by W. J. May
Chapter 6
Rae and Devon sat in awkward silence as he drove them out of the city. They only spoke when necessary. She asked him to stop at Guilder on their way past so she could pick up a few things. She wrote Molly a note and grabbed her make-up bag and a few other necessities.
As Devon headed onto the motorway, Rae pulled her phone out of her leather coat. She dialed Luke's number.
“Watchya doing, Rae?” His low voice echoed through the phone, making Rae smile.
“Calling you.” She laughed and pretended not to notice the scowl on Devon's face.
“Everything all right? Your text last night seemed kind of cryptic.”
“Sorry about that. It was a long day and late night.” She wanted to ask him what he knew about Kraigan. Just didn't know how to approach the subject without sounding suspicious.
“I hope the PCs are paying you well.”
She smiled. “I'm guessing much better than you.”
Devon shot her a look. She remembered his ink gave him the ability to hear both sides of the phone conversation.
She cleared her throat. “Speaking of work. I'm heading out now.”
“Again? Sheesh! They don't give you a break.” Luke sighed. “Sorry. My bad. I'm just jealous how dedicated you are to your work. I won't keep you. Why don't you text me or call me when you have a chance?”
“I've got a bit of time now.” Now! Ask him now about Kraigan!
“Sweet!”
“I wanted to ask you something…”
“Ask away.”
He was so easygoing. It made her feel like she was using him. She straightened. That wasn't what she was doing. “What do you know about Kraigan?”
“More now than I did two weeks ago.”
“Really?”
“I suddenly have a keen interest in kicking his butt.”
Devon snorted, and Rae shot him a dirty look. She tried to ignore him. “You'll have to get in line.”
“I know he's your half-brother. That just got added to his file.”
“You have his file?”
“I don't have it, but the Xavier Knights have a file on him.”
She now had a million more questions she wanted to ask. The top one would be to ask him to get her a copy of that file. Out of the question, Kerrigan! Did they have a file on her as well? Or maybe a better question to consider was; how big is the file?
“Are you alone?” He laughed quietly. “Of course you are; you wouldn't call me in front of a group of PC masterminds! Is your phone monitored?”
She turned so she couldn't see Devon's face and tried pressing her ear closer to the phone so Devon couldn't hear it. “No. What's up?”
“Let's keep this between you and me, k? I could get my arse into some serious suffering if anyone knows.”
She didn't want him to get in trouble. She wasn't sure how she felt about him on the friendship to boyfriend scale, but she liked him. Luke was a good guy. She glanced at Devon from the corner of her eye. He's a good guy too. Just too scared to think with his heart. “Your secret is safe with me.” What if he told her something about the Xavier Knights that Devon shouldn't know? She opened her mouth to suggest he tell her later.
“I'm going to send you what we have on Kraigan. There isn't much you probably don't already know. Most came in after he left Guilder. But there is stuff about him before he turned sixteen. I can't risk emailing it to you or anything like that.” His voice became a whisper. “I'll make copies. If, by chance, you want to meet me tomorrow while I'm taking Sandy to the dog park I'll have stuff for you.”
“I can't. I wish I could.” She glanced at Devon whose face had become completely unreadable. She knew she couldn't tell Luke much. “I have to work.”
“No problem. I'll give it to you when you get back.” He paused. “If you are hunting for him, I hate to say that you're wasting your time. He's left the country. He's not after you.”
For the moment. She appreciated he wanted to watch out for her. “Good to know.”
“Hold on a sec.” He pulled the phone away from his mouth. He chuckled. “Molly just sent me a text. She's wondering if you're with me.”
“Tell her to check the note I slipped under her door.” Molls was going to be mad she had left without looking for her. “Can you do me a favor?” She wondered if talking to Luke was making Devon jealous. She had expected him to make a comment under his breath and was surprised he hadn't.
“Anything, Rae.”
“This is going to sound weird. Would you mind giving Molly a shout?”
“Just call her? That's not weird.”
“And maybe invite her out? Not like a date or anything.” She started wondering where she was going with this. It had sounded good in her head a moment ago. “Just grab a burger or take her to walk Sandy or something?”
“Well, I was going to ask you out tonight, but I can try hitting on your roommate instead,” he teased. “Maybe make you jealous? Pit two best friends against each other? Be the guy that comes between them. I have all these awesome ideas.”
“Good luck with that.” She laughed.
“You don't think it could work?”
“Not with Molly n' me. Molls is…” What was the right word to use? “A bit of a handful.”
“Really? She seems nice.”
“She is. Hang out with her tonight. You'll see what I mean.”
“Can I drill her on questions about you?”
She smiled. “Oh, you can try.”
“She a hard shell to crack?”
“Not exactly.”
“Now I'm going to have to hang with her just to find out what you find so amusing. You owe me if I do this.”
“Owe you what?”
“Dinner. Movie. Some kind of proper date.”
The car suddenly accelerated as Devon whipped by another car on the motorway. She had nearly forgotten for a moment he was there and could hear everything. She held on to her seatbelt. Because of him she was single. That fault belonged entirely to him. “You got yourself a deal, Luke.”
