by W. J. May
“Hey!” she cried again, ready to kick some ass no matter how happy she happened to be at the moment.
She and Devon elbowed their way to the center just in time to see Julian grab the guy doing all the punching by the back of the shirt, and yank him up to his feet. Even with one arm still in a sling, he was able to pull him back several feet, away from his intended victim.
Except just as quickly as he’d touched the man, Julian dropped his hand with a start—pulling it back so fast it was like he’d been burned. Rae stepped forward, trying to understand, before the man in question turned around and the mystery was suddenly solved.
“We should have guessed,” Devon muttered under his breath.
“Kraigan.”
The word fired out sharp as a whip, silencing the whole barn as Rae’s younger brother turned around to give her a wide smile. A bit of blood dripped from his knuckles, and she could have sworn there was what looked like a tuft of caramel hair by his shoe.
“Rae! You’re back!” He wiped his hands on his jeans as he paced forward, eyes flickering around the crowd as if he was noticing them for the first time. “Out all night, I see.” He cast Devon a look of supreme dislike before whispering loudly to his audience, “These two are doing it.”
A buzz ran through the group as Rae’s eyes snapped closed in an automatic grimace. Falling in love with another tatù might be permitted amongst the Knights, but it was still a brand new concept for all the young members of the PC she saw standing around here. Members with whom they had just formed a very necessary, very precarious alliance.
“Kraigan, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Julian knelt beside the teenager in question, making sure he was alright, before helping the disheveled guy to his feet. The Knight’s eyes flashed in both fear and anger toward Kraigan, but to be honest, he looked almost as nervous to have Julian Decker standing beside him.
Kraigan glanced over his shoulder before giving Rae an innocent shrug. “We were having a civil discussion.”
Devon gritted his teeth. “A civil discussion? During which you broke his nose?”
Kraigan glanced down at his bloodied hand. “It may have gotten in the way…”
Rae’s chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, as she struggled to rein in her temper. “And what, pray tell, were you civilly discussing?”
“His ice tatù. Who should have it: him or me.”
Rae’s mouth dropped open as she and Devon shared a disbelieving look. “His…what?”
Kraigan folded his arms across his chest, looking more and more annoyed by the interruption. “You should be thanking me. I asked for permission. Just like you suggested.” He glanced back at the Knight with a look of dark promise. “It’s not my fault he said no.”
There was a beat of silence, before—
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Rae’s eyes flashed blue fire as little tendrils of it began weaving up her arm.
Sensing the kind of impending Kerrigan family drama that didn’t do so well on a ‘welcome to the alliance’ brochure, Devon turned to the rest of the crowed.
“Go back outside,” he commanded in a soft voice. “Now.”
It was a testament to how renowned the six of them really were that this order was followed without the slightest bit of hesitation. Even the guy Kraigan had nearly beaten to death limped quickly after them, casting a fearful look behind him as he made his way to the door.
“You and I aren’t finished yet!” Kraigan called after him, making a sudden move to follow.
Rae stepped deftly in between them. “I would love to see you try.”
A dark laugh echoed up against the rafters as Kraigan shifted his weight and dropped into a casual fighting stance. “Let’s see what you got, sis. Don’t hold back.”
A cloud of smoke filled the air between them, but just as both siblings prepared to square off—they were both pulled suddenly back. Rae was grabbed by Devon. And Kraigan, by Julian.
“Enough!” Devon shouted. “What the hell are you guys trying to prove?”
“Someone needs to teach him a lesson,” Rae countered, yanking her arm away. “Someone needs to teach him that he can’t go beating people up for no reason!”
Kraigan smirked as she directed the last part his way.
Devon was less amused. “Leading by example then, are we?”
She flashed him a rueful look, before slowly tempering the fire that was lacing up her hands. Across the barn, Kraigan straightened up as well, turning around to shove Julian away. Only, Julian beat him to it, releasing him as quickly as he’d done before.
