by W. J. May
“She’s already answered the Council’s questions,” Jason said angrily, pushing his way through the agents to stand by her side. “The president himself cleared her.”
Maize chuckled under his breath, as if the boy’s defiance amused him. “The president cleared his granddaughter,” he clarified. “He then told us to complete a thorough investigation. That’s exactly what this is. We’re covering all the bases. Tying up loose ends.”
Lily shook her head darkly, eyes burning with rage. “And what do you hope to gain by doing this?” she asked quietly. “The leader of your own agency is against you. There is no endgame here. Even if you win—you lose.”
Windall leaned down, bringing himself even with her eyes. “Sometimes it’s not about winning or losing, little girl. It’s about proving a simple point.”
She clenched her teeth, staring back without a hint of fear. “And that point is?”
“That the Privy Council isn’t a family business,” Maize said briskly. “It’s an international intelligence agency and it’s time it starting acting like one. Grandfathers should not have the legal authority to clear their grandchildren. Mothers should not have the authority to clear their sons. If this were any other case it would have been an open and shut investigation, but because it involves the five of you...” His eyes sparked with anticipation. “Well, let’s just say that ends tonight.”
He took a step closer and Aria found herself genuinely terrified as to what was going to happen next. It wasn’t like she could fight him; it wasn’t like she could run. And after breaking into the library to read a mountain of classified case files, she had a keen understanding of exactly what happened to the suspects of an open investigation if the interrogation didn’t go their way.
“You can’t force me to say anything,” she blurted, taking an instinctual step back. “Not without one of my parents present. I’ll help you out and give them a call—”
The phone was snatched out of her hand before she had a chance to push the first button.
“There’s no need for parental representation,” Maize said with a smile, crushing the metal in his bare hands. “You’re over eighteen. The only ones we’d have a problem interrogating would be Miss Decker and Mr. Wardell—and they happened to be the only ones not present that night.”
Aria shrank back a step further, feeling Jason stiffen by her side. The agents had chosen their moment perfectly—they were caught between the cottages and the school. No hope of intervention, no chance of anyone stumbling upon them to witness the blessed event.
“So you won’t be interrogating me?” James asked boldly, eyes flashing around the circle. He was just as tall as most of the men standing around him, but less bulky—with a youthful, almost boyish frame. “In that case—I’ll just head back to my dorm.” His voice sharpened angrily. “Or maybe...maybe I’ll go visit my grandpa instead. See what he has to say about all this.”
“Carter isn’t here,” Windall answered with a smile. “Neither is Tristan. Neither is Luke. If I’m not mistaken, your Uncle Gabriel has vacated the premises as well.”
Aria glanced instinctively at the main gate, hoping for a last-minute rescue, only to see it tilted slightly off its hinges. The air shimmered where there was a break in the force-field, just a crack, but she was positive it had never looked like that before.
“Why is—”
“Fine,” James backed away towards Joist, grabbing Lily by the wrist, “then we’ll just go inside and get some dinner. That shouldn’t be a problem, since you have no technical reason to keep us here—”
Two more agents sprang out of the darkness, catching them in the blink of an eye. Aria let out a furious cry, but it was too late. Before they could even struggle, they were lifted so the tips of their toes were barely touching the ground and their arms were pinned firmly behind their backs.
“—no reason except to prevent you from obstructing justice,” Maize finished. “You think I don’t know the two of you would go straight to the faculty lounge and sound the alarm, run to the Oratory and drag out whoever you could find?”
“Why do you care?” Lily hissed, straining against the hands that imprisoned her. “If you’re just following Carter’s orders, if your motives are so pure—why do you care who sees you do it?”
Maize paused, shot a quick look at his partner, then turned back with a smile. “For a second, I almost forgot who your father is. You sound just like him.”
Her dark eyes flashed as her hands balled into fists. “You know my father? Then you should know he’s going to kick your a—”
A gag was procured from nowhere and shoved roughly into her mouth. The second James tried to protest, he was gagged as well. But the aftershocks didn’t stop there.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Benji shouted, eyes flashing a dangerous shade of blue. “Let them go! You said it yourself, they’re not even a part of the investigation!”
“They are impeding it,” Windall said calmly. “As you are dangerously close to doing yourself.” He eyed the ripples of electricity moving up and down the boy’s arms—his own fingers twitching restlessly against his thighs. “Just give me a reason, kid...”
But Benji was beyond reason. The sight of his two friends, bound and gagged, combined with Sofia’s collapse and his own soon-to-be forced confession, had pushed him over the edge.
“This is insane!” he yelled. “They’re not impeding anything and there’s no reason to gag them!” He jabbed a finger at James. “He’s thirteen years old! You really want to—”
But at that moment, Benji froze where he stood.
