Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (21 page)

“No worries.
” Molly
snapped her fingers
. “
I can create my own electricity.” She
created
little sparks
with
her
fingernails
,
flicking
them
at the girls
as they laughed and squealed, jumping out of the way.

“I hate to break this party up
,
but I need to head down to the library to meet
Nicholas
and Kraigan to go over our presentation
for Carter’s class
.” Rae
pulled the dress off and
bent
down to pull her jeans back up. She
carefully handed the dress back to Molly
who zipped it back into the ba
g
with the speed of a clothing expert.

“I have homework to catch up on as well,” Alecia said to Rae while Desiree and Molly still stood chatting by the mirrors. She swung the bathroom door open and stepped through ahead of Rae.

Rae turned to say good-bye to Molly. From the mirror’s reflection she watched in horror as the antique beam above the doorway came crashing down. Alecia’s cry
echoed against the bathroom tiles and glass as the heavy wood and parts of the wall and ceiling collapsed on top of her. The sickening, dull crack of bone breaking reverberated
through Rae’s body as a mixture of fear, helplessness and adrenaline flooded her being
.

“Alecia!” the three girls cried out together.

Chapter 11

What the–?

R
ae rushed forward and began
frantically digging through the rubble to get to her friend
. Using
Devon
’s tatù she used speed and his hearing to concentrate on Alecia. The poor girl was breathing brokenly
, a whimper with every exhalation,
but at least she was alive.

“What’s going on?” Madame Elpis called as she raced up the stairs. “Oh my goodness!” She pulled an emergency button in the hallway and shouted for the students standing in their doors to get back into their rooms.

“Alecia! Are you okay?” Another student Rae didn’t know began helping her clear the rubble. They touched hands and Rae picked up on her strength tatù. She mimicked it immediately and cleared away the heavy stuff. Together the two lifted the large beam off Alecia
’s
lower body. She lay prone, her head turned to the
side,
and her back twisted awkwardly
.
Please don’t be paralyzed. Please be okay.

Rae leaned forward to check Alecia’s
heartbeat
. Her face was ashen
.
She had
passed out.
Probably from the pain. Maybe that’s a good thing.

Men in uniforms raced up the stairs with a stretcher in tow. At least Rae assumed they were
medic attendants
. They could have been Privy Council workers for all she knew.

One of them, a guy in his forties, politely asked them to step away so they could take care of Alecia.

Rae stood beside Madame Elpis.

“What in the world happened?” Madame Elpis asked.

“I don’t know. We were just about to leave and the door frame came crashing down.”
Rae breathed hard, panic and concern churning in her gut. Madame Elpis stood staring at the
ceiling.

“I
told
Lanford last year that those construction guys were idiots,” Madame Elpis grumbled. “I knew something like this would happen.”

“Ma’am? We need to take this young girl to the hospital. We need her name and details. Can you come with us?” The man spoke to Madame Elpis. They had strapped and lifted Alecia into a gurney and were heading towards the stairs.

“Yes, yes. I’m coming and I’ll contact the headmaster and dean. They will get a hold of her parents right away as well.” Madame Elpis followed them down the stairs.

Rae watched them leave, her mind swirling with possibilities. She remembered the construction from the previous year. It was how she had met
Devon
and been introduced to the
t
atù world at the same time. She had almost been squashed her first day on campus by a beam carelessly shoved out a window by a worker.
Devon
had saved her, using his fennec fox
tatù
to run faster than anything she had ever seen and push her out of the way. No one had questioned the incident, or viewed it as more than an unfortunate coincidence that she had been the one put in danger, at the time.

The workers had spent
last summer and the start of the school term
finishing the renovations.
So was this an accident? Or was the frame rigged?

Molly, still holding the dress bags, stepped out of the bathroom. “Wow. I hope she’s okay.” She shifted the dresses to her other arm. “Thank goodness I got these in and zipped before all that dust and building bits flew everywhere.”

Rae stared at her
incredulously
. “Molly!”

After canceling and rescheduling her group meeting with Nicholas and Kraigan for the following evening, Rae
answered a summons sent by Carter
.
She waited patiently, letting him rant on and on for a full five minutes about conspiracies and her possible importance as the key to her father’s evil intentions to dominate the world with mind control. However, when he started
insinuating that the accident in the bathroom had been a targeted attack on her, she had to put a stop to it.

“That’s impossible,” she argued. “How could someone rig the door and assume I’d be going to the bathroom at that very moment? They’d have no idea if I’d even be the first girl to walk out instead of the others. Madame Elpis herself said that the construction workers did a lousy job last year
, and that’s certainly correct
.
Shoot, I almost got decked from a beam falling.
You remember that?
”

Carter grumbled but finally let her
go back to her dorm
. She spent the rest of the night worried about Alecia.
At least she’s at
a
hospital where tatù people work.
She had
learned that much from Carter.

