Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan)

by W. J. May

  A loud groan erupted from the class as the students gathered in the groups Carter had assigned at the beginning of the week.

  Before Molly left Rae’s side, she whispered, “Looks like Carter’s dropped the woman-hating and taken on Madame Elpis’ attitude. Great. What a way to start the weekend.” She rolled her eyes and shuffled to her group.

  Rae searched for Nicholas. Spotting him standing by Kraigan, she headed over.

  “’Morning, Rae.” Nicholas smiled.

  “Hi, Nic. Kraigan.” She nodded at both of them.

  “Happy freakin’ Friday.” Kraigan shook his head at the headmaster. Rae grinned, despite feeling Carter’s eyes bearing down on her.

  “You have a group assignment to do over the weekend.” Carter’s voice stopped all student conversation. “Due Monday is a five-page essay on the Privy Council.”

  Moans erupted from the class. Carter continued, as if he hadn’t heard a sound. “Right now, one member from each group needs to come up and draw a slip of paper out of this basket. It’s the subject you’re to become experts on. It might be the history of the Privy Council, the relationship between the Council and country, job descriptions, the political aspect, etcetera. You’ll be doing class presentations in two weeks. We’ll do three a day and you won’t know who’s going first so it must be completed on time.”

  More groans. Rae shot a glance at Nicholas, who shrugged his shoulders and frowned. Rae tried to act dejected as well, but she actually wanted to find out more about who Devon worked for.

  “Go get a slip, Princess Rae,” Kraigan teased. “Use that tatù of yours to get us a good one.”

  Nicholas laughed. “I agree, go get us an easy one.”

  What the—? Rae stared at him. “Did you just call me ‘princess’?”

  Her expression must have been fierce, because Kraigan stepped back, hands raised in surrender. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was just teasing. I just meant—”

  Rae cut him off, “Don’t worry about it.” He probably feels nervous being the new guy. Maybe. Or maybe he’s just trying to show off.

  Rae walked to Carter, waited her turn, and pulled a slip out of the bucket. She returned to the group and pushed it towards Kraigan. Hands in his pockets, he nodded to Nicholas, who took the slip and read it.

  “Assignment: Number of members of the board--history behind the number.” Nicholas huffed. “Crap. You know all members are secret, right? No one knows who they actually are except the Council members themselves. They’re all sworn to secrecy.” He crumpled the paper and tossed it into his backpack.

  “Why is it a secret?” Kraigan hadn’t moved from his stance leaning against the wall, hands in pockets. “Spill the beans and they kill you for squealing?”

  “Protection. It’s an honor to serve on the board. Even when they step down, they still don’t let on that they were a member.” Nicholas shrugged. “It’d be so cool to know who the president is or one who has been. The answer’s probably right under our noses, and we don’t have a clue.”

  Rae smiled and gave a little laugh, causing both boys to look at her questioningly. “I was just thinking…I keep thinking of them as ‘secret squirrels’, like that old cartoon? I picture them scampering around, gathering nuts and spying on people from trees like that.” Rae giggled again, not immediately noticing that neither Kraigan, nor Nic seemed to be laughing with her.

  “Is this another American culture reference that I have to research to understand?” Nic looked confused. Kraigan just looked blank.

  “Never mind.” Rae shook her head. “I don’t think you guys had the Disney channel growing up.” She sullenly turned her attention back to the assignment at hand. Carter’s up to something. She glanced over to the headmaster who suddenly seemed to be avoiding her gaze. The Privy Council’s private, operating from the shadows, secret. How were they supposed to gain information about an organization that by its very nature, seemed to discourage the sharing of information?

  “Should we meet up Sunday night?” Nicholas asked.

  “What about tonight?” Rae replied.

  “Uh-oh. Sorry, no-can-do,” Kraigan said. “I’ve already got plans. I can swing it sometime next week.”

  Seriously? What could you possibly have to do in a boarding school town where you don’t know barely anyone and no one knows you? I am NOT getting a bad grade on this. “I don’t want to leave this until the last minute, if we need more work… I don’t want to be screwed.”