His lips parted with a silent gasp as he stared down at the little tears opening all over his skin. It was like he’d been caught in some kind of invisible net and it was dragging him backwards.
“I wouldn’t fight it,” Maize advised, looking almost bored—as if he’d seen the routine many times before. “It’ll only hurt more.”
There was another gasp and Benji took a deliberate step back—catching his breath as the twisted magic slowly released him. When it finally stopped, he was shivering.
“We didn’t do anything to Professor Dorf,” Aria said quickly, desperate to stop things before they could escalate even further. “And we didn’t see anything either. We liked the guy. We have absolutely no reason in the world to lie about this.”
Maize tore his eyes away from Benji.
“Then you have absolutely nothing to fear.” He pulled a tiny glass vial from the pocket of his jacket, giving it a little shake. “We might not have anyone with your Aunt Natasha’s skill in manipulating memory, but the Privy Council has ways of getting people to talk.”
Aria paled white as a sheet, staring at the liquid splashing around inside.
“Just a few drops and you’ll be spilling your darkest secrets,” Maize continued softly, lowering his voice even further as he stared down at her with a smile. “And I see no reason to limit the conversation to the night of the murder. With your particular family connections, I’m sure you’ll have lots of interesting things to say—”
“Like what?”
The agents whirled around as a lone figure walked out of the shadows.
A sudden silence descended upon the clearing, as if everyone standing there had forgotten how to breathe. The tension was overwhelming, but the woman didn’t seem to mind. She continued approaching at a measured pace, billows of white hair catching the light of the rising moon.
“Aunt Angel,” Aria gasped, “these men were just—”
Angel held up her hand. She’d taken full stock of the situation the moment she arrived, but her eyes would travel no further than her sixteen-year-old daughter. And the gag in her mouth.
“Miss Cross,” Maize stammered, turning an ashen shade of grey. Like Aria’s own mother, people often forgot Angel’s married name in times of panic and reverted back to old monikers instead. “I wasn’t...we weren’t expecting to see you on campus tonight.”
She didn’t answe
r. She stared at him instead.
“Conner, release the girl at once,” he continued, waving his hand as if these sorts of mix-ups happened all the time. “And the boy as well. There’s no need for all of that.”
Lily and James were let go the same instant. Their feet crashed to the ground, and their hands flew up to remove the gags from their mouths. The second she was free Lily stepped compulsively towards her mother, turning back to the man who’d given the order.
She walked right up in front of him, then placed the gag back in his hand. “This belongs to you.”
Without another word, the rest of the children melted into the spaces left between the men and went to stand behind Angel. Just a single woman in a trench coat versus eight heavily-armed agents, but there wasn’t a doubt in the world as to what exactly that woman could do.
Her face never changed as each one filed past. Her eyes never left Maize. But there was a comfort in the mere proximity, as if a life-raft had dropped down from the sky. Finally, when the only one remaining was Aria, she moved forward—taking the glass vial from his hand.
“And I thought they banned this.”
The words were soft, no emotion whatsoever behind them, but the man looked like he’d taken a bullet to the chest. He floundered a moment, then made the extreme mistake of trying to rally.
“Not for use in official interrogations,” he stammered, trying to remember the exact line. “In an active investigation, the prosecuting party may use whatever means necessary to—”
“That’s what this is?” she asked quietly. “An official interrogation? With no record, no warrant, no witnesses? Just five teenagers in the middle of the lawn?”
The man fell silent, unable to speak.
“Kids...go inside.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. Without a backwards glance they left the entire terrifying scene behind them, racing into the darkness before they could hear the screams.
THE NEAREST BUILDING was the cafeteria, but none of them had the slightest appetite. For once, it had nothing to do with the smells wafting out of the building. Most of them simply couldn’t stop shivering. Benji kept lifting a hand to his chest.
“Wait a second,” Aria voiced, pulling them to a stop behind one of the towers. The temperature had dropped dramatically since they’d left Dorian’s. The night had already begun to rain. “I know this is going to sound crazy, and I know you guys just want to get inside...but the gate is open.”
Four faces went simultaneously blank.
“...the gate?” Jason finally managed, shaking his head. “Why do you care about the—”
“We know for a fact that someone’s after Dorian,” she interrupted. “Every agent who’d supposed to be on duty is getting beaten to death by Lily’s mom. There is no one on patrol right now and...and the freaking gate is open!”
The others stared at her for a moment before Benji shook his head.
“No, I’m not doing this.”
“Ben—”
“How many more close calls do you want?” he interrupted. “They almost made you drink that stuff, Arie. Right there on the lawn. You’d be spilling your guts right now about everything. About Alexander, about...”
“...about Sofia?” she finished caustically.
He shot her a glare, streams of water dripping down his face.
