Precious Time

by W. J. May

  “Surely it can’t be that bad.” Simon set down his glass of whiskey and surveyed Luke with a quizzical frown. “I couldn’t imagine—”

  “It is,” Luke reassured him with an intoxicated flush. “I’m pretty sure there’s even a Simon Kerrigan Halloween costume. You’re a legend, man. A scary, freaking legend.”

  Simon absorbed this with a thoughtful expression as Tristan shook his head with a long-suffering smile. “The only word he heard in that whole sentence was ‘legend.’”

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Devon and Rae were having issues of their own.

  “I can’t believe you’re trying to talk about this now!” he hissed, glancing desperately around the table to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “You’re not even the one who’s drunk!”

  Rae bit back a smile, cocking her head playfully to the side. “Oh, I think now’s exactly the time to talk about it. Of course, you could always just admit you’re hilariously wrong and surrender now.”

  For the last few weeks, the soon-to-be newlyweds had found themselves in a rather difficult position. Difficult in that Devon was extremely hesitant to have sex now that Rae was pregnant. The actual logic and science behind the concept didn’t matter. He had convinced himself that he would somehow hurt the child. Or at the very least, send it into years of therapy.

  “My dad has superhuman hearing,” he mouthed with a glare, unwilling to put any sound behind the words.

  Rae lifted her eyebrows in surprise, like she had completely forgotten. “Shall we ask him, then? He’s a father, he’ll know the answer.”

  She lifted her hand to get Tristan’s attention, but Devon grabbed it down with such blinding speed that even she was unable to follow. “That isn’t funny, Kerrigan.”

  “You know what’s not funny?” she replied, trying her best to keep a straight face. “Sharing a bed for weeks with a man who refuses to touch me.”

  Gabriel took a thoughtful sip of his whiskey, murmuring under his breath. “I’m willing to step up to the plate, if you need my help.”

  Devon shot him a deadly glare. “Not now, Gabriel.”

  Gabriel shot him a crooked grin. “So many jokes, so little time…”

  “Fine,” Devon snapped, trying his very best to limit the conversation to as few people as possible. “We’ll…we’ll just settle it once and for all.”

  With precision aim, considering how much he and everyone else already had to drink, he lobbed a breadstick over the tablecloth, hitting Julian square in the shoulder.

  Julian’s eyes snapped shut in pain before he looked over with a slow glare. “Recently stabbed, remember?”

  Devon nodded quickly, dismissing it in the same moment. “Jules, I want you to check on something for me.”

  There was a comical moment of hesitation before he slowly met Julian’s gaze. The psychic sighed theatrically, he was obviously asked to do this sort of things all the time, before his eyes paled to iridescent white…and then shot right back to brown again.

  “Dude, what the hell?!”

  Devon raised his hands in the air, shaking his head while Gabriel and Rae covered their faces in silent fits of laughter.

  “There’s a reason for it, I swear!” Devon said quickly. “It’s not about us having sex, but if we hypothetically decided we were going to—”

  “Dev, you know I love you, but that is SO far over the line—”

  “Would the baby be okay?”

  The entire back and forth had happened at no more than a whisper, but the words still managed to pack a punch. Across the table Tristan glanced up in surprise, then lowered his eyes with a purse-lipped smile. Whereas Julian merely slid his fingers over his face like he was considering gouging out his own eyes.

  “Yes, the baby would be okay.”

  Rae raised her hands in silent victory, while Devon still looked unconvinced. “Are you absolutely sure? I know you don’t want to check again, but—”

  “Rae! A vial of morphine, please.”

  She conjured it at once, placing it in Julian’s outstretched palm. “Is the pain flaring up again?”

  “There are different kinds of pain,” he muttered, shoving it deep into a vein. “Physical pain and emotional trauma. This is a little bit of both. Plus, the mental trauma.”

  The adults tuned back in just in time to see Julian shooting the drugs into his arm. He flinched at the initial onslaught then visibly relaxed as it entered his system, tilting his head back to the ceiling as all the tension drained slowly off his face.

