House of Cards (26 page)

Jennifer opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

Rae shrugged. “Look. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.”

Jennifer laughed. “Girl, you’ve been causing problems since the day you were born. Why in the world did you drive to Stoke-on-Trent?”

Should she mention the key? Rae could feel it digging into her thigh as she sat. Like a burning reminder. She had hidden the journal from Jennifer and everyone. Look where it had gotten her. Now, she was trying to hide more secrets? She didn’t have to trust everything, but hiding everything from everyone was not working out either. Time to share a little Intel and see what she got for it. “I found a note from my mother.” Somehow, telling Jennifer felt right now. Maybe it was time. “My mother had hidden it in a display cabinet with tiny little figurines. She had given it to my uncle before she died. There’s a code on it.” She slapped her forehead. “Crap!”

“What?”

“Kraigan threw my backpack in the fire. The journal was in there, but also the note! It’s gone.” Rae could feel the pressure of her tears building.

“What was on the code?”

“I don’t know exactly.” Panic made Rae’s voice rise. “I decoded some of it. That’s what led me to Stoke and the Wade Factory. I don’t know the rest of it.” She pulled the key out of her pocket and showed it to Jennifer. “This was hidden there. I have no idea what it’s for!”

Jennifer stared down at the key in Rae’s outstretched palm. Slowly she reached under Rae’s hand and curled her fingers under Rae’s so they closed around the key. “That’s something your mother wanted you to have. I think you should find out what it’s for. It belongs to you.”

Rae hesitated.
Is Jennifer saying to keep it a secret from the Privy Council?

As if reading her thoughts Jennifer spoke, “Your mother left that for you. It might, or might not, have anything to do with the Privy Council; but I think you should find that out for yourself first.”

The answer, a confirmation of sorts, that she shouldn’t trust the PC with everything, stunned Rae silent for a moment. “I lost the code. I don’t think I’ll be able to find what it’s for without it.”

Jennifer put the car into gear and pulled out onto the road. “Give it some time. I think you will.”

“What do I tell Carter then? He’s going to want to know why I went to Stoke.”

“Kraigan came after you and burned the journal. Tell him what he needs to hear.” She didn’t offer Rae any more advice. They drove the rest of the way back in silence.

When Jennifer pulled into the Privy Council’s headquarters, instead of continuing on to Guilder, Rae felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. What were the chances it would only be Carter without his council?

Royalty

Jennifer parked Julian’s car right in front of the Tudor house where Carter’s office was. “Wait here,” she commanded, turning back into the Botcher Rae was used to seeing.

Rae sat down on the steps to wait as Jennifer disappeared inside the building.

Julian came out a moment later. He sat down beside Rae, his head down as he stared at his shoes. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Sorry I took your car without asking.”

He glanced up and squinted at his baby in the dark. “I kind of deserved it.”

She rubbed her shoulder against his, hating seeing him feel so uncomfortable around her. “You okay?”

He leaned against her and spoke, still staring straight ahead refusing to look at her. “I guess. I should have told you about the drawings. I just… I didn’t know what to say.”

“Why are you drawing them?” Rae figured that was a good place to start.

“It started after we got the paper out of the museum. Carter thinks they are visions. Stuff that’s going to happen in the future. He thinks you’re the key to some cataclysmic event. I didn’t tell anyone. I should have…”

Rae rested her head on his shoulder. “I have that same problem. I need to start telling people stuff too. People I can trust.”

“You can trust me.”

“I know.” She smiled. “I should’ve remembered that when I saw the drawings. You guys threw me when you started fighting.”

Julian chuckled. “That was pretty stupid.”

“I won’t argue there.”

The door opened behind them. Someone cleared their throat.

Jennifer
. Rae stood. “I guess they’re waiting for me.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.” Rae followed her Botcher inside. Neither spoke as they entered Carter’s office.

Carter sat behind his desk while Devon sat in a chair across from him. The flat screen television above the fireplace was on, tuned to a news station. A reporter stood talking in front of Buckingham Palace announcing the engagement of the Queen’s grandson, the Prince of Wales. Apparently he would be marrying a commoner. The reporter was calling it a Fairytale Wedding.

Carter turned it off with the remote sitting on his desk. Rae glanced around his office.
No one else, just the two of them? Plus Jennifer and me?
Devon flashed her an apologetic smile as she sat down beside him.

“Jennifer informed me that you believe Kraigan escaped. He came after you?”

Straight into the thick of it. Here we go… “He did. I… He… He must have gone to get the journal or something.” Rae sucked at lying. Devon’s head shot up as he obviously caught on, and he watched her. She could see he wasn’t buying it. She cleared her throat. “He wasn’t too impressed when I questioned him about the Xavier Knights. They weren’t after the journal or me. Kraigan was. I believe he acted on his own. He wants me dead. It infuriates him that we share the same father.” She waited for someone to say something. No one spoke so she continued. “He trapped me in a room and came after me. He still had his tatù and started going after my abilities again. I… I threw a ball of fire at him.” She looked at Devon, knowing he would understand. “Remember the ball of electricity I made a while back?” When he nodded she turned back to Carter. “I thought it was electricity but it isn’t. It’s fire. I have my mother’s tatù.”