He chuckled. “Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?”
“You won't. Molly is awesome,” Rae said. Devon swerved around another car and pulled sharply back into the middle lane. “I gotta go, Luke. Can I call you back later?”
“Definitely. See ya!”
She appreciated how he didn't question her about work or put any pressure on her whatsoever. And he was taking Molly out tonight. If he could survive an evening with her, he was totally worth considering.
“Who the hell is Luke?” Devon snapped.
Rae blinked and reached for the dashboard as Devon accelerated and whipped by another car. “Seriously? You're going with road rage?”
“What?” He glanced down at his speedometer and lifted his foot off the gas pedal. “Who's Luke?”
“A friend.” She got her answer on the jealousy question.
He scoffed. “That's it?”
She didn't owe him any explanation and yet she couldn't stop her mouth from talking. “He is just a friend, right now. He's a good guy. You'd like him if you met him.”
Devon shook his head. “I highly doubt that.”
She frowned at him. “You're the one who dumped me, remember?”
“What's his tatù?”
“He doesn't have one.” She crossed her arms. “Is that okay with you?”
“Just peachy…” He shot her an annoyed look. “You sure he doesn't have one?”
“Yes. One hundred percent sure.”
“Then how does he know about Kraigan?”
Uh-oh. Here it comes. “He works for the Xavier Knights.”
“What?” Devon snapped his head to the side and stared at her in disbelief.
She pointed in front of them. “Can you please face the road?”
He scowled but turned back to concentrate on the busy traffic. “He works for the Xavier Knights? Are you working undercover to get inside?”
“No.”
“Is this a personal mission?”
“No.” She didn't dare say more on that one. Devon tended to have the ability to read through her. She had thought about it, but with Luke offering to send her information on Kraigan, she might not need to.
“Are you dating this guy?”
“That's none of your business.”
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “You are.”
“I am not getting into this with you right now, Devon. Can we just concentrate on the job?”
“This mission?” He scoffed. “We're supposed to be dating and you're already cheating on me!”
She rolled her eyes. They needed to change the subject fast - before they blew the mission. “Did you know my father started the Xavier Knights?”
Devon concentrated on the road and did not reply.
The silence grew uncomfortable, making Rae begin to worry they weren't going to be able to work together.
“I didn't know that,” he said quietly. “I wondered, but never asked. Did what's-his-face tell you that?”
“Luke. His name is Luke and yes, he did.” She sighed.
“Did you do a background check on him?”
“No. I don't have to.”
“You trust way too many people too easily.”
“I trust no one these days.” Not even myself.
“Sorry.” Devon pressed his lips together. “I will try and keep this professional.”
Professional? She giggled sarcastically. She didn't mean to, but it escaped.
Devon shot her a confused look; one eyebrow raised with creases appearing on his forehead.
“The Privy Council wants us to keep this professional? Our mission is to fake date! It's horribly unethical according to the unspoken rule of tatùs. What are they thinking? What is Carter trying to do to us? It's like they want us together.” She rolled her eyes. “If they only knew the half of it.”
He shot her a wry grin. “Kind of ironic, eh?”
A tatù tingled against her skin and coursed up her spine. She misunderstood why it prickled as it happened so fast. A warning. It took barely a second to register. She pressed her hands against the dashboard, her body tightening all over. “Devon! Look out!”
A truck zinged past them and then cut back into their lane in front of the car ahead of them. The vehicle in front had to slam on their breaks. Its rear swung left to right as the driver fought to stay in control. He had to pull his car into the passing lane to try to avoid nailing the truck in front. The bumper clipped the bad driver's back end. Because of the difference in height, their bumpers entangled on the sides; the two vehicles stuck together like a magnet.
Rae watched in horror, unable to move as the scene unfolded in front of them. The truck tried accelerating and pulling away from the car.
This wasn't good. Devon had nowhere to go. He couldn't move left because a car was there, and he couldn't pull into the right lane and risk hitting the other stuck car. They were unbelievably close to the accident about to unfold.
The terrible driver in front of them jerked the steering wheel and swerved to the right. He hit a small car in the slow lane. Instead of breaking from the impact, the truck accelerated. It literally drove up the slow lane car and tilted, hovering on two wheels a second before hitting a bump and flying into the air. It began spinning.
Devon accelerated abruptly and pulled in the direction of the overturning truck. He hit the auto window, and Rae's window began to roll down.
Rae screamed.
“Push it away, Rae,” Devon yelled.
She had no idea what he meant, but her tatù body did. She leaned out the window and using Haley's wind ability she pushed as hard as she could with her hands to mimic a strong wind against the car. She watched in awe as the overturning truck flew over them, and Devon sped into the small space.
Rae forced the spinning truck to move towards the grassy ditch on the side of the road. She arched and twisted as she kept her hands following the vehicle. As it flipped upward, its wheels on the bottom she tried to control it with one hand to stop spinning. Sweat ran down the side of her face as she concentrated. She managed to control the truck as it dropped heavily down.
