by May, W. J.
“Yeah,” he breathed, smiling down at her, “I was pretty clear on that when he faked a meltdown just to get me outside so you guys could talk without me.”
Rae’s breath caught in her chest, but he merely smiled.
“I’m not an idiot, Rae, although I did enjoy the performance. And you know, to be honest, I can’t really blame him.” He leaned down slightly, his warm breath fluttering the tips of her hair. “If you were my girlfriend, I’d be pretty damn protective of you as well.”
“Fortunately, she’s not.”
Both Gabriel and Rae whirled around to see Devon standing framed in the doorway. He took a deliberate step forward, causing Gabriel to step back. They were approximately the same height, and stood eye to eye for a moment before Rae cleared her throat.
“I…um…I can’t breathe,” she muttered, sandwiched tightly in the middle.
Gabriel stepped back farther still, but Devon stood his ground, a telltale muscle in his jaw twitching as his normally-sparkling eyes grew suddenly cold. “There are at least three other bathrooms in this place,” he said with no pretense or games. “Brush your damn teeth somewhere else.”
Gabriel’s eyes flashed for a second—up for the challenge—before he raised his hands innocently and backed away with an easy smile. “All done anyway. Nice talk, Rae. Devon.”
Devon shut the door firmly behind him and fell back against it, gritting his teeth with what looked like only a very thin layer of self-control. “I think I might kill him.”
“Dev,” Rae tried to temper his rage, “you can’t kill him.” Was he jealous? Green because Gabriel was flirting with her, or because he was worried he might not measure up? She shook her head. Now why would I think that? Of course Devon would measure up. Wait! He’d more than measure up. He’s oodles above Gabriel.
“Why not? People die in their sleep all the time. I’d make it look like an accident.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure that would—”
“Like he choked on my fist.” He held his hand up and clenched his fingers, twisting it in the air to show Rae.
She snorted in laugher, and the sound snapped Devon out of his murderous trance.
He glanced over at her, and his face softened into a lovely smile, dimple included, as he pulled her closer. “Come here.” His lips lowered down to hers. “You know, I haven’t even gotten to kiss you properly since you broke out of jail.”
Rae stood up on her toes, her teeth tugging playfully on his bottom lip. “Does it make it more exciting for you? Now that I’m a felon?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” He grinned. “Yes.”
His long fingers wrapped around her thighs, and the next second, she was sitting on the counter. They grinned at each other, but stayed perfectly quiet as they came together, fingers tangling in each other’s hair. Within just a few second, Rae’s legs wrapped automatically around his waist—anchoring him even tighter to her as her hands began wandering down his shirt. His breathing quickened, and he had just reached up to pull it over his head, when there was a sudden pounding on the door.
“Hey, if you guys are done snogging in there, some of us still need to use the shower,” Molly called through the door, loud enough to wake up the whole house.
Devon’s eyes snapped shut and Rae bit her lip apologetically. “She’s a little high-strung…” she whispered teasingly, giving him another quick kiss on the neck.
His shoulders fell with a regretful sigh before he unlocked the door. “Perfect timing as ever, Molls. It’s all yours.”
Molly bustled into the room with a bag of toiletries bigger than Rae’s whole suitcase. She completely ignored the two of them as she started placing various bottles in alphabetical order on the counter, only pausing to nudge Rae off of it and back onto the floor. “You know,” she sniffed, “the two of you could be a little more sensitive. Not all of us are as lucky enough to have our significant others here like you…and your mom,” she added with a grin.
“Ugh—stop!” Rae flicked over a bottle on purpose. “You’re as bad as Gabriel.”
Molly’s eyes flashed. “No one is as bad as Gabriel! Did you know that as I was walking in here, he asked me if I wanted company in the shower?” She shook her head in disgust. “The boy may be beautiful, but he’s a menace. He needs to be stopped.”
“Like he choked on his own shoe…” Devon murmured, his eyes far away.
