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

by W. J. May

  The two of them had made it a point to steer as far away from Simon as was possible, while remaining within the confines of the house.

  Rae had figured out why. The reasons for this were two-fold.

  To start, there were people inside that they refused to leave unprotected. No matter how reformed Simon might claim to be, the two of them had witnessed the monster beneath more times than would allow forgiveness. As such, the best they could do was hover incessantly just out of sight, keeping a silent but lethal vigil. At any moment—ready to strike.

  The other reason was that, although Gabriel might have made a tenuous vow not to take the man’s life, that sort of favor was nowhere in Angel’s repertoire. On three separate occasions she had attempted open violence, only to be stopped by one of the others. The fourth time, she had been caught tipping bleach into his morning drink.

  Even now, Rae could see her fingers inching towards the crème brûlée torch. Julian reached down without looking and caught her by the wrist.

  Rae lifted her eyes to meet Gabriel’s. On the other side of the room, her mother was giving her the same look. In the end she jerked her head up and down, unable to meet her father’s eyes.

  They were right. The time had come to end this.

  Rae sighed and then straightened and pushed her shoulders back. “Sorry about dinner, guys.” Across the room she could still see Simon trying to catch her eye, but she stubbornly refused to look. “Luke, you ready to do this?”

  Before he could answer Kraigan bolted forward, glaring at each of them as he positioned himself squarely in front of his father. “Ready to do what?” he demanded. “What exactly is going on?”

  “We’re going to turn your dear ol’ daddy over to the authorities,” Angel replied with a dark twinkle in her eyes. “I’m sure they have a hole in the ground somewhere with his name on it.”

  Simon took a shuddering step back, while Kraigan let out a vicious profanity.

  “Over my dead body!”

  The smile on Angel’s lovely face was nothing short of terrifying. “Oh, sweetheart, I’ve just been waiting for you to say the word.”

  It was then that several things happened at once.

  Kraigan lunged forward, ready to strangle her with his bare hands. Simon actually reached out to hold him back. But the second that Simon moved, Gabriel was ready.

  There was an excruciating cry, then Simon was on his knees.

  The screams and shouts that followed became a muffled din in Rae’s ears as she stared not at her father, but at the man just seconds away from killing him. He had held out as long as he possibly could, but one wrong move and that thin layer of control had finally snapped.

  Gabriel looked like some kind of avenging angel. Golden hair falling in shimmering rivulets down his face. Muscles tensed at the ready. Two raised fingers holding his enemy in place. Green eyes focused and impossibly bright. But cold. Terribly cold. With not an ounce of mercy in them.

  “What?” Simon gasped, staring up at him in horror. “How are—”

  “That’s right, Simon,” he answered in a chilling monotone. “I finally turned sixteen and got my tatù. Tell me, is it everything you’d hoped it would be? Everything you wanted?”

  His fingers twitched and Simon collapsed on the floor.

  The sound in the room increased, but Rae could make no sense of any of it. She could only stare, waiting for the final axe to fall. Hoping that her words would make any kind of difference.

  “Gabriel,” she whispered. “Stop. Don’t.”

  There was roar of rage as Kraigan threw himself forward, shifting his murderous focus from sister to brother. If armed with any other tatù than the ones he had, it might have made a difference. But when Julian stepped in between them, bracing himself against Kraigan’s thrashing fists, he came up short.

  “Jules,” Devon whirled around in shock, “what are you—”

  “If it’s Gabriel or Simon,” Julian gritted his teeth with the immense strain of holding Kraigan at bay, “then I choose Gabriel.”

  Angel came to stand behind her brother, looking on with silent satisfaction while her boyfriend kept his attacker at arm’s length. “Do it, Gabriel,” she murmured in his ear. “For Jason. For Jen.”

  Both Beth and Simon’s faces paled in identical looks of horror, while Rae looked on with utter confusion. “Who the hell is Jason?” she cried. “Gabriel, DO NOT do this!”

  “Do it for us,” Angel continued, gazing down at Simon’s crumpled form as if she had waited a lifetime just to see it so. “Do it for Rae—she can’t do it herself.”

  Gabriel’s eyes flashed, and Simon screamed in agony once more.

  “NO!” Rae shoved Kraigan aside and threw herself in between them.

  Julian wouldn’t lift a hand against her, even if it meant his own life. Instead, both he and Devon came together to hold her brother at bay, pinning him desperately against the wall.

  “Gabriel,” she grabbed his face in her hands, “we’ve already been over this. You’re not a killer. You’re not going to kill him now.”

  “He’s not going to let himself go back to jail, Rae,” he said quietly. For a split second, a flicker of genuine fear rippled across his face and he looked very much like a child. “You don’t understand. It’ll go wrong somehow. Something always goes wrong. He always gets away.”