She fell back against her seat exhausted. I must be dreaming.
“You okay?” Devon asked, his eyes darting to her, in front of them and to his review mirror.
Rae closed her eyes. “Did that just really happen?”
“It did.”
She leaned over the seat, looking to the halted traffic piling up behind them. “Should we stop?”
Devon shook his head. “No. Too risky. If anyone saw you hanging out the window with your hands steering the truck like magic, we're screwed.” He pointed at her chest. “Put your seatbelt back on.”
“I never.” She looked down. How did that come off? “How long did that just take? A minute?” It felt like ten, maybe more.
“About five seconds. Not even.”
If this is the start of the mission, what else is going to happen? She thought as she clicked her belt together. “Do you think that was an accident or meant for us?” Like she had told Devon before, she didn't trust anyone.
Chapter 7
“Are you sure this is where we are staying?” Rae ducked her head to get a better view out of Devon's car window. “It looks insanely posh.”
Against the setting sun, the building's red brick seemed to burn with fire. Devon drove down the gated drive and around to the front of the house. Beautiful orange-red bricks with stunning windows and pointed roof parts jutting out by the raised windows near the top.
“The place is called Heath Hall.” Devon reached for a garage door remote inside his glove compartment and hit the button. “Some architectural billionaire bought the place, renovated it and now rents it out to football players, movie stars…”
“And the Privy Council,” Rae finished and shook her head, amazed. “The entire place isn't ours, is it?”
Devon pulled his car into one of the four parking garage spots located to the west side of Heath Hall. He cut the engine. “There are four flats. We have the apartment on the right with the view of the forest and fields. Maria and Curtis will be staying in the wing across from us. The Privy Council rented out the top floors as well, but no one is staying in them.”
“More secrecy?”
“Something like that, I'm sure.” Devon opened his door and stretched his arms and back when he stood. “You coming?”
Rae stuffed her phone and purse into her backpack in front of the file for the mission. She took a deep breath as she opened her door. “How come you know the history of the building? Have you stayed here before?” She'd read through the file on the drive, and there hadn't been any information about their location.
Devon shook his head. “Last night while we were, uh, waiting for you to drive back from Stoke, Carter mentioned the place. He never says anything without a reason behind it so when I got back to my room last night I looked it up. We're going to be in high society here. We need to be prepared for anything.”
Once Rae followed Devon out of the small garage, she noted that he didn't walk ahead or behind her, but kept perfect pace beside her. “So we have to try and stop a killer and blend in perfectly with royalty, like we've always been classy? This might be out of my league.” Rae could barely keep up with Molly's fashion sense. Realistically she didn't stand a chance here. All this and pretend to be in love with the one boy she was trying to forget existed? I am so screwed.
Devon reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You’ve got this, Rae. I wouldn't have agreed to the mission if I didn't think you—we could handle it.” He quickly let go of her hand and stuffed his into the pocket of his jeans.
She didn't know how to respond. They walked around the small water fountain at the front and into the arched wooden doors of the front entrance. Her eyes roamed the building like a child in a candy store.
Devon chuckled. “Shouldn't the posh be complaining, not gawkin
g?”
“I can't get over the size of this place. Compared to our dorm rooms, which are pretty nice considering, this place is massive.” She giggled, letting excitement flood her veins instead of the constant caution always flowing through them. “What do you think the inside looks like? Modern? Antique? Like a castle?”
Devon pulled his hand out of his pocket along with a set of keys. “I'm thinking old-fashioned. Old antiques cluttered in a million tiny rooms with rugs hanging on the walls as paintings. We'll barely have room to move around. I bet we'll have to move furniture to the upstairs apartments.” He unlocked the front door and handed Rae the keys. “The brass one opens the front door, the silver one is for our place.”
Her heart melted slightly when he referred to the apartment as “our place”. She knew he didn't mean it in the way she thought it, but it didn't stop her body from reacting. “Wh-What about you? Shouldn't we both have a set?”
“There's another one inside. Carter said he put one on the kitchen counter.” He held the door for her.
The hallway had been painted a soft yellow color that seemed to absorb the sun shining in from the windows. A vintage, tall bench with hooks and an umbrella holder on each side, stood on the one side, near their door. Rae glanced back at Devon who winked at her. “Told you,” he mouthed.
Rae hiked her slipping backpack back up her shoulder. “Let's go see what treasures await us.” She fingered the silver key before using it to unlock the door. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, jaw dropping as she took it all in.
Devon had been wrong. Well, partially wrong. The ceiling was a painted mural of clouds with gold crown moulding and enamel painted detail along the edges. There were oval painted portrait pictures in each corner of the ceiling. Rembrandt himself must have painted them or taught someone how to. It was breathtaking.
The walls had been painted a beige color with white edges framing each part of the walls. The bright setting sun filtered in through the windows giving it a warm glow. The main room was enormous, with three couches, reading chairs by the windows and two fireplaces. The furniture and lights were all modern, with simple, warm colors and gold pillows matching the detail on the ceilings.