by W. J. May
“He’s not trying,” Gabriel said in a quiet voice. “He’s succeeding.”
“We went to one of the mainframe substations in Glasgow,” Kraigan continued. “It had the names and locations of most of the tatùs the PC has on file. Our plan was to make a copy and start canvassing one by one, see what firepower we could get on our side. But that’s when we saw it.”
“Saw what?” Rae asked hesitantly. She was still hung up on the fact that whoever was in charge had seen fit to allow Kraigan anywhere near that substation in the first place. The fact that they’d discovered something troubling was just icing on the cake.
“The office had been ransacked,” Gabriel answered, keeping his eyes on the floor. “Dead agents on the ground, papers scattered everywhere, furniture overturned, broken security feed.”
“Glasgow,” Riley piped up with sudden concern. “Wasn’t that Tom Rooter’s branch?”
Devon nodded. “He and Mick Hale.”
Rae nudged him gently. “You know those guys?”
Devon nodded once. “Jules and I stayed with them for the week before we were sent out on our first mission. Kind of an initiation rite. A seven-day boot camp with the best. Mick Hale was the best shot in the whole division. And Rooter?” He shook his head with a low whistle. “I just can’t imagine anyone getting the drop on those guys.”
“Maybe because no one did,” Kraigan interjected. He and Gabriel shared a quick look and Gabriel nodded slowly. “It was an inside job. Whatever happened, they had people working on both sides.”
Gabriel pressed his lips tight. “Cromfield trains the best, and the best know how to be invisible.”
Kraigan flashed Devon a look that was as close to sympathy as Rae had ever seen. “Rooter’s body wasn’t with the rest.”
Devon stared at Kraigan before he blinked suddenly. He looked like someone had just stabbed him in the gut. “Are you saying—”
“That’s not possible,” Riley interrupted. His revved-up cheetah tatù always made him a bit jumpier than the rest of them, but this was as manic as Rae had ever seen. “Tom Rooter’s no traitor. I stayed with him myself just couple months before you guys. Him and Mick both. The guy was loyal to the cause.”
Julian cursed softly under his breath, but his eyes flashed white as he fell into his regular custom of searching the future for what happened in the past.
Beside him, Devon was also shaking his head. “I agree with Riley. If Rooter wasn’t there, then maybe it’s because he was going after whoever broke into the substation. He’s one of the best guys I…” His face tightened. “I can’t believe that he would betray us. It’s not possible.”
“It happened,” Gabriel said quietly, staring at Devon with pitied patience. “I know what an inside job looks like, Devon. I was trained to be rather the expert. This guy did it. He’s with Cromfield now.”
Rae reached out and put a soft hand on Devon’s arm but he pulled away, rejecting both the notion and the comfort that followed.
“No! I’m telling you, you’ve got it wrong. He isn’t—”
“Yes, he is.” Julian finally resurfaced, bracing himself slightly against Angel as he regained his balance. His dark eyes flashed up to Devon’s, and he nodded slowly. “He’s with Cromfield. And I don’t think he’s the only one.”
“It makes a lot of sense,” Alicia said quietly. “The man and the woman who left my facility did so on the same day that Mallins was killed. The second they found out about the PC’s new inclusive agenda and the ideals they were fighting to protect, they just packed up and left. Carter’s always been seen as one of the most open-minded presidents we’ve ever had, and there are people who have always chafed against that. I would imagine that someone like Cromfield would be seen as incredibly appealing, no matter how crazy he might actually be.”
“But Cromfield is fighting for—what?” Andy asked impatiently. “From everything we’ve heard, it sounds like world-domination. The man’s freaking nuts! Who would ever be taken in by someone like that?”
Again, Gabriel and Angel’s eyes flashed, but they kept quiet.