“What?”
“Ignore him,” Rae said pointedly, shoving him out the door. “Goodnight, babe; try not to kill anyone before breakfast.”
He backed down the hall with a wicked grin. “I can’t be held responsible for what may or may not go down in that room. Accidents happen all the time…”
She shut the door with a smile and turned back to Molly in exasperation. “I know it sucks that Luke’s not here, but honestly, sometimes I think you guys are the lucky ones. At least you never find yourselves in situations like this.”
“Trapped in your mother’s old house with two hot guys trying to get up your skirt?”
“Molly Skye!”
“What?” she giggled, and dodged the hand-towel Rae threw at her. “At least you’ve had some actual face-time with your boyfriend. Sometimes it feels like Luke and I are living through a phone.”
Rae paused, a little thrown off-balance by the abruptly thoughtful words. “I guess it is kind of a long-distance relationship right now, huh?”
Molly pursed her lips and nodded, sorting continuously through her things.
“And is Luke…” Rae continued cautiously. “Is he okay with that?”
The last bottle fell into place and Molly turned with a small sigh. “He knows we’ll have a future soon. A normal life, with normal activities, and… relatively normal jobs in London. I mean, that’s what we’re going through all of this for, right?” She gestured around. “To have a future?”
“Yeah,” Rae answered quietly, “I guess you’re right.”
But as she went to bed that night, she couldn’t be so sure. She’d just been broken out of jail and smuggled out of the country on a fishing boat. And that was by no means the strangest thing that had happened to her lately.
Was there ever going to be ‘normal’ for her and Devon? At this point, was it even possible?
* * *
Despite the feast weighing down the table, breakfast the next morning was a subdued affair.
Julian had stayed up late texting Angel, though he wouldn’t admit it. Molly had stayed up late texting Luke, which she wouldn’t shut up about. And Devon and Rae had stayed up late texting each other stuff they didn’t want anyone to know about.
Gabriel, as it turned out, had left in the early hours of the morning to catch the ferry and return to London. While Devon was openly thrilled about his departure, he was slightly less than enthusiastic about the present he’d left behind for Rae: a crude, hand-drawn depiction of the two of them sleeping together on the boat.
Needless to say, the only cheerful awake people sitting around the table that morning were Beth and Carter.
His eyes glanced over the mountains of eggs, biscuits, and gravy with a faint smile. “Like mother, like daughter.” She met his eyes and they shared a warm smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rae asked loudly, intentionally breaking the moment.
Beth rolled her eyes but patted her daughter on the hand. “Not you and me, Rae. Me and my mother. She was…well, let’s just say she was a bit of a cook.”
“That’s an understatement,” Carter exclaimed merrily. “I only came here one time before—and actually it was under some rather grave circumstances. But even then, that woman flew around the kitchen like it was she who was inked instead of your father.”
“Why did you come here?” Rae asked, genuinely curious. “What were the grave circumstances?”
Carter’s face froze still as a statue, before it tightened. “I came here to tell them and your Uncle Argyle the news of your mother’s death.”
The tabl
e was quiet for a moment as everyone took deliberate sips of coffee, avoiding everyone else’s gaze.
“So,” Beth clapped her hands with forced levity, “you kids ready to go to Ireland?” She gazed at the pairs of blood-shot eyes around the table before pushing to her feet. “Maybe I’d better put on some more coffee…”
They quickly finished eating, and went about packing up their things. The unofficial plan was that, as they recovered each piece, they’d return with it to Scotland before setting out to find the next. Although it was going to mean a lot of extra travel time, everyone agreed that it would be far too dangerous to carry multiple pieces around with them when there was already a target on their backs.
It also meant that, with any luck, Rae was going to see her mother again in just a few days.
