Strength & Power: Dark Paranormal Tattoo Taboo Romance (The Chronicles of Kerrigan Book 10) Read online

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  Strength & Power

  Book X

  By

  W.J. May

  Copyright 2016 by W.J. May

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2016 by W.J. May

  Cover design by: Book Cover by Design

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  Book I - Rae of Hope is FREE!

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B1NNFR0

  Book Trailer:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU

  Book II - Dark Nebula

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B46UWNO

  Book Trailer:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca24STi_bFM

  Book III - House of Cards

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LPIAFL0

  Book IV - Royal Tea

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SGIN35W

  Book V - Under Fire

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YVNJECW

  Book VI - End in Sight

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015HGNL0C

  Book VII – Hidden Darkness

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018SSJEZC

  Book VIII – Twisted Together

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BPSQZFY

  Book IX – Mark of Fate

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4TYUZU

  Book X – Strength & Power

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CK8MBRE

  Book XI – Last One Standing

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DYFPVAG

  Book XII – Rae of Light

  Coming June 2016

  PREQUEL – Christmas Before the Magic

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195ZSB3I

  Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel

  A Novella of the Chronicles of Kerrigan.

  A prequel on how Simon Kerrigan met Beth!!

  AVAILABLE:

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195ZSB3I

  Find W.J. May

  Website:

  http://www.wanitamay.yolasite.com

  Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-WJ-May-FAN-PAGE/141170442608149

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  Amazon Page:

  http://www.amazon.com/W.J.-May/e/B005QEBFZ4

  Description:

  Strength & Power is the 10th Book of W.J. May's bestselling series, The Chronicles of Kerrigan.

  “Life doesn’t always make sense, and the heart doesn’t always understand what the head realizes.”

  Rae Kerrigan has proven herself a vital asset to the Privy Council and yet, they still question her loyalty.

  So Rae and Devon are broken up. Gabriel's furious he wasn't chosen. Angel is back in the picture, Kraigan is out of the picture, and Molly and Luke have turned into one of those hilarious obnoxious perfect couples...

  After discovering a cryptic clue left by her father, Rae Kerrigan finds herself facing off against an opponent she never expected: the Privy Council. The lines between 'good' and 'evil' are blurred once again, only this time, Rae isn't sure who's left on her side. Life in London becomes a dangerous dance--one she must navigate carefully because the stakes have never been higher.

  Could it be possible the Council was behind everything all along? Is Rae really willing to cut all ties and go rogue like her father? How far will the agents at Guilder go to stop her?

  Who might she be leaving behind...?

  Strength & Power is the 10th book in the Chronicles of Kerrigan series.

  Book 1, Rae of Hope is currently FREE.

  Follow Rae Kerrigan as she learns about the tattoo on her back that gives her supernatural powers, as she learns of her father's evil intentions and as she tries to figure out how coming of age, falling love and high-packed action fighting isn't as easy as the comic books make it look.

  Series Order:

  Rae of Hope

  Dark Nebula

  House of Cards

  Royal Tea

  Under Fire

  End in Sight

  Hidden Darkness

  Twisted Together

  Mark of Fate

  Strength & Power

  Last One Standing

  Rae of Light

  Prequel: Christmas Before the Magic

  Contents

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel

  Find W.J. May

  Description:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  DESCRIPTION for Last One Standing

  Sneak Peek

  Note from Author

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  CoK Prequel!

  More books by W.J. May

  Free Books:

  TUDOR COMPARISON:

  ‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…’

  Charles Dickens

  Chapter 1

  ‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…’

  Charles Dickens

  Yeah, well, it was mostly just the worst of times. But who was I to complain?

  Rae Kerrigan sat in the backseat of a taxi, watching the city blur by. After an impromptu visit to Scotland, followed by an even more impromptu visit to the northern coast, she was finally back home where she belonged.

  Well, she was back in London. Home might be stretching it a bit.

  “Another time around the square, Miss?”

  She leaned her head against the window with a quiet sigh, then circled her fingers in the air. “I’m afraid so, Billy. Just keep them coming.”

  With an obliging smile, he flipped on the turn signal and ste
ered them back around the way they’d just come.