This time, Julian saw it, too. He shot Rae a worried glance, before hurrying to temper the sudden energy flying around the room. “It’s not about Cromfield’s specific agenda; it’s about what he represents. It’s a return to the old ways. A lot of the basic fundamentals Guilder itself was built upon. I think Alicia’s right. I could see that appealing to a lot of people.” His voice grew suddenly quiet. “It certainly appealed to Tom Rooter.”
Devon said nothing, he just turned away to the wall. The room started to feel too small again.
“So it’s just a recruitment race, then?” Rae asked in dismay. “How many people he can get versus how many people we can get? Is that it?”
Gabriel shook his head. “No. His methods are too radical, and, as such, he can’t get a superior following. He knows he’ll never match us in numbers, but the thing is, he doesn’t have to.”
“All he has to do is pit friend against friend. Foe against foe,” Angel continued, her eyes far away as she lost herself in thought. “Create enough civil unrest and mayhem that it’ll tear apart the world of tatùs from the inside. Distracting us long enough so he can get what he wants.”
Maria folded her arms across her chest. “And what would that be?”
For the second time, the room went deadly quiet.
Rae felt, rather than saw, a dozen pairs of eyes turned slowly her way. Devon’s hand slipped into hers, but for once it could offer no comfort. With an incredible effort, she lifted her chin and forced her lips into a sarcastic smile. “Oh, you know…”
And echo of Cromfield’s voice rang hauntingly through her mind.
“Me.”
* * *
The arrival of six more people pushed everything past its limit in terms of house capacity, and the news they brought with them did nothing to lift morale. The second that their testimonies of friends and co-workers quietly slipping away into the night came forth, other accounts began to surface, spreading through the farmhouse like wildfire. It appeared as though no section of either government—the Council or the Knights—had been spared. People were defecting on all sides, leaving the numbers stacked far more evenly than Rae would have liked.
Not that it really mattered.
“Who the hell cares how many people the man has on his side, when he can’t even die?” she muttered to Devon as they stepped over a set of levitating cousins and headed outside. “I mean seriously, why is he even bothering to assemble a counter-force? He’s freaking invincible.”
Devon’s eyes flicked inconspicuously to her face as he held open the door. “You know, those are probably the kinds of insights you’re going to want to keep to yourself,” he joked to lighten the mood. “More of that winning, role-model attitude Luke and I were talking about.”
He had shelved the news about his old trainer deep in the back of his mind, and didn’t seem to want to say a word about it. Which only left about a million more problems to worry about.
“I’m serious, Dev.” She shook her head as they rounded the corner of the farmhouse and headed out to the clearing between them and the barn. A large group of people was already gathered there, waiting for her. “What’s the point? He doesn’t need people to get what he wants. And he only wants me. No one else thinks the idea of rallying a second army seems like overkill?”
“From what I’ve learned personally about Cromfield,” Devon muttered, sticking his hands deep in his pockets as he kept a clear face for anyone who might be watching, “overkill seems like exactly his style.”
Rae snorted at the horrifying, ironic truth to the statement. “Yeah, I guess. I just don’t—”
Devon stopped suddenly and turned around, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s just focus on getting through this one day at a time, okay? Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Worry about getting this guesthouse set up today.”
Rae nodded glumly and turned back to the clearing, a
feeling of dread stirring in the pit of her stomach. He was right. As usual. There was enough going on right here, right now that needed her attention.
From the second they’d arrived at the farmhouse, people had started looking at them as the people in charge, no matter how unsanctioned that might be. Actually, looking to them would be a more accurate assessment. It was a weight and responsibility that Rae had never anticipated, and was already chafing against even though it had only been a few days. However, expectations must be met. And as unofficial leaders of the group, it was up to them to present a calm face to steady the already shattered nerves of those people gathering around them. It was a task that they both excelled at and loathed with equal force.
“Dev…?” she asked tentatively as they morphed their faces into matching casual smiles.
He answered with a grin, eyes making a careful study of the people around him. “Yeah?”