  “He didn’t,” she tried to reason with him. Molly had started sneaking up behind Gabriel, hands raised at the ready, but Angel turned around to meet her head-on. “He’s been locked away in that factory for almost fifteen years. He didn’t escape then. He’s not going to escape now.”

  But it was like Gabriel couldn’t even hear her. He kept his eyes locked on Simon, lost in a sort of fog. One he couldn’t see his way out of.

  “It’ll go wrong,” he echoed faintly. “Something always goes wrong.” He twisted his fingers up like a gun. “I have to end it.”

  Rae opened her mouth to scream. Felt the electricity building up in her palms.

  But suddenly everything and everyone halted.

  Something incredibly strange happened.

  Time stopped.

  It didn’t freeze. It didn’t slow down. It stopped. Completely.

  Rae stumbled a step backwards, looking around in astonishment.

  Gabriel was still frozen exactly where she’d left him. From the dilated focus in his eyes, it was clear he was beyond reason. Already, she could sense the telltale shift of power in his hands.

  Behind him, Molly and Angel were locked in a miniature war. Unwilling to risk freezing the baby, Angel had snatched up a rolling pin and was bringing it down with terrifying force upon Molly’s head. But Molly’s eyes were electric blue, and the deadly lightning was already shooting in the air between him. Rae could make out every twisting neon strand, vibrating with a gentle hum she’d never noticed before.

  On the other wall, Julian and Devon were about to lose their grip on Kraigan. They were two of the most capable people she had ever met, but it was like trying to cage a wild animal. Five bloody streaks ripped down Julian’s cheek, as if Kraigan had slashed him with his nails, and despite the grip Devon had on his shoulder he was just seconds away from breaking free.

  How is this happening? She rotated in a slow circle, staring around in wonder. Am I doing this?

  Last, but not least, she came to her parents. Both kneeling, both watching the impending darkness with wide, frozen eyes. But it was something about their position that caught Rae’s attention. A tiny detail that would have gone forever unnoticed if she hadn’t caught it in that moment.

  Simon was protecting Beth.

  Despite the gut-wrenching agony of Gabriel’s inescapable grasp, he had somehow managed to angle his body, so that whatever happened Beth would be spared the worst of the blow. He had no way of knowing how the power worked. That he would simply drop dead. He only thought was to contain the shockwave. To protect her from it.

  Using his own broken body as a shield.

>   Rae had never seen anything like it. Devon would do that for me. The random thought threatened to catch her off-guard.

  Then, before she could begin to comprehend what was happening, the edges of the room began to shimmer and dance. The frozen looks of concentration on the faces around her began vibrating with a force that she knew all too well. Camille’s kinetic energy tatù. Yet another ability rising from within her that was beyond her control. Her body reacted in its own way. Determining what needed to be done when her brain couldn’t decide what was best.

  The world vibrated around here.

  She tilted her head back and with a blood-curdling scream, the world came back alive.

  The windows shattered. The ground began to shake. The entire room was ripped apart from the seams, spilling everyone outside onto the grass in a violent, jumbled heap.

  The world went black. Then flickered on and off with bursts of color. There was a dull ringing in Rae’s ears. The smell of sheetrock in the air. The taste of blood in her mouth.

  She was vaguely aware that people were shifting and kicking against her, stumbling and falling as they tried to get to their feet.

  A pair of strong hands grabbed her, dragging her away from the rubble.

  She squinted up into the sun, expecting to see Devon, but it was her father instead. He was as pale as she’d ever seen him, and though his lips were moving she couldn’t hear the sound.

  Are you okay?! Sweetie, are you okay?!

  Then a bright blue flashbulb froze them all in place.

  With agonizing effort, Rae twisted her head to see no fewer than a dozen strangers standing on the edge of her lawn. Faces she recognized from a distance, but didn’t personally know.

  People from the Council. People from the school.

  … People from the press?

  Rae realized it was tatù press. She’d seen enough of them lingering about since everything that had happened. They’d become unwanted celebrities and she had a feeling either Kraigan’s arrest, or Gabrielle and Angel’s activities had left a trail right to the house.

  A camera was still buzzing as the reporter slowly lowered it to his chest, gazing out in shock at the broken mansion and the battered people that had spilled out.

  It seemed their little hideaway had finally been found out. But that wasn’t the only secret that was soon to be exposed.

  “Wait,” Rae croaked, trying to speak as her father hovered anxiously above. “I can explain.”

  Then a final car drove up, and Luke’s father stepped onto the drive. He looked in surprise at the group of people already present before gazing in downright horror at the lawn.

  The pie slipped slowly from his hands.

  “Simon Kerrigan…”

  Rae’s eyes closed as the weight of the world crashed down upon them.

  “…You’re under arrest.”

