Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (32 page)

Devon
didn’t come back in a week as he
had
promised
.
Work for the Privy Council kept him away longer than
expected
.
Rae went from
plain
lonely to desolate.
The days crawled
by
at a snail’s pace.
She hung out with her friends, smiled and commented when
necessary
, but her thoughts were constantly on
Devon
’s safety
and
worry about whether or not
his absence had something to do with his father, the dean
.
To her relief, he e
-
mailed
ten days later
and
apologize
d for not contacting her sooner
.
He was coming home soon, but t
here
were
issues that needed
taking
care of first.

Her
fake
birthday
came and went
. S
even
teen didn’t seem as big as a deal a
fter receiving her
tatù the previous
year
.
Trying to keep busy, Rae asked Molly to go Christmas shopping.

“
Reece
a
nd I are getting pretty serious.
” Molly chatted as they stroll
ed through the downtown
festive
ly
-
lit streets,
past shops
decorated for
Christmas.
“I think he’s the one.”

Rae stopped and reached for Molly’s arm. “How do you know?”

“Know what?” Molly raised her eyebrows
,
and went back to
sipping
her
hot chocolate
.

“Know he’s the one.”

“Oh, I don’t know.
” She shrugged.”
I just can’t imagine being with anyone else.
I know I’m young but he makes me feel like his
moon
rises and sets because of me.”

Rae laughed, half-heartedly and corrected her. “You mean his sun. His sun rises and sets.” Her
heart
ached
at her friend
’
s words.
She thought of
Devon
,
and believed her sun rose and set because of him.

Molly
giggled.
“I
know I
can be
a bit
of a
chatterbox
, but
he doesn’t mind.
He’s the first guy I’ve ever been around who hasn’t told me to be quiet.”

“That is something.
” Rae pushed a loc
k of hair behind her ear.

“I made the
moon
-thing up.
I should write
it down so I
can remember to
say it to Reece
tomorrow night over dinner.
”
She tossed her empty cup into a trash can.
“
I can’t believe you and I are flying out on Sunday to spend Christmas in
New York
.
I can’t wait for the Boxing Day sales
.”

Rae held the door open as they headed into George Henry Lees
, deciding to leave the moon versus sun thing alone. However, American holidays and sales, now that needed correcting, or Molly would be disappointed
. “There’
ll be sales, but
as
I told you before, there’s no Boxing Day in
America
.
” Rae
hit
the button
for the
elevator
. When they stepped in, she pressed the floor
for sporting goods.

Molly grimace
d.
“Tell me again
why
you want to buy something for
Devon
and Julian
?
Dev’s
just
your
tutor
,
and he’s hardly been around this term to help you.”

“I just thought it’d be nice,” Rae said.
“
Julian’s a good friend as well. They both are
.” She fidgeted with the button to close the lift door faster.

“It’s nothing more?
” Molly dropped her head to meet Rae’s downcast eyes.
“
You
and
Devon
seem pretty close
after last year. You couldn’t miss the connect
ion
between you and him
at the dance
.
Plus, y
ou tend to talk about him
.
”
Molly puckered her face. “
Devon
says this
—
and
Devon
says that
—” She grinned.

Rae blinked and thought furiously.
Should I tell her?
She really wanted to.
But if Molly gets in trouble
for knowing,
or
worse
,
kicked out
—
w
hat if she got mad at me for liking him?
Or not telling her sooner? But don’t I need to tell her eventually? She’s my best friend! But
—
would
telling her be more selfish than
not telling her?
“He helped
me
through a lot
last year.
Especially when
I knew nothing about our tatùs.
Or anything about my father.
I
mean, I knew him as my dad but
had no idea
about
all these awful plans and bad
stuff
.
Devon
explained
things which
no one wanted to talk about.
It helped, especially when people treated me like an evil outsider
and I had no real understanding of why
.
” She shrugged
.
She meant everything she said
.
Part of her hoped Molly would read further into and ask.
If she does, I’ll tell her
. I won’t have a choice
.
“He’s been a good friend.”

