Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (45 page)

“Come on, Dev,” s
he
whined
.
“
Get moving
.”
She grimaced when her wet hands slipped apart
.
She
tried to catch her fingers but missed.
She ended up grabbing the shirt under his dislocated shoulder.

“Whore’s
hounds!”
Devon
cried.
He
pushed her away and
,
wobbling like a grandfather clock’s pendulum, barely
managed to stand
on his own.

“W
alk
,” she
urged
.
“I
nside the Oratory
.”

One swollen eye squinted open and
it took a moment for him to focus on her
.
“You know
,”
h
is voice
cracked
.
“You know
‘
bout…the passageway?”

“Yeah, I found it by mistake a while back.
Just never told anyone.”
She rested a hand on his lower back, nudging him forward.
“
Move
.”

Devon
tottered, unable to walk a straight line,
but
at
a fairly quick pace
.

Rae shot a look behind them and let out the breath
she had
held
.
No sign
of Randy or Kraigan
—
yet.
There might be time to get
Devon
into a safe
place
.
Rae grabbed the door and
cursed
when she couldn’t open it. “
Damn!
It’s locked
and no keys or a tatù to open the door
.”

Devon
leaned his good shoulder against the wall, breathing like
he had
ju
st run a marathon.
“C
-C
ode’s
one-o
ne-one-three
.”

Rae searched for something where she would punch the numbers into.
The ancient wooden doors and walls showed nothing.
“Where’s the
—
”

“
Pillar behind you.
Lift the mailbox
—
under the l-l-lid,
” he whispered, not opening his eyes or moving.

Rae
lifted the
lid
.
N
ear the top
left of the lid a flashing, neon blue
digital light
sat above a numeric pad
.
She punched in
eleven
thirteen
.
The
Oratory’s
antique brass
dead bolt unlocked
and slid open
.
A weird thought struck her.
“Weird. T
hose are my
actual
birthday digits”
She glanced at
Devon
before
opening
the door.

Devon
tried grinning
and
ended up
groan
ing
.
“
Yeah
.”

Rae wrapped her arms around his waist and helped him inside.
“
Let’s get to the secret door
.”

“You know
where it is
?”
he mumbled.

He must’ve forgot
ten
our
conversation a few moments ago.
That bump on his head might be
more
serious
than she
had
originally thought
.
“Yeah, since before Christmas.”
She kept close to the
Grand Room’s
wall
and felt
the
wood
with her hands.
Just when she was about to panic, s
he
found what she
needed
, t
he little odd piece of
coppice
sticking out
slightly
.

She pushed it in and the secret door swung open.
Noticing him struggle to speak
, she put a finger
on
his lips.
“Don’t talk.”
She gently pushed him onto the bed and
flicked the room’s antique light on
using Molly’s tatù.
“Rest and I’ll send help as soon as I can.”
She kissed his forehead.
“You’ll be safe here.”

She started for the secret door and stumbled
when
the
weirdest
sensation swept over her.
She cried out and near
ly
stumbled.
It felt like someone had just stolen her soul.
Her breath caught and she straightened quickly.
Molly’s tatù was gone
.
No hum
of it
ran through her body, not
even a hint
.

“
Everything alright?
”
Devon
croaked
.
“
Where are we
?”
He struggled to
rise
up on his elbows.
His dislocated shoulder
dropped him back on the bed
and left him panting
.

She ran back to
him and grabbed his hands.
“I’m fine.”
She
wiped the sweat from his forehead
.
“I love you.”
She didn’t look back when she left the room and closed the door.
Be safe.
Please
be okay.

Using
Devon
’s tatù, i
t took
less than
a
split second
for her eyes to adjust to the
very
dim lighting in the
Grand Room
.
She
ran
towards the hall that led to
Carter’s
study.
She went over a message
to send telepathically to
Carter
to
let him know where
she had
hidden
Devon
.

H
alfway
across the marble floor
,
a voice shattered t
he silence
.

