Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (41 page)

She pushed herself out of the bed and checked her phone. Still nothing from
Devon
.
Might as well go for a walk, or shift… do something. I can’t sleep.
The clock radio said half past one.
She could slip outside
and just walk for five minutes.

Using
Devon
’s tatù it took ten minutes to slip down the stairs and past Madame Elpis’ room.
Once outside the cool air helped lower her racing heart.
I don’t know why I get so paranoid; I know how to move quieter than a mouse.

“Rae?”
The low male voice
made her jump and levitate in surprise. She whirled to the bench under the light. Julian sat in plain sight. How
had
she missed him the first time
? T
oo busy lost in her own thoughts
to notice him, apparently
.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked him.

“Waiting for
Devon
.”

“So you’ve spoken to him tonight?
”

He shook his head. “No. I, uh,
got locked out
of the building. I didn’t get back till after doors closed. I can’t get in and I figured
Devon
was with you. I saw your light on when I walked around
Aumbry
.”

“I saw
Devon
at lunch and told him about a journal my uncle sent
. It’s got stuff from my dad while he was here, at Guilder. We went back to my dorm to grab it and it was missing.
Devon
thinks someone took it.”

Julian stood. “Who?”

“No clue. No one knows about it. My uncle told me about it when Molly and I were in
New York
for Christmas. I told
Devon
today and now you know. That’s all.”

“
Devon
left?” Julian’s forehead crinkled with lines. “Where’d he go?”

Rae shrugged.
“I assumed to the Privy Council.
He left in the car.”

“In the car?” Julian shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. I haven’t heard back from him and he obviously hasn’t contacted you yet. Aren’t you guys like official partners or something?”

“Yeah. Something’s up.” Julian grabbed the phone in his back pocket. “I’ll let you know if I hear from him.
Go back to your room.
” He took off running.

She went
back inside the building and up to her room
. Back in bed she sighed.
No way I’m getting any sleep
tonight
.

Devon
didn’t reply to any of her
message
s
and by
mid-morning
,
Rae was living on pins and needles
.
I’m going to
go
crazy if something
doesn’t
change
.
An exceptionally quiet m
orning class in the Oratory
made time feel like it stood still
.
Carter’s absence didn’t help calm Rae’s nerves either.

“Where’s Kraigan?” Rae asked Nic
while they pretended to be discussing a topic the supply teacher had set for them. Rae didn’t even remember what it was.

“He’s got the flu or something. Heard him throwing up in his room when
I
knocked
on
the door
.”

Guilt filled her on top of all her worry. She needed to talk to him and explain that she hadn’t been avoiding him.
Better wait a day if he’s sick.

“Rae?” Maria tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Do you have a minute?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

Maria played with the button near her collar. “I finally went to see the doctor yesterday. I know I told you I’d go back around the time of the dance but I’d been feeling fine since then.
I went because the doctor actually called me.”

“Do you have mono or something?” Nic
h
olas asked.

“No.
It’s strange though.
He only called because the blood work results had been faxed to him way back in September and they’d been misfiled. One of the nurses stuck them into someone else’s file by mistake
and mixed theirs up with mine
.”

“
E
verything came back normal?” Rae asked. Something about the confused look on Maria’s face gnawed at her.

“No. There were trace amounts of chlorine and some other gas. It
’s what
knocked me out.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t remember what happened that day but when the doctor told me I remembered I had been looking for you and stepped into the Oratory to see if you were there.
As I went
in,
I got hit by some
mist that
I assumed was the air condition
e
r
reacting with the heat outside
.
I never thought anything more about it…until the doctor start
ed
asking me a bunch of stuf
f
.”

“That’s really, really strange. Are you sure?” Rae didn’t like questioning her friend but who would want to hurt Maria?

“The more I think about it, the more I’m sure.” Maria glanced at Nic
h
olas and then turned back to Rae. She sent Rae a mental message.
I’d been looking for you. I think the gas was meant for you to walk through, not me.

Rae knew her mouth hung open but she couldn’t tell her brain to tell her body to close it.

