by W. J. May
“Okay…” she said slowly. Had everyone taken crazy pills or something? Just spit it out! “I guess we can step out after dinner—head to the barn or something. What is—”
“The thing is,” Beth flashed Carter a knowing smile, “it’s not really something we can do in the barn either. We’re going to need a little time.” She looked at her daughter’s blank expression and rolled her eyes with an indulgent smile. “I’m going to need to wear a dress…?”
All at once, it clicked.
Rae’s jaw fell to the floor as an audible gasp echoed throughout the room. Behind her, Angel whispered to Julian, “I don’t get it. Why a dress?” But everyone else was apparently on board.
“You…” Rae could hardly get the words out. “You two are going to…?”
“Yes.” This time, it was Carter who answered—giving Beth a swift kiss on the cheek before turning to Rae with an uncharacteristically carefree smile. “We’re going to get married.”
Rae felt as though she was trapped in some sort of free-fall. On the one hand, she couldn’t think of a more bizarre timing for the blessed event. But on the other…
Her face lit up with a smile just as bright as Carter’s.
On the other hand…the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
“When?” she asked, biting her lip to contain her grin.
“Right after supper, I suppose,” Carter answered. Then his eyes flashed behind her to Devon, and tightened with equally uncharacteristic nerves. “And on that note, I actually have to ask Mr. Wardell a question.”
“Me?” Devon looked up in surprise, before blanching with dread. “Sir, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I didn’t do anything—”
Carter cut him off with a chuckle.
“Devon.”
It was still so strange to hear their old boss call them by their first names.
“It’s not about anything you’ve done. It’s about something I’m hoping you’ll do…”
Chapter 11
It was the most beautiful wedding Rae had ever seen.
Everyone thought that, she supposed. Everyone thought that their special moment was the most special of them all. But she honestly couldn’t imagine a more perfect ceremony.
The music started at sunset, an old Scottish hymn sung in gentle tones, whispering out over the horizon as the sky was splashed with gold and red. The grassy path was laced with lavender and white roses. Little twinkle lights were strung up in the branches of the trees, creating a soft, almost ethereal glow.
And then there were the people there to witness it.
One of Molly’s hands clasped Luke’s, and the other was clamped over her mouth in a look of perpetually frozen excitement. Julian had his arm wrapped casually around his girlfriend, for once looking like he was happy just to be in the present. Uncle Argyle had actually gotten himself ordained online so that he could perform the ceremony, and was standing at the bottom of the aisle with his hands spread slightly apart, a huge smile on his face.
But those were all people who’d been in the family for years. In a way, it was the newer members who were perhaps the most interesting.
Both Gabriel and Angel were watching the proceedings with huge, wonder-filled eyes—looking surprised that they had even been invited. As Rae swished past them in her blue silk dress, she realized it was probably the first wedding either one of them had seen.
Which brought them to the wedding party itself.
It felt impossibly surreal, Rae thought, floating down the aisle towards the man that she herself was going to marry. They would be doing this again sometime soon. Only, then, she’d be the one in the white dress.
Devon must have been thinking the same thing, because he flashed her the smile he only saved for her, and then winked as she breezed past him and positioned herself on the other side.
Best man and Maid of honor—who would have thought? When Carter had taken Devon aside the other night to formally ask him, Rae couldn’t help but listen in with his tatù. It was one of the cutest things she’d ever heard. There was no other way to describe it. She didn’t think Carter had ever been so uncertain, and Devon had ever been so profoundly touched.
In their own way, each member of the gang was lacking a father-figure, but Devon’s history had been more volatile than most, and as such, he and Carter had developed a singular kind of bond.
To have it reaffirmed with such a beautiful request? He didn’t know what to make of it. Neither did Rae.
She then switched tatùs so she could see what was going on in the other room.
He’d agreed immediately, of course, smiling so wide that Rae could see his dimples clearly. It wasn’t until he’d started murmuring something about an impromptu bachelor party that Carter had sent him back outside.
And now, of course, that just left the bride and groom.
If Carter had looked in any way uncertain last night, he more than made up for it now. There wasn’t a trace of doubt anywhere on this face as he leaned forward in his shoes and waited to glimpse the woman he was about to marry. He had been waiting a very long time. Longer than Rae had even been alive. Longer than she could even imagine.
A random thought crossed her mind, Would Devon wait for me like this? Her gaze flitted over to Gabriel sitting beside Angel. Would I?
As the music shifted suddenly into a descant of soft violins, the wait was suddenly over.
Beth looked like some kind of angel as she floated down the aisle, clad in shimmering white. Her curls were swept up, the way they had been when she modeled the dress for the first time, and she was wearing the veil Rae had conjured pinned in her hair.
She made a small gesture to each and every person in the crowd as she walked past—a hand squeeze here, a bit of hair ruffling there, but she always kept her blue eyes forward, locked on Carter, as though the rest of the world may have simply melted away.
It wasn’t until she got to Rae that she took her eyes off him for just a split second. As she turned around to give her daughter her bouquet, she kissed her softly on the forehead, bringing a host of tears to Rae’s eyes. “I love you, sweetie,” she whispered.
