Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (28 page)

“How long?” Rae swallowed, scared for her friend.
First
Devon
, and now Desiree!
What if this happens to me?

“I d
on’t know, fifteen,
maybe twenty minutes.” Desiree brushed
the
hair from her face. “I
t
feel
s
like…
like
something’s been stolen from me
—
”
She
pressed
her trembling lip
s together.

Rae squeezed her friend’s shoulder.
“Maybe it’s just quiet.
Have you been using it a lot lately?”
She
knew her questions were meaningless.
She used
her
tatù
non
stop some days, even weeks
,
and
the hum never
slowed or quieted.
Maybe mine’s different. Didn’t
Devon
say he’d been
over-
using his when he’d had the same kind of problem?

Desiree
wiped her tears with toilet paper
.
“No more than since school started.
What
should
I
do?”

Get help.
“
Wait here.
I’ll
go
get
the
headmaster
.
Carter’s
pretty cool about stuff like this.
He
actually
helped me last year when I didn’t know
…when I didn’t
understand
my tatù
.
I’ll go find him
.
” She
didn’t bother to mention
that
he had
acted like a prison warden when
she had
first
gotten her
tatù.
Or how
the
old headmaster
,
Lanford,
had been the one to really help her out until
—
She forced the thoughts out of her mind. This was about Desiree right now.
She
stepped out of the stall.
“
I’ll be
right back
.” She turned and ran towards the dimly lit Oratory, her heels tapping
on the marble tile.

Using
Devon
’s tatù
,
which allowed her to see better in the dark, she found
Carter
chatting with one of the
female
professors from
Roe Hampton
.
She debated between using a speed tatù
or
interrupting
Carter
with a message in his head. She
paused, knowing they weren’t allowed to use their
ability
where it might arouse suspicion from normal people.

“Rae,” Desiree’s voice came from behind, followed by a w
arm hand on her shoulder.
“I’m
okay.
It’s back.
I can feel it. It’s back.”

Rae swung around.
Desiree looked perfect.
Her mascara had been wiped away and her eyes were full of fire again.
“You sure?”
She didn’t
need
to hear
the answer since
she
immediately
felt
the hum
from
Desiree’s warm fingertips.
Her tatù was definitely back.

“Yeah.
” Desiree dropped her arm. “
Please don’t tell anyone.
I don’t want to get sent away.”

“You won’t
get kicked out
!
”
F
illed with sympathy for her friend, Rae still worried
.
Nobody had
their
abilities
disappear
last year
.
Something
isn’t
right
. S
he just couldn’t pinpoint
what
.
“
I really think you should tell
Carter
.”
I’m getting kind of tired of being asked to keep all these secrets. It’s not normal.
Then again, she
couldn’t claim to be normal herself. Who was she to judge?

“I will
.
I will.
Just not tonight.
Let’s have fun and I’ll talk to him after class on Monday.
If it happens again, I promise I’ll
go see him sooner
.”

Rae sighed, but nodded.
It’s not my place
to tell her what to do.
“It’s up to you.”
They walked over to their group of friends
, now hanging out by the punch bowl and snack tables
.
Rae
searched
for
Devon
but didn’
t see him.
She half listened to the conversations going on around her, checking her watch every few minutes. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer.
“
Nicholas
, have you seen
Devon
?
” She swept the room one more time. “
Or Julian?”

“Yeah,
I forgot.
Devon
came in about ten minutes ago.
I think he
was
trying to find
someone
, but
he
didn’t
say
who
.
He got
called into work.
Julian
,
too.
S
omething for the Privy Council.”

“Oh.” Disappointment filled her.
In helping Desiree, she
had
missed him.

“Ms. Kerrigan?” Dean Wardell
’s
voice
intruded on her thoughts
.

She
straightened
,
self-
consciously tugging on her shawl. “Yes, sir?”

“I’d like to have a word with you in my office tomorrow morning.
Please
come
by around nine thirty.” He turned and walked away, telling Rae nothing more.

What the –?
Rae played with a braid in her hair, trying
to
remember
if
she had
done something wrong.
May
be
it had
something to do with
Devon
and his being
called to the Privy Council.
Now a
nxious, she wanted to know if
he
was
safe and wished the
dean
would speak to her now.
Waiting was torture.

