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FOR A MINUTE, IT SEEMED everything froze.
The room went instantly quiet. Enough that you could hear the second hand of Luke’s watch slowly ticking away as smoke spiraled up from the VCR.
Then everything inside Rae exploded.
“What the hell happened?!” Her shrill screech echoed in the tiny room. “Get it back!”
Luke got to his feet and ran to the VCR in a flash. When he pushed up the flap to retrieve the tape, the burning smell of molten plastic hit their nostrils. He yelped and pulled back his hand, waving it through the air to cool the burn.
“I have no idea why it did that,” he said in astonishment. “This machine’s brand new.”
“It just ate my tape! The only video I have of my mom!” Tears spilled down Rae’s cheeks as she sank to her knees in front of the broken machine. “Can you fix it? Please, please fix it, Luke! I need to get it back.” Her fingers reached up towards the screen. “I need to see her again! I can’t—”
“Hey.” Soft hands caught her and drew her into a gentle embrace. She didn’t know how long she sat there, sobbing wildly into his chest as the image of her mother slowly faded into black.
She had been there. Right there. And now Rae didn’t know if she would ever see her again. She should have used her bloody phone and videoed it at the same time. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It probably had some inside mechanism to self-destruct.
When she finally pulled herself together and caught her breath, she looked up to see Luke staring down at her with tender concern. She hastily wiped the tears from her face, and couldn’t resist the nagging guilty feeling when he stroked the back of her hair. She pulled away quickly. “Thanks,” she muttered, straightening herself up. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Luke exclaimed. He hadn’t moved from his position on the floor, silently allowing her to come back if she wished. “You just saw your freakin’ mother. I understand the tears.”
“It’s not just that.” Rae acknowledged the real source of her pain as she put it into words. “She didn’t say anything about—” Her voice cracked and she took another second to calm herself down. “She didn’t give any indication she might be in hiding. What if she’s not alive? This could all be just me desperately hoping. I mean, if she really was, wouldn’t she have come back to get me? She loved me. She wouldn’t have left me.”
The truth settled around her like a dense fog.
She sighed. “I thought I’d open the box and find out that she was out there somewhere, waiting for me.” She laughed derisively at her hopes. “I half expected an address, for Pete’s sake.” More tears fell down her face, but she ignored them as she stared grimly out the window. “I’m an idiot.”
“Rae,” Luke intoned, taking her hands again, “you’re not. For the last few years, your world has been turning on a dime almost daily. First, you find out that you belong to this secret world of people with supernatural abilities. Then, you find out that your parents did, too. Then, you find out that your dad was a madman and you have a half-brother who wants to kill you.”
Rae shook her head at the surreal absurdity of what he was saying.
He squeezed her wrist. “All I’m saying is that you’re entitled to a healthy bit of doubt. You’re well within your rights to refuse to take things at face value.” He pulled back and looked at her squarely. “Why did you think your mom might still be alive? You have to have had a good reason.”
“In truth?” Rae sighed and opened her hand. “Because I found out I have her ability.” A curling blue flame shot out from her skin.
Luke jumped back in surprise.
Rae stared almost hypnotically at the fire as she slowly coaxed it up her arm and across her body. “Fire can’t hurt me. So I figured fire couldn’t hurt her as well. And since she was said to have died in a fire... I thought she couldn’t really be dead.” A few seconds passed, and when Luke didn’t say anything she looked up to see him staring at her in fright.
He caught her looking and tried to force a strained smile. “Okay. So fire can’t hurt you...” His voice trailed off as he stared at the flames coming up from her skin. “Rae? Do you mind putting it out anyway?” he suddenly exclaimed. “You see, not only is my apartment not fireproof, but I’m working really hard to resist the urge to cover you in a blanket.”
In spite of everything that had just transpired, Rae surprised herself with a sudden giggle. “Stop, drop, and roll, huh?”
“It’s not funny,” Luke tried to snap, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from quirking up. “Just...put it out, okay?”
“Fine.” Rae obeyed and the fire vanished in a poof of smoke.
Luke shook his head and offered her a hand up. “You never cease to amaze me, Kerrigan.”
“I like to keep people guessing.” She tried to be casual, but her voice grew soft and sad as she looked again at the blank screen.
“Hey,” Luke distracted her, guessing her thoughts, “the video might not have specifically said your mom was alive, but it sure didn’t say she was dead either. If fire really couldn’t have killed her, then I’d guess there’s definitely more to the story than you’ve always been told.”
Rae forced herself to nod and tried to take comfort in his words.