“I’d go with you anywhere. I’d see you through anything. But we need to get inside right now. Chances are Aunt Angel’s the one who left the gate open.”
“He’s right,” Jason said quietly, not quite meeting her gaze. “We need to leave, Arie.”
Her eyes flew from one to the next, finding no help.
“I don’t believe this,” she cried. “You’re going to make me go by myself?”
“I’ll go with you.”
She looked up in surprise as the others turned to James. Unlike the others, he hadn’t brought a jacket to training and was shivering violently in the cold. But he made a concerted effort to stop when he saw them looking, drawing himself up to his full height.
“We’ll check it out together,” he said casually, “then head back to the dorms.”
Their eyes met for a suspended moment as brother and sister shared a rare smile.
“Perfect,” Aria said briskly, clapping her hands. “That settles it.”
“No, it doesn’t—” Benji began sharply.
“Get out of the rain. Take a hot shower.” She flashed James another grin and gestured out to the dark. “We’ll take care of this.”
“Oh yeah?” Lily asked softly. “Just you and your baby brother? You’re going to drag him off on the latest misadventure after he’s just been caught and gagged by agents on the school lawn?”
The excitement faded in Aria’s eyes before dying completely as she looked at James. There he was, wet and shivering, and willing to follow his older sister to the ends of the earth. But should she take him there? On a whim? On a night as dangerous as this?
“You’re right,” she said quietly, bowing her head, “we should get inside.”
Benji threw up his hands.
“Finally, she sees reason.”
“But we’re going out to check it first thing in the morning,” she retorted. “Even before our first classes, so you guys better not be planning on sleeping in—”
“Lily?”
The girl had frozen right in front of them, one hand still lifted towards the door. Unlike the rest of them, she no longer seemed to notice the temperature. She no longer seemed to notice much of anything. Her head was titled to the side and a trickle of rain was running into her ear.
“Lily,” Jason said again, circling around in front of her. Whatever he saw must have scared him, because his voice jumped an octave when he cried, “You guys—”
There was a sudden gasp as she stumbled forward, falling into his arms. Her fingers were twitching with strange rhythmic gestures, and a cloudy film was just clearing from her eyes.
“Honey.” He lowered her gently, cupping a hand over her forehead to shield it from the rain. “Are you all right? What just happened?”
She blinked in disorientation, unable to believe what she’d seen. “...I just had a vision.”
Aria fell to her knees beside them, mouth falling open in surprise.
“You did?” she gasped, looking down at the girl’s twitching hand.
She’s drawing, she realized. She’s trying to draw it out.
“What was it?” Benji asked incredulously, kneeling on the other side. “Was it about me?”
Typical Benjamin.
Lily took another second to get her bearings, then shook her head.
“No...it wasn’t about you at all. We’ve got to get to Dorian’s.”
All eyes flashed across the lawn before returning to the girl trembling on the ground.
“Why?” Aria said sharply. “Why do we need to go?”
Lily stared up at her, eyes wide with fright. “Because someone’s about to die.”
THE END
GRAB BOOK 4 – Playing With Power
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU wish for...
When Aria and her friends get a dangerous vision, they have only moments to act. A life is in danger and they find themselves caught up in the kind of adventure they've always wanted.
But things aren't always what they seem.
A split-second decision and a surprise invitation change everything, as the gang's lives are turned suddenly upside-down. They struggle to adjust to their new reality, but find that some ties are harder to break than others.
Some ties should never have been made in the first place.
Some ties can't be broken at all...
The Kerrigan Kids Series
Book 1 - School of Potential
Book 2 - Myths & Magic
Book 3 - Kith & Kin
Book 4 - Playing With Power
Book 5 - Line of Ancestry
Book 6 - Descent of Hope
Book 7 – Illusion of Shadows
Book 8 – Frozen by the Future
Book 9 – Guilt of My Past
Book 10 – Demise of Magic
Book 11- Rise of the Prophecy
Book 12 – Deafened by the Past
Find W.J. May
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The Chronicles of Kerrigan
Book I - Rae of Hope is FREE!
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU
Book II - Dark Nebula
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca24STi_bFM
Book III - House of Cards
Book IV - Royal Tea
Book V - Under Fire
Book VI - End in Sight
Book VII – Hidden Darkness
Book VIII – Twisted Together
Book IX – Mark of Fate
Book X – Strength & Power
Book XI – Last One Standing
BOOK XII – Rae of Light
PREQUEL –
Christmas Before the Magic
Question the Darkness
Into the Darkness
Fight the Darkness
Alone the Darkness
Lost the Darkness
SEQUEL –
Matter of Time
Time Piece
Second Chance
Glitch in Time
Out Time
Precious Time
The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel
Living in the Past
Present for Today