“See, sweetheart, it’s not so bad,” Beth assured her as they strolled around the grounds. The boys were already throwing their suitcases into the trunk, but Molly was still frantically racing through the house, trying to collect her absurd number of things. “I’d come with you in a heartbeat, but James told me that a representative of the Council is going to be coming by the day after tomorrow to ‘check in on me,’ make sure I’m holding up through the ordeal of my daughter’s incarceration and subsequent escape.” She laughed sharply. “In reality, they’re just making sure that you’re not hiding out here. But I’ll give them the full tour. They won’t find anything.”
They came to a stop in the barn, the sweet smell of hay mixed with the scent of freshly cut grass carried inside by a gentle breeze.
“It’s amazing in here…” Rae stared around in wonder, sitting absentmindedly on a bench pushed up against the corner. “I still can’t believe this is where you grew up.”
Beth gave her a strange look for a moment, before sitting beside her. “It’s more than where I grew up,” she said quietly. “It’s where I met your father.”
Rae looked up with a start and Beth offered her a sad smile.
“He came back for the winter holidays with your uncle one year. They were best friends at school.” A dark shadow passed over her face as she ran her hands along the smooth wood. “This was always my spot, you know? I’d sneak out here all the time to get away from the house, from my family. It was the only place I could really just relax and think.” Her eyes took on a faraway look as she gazed up through the open window. “It’s where your father and I fell in love. I’d read to him for hours on this little bench. It’s actually where we had our first kiss…”
Rae couldn’t think of anything to say. She just stared down at the worn wood, a tangle of emotions running through her head.
So this was it, huh? Where all the magic started?
And what if it hadn’t?
What if Simon Kerrigan had never married Beth? Rae would never have been born, of course, but maybe a lot of other things wouldn’t have happened either.
Maybe he would never have spun so far off the deep end, or if he still did—maybe it would have been spotted sooner and a lot of innocent people wouldn’t have lost their lives. Maybe he would have ended up with Kraigan’s mother instead? Or even Jennifer? Maybe he would have spent his life alone.
One thing was for certain: if it hadn’t been for that magical holiday and this little bench, Rae wouldn’t be about fly to Ireland to search for a missing brainwashing device.
The car honked from the drive, and both Beth and Rae hid their emotions in time to share a brief smile. As they walked out into the sun, Beth pulled Rae in for a huge hug, whispering, “You be safe now, you hear me? You come back to me in one piece.”
Rae grinned. “I always do, Mom. They’ve yet to get a piece of me.”
They chuckled softly, but as Rae pulled away her eyes flicked again to the barn. As much as she’d initially loved it, there was something about the place that was deeply disturbing. Something she couldn’t quite place. Something that wedged itself deep in the back of her mind.
Chapter 6
Dear Rae,
I had to leave before dawn to catch the ferry, but I wanted to wish you good luck. I’m afraid with Cromfield after you, you’re going to need it. Just keep your head down and be careful. Don’t go sticking your neck out for no reason. It’s such a pretty neck. I wouldn’t want anything happening to it…
Take care of yourself,
Gabriel
xx
P.S. I hope Devon likes my picture.
Rae mentally cringed as she crumpled the note into a little ball, remembering full well the look on Devon’s face when he saw the hand-drawn picture of her and Gabriel sleeping together on the fishing boat. That had taken some explaining. She’d found this note under her pillow that morning. Yes, under it. How Gabriel had managed to put it there? She had no earthly idea.
“Rae? You coming?”
Rae lifted her head to see Julian, Molly, and Devon all waiting for her in the aisle of the plane. They had landed at Shannon Airport on the western coast of Ireland a few minutes ago, and were off to the lower terminal to rent a car.
She quickly stuffed the note into her pocket and snatched up her carry-on bag as she shimmied out between the seats. Then, almost as an afterthought, she pulled the crumpled paper back out of her jacket and tossed it on the empty chair.
Why would she keep it? For Devon to find again?