“Don’t,” Julian jerked his arm out of reach, “don’t touch me.”
Kraigan stared after him with a look of envy that sent chills up Rae’s spine, before his face melted into a casual smile. “Relax, future boy. Your ink’s too complicated for me. Besides, I don’t think I want to know everything before it happens.” He flashed Rae and Devon a wink as he strutted out of the barn. “Ruins the mystery…”
The three of them kept their eyes fixed on his back until the doors slammed shut behind him. It was only then that they took a collective breath.
“You have got to calm the hell down,” Devon chided Rae sternly. “You know half the reason your mom didn’t want people in here was that it was a fire hazard.”
Rae rolled her eyes and extinguished whatever was left of her flames. “Oh please, like I’d ever lose control like that. And what did you expect me to do? Just let him keep pounding that poor guy to a pulp—”
“Of course not,” Devon replied. “I just expected you to handle it in a way that wasn’t…” He trailed off, at a loss for words.
Julian took over with a small smile. “Barbequing him to a crisp?”
“Thank you!” Devon nodded behind him, before returning his eyes to Rae. “Yes, in a way that wasn’t barbequing him to a crisp.”
For whatever reason, the absurdity of the words was enough to soften both Rae and Devon at the same time.
Standing behind them, Julian was still smiling to himself. “Hey,” he said peaceably, “every family’s got problems.”
Devon chuckled and threw his arm around Rae’s shoulder, flinching slightly at the heat that was still radiating off her arms. “That’s true. You and Kraigan ever considered mediation?”
She snorted, shaking her head in exasperation. “And what would that look like? What benchmarks do you think our therapist would set for us? Go a week without trying to kill each other. Get a gold star. Go two weeks—”
“—get two gold stars,” Devon finished, nodding practically. “It’s a good system.”
Julian shook his head, kicking over some dirt with his shoe so it covered the splashes of blood on the ground. “A good system is what we need. You wouldn’t believe the arguments I’ve had to settle just in the day and a half we’ve been here. Sleeping arrangements, shower schedules, ammunition rounds, who gets first access to the medical bay after morning training…” He shook his head as the three of them started heading out of the barn. “They’re like freaking children.”
Rae grinned and shoved him playfully in his good arm. “Most of them are our age, you know. And I seem to remember the six of us having exactly those same discussions every time we come to this house.”
Julian and Devon shared a doubtful expression, before Devon shook his head.
“No. It’s not the same thing.”
Rae giggled. “Whatever you say, honey.” She glanced up at the house as they made their way back outside. “So where are we sleeping anyway?” she asked Julian. “Did you guys come up with some sort of decision?”
He glanced down at her in surprise. “That’s right, you weren’t here last night. Where did you guys go anyway? It’s been so chaotic I didn’t even…” His voice trailed off as his eyes misted suddenly over with their prophetic white.
Rae and Devon exchanged a quick, panicked glance, before he shook Julian’s arm roughly. “Come on, man. It’s no big deal. Sn
ap out of it.”
But there was no snapping Julian out of it. When he tranced out like this, his visions were in complete control. And while he may have just been trying to catch up on a simple answer, he had no idea he was about to stumble onto—
“Holy shit.”
His eyes snapped open at once, clearing back to their dark brown. They fastened on Rae and Devon in shock, before drifting down to Rae’s hand. “You…” He couldn’t even get the words out. “You guys are…”
“Jules,” Devon held up his hands to temper him, “it’s not that big a deal. In fact, we’re not even going to tell anyone until—”
“HOLY SHIT!”
With a whooping cheer, Julian scooped Rae off her feet, spinning her around much the same way that Devon had back on the cliffs when he proposed. He crushed her momentarily in his arms, before abruptly releasing her and turning to Devon instead.
Devon’s hands were still raised in the air as he glanced nervously around to see who might be watching. “I told you, let’s not make a big thing about it, okay? We’re just keeping it between—”
Then Julian lifted Devon up as well.
