Hidden Darkness

by May, W. J.

  He sighed and held up his hands as the line clicked open. Somewhere, thousands of miles away, Rae heard Luke’s groggy voice.

  “Hello…?”

  “Luke!” Molly squealed, her face lighting up immediately as she pressed the phone to her cheek with a giddy grin. “Oh, I’m so happy you picked up! I just remembered about the time difference.” She glanced at her watch with a curious frown. “What’s the difference between Osaka and London?”

  There was a rustling of sheets. “Wait…Molly?”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s your girlfriend. Molly? You remember me? It’s only been like…well, actually I’m not sure how long it’s actually been—”

  “Molly, where the hell are you?! I’ve been calling you for weeks, but it says your line was disconnected. And now you just call up out of the…wait…did you say Osaka?”

  “Yeah, I did, and, to tell you the truth, ‘disconnected’ was a generous way of putting it. But listen, Luke, the gang and I are flying back to San Francisco in just a couple minutes, and I was wondering if you could do me a really quick favor…” Her sparkling eyes fell on Julian, and Rae looked between them with a small frown.

  What the hell did her little friend have up her sleeve now?

  Chapter 10

  “I just don’t get it! I’ve no earthly idea why you would think it was a good move to involve the San Francisco police force,” Devon said for the millionth time.

  He and Molly had been going at it during almost the entire flight from Japan, and Rae was just about at her wit’s end. She loved them both dearly, but it seemed like when their stress level passed a certain threshold, they started bickering back and forth like siblings. On the one hand, she thought it was kind of adorable, the brother-sister relationship they’d so clearly established back at school, and of course she was thrilled that her best friend and her boyfriend loved each other enough to fight like family. On the other hand—it was driving her nuts!

  “I’m about to shock the both of you,” Rae muttered, lifting her fingers. “That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. Shocking in three…two…”

  They paused long enough in their diatribe to shoot her a bitter look. Both were rather insulted she hadn’t taken their side, and when she’d said that they were both ‘big kids who could make their own decisions,’ they’d rightly taken that as more than a little condescending.

  “Don’t be silly, Rae,” Molly sniffed. “You know you can’t play around with electricity on a plane. We could all go down screaming.”

  “It might be a great new way for me to test my ‘I can’t die’ theory,” Rae said sarcastically.

  Devon pointedly ignored this and turned again to Molly with a crooked grin. “Actually, that would be great. See, that way we could meet even more of the California police force.”

  “We’re not joining the force, Devon Wardell,” she shot back, pulling herself up to her full, if rather lacking, height. “We are simply accepting a favor from my awesome boyfriend. And, to be perfectly honest, a little thank-you might be in order.”

  Devon raised his eyebrows, pulling himself up to his full height, which, in all fairness and handsome beauty, was much more impressive than Molly’s. “Let’s just see how badly this blows up in our faces, alright? Then we’ll see who’s going to be going around handing out thank-yous.”

  Rae rolled her eyes and stuffed pillow over her face, wishing like hell she hadn’t helped Molly call Luke right before take-off. The premise had been good. Luke’s cousin worked for the police academy in San Francisco.

  While Luke’s cousin didn’t have any information yet about what had gone on in the penthouse, or at least any information that he was able to share, he did say that he could let them go in and examine the ‘crime scene’ without a whole lot of red tape, by putting them on the list as ‘friends and/or family.’ While Molly had enthusiastically thanked him for the help, Devon had brought to mind the obvious problem that Benjamin Mills could simply take one look at them and have security throw them out of the building. Again.

  As the sound of their bickering faded to a merciful background hum, Rae turned her eyes instead to Julian. While he’d accepted Devon and Rae’s no-blame censure back in Osaka, Rae got the feeling that his mind hadn’t changed in the least. He still felt one hundred percent responsible for whatever ended up happening to Benjamin Mills, and, to be honest, Rae couldn’t blame him. Not that it was his fault; it absolutely wasn’t, but Cromfield had planted the idea in his head like a little seed. He’d made Julian into the one who’d single-handedly rushed them out of San Francisco, away from the hybrid who’d ended up needing their help the most.

