The Kerrigan Kids Box Set Books #1-3

by W. J. May

  She snorted with laughter, keeping her eyes on the fight.

  There had been several memorable moments over the last few days—but none where she’d feel comfortable placing bets. You simply never knew what was going to happen until you set foot inside the ring. You never knew what your opponent was going to bring to the table.

  “Move your feet, Lily,” Dorian commanded, guiding them through the motions with the skill of a seasoned general. “Jason—extend your arm. Yes, that’s much better.”

  Their progress had surged and waned, but the one thing that had remained consistent was Dorian. Less than a month he’d been at the school, but already Aria didn’t know how they’d ever lived without him. He could be stern as Commander Fodder one minute, then playful the next. At no point did she ever feel like they were in real danger under his watchful eyes, and yet there was a sense of risk about everything they were doing. The thrill of untapped potential they’d yet to unlock.

  At last, when Jason and Lily had battled long enough, Aria switched into her uncle’s metal-manipulation tatù and flicked her fingers. Wrenching the blades out of their hands and into the sky.

  “Enough,” she said bluntly. “My turn.”

  Dorian chuckled as the others looked over in surprise. Needless to say, adrenaline had won out over caution and each of the friends was dying to try it themselves.

  “Apologies,” James said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. “My sister never learned to share.”

  Lily and Jason stalked over to her, demanding that she lower the swords back into reach. But Dorian had already snapped his fingers, gesturing Aria and Sofia to the ring.

  Finally.

  The blades dropped into the girls’ hands as they began moving in a slow circle, watching each other carefully to see who would make the first move. In the beginning, Aria hadn’t liked being paired with the shifters. Not that she particularly minded them anymore—Alexander was still an ass, and Eric most definitely had some troll blood—it’s just that she didn’t know them. Didn’t know the way they thought, couldn’t predict their movements.

  In the beginning she’d hated it. Now she appreciated that about them.

  It made things more of a challenge.

  “Anytime, Aria.” Sofia gave the blade a quick twirl, placing one foot carefully in front of the other. “Unless you’d like to forfeit now.”

  There was a chuckle from the sidelines and even Aria had to smile.

  When they’d first met, she’d written the girl off as impossibly shy. But there was grit buried just underneath that demanded admiration, along with a wicked sense of humor.

  “I’m just deciding where to hit you first.” Aria lifted her blade between them like a paintbrush, tilting her head to the side as she considered. “The left arm...or the right?”

  “Girls—”

  “You don’t need the left arm much as a tiger, do you?” she asked innocently. “I mean, you have three others to spare.”

  “Girls,” Dorian said again, fighting back a smile. “Much as I enjoy the posturing, you are in fact here to train. That involves a little more movement than just your mouths.”

  Aria looked at him seriously. “Sarcasm and intimidation are a crucial part of my battle strategy.”

  His eyebrow cocked with sarcasm as he nodded in reply. “Is another part losing?”

  What—

  Before she could see what was happening, Sofia had flipped her to the ground. All the air rushed out of her, but before she could suck in a breath the tip of the blade pressed into her throat.

  She blinked up in surprise, ignoring the wild cheering from her friends. “I wasn’t ready.”

  Sofia offered a hand, looking decidedly smug. “First mistake.”

  Even Aria had to grin as she ignored the hand and pushed defiantly to her feet. It wasn’t in her nature to accept such things gracefully, but she had to admit the girl was a worthy opponent. One who needed to be cut down to size. With a flick of her telekinetic fingers, she summoned her fallen blade off the grass. But the second it reached her hand, she switched into a very different set of ink.

  You want to fight as a shifter? Nothing faster than a cheetah...

  In a blur of speed, she whipped around—slicing the sword through the air behind her. Only a shifter’s reflexes allowed Sofia to jump back in time, but even then she didn’t escape completely unscathed. The second their blades touched hers flew backwards, vibrating with impossible speed.