  Thanks to the help of her new friend, Billy-the-cab-driver, Rae had circled her apartment no fewer than seven times. Any other day, she’d have been excited to go in. To share the news of what she’d found in her mother’s barn and at Dunnett Head. To pore over every word of the letter her father had left her. To ride triumphantly into PC headquarters and present them with the final piece of Simon Kerrigan’s brainwashing device.

  Yes, any other day, she’d have been excited to go in.

  But today…she didn’t quite know what was waiting there for her.

  As the cab circled once more around the residential square, she stared through the steamy glass, her heart pounding like a butterfly on speed. On one side of the street towered her penthouse, the same penthouse where she’d recently kissed a man who wasn’t her boyfriend. On the other side stretched a park she had once found lovely, the same park where said boyfriend had, hours later, broken up with her.

  Broken up…for her, she mentally reminded herself. But the longer she thought about it, deep down, she wasn’t sure if that was true.

  No matter what Devon said to deny it, no matter how many ways he phrased it so that their time apart was for her benefit—it had to be for his benefit as well. At least a little. She had kissed Gabriel. Not by accident, not on a whim. Because a part of her wanted to know what it was like.

  There was no way Devon was just alright with that. There was no way he didn’t need space.

  And while Rae had never been more sure of their relationship, never been more certain that Devon Wardell was the only future she would ever desire—charging back in with guns blazing to get him back was probably not the best move right now.

  She’d messed up. She’d gone and hurt him. Worst of all, she’d made him doubt her feelings for him. No. She wasn’t going to march in and make a speech to get him back. She was going to do him the exact same courtesy he had done for her.

  She was going to give him time.

  And while he was taking time, she had a few things to work out on her own.

  For the millionth time that day, her fingers drifted down into her pocket, lightly tracing the two things they found there. The first was something she’d almost been expecting—the missing piece of the puzzle. The final palladium shard that completed her father’s brainwashing device. It was small, only about the size of a quarter, and oddly striking. Its iridescent color and jagged yet symmetrical shape was nothing like the other pieces they had recovered. The very essence of it had seemed to almost glow as she’d extracted it from the ground beneath the maple.

  Truth be told, she’d almost stopped digging the second she found it, thinking her mission complete. What else could her father possibly have left to hide? Fortunately, in the glowing Scottish sunset another glint of light had caught her eye, and she had proceeded to dig a little further.

  As if mimicking her thoughts, her fingers travelled slowly to the other item nestled safely in her jacket pocket. It was even smaller than the first, and smooth like granite or marble. Rae didn’t know what kind of stone it was, nor did she know what the carved inscription on it meant. It wasn’t in any language she understood. The only thing she recognized was her father’s handwriting.

  Vetitum

  With a sigh of frustration, she pulled it out into the open and held it up to the light for a closer examination.

  Why so many clues? Why the cryptic letters from the grave? Why did all of her searches for the truth seem to lead her to places like cemeteries and secret tombs?

  Couldn’t anybody ever just say exactly what they meant? Was that too much to ask for? A little bit of well-deserved clarity?

  Why not just come out and say: ‘Hey, Rae. It’s Dad. Sorry for all the killing. On a side note, I no longer trust the Privy Council because of A, B, and C. Good luck with everything!’

  Rae rolled her eyes. Why? Because then he wouldn’t be a criminal mastermind, and she wouldn’t be the daughter eternally cursed with picking up the pieces. That’s why.

  “What’cha got there?” Billy called, eying her through the partition. “Jewelry?”

  She glanced up in surprise, realizing she was still holding up the stone for all the world to see. “No, it’s a…it’s my lucky rock.”

  Great excuse, super spy. That’s why they pay you the big bucks.

  “That’s…interesting,” he said politely, trying to allow her to save face. “So what do you say?” He gestured out the window and she followed his gaze to see that they were, once more, parked in front of the apartment. “Want to try to get out this time?”

  Come on, Kerrigan. Show a little backbone.

  She nodded hastily and reached for the door. But the second her fingers touched the handle, an image of Devon’s heartbroken, devastated face flashed through her mind. She jerked back like she’d touched fire, and shot Billy an apologetic look through the partition.

  “Just…once more around the block?”

