by W. J. May
But then came the day of the trial.
Rae hadn’t seen Samantha until the very end, but she was sure that she’d been there the whole time. Listening. Watching. Waiting to see what would happen.
In her eyes, it must have looked like everything was going according to plan. Rae travelled back into her father’s past. Confirmed that everything the witnesses had said about him was absolutely true. Declared that he was guilty beyond any shred of doubt.
But then, that age old question came back to bite them all in the ass.
Death, or life in prison?
Rae advocated for life. A life barred from the rest of society. A life spent caged where he could sit and forever reflect upon the horrors of what he’d done. But it was life nonetheless.
After that?
…They all knew what happened after that.
“So, it was never about us. It was always about my dad.”
Both Gabriel and Angel looked cold and unmoved, but graciously kept their thoughts to themselves. The rest of them, however, were piecing things together with that same dawning realization that Rae was feeling.
“I guess that makes sense,” Devon finally admitted, automatically muting his phone as it buzzed against his hip. “Even if she is a little young to have so much of a personal vendetta. What doesn’t make sense is why we can’t seem to find her in any of these files.” He shoved the pile in front of him, toppling it over in frustration. “She obviously has ink, and she’s the right age. She’s not a Knight, so why the hell wouldn’t she be at Guilder?”
“Maybe because she has too much ink.”
The group turned as one to look at Luke. He was propped up against the wall, a book in his lap and his feet on the table. He hadn’t said much since their little run-in with Madame Elpis outside, but that was his habit. When Luke spoke, he liked to make it count.
“You guys remember Benjamin Eeks? The guy with the power of persuasion back at the Abbey?” The others nodded, and Luke continued carefully. “I’ve known Ben my entire life. We grew up training together. His ink was strong, but there was a breaking point to it as well. As long as you focused with complete attention—there was a way to beat it. Not like this girl.” A belated shudder ran through his shoulders.
A shudder that all of them shared.
Luke continued, “But Samantha’s ink is different in other ways, too. Training at the Abbey is a lot like the training you guys did back at the Oratory. We all spar against each other. Ben used his power on me many, many times.” He closed the book and leaned forward. “In all those times, I never—not once—heard his voice inside my head.”
A profound silence followed this remark. A silence that seemed to grow all the heavier the longer they let it stay.
“So, you’re saying she’s a hybrid.” By now, Rae didn’t even phrase it as a question. They all knew it was true.
It explained why she wasn’t at Guilder, why she’d stayed off the supernatural radar. It also explained why not a single person on campus that day was able to resist her deadly charms.
The power of persuasion was bad enough when it was whispered in your ear. Fighting off a voice that was inside your mind—that was a different thing entirely.
And the fact that they were dealing with a dangerously disgruntled kid…?
Rae slowly pushed her chair away from the table, her eyes locked on the piles of books. “Things just got a whole lot more complicated.”
The others murmured their agreement, but Angel tossed back her long hair.
“Complicated, yes. But not unclear.” Her sapphire eyes flashed as she turned to her brother, who was already nodding in the corner. “We still know what we have to do.”
“We have to find her,” Gabriel finished. “She must be stopped.”
Rae stifled a sigh as she looked at them.
Forever at the ready. Eyes dilated and focused. Hands always a second away from reaching for the weapons stashed inside their coats.
…and Cromfield’s influence lives on.
Molly apparently thought so, too, although she was much more vocal with her opinion. “I’m sorry if the rest of us need a minute.” She glared, visibly chafing at the idea of tracking down a sixteen-year-old girl. “I forgot that this must be old hat for you.”
Angel cocked her head to the side. “Old hat?”
“You know…tracking down hybrids. Putting them in the ground.”
“Molly,” Julian chided sharply.
“What?” She looked around indignantly. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. This girl is just a freaking kid. A kid with immense power and a giant chip on her shoulder. But I mean, look at the people right here in this room! Are any of us in a position to hold that against her?”
“We are when she tries to make us kill the people we love,” Devon murmured.
“She’s sixteen, Devon.”
“Sixteen and impossibly dangerous,” Gabriel replied unfeelingly. “If you’re finding yourself a bit squeamish, what with the baby, then rest assured. The rest of us will do what has to be done.”
“Gabriel,” Julian chided just as sharply.
Molly slowly got to her feet, her fingers crackling with pent-up energy and sparks. “You’re really going to bring my unborn child into this, Alden?” Her voice was surprisingly flat as she stared him down. “You really think that’s a good idea?”
“Guys! Come on!” Julian got to his feet as well, standing in between them. His eyes flashed intermittently white, checking to see how far the fight would go. “This isn’t helping.”
“Tell him that,” Molly hissed.
“I just did, Skye. Now sit down.”
“Jules is right.” Rae slapped her hands on the table, raising her voice to be heard above the clamor. “If there’s one thing we learned today, it’s that we’re going to have to stick together if we want to have any chance of beating this thing. We’re stronger united, weaker apart.”
Angel snorted, whipping out her phone. “I think I read that on a t-shirt somewhere—”
“Would you put that damn thing away!”
