A Matter of Time: Paranormal, Tattoo, Supernatural, Romance (The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel Book 1)

by W. J. May

  It would have hurt, alright. Just not killed him.

  Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the other people on the train.

  “And what about the passengers?” Rae asked sharply, eyes locked on her brother. “Kraigan? What about the other people on the train?”

  It was hard to say if he heard her or not. He was too busy staring at the twisted hunk of metal that used to be the lawnmower, sitting in the middle of the yard.

  “You guys have been busy,” he murmured.

  The officer threw up his hands in exasperation. Between Rae’s rather cryptic responses and Kraigan’s downright lunacy, he obviously thought that madness must run in the family. “Clearly, the boy is delusional.”

  Rae ground her teeth together. “Clearly.”

  “However,” he continued, “since he technically passed the psychological evaluation, we have no legitimate grounds to hold him. We simply came to release him into your care.”

  “Good.” She nodded firmly. A second passed. “Wait—what?”

  It was then that she noticed the suitcase.

  “According to Statute 248 of the NHS Trust—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Rae waved her hands in front of her like a shield, “that’s all well and good, except… he can’t stay here. Not right now.”

  Kraigan’s eyes lit with automatic curiosity, but the policeman saw nothing but the refusal.

  “Listen, Ms. Kerrigan,” he was practically sneering, ready to wash his hands of the whole dysfunctional lot, “what’s going to happen next is I’m going to un-cuff him, get in my car, drive away, and never think about your little family ever again. Do you understand?”

  Great! Now even commoners were coming to hate the family name.

  Rae hesitated, weighed her options, then went out on a limb.

  “Do you have to take off the cuffs?”

  The officer simply glared as he removed the restraints. “Have a nice day. And try to stay out of trouble.”

  The squad car shot down the drive in a cloud of dust, leaving brother and sister facing off in the gravel behind them. Trapped in the world’s most unwanted reunion.

  “So,” he began with a wide smile while he rubbed his bruised wrists, “why exactly is now such a bad time?”

  * * *

  He can’t go inside. He can’t go inside. He can’t go inside.

  Rae chanted it over and over in her head. Like a reaffirming anthem. Maybe if she simply said it enough it would have to come true. But each time came out weaker than the last. In the end, it morphed into a lesser compromise altogether.

  He can’t go in the basement. He can’t go in the basement. He can’t go in the basement.

  “Well, I didn’t exactly expect you guys to roll out the welcome mat, but shit!” Kraigan strode forward, ignoring the way everyone automatically cringed out of reach. “Look at your faces! What happened? We facing a looming apocalypse again?”

  No one could bring themselves to answer. They had no way of knowing it, but they were all currently chanting the same thing. Rae knew it.

  Not in the basement! Not in the basement! Not in the basement!

  “I would have at least expected more from you.” He clapped Julian on the shoulder before he could move out of range. “What? You didn’t see me coming?”

  Julian peeled himself slowly out from under his hand. “I literally just did… not in time to leave the country.”

  Kraigan threw back his head, laughing as if they were the oldest of friends. “There’s the psychic I know and love! Still funny as ever!” He gazed around the little circle with what looked like genuine excitement. “The lame boyfriend. My almost-bromace. The white-haired bitch, and the red-haired witch. And…you!” He came to stop on Luke. “Truth be told, I always kind of liked you. Although I can never remember your name.”

  The gang shared a long look, none of them knowing what to do.

  “Come on—enough already!” Kraigan grinned, flashing every one of his teeth. “Tell me everything that’s been happening! I’ve missed this!”

  Guys…I have to tell him.

  Rae sent out the message telepathically to everyone at the same time, hoping to get back a feeling of general consensus. She received a variety of responses instead.

  Devon frowned. Angel cursed and spat on the ground. Gabriel shook his head. Julian lifted a shoulder in a tentative shrug. Luke looked at Molly.

  And Molly shot her with lightning.

  Rae slowly lifted herself off the ground, trying for round two.

  There’s no way around it. He’s going to find out one way or another.

  Devon frowned even deeper. Angel took a mad swipe at Rae. Gabriel and Julian caught her by the wrist. Luke looked at Molly.

  And Molly shot her with lightning.

  Come on! Enough already!

  “Dude, Red—chill out.”

  Molly turned around in slow motion to see Kraigan shaking his head chidingly. “I’m sorry, sewer rat—did you say something?”

  He lifted his head sagely. “Violence is never the answer.”

  There was a zing, followed by a sharp hiss.

  “Molly!” Angel congratulated. “That was your best bolt ever!”

  It was a rare moment of bonding for the two, but it was cut short as quickly as it started.

  “Kraigan, you can’t go inside because Beth’s in there,” Devon interrupted suddenly.

  It was like a beam of light came down from the sky, illuminating another option that none of them had been able to see.

  Rae looked up hopefully, and for a second Kraigan actually paused.

  “Beth?” For the first time, he sounded a bit uncertain. “You think I shouldn’t go inside because… she doesn’t want to see me?”

  “No one ever wants to see you, Kraigan,” Angel said rudely. “I, for one, think that you had the right idea going with the train.”

