Lasting Fury (Hexing House Book 2) Read Online Free

Investigators. In this case, he was probably right to be offended. Furies—good ones, at least—took accusations of miscarrying justice for profit very seriously.
    But before things could get ugly, their administrative assistant poked her head through the door.
    “You guys, there’s the craziest thing going on outside.”
    Victor retracted his claws, but the look he gave Lola was less than patient. “It better be the very craziest thing, for you to be interrupting a case meeting.”
    “It’s a crowd of humans outside the gates,” Lola said. “With picket signs and stuff. They’re shouting.”
    Evidently this qualified as the very craziest thing , because Victor, with a quizzical laugh, immediately left the room. Thea followed, Miranda beside her.
    They flew across the campus, to the original gates of what had once been the Spencer School and was now Hexing House. Several other furies were doing the same, all gossiping, eager to go check out the spectacle. Nobody looked worried. A few looked amused.
    “What did you guys do?”
    Thea glanced over to see Damon, who worked at Security, grinning as he flew up beside her and Miranda.
    “You let a bad one through?” he asked. “Approve a case that didn’t deserve it, and now all their friends are doing the public outcry thing?”
    Miranda laughed at his joke. But then, neither of them— none of them—knew that what had happened at Hemlock Heights the day before was hex-related. Maybe some of them didn’t even know about Hemlock Heights at all. It was all over the news, but the details were still fuzzy, and a lot of furies didn’t pay much attention to what was going on in the human world.
    Thea had found out before breakfast that the death toll was up to nine already, with several more in critical condition. Normally there wouldn’t have been so many home during the day on a Tuesday, but it was the second week in March—spring break for the local school district. Many of the parents had taken the week off work, as well. Whoever had set up the demonstration had done their homework.
    Apart from the deaths and injuries, as Thea had seen for herself, the property damage was extensive. There didn’t seem to be any theories on the cause of this inexplicable outbreak of violence and destruction. At least, not officially.
    But apparently somebody had a theory, and it pointed directly at Hexing House. From above, the signs became clear to Thea before any of the faces did. The first one she saw read:
    JUSTICE FOR HEMLOCK HEIGHTS!
    How? How did they know? Thea thought, then immediately scolded herself for it.
    They don’t know, because they’re wrong. This is not our fault. We have nothing to do with Fury Unlimited.
    Except we’re the ones who let Megaira get away with all the superhex research. Research she started as part of this colony.
    Thea took in other signs as she flew closer:
    DEMONS BELONG IN HELL – NOT FOREST COUNTY
    CLOSE THIS PLACE OR WE’LL CLOSE IT FOR YOU!
    WE WILL NOT SUFFER YOU AMONG US
    And her personal favorite:
    BURN, WITCHES
    After that last one, she wasn’t surprised to see the twisted, angry face of Mr. Fanatic in the crowd of a dozen or so humans. He saw Thea almost as soon as she noticed him, and let out a roar of outrage.
    Damon and a couple other guys from Security landed in front of the fence and began calling for the crowd to step back. Not that the humans would have been able to get past the gate anyway. It might look old and rusted, hanging crookedly and growing over with kudzu, but it was enchanted with supernatural strength as well as the illusion of weakness. A bulldozer wouldn’t have been able to tear it down.
    Mr. Fanatic moved sideways a few paces, breaking away from his companions, without taking his eyes off Thea. “You get down here and face me, harlot!” he shouted.
    But he took an almost frantic step back when Thea landed directly in front of him.
    “What’s the matter?” Thea asked. “Didn’t think I’d actually