Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (9 page)

The moment the freezing lifted, he
lurched
forward.
However,
she
anticipated
his
action
and
easily
sidestepped
his reach.
She did a full turn and sense
d
Devon
’s
t
aser
by her shoulder.
She dropped,
floating
with her face towards the floor.
She mimicked Julian’s
power
to see
Devon
’s tho
ughts.
She hovered momentarily, sensing
Devon
staring
at the tatù on her back.
Her shirt
had
shifted
, and it must have
distracted him
.
Giggling, s
he took advantage of the opportunity and rolled over to tap him on the leg.

“Got you again
.”
She jumped up and did a victory dance
close
in fr
ont of him.

“Great shot.
”
Julia
n clapped. “
Nice move to end on, in my opinion
.”

“
Sorry
.
I got preoccupied for a moment.”
Devon
winked at Rae.
“
Let’s call it a night.
Rae’s
gonna need her sleep
.
C
hatter-bug Molly arrives tomorrow
.”
He
leaned in
and
placed
a
long,
soft
kiss
on
her
lips.
“Good shot,” he whispered.

They jumped apart when the Oratory
’s
door
slammed
opened.

Chapter 4

Catching Up With Molly

“
G
ood
evening.
How’s training?”
Carter
acted
oblivious to
the kiss he might have just seen
.
“Learn anything interesting, Rae?”

Devon
cleared his throat.
“Very good, sir.
Seems Rae’s a
--
a
quick learner.”
He
sounded as nervous as Rae felt.

“
A
sneaky little bugger
,
too.” Julian elbow
ed
her in the ribs.

Sh
e just stood there
, u
nsure if
the sudden
sweat
came from
the
workout
or
Carter’s
unexpected arrival.

“
We were
just a
bout to head back to the dorms.”
Devon
nodded at Rae. “Someone’s got curfew.
Thanks for letting us use the Oratory.”
Devon
grabbed their equipment, shoved it into the bag he
had
carried in earlier, and
headed towards the
front doors
.

Julian and Rae follow
ed
close behind.
Near the exit, Rae glanced over her shoulder
;
paranoid
that
Carter
might have
caught
them playing tongue-hockey.

“
Yes… Any time
,
”
he replied distractedly.
Carter
pressed
his lips
in a thin line
and
stared at a spot on the floor
while
fidget
ing
with
change or keys in his pocket
.

Shrugging at
on
e
an
other, the
three
of them
headed
out into the evening.

“That was weird,” Julian said.

“He’s probably worried
about the start of the new term
.”
Devon
didn’t sound convinced
.

“Hmmm
—
”
Rae
murmured.
H
e
’
s probably more distracted with the bad news he
g
a
ve
us
earlier than anything else.
S
he closed her eyes, enjoying the
slight breeze
as it
evaporated
the sweat on her neck
.
She
did
n’t realize how exhausted
her body was
until they arrived outside
Aumbry
House.
She stifled a yawn,
not wanting
to say good night
to
Devon
.

“
Y
ou look shattered
,”
Julian
said
.

“Thanks.
” She didn’t try to hide the sarcasm. “
I really appreciate–”

“You
do
look tired.”
Devon
brushed a strand of hair b
ehind
her
ear, h
is hand cool against her skin.
“Why don’t you head up
,
and I’ll
see
you tomorrow
.
It’s
,
like
,
three in the morning in
New York
now.”

She gave in.
“
I
t does feel like it’s been a pretty long day
.
Can I watch you
guys train again
?
I had
fun
.”

“Sure, but Julian and I
need
to
come up with
some
new
challenges for you.”
Devon
laughed. “What you figured out in one night, took us
al
most
a month
to learn.”

Madame Elpis came
prancing
up the walk towards the front door
s
of
Aumbry
House and stopped on the concrete steps.
“Good evening, gentlemen.
Hello, Ms. Kerrigan.”
She spoke
in a singsong voice
.
“Are you heading out?
Remember curfew is
eleven o’clock
.”

“Actually, I’m coming in.”
Rae
turned back to Julian and
Devon
wh
ile
Madame Elpis
tapp
ed
her foot to an imaginary rhythm.
She obviously
planned to wait for
Rae
.