Rae squeezed her hands and forced herself not to cry. “I love you, too, Mom.”
The ceremony was brief, but beautiful. Uncle Argyle had always had a way with words, and he was able to describe the blessed union in a way that made even Angel tilt her head rather dreamily to the side. Molly was full-on bawling by the end of it. Rae was just happy her uncle hadn’t fallen back on one of his infamous proverbs.
As he raised his arms and declared them man and wife, the group of friends leapt to their feet in wild applause, cheering and screaming as Carter pulled Beth in for a tender, and incredibly long, kiss.
And that was it. As suddenly as it had begun, it was already over.
“Well…what do you think? You ready to do that one day soon?” Devon put his arm around Rae as they watched the happy couple race back down the aisle to the car waiting at the end.
It had been completely decked out, right down to the diplomatic tags. In an act of supreme best man selflessness, Devon had offered to loan the honeymooners his brand new car to drive to the bed and breakfast in town. While he and Julian couldn’t quite bring themselves to paint it, they had taped up lettering and created a trail of tin cans dragging from the end so long, that Rae was sure she’d hear it from countless miles away.
“Yeah.” She squeezed his arm tighter around her, leaning back into him with a contented little sigh. “I think I could do that. I might not have my uncle perform the ceremony, but…”
Devon chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You were waiting for a proverb, weren’t you?”
“You have no idea how bad it could have gone.” She stifled a shudder, and smiled instead as her eyes gazed out over the crowd. She felt as though her heart might burst, seeing all the people she loved most in the world together in the same place at the same time.
From the over-exuberance of Mol
ly, to the quiet steadiness of Julian, to the overwhelming goodness of Luke, right down to the enigmatic hilarity of Angel and Gabriel.
They were a family, alright. For better or worse.
But even as she stood, gazing out over the breathtaking horizon, her eyes tightened with the promise of thunderclouds hovering just out of sight.
Yes, they were a family. A family that needed to be protected. War was coming, and unless she wanted the next time they were all gathered together to be at one of their funerals, they had a lot of work to do to prepare.
“Let’s head back to the house,” she murmured to Devon in a low undertone. “We need to start preparing.”
* * *
“I don’t care how much it hurts. Get it done!” Rae had gotten up before the crack of dawn, but, unlike Molly, it wasn’t to steal the first shower. There was work to be done. Plans to finalize. Training to oversee. And while the rest of the house may have been sleeping peacefully around her, she certainly didn’t let them stay that way.
The young Knight she’d been yelling at forced himself to do one more pullup before falling in a crumbled heap to the ground. “One hundred,” he gasped, cradling his trembling arms.
Rae nodded sharply. “Good. Do the whole circuit again.” She ignored his muttered protest and moved on down the row, supervising the rest of their progress. They might have left her off of the training schedule in the beginning to allow her and Devon time to complete their mission with the royals, but she had expertise to share—damn it—and it was time to whip these guys into shape. While the bulk of their exercises were going to be tatù-based, there was a physical component that was just as important. One that, Rae hated to admit it, many of the Knights were distinctly lacking.
“Come on! Pick up your feet!” she shouted, waving her hands as a group of exhausted-looking agents jogged past her through the mud.
From the time a student received their ink and gone with Privy Council training, they were taken through these drills with such merciless regularity that it almost became second-nature. The pain was ignored. The muscle cramps and shattered breathing compartmentalized until one’s task was complete. Sure, it helped to have a strength or speed tatù—something that gave you natural endurance—but she hadn’t heard Julian or even Molly complain a single time over the years.
Well… maybe Molly. But even she saved it for when no one was around and still did everything she was told.
On the one hand, Rae couldn’t exactly blame the younger kids or the Knights. The Xavier Knights had a far different training strategy and methodology than the Council. One that was rooted far more in avoidance of confrontation and reliance on one’s ink. There was nothing wrong with that, of course, but as a result some of these Knights had yet to even be in an actual fight.
For those particular agents, as well as the ones who had either defensive or strictly passive tatùs, this kind of training was imperative. And although Rae’s heart might have gone out to a few of them, on this point she was unwavering.
“You know, your commander is set to arrive here this afternoon,” she called out to the yard, where both Knights and Council agents alike were struggling to pull themselves over the grisly obstacle course she’d conjured at four in the morning. “Is this really what you want to show him?”
One of them fell to his knees and vomited on the spot.
“That’s what I want to see!” Rae cheered fiercely. “Total dedication!”
It was only a crippling fear of anything Kerrigan that kept the lines moving and the people slogging in them bitterly silent. Rae’s friends didn’t have that problem.
“Morning, babe,” Devon said carefully, walking across the lawn with Julian and Molly, to join her. His eyes flicked over the scene in the yard. “Whatcha doing?”
“So many of these people are woefully underprepared,” she muttered, her eyes darting around with Madame Elpis’ hawk-like precision, so she missed nothing. “Even our people.” As if on cue, she threw her hands up in dismay. “Really, Eric? That’s the best you’ve got?”
The PC agent flipped her off before returning to his reps.