  “You know, Rae, I have to ask…” Simon began slowly. His eyes flickered to the banner on the wall. “Obviously, it’s a little late at this point, but did you ever consider Julian instead?”

  Rae spat out a mouthful of cider as Devon slowly lifted out of his chair. Julian glanced up with his Champagne halfway to his lips and froze. “What?”

  “I meant for the ink,” Simon defended himself quickly as Tristan turned to give him a dangerous stare. “Only in terms of the tatù.”

  “You are seriously unbelievable, you know that?” Tristan tossed his napkin on the table in disgust, reaching for his whiskey.

  “Tris, come on. You know how highly I think of your tatù. It’s unparalleled.” He gestured across the table to the children, the alcohol freeing his words when otherwise he would have kept them to himself. “I only meant…Rae’s all-powerful, and Julian’s all-seeing. Imagine what a child…” He trailed off once more, falling silent at the look on Tristan’s face.

  The reactions around the table were priceless. Rae felt sick. Beth looked furious. Devon grim. Gabriel grinning, clearly unsurprised. And Molly was severely judgmental.

  Julian merely held out his hand. “Rae, another vial if you please.”

  The tension shattered again as she slapped it away with a grin. “Not a chance. We almost lost you once already this month.”

  “What happened to you anyway?” Mary asked curiously, clearly oblivious to the ink talk around the table, probably writing it off to alcohol. Growing up, Julian had spent most holidays with the Wardells in Esher, and that maternal concern remained. “Did you get hurt?”

  Julian hesitated a moment, considering what to say, before no less than five different answers came flying back to her from the entire table. “Donated a rib.”

  “Car accident.”

  “Mauled by a bear.”

  “Mugged on the subway.”

  “Walked into a wall, the clumsy bastard.”

  Ironically, it was Julian’s own girlfriend who gave this final assessment.

  There was a beat of silence, before Tristan turned to his wife. “I stabbed him.”

  Another beat.

  Then Mary burst out laughing. Of all the scenarios that were presented to her, she seemed to find this one the most ludicrous of them all.

  “Fine,” she chuckled, wiping her eyes, “you don’t have to tell me.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Gabriel pushed smoothly to his feet to answer. The rest of them began passing around smaller plates for dessert, some kind of delightful-looking cappuccino soufflé. It wasn’t until they had already started eating that Rae realized Gabriel hadn’t come back.

  She got to her feet in a single motion, walking away from the golden glow and sparkling conversation, and out into the much colder hall. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, and then she saw Gabriel standing in the front doorway. Staring down at something on the porch.

  “Hey, everything okay?” She walked up behind him, placing a hand on his arm. “You have to try this…”

  Alicia was lying on the doormat. Limbs twisted around her like she’d been unceremoniously dropped. Her blonde hair spilling over the porch floor. Her blue eyes staring unblinkingly into the sky.

  Rae’s blood froze in her veins. She didn’t have to use the girl’s own tatù to see the obvious.

  She was dead.

  Chapter 11

  “Gabriel.” Rae’s heart tore from her chest; even
she could hear the pain in her own voice.

  He didn’t move. Not a single muscle. He had frozen still as a statue, staring down at the beautiful girl lying dead at his feet.

  “Gabriel.”

  There was no telling what was going on inside his head. Those beautiful eyes had a way of screaming everything and nothing, all at the same time.

  “Gabriel.”

  It wasn’t until the third time Rae said his name that it had an effect.

  His body jumped slightly as she tentatively lay a hand on his shoulder, and he took a giant step back.

  There was a soft commotion behind them as the rest of the party hurried down the hall to see what was going on. They came to an abrupt stop at the scene, staring in horrified silence as snow fell in the moonlit world around them.

  “Please,” Molly whispered with a quiet sob, “please tell me she’s not…tell me she’s not…”

  Gabriel’s head jerked up stiffly as the rest of them quietly wilted. For a second, no one seemed to know what to do. Then, slowly, Angel knelt down and gently closed the girl’s eyes.