A bolt of electricity fired through the air, zapping the mobile into oblivion.
“HEY!”
All eyes turned at once to Molly, but she lifted her hands innocently above her head.
It was Rae who lowered her smoking fingers back to her side, fixing Angel in a steady glare. “We don’t have time for your indifference or your games.” She was on her feet, depressingly aware that little lines were forming throughout the room. Spider-webbing and splintering the friends onto different sides. Fracturing them in ways she was terrified would splinter them apart forever. “This is exactly what Samantha wants. It’s exactly why she came to the house that day. To find out our allegiances. Bonds to be broken, things that can divide.” Her eyes flashed as they locked onto each one of her friends in turn. “We cannot let that happen.”
The room abruptly fell into a tense silence. One which Rae was sure no one really knew how to break. It wasn’t often that collective stress gave way to these sorts of fractures. They had simply been through too much together to be derailed by anything now.
Fortunately, the moment resolved itself.
Rae perked her head up at the same time as Devon—both hearing things that the others couldn’t. The sound of a dozen cars pulling into the Guilder lot. The sound of footsteps clamoring their way, soon accompanied by the sound of voices.
“What is it?” Gabriel asked quietly. “What’s going on?”
The others had long ago learned to heed those sorts of expressions, and take their cues for whatever came next.
“Students.” Devon’s eyes blinked back into focus as he shook his head dismissively at the room. “It’s just students coming back to the campus.”
The group of them stood there for a long, tense moment. Then, one by one, they started picking up the piles of paper littering the room. Silent apologies were both made and received as they did so. Help to retrieve a book. A
silent nod from across the table. Angel briskly dusted the scorched pieces of her phone from her hands, and even handed Molly her coat as they got up to leave.
“Well, I’m glad we have a better idea of why she’s doing it,” Devon said quietly as they headed towards the door. “But it doesn’t change the fact that we have no way of finding her.”
“He’s right,” Gabriel said with a frown. “I mean…Samantha Neilson? We don’t even know if that’s her real name.”
“It’s her real name,” Rae said confidently. “She genuinely admired us. She genuinely wanted us to be on her side. She told me her real name. But I don’t see how that helps. I already tried using that tracking tatù on her, but I can’t get a read. She has me blocked somehow.”
“That’s not surprising,” Molly said comfortingly, nodding to a group of kids as they passed them on the lawn. “She could have whispered that to you at any time… From the second she perceived you as a possible threat.”
“So where does that leave us?” Luke asked, slinging his arm around Molly’s shoulder.
Rae thought about it for a moment before her eyes lit up with sudden illumination. “We might not have the power to find her, but I think I know someone who can at least point us in the right direction…”
* * *
One of the good things about being President of the Privy Council was that you got to summon anyone you wanted. And one of the good things about being President of this Privy Council, was that the people you tended to summon came equipped with superpowers.
The next afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Rae leapt to her feet to answer it, pulling it back to reveal a young man curiously staring inside.
“Curtis!” She gestured him in with a wide smile. “Come on in!”
“Thanks.” He shook off his rain-drenched jacket and ventured into the foyer, gazing up with wide eyes at the decadent house. “You guys never do anything halfway, do you?”
Rae followed his gaze with a gracious chuckle as both Devon and Julian came down the stairs to greet him as well. As the men shook hands and made small talk Rae looked the newcomer up and down, trying to remember the last time she had seen him.
It had probably been the night of the Royal Ball. The one that went so terribly wrong. The one where a member of their own task force ended up kidnapping the future Queen of England.
Let bygones be bygones, right?
Curtis had been tasked with their surveillance and security. A task for which he was particularly well-suited, seeing as how the man had a way of seeing a bit of everything. Granted, it wasn’t exactly in the way you might expect…
“So,” Rae interrupted the little reunion as politely as she could, her eyes flickering automatically to the bag slung over his shoulder, “did you bring it?”
“Yeah.” He reached down inside and extracted a silver disk. “This should fit any computer in the house. Although I don’t really understand why you want it. I mean, you were there, Rae. Why do you need to look at an old surveillance tape?”
She was about to answer when he suddenly reeled back in horror.
“I mean—President Kerrigan.”
Rae, Julian, and Devon stared at him for a split second before all three burst out laughing. It went on long and loud. Long enough to make the poor guy blush three times over.
“Seriously?” Devon gasped, clapping him on the shoulder. “President Kerrigan?”
“Please,” Julian struggled to keep a straight face, “please tell me you weren’t about to salute.”
“Give me a break!” Curtis exclaimed, shoving them with a rueful grin. “She is the President of the Privy Council. How am I supposed to know what to call her?”
“Um…how about Rae?” she suggested lightly, trying her best not to smile. “You know, the same thing you’ve called me since you first met me. It also happens to be my name.”
He rolled his eyes and backed away, grinning. “Well, if there was nothing else you wanted, Highness, I think I’ll take my leave.”
“Actually,” Rae held out her hand with a hopeful grin, “there was something else I wanted.”
She phrased it as a question. As an invitation. Just like she always did.
