Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (44 page)

She froze.
Devon
sat
blindfolded
and
tied to a metal chair.
No, not tied, bound with ropes thicker than his arms.
He wore jeans but no shirt, socks or shoes.
His head lay limply to the side, his nose
cut underneath, possibly broken for all she could tell. B
oth
his
lips
were
cut open
with old and new blood dripping from them.
Bruises and cuts covered
his bare body
.
There was more black and blue than the white of his skin
.
His arms were tied behind
the
back
of the
chair, one of his shoulders hanging grotesquely
wrong
.
Rae swallowed the bile in her throat, afraid
she would
vomit.
“
Devon
,” she whispered.

A strange
r,
not much older than Rae
,
stepped forward and blocked her view of
Devon
.
The tall
,
hard-
faced
blond
had a black
, badly swollen eye
.
Rae
hoped
it
was courtesy of
Devon
.
Good for you baby!

“Well
,
lookie here
.
Look what the
fr
at
-boy
dragged in.”
He punched a fist into his open palm.
“If it isn’t the infamous Rae Kerrigan.”

Rae stared at the guy’s bloodied fists and then up his arm to his tatù.
An ear with a bunch of circles surrounded it.
She spread her feet
shoulder-
wi
d
th apart and hissed, “Randy.”
He was obviously Kraigan’s
buddy
—
and Anna’s brother.
Rae
took in his large, bulky si
ze and wished momentarily she had someone with her.
What was she going to do?
Shape-shift into an eagle and fly around Goliath?
Too bad she didn’t have a sling and some pebbles.

“Kraigan’s told me so much about you.”
The giant
jerked his head towards
Devon
’s unconscious form.
“Your friend here hasn’t said much, especially in the past hour.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and
let out a low, frightening laugh.

“Untie him
.”
She mentally ran through
the
tatùs
she would
be able to use against Randy.

“Or what?
Tiny thing like you can’t do much damage.
Maybe I should tie you to the bed and you can wake your boyfriend up with your cries
of pleasure.”
He made a lewd gesture
with
his hips.

Anger boiled through her veins and made her see red
.
“You’re making a big mistake…”

“You’re trying to threaten me?” He
hooted
.
“Kraigan’s got your
tatù
in the bag, honey.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Try me.
I’ll giv
e you the first shot for free.”

Kraigan’s got nothing on me. He can shift into someone else. Big deal.
The mocking on
Randy’s
face was too much.
Using Molly’s electricity tatù, she sent a bolt straight at his
massive figure
.
Not enough to kill him, but strong enough he
stumbled
backwards and
fell into
the cheap coffee table.
A pitche
r
of water tipped over
on
him as he crashed to the ground.
Rae pulled her fingers back from the electricity just as the current started zapping.
The smell of burnt flesh
wafted
into the air.
Out
.
She had
knocked him out. Or
rather
,
he had
pretty much knocked himself out.
Move
, Rae
! Don’t waste time!
If he wake
s and attacks you’re so screwed.

Terrified, Rae looked from Randy’s
slightly
twitching body
to
Devon
’s unconscious one.
She
leapt
over
the
now-
unmoving
Randy and using
Nicholas
’
MacGyver
tatù, began working the crazy knots at the back of the chair.
Devon
slumped forward and groaned but
didn’t
wake up.

Rae began to panic.
Frantic thoughts sped through her mind
.
Kraigan
’ll
be coming, probably bringing others.
Where
’
s
Carter
? Julian?
Randy wouldn’t stay down
forever.
She hear
d
his labored breathing and coming to noises.
When she glanced at him, his head
rolled
and
his
eyes
moved
rapidly behind his closed lids
.

Tears
coursed
down her cheeks.
Devon
, you need to wake up!
I can’t do this by myself.
Come on
. Y
ou can hear me…please
!
If only her healing tatù work
ed
on other people instead of just herself.
“Crap, crap,
crap
.”
She
looked around for something to drag him on.
She needed to bring the car to the room.

A moan brought her thoughts to an abrupt halt.
She knelt
in front of
him
and gently, but firmly shook his shoulders.
“Dev, come on.
We gotta get out of here.”

“Uhhmmmm
—
”
Devon
’s
eye
s fluttered open and then closed, remaining shut
.
However, h
e reached for Rae and groaned as he leaned forward, almost falling out of his chair.

Rae grabbed him by his
waist
.
Devon
flinched and
a
guttural
cry
broke from his throat
.
Tears coursed down Rae’s face
.
She got herself positioned under his good arm and pushed upwards. “Focus,” she whispered, not sure if she was talking to
Devon
or herself.