  Both Tristan and Devon scanned up and down the street from where they stood, listening closely to every sound carried by the winter wind, but they both knew it was no use. Samantha was long gone by now. The girl didn’t do anything without a plan. Or without an escape.

  “She told us,” Luke murmured shakily, holding Molly tight against his chest. “She told us that every one of us would pay…”

  Gabriel said nothing; he simply stared off into the snow.

  Rae stood numbly by his side. Her heart breaking for him. Her heart breaking for her beautiful friend. The lovely doctor who had saved them all more times than she could count. A schoolmate from Guilder. One of the first to fall. Not the first, but it always felt like that when they lost someone.

  Finally, when the silence could go on no longer, Angel gave a quiet assessment. “Broken neck. No signs of a struggle.” She pulled in a quick breath, staring up at her brother with a look of quiet devastation. “Gabriel… it was quick.”

  A surge of life flooded back into him, flashing through his green eyes as his face paled with rage. His sister was on her feet the next moment. Ready for anything. Awaiting his order.

  “What do you want to do?” she asked quietly. “We can hunt her down right now—you and me. No need to wait. Just say the word.”

  Julian’s face tightened as Devon stared between them in surprise. However, at this point, Rae expected nothing less. The two siblings had assimilated into the family as best they could, but when push came to shove they were a closed unit. Old instincts came back hard, and when death was literally at their doorstep they had very little time for other people.

  Gabriel stared down at Angel, taking momentary solace in her face, preparing to say the same words they’d said a hundred times before…but then his eyes flickered up to Julian.

  The psychic was stricken. Staring at his girlfriend like he was dying to reach out to her, to take her out of the city, to lock her away someplace safe. He saw Gabriel watching the next second, and quickly cleared his face. He wanted to become a part of their family, not come between it. “I’ll go with you,” he said softly, ignoring the gaping hole in his chest. “I’ll fight with a gun, stay in the car, and tell you what’s coming. Whatever you want. Whatever you need.”

  Now it was Devon who looked stricken. He took a compulsory step forward, his lips parting in protest, before he swiftly closed them again, staring out at the snow instead.

  Gabriel’s eyes didn’t miss a thing.

  They didn’t miss the way Molly’s hand slipped down to her stomach. The way both Beth and Simon were staring at Rae with a look of abject fear. The way Devon’s parents were doing the same thing to him. And Luke’s parents to him.

  In the end… he almost smiled.

  “You can’t,” he said quietly. “None of you can.”

  That includes you. Rae wanted to say it. She wanted to scream it out loud. But she somehow knew that Gabriel didn’t believe that anymore. That in those fleeting moments in the snow, something had changed.

  “None of us stands a chance on our own,” he continued quietly, speaking at a fast clip. “It’s together or not at all. I’m…I’m going home. We’ll make a plan in the morning.”

  Angel was standing in front of him the next second, blocking his path as her white hair swirled and danced in the flurries around them. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  To protect him from Samantha? To protect him from himself?

  His eyes gentled a bit as they stared down into hers. It was the same argument they’d had since they were kids. The one that always ended the same way.

  “Then come with me.” He held out his hand, and she slipped hers inside.

  As the wind swirled around them, he turned and cast one final look at Alicia. Memorizing the image. Freezing with the pain. Then he and Angel walked into the storm together. Their dark clothes and light hair melting away into the winter snow.

  * * *

  Julian and Devon carried in the body, twin looks of grief on their face. They set her down in one of the downstairs guestrooms, laying her gently across the bed. They would call her parents in the morning. They would take all the necessary steps. However, for tonight, she would rest.

  A pair of tears slipped down Julian’s face as he squeezed her lifeless hand. In the other corner, Molly was openly weeping. He walked away to comfort her as Devon knelt beside the bed, staring at the beautiful girl who had once been their friend.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, smoothing back her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

  He stayed there for a few seconds before pushing up to his feet. But as he did, something caught his eye. A little frown flickered across her face as he reached down and tugged a piece of paper from Alicia’s jacket. In the shock of finding her body, they hadn’t noticed it until now.