  “Okay...I wasn’t ready for that,” she said ruefully, making her way to retrieve it.

  Aria shrugged with a cocky smile. “First mistake.”

  Jason gave her a secret wink as Sofia joined her back in the ring.

  “Oh—that was a mistake, was it?” She ducked the first swing Aria levelled at her and countered with one of her own. “Am I supposed to regularly anticipate something like that? How many people in the world can switch between sets of ink?”

  “At least two,” Aria said conversationally, levitating over her head in a supernatural flip before switching back to the cheetah when she touched ground. “But rest assured, our children can start a blood-feud and continue the fighting for years to come.”

  Sofia let out a laugh, but Dorian held up his hand.

  “No extra powers, Arie. If you weren’t sparring with a shifter, I’d say no powers at all.”

  The girls continued battling as Lily peered up at him.

  “Why not?” she asked curiously. “Is it just because of tatù inhibitors? That someday we might find ourselves in a situation where our ink doesn’t work?”

  “That’s a small part of it,” Dorian answered. “But the simple answer is that if you’re going to fight, you need to know how to fight. You need to be able to do it in your sleep, with one hand tied behind your back, with or without your powers. You can’t rely on magic to save you. This stuff has to sink deep into your bones. It’s the only way you win.”

  She nodded thoughtfully as James stared out at the fight with a bright smile. As the only person not guaranteed to ever have ink, he was thrilled by the notion that it might not necessarily be required. Benji glanced between the boy and the battle with a faint smile.

  “But some of us can’t turn it off.”

  He might not technically have been a shifter, but as someone who’d received the traits of a specific predator he was in exactly the same boat.

  “No, you can’t,” Dorian agreed, eyes still on the battle. “And that’s why I’m allowing Aria to use a tatù for this as well. Although...I don’t think she picked a tiger.”

  There was another blur of speed, then Sofia was lying on her back. The ground cratered beneath her shoulders before she pushed to her feet with a painful grimace.

  “Okay,” she panted, “did I mention I was sorry for disarming you in the first round?”

  “You’re right,” Jason stated, chuckling under his breath, “that was definitely faster than a tiger.”

  Faster, but not stronger.

  The shifter maybe have acknowledged a momentary defeat, but she came back with a vengeance. No sooner had Dorian clapped that they should begin than she went tearing forward, dodging the swing of Aria’s blade before full-on tackling her to the ground.

  Jason lifted his eyebrows slowly, watching them roll around in the grass, while Alexander stifled a grin. Only Benji was unamused, planting his hands on his hips with a scowl.

  “Arie, if you’re going to spar with my ink—at least don’t lose. It’s embarrassing.”

  She managed a single glare before Sofia shoved her face into the ground. When she arose, spitting out a mouthful of grass in the most dignified way she could muster, she decided that blood-feud was going to start a little sooner than scheduled.

  This time, she didn’t wait for the clap. Faster than sight she flew off the ground, grabbing her sword in the same motion. Sofia spun around to meet her head-on, but the shifter wasn’t fast enough. No sooner had she turned than Aria was standing behind her—kicking ou
t her knees and felling her to the grass. A blade appeared at her throat. The match was called.

  “Well done!” Dorian applauded, motioning for the girls to rise to their feet.

  They did so with varying degrees of difficulty, grinning proudly as the rest of the friends applauded and cheered. It was nearing the end of hour four, and both were completely exhausted. If it weren’t for the fact that Aria still had bits of grass in her mouth, she would have blacked out on the spot. As it stood, she lifted her hands proudly. Shoving Sofia when she tried to do the same.

  “Nice,” the shifter laughed. “Really classy.”

  Aria spat out a blade of grass.

  Sofia laughed again, taking a second to catch her breath. She gave the blade a playful twirl, then paused and took another second. And another second after that.

  The smile slowly faded from Aria’s face.

  “...Sofia?”

  Benji pushed past before she could even finish asking the question, forgetting they had an audience and placing a hand on the shifter’s back.