  THE END

  Time Piece

  Read it January 15th, 2017

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCJA4GF

  Time Piece Blurb

  Book #2 The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel

  Fame is a fickle friend...

  After the world discovers the infamous Simon Kerrigan is actually alive, public opinion of Rae and her friends begins to shift. While most people remain fiercely loyal, there are many who call for justice. There are even more who call for blood.

  Caught in the volatile beginnings of a civil war, Rae struggles to keep the peace. But there's a battle brewing on the home front as well. As the reunited Kerrigan family gears up for the trial of a century, they all find themselves asking the same question:

  Can you ever really escape the past?

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCJA4GF

  Note from Author

  Dear Reader:

  Thanks for reading and enjoying the Chronicles of Kerrigan series!

  If you’re a fan, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’ve read all 12 books of the Chronicles of Kerrigan original series. I hope you enjoyed them!

  The Prequel series looks into the story of Simon and characters in the prequel will be re-introduced in the sequel!

  Happy reading!

  All the best, W.J. May

  Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/97aYf

  Website: http://www.wanitamay.yolasite.com

  Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-WJ-May-FAN-PAGE/141170442608149

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  Book I - Rae of Hope is FREE!

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B1NNFR0

  Book Trailer:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU

  Book II - Dark Nebula

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B46UWNO

  Book Trailer:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca24STi_bFM

  Book III - House of Cards

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LPIAFL0

  Book IV - Royal Tea

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SGIN35W

  Book V - Under Fire

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YVNJECW

  Book VI - End in Sight

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015HGNL0C

  Book VII – Hidden Darkness

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018SSJEZC

  Book VIII – Twisted Together

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BPSQZFY

  Book IX – Mark of Fate

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4TYUZU

  Book X – Strength & Power

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CK8MBRE

  Book XI – Last One Standing

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DYFPVAG

  BOOK XII – Rae of Light

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5MXY7S

  PREQUEL –

  Christmas Before the Magic

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195ZSB3I

  Question the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GNLNVRS

  Into the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSJ7V9S

  Fight the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSJ7V9S

  Alone the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L1AIW9I

  Lost the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/

  Sequel Series:

  A Matter of Time -

  Time Piece - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCJA4GF

  More books by W.J. May

  Hidden Secrets Saga:

  Download Seventh Mark part 1 For FREE

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H17FQCC

  Book Trailer:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-_vVYC1gvo

  Like most teenagers, Rouge is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to be. With little knowledge about her past, she has questions but has never tried to find the answers. Everything changes when she befriends a strangely intoxicating family. Siblings Grace and Michael, appear to have secrets which seem connected to Rouge. Her hunch is confirmed when a horrible incident occurs at an outdoor party. Rouge may be the only one who can find the answer.

  An ancient journal, a Sioghra necklace and a special mark force life-altering decisions for a girl who grew up unprepared to fight for her life or others.

  All secrets have a cost and Rouge's determination to find the truth can only lead to trouble…or something even more sinister.

  RADIUM HALOS - THE SENSELESS SERIES

  Book 1 is FREE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IFSS4ES

  Book Blurb:

  Everyone needs to be a hero at one point in their life.

  The small town of Elliot Lake will never be the same again.

  Caught in a sudden thunderstorm, Zoe, a high school senior from Elliot Lake, and five of her friends take shelter in an abandoned uranium mine. Over the next few days, Zoe's hearing sharpens drastically, beyond what any normal human being can detect. She tells her friends, only to learn that four others
have an increased sense as well. Only Kieran, the new boy from Scotland, isn't affected.

  Fashioning themselves into superheroes, the group tries to stop the strange occurrences happening in their little town. Muggings, break-ins, disappearances, and murder begin to hit too close to home. It leads the team to think someone knows about their secret - someone who wants them all dead.

  An incredulous group of heroes. A traitor in the midst. Some dreams are written in blood.

  Courage Runs Red

  The Blood Red Series

  Book 1 is FREE

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VC8HSFE

  What if courage was your only option?

  When Kallie lands a college interview with the city's new hot-shot police officer, she has no idea everything in her life is about to change. The detective is young, handsome and seems to have an unnatural ability to stop the increasing local crime rate. Detective Liam's particular interest in Kallie sends her heart and head stumbling over each other.

  When a raging blood feud between vampires spills into her home, Kallie gets caught in the middle. Torn between love and family loyalty she must find the courage to fight what she fears the most and possibly risk everything, even if it means dying for those she loves.

  Daughter of Darkness

  Victoria

  Only Death Could Stop Her Now

  The Daughters of Darkness is a series of female heroines who may or may not know each other, but all have the same father, Vlad Montour.

  Victoria is a Hunter Vampire

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IELT9RM

  Four and a Half Shades of Fantasy

  TUDOR COMPARISON: