Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1) (34 page)

Jerako laughed. “Ever the rush, but this time, ease your heart. They are with friends, safe and sound. I received word a little while ago. They escaped, unharmed for the most part, though with a few singed hairs, I do believe.”

“Are you telling me the truth?” I was suddenly terrified he might be toying with me, but he leaned down—no small feat in itself—and patted my shoulder awkwardly, scratching me with one of his branches in the process.

“I am, young Fury. I am. They are alive and intact.”

I let out a garbled sound and dropped to the ground, the tears streaming down my face. Only this time, they were tears of relief. “Thank the gods… Was it Terrance who helped them?”

Jerako blinked. “You know about Terrance?”

“Of course I do. We met him this morning. Last night, rather. In the Tunnels.”

“Then yes, it was Terrance. But hush and no more talk about him. The Crystal Guardians are so secretive even the government doesn’t know they exist.” He poked at the bag. “Please, remove the device from the bag. My fingers are not so dexterous with small knots.”

I untied the drawstrings and withdrew the Thunderstrike. “Here, take it and I never want to see it or hear about it again.” But curiosity struck me as I handed it over. “What are you going to do with it?”

“We will catalog its presence, and then destroy it. Unmake it, so to speak. Great artifacts are never easily destroyed, but we can usually figure out a way. This is no longer your worry, so you may let it go. I do wish you’d managed to destroy Lyon, but then I suppose the Order of the Black Mist would just find someone to take his place.”

“Probably,” I mumbled. “He’s still a danger, isn’t he? Lyon?”

“Lyon and the Order of the Black Mist will be a danger as long as they exist. And now, I’m afraid you’re on his radar. There’s only
one
Fury and you’re hard to miss. You’ve saved the city, Fury. He would have used this to level Seattle.” Jerako held up the Thunderstrike. “You may not have set out to save the day, but you did.”

“Haphazardly and without any conscious idea of what to do,” I mumbled.

“Most heroes stumble into their fame. Most heroes don’t set out to save the world, you know. Fury, your friends are waiting for you back at the store. Go to them. Rest. But we may need you again. If so, we will contact Hecate. And be cautious. Lyon will not take this loss lightly, and he still lives. But the Crystal Guardians are watching, and so are all of us who serve Gaia.”

And with that, he took the Thunderstrike, turned, and strode away, leaving me standing beside Zhan, who had waited in the background.

“Come, I will take you back to the ferry.”

Feeling oddly let down, and somewhat numb, I turned and followed him out.

Chapter 26

When I got to the shop, I saw the caution lines had been removed from most of the buildings around, though a few still sported the yellow holograms that kept people at bay. The force fields were electric and produced a nice jolt that put off all but the most persistent—or stupid—of trespassers. But our building had been cleared. I peeked into Up-Cakes, where Shevron and her clerks were cleaning up the jumble of broken glass and overturned baked goods. It made for a sharp, sticky mess. Waving, I left them to their cleaning and headed next door to Dream Wardens.

Sure enough, Jason and Tam were there, along with Hans. Relief flooding over me—I hadn’t really believed they were okay—I raced into the shop.

“Thank gods you guys are okay. I was so worried.” All the stress and weariness set in, and I dropped to the sofa next to Tam.

He grabbed my hands, leaning in as he searched my eyes. “When you vanished with the Thunderstrike, we figured you went to the Crossroads, but we couldn’t be sure. I was so worried,” he whispered, his voice heavy, pulling me onto his lap.

Without thinking, I pressed my lips to his and melted into his embrace, grateful to be in his arms again. I lingered in the kiss, feeling a barricade inside me jog from where I’d built it up, keeping my heart protected against the pain that I had learned far too young. Except for Jason and Shevron, I had done my best to keep everybody else at bay, but now that was melting away. Whatever I had with Tam, it was real. Wherever it might lead, I was willing to take the journey.

“I was so afraid something had happened to you, but I couldn’t go back, not with the Thunderstrike in hand.” I covered his face with kisses, suddenly ravenous for his touch. All I could think about was dragging him off to my apartment.

Jason cleared his throat after a moment. “If you two are quite finished?”

