Time Piece Read online

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel

  Time Piece

  Book 2

  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.

  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

  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/

  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!

  http://eepurl.com/97aYf

  Amazon Page:

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

  Description

  Time Piece

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel #2

  The highly-anticipated sequel to the Chronicles of Kerrigan series, by international bestselling author, W.J. May

  It's time.

  Fame is a fickle friend...

  After the world discovers that the infamous Simon Kerrigan is alive, public opinion of Rae and her friends begins to shift. While most people remain fiercely loyal, there are many who call for justice. There are even more who call for blood.

  Caught in the volatile beginnings of a civil war, Rae struggles to keep the peace. But there's a battle brewing on the home front as well. As the reunited Kerrigan family gears up for the trial of the century, they all find themselves asking the same question:

  Can you ever really escape the past?

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

  Contents

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

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  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

  Chapter 15

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  More books by W.J. May

  TUDOR COMPARISON:

  ‘Take me to the time when things were fine, it’s all broken now.’

  The Maine

  Chapter 1

  ‘Take me to the time when things were fine, it’s all broken now.’

  The Maine

  Rae read the headlines and dropped the newspapers on the table, one by one. Someone had been nice enough to leave them there for her. Actually, judging by the titles, nice may not have been their intent.

  SIMON KERRIGAN LIVES!

  Followed by an up-close picture of his face.

  A COUNTRY IN TURMOIL: THE RETURN OF SIMON KERRIGAN

  Followed by a wide-shot of the smoking mansion. A giant hole ripped through the side.

  PEACE AND SOLITUDE IN KENT?!

  The next had a picture of all Rae’s friends. Dazed and disoriented. Tangled in a bloody heap.

  PRIVY COUNCIL PRESIDENT FOUND WITH FAMOUS FUGITIVE

  A THANKSGIVING TRAGEDY

  MASSIVE EXPLOSION REVEALS TERRIBLE SECRET

  And finally, her favorite…

  FATHER AND DAUGHTER REUNITED?

  This one had been taken while she was still unconscious. Though Simon was in bad shape himself, he had somehow managed to stand and was dragging her across the lawn away from the apocalyptic crater caused by the explosion. His hands were wrapped around her bloody wrists, and the look on his face was nothing short of frantic. />
  If she closed her eyes and focused her concentration, she felt as though she could almost remember. Are you alright? Sweetheart, are you alright?! he’d kept asking her, staring down in horror as she fought to stay awake.

  He’d been dragging her away from the danger. Just like, only seconds before the explosion, he’d been trying to protect Beth. Angling himself in front of her like a shield.

  In the picture, it looked like he was trying to make off with his daughter’s mangled body.

  Great. Just another impossible thing for me to try to explain.

  Rae winced at the notion, and raised an icepack once again to her forehead.

  She was in a facility she didn’t recognize. A halfway house between the Privy Council’s base by Guilder and the Knight’s countryside fortress. It was a place that had yet to see much use, one of three such compounds originally intended to be a convenient halfway point for the two factions to meet in the days leading up to the epic showdown with Cromfield. It was Carter’s idea. A ‘middle ground’ that he felt would be important in the days to come.

  Unfortunately, things had escalated towards the final battle so quickly that by the time the moment for such facilities was upon them, the ‘battle to save the world’ had already been fought and won. The halfway houses didn’t last through the end of the week. The first two had already been repurchased by the English government for administrative use. Rae hadn’t even realized this one was still in the Council’s possession until she woke up on a hospital cot in the corner.

  As she looked around now, she couldn’t help but think the place looked a little sad. There were moving boxes stacked in the corner. A clock mounted onto the wall had yet to be set. Plastic covers were still on the furniture.

  Rae was fiddling distractedly with the edge of her chair, fingers alternatingly melting then cooling the hard-plastic edge, when the door opened suddenly and a petite girl hurried through. She was pretty, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with tumbles of brunette hair and a bright smile that lit up the delicate features of her face.

  The smile was welcome. So was the coffee she was holding.

  “Hi, I’m Samantha.” She even sounded bright, like an over-animated cartoon trapped in a young girl’s body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you, I just thought you might want this.” She held out the coffee like an offering between them.

  “Thank you.” Rae took it with a grateful sigh. “You have no idea.”

  The icepack came down again as the coffee came up to her lips. Oh, praise the gods of caffeine! She had been considering conjuring a cup of her own, but under the circumstances she thought it best she keep as low a profile as possible.

  Not the easiest thing to do. Even now, from the corner of her eye, she could see the girl watching her every move, rapt with attention.

  “Sorry,” she apologized again when Rae caught her staring, “I’ve just… I’ve heard so much about you. I can’t believe I’m actually seeing you. In the flesh.”

  Ah yes, this cult of unwilling celebrity she’d been made a part of.

  Rae gestured to the bloody dusting of plaster still coating her clothes and hair with a wry grin. “Such as it is.”

  “No, you’re exactly how I always pictured you,” Samantha said fervently. “Powerful, dynamic, headstrong. Young.” She seemed to appreciate this last bit best of all.

  Rae shifted restlessly in the chair, uncomfortable to be under yet another spotlight. To find herself, once again, trapped under the weight of another stranger’s impossible expectations. She averted her eyes and secretly hoped that her friends weren’t going through the same ordeal—though they’d also never turn down a cup of coffee. Rae had already had to deal with her share of attention since the epic battle against Cromfield. Her new position as president demanded it. But the others had been uncannily successful in thwarting those clamoring to speak to them thus far. The mansion in Kent had been the perfect place to accomplish such isolation, and it was isolation they craved at every level.