Devon
’s eyes opened a smidge
.
He managed a small smile through the swelling and bruises.
“I’m back,
for the moment.
”
His voice was a
hoarse
whisper
.
He looked at Randy still lying on the floor.
“
Nice job, ‘ancy pan’s
.
Let’s
go
.”
He
dropped
his
good
arm around Rae’s shoulder
s
and together they slowly stood up.
“Just take it a bit easy
.”

“I will.”
A small surge of hope flowed through her
.
She half dragged him
the next few steps
.
She gasped when Randy the giant sat up and growled at them.
If he swung his arm around,
he would
probably knock both of them over.

“Wh-wh-where da ya
—
” he stuttered
,
“
goin’
?”

With her free hand, Rae reached into her back pocket and flipped the
t
aser
on.
She zapped his shoulder and couldn’t help feeling
satisfied to see his eyes go round with fear as his body fell back to the floor with a thud.

“What the–?” he squealed.

Rae got
Devon
to the door and propped him against it.
Dashing back to Randy, she zapped him again and again, hoping it might make the freezing last longer.
She even hit him with the
t
aser
in different locations, thinking that might work as well.
The guy was massive.
How did these things work again? Thirty seconds a freeze?
Well, they’d better add up, not coincide.

Running back to
Devon
, she slipped under his good should
er
and bore as much
of
his weight as she could.
“Use your tatù so we can get to the car faster.
It’s gonna hurt like crazy but just focus.
We need to get in the car without you passing out.”

“
I’ll try
.” He swallowed painfully.
“
W
e need
to
find
Carter
and get to the Privy Chambers.
”
He
’s
slipping in and out of consciousness.
“
The Oratory.
We g
otta get downstairs fas
t…Need the wood carving women
—
”

What?
Devon
wasn’t making any sense so she knew she wasn’t going to get an explanation.
No time to waste.
“Let’s go.”
Rae’s heart switched from over-its-speed-limit to
erratic
.
Devon
need
ed
a hospital, not
Carter
or the
damn
Privy Council.

Using
more stumble than
speed, they managed to get to the car.
It felt like forever before she
help
ed
Devon
into the passenger’s
seat
and click
ed
his
seat
belt.
She raced around to the
driver’s side
and jumped into the seat.
Gunning the engin
e, she shifted into drive.
She began to panic
when she drove past the
room of the
motel.

Through the
shattered doorway
, she saw Randy sitting on the floor, talking in
to
his cell phone.
Turning to
Devon
’s slumped body
leaning against the
seat
belt strap, she felt
a
terror
that
made her blood run cold.
Too scared to
check
the re
ar
view mirror, she sped out of the parking lot and headed back towards Guilder.

What had
Devon
been mumbling?
The carving women? The Oratory? The secret room
—

A glimmer of a plan began forming in her mind.
With it came
the only
hope
to be had
.

Chapter 2
4

Inner Terror

T
he silence in the car
grew
unbearable.
Her own worry stifled her
.
Devon
leaned against the seat
belt
,
passed out.
Rae concentrated on staying on the road and seeing through the rain.
She stared ahead, then at
Devon
and then
in
the
rearview
mirror.
She swore when s
he missed the turn on the round
about to bring them back to Guilder.

Circling
again, she dr
opped the car into a lower gear.
Headlights beamed in her eyes as a car pulled out
,
missing her by
mere
inches.
The car shifted in behind her.
Her
breath froze in her throat
when
she caught a glimpse of
the driver.

Randy
.
Glaring from behind the wheel
.

Tires squealed as Rae slammed on the gas
and
shifted into high gear
.
T
he car
shot down the next road
.
She didn’t need to check the
rearview
mirror
; she
sense
d
how close Randy
was
.
His headlights bounced from the uneven road and
flashed
off her side mirrors.

Returning her
focus
to
the road
ahead
,
the
steering
wheel
almost jumped out of her hand
when Randy’s car
hit her bumper.
She c
ouldn’t even see his headlights in the mirror
.
A loud
honking
broke the silence of the night.
He kept a hand on
his
horn and continued to
follow
.
The noise abruptly stopped when his car swerved and fought to stay on the road.

Rae
swore she hear
d
Randy’s
vicious
laughter.
With her iron-grip on
the wheel, she
forced down
the panic
that threatened to engulf her
.
Her breathing quickened and her chest
grew
tight.
Using
a
night-
vision
tatù
,
she spotted a dark road a half mile
farther ahead
.
No signs or lights to give Randy any indication it was there.
Biting her lip,
she
tried to think
quickly.
S
he winced
as
she
ground
the
gearshift
into a low gear without decelerating.

The
sports car
lurched
,
and the engine screamed in protest
,
but held its speed.
Taking the sharp right, she checked the
rearview
mirror and
watched
Randy race by.
His brake lights flashed on.
Rae accelerated to the next turn and made a quick left down a narrow
lane
.
She flipped her lights off.
As she turned, she caught sight of Randy’s headlights turning onto the road
she
had
just left
.

