by W. J. May
He brought her slowly towards the hundred-foot ceiling and then let her plummet towards the floor, stopping her only a foot before she crashed onto the marble.
Rae cringed, and thrashing wildly, fought to break free from his hold. Her body reacted before her mind could process the thought. She threw her hand toward him, whipping his raised arms with a strong gust of wind.
Kraigan jolted and stepped back, losing the concentration keeping her airborne. She landed on the marble floor near the wall and took on Julian’s tatù. It’d give her the advantage of knowing Kraigan’s moves slightly before he made them. She caught sight of her shattered saber nearby. She grabbed the handle and realized the shortened end might act as a crude sword. Not a very good one, but a weapon nonetheless.
Kraigan slid towards her like a cat stalking its prey. Lips in a thin line and brows furrowed together, the hatred shone clear in his eyes. With a swing of one wrist, he brought the rest of the sabers out of the box and lofted them towards Rae like javelins. Rae read the direction of each throw and avoided making contact with everyone. They came harder and faster, a few actually sticking into the wall behind her. When he ran out, he flung one back to his hand and came at Rae, saber held high. He growled as he raced towards her.
Rae crouched and read the direction of his thoughts, jumping out of the way. As she passed, she jabbed and pierced his hand. He dropped his saber and roared in pain. Or anger. Rae couldn’t tell and had no time to wonder. She tried to send a short message to Carter. I’m in the Oratory. Kraigan’s attacking me. I need help. Hurry.
She switched back to Julian’s tatù just as Kraigan grabbed her ponytail and roughly jerked her head back.
“Ow!” Tears sprang to her eyes as hairs ripped from their follicles. Her head wrenched forward when he let go. Rae turned to stare at him. Kraigan squinted as he absorbed Julian’s power and a wicked grin slowly spread across his face when he realized his new ability.
“Art-boy’s skills have progressed. Last time I stole it, all he could basically do was paint bits of the future. Now he’s able to predict it. Nice.” He rubbed his hands together. “This should be fun.”
When had he stolen Julian’s tatù? Julian still had his ability. Dodging a saber stuck in the wall, Rae tried to push the thoughts aside. She needed to concentrate on the now.
She remembered Devon and Julian’s conversation, the night they sparred, about sending mixed messages. She made herself think about running for the door and noticed Kraigan step to the right as he walked towards her. Within reach, she copied a karate kick she saw another student do and connected with his mid-section. It would have been an awesome hit, had he been a bit closer. She only managed to connect with the tip of her shoe.
Kraigan dropped his hands to his knees and sucked in air. In the same moment, he snatched her arm and pinned it behind her. His hot, uneven breath wafted against her neck. With one hand, he pulled her arm and held it tight.
Excruciating pain and a strange hum shot through her shoulder into the pit of her stomach, making her gag.
Kraigan squeezed tighter, forcing her to drop the broken saber and then wrenched her free arm against her back. Her arms were bent at awkward angles and throbbed, begging to be released.. Even though she pressed her lips tight together, a groan escaped. She screamed when one of her shoulder blades pulled out from its socket. Kraigan released her and laughed when she stumbled forward, gasping.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the hum of her healing tatù. Tucking her chin, she pulled her shoulders forward and set the dislocation back into its correct place. The wave of nausea passed.
“You do realize I’m going to kill you.” Kraigan slapped her cheek hard, making it feel like her head would swing off her neck.
Rae shuddered. Not because of his words, but because her healing tatù disappeared when he connected with her cheek. It throbbed and burned.
He stepped back and stretched his arms, suddenly looking refreshed. “Another fantastic tatù. Where did you manage to find all this great talent, dear sister? Everyone at Guilder I’ve come across is lame.” He rubbed his chin. “Except for Desiree. Now that one I had fun with.”
“You’re no family of mine.” Rae searched through her tatùs, trying to buy some time. “We may have the same sperm donor, but that’s as far as it goes.” She plucked a fight or flight tatù, something with speed and glanced cautiously towards the front door. She hoped Carter would come barging in with the cavalry behind him. “You’ve got a stealing tatù.”