Nic
h
olas put his arm around Maria. “Have you told Carter? Maybe somethi
ng’s off with the AC
system in here.
The place is as old as the hills.
Look what happened to Alecia.
”

Had that been an ‘accident’ too?

“
I’
ll
talk to him
as soon as he gets back
.” Maria nodded
and glanced at Rae
.
I won’t say anything to anyone. I just thought you should know.

I appreciate it. I hope it’s just a mishap of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rae
didn’t want her friend to worry even though something in the pit of her stomach seemed to be telling
her
to be very worried.
There were just too many strange incidents for it all to be random
.

Friday
afternoon
crawled by
at a snail’s pace and when the final buzzer of day
rang
, Rae
hurried out of class to check her phone
—
hoping for a message from
Devon
.
On her
rush to get
out,
she bumped into Dean Wardell
in
the hallway.
The very last person in the whole wide world I want to see, and he has to be right here, in my way.

“Sorry, sir.”
Rae kept her head down, continuing on her way back to
the
dorm
.
I have
no desire to talk to
you right now
.
The dean’s shoes stayed in her line of vision, keeping pace with her. She slowed her gait, hoping
he would
walk right on past her. Yet, when his larger shoes slowed to match her
s
, she sighed in frustration, a little louder than the she had intended to.

Outside the building, Dean Wardell cleared his throat several times.
Head
still
down
Rae rolled her eyes, stopped
walking
and
wait
ed
for the dean to speak.
Irritated, she began tapping a sneaker against the heel of her other shoe.
Great. A
lecture from De
v
’s
dad
is the last thing I
need
today
.

“
C
ome to my
office now
—
” He cleared his th
r
oat. “
Would you
—
Do you mind
stopping by
my office
—
please
?
”

Something in his tone drew Rae’s eyes to his face.
His complexion was sickly pale, hair mussed, he appeared exhausted
—
and nervous.
“S-sure.”
T
his ha
s
something to do with
Devon
, not
me
.

Neither spoke during the
ten-minute
walk to the main building.
Once inside, t
heir footsteps echoed on the marble stairs, each step making Rae more anxious.
The school secretary smiled at the two of them
when they came through the
stairwell
then
went back to putting files away.
The dean held
his office
door op
en for Rae
.

Rae stood by the Oriel windows, staring out at Guilder’s
grounds.
Again o
ut of habit, she began banging her
sneaker
against the floor.
Rae watched the dean’s reflection
in
the old lead
ed
glass window.

“
Could you stop that?” His reflection pointed to her foot.
She froze, foot poised in mid-air to drop, instantly irritated by his request. He must have sensed it.
“Sorry.
I appreciate you coming here.
I
—
I
—
I’m not sure,” the dean spoke, running his fingers through his hair like
Devon
did. “I’m, uh, shoot.
I
—
we
—
we need your help.”

Rae’s heart rate
kicked into overdrive
. S
he spun around to face him
.
Something
’s
wrong.
Really wrong.
“
You what
?”

“
Devon
’s missing.
He contacted the Privy Council
yesterday
with a high emergency
and
then that’s it
.”

Rae inhaled sharply. “What?”

“
They’ve been searching for him
.
His mustang was fou
nd this morning, abandoned near a
wooded area
not too far from here
.”

The bottom dropped out of Rae’s stomach and she didn’t think she could find the words to respond
.
Devon
missing
?
She had
been paranoid with him gone, but not
that
paranoid.
H
e had
been away with
out
communication for most of the school year. This really wasn’t that incredibly different.
Except her heart told her she was just fooling herself.
Who kn
ows
who ha
s
him or the trouble he
might
be in…or if he was alive.
No, she wouldn’t let
herself
think
like
that.

“
The Privy Council asked if I might have a word with you to see if you
were
willing to help.
They…I need your help to fin
d my son.”
Dean Wardell leaned against the edge
of his desk, clenching and unclenching his hands.

“
K
idnapped?”
Rae’s eye grew as wide as the window behind her.
She had to save him.

“That’s what the Council thinks.
” The dean puffed out a short breath.
“
Carter
disappeared after the morning class and
then
called to inform
me.
The Council believes you
have
a journal
.
Devon
left to bring
it
to them and–”