She took another quick left and
the
moto
r
way
appear
ed
again.
Turning
onto
it
, she
nearly
collided
with
a milk delivery truck parked on the
street
.
She swerved
and swung the wheel in time to avoid
it
.
Devon
moan
ed and she shot a quick look his way.
His body
was
slumped back against the seat
now
.

Rae switched the headlights back on
.
At each intersection
,
she expected Randy to
sideswipe
her.
Her heart sped up
faster than the speedometer
.
Please don’t find us
—
please.

A
groan
interrupted
the silence in the car
when Rae veered the car to avoid a large pothole
.
The muddy shoulder flecked
dirt
against the
side of the car.
She
steered
the car
back
to the center of her lane
.
Biting her tongue, she fought back the tears threatening to blur her vision, the tightness in her throat unbearable
.
This
is
turning into
the worst night of
my
life
. Is it
ever
going to end?

She
checked
Devon
from the corner of her eye.
His head bounced around from her crappy driving.
Trying to accelerate faster and still maintain control of the
sports car
, Rae clenched her jaw and
her knuckles shone white against the black of the steering
wheel.
Alecia’s
skeleton tatù
!
I should’ve thought of it earlier.
Picking through her tatù hums, she found it and used her peripheral vision on
Devon
.
She scanned his body.
He was hurt but
it didn’t look like he was
knocking on death
’
s door.
Apparently,
blood and bruises look a lot worse than they are–I hope.
A bum shoulder, broken ribs,
loads of bruises and a bad bump with some swelling on his head.
A concussion
?

Blinking
against
the darkness,
she tried
to
w
ipe the tears
from her eyes
.
She couldn’t be too far from Guilder
, but she didn’t feel any confidence in her ability to get there in time. She hadn’t actively thought of herself as invincible, but at that moment, she didn’t feel strong or capable in any sense of the words
.
Tatù or no tatù, she felt scared and lost. Terrified.
Finally, t
he
next
intersection put her on the winding
country road
that ran
by the school.

How could everything
have
turn
ed
so
utterly
disastrous?
Kraigan
had
planned everything
, and
h
e
seemed to be only getting started
.
W
hy hadn’t he chased her?
She shook her head.
Everything
was
so obvious now.
H
e had
spent all year avoiding her touch, even in the most casual of circumstances. But when
she had
finally gotten her hands on him, and pulled the information she had needed out of his mind,
he hadn’t blocked her, and
he hadn’t come after her.
Why?

A pain
-filled
moan distracted her train of thought.
S
he
needed to
get
Devon
to a hospital or to the Privy Council.
But how?
Maybe i
f she could get
into the Oratory and hide him in one of those secret rooms,
he would
be safe.
Then
she would
use her telepathy tatù
to
contact
Carter
and
tell him
Devon
’s location
.
If it works.
Apparently,
he didn’t get the Fiddler’s Roof head-text.

Then
she
needed
to
seek out Kraigan.
That’s what
he
must
want
, a confrontation
.

Rae snorted.
Kraigan
needed
something from her
.
The stupid problem was she had no idea what.
Kraigan
and his stupid little hidden tatù
can
go straight to hell
.

Headlights shone in her side mirrors.
Randy
again
!

“Crap!”
She
veered into the vacant left lane and slammed on the brake.
The car
skidded as she stalled
it
, forgetting to shove her left foot on the clutch.
Randy flew past as she started the car again.
Shifting
the car into revers
e, she threw her arm over the back of
Devon
’s seat
and
backed up
a
few feet.
She had
skidded
past Guilder’s entrance
.
She
floored it in reverse, using the velocity of her backwards turn into the drive to spin the car around the right direction
,
hoping and praying
that
she didn’t hit anything, or heaven forbid, anyone.
She flipped the lights off again and drove using night vision.

She drove as fast as her courage permitted, past the parki
ng lot and
onto the sidewalk
leading to
the Oratory.
She cringed when she heard metal scrape from underneath the car.
Julian
was going to hate her when he got his car back
.
Devon
shifted in his seat and low grunts escaped his lips as he was
bounced
about
.
Hopefully
he would
be awake enough to get into the Oratory.

Stopping the car
half on the cement,
half on the grass
, Rae jumped out and rush
ed around to the passenger’
s side.

The rain
had
turned into a torrential downpour
as she swu
ng
Devon
’s door open
and unbuckled his seat belt
.
She
was
soaked in seconds
, but
it
didn’t matter
.
Concentrating, she gripped her
wet
arms around
Devon
and
locked
her hands behind his back.
She pulled and grunted.