Last One Standing: Dark Paranormal Tattoo Taboo Romance (The Chronicles of Kerrigan Book 11)

by W. J. May

  She flushed defensively, and his eyes widened in delight.

  “Or have you two not even talked about it yet?”

  Her blood rose to a boil, and she tugged her wrist free. “Look, Alden, I really don’t see how that’s any of your business—”

  “You haven’t! That’s bloody hilarious!” He clapped his hands together, grinning. “The two of you are back together, but with this huge elephant in the middle of the room. Shall we place bets on how long this is going to last? I’ll give you ten to one—”

  An electric shock knocked him back a step.

  “Okay, five to one.”

  “Gabriel—”

  “Relax, Kerrigan. I didn’t come here to fight.”

  “Really?” Her eyes narrowed and she jutted up her chin. “Then why did you come here?”

  “To take you out.”

  Her automatic defiance gave way to surprise. “To take me out? Where? Are we even supposed to leave the compound? And how the hell do you even have a car?”

  He grinned again, eyes dancing as he took her wrist and pulled her to the door. “Details, Rae, details. We won’t let ourselves be weighed down by such things.”

  “Hang on.” She tugged them both to a stop. “Why are we going out anyway? What’s the occasion?”

  He looked at her in surprise, a radiant smile lighting up his face.

  “It’s your birthday, of course.”

  Chapter 8

  A mere week ago, it was likely there was virtually no one on the planet that either Rae or Gabriel couldn’t best. Not a single task they couldn’t achieve. Between his natural gifts and the fact that Rae had been vested with enough supernatural powers to move the sun, there was a limitless horizon in terms of things they could and couldn’t do.

  Today…it was an entirely different story.

  “What do you mean, you can’t get out the window?” Rae hissed between her teeth. “This was your freaking idea!”

  The sun had fallen and she was standing in the outer courtyard, casting nervous looks around and blinking invisible whenever someone happened to walk by. Gabriel was still inside the ICU—staring up at the high window with a look of helpless determination. Despite its impossible angle, he could have leapt through it in his sleep…had he not recently had open heart surgery.

  “I’m sorry,” he growled back, trying to judge the best way to go about it, “not all of us can simply levitate out like you. Or have a choice of abilities—even when some of us are hybrids. I did just get shot, you remember.”

  “You think levitation’s easy?” Rae fired back, disappearing into thin air as a patrol rounded the farthest corner on its way to the arsenal. She sent him a mental message so the guard wouldn’t hear her. “You should try it sometime. There are a lot of components involved.”

  “I’ll bet,” Gabriel murmured, but she got the feeling he wasn’t really listening.

  “First you have to visualize the different planes around you. Then you have to somehow solidify them in your mind’s eye just to take a step—”

  “No, this isn’t going to work.”

  There was a sound like a dying whale as a hole opened in the side of the wall—a hole just big enough for Gabriel to walk through to freedom. It closed the second he was through, and he looked down at her with a cheerful smirk.

  “I’m sorry. You were saying something about the difficulty of levitation?”

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, melting them both out of sight as the same patrol doubled back to see what all the noise was about. “Show-off…”

  He squeezed her fingers, and together the two of them set off across the lawn.

  Rae didn’t think she’d ever get used to it—the surreal reality of simply not being seen. Her hair swept backwards from the wind of the people rushing past, and yet no one offered either her or Gabriel a second look.

  He seemed just as delighted as she was. In fact, perhaps a bit too pleased. Rae didn’t like the way he was eyeing some of the guards. Before he could trip one of them or start re-enacting scenes from Casper, the not-so-friendly ghost, she steered him sharply towards the gate of the compound.

  “What now?” she whispered close to his ear, in case any of the Knights were gifted with super-human hearing. “I’m assuming you have some sort of plan to get us out of here?”

  “Now is probably when we should kiss,” he said practically. She shot him an impressive look of malice, but he merely shrugged. “Two star-crossed lovers, having just found their way to freedom… I’m just saying, if this was some kind of movie or book, now would be the point where we typically—”

  “Gabriel, I’m giving you three seconds, and then I’m heading back to my quarters. Alone. You can try to explain to the guards what you’re doing out here once your precious shield of invisibility is gone.” She shivered in the cool night air, muttering, “I don’t want to get lynched by a mob of Knights on my birthday.”

  He grinned. “And I promise you won’t. Of course I have a plan. And it’s waiting for us right on the other side of the gate.”

  Much quieter this time, he melted a passageway into the thick iron—creating what looked suspiciously like a heart-shaped gap for them to walk through. She gave him another withering stare before glancing back at the Knights and hurrying on through. They’d made it this far with nothing but a few latent abilities and a heap of good luck. She wasn’t going to tempt fate by sticking around and demanding platonic geometrics.

  “Cute,” she said sarcastically, watching as he stroked the metal back into place.

  Even more than most people in their early twenties, Gabriel’s gift was surprisingly well-developed. If his impromptu escape antics weren’t proof enough, there was always that nasty little trick he did with the iron in Drake’s blood. Rae had only used his tatù a couple of times herself, but already she was struck with the innate complexity to it. It would take years of training to get even close to where he was at. And that was certainly saying something, coming from her.

