Glitch in Time Read online

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel

  Glitch in Time

  Book 4

  By

  W.J. May

  Copyright 2017 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 2017 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.

  Have You Read the C.o.K Prequel Series?

  A Sub-Series of the Chronicles of Kerrigan.

  A prequel on how Simon Kerrigan met Beth!!

  Download for FREE:

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195ZSB3I

  PREQUEL –

  Christmas Before the Magic

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

  Question the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GNLNVRS

  Into the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSJ7V9S

  Fight the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSJ7V9S

  Alone the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L1AIW9I

  Lost the Darkness

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWQPWU9

  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

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5MXY7S

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan SEQUEL

  Matter of Time

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYOY2BX

  Time Piece

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCJA4GF

  Second Chance

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2VS501

  Glitch in Time

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NC06FTP

  Our Time

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/

  Precious Time

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/

  Find W.J. May

  Website:

  http://www.wanitamay.yolasite.com

  Facebook:

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

  Newsletter:

  SIGN UP FOR W.J. May's Newsletter to find out about new releases, updates, cover reveals and even freebies!

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  Amazon Page:

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  GLITCH IN TIME - Blurb:

  How do you fight for your world when you’re no longer a part of it?

  As Samantha plays her deadliest card yet, Rae finds herself on the outside looking in. Her friends don’t know her. Her family doesn’t recognize her. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Rae Kerrigan doesn’t exist.

  Can she find a way back inside? How can she break through Samantha’s spell? And more importantly...

  Will she find a way to do it before her time runs out?

  Contents

  Have You Read the C.o.K Prequel Series?

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan SEQUEL

  Find W.J. May

  GLITCH IN TIME - Blurb:

  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

  OUR TIME BLURB:

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  More books by W.J. May

  TUDOR COMPARISON:

  Is there something we have forgotten? Some precious thing we have lost, wandering in strange lands?

  Arna Bontemps

  Chapter 1

  Is there something we have forgotten? Some precious thing we have lost, wandering in strange lands?

  Arna Bontemps

  Um…yeah. Me.

  Rae stared up at Devon. He stared down at her. An icy gust of wind swept between them, and the two took a step apart.

  This cannot be happening. Not this. ANYTHING but this.

  “Devon?” A shiver of dread ran down Rae’s spine, but she took a breath and planted her feet firmly on the ground. “You know me. You have to know me. Come on. Please. Try.”

  Devon’s lips parted as he took another step back. For the second time he glanced over his shoulder at Julian, but the psychic looked just as baffled as him. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, “I don’t—”

  “How do you know his name?”

  A sharp voice cracked through the air, and Rae looked up to see Gabriel standing at Devon’s side. It was a sight that would have been strange even under normal circumstances. Despite their truce, the two weren’t exactly friends. Or protective of each other when no actual protection was needed.

  And yet, it was like something had changed between them.

  Not only was Devon completely unsurprised by the sudden show of camaraderie but he actually leaned back, letting Gabriel take the lead.

  “I asked you a question,” Gabriel said again, purposely giving her no time to formulate a reply. It was a standard interrogation technique. One designed to disorient. One that was turning out to be shockingl
y effective. “How do you know his name?”

  Tell him! TELL HIM!

  But Rae couldn’t speak. She could hardly pull in a breath. It felt like the fire all over again, the anxiety that used to sweep through her before she went to Guilder. Everything was so wrong. A debilitating fear was slowly working its way through her limbs, freezing everything it touched like she’d been hit with a wave of Angel’s tatù. Instead of answering Devon’s—and now Gabriel’s—question, she simply gazed upward. Too numb with shock. For one of the first times ever, those sparkling beautiful eyes held no place for her.

  There wasn’t an ounce of recognition from Gabriel. No trace of that sly, devilish smile. Gabriel was looking at her now in the same way she’d seen him look at countless people in the past. As a threat. As an unknown variable. As something that may have to be destroyed.

  She’d never realized how terrifying it felt until she was standing on the wrong side.