  She could only imagine what they were going through now.

  “Actually, Samantha is it?” The girl nodded eagerly. “Do you happen to know where all of my friends are? I want to make sure they’re okay.” Her memory of the aftermath of the explosion was shoddy at best. Things blinked in and out of focus, stringing tenuously together with significant gaps in between.

  Julian and Devon had gotten the worst of it. They were still out cold when she’d been picked up by the medics and carried away. She remembered trying to get to them—even trying to use a tatù to do so—but her powers had been completely drained. The ink she’d used to accidentally cause the explosion had been a hybrid power, one of her best. Needless to say, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be in fighting form any time soon.

  Luke and Kraigan were bloodied, but awake. She remembered Kraigan kept trying to get to his feet, to run to his father, but his leg was trapped under a piece of debris. Luke watched him go at it for a second before staggering towards Molly, clutching his wrist all the while.

  She hadn’t seen Angel, and that worried her to no small degree. Gabriel and Beth had both been thrown clear across the lawn. But she’d heard the paramedics clearly say on the radio that no one had been killed. That injuries varied from superficial to serious, but none were critical.

  Her chaotic mistake thankfully hadn’t killed anyone.

  Which only left her father.

  They’d taken him in cuffs. Ignoring his injuries. Ignoring the fact that he wasn’t trying to run, but was only clinging to his daughter to make sure she was alright. Ignoring everything except his face. His name. The two things he couldn’t change. The two things that were about to damn him forever.

  She remembered enough to know that no one had been seriously hurt, but that did absolutely nothing to assuage her guilt. Especially as not only did she inadvertently cause the explosion by losing control of Camille’s power, but since the shockwave originated with her she was also the one least affected.

  Somehow, subconsciously, she’d protected Molly as well. She clearly remembered the dazed little red-head walking to the ambulance of her own volition. She’d walked, wasn’t carried. That had to be a good sign.

  Rae blinked and focused on the present, and the young teenager standing in front of her. “Are my friends and family okay?”

  Samantha must have sensed her plight and smiled quickly. “As far as I know, all of them are doing fine. A couple breaks, burns, and concussions. But nothing too serious. I think Commander Fodder wanted to separate you all for…for medical attention.”

  To make sure we all had our stories straight. Rae read between the lines, and nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’ll bet.” Careful, Rae. It’s not this kid’s fault. She took another sip of coffee. She needed time to think. Needed this incessant pounding in the back of her head to stop for a second so she could come up with some sort of plausible explanation. Most importantly, she needed a second to gather herself—a second alone.

  But Samantha clearly had no intention of leaving. Quite the contrary. When it became clear that Rae wasn’t going to evict her outright, she sank into a nearby chair. “Sorry,” she apologized for a third time. “It’s just, since you’re waiting, I mean, since we’re both just sitting here…” She trailed off nervously, then pressed on. “It looked like he was trying to kidnap you. Like he attacked the mansion, and was trying to drag you away…”

  She let the statement hang in the air, waiting for confirmation or denial.

  Rae dropped her face into her hands and stifled a sigh. She didn’t resent the girl for her questions. Not in the slightest. She just didn’t want to sit here and try to answer them all right now.

  “I mean…was that actually Simon Kerrigan?” Samantha continued cautiously. “Is he really the guy responsible for all of this?”

  The throbbing in the back of Rae’s head increased tenfold. “Yeah, it was Simon Kerrigan,” she murmured, almost to herself. She brought her head up and met Samantha’s gaze. �
��But no, he wasn’t trying to drag me away. The house… he wasn’t responsible. That was me.”

  The girl’s pupils dilated with abnormal focus, hanging onto every word. “Because you were trying to stop him, right?” There was a hunger in her voice that no number of sunny smiles could contain. A fervent thirst for answers. “Because you and the rest of them were fighting him off?”

  Rae picked up the icepack again, stalling for time. “I’m sorry…who exactly are you?”

  The girl blinked and quickly leaned back in her chair, unaware of the fact that she had been perched on the very edge. “Samantha Neilson. I was just… I was at the facility already, and I thought you might want some coffee. It’s even better than ink, right?” She laughed nervously.

  Rae never blinked. “You were already at the facility? Why?”

  “Oh,” the girl flicked an identification badge around her neck, one Rae had been too tired and disoriented yet to notice, “I came here with the press van—”

  “The PRESS?!” Rae leapt to her feet, but Samantha held up her hands peaceably.

  “And everything we’re talking about is completely off the record. I swear. You have a tatù that can do that, right? That can tell you if I’m telling the truth?” She waited expectantly, and Rae slowly nodded. “I didn’t come in here as press. I was just—”

  “Bringing me coffee, I know.” Rae sank slowly back into her chair with an almost begrudging grin. Bringing her coffee and getting the secret scoop everyone was dying to know. It was a move that Rae might have done herself. Covert operations cloaked in caffeine. A Kerrigan classic. A thought occurred to her suddenly. “Aren’t you a little young to be press?”

  “Student paper,” Samantha replied quickly, glancing at the clock as if suddenly wondering how much time she had left. “So, you never said… you guys were fighting him off, right? What some people are saying, that you were hiding him there… But that can’t be true. You’d never do that.”