In the Oratory the next morning, Carter informed everyone that Alecia
had been seriously injured, but
would be alrig
ht. “She’s
fractured her hip
and slipped a disc
but
is in very good hands. She’ll
be home for the rest of the school
year
but wants to come back to Guilder in the fall. I personally spoke with her
surgeon
after her surgery
,
and
he said that
she was in high spirits. She specifically wanted me to let you all know sh
e will
be fine.
Between her ability to see the damage and the doctor’s skill, every injury has been addressed and now she just needs to heal
.”

Desiree began clapping
.
A
ll the other students
joined in
. Rae hated that Alecia wouldn’t be back
until
September
,
but was glad
she
would
be okay. The
image
of the weird twist in Alecia’s back
still haunted Rae
.
That’s some amazing tatù doctor
, if he can fix all of that
.

“The reconstruction of the bathroom doorframe is already underway,” Carter added. “I’ve been told it will be finished by this evening
, leaving
no trace of the accident. Rest assured, it will never happen again.”

The afternoon flew by
.
Rae found herself rushing to get to
Aumbry
’s library in time for her group meeting that evening.
When
she
peered through
the French doors, Kraigan and
Nicholas
were already
waiting for
her.
She pushed the doors open
and bumped into Haley coming out.
Despite the fact that Haley had apologized at the
end
of the previous year for her actions, Rae had still avoided her since returning to Guilder.

“
Watch out, klutz!
”
Haley bent down to pick up a
book that had fallen
out of her hands.
“Where are the bulls?”

“Pardon?”

“With the rush you were in, I expected them to come charging in after you.”
Haley rolled her eyes.
“Come on.
Everyone knows about the running of the bulls in
Spain
.”

Oh so now I’m stupid? She hasn’t changed at all…

“I’m a bit late in meeting up with my group.” She peered over Haley’s shoulder to see Nicholas and Kraigan watching.
She wiggled her fingers at them.

Haley followed Rae’s gaze. “Kraigan?
Isn’t he just dreamy?” Haley whispered.
She closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath.

“Dreamy? Uh
—
” She
liked
Devon
and
hadn’t looked closely
enough
at
Kraigan
to even consider if he was cute
. Plus she was more interested in his tatù
tha
n anything else
. She
stared
at him now
.

He was athletic, but bulkier than
Devon
’s lean build.
His curly brown hair
seemed
familiar but she couldn’t place what it reminded her of
—
maybe
chocolate o
r
something.
His brown eyes were the same color as his hair. His face
seemed pretty
serious
most of
the time
, and when
he
did
smile, it never reached his eyes.
Nothing about him drew her in
as attractive
.

Kraigan lifted his arm level with his face and tapped at his wristwatch.

“Haley,
I gotta go
.
Our presentation’s tomorrow.
I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Whatever
.” Haley slipped through the door, throwing one last flirty glance at Kraigan.

Rae rushed over to the table where the boys sat. “Sorry I’m late.”

“
You looked like you could use a bit of saving,” Kraigan grinned and stared pas
t
her at the door Haley had disappeared through. “
Who’s the hottie with the million-dollar body?”

“That’s Haley,”
Nicholas
replied. “She’s
also got the million-dollar family
.”

“Nic!” Rae
rolled her eyes.

“What’s her
tatù
?” Kraigan ignor
ed
her
.

“She can make wind.”
Nicholas
reached into his bag to pull their presentation out.

Rae saw him try to hide a smile as he bent over.

“Huh?” Kraigan rais
ed
an eyebrow.

Rae rolled her eyes at Nic’s unfortunate attempt at humor.
“What Nic means
is
Haley can create
breezes or big gusts. S
tuff like that.”

“Boring.” Kraigan
mumbled
.

Rae caught his single word and couldn’t let it go.
“
Is it boring because y
ou’re not interested in the
school’s
female
s
unless they match
specific
criteria? Looks, money and
certain
tatùs?”
No wonder she didn’t find him attractive.
He’s totally different than
Devon
.
.

“
Whoa! Slow down. I didn’t mean that at all.” He tilted his head to the side and watched her. “
Why’s it
matter
?
We can’t date
.
” He chuckled. “You know the worst part?
I get dumped from
an
all-boys
orphanage to a school where you’re not even supposed to look at the girls.
” Kraigan shrugged. “
What I
meant to imply was
; i
f I’m going to get caught breaking the rules,
the girl
had
better be worth it
.
”

Devon
crossed her mind.
I
s
he
worth getting caught
for
?