Chapter 26
Demise
Mmmmhhhhhrrrr—
An irritating mosquito buzzing above her ear woke Rae. She groaned as she rolled to her side, eyes still closed. Weird, it hurt to move and the annoying bug didn’t stop or fly away. She tried to shoo the insect with her hand. A moan escaped from her throat as pain shot up her forearm when she moved her wrist.
Why did it feel so wrong in her room? What happened to the pillow cover? It smelled wrong and scratched her cheek. Light shone through her eyelids. Mornin’ already?
Like lightning, the fight with Kraigan flashed in her memory. She froze. Forcing herself to breathe slow and shallow, she listened intently. Raspy, uneven panting came from close by, and the stink of sweat filled her nostrils. Is Kraigan standing over me, waiting to start all over again? She waited and exhaled a slow breath when nothing happened.
Where the heck are we? Peering through her lashes, she lay in a long corridor on rough carpet. Light came from fluorescent tubes. Explains the buzzing. Did Kraigan have teleportation ability? Despite her aches and a pounding headache, she tried to recall the last thing that happened before she had passed out.
Kraigan had been punching the crap out of her. Then… I remember falling to the floor, and cutting my head on a wood carving. Then she slipped into the blackness when Kraigan’s fist came at her face again. Then—nothing.
Rolling onto her back, cracked open her eyes and was immediately assaulted by nausea. Her eyes automatically fluttered closed. Kraigan lay crumpled a few feet away. Exhausted, Rae concentrated on getting air into and out of her lungs; terrified she might throw up or worse, pass out again.
A few moments later, Kraigan twitched and she suddenly found the energy to force herself to lean on her elbows and slowly scooted the couple of inches to settle her back against the wall. Rae searched for the hum of a fighting tatù and came up empty. They’re gone. All of them.
She had used everything in the Oratory. Even his tatù held no hum. She probably needed to steal someone else’s to get their hum and who knew if that would even work. Kraigan had probably just taken everything away from her. Except Devon. That thought gave her the determination she needed to move.
Desperate, she glanced around for something to tie up Kraigan. There was nothing in the hallway. Her right hand brushed against something bulky in her pocket. Eyes trained on Kraigan, she reached inside her jacket and pulled it out. The taser.
Almost delirious with hope, she crawled over to him. “Kr-Kraigan?”
He didn’t move.
Rae shook his shoulder and slapped his face. Oh—that’s rather satisfying. She slapped him again. “Dick-head. Wake. Up.”
He moaned and blinked several times. His eyes slowly focused. He smirked as he reached out for her.
No way are you ever going to touch me again. She zapped him in the shoulder with the taser. Then a random thought popped into her head. She had used his power so they were both tatù-less at the moment. A hysterical laugh echoed along the corridor. Hers. She hit him again with the taser. First in the neck, and then jabbing everywhere.
When Rae lost her balance on her knees, she reached out with her left hand to prevent herself from crashing face first, forgetting about her injured wrist. Screaming, she ended up eating the carpet anyway. Her face stung. Blood began oozing and she touched her cheek, wincing at the pain of a large bruise around a barely closed cut. Her left wrist throbbed and burned— the torture distracting her momentarily from her face.
Devon. You have to keep Devon safe. Focus, Kerrigan. She rolled away from Kraigan into a crouch. Although he couldn’t move she wasn’t taking any chances.
His gaze flicked around the room, then smoldered when it landed on her.
“Go ahead and try to fight the freezing. It’s useless. I’ll do this forever if I have to.” She grinned, wondering if being evil always felt this good. If so, it might bear looking into. This felt a lot stronger than the terror she had felt in the car. “Not so tough now, are you?”
Tasering him again gave her a moment to clear her head. Where are we? “Did you transport—” She stopped mid-sentence when she caught sight of a set of stairs. I must’ve hit a hidden switch in the Oratory and we tumbled down the hidden stairs. She hit Kraigan with the taser again after she checked her watch.
A weird buzz and vibration came from the taser. Then it made a sad, dilapidated beep and shut itself down. Eyes wide, Rae smacked its side on the ground. Crap! The battery has to die now?
She searched frantically down the hall. It stood empty except for a fire extinguisher sign screwed into the wall. Throwing the freeze-gun, she ran over to the extinguisher. It was enclosed in a glass case set into the wall. Kraigan cackled with laughter when the effects of the freezing began to wear off.
Reaching for the latch, Rae swore when it broke off. Using both hands and swearing from the incredible pain in her broken wrist, she managed to unclick the lock.
Kraigan pounced on her before she got the door open. He shoved her away. Rae stumbled but danced to keep her balance. She spun around and hit him hard in the middle of the chest with her elbow. He sucked back air and a surprised look crossed over his face. She made a fist and punched him in the jaw.
He scowled at her and rubbed his chin. “Bitch! You’ll pay for th—”
Before he could finish, she punched him again, in the same spot. She grinned. “Take that, a*shole!”
“I’m gonna kill you.” Kraigan wound his arm back.