  Julian closed his eyes painfully, and Devon pushed her forward into the dirt.

  Kraigan, however, seemed to take her words to heart. He ignored the little scuffle between them completely, and focused on Rae instead.

  “Is she really that upset that I didn’t go to the funeral?”

  It was in that second that Rae made up her mind. That second of rare vulnerability that tilted the scales permanently in Kraigan’s favor. Because even so vulnerable, even laying all his cards out on the line—he still managed to lie.

  He did go to the funeral. Rae had seen him there.

  He wasn’t standing with the rest of them, of course. In fact, Rae wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the only one to have seen him. He was standing on the far other side of the field, gazing out over the proceedings with a blank expression on his face.

  There was a reason that Molly and Angel were so quick to condemn. Likewise, there was a reason that Gabriel and Devon were withholding open violence.

  The girls hadn’t been with Cromfield that night. The boys had.

  As much as Rae hated him, as much as she might despise every single infuriating thing about him… Kraigan had been brave that night. He saved their lives. As surely as Carter did himself.

  She hadn’t told anyone about the funeral. If Kraigan didn’t want people to know he had gone, that was his business. Truth be told, she’d even forgotten to tell Devon.

  But she knew. And he knew. And that was enough.

  “Is that a legitimate invitation?” she asked.

  He looked down at the blood-soaked turkey in his hand, then waved it in the air.

  “Then I guess you’re coming inside.”

  “WHAT?!” Molly and Angel screamed it at the same time. The boys were staring with similar looks of dismay. Only Devon kept his eyes steadily on Rae instead.

  She pulled herself up to her full height, staring at each one of them in turn.

  “My brother,” she emphasized it as much as she could stand, “can stay.”

  And so it was decided.

  The others disbursed quietly, glaring with var
ious levels of malice as they headed back into the house. But before Kraigan could follow, Rae grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close.

  “There are three things. Do you hear me?” She lowered her voice so that no one else could hear. “Three rules you’re going to abide by if you’re living in this house.”

  His lips turned up in a sarcastic smile as he peered down at the top of her head. It was always harder to do the ‘big sister’ thing when your brother was over six feet.

  Rae gritted her teeth together, but held firm. “First: you go easy on them.”

  “Go easy?” He actually looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

  Rae looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not joking here, Kraigan. No more games. No messing around. These people have gone through hell. Do you get that? Total. Absolute. Hell. They did not emerge the same on the other side.” She would have given anything for it not to be true, but at this point there was no denying it. “They’re trying to get past it. They’re trying to heal. What they do not need is the added headache of you being in this house.”

  “So what am I supposed to—”

  “Don’t be a headache.”

  He jutted his chin up stiffly, but nodded his head. “I’ll try my best.”

  She gave him a long look.

  “Fine. I’ll do slightly better than that.”

  “Rule number two: no more trying to kill yourself for fun.”

  This one seemed too much to bear.

  “Oh, come on, Rae!” He threw up his hands. “You can’t legitimately ask me that. Didn’t you do it when you first got the power?”

  Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Then maybe, just maybe, you won’t strangle him.

  She opened her eyes with a glare.

  Or maybe you will. Either way, at least you tried.

  “These people have seen enough death and bloodshed in the last two days to last them several lifetimes. I’m not going to have them wake up andwalk downstairs to get coffee, only to see you trying to dismember yourself on the lawn. I’m serious, alright? Do it on your own time.”

  He scuffed his shoes once more against the pavement. “Fine, fine. Whatever.”

  She put her hands on her hips, feeling vaguely satisfied with his compliance before spotting the fallen handcuffs on the ground.

  “And for the record, Kraigan, that whole ‘big sister bails you out with the cops’ bit? That’s the last family bonding you and I are going to have, got it?”

  His lips curled back in a sneer. “As if I would want anything else.” They shared another glare before he glanced at the house impatiently. “So, what’s next?”

  “What?”

  “The third rule. You said you had three.”

  “Oh…” Rae hesitated, following his gaze as a nervous swarm of butterflies began pounding away in her stomach. “The third rule is just… try to have an open mind.”

  He shot her a questioning glance. “Really? That’s your big finale? An open mind?”

  She nodded.

  “What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” he pressed.

  “Nothing, just…you’ll see.” She back-pedaled quickly. “I mean, keep it in mind. You never know where the day is going to take you.”

  Even though he was the one newly released from a psychiatric hold, he looked at her like she might be crazy. Fortunately, with Kraigan crazy was never a deal-breaker.

  “Whatever you say, sis.” With that, he clapped her on the shoulder and headed inside, having no idea what in the world might await him.

  Rae picked up his forgotten bag and dragged it behind them, eyes fixed on the back of his head.

  You never know where the day is going to take you…

  * * *

  It was the second time Rae had to sit through a ‘post-incarceration’ meal with her little brother. Watching him scarf down ungodly amounts of pasta, speckling the floor with dots of marinara. She could only hope it would be the last.

  Angel still resolutely wasn’t talking to her for letting Kraigan come inside, but Molly had come around. Best friends could only stay mad at each other for so long. She, too, was perched at the end of the dining room table, eyeing the spectacle with a growing level of disgust.