Having basically grown up with her, it took him only a second to understand. The next moment he was rolling up his sleeve, holding out his arm so she could wrap her fingers around it.
“I thought you already had mine,” he said with a curious frown, staring down as if he could see the tatù leaving his body.
Rae shook her head, savoring the feeling as it coursed fresh through her veins.
“Long story. Needless to say, I lost a bunch of them all at once.”
Courtesy of my long-lost brother.
Curtis nodded, as if this sort of thing happened all the time. Then he lifted his hand in a wave as he pulled open the door. “Well, best of luck to you guys. If what I saw at Guilder the other day is any indication, you guys are going to need it.”
“That’s it?” Devon asked in surprise. “You’re just leaving? You just got here.”
Curtis’ eyes flickered quickly around the house, lingering on the closed doors and darkened hallways. “Yeah. No offense, guys, but I heard a rumor that Rae’s dad was still lurking about on the premises. I think I’d rather just—”
“Absolutely not!” Rae tugged him forward, and shut the door. “My father is locked safely in the basement, I’ll have you know. Just like in every other cozy little home. And the last thing I need is people thinking I’m using all my presidential currency to summon people for… I don’t know…tatù booty calls.”
Devon stared at her for a moment, fighting back a smile. “Please don’t call it that.”
Curtis was unmoved, still warily looking around the house.
“Are you sure? The last thing I want to do is get killed… or something.”
“Don’t be stupid, Curtis.” Julian steered him towards the kitchen. “We ordered pizza.”
* * *
After wolfing down three large pepperonis while reminiscing about old times, Curtis took Rae aside before heading out.
“Rae, my tatù’s evolved slightly.”
She raised an eyebrow, recalling the first time she had used it on Devon and watched him learn to ride his bike as a kid. He’d seen her in the memory. “Will it be the same for me? Or will it take time for me to use it as you do?”
“I’m not sure.” Curtis scratched the back of his head. “Do you remember I used to have to use skin on skin in order to recall a memory?”
She nodded. “You were pretty adamant about that.”
“Now I simply need to know someone. Or believe I know them well enough to step into the memory. I can’t change outcomes—I don’t think—but I’ve never changed the course of history. The ripples of time still find a way to smooth things out. You can use this ink without touching someone. At least, I can now. It might take time for you but, then again, it might not.” He grinned apologetically. “You never cease to surprise me. I’m proud you’re our president and you’re going to make things right. I know it.” He reached out his hand and Rae shook it, dazed at the faith Curtis had in her.
He left and Rae returned to the main room where everyone was. She grabbed the device Curtis had given her and set it up. The gang grew silent as they settled in to watch the tape.
There was no audio, apparently his hacking abilities hadn’t progressed that far, but fortunately all Rae needed was a visual.
Sure enough, there was Samantha. Clutching a steaming cup of coffee as she made her way into Rae’s interrogation room.
“She’s so small,” Devon murmured, clearly more upset by their present predicament than he was letting on. “I never realized how small she was before.”
“Molly’s small,” Gabriel replied swiftly. “Look at all the damage she can do.”
It was a rare compliment, and Molly met his eye across the table with an even rarer smile. At once, their little stand-off in the library was forgotten and
they both settled in to watch the tape.
“Look. There we are talking,” Rae narrated under her breath, watching the black and white figures go through something already firmly implanted in her memory, “and here is where she tells me to drink the coffee.”
Right on cue, the second Samantha walked out the door, Rae picked up the mug and stared gulping it down like her life depended on it, thoroughly unaware that she had been supernaturally commanded to do so.
But it wasn’t Rae’s odd behavior that had everyone so transfixed. It was Samantha’s.
“Did she really just…” Luke leaned forward incredulously and squinted at the screen. “Did she really just wink at the camera?”
“She knew we’d be watching,” Angel said flatly, her eyes never leaving the monitor. “She knew we’d go back and dig up this footage. Girl’s got style.”
An echo of Jennifer Jones saying that exact same phrase echoed in Rae’s mind and she shook her head quickly, freezing the video in place as she stared at the screen. She pressed hard into her memory of Samantha. Pretending the girl on the screen was in the room. While she’d never tried Curtis’ power on a mere image before, already she could feel the ink working beneath her skin. Her heart began racing erratically but she pushed on, determine to use Curtis’ ink in its more evolved form.
A second later, her eyes went blank and she slumped forward over the desk.
“Rae!” Gabriel cried.
She heard him but was too focused on what she intended to do to answer. She needed to find a memory of Samantha. Someone of the small girl’s past to have a key to her future.
Devon caught her and gently set her down in the chair. “It’s okay. Rae knows what she’s doing. If she’s somehow using Curtis’ ability—which I have a feeling has changed—it takes her deep down into the subject’s mind. Allows her to see a specific moment in their past. Sort of change it, in a sense. She’s used it on me before. Once.”
“Is that why she can’t use Carter’s ink?” Molly’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Or is she still afraid to use it? Like him being gone make the ability taboo?” She didn’t wait for anyone to answer, instead sweeping back her friend’s hair and securing it in a quick braid. “Carter’s only observed. It must be that.”