Rae managed to duck his swing. As she straightened, she kicked him hard in the knee. It twisted in an awkward position and Kraigan dropped to the floor howling. Rae jumped over him and ripped the fire extinguisher out of the wall case. Stepping on his chest, she keep her foot near his neck so should she slip, she had crush his airway. With her good hand, she held the nozzle inches from his face.
If looks could kill, Kraigan would have murdered her on the spot.
“Don’t move, brother. You even twitch and I’ll turn this thing on and fill your fowl mouth with the crap inside.” She tapped the metal container with the nozzle head. “Trust me. It’ll kill you with or without a tatù.”
“Bitch! Give me back my tatù.” Kraigan hissed, but made no movement. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.
“You give me mine first!” Rae threatened the fire hose closer to his nose and mouth, set the canister down and made to turn the dial when his hands moved.
Kraigan didn’t move, leaving his hands dangling midair. “I’ve got no bloody clue how to give you yours. You stole mine.” He let out a weird, crazed kind of laugh. “Now they’re all gone.” He twiddled his fingers. “Vanished into thin air.” He snorted, but immediately stopped when Rae actually turned the dial and a hissing sound came out of the hose.
She shoved the nozzle into his mouth, debating if she should turn the dial on full. This ability feels good. To have this power over…over life and death. Startled, she almost dropped the handle when a noise sounded behind her. She wasn’t sure if her thoughts or the noise scared her more.
Two low, deep voices echoed against the walls. Her heart rate sputtered and the hair on the back of her neck rose. She turned towards the sound, ready to do whatever it took to stay alive.
Two men strode down the hall towards them. Well, one ran and the other seemed to be walking at an incredible pace. She noticed a long, dark ponytail.
Julian. With Carter right behind him. Tears of relief flooded her eyes.
“Holy Crap!” Julian said when he saw her. His expression turned to horror as his eyes traveled up and down Rae. “We saw you guys tumble down the stairs when the alarm went off. The surveillance room is completely on the other side of the underground. No one uses this entrance.”
“What?” Rae croaked.
Julian waved a hand and then pulled a weird-looking folded thick, black wire from his back pocket. “If the door to the Chamber opens, an alarm goes off.”
Rae stared but nodded slightly. I have no idea what you’re talking about. She stepped back when Carter pushed by and bent forward. He touched Kraigan’s wrist. “Careful!” she shouted. “He might take your tatù.” She brushed against Carters tall frame and shoved the nozzle back into Kraigan’s mouth. His eyes bulged and his head thrashed side to side.
“I’ll use it if you try anything on these guys.” She glared. “I mean it. I am my father’s daughter.”
Kraigan only thrashed harder and tried to pull away.
“Relax, idiot,” Julian said.
Carter gently touched her upper arm. “We’ve got it, Rae.”
She gasped and nearly dropped the hose when a slightly familiar hum filled her core. She reached behind and she brushed her fingers along her tatù. It felt like a little bit of heaven running through her veins. She had just mimicked Carter’s tatù, and it had never felt so good.
She felt its recognizable strings and wondered if all her abilities were back. It felt glorious but something was still wrong. She searched for her healing tatù. She scowled when she couldn’t find it. She tried for another, again and again. “So help me, Kraigan. If this –”
Julian pulled the canister away from her. “Rae, let go. It’s okay.” He stood over Kraigan and barked, “Hold your hands out.” He pushed the hose close to Kraigan’s face.
Kraigan snorted through his nose, now refusing to move. Julian reached for the dial and Kraigan finally stuck his arms out.
Julian snapped the black wire so it went straight as a rod. Then he slapped it on top of Kraigan’s wrists. It wrapped itself again and again on Kraigan’s lower arms and wrists.
It was over.
Rae bit her lower lip. She squinted at an ancient crack on the wall and concentrated on trying to find another tatù. “May I?” She reached out and touched Julian’s elbow before he could answer. His tatù flowed through her, running alongside Carter’s memory tatù.
Carter swung around, his hair wild for the first time Rae had ever seen. “What the hell happened?”
“Kraigan’s tatù is like mine.” Once Rae spoke, she realized how much she needed to explain. “He’s my brother…Half-brother…From my dad. He’s got the same ability. But different.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I mimic, but…but he’s a thief… Takes tatùs away from people…leaves them powerless. Until he touches someone else or someone touches him. He screwed with my tatù.” She shot Kraigan a dirty look, then turned back to Carter. “But you already knew about his ability, right?”
Carter blinked in surprise. “I knew very little. I assumed Kraigan knew as much as I did, certainly no more. If he could hide things from me, it seems he’s got a few other abilities.”
As do I. Or I hope I still do. Had Kraigan actually told her the truth about hiding things from Carter? Maybe it had been an attempt to win her trust. She was such an idiot.
Julian pulled Kraigan a few feet away with the black wire-thing.
Rae leaned against the wall. She dropped her hands against her knees. “He’s somehow taken my tatù. It’s kinda back, but something’s wrong. It’s—like, busted.” She blew on her broken, swollen wrist. The pain seemed to be getting worse by the millisecond. Must be my adrenaline wearing off. The need for fight or flight’s over now.