  Nicholas groaned. “Fine, let’s meet one night this week at eight in Aumbry House’s library. Both of you check your date books or calendars or whatever and email me. I’ll pick the night, and there’ll be no arguing.”

  “Cool,” Kraigan said with a smarmy grin. “Girl’s dorm works for me.”

  Rae rolled her eyes. Ugh…he’s such a…guy.

  For the rest of the class, Carter had them focus on inner sensations. He wanted them to center on their internal hum. Within their groups, he asked the students to try to detect tatùs from each other. Rae found the skill easy. She had been doing it all summer, and it was how her tatù worked to mimic other tatùs. She had to know they were there in order to copy them. The other students struggled with the concept.

  Kraigan stood by Rae, murmuring some of the kid’s abilities and, surprisingly, being right on most of them. She stared at him in amazement.

  He must have realized she was listening. He laughed. “In the orphanage, you spend a lot of time watching other people. That, and Carter’s helped me out a bit on noticing others.” Then he teased her. “I’ve heard about what you can do. Can you sense their tatùs as well?” He sounded genuinely impressed, as well as curious.

  She grinned and glanced around at her classmates. “I’ve kind of been doing the same thing as you throughout the summer. People watching, that is. I didn’t have much else to do in New York.”

  He pointed to Desiree in another group. “She’s got some intense feeling-thing going on. Do you know it?”

  Nicholas piped into the conversation. “Oh dude! I don’t have a clue what you guys can detect, but I heard about her tatù. She’s got some sex-drive tatù. It makes people randy.”

  Rae punched him in the bicep.

  “Nice one.” Kraigan gave Nicholas a high five, then turned and raised an eyebrow at Rae. “What about you? Can you sense someone’s tatù in more detail than that - without knowing what they’re capable of?”

  His intense stare irked her for some reason. It’s like he’s trying to see inside me. Shrugging her shoulders, she searched the faces in the room, looking for anyone with a tatù she hadn’t already mimicked. She didn’t find anyone. Fight fire with fire. “Sorry, dingleberry, but I basically know everyone’s tatù. I’d be cheating if I pretended to guess.”

  Nic’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “What’s a dingleberry?”

  “Butt-fluff.” Rae couldn’t hold back her grin when Kraigan tried scowling at her.

  A deep belly laugh erupted from Nicholas. “Nice one! You haven’t seen Kraigan’s tatù in action.”

  Kraigan straightened and shot Nicholas a look. A dirty one? He crossed his arms over his chest and exhaled loudly through his nose. “Neither have you Nic. Try me, Kerrigan. Can you see inside me?” He stared at her but didn’t move.

  “Do you want me to try?”

  “Why not?” Kraigan flicked his gaze upward. “You haven’t touched me to steal my gift. Let’s see if you can figure it out.” He closed his mouth, his lips set in a tight, straight line.

  Steal? Rae took a step back. That’s some chip you got there on your shoulder. She closed her eyes to focus on her inner vibrations and allowed herself to sense Nicholas nearby. Once she picked up on the feel of Nic’s tatù, she opened her eyes to focus on Kraigan. The corners of his eyes twitched, and he chewed on his lower lip. She let her vision blur when his nervousness became distracting. She inhaled slowly and began to feel the light sensation of the hum of his tatù. She made contact wit
h the vibrations. They were intense—and extremely confusing.

  One moment she swore she felt Nicholas’ gift, the next a different pull, followed by another and then something else. She scratched her head, letting her eyes refocus on him.

  “Any luck?” Nicholas asked.

  “I’m not sure. I’ve never really done this before, to be honest. I’ve always had the tatù inside me to figure out how to use it.”

  Kraigan smiled reassuringly. “If you figure anything out, please let me know. It’d save extra tutoring sessions with Carter or whoever he dumps me off on.”

  “I can’t get anything clear.” It felt like pulling on guitar strings. “I keep getting different feelings and sensations. I could feel Nic, but I think it’s because I have his ability.” She shrugged, looking at Nicholas.

  “Probably based on his camouflage--maybe the tatù hides itself,” Nicholas suggested.