“Good night.
”
Devon
winked at her.

“’Night.”
Rae
stepped inside and
moved slowly
towards the marble
steps.
She had
forgot
ten
how long th
e
staircase was
.
Too tired to argue with herself, she
began climbing
.
She paused on the first floor, wishing her room was still here.
Slapping
her forehead
,
she realized how much easier things
would
be if she used
one of the
powers
she had mimicked.
I
must
be
exhausted. I
should have done
it automatically.
S
he rounded
the stairwell to the second floor,
and
concentrated on
using
the
cheetah tatù from a former student to race up the st
ep
s
.
She headed to her room,
stopping for
a quick trip
to
the bathroom.
When she finally crawled into bed, she thought it
had
never felt so good.
Just before falling asleep
,
she slapped her forehead. “I forgot to check in on Maria.
”
Her friend’s tatù let her converse through thought. Rae decided to send her a message.
Maria. It’s me, Rae. How are you feeling?

A moment later
,
Maria’s quiet voice came through.
I’m good. Have to spend the night in the infirmary. Doctor’s running some tests but won’t get the results for about a week. I’m feeling loads better.

Rae smiled
;
glad Maria was alright.
That’s good news. Shame about spending the night there but better safe than sorry. G’night.
S
he fell
into a dreamless sleep
.

“Rae!
Rae!
Get up
.
I
know you’re in there
.” Loud pounding followed the shout. “
Come on
!
It’s
after nine
!
L
et’s go for breakfast.
I haven’t seen you all summer!
”

The hollering from the other side of
her
door
could not
possibly
be
a dream.
Rae rubbed her eyes
.
It took a moment
to
remember
where she
lay
.
She popped up when she realized she was back at Guilder.
Running
straight to the door
, she
swung it open to greet the yelling voice.

“Molls
.
How are you?”
She gave her friend a big hug.
Molly’s
gorgeous
dark, mahogany red
hair brushed
against Rae. It smelled of expensive shampoo, like Molly’s designer clothes.
Beautiful, but better since Rae knew how awesome she was on the inside now too.

“
Awesome! I missed you,
Rae
.”
Molly hugged her back.
“How was your summer?
The flight back alright?
Did you see anyone else yet?
I saw Madame Elpis
. W
hat’s up with her?
M
ost important, where are
all those new clothes you mentioned in your e
-
mails
?”

Rae laughed at her crazy friend’s
endless
chatter. “I missed you
, too
.”

“Me
,
too
,”
Moll
y
chirped.
“
I told my d
ad I’m goi
ng home with you this Christmas,
and then
we can go shopping in N
-
Y
-
C
together
.
Did I tell you my
dad
bought me a car?”
She
contin
u
ed
to chatter away
as
Rae headed towards the bathroom.

Returning minutes later,
Rae walked back into her room
to see
Molly
arrang
ing
clothes
on
the
chaise lounge
.

“I went through your wardrobe.
You’ve done some shopping this summer
!
Well done
!
” She hand
ed
Rae a
short
jean skirt and turquoise blue tank top
. “Wear this today
,
and let’s see if we can get some of those seniors looking our way.
Oh, d
id I tell you I went on a few dates back home?
” Molly flipped her
burgundy-red
hair off her shoulders. “
Seems
everyone
is interes
ted in what goes on at Guilder.
At least I got a few movies
and dinners out of it.
There’
s this one guy
.” She sighed, in a weird, content way Rae had never heard
from her
before. “
Reece
. W
e went out a couple of times.
He’s two years older.”

Rae blinked, trying to keep up with the topic hopping and figure out what the important points
were
.
“Slow
down
!
Sometimes I wonder if your tatù gives you the ability to t
alk without needing oxygen.
Maybe
your
power
has nothing to do with your ability to create and control electricity.
Maybe it’s all about the babble.
” Rae grinned, ducking out of the way
as
a
pillow
flew in
her direction
.
She gave a belly laugh when Molly wiggled her fingers, flipping her lights on and off a dozen times.