“Impossible.” Carter shook his head.

“I started the fire and when Kraigan tried to grab me he ended up with my backpack instead of me. He threw it into the fire, not realizing the journal was inside of it.”

“Hold on,” Carter commanded. “The journal?” His face grew anxious. “Please don’t say—”

“It’s gone. Kraigan didn’t know I had hidden it in there. He was coughing and trying to locate where he had thrown it. I didn’t realize I had my mother’s ability so I took off, terrified I was going to be burned alive. I didn’t know I wouldn’t get hurt from it. Not till I ran through the flames.”

“You ran through the fire?” Devon whispered.

She nodded. “That’s when I realized I have two tatùs. My mother’s and my father’s.”
Now I’m even a bigger freak than before.

“Then Cromfield was right. He predicted there would be someone with the ability to use two tatùs at once.”

Rae stared at Carter. “He predicted that?” When Carter nodded she continued, “Is that why you had me steal the page from the book?”

“We have not had anyone with the ability to have or use two. Your father couldn’t. Even though both his parents had tatùs.”

What? My grandparents were both inked?
Rae needed to stop being surprised by surprises. She focused her attention back on Carter who was still speaking.

“It was rumored Cromfield had sketched the person.”

“So what now? You start running me through a battery of tests? Put me back in the lab like a rat?”

Carter shook his head, ignoring Jennifer’s hiss of warning to Rae. “No. We give you space. Trust you. Let you work at your own speed.” He turned the television back on. “You need to be around people you know… are comfortable with. Like Devon, or Molly, or whoever you feel will make a good team with you.”

Jennifer’s warning to tell Carter what he needed to hear rang loud and clear in her head, as Rae took in Carter’s words, which sounded a lot like the first half of a sentence that ended badly. It also seemed...rather tame considering what she had just put everyone through.

Rae stared at him, dumbfounded.
That’s it?
No yelling or threatening to take her job? No inquiry? No more questions about tonight? She was off the hook that easy? How was he not pouncing on her bad lie about Kraigan and the journal? Back up a minute… was he hinting that he wanted her to lead her own team? Or was he giving her the boot from being in the field and maybe giving her some office job? Or worse, what if he was going to fire her? She straightened, suddenly very keen to what Carter had to say.

Carter pointed to the TV. “There’s going to be a royal wedding next year. You interested in going undercover? Maybe play bodyguard to the princess-to be?”

“Pardon?” Rae looked at Jennifer and then Devon. “You still want me to work for you?”

Carter laughed. “Of course! Now more than ever. Our Prince of Wales doesn’t know it, but he’s about to marry a commoner with a very special talent. She’s one of us.”

Rae glanced at the television. She couldn’t help it. Her interest was definitely peaked. “What kind of tatù does she have?”

Carter smiled. “If you’re interested in the job, I’ll fill you in on the details.”

“Fine. I’ll do it. What’s her ability?”

Carter rubbed his hands together. “Perfect. You and Devon can pick up the files regarding the contract in the morning. All the details will be in there.”

“Devon?” Rae looked at her ex-boyfriend in surprise.
Is that why he’s here?

“The job requires a couple. I want you to work with someone you are comfortable around. Devon is perfect and he’s been your mentor.”

“What about Riley?”

“He refuses to work with you.” Jennifer snorted at Carter’s comment. Rae tucked that response away in her memory, promising to have a talk with Riley in the near future and figure out what that was all about.

“Julian?”

“Devon’s the perfect partner.”

There was no getting out of this one. She tried one last grasp of a straw. “I’m seeing someone. What am I going to tell him?” She refused to look at Devon.

Carter shrugged. “The same thing I told Devon last year when he mentioned he was seeing someone. Job first. The girls can wait. Your boyfriend will survive. You’re an undercover operative for British Intelligence. What’s more important?”

Job and country first. She had sworn that when she took the oath and signed the contract to work with the Privy Council. “When do we start?”

“Tomorrow morning.” Carter stood. “You’re dismissed.”

Devon turned and headed for the door without a word or glance at Rae. She didn’t miss the tightness in his shoulders. Rae followed at a much slower pace behind him. Maybe it was just exhaustion buzzing through her veins. She hadn’t slept well in weeks. A lot had happened. Something was clicking in her head, slowly, methodically. It had started at the factory, and it had been working ever since, trying to make sense of something her brain wasn’t focusing on. In one blinding flash that nearly dropped her to the ground, it hit her.  

“Wait!” she exclaimed, a sudden realization shocking her. Even Devon paused in the hallway. “My mother’s tatù made me fireproof. If flames don’t burn or hurt me, they couldn’t have hurt her. If she killed my father with her tatù, there’s no way she…” Adrenalin coursed through her veins. Rae couldn’t stop the flood of excitement. “She could still be alive!”

THE END!

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