Molly shot her a strange look, but said nothing as the four of them hurried off the plane and down to the lower levels of the airport. They had checked no luggage. In fact, they’d come to the group realization that they wouldn’t have to be checking luggage any longer. Rae could conjure them whatever clothes they needed, as well as a suitcase to put them in. Sometimes, being a superhero had its advantages. Why get stuck at the baggage claim?
“So are you going to tell me what that note said?” Molly whispered as she and Rae slid into the backseat of the spacious SUV.
Rae pinched her hard in the side as her eyes darted up to where Devon and Julian were filling out the last of the insurance paperwork. “How many times do I have to tell you?!”
“Your boyfriend has super-human hearing, yeah, yeah, I know…” Molly grinned. “You’ll have to tell me later, though.” Then, without another word, she scrambled out of her seat and settled in the passenger’s seat just as Julian was opening the same door.
He took one look at her, pursed his lips, then decided to pick his battles. Shaking his head slowly, he closed the door again and settled in the back with Rae.
“Don’t take it personally,” Rae clapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly. “I think she wants to be navigator.”
“Again?” He glanced at the back of Devon’s head. “This should be good.”
As the car revved to life, Molly began noisily unfolding a map that was bigger than she was, unintentionally poking Devon in the side of the head. He knocked it away with a slightly irritated expression and met Julian’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.
“I thought you were sitting up here with me,” he said softy.
“Nope! No Julian. I decided to help us with the route,” Molly replied cheerfully. “After all, we wouldn’t want to have another Bakersfield incident, would we?”
Rae and Julian stifled their smiles as Devon threw up his hands. “For the last time, that was planned. I was trying to waste some time because Julian said the station wasn’t going to open up for another forty minutes.”
“Then there was that time in Poland…”
“Out of the car!”
Rae discreetly kicked the back of her friend’s seat as her boyfriend’s blood pressure shot through the roof.
“Alright, alright,” the tiny brunette conceded, flipping the map the right side up. “There’s no harm in asking for directions, that’s all. But that’s the last thing I’m saying,” she added quickly when everyone in the car shot her a look or kicked her seat.
It went quiet for a bit as they pulled out onto the interstate; a few precious minutes that everyone knew were too good to last…
�
�Are you sure you know where you’re going?”
Devon closed his eyes painfully. “Yes, Molly Elizabeth. Yes.”
She held up her hands. “No need to get defensive. I’m just making sure.”
Julian and Rae shared another look in the backseat, both making efforts to stop their laughter from escaping.
“Well, I’m sure. I have a damn fennec fox tatù! My sense of direction is good!” Devon snapped as they shot down the freeway. “You know, sometimes you make me really glad that I never had a sister.”
“I know!” Molly exclaimed, misinterpreting entirely. “Could you imagine? Between her and Rae and Julian, when would we ever get to spend quality time together?”
Devon shot her a long, hard look. “You’re joking, right?”
Julian stared out the window with a smile. “And…we’re back.”
“Yep,” Rae grinned, “the road-trip is officially underway.”
They made it to a tiny town called Doolin just as the sun was setting over the horizon. Carter had called ahead and made reservations in a gorgeous quaint hotel designed to look like a medieval castle. It was set just a few blocks away from the rocky cliffs, surrounded by rolling fields of emerald green, and had a stunning view of the sparkling ocean.
“This is the way to travel,” Rae said appreciatively as they walked inside and set down their bags. While the entire town was incredibly rustic—Molly had accidently tripped over what turned out to be an actual sheep on the way in—the little hotel had a fully-stocked fridge and was decked out with all the newest appliances.
“It’s also got Carter’s fingerprints all over it,” Devon said quietly, coming up behind her and circling his arms around her waist with a smile. “Two beds.”
Rae whirled around, still pressed up against him. “What?”
“It’s a shared suite, so we’re all together, but there’s just one bed in both of the rooms.” He grinned. “I guess they’re kind of counting on the fact that Julian and Molly won’t share a bed no matter how much we ask them, so you and I will stay separated.”