  He glanced back and caught her watching. “Impressed?”

  “Only that no one took the time to strangle you as a child.” She looked around impatiently, just waiting for a warning shot from the watchtower or a police spotlight from the sky. “Come on, seriously. What are we doing? There’s nothing out here, Gabriel.”

  Finished with the gate, he wiped his hands on his jeans and began leading her farther down the gravel drive. “Oh ye of little faith.” His eyes scanned the shrubbery by the side of the road until he apparently found what he was looking for. “If you just give it a minute, all will be revealed. And for the record, Cromfield did try to strangle me a few times. Never succeeded, though.” He waved his hand dismissively as if it was normal growing- up talk.

  He came to a stop beside a mass of tangled ivy and turned back to her proudly.

  Rae thought about his comment and chose to push it aside, knowing he wasn’t looking for sympathy. She glanced for a moment between the twisted vines and his face. “Thanks, Gabriel…” she snapped off a leaf with a sickly smile, “it’s what I’ve always wanted.”

  He rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Honestly, and you think you should be the leader of the group.” Without another word, he swept the plants aside, revealing a sparkling sports car half-hidden in their wake.

  Rae’s jaw dropped open as she recognized the vehicle. Although she knew the thing was too precious for Gabriel to ever leave behind, she had no earthly idea how he’d managed to get it to the compound when he was holed up in the ICU. Much less have submerged it in vines.

  “How did you…” She stopped at the look on his face. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.”

  “That’s the spirit!” He grinned, shutting the door behind her as she slipped into the passenger’s seat. “Onwards and upwards!”

  As he climbed in beside her and revved the engine, she chewed nervously on her lip. “Be honest with me, is that the morphine talking? You know, in your present condition you should
probably let me drive—” Her voice choked out as she slammed backwards in her seat, gripping her armrests for dear life. Yes, the thrill of escape had firmly taken hold. But no matter how hard she tried to stay calm and be the rational one—there was something about feeling her hair streaming out behind her in the open night air that brought a giggle of excitement to her lips.

  The top rolled down to match the windows, and with Gabriel laughing carelessly behind the wheel, the car practically flew out of the gnarled undergrowth and shot off down the road.

  Back towards London.

  * * *

  “So this whole thing is for my birthday, right?”

  The glittering lights of the city were just coming into view as the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, marking the official date and time of her birth. She and Gabriel hadn’t spoken much on the drive, other than arguing about what music to play on the radio. They’d spent most of it basking in their newfound liberation. Rae hadn’t fully realized it before, but Devon was right. The Abbey might be as nice a cage as they come, but it was still a cage. She hadn’t even realized how trapped she’d felt until she was leaving it in the dust behind her.

  Gabriel turned down the music—a symphonic mess of screaming and electric guitars—and glanced over at her for the first time in almost an hour. His eyes rested briefly on her flushed skin and flowing curls before his lips turned up in a small smile. “Yeah, it’s for your birthday.”

  Rae took a moment to process this. How strange it was, locked in a compound with her closest friends and the only family she had. All that but still, the only person who’d decided to, in any way, commemorate the occasion, was Gabriel.

  And yet…it begged the question.

  “How did you even—”

  “For fifteen years, it was my job to know absolutely everything about you. You think I couldn’t figure out the day you were born? That your dad never mentioned it? Or disappeared on the day when we were younger? Your family hid the date because of a mismarked birth certificate, but we knew.”

  Sometimes it felt like he could read her mind. It was a trait that he and Devon shared, actually. Not that she’d ever tell either one of them that.

  “But I lied to everyone,” she countered, feeling a bit protective of her efforts. “Didn’t tell anyone at Guilder.” He remembered her father? She was dying to ask what he remembered, but held back.

  “Yeah, you did.” He chuckled. “First thing you do at Guilder is tell everyone, including the headmaster, this massive lie. When I found out…that was the first time I actually felt a little bit bad about wanting to kill you.”

  Rae blinked.

  A little more damaged than the rest of us.

  Yeah, that was an understatement.

  “Fifteen years, huh?” she changed the subject, staring out the window as the car raced around another curve. “So what else do you know?”

  “I know that after three cups of coffee, your fingers start shaking like a little bird.”

  Her head jerked around in surprise, only to see him grinning at the road. His blond hair whipped around him, shining silver in the moonlight as it danced over his emerald eyes.

  She turned deliberately away, raising her voice defensively. “I’ll have you know that a lot of people have that reaction to too much caffeine. It’s nothing to be ashamed of—”

  “I know you only pretend to like scary movies because Molly does, and you don’t want her to have to watch them alone.”

  Rae’s mask of indignation softened and she found herself smiling. “What else?”

  “Let’s see…” He leaned back in his seat, steering casually with one hand. “I know that you avoid using Julian’s ink because it intimidates you, and you’re too proud to ask for help. I know that you despise any and all types of pie. I know that you’d probably give anything in the world for that fairy on your lower back to be just a regular tattoo.”

  Her face flushed and she dropped her eyes to her lap.