“You’
re so screwed, Kerrigan.” The voice laughed.
“I’ve got your
tatù
and you’ve got…well, you’ve got nothing.”

Rae s
kidded to a halt and froze.
Her eyes opened wide, searching the darkness for an enemy
.

Chapter 2
5

Destruction

K
raigan’s high-pitched cackle jolted Rae out of her stupor and got her moving again.
Using
Devon
’s stronger night vision, s
he darted for
Carter’s
office.
The sudden full-strength brilliance of the Grand Room’s lights momentarily blinded her.
Everything
went
star
k
white.
She couldn’t
find
Kraigan.
She couldn’t see anything.

Still using
Devon
’s tatù, sh
e zipped across the room
.
A
muscular arm
clothes-lined her
across
the throat and sent her flying backwards.
She landed on her back, fighting for air.
The hum of
Devon
’s tatù abruptly ceased.

Kraigan hovered over her, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“You’re an ass,” she hissed, leaning on her elbows,
pushing herself up as fast as she could.

“Somebody needs to teach you some manners.” Faster than a fox, Kraigan’s foot
kicked
out and slammed her back onto the floor.

Rae lay
momentarily
against the cool marble, stunned.
What happened to Dev’s tatù
?
S
he couldn’t pick out its hum
.
She looked around the room for some sort of weapon.
Kraigan wanted to fight.
I’ll
wipe the floor with
you
.

About ten feet away
stood
the tall box of sabers
Carter
us
ed
in class. In one motion, Rae
lurched
up and ran towards them.
She grabbed two and twisted around to face Kraigan.

One eyebrow arched, he let out a low laugh.
“So, you wanna fight?
I’ve been wait
ing my whole life to battle you
.”

Rae
flipped her shock switch off,
debated
for
a
second,
and
then threw
a
saber towards the middle of the room.
She grinned but quickly
frowned
when Kraigan caught it
before it even hit the floor
.
Man, he’s got move
s
.

He crouched and began switching the saber from hand to hand.

Cocky from her training, Rae h
a
d no fear. She
settled for the more casual approach.
Planning on a surprise attack, the way
she had
fooled Julian all those months back.
She waited for Kraigan to stand up and complain.

He never did.
He lunged at her,
his
rock hard
chest connecting with her forearm and sending
her saber
soaring
.

Biting her
lip
to keep from crying out from the searing pain, Rae levitated and
soared
after her saber.
Just as she grab
bed
the
saber
,
Kraigan caught her ankle and swung her
about
.

Do
ing
360
s
, Kraiga
n spun her around
and around
.
She lost count as she tried to kick loose from his
vice
-like grip.
His momentum increased and suddenly Rae found herself
airborne
, but
with
no levitation tatù to control it.
Her body crashed into the wall and her s
aber fell in pieces beside her.

Kraigan
drifted
over to where she lay and hovered above her.
“Haven’t figured my tatù out yet, Kerrigan?”

Rae struggled to get back up.
He
r
mind whirled
from dizziness, disorientation and confusion.
She
tried to focus.
Camouflage.
Or some hiding mechanism.
I’ve
lost
Devon
’s
fennec fox skills
.
And n
ow
I’ve
lost the ability to levitate.
She needed something strong to beat Kraigan.
Psycho
’
s
somehow absorbing my
powers.

Rae’s
eyes grew huge
at
the realization
of her last thought.
He
’
s stealing
my
tatù
s
!
O
ne at a time.
The camouflage is a cover. His abilit
y is
like
Dads, like
mine–he can copy
,
but where I mimic, he steals.

Using the levitation tatù, Kraigan lifted her
high
above his head
without
touching her
.
Stuck
in
midair
, just out of reach,
Rae felt like she was dangling with a rope around her waist.
She tried kicking Kraigan’s face but only man
aged to spin herself in circles.
His
mocking laugh
echoed
throughout the empty room.

“Put me down!”