Kraigan mimicked her American accent. “‘You’ve got a stealin’ tatù.’” He laughed and scratched his head. “Yeah, something like that. Seems to me my tatù works different when matched to yours. Maybe a mixing of the bloodlines? Shame we can’t mix our talents together. Imagine our offspring’s ability.” He cocked his head and pointed to the carvings on the walls. “Wouldn’t King Henry have loved to know this? He’d have mixed everyone and worked closer with the Xavier Knights instead of his damn Privy Council.”
Who the heck are the Xavier Knights? Rae shook her head. Kraigan was speaking gibberish.
He nodded at her, but seemed to be talking to himself. “It seems when I take other tatùs, they’re returned when I move to my next power. But you—you’re screwy. I absorb your power and you lose the ability completely. So I’m basically sucking you dry.” He touched her red cheek before punching her in the gut. “Healing not working for you at the moment?” He laughed.
Rae wrapped her arms around her stomach and gasped for air. Bent down, she grabbed the dropped saber and stabbed it into his thigh. She stumbled backwards, away from him.
He swore and pulled the saber out. “Bitch, I’m going to nail you to the wall and then use you for dart practice.” He grabbed his bleeding leg and healed it.
Running for the door, Rae let out a yelp when Kraigan knocked her legs out from under her as he dove after her. She fell to the ground and was instantly catapulted through the air and collided with the wall. She barely had time to get her hands out in front of her to protect her head. Fierce pain shot through her left wrist and as she slid to the ground, her face scraped against a woodcarving. She crumbled to the floor, her wrist throbbing and tight, wetness oozing down her cheek.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Rae bit back the tears that threatened to fall and focused on another tatù. She thought of Riley, the boy who had tricked her the previous year. He had a cheetah tatù. It would work. She stayed crumpled on the floor, waiting for Kraigan to step near her.
She didn’t need to wait long. She heard his impatient breath and feet stomping across the marble floor.
“This is way too easy.” He wrenched her into a sitting position. “Give me something of a challenge.”
His touch took Riley’s speed tatù away. Rae grabbed the first tatù she could think of, her wind power. Throwing her arm towards him, she sent a strong gust in his direction. He laughed and ran against it, like sprinting on a treadmill. She upped the wind and he easily kept pace, actually moving closer to her. He leaned like a sprinter and slapped her hand. The wind stopped immediately.
Rae pulled at any skill or strength tatù she could. Frustrated and becoming drained, she hated how Kraigan managed to manipulate and steal each one away. They danced around the Oratory, Rae gaining more bumps, bruises and cuts while Kraigan appeared barely out of breath.
They moved fast and her tears begin to fall as she struggled to maintain the little resistance she had left. She needed help. She was becoming powerless. Where the heck’s Carter? And the bloomin’ cavalry?
“Crying?” Kraigan mocked. “I can’t believe our father raised such a wimp. Your tatù and Guilder couldn’t toughen you up, either?” He shook his head. “Disgusting.”
His loathing irritated her. Swallowing against the pain as he punched her again, she muttered, “Screw you.”
“What?” His arms pressed up tight against her, forcing the air out of her lungs and new streams of pain shot through her body. “
Did you say something?”
Why had he faked friendship? He had obviously been after something, but what? Rae grimaced and shut her eyes. She felt lightheaded and nauseous. Passing out sounded like an excellent idea, she doubted he could suck anything else from her while she was unconscious and not using any tatùs. A sudden thought jolted her eyes open. She needed to find a useless tatù, pass it to Kraigan and then grab something better for herself to fight him. She slumped forward, barely having enough energy to focus on breathing.
Kraigan reached behind and pulled something out of his back pocket. He waved Uncle Argyle’s journal in front of her. “Have you read all of this?” He bent down and looked into her face. “No? Shame.”
She made a meager swipe at it which he easily side stepped. “One, your uncle’s a moron. Two, our father was brilliant, even at the age of sixteen. When he wrote this, he was only just tatùed, and yet he already understood his potential.” Kraigan glanced at the journal with respect. “My tatù is so similar to his.”