Rae burst into laughter as he rocked him back and forth in a giant bear hug, drawing a reluctant grin from Devon as he was finally lowered to the ground.
“I’m so, so happy for you, man!”
He truly did look it. In fact, just taking one look at Julian’s beaming face filled Rae with a rush of excitement that swept from her fingers to her toes.
This was really happening. It had gone beyond the two of them, standing on the cliffs at sunset. They were really getting married. She and Devon.
Married.
“I didn’t even see you decide to ask!” Julian continued gushing. “Things have been so crazy here, I wasn’t even paying attention—”
“I’m glad that you didn’t,” Devon interrupted a boyish grin. “I wanted to tell you myself.”
Rae stepped forward. “Only…later.” She looked up at Julian, before directing his gaze to the horde of strangers that had descended upon her house. “Jules, we don’t…we don’t want to do it like this. We don’t want it associated with all of this. We want to save it. For after.”
His eyes grew wide and he nodded slowly, a loyal friend through and through. That being said, he couldn’t keep a straight face for three seconds before he broke out into another huge grin. “But what about Angel?” He bounced excitedly from foot to foot, unable to sit still. “I can tell Angel, right? And Molly? What about Luke? Oh crap, Rae, your mom!”
Devon bowed his head with a chuckle, before reaching out to squeeze Rae’s hand. “This is going to be a lot harder than we thought, isn’t it?”
She grinned, shaking her head as Julian surrendered himself to the future, watching as each person they loved received the news. “Yep. I’m afraid it is.”
Chapter 3
The massive influx of people descending upon the farmhouse caused problems in more ways than one. To start, no matter what trauma had been shared and what promises had been exchanged back at Guilder, it felt a bit like tempting fate.
Mixing two such volatile elements as the Privy Council and the Xavier Knights guaranteed things wouldn’t run smoothly. Decades’ worth of partisan lines didn’t just disappear overnight, no matter what people’s intentions might be. And the circumstances under which they had gathered did nothing to relieve the constant layer of tension that lingered above the house like an invisible fog.
Another more superficial, yet just as pressing, problem was sleeping arrangements. Julian hadn’t been kidding; there was simply no room to put everyone. People camped out in hallways and empty offices with piles of blankets and knapsacks stuffed full of their hastily-packed belongings. The washer and dryer were running ‘round the clock. There was a constant line around the coffee maker. A tiny blond-haired female Knight had actually slept the night away in the bathtub, curled up in a little ball with her cellphone charging beside her.
It was chaos.
Absolute chaos.
No wonder no one noticed we were gone last night, Rae thought as she picked her way across the attic to get back downstairs. They probably assumed we were passed out in the barn somewhere.
The barn itself would have been a perfect place to sleep the extra people, except for one tiny little detail that quickly laid to rest all those plans: It was the middle of November. In Scotland. Northern Scotland.
“It’s official,” Luke declared, cupping his hands to his mouth to heat them as he came in from outside and met Rae and Devon in the kitchen, “whatever ancient heating system this place had has officially been laid to rest. Reception to follow.”
Rae glanced worriedly out the window at the angry-looking storm clouds that were rolling in from the horizon. Looks like she and Devon had camped out on the final day of semi-decent weather before the winter season officially kicked off.
“That’s just perfect.” She twisted her hair up into a messy top knot with a sigh. “At this rate, we won’t have to face Cromfield at all. We’ll freeze long before that happens.”
Devon chuckled as Luke clapped her good-naturedly on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit. In fact, I’d have to say that attitude is why so many people around here look up to you.”
“My girl’s a role model.” Devon winked.
Rae shook her head with a reluctant grin. “Well, thanks for at least trying with the heater. There’s a lot of untested ink around here. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to.” Luke took a hasty step forward as man ambled past him with arms stacked full of kindling. His eyes lingered on the handful of Guilder agents waiting around the empty fireplace, before drifting out the window to rest on Molly. “And soon.”