Molly harrumphed.
“Mark my words, that boy
like-
likes
you.
He’s got the hots for you.
”
Molly
stared and frowned at the floor numbers above the door.
“This lift is ancient.
It’ll be New Year’s Eve by the time we get to sporting goods.
We should’ve
taken
the stairs.”
She began tapping
one of
her expensive dress shoe
s
against the floor, the sound reverberating against the lift’s walls.

Guess that’s the end of that discussion.
Rae sighed, not sure if she was glad or frustrated.
Molly had opened the door with her comment about
Devon
having feelings for her, but at the same time, Rae felt totally incapable of simply coming out and telling Molly, and Molly seemed to be happy to let the subject drop for now.
Another time then.
“I thought you said you hated physical activity?”
She
laughed at Molly’s
cross expression
.

“I
do.
” Molly crossed her arms over her chest.
“
Which is why
, for once,
I’m not going to be much help
with
you
r
shop
ping
.”
She
rolled her eyes
,
and then
a sly grin snuck onto her face
. “Well, there is
one
physical activity I do like.
If
that
was considered a sport I’d
—
”

“Please
,
don’t go there, Mol
ls
.” Rae closed her eyes, trying to er
ase the
nasty
picture
s forming
in her head
.

Molly leaned close
, not speaking until Rae opened her eyes again
.
“
I
f I was you, and you were me, I’d be asking you hundreds of questions.
You’re not even remotely curious about what it’s lik
e?”
She stared intently at Rae’s face.
“You know
. I
t’s a lot better if you’re prepared.
I don’t mean prepared in the protection sense
.
I mean prepared in knowing what to expect
—
and what to do
.” Molly tilted her head and gave her a knowing wink.
“Shoot, you might as well try some
stuff
with ol’
Devon
.
I’m sure he’d be willing to tutor you in
that
department
, too
.
You know what they say, practice makes perfect.”

Rae held
her hands up in mock surrender.
“Enough!”
Her face felt
as red as Santa’s suit
.
“I’m not ready.”
She had
been taught to wait–preferably till she was married
—
for someone special, who she loved, felt safe with, tr
usted, and meant the world t
o. Aunt Linda said
she
would
know, without having to question it, when she was ready.
While she had her doubts about that, the embarrassment the subject caused her made it not worth the struggle with her self-conscious to continue.
She
mouthed
a silent
thank you
when the
ancient
elevator door
finally
slid open.
It took
physical effort not to use a tatù to push the door open faster.
Stepping onto the sporting goods
’
floor, she
knew where she wanted to go.
Without checking to see if Molly followed, she headed
for the fishing
and
hunting section.

They w
alked down an aisle
that displayed
torches
.
Without Molly’s usual chatter,
Rae
sto
pped
and glanced
back.
Did I hurt her feelings?
Molly
followed a bit further back
,
in her own little world
, checking to make sure no one was in the aisle with them,
and
then
using her tatù
,
fli
cked assorted
lights on and off.
She giggled when she flashed a
large light
directly in Rae’s eyes.

Rae
squinted and
held
an
open hand close to her face, trying to block the brightness.

“Sorry
.
I’ll be good
.”
Molly
gave a mock salute.

Rae struggled to keep a straight face.
“You k
now I can get you back, right?”

“
You an’ pay backs
!
Okay, okay
I’ll stop.”
Molly
dropped her head against the five lights Rae had levitated and turned on right above her. She
rubbed her stomach. “
C
an
we
hurry up and pick some
thing out so we can grab a chil
i pasty
?
I’m starving
.”

Rae bit back
a retort
.
Just as a stranger appeared in their aisle, s
he
grabbed the flashlights and
set
them on the nearest self, and then quickly walked to
the glass counter
in the next row
.
She dropped to her haunches to look through the case.