas said.
“
Turned last January.
I
heard
he was living at some orphanage or
boys’
home.
Ha
s
no idea who his parents
are
and bam!
Birthday
comes along
,
and he’s
got super powers out of
nowhere
.
I heard
Carter
stepped
in and g
o
t the guy into Guilder.
”

“You’re jokin’
!
”
Desiree’s b
eautiful large eyes grew bigger, noticeable
even
in the semi-darkness.

“Poor
soul
.” Molly
shook
Nicholas’s shoulder
. “Now, is he cute?”

“
As cute as me?” Nicholas tapped his chest. “
I
don’t know
what
t
he
guy
looks like
.
He
gets in tonight or tomorrow.
I think his name’s Kevin or something.” He shook his head at Molly, slow and deliberate.

“It’s Kraigan.”
Devon
stuck
his drink into the cup holder.

“Pardon, mate?”
Nicholas
said.

“The new guy’s name isn’t Kevin.
It’s Kraigan.”
He glanced at Rae then quickly dropped his gaze.
Rae did the same. It was almost like a game, and only they knew they were playing
.

“Sounds mysterious
,”
Desiree
sighed
, “and a bit romantic.
The lost, powerless orphan whose fortunes are changed when he’s found and given his birthright. He could be the hero who saves the day
.”

Nicholas tossed popcorn at Desiree’s head. “That’s cheesy.” They all laughed.

The lights
dimmed
. E
veryone turned in their seats to watch the screen.
Devon
rested his elbow on
the armrest
and let his hand fall beside Rae’s.
She entwined two of her fingers
with
his.
The heat from his hand awaken
ed
delicious
warmth inside of her.

Wish we were alone in here. Just you and me.
She realized a second too late
she had
sent
t
he thought
straight to
Devon
.
He
gave a slight cough
and quietly spoke behind the hand
he had
used to cover his mo
uth. Only by mimicking his tatù
was Rae able to hear
him
.

“Me, too.
However, this isn’t a bad second plac
e option.
No one can hear us
.
You’re the only one who can
do the
heightened hearing
like me
and besides, they’re all
into
the
previews
.”

What
’
re you doing tomorrow
?

“I have to go to the Academy for a certified training session and then
do something for
the Privy Council.
I leave
early in the morning
, but I’ll be back the day
after
.”

I just
got
here
,
and you have to leave?
Rae hear
d
the whining in her thoughts and winced.
She kept the next thought inside her head only.
Barely any communication this summer and now he’s off without even telling me till now?

“
I know it sucks, but
I
have to
go
.
Y
ou’ll be busy with Molls and the first day of school.
I bet you won’t even miss me
.
”

Rae
wished
he
c
ould
stay so they could hang out.
Wouldn’t a cool girlfriend be fine with it?
Just promise you’ll tell me all the
neat
stuff you get to do, and I won’t complain that you’re gone.

Devon
chuckled and tried to cover it with a cough.
“
Deal
.
Plus,
I don’t think I’d like to be on your bad side
--
look what happened to
Lanford
.”

Rae
tried to
smile.
She
had
ended
the previous year
almost being killed by the one adult she trusted above all others. Then
,
the one
person
she
had been almost certain was the bad guy, had been the one to
,
rather conveniently
,
save her.
Who am I supposed to trust? Or be leery of?
She sighed. This year she needed to be less paranoid
. She wanted to
just focus on having fun
,
and school stuff.
Not so easily done.
She still had bad dreams of the whole
Carter
-Lanford
thing from
the previous year
,
but
she had an awesome tatù that could protect her, right?
I need to stop rehashing last year and just move forward.

All too soon, the movie
ended
,
and they were back at Guilder. T
he
guys
goofed
around
as
they walked from the parking lot to their dorms.
Nicholas found a
n American
football in the
backseat
of
Devon
’s car and
tossed
it around
to the furthest guy from him.
The girls walked in between, pretending to be monkeys in the middle
, none of them really trying to catch the ball
.

Just before reaching
Aumbry
House, Rae stopped short and
slapped
her forehead.
“Shoot!
I left my purse in your car,
Devon
.
Can I
have
your keys
to
grab it?”

“Don’t give her the keys, Dev
,” Nicholas hollered. “
She’ll go and drive on the wrong side of the road
.”

“It’s the
right
side
,”
Rae
corrected.

“
Sorry, but
Nic’s got a point.
It is a new car
,
and I don’t know you
that
well.
”
Devon
grinned, his dimple showing. “
I’
d better
walk
with
you
.”
Rae
turned to
hide a smile
,
and
using her cheetah tatù
,
raced
Devon
back to the parking lot
.

She tapped the car first
. “I won!”

Laughing,
he
unlocked the door
for her
.
“I let you win.”

“Whatever.”
Rae bent forward to grab her perfectly misplaced purse.
She stood and turned just as
Devon
reached in to press his lips against
hers
.
His mouth
felt cool against hers
,
but
together,
they
created
a
brilliant
fire
. Their lips met again as their bodies melted together.
W
hen
Devon
slowly pulled away
, it felt like only seconds had passed
.
Rae tried to catch her breath
as
she
fought
to
focus
.