  “Aaaand that does it,” she declared, watching him tilt back his head to inhale a noodle. “I think my morning sickness just came back.”

  “Morning sickness?” He surfaced just long enough to tune into the conversation. “You’re pregnant? For real?”

  She hesitated, unable to believe she’d just given it away.

  “Is that dude the father? The one with the mohawk?” He shot her a quizzical look. “What’s his name again?”

  “His name is Luke, Kraigan.” Rae rubbed her eyes. “You’ve only met him like a hundred times. You’ve freaking lived with him—”

  “You’re going to be an awesome mother.”

  The kitchen fell abruptly silent. Only occasional slurping sounds broke through as Kraigan returned to his meal.

  Molly shot Rae a bewildered look before they turned back. “You…you really think so?”

  “Absolutely!” he declared through a mouth full of noodles. “A lot better than this one’s going to be.”

  He cocked his head towards Rae, but at the last second he added a wink. Her automatic snarl twisted up into a begrudging grin. Rule number one. He was trying.

  Now if he could just manage to follow the rest of them…

  “Well, I’m stuffed.” He kicked back his chair, tossing his plate into the sink with a careless clatter. “Where should I drop my bag? Which room is mine?”

  Rae quickly got up to follow him as he wandered out into the hall, unwilling to let him out of her sight. “Well, the thing is, Kraigan, before we get you all settled in there’s actually something we wanted to…”

  Both brother and sister froze at the same time.

  A man had emerged from the basement. A man who looked nothing like the man who had gone in. This man was clean and refined. Handsome, even. With a charming smile and a pair of sparkling eyes that fixed upon his children the second they walked into the room.

  Beth had come up behind him, looking alert but confident at the same time. In a way, she almost looked relaxed. As if a fifteen-year-old weight had been lifted from her chest.

  She, too, stopped when she saw the children.

  For a moment, the four of them just stood there. Trapped in another strange family reunion.

  Maybe he won’t recognize him. Rae cast a sideways glance at Kraigan. He was just four or five years old when Simon ‘died.’ Maybe he’s not going to—

  But it was as if Kraigan had been struck with a bolt of lightning. The second he saw Simon his feet froze, but every nerve in his body lit up like a live wire.

  He took a tentative step forward, as if trying to get a better view, before his face broke into the brightest smile Rae had ever seen.

  “Holy shit! ...Dad?”

  Chapter 14

  “YOU’RE ALIVE!”

  There was a blur of moment as Kraigan leapt into Simon with the biggest embrace Rae had ever seen. The two men went barreling backwards, stumbling with the force of it before Simon managed to hold Kraigan—in a hug and still on his feet.

  Rae looked on in shock. Beth, with eyes probably as big as Rae’s, watched them embrace.

  Simon slowly lowered his hands, placing them tentatively on his son’s back. “…Kraigan?”

  The two of them pulled back, looking each other up and down.

  At first, it was easy to understand the question in Simon’s voice. While there weren’t many people in the world who could call him ‘Dad’, Kraigan was a different person than the boy he’d left.

  To start, they were the same height now. Both towering at something over six feet. Tall, yes, but in this household they were in good company. They both had the same color hair. An odd shade of brown—lighter at certain times of day, darker in others. Curly and changeable, depending on where they were
. Now that they were standing face to face, it was also easy to see that they had the same mouth. And the same chin. The same a lot of things. Particularly the same tatù.

  Come to think of it… Rae didn’t look much like her father at all. It was just Kraigan.

  It’s for the best, she thought, edging towards her mother. That’s not exactly the kind of face you want to be walking around with in this part of the world. I may have his hair… and his ink, too.

  Kraigan didn’t seem to mind that he looked just like his father. In fact, he looked overjoyed just at the prospect. Rae had never seen him so beside himself, soaking in every detail with rapturous attention.

  “You’re so…” Simon shook his head incredulously. “You’re all grown up.”

  Coincidentally, he was also the only person in the house who didn’t hesitate in the slightest before touching Simon’s skin. For a second, Rae fought the urge to pull them apart. The last thing they needed to add to the ‘Kerrigan problem’ was a supernatural dose of immortality.

  Kraigan bounced from foot to foot, the psychiatric identification tags still rattling on his wrists. “Just a year younger than Rae!” He flashed her a quick smile, seemingly unaware of the adulterous implication he’d just made right in front of Beth. “But I don’t understand—how is this possible? You died in that fire… I saw it myself.”

  It was true. Although only two people present had actually lived through the horrors of that fateful day, all of them had seen it courtesy of one of Rae’s tatùs.

  “You saw it?” Simon asked with a hint of confusion. “How is that possible?”

  “Rae showed me,” Kraigan answered carelessly, far less concerned with the issues of the past than he was with the delights of the present. “Used her tatù.” He glanced down at his own before his eyes shot over to his father’s, covered by his shirt.

  Simon leaned back in surprise, glancing appraisingly at Rae. “Did she now…?”

  Rae could almost see him tabulating. Counting up the things he’d seen so far.

  First there was the super speed, then there was the conjuring. And now he’d learned that she could see the past.