  But even more than that, Cromfield had completely undermined Julian’s confidence by hitting him at his very core—his tatù. He’d taken something as fundamental as it got and warped it so who Julian was, a psychic, his very essence, was distorted. He’d lost his grip on reality, unable to tell if what he was thinking was real or something created by a lunatic madman. He couldn’t trust his thoughts; he couldn’t trust his visions; he couldn’t trust himself. And now here he was on the plane, visibly losing himself in the aftermath.

  “Julian—hey,” she whispered, peering across the aisle.

  He was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, but she didn’t think he was sleeping. She thought he was probably just avoiding the Molly vs. Devon blowout like she was. Sure enough, he opened his dark eyes and gazed out at her across the dim interior.

  “How…are you doing?” she asked, repeating Molly’s over-simplified question from before.

  The corners of his mouth twitched, though his eyes were hard. “Great. You?”

  She grinned. “Peachy. Hey, listen,” she leaned further across the aisle, “no matter what we see over there, no matter what’s happened, you have to know that it’s—”

  “We’re landing, Rae,” he interrupted softly.

  She stopped short. “What?”

  “That’s San Francisco.” He cocked his head towards the window, and began gathering up his things like the rest of the passengers. “We’re here.”

  Well, saved by the freaking bell.

  Rae eyed him suspiciously, but let it go. She didn’t like the look that had settled on his lovely face; it was disturbingly free of all emotion. There was no blame, there was no fight, there wasn’t even any anger. It was just…blank. And unsettlingly decided. On what? Rae didn’t know.

  With extreme reluctance, she tuned back in to the conversation at hand.

  “So get a freaking scooter then,” Devon was saying in hushed exasperation. “I don’t know why you feel the need to run that by me. And I certainly don’t see how it’s relevant to the situation at hand—”

  “Guys!” Rae put a hand on each of their knees. “We’re landing.”

  “Oh…” Molly glanced out the window. “Already? I feel like we just took off…”

  Rae closed her eyes with a grimace. She was going to kill them both.

  It was a bitter cold night in San Francisco. Despite the balmy summer afternoons, the salty ocean breeze chilled the evening hours, and the second they stepped into the terminal, Rae ducked into the nearest bathroom to conjure them all some warmer clothes.

  Remind me to thank Ethan when we get home, she thought, distributing them to her friends in silence. This one has saved our necks quite a few times now…

  They moved through customs without a hitch, and were just heading outside towards the cabs when a familiar face came sprinting into view.

  Rae stepped back in astonishment as Luke blurred past her and scooped Molly up in a huge hug.

  Molly, who had unfortunately been turned the other way, screamed, “Attacker! Attacker!” before turning around and seeing her beloved boyfriend grinning ear to ear.

  “Luke!” she squealed in shock. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

  He kissed her firmly on the mouth before setting her back on her toes. “You finally check in after almost a m
onth to let me know where you are and you expect me to let you slip away again? I don’t think so, Skye.” Still clutching her tightly to his side, he turned around and greeted the others for the first time. “Hey, guys, long time no see!”

  Rae’s mouth fell open in a huge smile and she ran over to hug him as well, but Devon and Julian shared a brief, troubled look. After Rae stepped back, Devon went forward to shake Luke’s hand in greeting, but, as he did, he couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, man, it’s good to see you. But, uh…this isn’t, like, a Xavier Knights’ sanctioned meet and greet or anything—”

  “No, no, no,” Luke assured him quickly. “I came on my own. I was a little, uh,” he searched for the right word with a faint grin, “upset to be left behind. But Miss Skye over here assured me that it was all for the best.”

  “It was!” She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. “It was way too dangerous, babe. I actually got hit by a car by this crazy girl at a Texas rodeo. Then there was this rogue donkey that chased after us in Peru. Of course, that one wasn’t really supernatural, but it was just as scary—”

  “Molly,” Julian pressed, tapping his wrist, “Benjamin Mills?”