“I am allowed to worry about today, right?”
For a second, his smile turned genuine as he cocked a curious eyebrow and glanced her way. “Yeah.”
“Okay then, confession: I don’t think I can conjure an entire house.”
He chuckled under his breath, automatically waving back across the lawn to someone Rae was quite certain he didn’t actually know. “Just keep it simple. Four walls and a roof. We can work on getting heating and stuff later on.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered, blushing automatically under the weight of so many expectant eyes. “You’re not the one who’s going to stand there like the witch in the Wizard of Oz, just waiting for a house to fall down from the sky.”
He shot her an incredulous look, and she rolled her eyes.
“Granted,” she amended, “I’m hoping for a slightly different outcome…”
“No,” he laughed again, shaking his head, “the Wizard of Oz?”
She blinked. “Please tell me you’ve seen that movie.”
The kid was raised in England, for Pete’s sake, not under a rock. Then again, he was raised in strict obedience by a tyrannical father in a countryside mansion. There might have been some things he missed…
“Nope.” He shrugged. “But from everything I’ve heard, it sounds like something Kraigan would like. Flying devil monkeys…people throwing houses at each other…”
How am I marrying a guy who has never seen this film?!
“No,” Rae jumped in, “they don’t throw the houses at each other. There was a big tornado back in Kansas, and—”
“Hey, Rae!”
She stopped short and looked up with a genuine smile as a teenage boy made his way through the crowd. Ethan was one of the kids she’d mentored at Guilder right before graduation, and it was actually his conjuring tatù that she was going to be using today.
It had been sure to be an exercise in public humiliation when it was just her, but now, with any luck the two of them might actually be able to pull it off together.
“Ethan! Just the guy I wanted to see!” She reached over and gave him a quick hug, bowled over to realize that he was actually one or two inches taller than her now. She always thought of the kids at Guilder as just that—kids. But in reality, they were only one or two years younger than she was. “I didn’t even know you were here. When did you get in?”
“Just last night,” he grinned, shaking hands with Devon. “Slept in the trunk of my car.”
Rae shook her head. “Yeah, well, that’s what we’re going to try to fix.” She squinted at the wide open space before them with more than a little trepidation. “So…you haven’t, by chance, conjured an actual house before, have you?”
“Oh yeah, all the time.”
Her head whipped around hopefully. “Really?!”
“No. Absolutely not. I’m not even sure it can be done.”
“Cute, kid.” She chuckled under her breath. “Well, that makes two of us.”
He followed her gaze, eyeing the dimensions laid out on the grass with a frown. “Do you have…you know…like some sort of plan?”
She took a deep breath and shook out her hands, dancing in place like an athlete as the crowd fell back automatically. “Just click your heels together and repeat after me…”
There’s no place like home.
* * *
“I cannot BELIEVE that actually worked! You’re INCREDIBLE!”
Rae was slumped over Devon’s shoulders as he piggy-back carried her across the lawn to the house, but she accepted the praise with an exhausted smile. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week.” She lifted a shaking arm to the roar of the crowd. “Please remember to tip your waitresses…”
Behind her loomed a two-story guesthouse. Complete with nine extra bedrooms and four extra baths. It even had a little chimney, although—for whatever reason—the fireplace itself had proved to be one trick too many. Ethan was basically passed out on the grass in front of it, basking in the grateful thanks of a dozen excited agents who were already starting to move in.
Devon chuckled and shifted her up higher on his back, kissing her wrists when he was sure no one was watching. “Seriously, babe, you outdid yourself.”
“Just one less thing to worry about, right?” She dropped her forehead onto the side of his neck, feeling like she could pass out right then and there. Not since she’d trained with Jennifer Jones herself had her body felt so exhausted. “Besides, maybe now we can take a shower without having to wait forty minutes in line.”