He dragged her towards a wall, seemingly distracted by his own thoughts. “But you—you seemed to have limitless power. You’re like the queen among the freaks.” He laughed and with superhuman strength, shoved her into the wall. “However, it seems your power’s not so infinite. Unlike mine.”
Rae said nothing. She searched for a tatù. Everything felt dead, like someone had pulled the plug. Desperately, she dug deeper. There had to be something.
A hum, ever so slight, ran alongside her veins. Blinking, she concentrated harder. A tatù she had never used and had almost missed. She needed its power but she needed to sacrifice something insignificant to Kraigan first for her plan to work.
Her head slammed against the wall and brought her back to the present. Her cheek burned and a searing pain throbbed beside her eye. Warm blood ran down her face. Kraigan had slapped her, hard.
“Pay attention, idiot. I’m talking to you,” Kraigan’s spit hit her in the face. “This journal’s got the entire brainwashing experiment researched and explained to a tee. Your little Privy Council has no idea what’s involved. They never will. When I bring this to The HOC’s followers, it’ll blow their minds. Except I’ll show them through me, not Dad’s teaching. I’ll claim the glory and power. Finally, I’ll get what I deserve.” He pounded a fist against her chest to emphasize.
Pulling the telepathy tatù, she sent another message to Carter and let courage fill every corner of her being. She pulled herself up to her full height. “No one’s gonna believe you’ve figured it out.” Her body contorted from pain but she forced herself to ignore it. “They’ll give me all the credit. I’m the freakin’ powerhouse tatù girl. I’ve got Carter, Guilder, the Privy Council and my enemies assured of that knowledge. You actually think anyone’s going to give you any credit?” She poked him with a finger. “As soon as they learn you absorbed my tatù, they’ll see it completely differently.” She tried to fake a laugh, but it sounded more like a bad smoker’s cough.
Kraigan scowled, then grabbed her finger and twisted it. The pain shot all the way to her elbow but she grinned when she felt the telepathy power disappear.
“When you’re dead, your babble won’t mean squat. When --” he paused, his brows crushing together. “What this --?”
“When I’m dead?” She pulled at the one unused hum -- his tatù -- hoping to leave him powerless for a moment.
Kraigan slammed his palm against the wall close to her face and grabbed her neck. She flinched but waited. He wouldn’t stop until one of them no longer needed air. Even dead, he would probably keep going.
He let go of her throat when Rae stole his tatù. “You bitch! Freakin’ Carter’s? That’s all you got?” He was so angry that he didn’t seem to notice what she was doing.
She may have tricked him into stealing a worthless tatù, but it didn’t mean he was powerless. He still had his physical strength. Before Rae had a chance to move, Kraigan wound his arm back and punched her in the face. It didn’t stop there. After the first horrific blows, which she felt to her core, she lost focus. On the verge of giving in to the inviting darkness of unconsciousness, a hum of strange activity inside her cut through the fog, bringing her back to her plan at hand. It was his tatù.. Concentrating on absorbing it, she felt the change inside her just before sliding down the wall.
Her head hit something sharp as she dropped the last few inches to the ground. Warm liquid trickled down her neck and became cool, like a breeze blowing on it. Rae fought to remain conscious and do something with Kraigan’s tatù. Right now, both of them only had human strength. She had his ink, but it was obviously useless until she touched someone or something else happened. She didn’t have the energy to concentrate.
Kraigan grabbed her shoulder and pulled her forward. Her head rolled. Pain punched into her core. Her body slammed back against the wood. She was going under. Passing out seems the only option left.
Her last thought before slipping into oblivion was rather weird. Instead of collapsing into the wall, it felt like she was falling farther down, past a sitting position, past horizontal and doing backflips and somersaults. Strange, she had never passed out like this before.
Chapter 26
Demise
Mmmmhhhhhrrrr—
An irritating mosquito buzzing above her ear woke Rae. She groaned as she rolled to her side, eyes still closed. Weird, it hurt to move and the annoying bug didn’t stop or fly away. She tried to shoo the insect with her hand. A moan escaped from her throat as pain shot up her forearm when she moved her wrist.