The evening
slowly
drew to a close.
Rae
left early, feigning a headach
e,
and
headed back to her dorm before most of the other girls.
She
immediately
checked her
blackberr
y
,
noticing
a short
message
from
Devon
.

Hey
Rae,

G
ot
called out on an emergency
+
tried
2
find
U
.
I’ll
call
U when
I
’m
back.
Not sure
when
.
D

Rae stared at her phone, long after the screen had gone black. She knew
they couldn’t afford any hint of their relationship getting out, but it still hurt not seeing anything emotional in the message
.
At least he left me a message.
He didn’t have to do that.
Hopefully the dean would explain things tomorrow
.
He knew
Devon
mentored her, and
he had
always been nice. He
had
help
ed
calm her nerves.

She changed and crawled into bed. It took forever
for her to
finally fa
ll asleep.

Long after the sun had risen,
Rae headed up the
round
staircase from the
Main
Building
towards Dean
Wardell’s office.
She shivered
as
she recalled
her less than cordial visit there the previous year
.
The building s
till held the memories
she
would
rather
forget.
First time coming here since Lanford
—

When Rae arrived at the top of the stairs, Dean Wardell
stepped out of his office.
He
glanced
at
his watch and
then
at Rae.
“Ms. Kerr
igan, perfect timing
.
Please come in.
”

“Thank you,
s
ir.”
Rae followed
the dean
and shot a quick glance at the other end of the hall,
at the door
leading to the other round tower room
.
The image of Lanford lying
unmoving
on the ground flashed in her mind. Rae
forcefully
turned her attention to the room the dean had ushered her into
, trying to resist the nausea trying to overcome her
.

The
office
followed the
round
shape of the tower.
However
,
it had been
refurbished
and completely redone inside.
It still had the dark
reddish-
grey brick and mortar but everything else inside the office was
decorated in
light
colors.
The chairs, carpet, and even the furniture’s wood seemed ten shades lighter.

Rae wondered if changing the furniture could alter the entire mood of the room.
She momentarily considered it might have something to do with who now occupied it.
“You wanted to see me,
s
ir?”
She
stood awkwardly in front of
his
desk
, not sure if she should sit or wait to be offered a chair.

“Yes.”
Dean Wardell
fidgeted with some paperclips on his desk then straightened a stack of already neat papers, before hiding his hands under the desk.

F
eeling
edgy
herself
, Rae tried to prepare herself. While not totally sure what this was all about, she had a feeling she wouldn’t like what he had to say
.
Please don’t
let this
be about
Devon
…please let him be alright.

The dean cleared his throat.
“I like you, M
is
s Kerrigan.
You’re good for this school
--
for the faculty and our s
tudents.
You’
ve a very bright future and a chance to make a difference in this world of chaos.”
He glanced towards the parking lot window and
frowned
.

“Thank you,
sir
.”
Okay
...
T
his
obviously
didn’t have anything to do
with where
Devon
had gone.
But
—

“But, I want you to stay away from my son.”

Rae’s mouth fell open
, momentarily stunned. It was her worst fear, fully realized, and she couldn’t respond. She didn’t even know where to begin.

“Listen
closely
.
” His eyes narrowed at her. “
Y
ou’re
a
good kid
,
b
ut you’re not what my son needs
—
plus
, and you need to
get
this
through your pretty little head
,
t
atùs don’t
date
.
T
hey
.
C
an’t
.
M
arry.
” Rae felt his emphasis of each word drill through her being.
“
Don’t fill your head with silly notions that it might work for you
because of who your father was.
” He pounded the desk with his fist and leaned forward
, making Rae edge back to maintain distance between then
. “
Devon
deserves more than
you can give him
.
He doesn’t need someone who’
s broken and carrying a lifetime of baggage.
He needs to meet a
normal
girl and have my grandchildren
!
”
The anger, so evident in every fiber of his being, became more than she could stand. She had feared this exact scenario, or some form of it, for so long, now that it was actually happening, her brain couldn’t process it.