“There was a calendar mounted on the wall behind her,” Luke continued, “that said the date was March eighth. This evidence box didn’t get put together and filed on its own. Let me check some security cameras around the area. Maybe, with any luck, I can stumble onto something that we can use to help you find her.” He tilted up Rae’s chin with two fingers and smiled coaxingly. “You can’t give up now, Rae. There’s still a chance.”
Rae pulled in a shaky breath and smiled back. He was right. There was still a chance.
A small chance.
A chance teetering at the end of a dead-end trail which had left her with a broken VCR and no more clues.
But a chance nonetheless.
“Thanks, Luke.” She shut the box and slipped the papers into her coat. “I should probably get back to my friends.” She checked her watch. “It’s coming up on an hour. I’m pretty sure they’ve worried themselves into a fright.”
“No problem.” Luke grabbed his jacket and held open the front door. “I’ll walk you.”
As she breezed past him onto the walkway and they started down the cobblestone path, she felt that stabbing guilt once again. Luke had risked everything to help her, and in return she’d smoked up his house, drank the last of his coffee, and broken his VCR. Now, to top it all off, he was willingly escorting her back to where Devon was waiting.
She snuck a peek at him from the corner of her eye. If she hadn’t known what had just happened back at the house and where they were going, she might have thought this was just a good-looking guy on a late-night stroll with his girlfriend.
He smiled at her when he saw her looking, but visibly resisted the urge to put his arm around her shoulder—didn’t want to get her in trouble with Devon when they got back into view.
How could he be such a good guy? What on earth had she done to deserve him? He deserved better, she decided abruptly. He deserved someone who would care for him with as much reckless abandon as he cared for her.
“What are you staring at?”
His question pulled her out of her trance. She flushed guiltily and dropped her gaze to the wet pavement. “You,” she said simply. “You’re one of the best guys I know.”
With her heightened senses, she literally heard his heart skip a beat in his chest. For a minute his eyes lit up with a thousand hopeful possibilities, but then they cooled and his face fell.
“But not the best guy,” he mumbled softly.
She gulped. Devon. It seemed that there was no avoiding him. One way or another, he was her inevitability. It seemed pointless to fight it anymore. She’d said the very words to Molly earlier this evening, and even walking beside this handsome, wonderful man they rang true.
The heart wants what it wants.
She bit her lip as her voice got as soft as his. “Not the best guy for me.” She stressed the last word, and although he stiffened beside her she reached out and caught his hand. “But if I’m being really honest, Luke,” she said, her eyes shining in the darkness, “I almost wish you were.”
Before he could say anything in reply, they rounded the corner. Molly and Devon stood on the street waiting for them. Devon’s eyes immediately fixed on their joined hands and his face hardened. But for the moment, Rae had more pressing problems to deal with. The door to the pub had opened just over Molly’s shoulder, and two more people walked out into the night.
The two people, in that particular moment, Rae least wanted to see.
“Good evening, Miss Kerrigan,” Carter called as he came to stand beside Devon, Jennifer right at his side. “It seems you have a bit of explaining to do.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Rae muttered to herself. The papers she’d taken from her mother’s box pressed hard again her chest and she shifted protectively. At least for the time being, they were going to stay her little secret. She locked the video she’d seen firmly behind a door in her memory so Carter wouldn’t be able to sneak his way into her memories.
Luke started backing away. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
Rae lowered her voice so as not to be heard. “You’re not going to—”
“Stay and have a secret meeting with the Privy Council in the dead of night?” He raised his eyebrows as he finished her thought. “No, I don’t think so. I’m going to head back home and salvage whatever’s left of my entertainment system. But Rae,” his voice became serious, “I am going to check that security footage we talked about.”
Rae’s eyes welled with tears but she simply nodded, unable to show her intense gratitude in present company.
With a sarcastic eye roll Luke gave her a brief, one-armed hug goodbye. But before he left, he glanced back at the four people waiting across the street. “Rae,” he called softly, “ask yourself how they found you tonight. Somebody had to have told them what was going on.” His eyes swept over Molly and landed on Devon. “I think your mom was asking the right question: Who can you trust?”
Across the street, Devon’s hands curled into fists and Rae knew he’d heard Luke.
“Thanks, Luke,” she said sincerely. “For everything.”
“Believe it or not I don’t have all night, Miss Kerrigan,” Carter called impatiently. “Get over here now.”
With a parting wave, Rae dodged a taxi and crossed the street to the curb where they were standing. Hovering in the shadow of the two adults, Molly shifted nervously but Devon stood completely on edge. He looks... guilty. He kept glancing between Rae and Carter like he was waiting for an actual explosion.
In light of the present situation, Rae could understand his unease.