  He chuckled and eased them back into traffic. “Whatever you want, honey. It’s your money. I just watch the meter. And the road.”

  “Right.”

  As they circled around for what she hoped was the last time, she gathered her purse up into her lap and tried to come up with a game plan.

  I’ll just go inside, say I’m sorry to anyone else who needs to hear, and tell everyone what happened in Scotland. They’ll help me decode the stone, I’ll deliver the final piece to the Privy Council, Devon will realize I’m as certain about us as he is, and everything…everything will just go back to normal.

  Yes. High fives all around. That sounded like a good plan.

  …Right?

  But the longer she turned it over in her mind, the more and more unsettled she became.

  Everything would just go back to normal? They were a little bit past that now, weren’t they?

  Angel and Julian had said it themselves: Rae was the glue of their little group, the one whose crazy life somehow held everything together. Not the simplest task. Their makeshift family operated within a delicate balance, one that often walked along the razor’s edge.

  The fact that she had been the one to fracture it and disrupt the peace?

  It didn’t bode well.

  How many more times could she just waltz inside and say, “Pack it up, team—there’s a new secret cause I want you to risk your lives for”?

  Of course, that wasn’t entirely accurate. The problems that plagued her plagued them all. It was a universal evil they had been battling. The fight was theirs to share.

  But the fact was they were tired of fighting.

  They might deny it—she knew for a fact they would all deny it. But the last couple of years had taken a toll. Multiple arrests, betrayals, broken bones, roach-filled motels in the heart of Uganda? It chipped away at all of them, bit by bit. Hell, it chipped away at her, too!

  Since before graduation, they had sacrificed everything, done everything that had been asked of them, to get to where they were now. They had gone above and beyond, playing the part of the silent heroes who repeatedly saved the day. But that only threw sharper light onto the obvious:

  They were here now.

  They had new apartments. New significant others. New jobs.

  And not to put too fine a point on it, but they had already saved the day. Many times.

  The tiny inscribed stone in Rae’s pocket suddenly seemed to weigh a million tons. Whatever it turned out to mean, would it be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? The little stone that finally smashed through these glass houses and shattered everything they’d been trying to build?

  Deep down, did any of them want her to walk back through those doors with another hare-brained adventure up her sleeve?

  Deep down, did any of them want her to walk back through those doors at all…?

  Oh, come on. Melo-dramatic much, Kerrigan?

  “Alrightie. How we doing back there? Feeling brave?”

  Quicker th
an seemed realistically possible, the taxi was back against the curb and Rae looked up in alarm. They were here? Already? She gulped loudly and tightened her hands on the straps of her bag.

  Well, whatever was going to happen, she wasn’t going to have to wait long to find out.

  “Oh yeah,” she lied, fighting back a wave of nausea, “feeling totally brave.” With a silent prayer for strength, she finally pulled open the door.

  “Atta girl.” Billy grinned, as she planted both feet firmly on the sidewalk.

  “Thanks again,” she said, casting a nervous glance at the top floor. “I owe you one.”

  He grinned and twisted around in his seat. “Actually, you owe me much more than that.”

  She blushed and handed her credit card through the partition.

  Poor man. She’d made him drive around the same square mile of space for the last thirty minutes. Truth be told, if he hadn’t started prompting her in the last five, there’s no telling how many more times they would have circled the block.

  “You’re a gem.” She scrawled her signature, adding on a generous tip.

  “Don’t mention it.” He lifted his hand to wave goodbye. But just before pulling away into traffic, he called out to her once more. “Hey—hon?”

  She turned around in surprise. “Yeah?”

  He studied her anxious fidgeting for a moment, before his face softened into a smile. “Whatever or whoever it is you’re hiding from in there…it’s gonna work itself out. You couldn’t have screwed up that bad, right?”

  Her smile sickened into a pathetic-looking grimace. “You’d be surprised.”

  He was still chuckling as she trudged her way into the lobby.

  “Oh Miss Kerrigan!” Raphael, the cartoonishly-enthusiastic building attendant jumped up the second she walked through the door. “You’re back already!”

  “Hey, Raph,” She offered him a quick one-armed hug, pleased that at least one person in London wasn’t angry with her. “Don’t they ever give you time off?”