“Sure.” He dropped her to the ground like a rag doll, only to immediately haul her back up and swing her around.
“Great tatù.
I wonder if
the original owner
even knows half of
its
potential.”

“Doubt it. He’s dead. I killed him.”
Lanford hadn’t exactly died at her own hands, but Kraigan didn’t need to know that.

“Are you sure he’s dead?” He scoffed.
“Have you wondered
how this evening finally came about?

Kraigan
was
worse than a nightmare
, and he was only trying to scare her, she hoped
.
Lanford’s dead
—
Carter said so, right?
Rae had to concentrate on breathing and thinking at the same time.
What started
tonight?
She had no idea.

He bounced her up and down in the air, impatiently tapping his sneaker against the marble floor. “T
he journal
, Rae. That’s what this is all about.
I used Randy’s tatù and listened to you tell
Devon
. I went to your room and got it before you sad
lovebirds
left his room. Everyone wants a piece of you it seems.” He snorted. “When I’m finished with you, there’ll be pieces for everyone.”

He brought her slowly towards the
hundred-
foot ceiling and then let her plummet towards the floor, stopping
her only
a foot before
she crashed onto the marble
.

Rae cringed
,
and thrashing
wildly
,
fought to break free from his hold.
Her body reacted before her mind could process the thought.
She threw her hand toward him,
whipping
his raised arms with
a strong gust of wind
.

Kraigan jolted and stepped back, losing
the
concentration keeping her airborne. She landed
on the marble floor
near the wall
and took on Julian’s tatù.
It
’
d give her the advantage of knowing Kraigan’s moves slightly before he made them.
She
caught sight of her
shattered saber
nearby
.
She grabbed the handle and realized the shortened end might act as a crude sword.
Not a very
good one, but a weapon nonethe
less.

Kraigan slid towards her like a cat stalking its prey.
Lips in a thin line and brows furrowed together, the hatred shone clear in his eyes.
With a swing of one wrist, he brought the rest of the sabers out of the box and lofted them towards Rae like javelins.
Rae read the direction of each throw and avoided making contact with
everyone
.
They came harder and faster, a few actually sticking into the wall behind her.
When he ran out, he flung one back to his hand and came at Rae, saber held high.
He growled as he raced towards her.

Rae crouched and rea
d the direction of his thoughts, jumping
out of
the way.
As she passed, she jabbed and pierced his hand
.
He dropped
his
saber and roared in pain.
Or anger.
Rae couldn’t tell and had no
time to wonder
.
She tried to send
a short message to
Carter
.
I’m in the Orat
ory.
Kraigan’
s attacking me
.
I need help.
Hurry.

She switched back to Julian’s tatù just as Kraigan grabbed her ponytail and roughly jerked her head back.

“Ow!” Tears sprang to her eyes as hair
s
ripped from their follicles.
Her head wrenched forward when he let go.
Rae turned to stare at him.
Kraigan squinted as he absorbed Julian’s
power
and a wicked grin slowly spread across his face when he realized his new
ability
.

“Art-boy’s skills have progressed
.
Last time
I stole
it, all he could
basically
do was paint bits of the future.
Now he’s able to predict it.
Nice.” He rubbed his hands together.
“This should be fun.”

When had he stolen Julian’s tatù?
Julian still had his ability. Dodging a saber stuck in the wall, Rae
tried to
push the thoughts aside. She needed to concentrate on the now.

She
remembered
Devon
and Julian’s conversation
,
the night they sparred,
about sending mixed messages.
She made herself think about running for the door and noticed Kraigan step to the right as he walked towards her.
Within reach, she copied a karate
kick
she
saw
another student do and connected with his mid-section.
It would
have been an awesome hit, had he been a bit closer.
She only managed to connect with the tip of her shoe.

Kraigan dropped his hands to his knees and sucked in air.
In the same moment, he snatched her arm and pinned it behind her.
His hot, uneven breath wafted against her neck.
With one hand, he pulled her
arm and held it tight.