  “What is it?” Rae asked, her voice heavy with dread.

  He unfolded it quickly and scanned down the page. Then he froze.

  “It’s a message,” he answered, as quiet as a grave. “Samantha pinned a message to the front of Allie’s coat.”

  A wave of nausea rose in the back of Rae’s throat, but she fought to keep it down. Breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Now wasn’t the time to lose her head. Now was the time to be strong. To be presidential.

  Even if she was dying inside.

  Her eyes narrowed as she forced the question past her teeth. “What does it say?”

  Devon crumpled it in his hand, unable to look a second longer. “A time and place. Epping Forest. Two weeks from Friday.” His throat constricted, and he took a deep breath to steady himself. “She says she’s going to finish it.”

  The nausea off-balancing Rae’s stomach suddenly settled, leaving her awash with cold determination. The devastation at seeing her fallen friend hardened into a chilling rage. “No. We will.”

  The others nodded and silently filed from the room. Devon glanced down once more at Alicia. He carefully removed the pin from her coat, then left her in peace.

  Waiting for her family. Waiting to be avenged.

  * * *

  “I’m going to Guilder.”

  It was the first thing Rae said when they rejoined their parents in the living room. The candles were burning low on the table. The dessert was melted in forgotten pools.

  “Sweetheart, why don’t you wait until morning?” A rush of sadness welled up in Beth’s eyes as she glanced towards the bedroom door. “Nothing will change between now and then.”

  But Rae wasn’t having it. She wasn’t going to spend the night pacing the halls. Crying into her pillow. Surrendering herself to emotions that would only derail. She wasn’t wasting a second. If one thing had been made clear tonight…it was that time was the one thing they didn’t have. “No.”

  It was short and clipped. Offering not an ounce of leniency.

  Beth glanced down helplessly, and Tristan
stepped up to the plate.

  “Rae, I know you’re very upset,” he began gently, “but there’s nothing that you can do tonight. By the time you get to Guilder, it’ll be two in the morning—”

  “Then that bloody Council of mine can get their asses out of bed.” She glared around the room, then nodded sharply to Devon. “Let’s take your car.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Commander Fodder came into the room, slipping his cell phone into his pocket. Rae hadn’t even realized he wasn’t there. “I called Louis Keene the second we found the girl. He and most of the others were already in London. They’re on their way.”

  And that’s how it’s done. A true president. A true leader.

  A quiet sigh of relief eased some of the tension in Rae’s chest. Allowing her to step back for a moment, and trust the logistics to someone with experience. It reminded her very much of Carter, and for a fleeting moment Rae wished she could just surrender the whole PC into Fodder’s hands.

  Leaving her own hands free for other things. Like vengeance.

  …and making funeral bouquets.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, swaying as the adrenaline began to ebb, giving way to the horrified shock just beneath. “I should…I need to get ready for them.”

  Without another word, she flew up the stairs to her bedroom. Leaving everyone behind. She had only just made it inside when that crumbling composure left her. When her clenched teeth tore open with a gasp and she screamed silently into her hands.

  A torrent of hot tears poured down her cheeks as she sank where she stood in the middle of the floor. A thousand memories attacked her from every side. A thousand images of Alicia’s beautiful face. Laughing. Studying. Walking across the stage at graduation.

  The door opened and closed silently behind her. The floorboards creaked as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

  “What are you looking at, honey?” Beth’s gentle voice eased into the silence. Warming it through and through.

  Rae bowed her head and held up her phone. A hastily snapped picture was lit up across the screen. The picture of a beaming girl flashing a giant thumbs up as she posed next to a certificate. “Aly sent that to me right after she passed her qualification boards. The day she found out she was officially going to be a doctor. Like she wasn’t already…” A nostalgic smile blurred the tears in Rae’s eyes as she remembered. She and Molly had gone out that very afternoon and purchased her the official ‘white coat.’