  “I’m going to give you five seconds to answer me,” he said quietly, “and then I’m going to start getting creative. Do you understand?”

  “Take it easy, Gabe. She’s hurt,” Molly spoke up softly from the back.

  Gabe?! Molly just called him Gabe?!

  Julian stepped forward on Devon’s other side—a trio of tall, imposing men Rae had always called family. His dark eyes swept her up and down. Wary, like the others. But curious as well. And kind. Julian could always be counted upon to be kind.

  “There’s soot on her face,” he murmured, almost to himself. His eyes flickered down the hill to the scorched-out building, returning with a touch of pity. “Were you in the fire?”

  Was I in the fire?!

  Perhaps it was the ludicrous nature of the question. Perhaps it was because Julian was the one who’d asked it. But it was enough to shake Rae loose.

  “Of COURSE I was in the fire, Jules! So were you!” Without stopping to think, she darted forward and lifted the front of his t-shirt. Sure enough, there were three large lacerations with dried blood, and fresh bleeding down his chest. Brutal reminders of the glass shards Devon had ripped out the night before.

  This would be the proof they needed. They’d see his cuts and everything would click back into place.

  Her eyes lit up in triumph, but no sooner had she touched him than she was on her back.

  She hit the ground with the force of a small truck, and looked up with a painful gasp to see Gabriel towering over her like some god. His eyes flashed and his fingers twitched at the ready. Unfortunately, the other members of the gang were too distracted to notice.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Devon exclaimed, lifting Julian’s shirt once more and staring in horror at the damage below. “Jules, how did this…” But he trailed off as, one by one, the rest of the gang seemed to register their own injuries for the first time.

  As if on cue, Angel let out a soft cry and clutched at her arm. The one Rae had seen broken by the barricade the night before. Her already-pale face turned a dangerous shade of white as she sank down into a crouch, trying to breathe through the pain. At the same time, Kraigan, who had suffered a massive blow to the head, tilted dizzily and took a step back to steady himself. Molly looked down in alarm at the soot covering her hands.

  Apparently, they were realizing Rae wasn’t the only one who had been in that fire.

  “I don’t understand,” Luke said slowly. “Did we go down to help?”

  The fingers on his right hand were singed almost completely black, and he kept rubbing absentmindedly at the side of his neck where he’d been stabbed with the injection.

  “We must have,” Molly answered, tentatively resting her hands on her stomach as she stared down the hill at the burned-out building. All the people they’d evacuated had already been carted away in ambulances, and what was left resembled a ghost town. “I just…I don’t remember.”

  Rae saw her opening, and took it. “We all went there together,” she said softly, almost pleadingly. “The eight of us. We were going to pick up ingredients to make dinner. Samantha was waiting. She turned the people in the market against us. Set the thing on fire to see if we’d…”

  Seven incredulous pairs of eyes slowly turned her way.

  “Oh, come on!” she shouted, her panic getting the better of her. “How is it POSSIBLE that you guys have actually forgotten me! Or the fire? No one’s THAT good!”

  In the corner of her mind, wedged there like a persistent splinter, she could have sworn she heard that same high-pitched laughter that she had in the store. Just out of sight. Just out of reach.

  Okay, they don’t remember me? Fine. I’ll just have to remind them.

  “Here! Look!” She leapt to her feet with sudden inspiration, keeping her eyes on Gabriel all the while. At first, he seemed incredibly reluctant to relax his position. But a throat cleared sharply behind him, and he took a permissive step back. “I can prove it! I have this!” With a grand flourish, she turned around and lifted the back of her shirt.

  Already a smirk crept up the side of her face as she stared out over the far hills and waited. Never once had her fairy let her down. Never once had it failed to impress. Even this group was amazed.

  She let them soak it in for a moment before turning back around with a magnanimous grin, prepared to accept their groveling and apologies.

  Her grin was quick to fade.

  Well, freakin’ A! Really?