  Luke frowned slightly at his tone, and looked the four friends up and down for the first time.

  Rae didn’t need to have super-powers to read the slight widening in his eyes as they swept over her and the others. Between the tired eyes, the worn faces, and the not-quite-fitting hastily- conjured clothes, they must have looked a little worse for wear.

  “He’s right,” she said quickly. “We’ve got to get to the penthouse as soon as possible.”

  “Actually…” Luke said with a bit of hesitation. “That’s not going to exactly be possible for at least another few hours. You see, they’re still investigating the crime scene, and, until the section chief says it’s clear, there’s no getting in or out.”

  “Are you bloody kidding me?!” Julian exclaimed, throwing up his hands. The blank façade had finally cracked. The forced hollow indifference had given way to all the feelings he’d been keeping locked inside. “Is the guy dead?” He stared Luke right in the eyes as he pressed him to answer the question. “Just tell me that. Is Benjamin Mills dead?”

  “I…” Luke glanced at Rae in bewilderment. “I don’t know, Julian.” His brow creased in frustration. “Molly said you all just met the guy. Not to sound really insensitive, but why do you care so much—”

  Julian’s eyes flashed. “Because if he’s dead, I’m the one who killed him. And don’t tell me that’s not the case, Kerrigan,” he snapped at Rae before she could disagree. “I don’t need to have your fancy fox ink to hear what Cromfield said to you on the phone. Seems I’ve been an invaluable help. He couldn’t have gotten to Mills without me.”

  Rae’s heart sank as she understood. So he’d actually heard Cromfield himself. That’s why he was inconsolable.

  Luke stared on in silence as Julian stormed off to the cabs. The other three stood in charged silence. His eyes traced back and forth between them before finally landing on Molly.

  “What the hell happened to you guys out there?”

  At a loss, Molly turned to Rae, who hung her head with a sigh. “It’s a really long story…”

  Much to everyone’s chagrin, the five of them were forced to stay the night at a nearby hotel until the penthouse would be officially open for viewing in the morning. With nerves already stretched past the breaking point, Julian protested it every step of the way.

  “Just turn us invisible, and we can all go inside,” he insisted, bouncing impatiently from foot to foot in the hotel lobby as Molly booked them some rooms.

  “Invisible?” Luke had repeated in astonishment. “Rae, you can do—”

  “I’ll put on my glasses and pretend to be a blind forensic psychic, and you can turn into a wolf and pretend to be my Seeing-Eye dog. I don’t really care. Let’s just go!”

  Rae pursed her lips as she considered that one. “You want me to pretend to be your…your Seeing- Eye dog? That’s where we’re at?”

  Julian threw up his hands and smacked Devon in the chest to stop his laughter. “I don’t know, I’m just trying to think of a way to get us in—”

  “Hang on,” Luke cut him off as he pulled out his buzzing phone. “It’s my cousin.” He answered it and walked a few paces away, pretending to ignore Julian’s following him. “Hey, thanks for getting back to me so quick. Do you have any kind of update on Benjamin Mills?”

  His face creased in a thoughtful frown, and Rae thought that Julian might honestly be on the verge of a heart attack. She walked over quietly and slipped her hand in his, relieved when he didn’t flinch away, gathering her up in his arms instead.

  “I don’t know what I’ll do,” he whispered.

  She looked up to see his eyes full of tears.

  “I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s dead. I should have known—I should have known it wasn’t real.”

  Rae patted the back of his hair, staring at Luke over his shoulder and trying to decipher his expression. The connection was so bad, that even using Devon’s tatù, she was having a hard time hearing anything that was said. Luke nodded a few times, his face still scrunched up in concern, before he thanked his cousin and headed over.

  “Well?” Rae prompted, every muscle in her body tensed to explode.

  Luke glanced at Julian with a small smile. “He’s alive.”

