Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (43 page)

Rae
forced air through her nose and willed herself to stay calm. “Look. I’m sorry for the other day. I don’t know what ticked you
  
off
—
”

He tutted
loudly and cut her off.
“
They say:
k
eep your friends close
—
and your enemies closer.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at her.

When did I become your enemy? I’m the only one around here whose been helping you.
She checked her watch. She needed to get out of here and start figuring out where to find
Devon
.

Tempted
to use a wind tatù and send him flying backwards,
Rae hesitated
when she picture
d
him going through
the window to his death.
That wouldn’t be good. My emotions are too messed to try anything without thinking I’ll screw them up.
She
clenched her jaw
tight
and hissed. “I’ll try
to
remember that.
Now
get out
.”
She gestured to the door.

“Now
—
now, is that any way to treat family?” Kraigan grinned darkly, while Rae’s mind spun, trying to make sense of the words.

“We’re not family, dickhead. Get out!”

Kraigan stared at her intently. “Look closely. Don’t you see it? Don’t you feel the connection?”

This
—
this is madness. It has to be.
Yet, Rae’s gut told her that this, finally, was truth. Where she had been denying her gut instincts all year, finally, she knew this was truth, even as her brain struggled to find a way to refute it.

He jumped up and stepped towards her.
On instinct, she moved back, bumping into the wall.
“Haven’t you clued into anything, yet?”
Kraigan
snapped.
“Or are you really that stupid?”

“What the hell
are you talking about?”
Rae glanced behind his shoulder.
She had
allowed him to block the doorway.
Dumb move, Kerrigan.

“
You’re
a bit
dense
,
but I never
took
you for a
full-fledged
idiot.”
He shook his head and threw his hands in the air.
“I guess I need to spell this out for you.
!
Look at me
!
I’m your brother
!
Half-brother
—
and not the stupid half.
”

“What?”
Blood rushed
to
her ears,
deafening
her for
a moment.
She sank back against the wall, thankful it was there to support her
as everything
clicked into place.
“I don’t have a brother.”

Staring at him and
taking in
the familiar hair and other characteristics
that suddenly seemed
s
o blatantly obvious
, she
saw it
.
He looks like
Dad.
She
smiled
, despite the disgusting
truth of the situation.
H
e had
been using her, like everybody else. Everything had been a game
to him,
just a move to get into the right position
. She was oddly relieved. Her constant war with her conscience and her gut now made sense. She ha
d
instinctively known that he was out to screw her over
.
Well, screw you too.
“
Shame
h
e left you in an orphanage
. Seems he cared less for you than me.
”

Kraigan barked a harsh laugh
,
which sounded like her father
’s
.
How had she missed it? How had everyone else?
“Nah, that’
s just my cover.
I had to spend
two an’ a half
freakin’ year
s
in that hell-hole
,
pretending I had no idea about tatùs.
T
hen
I had to
come here, to this crappy place.”

“You’ve always known
?”
she
whispered, not wanting to believe the truth standing right in front of her.
Why hadn’t he told her sooner?

“That you’re my
half-sister
?” He nodded
and let out a loud breath
.
“It’s so annoying.
Dad
never
meant to have a daughter
,
but
when your mom refused to have more kids, he took matters into his own hands.
He figured out how to guarantee
tatùs
and lineage.”
Kraigan pointed
his
tatù
,
hidden under his sleeve
.
“
My mother
’
s
tatùed
as well.
I
t guaranteed I’d get a cross
bred
tatù
, the stronger tatù being the dominant carrier.
He’d been planning it all since his days here at Guilder.
That is, until your bloody mother screwed everything up and went off and killed him.”
His voice rose with his anger.

“He knew about you?”
This
is
unbelievab
le!

“He
ll
, yeah.
I’m willing to bet there are more of us out there.” He
sneered
.
“You were his only mistake
,
though.
I was like five when he
got
murdered,
but I can
still remember him telling me as a kid what a blunder you were.
I vowed
I’d make
him proud.”

Rae stood staring at the younger image of her father.
She knew
she
had to
do something
.
Thoughts tumbled around like clothes in a dryer.
Why didn’t I see it sooner? Why didn’t I guess?
What the heck’s his tatù? I should’ve listened to Julian.

“
I’ll give you credit for one thing,
at least you have a bit of Dad in you,
” Kraigan said. “You’re willing to go against Guilder and Privy Council rules to date a fellow tatù-ee.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes mocking her.
“Why so surprised? You
didn’t
think anyone
c
ould figure it out?
It’s s
o obvious
,
it’s disgusting. But what I wanna know is; w
hy choose a useless, weak
tatù
? I don’t
get it
.
Your little fennec fox
boy
has become annoying
.
” He rolled his eyes and leaned against the door
frame
.
“
Someone had to remove him from the equation.
Him and his little right-hand fortune teller.
P
onytail
-
boy is
next.”