Flushing, I broke away. “Sorry. I was just…worried. About
both
of you. I took the Thunderstrike to the Arbortariam and gave it to Jerako. It’s safely away from the Order of the Black Mist. But he warned me that Lyon knows who I am now, and he’s likely to come hunting. Probably both of you, as well.”

“He’s right. When I saw you vanish, you crossed your arms over your head as you shifted to the Crossroads. Tam and I couldn’t tell whether the fireball had hurt you, or whether you had dodged the bullet before it hit. But Lyon was focused on you. He was watching you. He’s not likely to forget your face or anything about you.”

“I took that moment to run his other buddy through,” Tam said.

“As Tam took out his companion, I set up another vortex that caught Lyon from the back, and we grabbed the opportunity and ran. We raced back to Terrance’s shop. He was there, waiting, and he guided us through the secret entrance. From there, he helped us get out of the Tunnels. Queet met us outside, telling us you had made it safely to the Crossroads.”

Restless, I crossed to the window, staring out into the street. “Where’s Tommy-Tee?”

Tam joined me. “My people are going to look after him for a bit. They might be able to wake him up, but first we have to ascertain whether that’s a good idea.”

“Okay, then. I guess…immediate problem solved. But we can’t let down our guard. We disrupted big plans, and I doubt Lyon will let that go without retaliation. From now on, keep your eyes open. Because this isn’t over.” I stared out the front window at the damage. “They are out to bring back the Elder Gods of Chaos, and if they succeed…”

“If they succeed, there won’t be anything left but fire and ash.” Tam took my hand. “Don’t forget, there’s a hurricane headed into the Texicana Gulf. I gather that Lightning Strikes is working to disrupt it, but you’re right—whether it be through weather magic or something else, the Order of the Black Mist is out to change the world. This won’t end until they win or they’re dead.”

As we stood by the window, looking out into the silvery morning, I realized I was shivering. So much of my life had been lived on unstable ground, and this was no exception. I wanted an anchor. I wanted a foundation—something solid.

Jason joined us. “It will be all right.” His voice was low, but raw. “The world can’t possibly fall back into the pit that brought on the World Shift… Can it?”

With that question lingering in our ears, we watched the hustle and bustle outside as morning began. The whip on my leg tingled, as did the triskelion tattoo on my neck. Something felt like it was shifting in my body and my aura, but I wasn’t sure what. I knew my heart had shifted, though. The proof was in the shape of Tam holding my hand.

I glanced up at him, searching his face. I wasn’t sure about him. I wasn’t sure about anything. But I’d do what I always did—continue on. Because when it came down to the core of things, wasn’t that what we all had to do? Continue on in the face of daunting circumstances? Life was made up of challenges, and if we stopped growing, we might as well be dead.

Deciding to rest in the knowledge that we had at least thwarted one plan to knock the world askew, I drew a long breath and let everything go. Jason wrapped his arm around my shoulders, while Tam wrapped his arm around my waist. Hans stood to the side, arms behind his back, watching at attention, as we waited for the new day to begin.

~End~

If you enjoyed this book, I invite you into my other worlds—and stay tuned for the November release of FURY’S MAGIC, Book 2 in the Fury Unbound Series. And sign up for my
newsletter
to ensure you always get updated on new releases! You can find out more about all my books on my
web site
and in the
Biography/Bibliography
at the end of this book.

Upcoming releases

August 2, 2016: Flight From Mayhem (Fly by Night Series—Book 2)

September 27, 2016: Shadow Silence (Whisper Hollow Series—Book 2)

November 15, 2016: Fury’s Magic (Fury Unbound Series—Book 2)

Playlist

I almost always write to music, and FURY RISING was no exception. Here’s the playlist for the book:

Android Lust
: Here and Now

Brandon & Derek Fiechter
: Witch’s Brew; Night Fairies; Legend of the Dark Lord

Celtic Woman
: The Butterfly; The Voice

The Chieftains
: Dunmore Lassies

Clannad
: Banba Óir; Newgrange

Corvus Corax
: Bucca; Filii Neidhardi