  Not only had the fairy somehow failed to prove her story, but most of her friends looked more convinced than ever that she was crazy. A couple of them were hiding grins of their own.

  “That’s…uh…that’s really cool,” Devon said sportingly, flashing Julian a look that was obviously supposed to be discreet. The psychic merely pursed his lips, and dropped his eyes to the ground.

  “Actually,” Angel started, glancing up from the ground and smiling sarcastically through the pain, “as fate would have it I have one in the exact same spot.”

  Luke turned his laugh into a hasty cough, but Rae wasn’t having it.

  This was her life, damn it! It didn’t matter how powerful Samantha was, she wasn’t about to let the kid take away her entire life! She had come too far with these people to lose any of them now. “I’ll bet you do,” she replied dryly before stomping across the grass to Devon.

  He looked at her warily, but allowed her to grab his arm and roll up his sleeve. The fennec fox shone bright against his tan skin. Every line etched in grace. Dynamic even in stillness.

  “I know what this is!” she insisted, jabbing her finger against it.

  He met her eyes only for a moment before slowly retracting his arm.

  A strange guarded look flashed across his face. The same look all of them got when they were out and about in London, and some civilian made a passing comment about their ink.

  The same look Rae had worn a million times herself.

  “Yeah…it’s a tattoo.”

  It was passable. Persuasive, even. If Rae hadn’t spent the last few years gleefully playing with the same ink, she might have believed it herself.

  “It’s a fennec fox,” she countered. “It allows you heightened speed, strength, and agility. The same way that Molly can shoot electricity, Gabriel can manipulate metal, and Jules can see the future.” She looked at each one of them in turn, desperately willing them to believe her. “We’re fighting against a girl whose ink can make you forget anything she wants. Anyone she wants. You need to push through it. I know you guys. And you know me.”

  She held her breath.

  It wasn’t working.

  While the circle had sharpened up slightly at the mention of their individual tatùs, it was more out of fear that she knew them than anything else. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to remember a person who, as far as they were concerned, didn’t exist.

  This can’t be happening…can’t be happening…can’t be happening…

  As the panic began to close in, Rae turned in desperation to the girl she thought of as a sister. The
same girl who had taught her how to pronounce the word ‘tatù’ in the first place. “You and me, Molls. We’re best friends!” She grabbed Molly’s wrists, fiercely ignoring it when the girl tried to pull away. “I was the first person you told you were pregnant!”

  A look of sheer astonishment flickered across Molly’s face as she brought a hand up to rest on her belly. “How did you—”

  But Rae was on a roll. After Molly she whirled around to Julian, one of her oldest and dearest friends. A man she could count on above every other. “Jules, you and I once watched The Last Samurai seven times in a row just to memorize all the fight scenes. You drank an entire gallon of Red Bull to stay awake, and spent the rest of the morning throwing up. I told everyone you had food poisoning.”

  His lips parted, and his eyes widened in surprise. Ignoring Gabriel’s hiss of warning behind him he took a step forward, staring at her in open astonishment.

  “My final year at Guilder. No one else knows about that.” He looked her up and down again, this time seeing her in a whole new light. “How could you possibly—”

  “Devon…” Rae turned to face him straight on, praying to high heaven that he would see something familiar in her face. “The two of us fell in love. You asked me to marry you—”

  “Aw, that’s adorable Dev.” Gabriel cocked his head to the side as his lips turned up in a mocking grin. “You have a stalker.”

  Rae’s blood rose to a boil. With a look of sheer malice, she turned away from the love of her life and focused instead on the man who had done his very best to tear the two of them apart. “And YOU! Don’t even get me started, Gabriel!”

  Whatever new reality she’d just stumbled upon, she was just about fed up with this new version of Gabriel. A version that was, coincidentally, very much like the old version of Gabriel.

  The man who shot first and asked questions later. A man deprogrammed for basic things like mercy, empathy, and compassion. A man who killed without remorse. Who’d done it so many times it was no longer possible for him to remember all his victims’ names.