He’s got
Devon
? So help me, I’ll fight to death to
protect him.
Rae snapped out
of
her frozen state and glared at him.
“So help me, if you hurt Dev
-
”

“What?” he
sneered
and
then
laughed.
“You’re going to get me?”
He wobbled his knees against each other and waved his arms in front of her.
“I’m shaking in my boots,
big sis
.”

“
You used your tatù to trick me, my friends--
”

“Your friends?” He snorted. “The gas was meant for you, not Maria. And
the
same
goes for the rigged doorframe
.
Both excellent plans, both blundered by idiots.
It seems I have to
do
everything myself if I want it done right.”

“Wait. What?”
He’s responsible for hurting
my friends
?
She scowled at him. “I trusted you. You are scum
!
You are n
othing
!
A boy who barely knows how to use his tatù
!
”
Even
Rae flinched at the venom in her voice.
“Where is
Devon
?”

“Like I’m going to
simply
stand here
and tell you…or even let you know if he’s alive
,” he said but stopped mocking her and straightened, legs spread shoulder width apart.

Rae
searched thru her tatùs,
searching for a specific gift.
She found the hum she needed and
grabbed his wrist in a vice like grip so he couldn’t break free. S
taring at Kraigan’s shocked expression, she
focused
on finding
Devon
’s location through
his
thoughts
, like
she had
done to
Devon
at the beginning of the year to see his room
.
“If you think
Dad had powers,” she hissed. “You don’t even know the half of it.
Whatever he had,
I have his strength tenfold
and I don’t need to
re
touch a freakin’ person to
use their
ability.”
She tapped her forehead with her index finger.
“It’s all in here for me to call on.”
She dug
deeper into
Kraigan’s thoughts and found
Devon
.

He was still alive,
but
it appeared
barely.
Beaten,
blindfolded
, and tied to a chair in a crappy motel
about ten miles
from Guilder.
Using all her strength, Rae shoved Kraigan
back
and sent a gust of wind to knock him t
hrough her door
and onto the hallway floor
.
His head bonked hard against the banister and he slumped to the floor.

She took off running past him
.
Did I knock him out?
He groaned, but strang
ely he
didn’t pursue her.

Chapter 2
3

Terror

U
sing a speed tatù, Rae raced
down
the stairs
and
barged
through
Aumbry
House
’
s main
doors
.
Julian’s
car keys
dug into
her
hip.
Oblivious to
the pain,
she pulled them out
and
decided she would not
hesitate to use
Devon
’s little Swiss Army knife, followed with a burst of wind,
if Kraigan tried to follow her
.
He’s my brother. How did I not see this? I’m such an idiot!

Dusk had set in.
Rae flew across the sports field in moments and hit the
fob
the second she got close to the
parked
car.
When the headlights flashed, she picked up more speed.
Sliding to a stop, she yanked the door open and slid into the driver’s seat.
To her relief
,
the car roared to life on the first try.

Terrifi
ed Kraigan
could be
right behind her,
she adjusted the rearview mirror and frantically
searched
the parking lot.
Seeing no sign of him, s
he
released the breath
she
held
and conc
en
trated on
steering
Julian’s sports car.
She hadn’t driven since last summer in
New York
and she need
ed
to
concentrate
.
Focus, Rae. Focus.

Gunning the gas
harder than she meant to
, she
ground
the clutch into first
gear
, then second
and tore out of the parking lot.
S
he drove through the
narrow
winding roads,
wishing they were wider. S
he flipped her
high beams
on when
she
drove through
the wooded areas near Guilder.
C
ould she
save
Devon
?
W
hat if
I’m
too late?

Rain blurred the
windshield
.

“Which flippin’ switch turns the wipers on?”
She
screamed at the car. She
tried a button and swore when the sunroof began opening
and rain poured in
.
Hitting the button beside it, she closed it up and tried the next switch.
Musty outside air began blowing through the vents.
“
Bugger
!” She moved the turn signal
lever
up and down, backwards and forwards.
All she got was flickering blinkers and high beams.
The car slid sideways
on a bend
and
she
had to
thr
o
w both hands back at ten and two on the wheel
to regain control
.
Finally
seeing a little wiper
on a
knob
near the right side
, she turned it and
got them going.

Her knuckles
were
white against the steering wheel
. She focused on maintaining control of the powerful sportster
and switch
ing
gears as quick
ly
as possible.
She hoped Julian wouldn’t mind replacing the worn out clutch by the time she finished driving.
She drove as fast as she dared, terrified
that
she would
lose control and roll the car.