  “It’s all right,” he murmured, steadying her gently. “Just breathe.”

  The others stared in confusion as she swayed dizzily, bringing a trembling hand to her face.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled, though she didn’t look it. A second later, she dropped the blade to the grass. “Really, it’s just—”

  “Let go.” Alexander streaked forward from the sidelines, silently fuming as he took his sister from Benji’s arms. “I got it.”

  Without another word he stepped between them, discreetly blocking her from view as he made a quick assessment. In the short time they’d been standing there her pulse had slackened, her breathing had sky-rocketed, and every speck of color had vanished from her cheeks.

  He murmured a few words, she shook her head. Then, almost too fast to notice, he took a tiny syringe from his inner jacket pocket and pressed it covertly into the crook of her arm.

  Her breathing slowed. Her eyes began to focus.

  “That’s it,” he murmured, holding her by the upper arms. “Deep breaths.”

  Dorian was standing just a few feet behind them, watching the exchange in a state of frozen astonishment. The entire thing had happened so quickly, he was still getting over the shock of it when Alexander glanced over his shoulder—gesturing to the school.

  “I think I’ll take her back to the dorms, if that’s okay.”

  The teacher stared at them for an incredulous moment before nodding quickly. “Yes, of course. Anything you need.” His eyes tightened with concern as Alexander lifted his sister effortlessly into the air. “Sofia, I’m so sorry if we pushed too hard—”

  “Not at all,” Alexander cut in smoothly. “This was great. Thank you,” he added abruptly, “for inviting us. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Dorian nodded again, watching with a troubled expression as they started heading across the grass. Eric automatically lumbered to their side, and to Aria’s surprise so did Benji. He might have been banned from actually carrying Sofia, but that did nothing to stop him from hovering.

  “He’s right, you’ll be fine,” he murmured under his breath, stroking her dark hair with a reassuring smile. “We’ll just get you to the dorms and—”

  “Get back,” Alexander snapped, jerking sharply, knocking his hand away. “You’re not a part of this.”

  Benji froze like the man had shocked him, watching as they walked away. His bright eyes shone with concern, but there was very little he could do. A moment later he rejoined the group.

  “Well that, uh...was certainly unexpected.” Dorian floundered in confusion, trying to think of something to say. “I don’t suppose any of you know what’s the matter?”

  His eyes flashed automatically to Benji, but the boy shook his head much too quickly to be believable—convincing Aria at once that he did know. The rest of them were honestly in the dark, and she was about to make up an excuse on the girl’s behalf, when Jason jumped in suddenly.

  “I think she’s just under the weather.” The eyes of the group fell on him, but he gave a casual shrug. “This morning she thought she was coming down with the flu.”

  Dorian nodded slowly, in no way fooled, while Aria stared at her new boyfriend in shock.

  He knows! I’m not sure how...but he definitely knows!

  She couldn’t imagine how it had happened. Not unless Benji had found out and told Jason about it himself. But for some reason, she didn’t think that was the case. In fact, she had a sneaking suspicion that Jason had known the shifters’ story before all the rest of them...

  “Well, maybe it’s best that we call it a day,” Dorian said with forced lightness. “They’ll be serving dinner soon, and the last thing you want is for some PC agent to catch you out of bed.”

  “Why not?” James asked with a grin. “We could put on a little demonstration.”

  He either didn’t care about Sofia or had bought the flu story completely. Either way he’d already moved on in his head, twirling a bow staff while staring wistfully at the Oratory.

  “Maybe they’ll be so impressed, they’ll offer a job.”

  The others chuckled, packing weapons back into the chest. But Dorian had gone very still, staring at the remaining teenagers with a peculiar expression on his face.

  “And that’s something you all want?”

  “Are you kidding?” Aria exclaimed. “Joining the PC...that’s everything.”