“You want to take a shower?” He flashed her a mischievous grin, tilting his head to the side so that they were cheek to cheek. “I can think of some fun things to do in the shower…”
“And you can do them all by yourself.” She yawned widely, swinging her feet in the air like a worn out child. “I, for one, am going to sleep for the next two years.”
“Understood.”
“You might still have to come in and help me, though,” she added thoughtfully. “There’s a chance I might pass out in there and accidentally drown.” She didn’t bother mentioning her immortality.
And thankfully, neither did he. He chuckled. “I promise not to let you drown in the shower. It’s far too pedestrian for a Kerrigan. We need to protect your reputation. Have you go out in a volcano or something?”
Rae’s eyes fluttered open and shut. “Damn straight…”
They headed inside the kitchen just in time. The house had cleared out, leaving just the usual gang, and Beth was just doling out a thick stew into bowls set around the table.
“Our champion returns!” she exclaimed, giving Rae a proud squeeze on the shoulder as Devon lowered her down into a chair next to Molly. “Good job out there, sweetie.”
Rae swayed a bit in her seat and nodded, before looking down at the stew with concern. “Dev?”
“Yeah,” he grinned, “I won’t let you drown in your dinner either.”
“Read my mind.”
Molly poured her a mug of coffee, looking her up and down with a frown. “Okay, so I know you just made a house and all, but you look freaking terrible. Honestly, did you even think about what you were going to do this morning with your hair—”
“Anyway,” Rae cut her off pointedly, “did everyone here know that Devon—sweet, sheltered Devon—has never seen the movie The Wizard of Oz?”
Like clockwork, Molly turned to Devon, her mouth hanging open in a shocked, judgmental stare. “Are you serious?!”
As he hurried to defend himself, Rae smirked and lowered her face down to her bowl, savoring a bit of steamy, vegetable stew. Angel and Kraigan flashed each other a similar blank stare, but on the other side of the table, Gabriel caught Rae’s eye with a conspiratorial grin.
“I can’t believe that just worked,” he murmured, staring at the growing argument with great amusement. “Basic diversionary tactics.”
“You have no idea,” Julian grinned, taking a swig from his beer. “This one time, I told Molly there was a sale at Dior just to get her out of the house so Angel and I could…”
He stopped cold at the same time that Gabriel slowly lifted his head, looking very much like a newly awakened lion—zeroing in on his kill.
“I’m sorry?” he asked with chilling sweetness. “What was that?”
All the color left Julian’s face, and he dropped his eyes to the table. “So we could…watch a movie. From separate rooms of the house. I would never presume to—”
“—have sex with my little sister?”
Gabriel’s eyes flashed and Julian leaned a few inches back, probably thinking about the fact that Gabriel was able to stop the flow of blood to his heart just by thinking it. Only Rae knew Gabriel well enough to see that he was at least half-joking, and while a part of her would have been quite amused to see the conversation continue, she decided to spare Julian the terror to follow.
“Why did you set out an extra place, Mom?” she asked suddenly, directing the attention of the table to the empty bowl waiting at the head. “Who else is coming to eat with us? I think almost everyone wants to barbeque outside.”
Yep. Diversionary tactics worked every time.
All conversation and arguing instantly stopped as the group of teens turned their eyes to Beth. But before she could even answer, the door opened.
Devon shifted his chair protectively closer to Rae as Kraigan and Gabriel’s eyes moved around the room, lingering on her before swinging to the kitchen door entrance.
Andrew Carter stepped inside.
“Oh!” He looked a bit startled to see everyone staring his direction, but composed himself almost immediately and swept in to give Beth a quick kiss on the cheek. “I see I made it just in time for supper.”
Rae dropped her eyes back to her stew. She didn’t have the emotional fortitude right now to see Carter kissing her mom. In fact…she might not have the physical fortitude either.
As she dipped involuntarily towards the bowl, Devon caught her and propped her back up in her chair. “I thought you were going to be staying at Guilder, sir. To coordinate efforts?”