Carter ran his fingers through his hair, which refused to go back into its usually perfect style. He patted her shoulder, but the concern didn’t leave his face. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you checked out.”
A sudden, horrifying thought occurred to her. She had Carter’s tatù and Kraigan’s but nothing else that she could feel. What if? Oh no—She rocked herself off the wall and wobbled towards Carter. “I’ve got your tatù. Did I steal it?”
Using his hand, he knelt down and touched Kraigan. “There’s nothing.” He held up his free arm when Rae stepped toward him. “Wait.” A minute later his eyebrows shot up and he shook his head. “He’s able to block me, but I still have it. Though I fear if we remove the stalling bar from Kraigan, it could be dangerous.” Carter looked at Julian. “Call for the others to get him. Don’t let him touch anyone with his hands. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Julian nodded and pulled a walkie-talkie off the back of his belt.
Rae inched closer to Kraigan, planning on asking him one more question before they dragged him away.
Before speaking into the device, Julian turned to Rae. “What did Kraigan do to your tatù?”
“I think I’ve still got my tatù ability, but he took all the powers I had gathered up to this point. They’re gone. Erased.” Guess she wasn’t as all powerful as Kraigan had said. She stared at his brooding eyes, seeing her father’s face. As Julian began shouting orders into the walkie-talkie, she leaned close to Kraigan’s ear. “Where’s my journal, loser?”
He snorted and when she pulled back, he spit in her face.
Rae gagged but swallowed her own bile back down. Wiping her cheek with the sleeve of her shirt, she tried to control the anger boiling inside. Ticked, she grabbed his shirt, forced him to sit, and in doing so, used Carter’s tatù to find where he had hidden the book. It has to be on him, he showed it to me upstairs in the Oratory. Whether he didn’t have the ability to block her, or he showed her the location because he would rather she have it than to let it be taken by the Privy Council, she didn’t know – she saw the image of him slipping the journal in the back of his jeans. She stood, scooted behind him. Rae glanced down and grinned. She made a show of looking down the hall. “Is that the cavalry?”
When the others looked down the hall, Rae leaned behind Kraigan, pulled the journal out of his back pocket, and shoved it behind her, tucking it into the back of her jeans, and hastily pulling out her shirt to make sure it was fully covered.
“Cavalry?” Carter raised his eyebrows, creating lines on his forehead.
“I figured when I sent you the telepathic messages, you and the PC army’d come to my rescue.”
Carter nodded. “I received your messages and we rushed to the hotel, only to be too late. When we knew you were in the Oratory, we rushed to the Privy Chambers to get the weapons and plan the assault.”
“You went to the Privy Chambers instead of coming here?” Rae couldn’t keep the frustration out of her voice.
Julian laughed. “Rae, you’re in the Chambers. It’s directly below the school.”
“What?” She scratched her head and glanced around.
“This part is more like the bowels of the chambers. It’s an older hallway. The Training Academy is a couple of miles from here but the main offices of the Privy Council are here.”
Rae looked at the headmaster, who nodded. “So—” she said slowly, “the Privy Chambers are like some underground chambers? The bowels of the building?” She laughed at the irony. “Privy Chambers is a toilet, you know? You have some Batman cave underground for the Council?” She laughed again, this time it sounded almost hysterical. “I’m sorry. It’s been a really, really shitty day.” She tried to stop giggling by covering her mouth with her hand.
Clicking the walkie-talkie to his belt, Julian put his boot on Kraigan’s chest and knocked him over. Then he began climbing the stairs.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Carter asked.
“Devon’s upstairs.” Julian didn’t stop, or even pause as he continued up. Good for you, Juls, Rae thought as she feebly tried to follow.
“I already notified the medical staff. There are men in the Oratory with him on a stretcher. The doctor says he’s going to be alright.”
“To the school Infirmary?” asked Rae.
“The Training Academy has a top-notch hospital. The best tatù doctors are on call there.” He murmured into his walkie-talkie. “We’ll explain more to you later. Right now, we need to get you and Devon there. You need looking after.” He pointed to her swollen wrist.
Men appeared at the top of the stairs. Two of them carried a stretcher. Several others carried cuffs, chains, and more strange-looking weapons.
“I can walk up the stairs. I want Devon to be alright. Leave me be a moment.” She held her hand up to stop their offers of assistance and barely made it up on her own. She moved into the room she had put Devon in, now empty of people. Rae glanced around and saw no one at the door. They’d all stayed away. Probably scared ‘cause I’m a Kerrigan. She sat on the bed and as quickly and quietly as she could, she slid the journal far under the bed. Knowledge for a later day. Not sure why, she didn’t want anyone to know she had the journal back in her possession. When she felt better, she would decide what to do.
Releasing a groan, she rolled away from the bed and closed her eyes. The pit-patter of shoes on the marble floor let Rae know someone was coming to help her. She had a million questions to ask but now wasn’t the time.
She could barely stand but stumbled towards the door. Knowing Devon was safe; she collapsed on a stretcher and allowed herself to fall into the darkness once again.