Not only had they disobeyed a direct order and walked away from a mission, but it was a mission involving the future Queen of England. The punishment for such an action was sure to be severe, and for a moment Rae wondered with detached curiosity what it might be. It wasn’t like they were in school anymore. This was a legitimate job. An adult job—although many of its employees were technically still minors. What could they actually do to reprimand her? A slap on the wrist? Suspension? A permanent mark in her file?
Rae smiled to herself as she thought about the look on Luke’s face when that information somehow floated across his desk. ‘Rae Kerrigan docked ten points for missing curfew while in London on mission.’ At least it would serve to lighten his day.
“I’m sorry, Kerrigan,” Carter scowled. “Is something funny?”
The smile slipped right off Rae’s face as she pulled herself back to the moment. Considering the fact that she’d just seen and heard her mother for the first time in over ten years, she felt a little distracted and not quite in the mood to deal with Carter and his uptight rules.
“Not at all, sir.” She smiled politely and gestured to the pub sign above their heads. “So what brings you to the Second Sister? I hear their wings are delicious. Not sure they serve them this late.”
“Rae!” Devon growled under his breath. She glanced his way and saw Jennifer staring at her with a look of intense exasperation. Molly was standing directly behind her and mouthed a desperate, ‘What’re you doing?!’ behind her head.
Rae sighed. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s just been a very long night.”
And it had. It was hard to imagine that only about twelve hours ago, she was sitting in a spa with the future queen and getting her hair done to go to a ball. So many things had happened since then. She’d been attacked, kidnapped, drugged, rescued, healed, seen one of her dear friends lose her memory, rekindled a romance with the love of her life, and watched a secret videotape made by her possibly-dead mother. She needed to sleep.
“I’ll say,” Molly interjected hopefully. “Probably best if we all go back and get some rest—”
“Not so fast,” Carter cut her off. “You see, Miss Kerrigan, I’m a little puzzled as to what you’re doing here when I specifically told you to return to Heath Hall and stay there until morning.”
“Well...” Rae’s mind scrambled to come up with something plausible. “You see, I—”
“It’s no use,” Devon interrupted her, stepping forward. “I’m sorry, Rae, but I told him.”
Rae’s heart froze in her chest. He what?! What the hell did you tell him? She shot the thought to Devon using Maria’s tatù.
She’d just closed a door forever with Luke because this traitor was supposed to be the love of her life. And now here he was, trading her in for the sake of his beloved Privy Council. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. This time, she wouldn’t be so forgiving.
“I told him about the interview.”
Rae’s crashing anger came to a sudden halt as she froze. The interview? Her heart began tentatively beating again as she went out on a limb and tried to play along.
“Well, I wish you hadn’t.” Hopefully that fit the narrative.
Devon shrugged apologetically. “I had no choice. I told Carter that if the Privy Council doesn’t want to lose you to a university when your contract expires next year, they were going to have to step up their game.”
Molly jumped in, eager to help and surprisingly believable. “I just can’t believe the student liaison was willing to meet with you and answer your questions so late. Or should I say so early? Really nice of him.”
“Yeah, well, I told you,” Rae relaxed slightly, slipping into the role, “he’s a friend.” She turned to Carter. “Sorry for breaking your curfew. I didn’t really have a choice. You want me working tomorrow and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in London. It was an awkward position to be in. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful to you, or the PC, for everything you’ve done for me, I just wanted to see what other options there were. I think it’s what my mother would have wanted.” She directed this last part towards Jennifer and stared right in her eyes, hoping she would understand.
It was difficult to say if she got the message, her face was so impassive. But as she shifted her weight and folded her arms over her chest, Rae could have sworn she saw her wink.
“Why don’t we go inside?” Jennifer suggested. “We shouldn’t be talking about this out here on the street. Never know who could be listening.”
“Wait a minute.” Carter held up his hand in frustration. “You expect me to believe that you were out here tonight meeting with a college counselor? Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No,” Rae said carefully, “I think you’re a busy man running a secret organization that has eyes and ears everywhere. Why else do you think I tried to do it this way? I haven’t made any sort of decision as to next year yet, and I didn’t want to have to talk about it before I was ready.”
Carter stared right into her eyes; he seemed to be testing her. For a split second, Rae was terrified he’d touch her skin and somehow see some of her memories of the last few hours.
Instead, he turned to Devon. “Wardell,” his voice was hard, “do you swear to me this is the truth?”
A brief shadow crossed over Devon’s face, but the next second it was clear.
“It’s the truth. Rae went out here tonight to meet a friend and discuss university.”
Carter folded his arms across his chest and stood in front of him, toe to toe. “I want your word, Devon. You know how much is riding on this. The future of the royal family and your entire career is at stake. I want you to give me your word.”