  “You’re probably right, Nic.” Kraigan laughed and winked at Rae. “Unless you just need to practice on the skill a bit more, Kerrigan.”

  The buzzer signaling the end of class saved Rae from having to come back with a funny reply. Deep down, she didn’t think her skills were lacking. It might have something to do with Kraigan’s tatù.

  Chapter 9

  Pizza

  There’s something…off…about the new guy’s tatù.” Rae paced in Devon’s study. She had vowed never to mimic someone’s tatù without their permission, but the curiosity of trying to figure out how Kraigan’s worked was killing her.

  Devon sat behind his desk, his feet resting on the corner. Putting his hands behind his head, he laughed. “Rae, nothing’s wrong. He’s new. He’s some orphan, and he’s trying to impress the super-girl in his class. Stop being so paranoid. He didn’t do anything weird or eee-vil, right?” His voice dropped dramatically on the word evil.

  She folded her arms. “I’m not talking about him. I totally get what it’s like being the newbie. What I don’t get, is his tatù.” Staring at Devon, she couldn’t get the image of his “job-girlfriend” out of her head. Pursing her lips, she forced the issue into a mental drawer, to deal with at a later date. She needed to ignore the entire Anna situation and focus on current stuff. Plus, she thought, grinning, I’ll show Devon, in my own way, that I can make him forget about that girl. If he even still thought about her. The girl was like a thorn in Rae’s side. Speaking of thorns—

  Reminded again of Kraigan, she stopped pacing to stare directly into Devon’s eyes. Placing her hands on her hips, she let out an exasperated breath. “You’re right. He didn’t do anything bad. I’d love to see how his tatù works. He’s trying to figure it out on his own, and I promised not to interfere. The guy isn’t bad -- a bit cockier than I expected, but he’s probably just trying to show off.”

  “He’s crushin’ on you.”

  “No!” Rae completely missed his teasing tone, until after she had shouted. Great! Now I’m over-reacting. “Maybe his camouflage tatù can hide his ability, but I know he’s not interested in me.”

  Devon grinned but said nothing, humoring her. She decided to drop what was obviously an argument she couldn’t win, and change subjects. Definitely safer. Besides, I need his help.

  “Hey, can you help me with an Oratory assignment?”

  “What’s it about?” Devon dropped his feet from the desk and leaned forward.

  “The Privy Council.”

  “What do you need to know?”

  “The president.”

  Devon blinked in surprise. “A professor asked you to find out who the president is?”

  “Not exactly. It’s a group assignment from Carter class.”

  “Carter?” Devon’s eyebrows went up.

  “Yeah. I figure it’s bogus. He’s up to something.” She shrugged, tired of the games people felt they needed to play. “He threw in a bonus point: try and find information on past presidents or anything we might be able to figure out about them. The actual assignment is to determine the importance of numbers within the council.”

  “Lanford did something similar last year. Never clued in why but it seems pretty similar.” Devon tapped his thumb against the desk. “The number thing’ll be easy enough. Just think about England’s favorite football player when you’re searching for information with your group. That’ll give you a leg up over evil-Kraigan.” He tried to keep his face serious, but the twitching at the corners of his mouth gave him away. Rae found it cute, but exasperating.

  “I think you’ve been hanging out with my uncle Argyle.”

  “Huh?” Devon looked bewildered. He dropped his feet off the top of the desk.

  “My uncle has a habit of speaking in riddles--or as he likes to call them: proverbs of truth.”

  “What the heck’s a proverb of truth?”

  “Don’t ask.” Rae threw her hands up in the air. The entire previous year had revolved around a proverb her uncle had said to her before dropping her off at the airport to come to Guilder. The sins of the father are the sins of the son, or in this case, daughter. She had spent the entire year trying to prove him wrong. Seeing Devon’s confusion, she figured he needed some sort of explanation. “My uncle likes using little sayings with layers of meaning. They can mean one thing on the surface, but it’s not until you take the time to really pick it apart that you realize the true meaning. It can be really annoying.” It reminded her of Lanford and how she had trusted him so blindly. Every kindness the former dean had showed her had been a calculated move, designed to bring her around to his ultimate goal, world domination. And I fell for it. He dangled a few bits of information about my mother and like a sad little puppy I blindly followed his lead. Grrr— I hate thinking about this.