Rae’s jaw clenched so hard she felt like her jaw might shatter eventually. Maybe she should have called for
backup
, maybe called Julian or Carter.
H
ow?
She hadn’t considered grabbing her cell phone when Kraigan
revealed
who he was
. It’s obvious he hates me. Whatever he’
s
said
, it doesn’t matter now. It
was all an act. Everything
.
She couldn’t shake the shock of his words.
Focus, Rae. How do you get a hold of Julian, or Carter?

The dean said
Carter
left this morning.
Who could she contact?
S
he had no idea where the Privy Council met, so that was out.
She
forced herself to concentrate on the wet road.
At last the
forest
gave way to suburban life.

Continually checking
her
rearview mirror
to see if anyone followed her
, Rae’s shoulder muscles began to burn.
Where
’
s
Kraigan
?
The maniac had something planned.
Right now she still had to find her way to the hotel
—
motel
—
whatever the Fiddler’s Roof was.

S
he
rushed
along
the
cobblestone
streets towards the motel near the outskirts of town.
Devon
, I’m coming.
She sent the thought to him
.
Her breath caught:
she could contact Julian
or
Carter
the same way.
Pulling
the car to the side of the road, she flipped
switches till the hazard lights came on
.
She let the car idle a
nd
,
in frustration, pounded the leather console with her fist.
Rae knew she didn’t have time to pitch a fit, but it felt so good to release a little pent up stress. She needed that before trying Maria’s Telepathy.

Closing her eyes, she focused on Julian’s face and
sent
the message.
Julian, it’s Rae.
I’m heading to Fiddler on the Roof Motel.
Devon
’s
being
held there. Please come.
Devon
’s in
terrible
shape.
I’m going in
—
he can’t wait
.

Rae frantically
searched
the inside of the car.
She flipped open the glove compartment and middle console,
hoping to find
Julian’s cell.
She noticed a black electronic object in the
holder beside her seat and grabbed it.
“
Usable
,” she muttered when she realized it was
n’t a phone but
one of those freeze guns they train
ed
with.
She tossed it on the passenger seat.
She might need it later.

Hand on the
gearshift
, she paused and sent a similar message to
Carter
.
She didn’t know if the messages would send since she had no clue where they were. Any other time
she had
used this tatù, she
had
know
n
exactly where the person was. Plus they’d never been very far away. W
ith
tires skidding
back onto the road, she took the
roundabout
like a champion racer
and turned left towards the motel on the hill
,
roaring
into the parking lot.

Rae
stomped
on the brake pedal, tires screeching
as
the car lurched to a stop.
She yanked out the keys and gripped
Devon
’s knife
.
About to run for
the
lobby
, she leaned back in the car and grabbed the freeze
t
aser
.
She shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans.
She would
bloody
use
the
t
aser
with
the little Swiss Army
knife
on the motel manager if he didn’t cooperate.

Charging through the entrance doors
,
she went straight for the check-in desk
.
A greasy-haired attendant covered in normal, human tattoos, was the only occupant of the lobby, which reeked of cheap, stale cigarette smoke,

“My b
oyfr—b-b
rother
—
”
she
thought fast
. “He checked in a room here.
Which one is it?
My
dad’s
on his way and is gonna kill him.
”

“Lady, I can’t just hand that information out.
How do I know he’s your
brother
? N
ot some two-timing
boyfriend
?
Or maybe you’ve got some sugar-daddy pissed off at you.
”

Nice,
five-star
quality motel
.
“Fine.” She stomped around
the
raised reception
counter
and
grabbed the check-in book
laying on the desk directly behind it.
Motel’s too flippin’ old to even check in by computer.

“Hey,”
slick-boy said.
“You can’t come back here.”

Rae waved a hand at him, sending him flying into a chair with a gust of wind.
She didn’t give a toss what the Privy Council or any other tatù-rule-abiding citizen
thought
.
Her focus was
on
Devon
.

Flipping through the names on the list, she caught sight of
Kraigan
’s
name
.
He
even
wrote like her father.
The ledger stated
he
had
checked in three days ago and was in room
142
.
“Thanks.” She dashed out of the
lobby
,
letting ol’ slick continue to sit with his mouth hanging open
.

Outside in the cool air, she closed her eyes
and paused
to see if she sensed any tatùs around her.
Nothing.
No tatù bad guy seemed to be lurking in the shadows or hiding behind a car.

The first hum of a
tatù
hit her just outside room
142
.
There were two tatùs inside, one of them
Devon
.
Calling on the wind
tatù
, Rae
leaned against the door and pushed.
It burst from its hinges and went crashing to the floor, her along with it
.
She scrambled to her feet, adrenaline making her fight or flight reaction scream inside her, as she looked around, trying to come up with a plan on the fly.