Time seemed to stop in the brief silence that followed. This was it, wasn’t it? The ultimate test. Rae or the Privy Council. It was a choice she had never wanted Devon to have to make. Partially because she was half-afraid of what he would decide. He had left her once—granted, he said that was so she could come into her powers and learn to protect herself—but there were other reasons as well. He believed in the power of the Privy Council, the principles behind it. He risked his life for them on a daily basis, and most of all he respected their rules. It was his damn rule-following that had come between them many, many times before. Now, all the cards were being laid out on the table. But what Devon was going to choose, Rae had no idea.
She was almost afraid to make eye contact, but she couldn’t help but look. Even with Carter facing him in such an aggressive manner, Devon looked calm. His breathing was shallow but steady, and when he spoke his voice was sure. “I give you my word, sir. Rae didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rae felt like she’d been given an electric jolt to the heart. She tried to catch his eye, but he was staring straight back at Carter—his face an open book.
It was almost impressive how well he could lie. Almost a little scary.
“Very well.” With Devon declaring it so bluntly, Carter appeared satisfied. “However, you’re wrong about one thing, Mr. Wardell. Miss Kerrigan certainly did do something wrong. Whatever her reasons were she was ordered to stay in tonight, and she is in direct violation of that order.”
Rae saw where he planned to go with this and quickly intervened. “Molly and Devon both told me not to go,” she said quickly. “They’re only out here because they were trying to talk me out of it and bring me back.”
Carter held up his hand to silence her. “What’s done is done. You three are going back to Heath Hall this instant to get some sleep before waking up at seven a.m. to debrief.” He checked his watch. “That’s just about five hours from now. I suggest you hurry back.”
No formal censure? They didn’t need to be told twice.
“Yes, sir,” Devon said obediently, and quickly hailed down a cab. He and the girls slid inside, and before they knew it they were racing back down the streets of London. Leaving two adults standing on the curb, locked in hushed discussion.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Molly asked. Her eye had developed a strange twitch that Rae had never seen before, and Rae frowned before answering.
“I’ve no idea.” She eyed Devon tentatively. “Maybe they were discussing what incentives they can offer me to keep me from going back to school?”
He still wouldn’t look at her. He just stared out the window, avoiding eye contact.
“Or maybe they were actually going there for the wings,” she said a little louder. “After all, why else would they have come?”
Molly’s eyes grew wide and twitched again as she realized her friend’s implication. “Rae, I didn’t say a thing! I didn’t tell anybody where we were going tonight!”
“It’s not you, Molls; don’t worry,” Devon said, keeping his eyes fixed on the window. “She’s talking about me.”
Rae took a steadying breath. She hadn’t planned on bringing it up this quickly, especially in light of Devon’s amazing cover for her back with Carter. But the question remained. How did Carter and Jennifer know where to find them?
“Why don’t you just ask me?”
She looked up in surprise and saw Devon staring at her from the opposite seat. There was a look of steely determination in his eyes, but it was covering something deeper. A sadness.
Rae bit her lip, but closed her eyes and blurted, “Did you tell them?”
Molly gasped as her eye twitched again.
Devon clenched his jaw. “Did I tell them you were sneaking out, then swear on my reputation that you’d just gone to see a university counselor?”
When he phrased it like that, it didn’t make much sense. But who else could it be? Rae would bet her life it wasn’t Molly, and Devon was literally the only other person who knew.
“I’m just trying to figure out how they knew where to look for me,” she said quietly.
“And I’m just telling you it wasn’t me!”
Molly twitched again in between them, and for a minute the conversation paused.
“What is going on with you?” Rae asked in exasperation. “Why do you keep doing that?”
“Sorry!” Molly gulped, smoothing down her static-ridden hair. “I’ve been giving myself little shocks to help me stay awake.”
There was a beat of silence before the cab was filled with sudden laughter. Hysterical laugher. The kind indicative of a bigger problem, but perfect in the moment to soothe raw nerves.
Molly glared between Rae and Devon as they collapsed on their seats, clinging to the leather as they tried to pull themselves together.
“What?” she demanded. “It’s almost three in the morning, I’ve been up since five.”
“This whole time?” Devon asked incredulously. The cab slowed down as it pulled into the long drive of Heath Hall. “You’ve been giving yourself shock therapy this whole time?”
“Well, ever since Carter and Jennifer walked into the pub,” Molly said defensively. “I thought it would look unprofessional if I fell asleep in my cappuccino.”
Rae and Devon began snickering again, and Molly fumed as she opened her door and stomped up the front steps.
“Laugh it up, you two. I’m not the one who has to debrief at seven in the morning. In the meantime, I hope you guys have fun tonight...working through your major issues.”
With that, she stomped upstairs to her room as the sound of Rae and Devon’s laughter faded suddenly in the cold night.