Julian and Devon shared a quick look as Molly back silently away, mumbling something about coffee. Rae spotted her at once and dragged her back using Mallins’ telekinesis.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she warned. “Target practice. Now. Take out the group from before. Seven to noon, no exceptions. No one comes back until then.”
The pint-sized redhead folded her arms dangerously across her chest. “Excuse me?”
Rae was undaunted. “You want one of them to die because no one helped them work on their aim? You want to carry around that guilt forever? Be my guest.”
Molly’s face tightened in silent resentment, but she rolled her eyes as she headed off to round up the troops. “Jeepers! Melodramatic much? But don’t worry, Rae. I’m only pregnant.”
Rae’s eyes followed her bouncing ponytail until it vanished around the corner. Okay. That guilt thing most definitely backfired. “And you,” she whirled around on Julian, “training. Now. Go!”
His face blanked and he followed her gaze to the obstacle course, before turning back with surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. I know you can do it already, but that’s the point. They’re losing hope out there. They need to see it can actually be done.”
“…I recently broke my arm, you know.”
“NOW, Jules!”
He raised his eyebrows, but backed away without another word. “Good luck, Devon,” he whispered loudly as he departed. “You’re in for a lifetime of this.”
“Yeah? Well your girlfriend is already out here, my friend,” Rae shot back, ignoring his teasing grin. “She got up at five to help me set up. Take that, slacker.”
Julian chuckled and trotted off across the yard, tying back his long hair in a ponytail as he ran. There was a strong likelihood no one had ever called him a slacker before.
When Rae turned back Devon was watching her closely, trying very hard to stifle a smile. “So this it, huh? This is really how you’re going to play it?”
She never took her eyes off the field. “Hey, I let you guys sleep in, didn’t I? That’s all the special treatment you’re going to get. Now go! Hand-to-hand. Take Ellie and her people.”
He flashed her a crooked smile and jogged off with a comical salute. “Yes, drill sergeant!”
“And no ink, Devon!” she called after his back. “We’re doing this the old-fashioned way. All tatù training starts later today.”
When he was gone, she rotated in a slow circle, taking in the scene with grim satisfaction. Like it or not, they were getting better. Not at a pace near fast enough to assuage her prickling nerves, but still. And unofficially they had elected her and her friends in charge. So she was responsible.
She watched a Knight flip a stunned PC agent to the ground with a small smile.
She could really get used to this. This whole leader thing. What was that phrase Uncle Argyle was always saying? With great power came great responsibility? No, that was from Star Wars, wasn’t it? Or maybe Spider Man? She snorted… hadn’t Lanford said something like that to her as well? He was probably trying to brainwash her to the other side. Actually, she was pretty sure Winston Churchill had said it.
Either way—the words struck home.
This was her responsibility, and she was going to treat it with the ultimate respect. In fact, maybe she should consider conjuring herself a whistle…
“Hey!”
She turned around with a start to see Luke jogging towards her, covered head to toe in mud and sweat, but still managing to look rather magnificent at the same time. Much to her surprise this morning, he had met her and Angel outside at around five to start laying out a tentative schedule for the day. Whether it was nerves that his father would be arriving later that day, or just an overwhelming need to overcompensate for the fact that he was one of the few people here without ink, Rae would never know
. To be honest, at this point she didn’t remotely care. The guy was an invaluable asset, no matter which way you looked at it. He’d spent the rest of the morning beating the hell out of agents with a lot more firepower and a lot more experience than him, always giving them an encouraging hand up and patiently explaining what it was they did wrong.
She’d actually be very interested to see how he would fare against someone like Devon—as long as Devon wasn’t using his tatù. Or perhaps more realistically, as ink wasn’t really something you could just turn off and on, how he would fare against Gabriel. He was the best natural fighter Rae had ever seen. Gabriel and Luke had become her automatic go-to for any kind of combat training. Not only because they were truly spectacular to watch in action, but because of the example they inherently provided.
Luke was un-inked, and Gabriel’s ink didn’t give him enhanced fighting capabilities. It was all natural, all acquired skill. It was her hope that seeing two such brilliant inspirations would help encourage the rest of them to go out and attempt to acquire the same.
Of course, they were playing with live ammo here. And these things did come at a cost.
“We think that girl Megan might have dislocated her wrist, so I’m having Blake and the other guy, the one with the bad hair, take her in to see Alicia.”
Rae nodded, automatically knowing exactly who he was talking about. “What about the rest of them? And what about you?” she asked as an afterthought, looking him up and down. There didn’t seem to be a single inch of him that wasn’t covered with either bruises or mud.
He flashed her a wide grin, shaking out his dirty blond hair. “I’m good. We’re all good. In fact, if you want to bump up the schedule a little, I think the ones with offensive tatùs are probably about ready to be sent over to Devon for the enhanced training session.”
Rae snorted and they shared a quick smile.
Enhanced training. That was one way of looking at it. To anyone who didn’t know about tatùs or just wasn’t familiar with the PC’s rather overenthusiastic way of doing things, the way Devon was working with his group looked downright absurd.