  Wanting a distraction, she walked over to the desk and sat on top of it, her legs straddling the sides of Devon’s chair. Reaching with her feet, she hooked them around the chair, pulling it, and Devon, close against the desk. She loved the feeling of being close to him, and if she was totally honest, there was a slight thrill in the possibility that they might get caught. If they didn’t have to keep their relationship a secret, would she be able to keep her hands off him? Or would they actually be dating?

  Devon brought his muscular arms around her legs and let his hands rest on her hips. She smiled down at him, letting her hair fall forward to tease his face.

  “Your hair’s so soft.” He closed his eyes and moved his head slightly side-to-side, letting the strands brush against his face.

  Rae bent forward and inhaled. He had an intoxicating, musky scent and she loved it. It made her want to taste his skin. Privy Council and Kraigan forgotten, she brought both hands into his hair, letting her fingers scratch lightly against his scalp. She closed her eyes, enjoying the pressure of his warm hands on her sides. As they slid up her rib cage, she quivered with pleasure.

  Eyes still shut, she felt him push the chair back to stand. She brought her chin up and licked her lips in anticipation of the kiss. Even knowing it was coming, she still felt the flutter of something inside of her when his soft lips met hers.

  He pulled her forward, closer to him. Their lips met and explored each other. She moaned softly. Devon’s fingers stroked a mysterious, hypnotic rhythm on her back. Rae wasn’t sure if his kiss or warm hands intoxicated her more.

  A loud pounding on the door interrupted their interlude. They jerked apart, both breathing hard.

  “Shit!” Devon wiped his mouth and pushed his chair farther away.

  She hopped off the desk and quickly sat down in the vacant chair. Grabbing a book, she flipped it open. With her free hand, she tried fanning the heat from her face and neck.

  “Dude, come on. It’s me,” followed by more banging.

  They looked at each other and laughed. Julian. Devon rolled his eyes to the ceiling and walked to the door.

  He opened it. “What’s up?”

  “Just wondering wha—” Julian noticed Rae sitting by the desk. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you had company.” He smirked as
he stared at Devon’s mouth and then Rae’s. She brought her fingers to her lips and realized Devon wore some of her lipstick. Her face burned hot enough to toast marshmallows on.

  “It’s fine. We were just, uh, studying.” He rubbed his lips with the back of his hand. Devon stood in front of Julian, politely blocking his view of Rae.

  Very chivalrous. I’ll have to find a way to thank him later. She grinned.

  “No worries. I’ll leave you to get back to your studies.” Julian laughed, punching Devon in the shoulder. “I was thinking you might want to go for pizza or something.”

  “Pizza?” Devon’s posture straightened. Now that’s odd, she thought. Mention food and he snaps to attention like a soldier? Hmm—.

  “We can go another time. You’re busy.” Julian’s head dropped to the side and he winked at Rae. She suddenly knew with absolute certainty that “pizza” was code for something. Code is only necessary when they’re trying to cut me out. But of what?

  Rae jumped out of the chair, eager for the chance to escape, because she had a plan. “You guys go eat. It’s almost curfew for me, anyways.”

  “Are you sure?” Devon asked.

  She didn’t miss the excitement in his eyes. It only solidified her determination to find out what they were actually doing. “Positive. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She kissed him on the cheek and elbowed Julian lightly in the ribs as she walked by. Let Julian think I’m in a mad dash to get outta here because I’m embarrassed. “Good night, guys. Enjoy the food.”

  “Thanks. See you later.” Devon sounded distracted.

  She grabbed her backpack by the door and closed it behind her. Out of sight from the boys, she took off running. Using a cheetah tatù, she raced to Aumbry House and up to her dorm room.

  Once inside, she dropped her school bag and pulled her clothes off. Not daring to turn on the lights, she opened the large, Oriel window and glanced around. She saw Julian and Devon heading down the path towards Julian’s car in the parking lot. Putting a foot on the window ledge, Rae leaned forward and let herself fall.