  With no further prompting, the five friends launched into a spirited discussion of how life would change once they were finally invited inside those hallowed doors. Of course, the entire thing was rife with speculation and hypotheticals, but that did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm as the conversation soared to greater and greater heights. The missions they would have, the places they would go, the things they’d finally be allowed to do with their powers.

  That, in particular, was a source of particular excitement.

  “It’s already starting,” Aria said importantly, “even without training. In the woods that night, Jase—you were glowing. There’s no telling what might have happened if you hadn’t been...” She wisely chose to switch the subject. “And Benji, your eyes? I’ve never seen them light up like that.”

  “That was pretty damn impressive,” Jason agreed appreciatively, throwing his friend a quick grin. “To be honest, you reminded me of your mom.”

  In their world, there was no bigger compliment. But Benji was too distracted to hear it. He nodded absentmindedly, still shooting worried looks at the dorms.

  “Yeah, I know. I’ve been trying to recreate it, but so far no luck. Maybe I just need...” He caught himself just like Aria, flashing a faint grin. “...to be really motivated.”

  Lily rolled her eyes, while James masked his laughter in his sleeve.

  Nothing says motivation like fighting off a bloodthirsty tiger.

  “And that’s all without formal training,” Aria insisted, circling back to the point. “Just imagine what it’s going to be like once we’ve been assigned someone to help.”

  Dorian frowned ever so slightly, glancing at Jason. “Your dad didn’t have formal training.”

  “He’s had it since,” Jason answered, dumping an armful of daggers into the chest, “and he loved it. Couldn’t stop talking about all these things he’d missed. Different styles and techniques. The fundamentals—”

  “—of a proper education,” all the children finished in unison.

  They’d heard the same speech from their own parents many times before.

  Dorian watched them a second longer, quiet understanding flickering in his eyes.

  “You really want all that, don’t you?” he asked softly.

  Lily flashed a bright smile. “Of course we do. Why wouldn’t we?”

  Dorian just shook his head and waved them off. “You kids get back inside, I’ll finish up here.”

  “Are you sure?” James asked in surprise. “We can help clean up.”

  “Don’t worry
about it. Get some dinner. And some rest.”

  They dropped what they were holding and headed back to the dorms, still buzzing with adrenaline over the events of the day. Halfway there, Aria glanced over her shoulder.

  “Same time tomorrow?”

  Dorian stared a moment, then inclined his head. “Same time.”

  With that the friends traipsed happily across the grass as the sun slipped quietly behind the trees, having no idea what other adventures the night had in store...

  IT HAPPENED ALMOST immediately, the second they were out of sight. One moment, the friends were heading up to the cafeteria, congratulating themselves for being on time for once and wondering if their classmates would notice all the blood. The next, they were surrounded.

  “Good evening.”

  Aria froze in her tracks as a pair of men materialized right in front of her. Dark clothes, regulation weapons, and the same smirking faces she’d had the honor of seeing before.

  Oh, crap.

  She was still in the cheetah tatù, but before she could even say a word four more agents appeared behind her, cutting her off from the rest of her friends. A panicked breath caught in her chest as all that confidence she’d been building during training vanished.

  “What-what is this?”

  Maize took a step closer, smiling down with a look of hungry anticipation in his eyes. “This, my dear, is called a murder investigation. I’m not surprised you don’t recognize it, given that we haven’t been allowed to actually investigate. Even though you were the only person present at the time of a violent crime, we’ve yet to even interrogate you...until now.”

  Her breathing hitched as a sudden chill ran down her spine.

  While she might not have had anything to do with Professor Dorf’s murder, she’d certainly done many things since then she was sure the stern hand of the Privy Council wouldn’t allow. And it wasn’t just her secrets she’d be spilling. It was the secrets of every single one of her friends. If it wasn’t their covert training sessions after school, or the midnight fiasco that had started them, it was the knowledge that Alexander Hastings had almost ripped a fellow student in half.

  The boy was of legal age and an outsider. He would not receive a trial. He would disappear.