  There was a small explosion as Julian sank down onto the floor, inadvertently dragging Rae down with him. “Oh, thank bloody goodness…” he kept saying over and over, burying his face in his hands. When he finally looked up, his face was lit with his first genuine smile in what felt like years. He laughed aloud at Rae’s disheveled expression and lifted her gently to her feet.

  “Thank you,” he said to Luke, shaking his hand before pulling him in for a brief, one-armed hug. “Really, you have no idea how much. Thank you.” He ran his hands back over his face, grinning uncontrollably as Devon walked forward with a huge, beaming smile and clapped his shoulder.

  “I wasn’t worried for a second,” Devon lied casually. “Not one second.”

  “Yeah,” Luke chuckled, “right.”

  “Oh, me neither,” Julian teased back, still clutching his chest in utter relief.

  Rae giggled aloud. “Yep—it’s every day that you ask me to become a Seeing-Eye dog to help you sneak into a crime scene…”

  Julian looked at her excitedly. “You know, I still think that could have worked…”

  At that moment, Molly returned with a handful of keys. “So, I was only able to get three rooms because it was pretty short notice, but then I thought, that’s perfect!” She gestured to herself and Luke, followed by Rae and Devon, and then Julian. “Sorry, Jules. You know, maybe you should text that girl, Angel, again. Rae told me she was really beautiful.”

  Julian shot Rae and accusatory look, and she grinned innocently. “What? She is! I saw it for myself!”

  He ruffled her hair and snatched away his key with a grin. “You know, maybe I will. But just for future reference, let’s stay out of my personal thoughts, okay?”

  Rae pretended to pout. “If you want me to…”

  She and Devon quickly bid the others goodnight and headed upstairs to their room. Rae had been bouncing back and forth from one end of the globe to another so frequently that she no longer had any real concept of day and night. She slept when she was tired. She woke when she wasn’t. And right now, while Devon in his usual freakish manner decided to put in a few hours at the gym, she wanted to take a bath.

  The room Molly had booked was almost as big as the bedroom in Heath Hall, and the bathtub was a thing of wonder. Rae stared in gleeful anticipation at the little jets coming out the side as she held out her hand and conjured a bottle of vanilla-scented bubble bath.

  “Just what the doctor ordered…” she said aloud as the room filled up with clouds of steam.

  When the tub was finally full to the brim and topped with an
almost impenetrable layer of bubbles, she dropped her fluffy hotel robe and stepped in. Her eyes closed automatically as every muscle in her aching body cried out in relief. She hadn’t realized how wound up she was until she finally laid down on something that wasn’t either a motel cot in Uganda or an airplane seat. The warm water slowly eased her knotted muscles loose, and she laid back her head against the side of the tub with a little moan of contentment.

  Benjamin Mills was alive. Julian was smiling again. They were heading home to London. And, together, with a little adult supervision, they would figure out what to do about Cromfield.

  Everything was slowly piecing itself back together…

  “Well, someone went a little crazy with the bubbles.”

  With a startled shriek, Rae slipped underwater, inhaling a mouthful of suds before resurfacing with a gasp. She wiped the soapy water from her eyes and looked up to see Devon grinning at her from the doorway, still in his newly conjured work-out clothes.

  “Did you,” she spat out a bubble, “did you finish already?”

  “No,” he chuckled, “I lied down on the chair to do some weights and then woke up five minutes later to see that I’d fallen asleep. I thought I might take it easy today.”

  She nodded seriously, smoothing back her soaking curls and trying to look less like what she feared resembled a drowned mouse. “That was my plan, too.”

  “I can see that,” he said, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. Even though it was impossible for him to see anything under the thick curtain of snowy bubbles, Rae blushed. “You know, I didn’t really peg you for a bubble-bath kind of girl.”

  She grinned. “There’s a lot you still don’t know about me, Wardell.”

  “Is that right?”

  “But, no, I’m not usually the bath type. I was just trying to relax, when someone walked in and scared me half to death.”

  His brow creased in adorable mock concern. “And now you’re all wound up again?”

  She sniffed self-righteously. “That’s right.”