Why did it feel so wrong in her room? What happened to the pillow cover? It smelled wrong and scratched her cheek. Light shone through her eyelids. Mornin’ already?
Like lightning, the fight with Kraigan flashed in her memory. She froze. Forcing herself to breathe slow and shallow, she listened intently. Raspy, uneven panting came from close by, and the stink of sweat filled her nostrils. Is Kraigan standing over me, waiting to start all over again? She waited and exhaled a slow breath when nothing happened.
Where the heck are we? Peering through her lashes, she lay in a long corridor on rough carpet. Light came from fluorescent tubes. Explains the buzzing. Did Kraigan have teleportation ability? Despite her aches and a pounding headache, she tried to recall the last thing that happened before she had passed out.
Kraigan had been punching the crap out of her. Then… I remember falling to the floor, and cutting my head on a wood carving. Then she slipped into the blackness when Kraigan’s fist came at her face again. Then—nothing.
Rolling onto her back, cracked open her eyes and was immediately assaulted by nausea. Her eyes automatically fluttered closed. Kraigan lay crumpled a few feet away. Exhausted, Rae concentrated on getting air into and out of her lungs; terrified she might throw up or worse, pass out again.
A few moments later, Kraigan twitched and she suddenly found the energy to force herself to lean on her elbows and slowly scooted the couple of inches to settle her back against the wall. Rae searched for the hum of a fighting tatù and came up empty. They’re gone. All of them.
She had used everything in the Oratory. Even his tatù held no hum. She probably needed to steal someone else’s to get their hum and who knew if that would even work. Kraigan had probably just taken everything away from her. Except Devon. That thought gave her the determination she needed to move.
Desperate, she glanced around for something to tie up Kraigan. There was nothing in the hallway. Her right hand brushed against something bulky in her pocket. Eyes trained on Kraigan, she reached inside her jacket and pulled it out. The taser.
Almost delirious with hope, she crawled over to him. “Kr-Kraigan?”
He didn’t move.
Rae shook his shoulder and slapped his face. Oh—that’s rather satisfying. She slapped him again. “Dick-head. Wake. Up.”
He moaned and blinked several times. His eyes slowly focused. He smirked as he reached out for her.
No way are you ever going t
o touch me again. She zapped him in the shoulder with the taser. Then a random thought popped into her head. She had used his power so they were both tatù-less at the moment. A hysterical laugh echoed along the corridor. Hers. She hit him again with the taser. First in the neck, and then jabbing everywhere.
When Rae lost her balance on her knees, she reached out with her left hand to prevent herself from crashing face first, forgetting about her injured wrist. Screaming, she ended up eating the carpet anyway. Her face stung. Blood began oozing and she touched her cheek, wincing at the pain of a large bruise around a barely closed cut. Her left wrist throbbed and burned— the torture distracting her momentarily from her face.
Devon. You have to keep Devon safe. Focus, Kerrigan. She rolled away from Kraigan into a crouch. Although he couldn’t move she wasn’t taking any chances.
His gaze flicked around the room, then smoldered when it landed on her.
“Go ahead and try to fight the freezing. It’s useless. I’ll do this forever if I have to.” She grinned, wondering if being evil always felt this good. If so, it might bear looking into. This felt a lot stronger than the terror she had felt in the car. “Not so tough now, are you?”
Tasering him again gave her a moment to clear her head. Where are we? “Did you transport—” She stopped mid-sentence when she caught sight of a set of stairs. I must’ve hit a hidden switch in the Oratory and we tumbled down the hidden stairs. She hit Kraigan with the taser again after she checked her watch.
A weird buzz and vibration came from the taser. Then it made a sad, dilapidated beep and shut itself down. Eyes wide, Rae smacked its side on the ground. Crap! The battery has to die now?
She searched frantically down the hall. It stood empty except for a fire extinguisher sign screwed into the wall. Throwing the freeze-gun, she ran over to the extinguisher. It was enclosed in a glass case set into the wall. Kraigan cackled with laughter when the effects of the freezing began to wear off.