Rae’s heart went out to him as she followed his gaze. She and Devon had just gotten secretly engaged, which was crazy enough. She could not imagine the sense of helpless responsibility that Luke had to be feeling right now. Watching his pregnant girlfriend train up for a fight that he couldn’t possibly help her with, having no ink himself. Tasked with menial domestic chores that turned out to be equally impossible based on the age of the over-used, over-filled house. She was surprised he hadn’t already cracked open the liquor cabinet.
Devon seemed to be thinking the same thing. Unlike Rae, he wasn’t supposed to know anything about the pregnancy, and as his eyes traced a line between Luke and Molly, Rae could see him literally aching to reach out and help.
“Hey, man, you want some coffee?” Devon offered suddenly. “Or food, or something? Have you and Molly eaten lunch yet?”
Luke glanced over at him in surprise as Rae’s eyes snapped shut in dismay.
And clearly…he’s not very good at hiding it.
Devon intercepted her pained expression and back-pedaled quickly. “I just thought…I mean, you’ve been working outside all morning, and uh…” he trailed off helplessly, staring pointedly at the ceiling, the floor—anywhere but Luke.
For his part, Luke shot Rae a bewildered glance, before clapping Devon on the shoulder as he made his way back outside. “No, man, I’m cool. But thanks. Maybe you should have Rae conjure you some coffee, though,” he added with a note of concern. “Get a little caffeine in your system.”
As he headed back out to meet Molly, Rae smacked Devon hard on shoulder. “Way to play it cool, Dev,” she chided, trying very hard not to smile. “I’m surprised you didn’t offer to do their laundry. Or run to town and pick up some pre-natal vitamins.”
Far from being embarrassed, Devon’s eyes widened in concern. “Shit—I didn’t even think of that. Do you think vitamins are something you could conjure? We could always slip them to Kraigan first, make sure they don’t do any damage—”
“Rae, honey? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Rae turned around to see her mother leaning over the banister, calling down from the second story. Not a moment too soon. She shook her head once more at her hopeless fiancé
before trotting up the stairs, leaving him alone with his plans and plots.
Her mom was the only person in the farmhouse who had her own room, the regular one she used when no one was there. There were several reasons for this. Mostly that not only was she one of the few adults in a house full of kids, but it also happened to be her house. But there was a subtler reason as well. Like it or not, Bethany Kerrigan had a bit of a reputation.
It wasn’t even completely her fault. The Kerrigan name tainted whoever it touched—Rae had learned this the hard way—so Beth already had that working against her. Then there was the fact that she was one of the most dangerous and talented agents the Privy Council had ever seen, a fact that caused more than a little anxiety amongst the Knights, which was another thing that Rae and her friends were learning the hard way.
But it was Molly’s unfortunate field trip that sealed the deal.
The second morning they were at the house, apparently the very morning that Rae and Devon got back from their night spent out on the cliffs, Molly had taken a group of newcomers over to the field where Beth had taken her and Rae to train. Standing in the only circle of grass on the parched plain, Molly had pointed out with pride at the scorched tree slowly crumbling on the horizon.
“That’s what she hit. That’s what her fire can do.” Molly folded her arms smugly across her chest, watching as her wide-eyed audience stared from the circle out to the tree, gawking at the scorched earth all around them. “Hit it all the way from here. Like it was nothing.”
Perhaps there were some who would find that endearing. Molly Skye was most certainly one of them. But to the Knights, and to several members of the newer Guilder generation for that matter, it did nothing but lend a terrifying visual to an already terrifying name.
Beth suppressed a grimace as two seventeen-year-olds scurried past her on their way to the kitchen, deliberately avoiding eye-contact as Rae passed them on the stairs. Both mother and daughter stared after them with identical expressions, before Rae turned to her with a smile.