Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (15 page)

“Did you see the way that new guy wouldn’t stop staring at you?
I could see it all the way from the parking lot
,”
he huffed.

Rae laughed as she punched him lightly
in the ribs
.
“Glad I’m not the only jealous one.
Your vision’s obviously better than everyone else’s, since
no one
else
notice
d
or said anything
. B
een using your tatù, Mr. Wardell?”

“Whatever
.”
They reached the path that led
to the Oratory.
Devon
held out his arm
to
let
Rae
go
first
.

She stepped in front and said over her shoulder, “This path easily fits two people side by side, you know.”

“I know. I just spent a summer not seeing you and then another five days
away
. I’d like to
take in
the entire view.
I’ve missed that cute bum of yours.”

Rae stopped and spun
around. “Devon Wardell, what’
s gotten into you?”
She
pretended
to scold him, but his blunt honesty made her tingle.

Devon
opened his mouth,
only to have
someone
cut him off.

“Rae
.
Devon
,” Carter said. “
I’m glad to see
the both of you
.
Come into the Oratory.”
He
beckoned
,
then
disappeared b
ack inside the building.

She
turned to follow but stopped when she realized
Devon
was not
behind her.
She turned to see him standing
frozen in his spot, his large
eyes
darting everywhere, terror written all over his face.

Rae ran the few steps
back
to him.
“
W
hat’s wrong?”
She
sense
d
his panic as she reached for him.
Then, nothing.
No spark, no buzz, no current from his
gift.
She
jerked back from him, breaking contact, her body instinctively not wanting a physical connection with something that felt so incredibly wrong.

“I…can’t…”
Devon
’s breath came out sharp and rapid. “It’s gone…My tatù…”

“I
mpossible
!
Stay here
. L
et me get
Carter
.”
Rae
was so scared she felt sick
. She turned to run to the Oratory.
I couldn’t feel his power. This is bad. Really bad. What the heck’s going on?

“
Wait
.”
Devon
’s voice resounded with relief.
“It’s back.”

Confused, Rae turned back.
S
lowly
she
walked over to him and
reached for his fingers
.
The spark immediately shot through her
--
like it had never left.

Huh?
“I don’t understand.
”
S
he shook her head, afraid to let go of his hand.

Devon
shrugged.
“I don’t know.
I did some pretty crazy
training stuff this weekend and
then
out on a mission.
Maybe it just buzzed my tatù down for a moment.” He
appeared
completely confident and relaxed again. “That was weird, like I tuned out of all my senses
…
like I couldn’t
feel
anything.”
He shrugged.

Rae’s brows creased together.
“I felt it,
I mean, I
didn’t
feel it
.
When I touched you.
I didn’t get anything.
I
usually
get an instant spark from a tatù.
Your
s
definitely wasn’t there.
It was really creepy. Like
you
were gone.
”

“No, I’m sure i
t
’s fine
.
”
He
stood
quiet for a moment.
“We do some pretty crazy training
and ops. S
tuff I’ve never done before.
I think
…
it just went low, like a battery needing
to be
charged
.
I have about a zillion hours of sleep to catch up on
.”
He
pulled her towards the Oratory
.
“
Come on. L
et’s go see what
Carter
wants
.”

S
he said nothing
,
but followed.
Maybe s
he didn’t kn
ow much about tatù
s
,
but
she
sensed what
had
just happened wasn’t normal.
Should I tell Carter? Maybe that’s a bad idea. Last year I didn’t trust him once. Everything about him was off. Now this year I’m supposed to put all my cards in his hand and act like everything’s
hunky-dory
? For all I know, he was working with Lanford
,
and now he’s just covering his tracks till the right moment. Who am I supposed to trust? Devon, Molly
,
and
Julian for
sure. They would never lie or hide anything from me. Everyone else is on the naughty list till
—
till when
?
She ground the heel of her palm against her forehead, not sure what to think or do. She walked beside
Devon
and
headed inside the large double doors
of
the Oratory.

It took a moment for
her
eyes to adjust to the dimly lit
grand
room.
Rae’s breath caught
the moment she stepped in
.
The room
’s
charismatic
charm
and Tudor archi
tecture
ensnared her attention
for a moment.
As always,
the
hundred-
foot
ceiling
drew her gaze upwards.
The detail in the carved walls told a story
from the
distant
past
. S
he wished the carvings
could talk
.
She could just imagine the stories they would tell.
Where’s Carter
?
She wondered, noticing his absence.
She raised her eyebrows as she turned her attention to
Devon
.

He winked at her and gently released her hand.
“
Carter
?”
H
is voice
bounced
off the oak.

“
Hold on,
Devon
.
”
Carter’s deep voice
escaped
from
behind
something
.
“I’ll be right out.”

Rae raised her hands and mouthed “
Where
?”
She couldn’t figure out where it came from.

Devon
grinned as he pointed towards a wall
on
his left.
Rae’s eyes traveled down his arm to where his finger directed.
Everything looked ordinary.
The wall displayed its oak panels with their intricate carv
ing
work.
She jumped back a good four feet when a panel swung open
.
Carter
stepped out.

Well, he sort of stepped out.
He had to duck and turn sideways to get his
tall
body through the
narrow
opening.
After a slight struggle with the
doorframe
, he
stood, fixed his
suit jacket
and smiled at the two of them.
The panel closed behind him
leaving no evidence that it had ever existed.
Rae squinted
,
trying to
find an outline or hinge.

“
Oh! You’re both here
.
That’s good.
”
Carter
clapped his hand
s
, distracting Rae from her search.
She
stared
at
him
and then back at the panels, unable to figure out which panel he
had
just
c
ome
out of.
“How’d you do that?”

“Close the door? I’ve got a remote in my pocket. Nothing magical
--
though I think
the
door’s gotten smaller over the years.”
Carter
rubb
ed
his hands together and chuckled
.

“Oh.” S
he hadn’t been referring to the door closing, but it did strike her
as
curio
u
s now
that
he mentioned it.
“I never noticed
a
secret door last year.”

“There’re several in this room
,
actually.
King Henry VIII wanted them built so he could
spy on
the students.”

“Yeah, o
ne’s a bedroom as well.
”
Devon
sniggered
.
He
wiped
the smirk
off his face
when
Carter
gave him a stern look.

Rae resisted the urge to giggle.
It didn’t take a scientist to figure out why King Henry VIII
had
added
that
particular
secret room.

“Nice to have you back,
Devon
,” Carter said. “
I’ve been waiting for you to return so I could talk to
both of
you.”

Instinctively, Rae and
Devon
straightened, their faces now serious.
What
’
s
going on?
D
oes
the
headmaster
know about
our
relationship? Oh crap,
we are
so screwed
. Worse,
we
’r
e
one-step
above dead
.

“Remember our talk the day you arrived, Rae?”
Carter
pulled on his tie
and then rubbed his temples
. “I
t’s not good…
S
ome
issues have arisen
in the past few days
.”

Issues or
do you mean
major
problems?
Rae
felt
the
icy
hands of fear grip her spine.

Chapter 7

Secrets

W
hat’s happened?
Is Rae in danger?”
Devon
asked the questions Rae
could not
bring
herself
to voice.
He stood close
but
did not
touch
her.
The heat from his body
caressed her in a way his hands could not.

However, e
ven
that
warmth
could not
melt
the
icy
fear gripp
ing
her.
She glanced back and forth between
Carter
and
Devon
, watching their face
s as a silent conversation only they could hear, apparent from the concentration in their eyes, passed between them
.
Devon
gave
Carter
a curt nod and folded his arms across his chest.

“What’s going on?” Rae
began tapping
the back of her sneaker against the toe of her other one.
It squeaked in protest each time the rubber connected.

“There’s been
a complication over the weekend,”
Carter
said.
“
Do you recall I mentioned the parts of the brainwashing device being scattered to the four corners of
Britain
?”
His
gaze
shifted from her to
Devon
as h
e
played with a button on the cuff of his jacket
.

“Yes,” she answered.

“One of the parts has been stolen.
Seems those working against us knew our plans.”

“
A
leak
,
or
is it an
informant?”
Devon
’s voice erupted in anger, causing Rae to bash her toe harder than she intended.

“Ouch!”
She
slammed her foot back on the ground heel first. The rubber on her runner screeched in protest louder than before.

“Can you stop doing that?”
Devon
snapped and
pointed to her feet.

She blinked, surprised.

His voice softened
,
but the words were rushed
, “Sorry.
I didn’t mean to sound like a jerk.”

“
Follow me
.
I’ll fill you in
as best I can.”
Carter
turned
without waiting for them
,
and started for the
other side of the Oratory.
Silent, Rae and
Devon
followed.

Once in
his
office
,
they sat in the two chairs opposite the massive oak desk.
Carter
paced the length of the
room
, his hands clasped behind his back.

He
stopped an
d grabbed the back of his large
chair, the whites of his knuckles bright against the black leather.
“
I
don’t know if
there’s a mole
,
or
a
double agent inside the Privy Council.” He sighed.
“It’s hard to trust anyone these days.”

Tell me about it.
Rae
gave her head a slight shake.
What’s he talking about, anyway?

“All we know is
,
one of the parts has been stolen
,
and the PC wants you to get the remaining pieces.”
Carter
stared at
Devon
.
“Guess they want to keep it under lock and key now.
Someone is trying to
undo
all the work you did over the summer.
We think Anna’s brother clued in and
spoke
with Simon Kerrigan’
s
group.”

“My father still has
a group
?”
Stupid question.
By the uncomfortable silence,
Rae
knew the answer.
Wait a moment --
“Who’s Anna?”

Devon
s
ucked
in
a sharp breath
.

“She’s a girl
Devon
’s dating
.”
Carter
waved a hand absently.
“Her brother
has become a
cause
for
concern.”

Rae
whirled around to face
Devon
.
She licked her suddenly dry lips and tried to swallow, her entire mouth a giant cotton ball.
The look on
Devon
’s face confirmed
Carter
’s
words.
Scratch
Devon
off the list of those I can trust.
She shift
ed, needing to get away from him
.
She headed to the row of Oriel windows,
wrenching at
the
antique wooden
handle. She swore when
it
broke off in her hand.
Hiding it
behind her back,
she
glanced to see if
the others
had
notice
d
.
They hadn’t.
T
he slightly open window
allowed a light breeze to pass through
.
It caressed her face as she desperately sucked in as much fresh air as her lungs would hold
.

Anger boiled
through her veins
.
She
had
spent the
whole
summer pining
for
Devon
,
and
he had
been off with some
tart
?
She bit the inside of her mouth, drawing blood.
It distracted her from
confronting
Devon
in
front of
Carter
.
They’d be screwed, even if nothing
had
happened
between them
yet.
Not that
anything will
no
w.
I can’t believe he did this
!
Double-face
d
, two-timing son of a…a…

A bouquet of fresh flowers
on the table behind
Carter’s
desk
caught her attention.
Swallowing the rusty taste in her mouth, she tunneled her rage and imagined the pewter vase flying across the room and slamming into the wall by the door.
The smash echoed like a shotgun inside the room.

“What the
-
-
?”
Carter
shouted
, looked ready to attack
and
then
turned to glare at her.

Rae jumped.
She hadn’t
really
meant to use the levitation tatù
to
throw the flowers.
Her
face and neck beg
a
n to burn
.

Carter
glanced
from her to
Devon
and then actually
gave her a sympathetic
look
.
“Don’t worry.
It must be very frustrating for you to have to deal with the repercussions of your father’s work.
H
e had a madman’s
b
rilliant mind
.
”

My dad?
That’s who you’re worried about?
She could only nod,
unable
to admit the truth.

Devon
, on the other hand
,
peered
in her direction
with guilt written all over his face,
before he
turne
d his focus back to
Carter
.
“Wh
-Wh
at have you confirmed about
her
brother?
I don’t understand
why the Privy Council hasn’t informed me.”

“We found out this morning.
Your
contact
has been trying to get a hold of you
,
but your cell phone is off
--
”

“It’s dead.
”

Just like my soon to be ex-boyfriend
.
She blinked when
Devon
shot her a hurt look
.
Oops.
She had
actually
sent the thought to him as well.

“
My c
ell n
eeds recharging from the past few days. It
’s not
like I
ha
d
electrical
access in
the
friggin’ bush.
I showered back at
HQ
and
came
straight here.”

Rae watched the frustrated men
, mainly
Devon
.
He was supposed to be her boyfriend, but she didn’t really know him, did she?
Not much of a boyfriend
.
How could he get with another girl after all they
had gone
through
the previous year
?
She sighed and
leaned her head back against the slightly opened window.
The
coolness
of the glass
did nothing to calm
her
inner turmoil.

“
Devon
,
”
Carter
said. “A
s soon as I received word from the Council
,
I came looking for you.
They’re
worried about Rae’s safety.
According to our source, Rae supposedly holds th
e key to controlling this brain
washing technique.”

Rae
straightened
.
“Excuse me?”

“
When we
last
met
, I asked you if you remembered anything about the speech-video Lanford played for you,
or anything from your childhood.
We’re trying to figure out th
is
HOC
or h-oh-see file or covert operation, or whatever the hell it is. We need to find the
connection Lanford talked about.
”

“I
don’t know
anything
about
HOC
!
All I remember from the night of the dance is
trying to save my
own
life
!
I’ve told you
a million times what I remember
.
I’m sure some Privy Council member took notes – check those
!
”
She didn’t mean to sound ticked
,
but
they had been over this topic ad nauseum
.