  It was a pipe dream. An errant thought she’d found herself slipping into from time to time. At first she’d felt guilty—ungrateful, even. But after everything that had happened to her and everything still to come, she couldn’t help but consider the possibility.

  What if she didn’t have the fairy? How would her life be different? Was there a chance it would maybe be…better?

  But of course, it wasn’t like that was anything she could share.

  She shook her head quickly, ready to rebuff and deny. “That’s not true. I would never wish that—”

  “I know you like this spot.”

  He veered suddenly off the road, parking in a clump of tall grass. Still reeling from their conversation, Rae looked around in alarm.

  They were perched on a small bluff overlooking the city. It was close enough that you could hear the horns of the boats as they drifted across the river, but far enough away that the buildings themselves were just a blur of multi-colored lights.

  When she’d first gotten to Guilder—first started developing feelings for Devon, and first received her tatù—she used to come up here all the time. She could sit for hours, just watching the sun make a slow orbit over the city. Thinking about her life then, dreaming about things to come.

  But again…how did Gabriel know that?

  She rotated slowly around to ask, but before she could a fit of giggles burst through her lips.

  He was wearing an oddly lopsided hat, and was offering her another. It looked like the thing had once belonged at a construction site, but he’d used his ability to try to fashion the top into a point. While his festive intentions were apparent, the hat itself was clearly not up to the task. He’d taken a thick black marker and scribbled out, ‘To be worn at all times for safety’ and substituted it with, ‘PARTY!’ As if that wasn’t enough, in his lap lay a small Tupperware container filled with what looked like chocolate cake.

  “Surprise.” He said it gently, almost a little shy. When she said nothing in response, he plopped the hat onto her head and pried open the Tupperware, extracting two forks from the glove box. “Yeah, it’s stupid,” he said before she could render a verdict. “But under the circumstances, it was the best I could do.”

  She took the fork he pressed into her hand, watching him avoid eye-contact while simultaneously trying to collect her thoughts.

  “It’s not stupid, it’s…it’s perfect.”

  More perfect than he knew.

  “Thank you, Gabriel.”

  The faintest blush lightened the tops of his cheeks but he kept his face casual, almost to the point of indifference as he held out the container.

  “It’s no big deal,” he said brusquely. Then, a little softer, “But I’m glad you like it.”

  She scooped up a forkful of cake with a huge smile, but hesitated before raising it to her lips. “You didn’t try to bake this yourself, did you?”

  “Oh, hell no. I conned it out of the Knights’ kitchen staff.”

  They laughed loudly and settled themselves down on the hood of the car, gazing up at the stars and filling themselves up with chocolate as the clock slipped silently over to midnight.

  In a lot of ways, it was one of the better birthdays Rae had ever had. For once she wasn’t hiding it, watching in terror as a tatù she had never seen before permanently stained her skin. She wasn’t stuck at Guilder, training like mad and battling enemies both outside and within. She wasn’t sitting alone in her dorm, worrying like mad that her secret boyfriend had been sent out on yet another dangerous mission on the other side of the world.

  This was just…peaceful. The way it was supposed to be.

  “Hey,” Gabriel demanded as she reached for the final bite, “share, please.”

  “It’s my birthday,” she giggled as her fork battled his to claim it.

  He surrendered not an inch of ground. “Yeah, but I’m the one who got shot for you. And still managed to get cake.”

  “Really? You want to play this game?” She dropped her fork and sat up wi
th a taunting smile, putting her hands on her hips. “I got stabbed, got targeted by a lunatic, got coerced into being the symbol for a hopeless war, and it’s still my birthday! Give it up!”

  He stared at her appraisingly a moment before he shoved the cake at her with a reluctant smile. “Fine, I hate chocolate anyway.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Shut up and eat your cake, princess.”

  She speared it greedily with her fork—preparing to make a grand show of savoring every last morsel. But before she lifted it halfway into the air, he snatched it off with his fingers and shoved it messily into her mouth.

  “Hey!” she choked, wiping bits of frosting off her face.

  “I hope it was everything you wanted.”

  “Gabriel Alden!” She flung pieces of it his way as she tried to wipe herself clean. “I can’t believe you would freakin’ do that to me, today of all days—”

  “You missed a spot.”

  His eyes twinkled and she found herself smiling in spite of her best efforts not to.

  “You’re a bastard.”

  “Happy birthday, darling.”

  “It’s no wonder you have no friends.”

  “You’re my friend.”

  “I used to be,” she wiped her face on her sleeve. “Not anymore.”

  He chuckled and gingerly pulled himself up. “Here. You’re only making it worse.”

  “Don’t touch me,” she countered, slapping his hand. “You’ve done quite enough.”

  “Rae, I say this as a friend: you’ve somehow managed to spread it up to your ear.”

  “Shut up!” she giggled as he dabbed at her face with a napkin. “No, I didn’t—”

  “These are the people who are supposed to help us save the world?”

  Rae and Gabriel almost fell off the hood of the car as they whirled around in alarm. It was a testament to how far they’d fallen off their game that neither one of them had heard anyone coming in the midst of the cake debacle.