Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (2 page)

“I wanted to surprise you with something
cool
when you flew in.
You know how hard it is to
get a Lotus
?”
He leaned over and planted a
quick, hard
kiss on her lips before st
arting the engine.
“Miss
ed
you. I’m glad you’re back.”
He drove out of
the airport and onto the motorway with precision and ease.

Either you really wanted to surprise me or you just made that up and you
’re
avoiding the loaded question.
Rae straightened in her seat.
Why do I always have to notice and question everything?
I’m only making myself miserable.
She forced herself to change the subject.
“
You just graduated last year
and already you
’
r
e
working
for this Privy Council?”
She still couldn’t grasp his job description
.
M
aybe some sort of private eye or
intern
superhero?
It wasn’t like he had actually answered the question either.

“
Hey, what can I tell you?
I aced all the tests
;
they offered me
the job.
They know at Guilder I’m acting as your mentor, so I got the green light to continue here
.
Your protection is
one of their
top
priorities.”

Rae stared at him.
Part of her was happy to know
he
would be around
.
T
he other part
was stunned that the
Privy
Council would be
that
interested in her welfare.
It creeped her out a little.
“You’re pulling my leg.
How’d
they know about me?
”

“
Come on, the daughter of the
in
famous Simon Kerrigan?
” He glanced at her and reached over to pat her knee
when she rolled her head to look out the window.
Fabulous, the one thing about me I want most to forget is the one thing that makes me interesting to the secret squirrels
.
Devon
, mistaking her reasons for withdrawing from the conversation, set out to reassure her.
“
Don’t worry.
No one knows about our relationship, so it’s all good.
If the Privy Council found out, they’d definitely send me far away from you.”
He shrugged.
“
Look, t
his is something I’ve dreamed about doing
.
Who wouldn’t
want to help
their country?
I
’ve
spent my entire life following the rules others
have set out.
Now i
t’s fun bending
them
to save the day
.”

“It sounds dangerous.
”
Even with the abilities of his tatù
.
Not to mention, these dreams of his weren’t something they’d ever talked about. She didn’t understand the fascination or the
inclination
.

A deep chuckle erupted from
his throat
.
“Now you sound like my mother.”

Ohhh, I can’t resist this one.
“I don’t think
she
wants to protect the same body parts I’m interested in.”
She gave him a sly look
, fighting back the urge to smile.

“Yuck!” He pretended to gag.
“I hope
not.
”

Rae chuckled, despite her worry.
“I don’t want any part of you getting hurt, or in danger.
Your mother doesn’t know half of what this world is capable of–”

“Any more than you do
.
You’re six
teen,
newly initiated
and only beginning to grasp a hint of your talent.
I can take care of myself
,
and I’ll take care of you as well.
It’s my
responsibility
and my job now…
t
hough I can’t consider hanging out with you
, work
.” H
e
grinned
. The adorable dimple Rae loved appeared on his cheek
.
Yup, definitely missed that.

“
Fine.”
She breathed out through her nose, a calming technique
she had
learned long ago
.
She had
just
returned
and didn’t want to argue.
“You win
.
” She shifted in her seat, taking in his thin, muscular outline.
He
looked even more handsome
since she
had
got
ten
off the plane
.
“
Tell me more about the jobs you’ve done
over the
summer
. It
all
sound
s
pretty
cool
.”

“The rush i
s amazing, and the pay
,
incredible.
Bet I’ll be loaded befor
e I
’m
twenty.”

Not if you spend money on car
s
like this.

Devon
grinned, his
thumbs
tapping against the steering wheel.
He talked the rest of the drive about the training he and Julian, their friend,
had done
over the summer.

Rae listened, fascinated
,
but
also noticed
he
didn’t
g
i
ve specifics about anything
.
Either the
jobs
were a secret or
he had
just
spent the summer training
and there were no specifics to give
.
Hopefully it’s the la
t
ter of the two
.

The motorway turned into a slip road and soon they
were driving along the country
side
,
towards
the familiar
grounds
of
Guilder
College
.

The football fields were full of
male
students
scrimmaging
.
The oriel windows on the old Tudor buildings were wide open
, airing
out
the rooms
in preparation for the arrival of the students who would live there for the next school year.
T
he iv
y on the
red brick and wood
danced
in the wind
, as though in anticipation
.
Rae
could not
wait to get to
Aumbry
House
and to
her dorm room
.
She wanted to
see
who had
already arrived. Molly had e
-
mailed to say
she would
arriv
e
the next day
.
Finally emerging from her own reverie, she realized her cheeks hurt because
she had
been grinning for a while
.

“Happy to be back?”
Devon
teased.

“Maybe a little.”
She
shrugged and
tried to act like she didn’t care
,
but the look on
Devon
’s face told her he didn’t
buy
it.
“
Okay
, I’m
very
excited to be back.”

“You’re
all right
?”
Devon
tugged at his ear. “You know…
with
everything that happened
…
with
Lanford
,
before the summer
?”

Rae
’
s
smile slipped and she
turned
silent
, staring
out the window as they drove under the bridge that connected the two round towers of the main building
. She fought the sense of betrayal and fear that
she had
kept a lid on all summer long, determined not to think about it.
I don’t want to feel like this
.
She tried to laugh, but it came out
wrong, more like a harrumph
.
“
You mean
,
the headmaster who fooled me into trusting
him and let me believe he was on my side?” She didn’t wait for a reply and pointed at one of the towers they’d just passed. “Or do you mean the part where he trapped me in there and tried to force me to finish something my good-for-nothing father
started
? Or the part where he trie
d
to shoot me and end
ed
up slipping on ice and breaking his head?”
She forced herself to stop talking, feeling a tide of emotion starting to well up inside her and fearing the
consequences of letting it out.

Devon
’s raised eyebrows and hanging mouth made her realize what
she had
just said.

She reached over and
touched
his
leg
. “I’m okay, honestly. I was trying to make a joke
;
and apparently
,
I failed.
After everything I learned last year, I
shouldn’t have
let my guard down for anyone.” Tucking an escaped curl behind her ear again, she added, “Except for you, and Julian… and Molls.”

“You’ve just ranted like that, and then say you’re totally fine?”
Devon
’s voice carried
nothing but gentle concern and the promise of support
. She
had
missed him over the summer.

She sighed, pushing her shoulders back and sitting up straighter
, mentally pulling herself up by the bootstraps. She needed to reassure
Devon
that
everything was fine.
Fake it ‘til you make it, right?

“I can still hear my father’s stupid voice in my head, but I’m going to be
fine
.”
We are above mankind--above the law which rules over them
.
She
dropped
her head
and squeezed her eyes shut tight for a moment
forcing her father’s words out of her thoughts.
“
Wh
o knows, maybe I’ll
be able to get a job with the Privy Council, or act as some secret agent for the government
, like you
.”
And make up for my father being the Hitler of the
tatù
world.
Great job, being the daughter of the world’s evil genius.

Devon
chuckled.
“I think
being
away made you
a bit
crazy.
How about
you get that
massive talent
of yours under control before you decide to save the world
?
And f
or the record, that’s my job at the moment.”
Devon
grabbed her hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.

“You can keep the job
…
fo
r now.
W
hen I graduate
,
I’ll let you work with me.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
She
hated
to admit
it
, even to herself,
but
he
was right.
My tatù ability is
powerful and
I
barely
k
n
o
w how to use it.
I
might
be able to mimic other tatùs, but using them properly
is
the challenge.