Lasting Fury (Hexing House Book 2) by Jen Rasmussen Read Free Book Online

seaside cliff where Fury Unlimited was.
    Since then, the things Thea saw when she used the sweater were often vague, brief, and hard to decipher, but it had never once failed to help her see something . She didn’t have the deep connection to it she’d had to the Flower Friends when she was a little girl, but that didn’t seem to matter. Her powers were so much stronger now. She just had to get herself into the right place to use them.
    She eyed the sweater now, then reached out to run a finger down its soft sleeve. She took it back to the couch and cut her lip.
    The house, the rubble, the exposed bedroom. The boy’s leg, reaching into the air. He would jump.
    His fingers were sticky. Thea could feel his hot breath on her cheek as she scooped him up and flew him to safety.
    Then the world shifted, and she was the boy, seeing herself through his eyes as he clung to her.
    This one isn’t scary like the other monsters.
    They came back. Daddy said they wouldn’t anymore, that he would stop them. But he didn’t.
    The monsters came back.
    Then she—he—was in bed, curled tightly around the pillow, watching the crack of light under the door. Shadows moved across it. Footsteps.
    The monsters were there.
    Thea’s eyes snapped open, and she used the sweater to wipe sweat off her face and neck.
    The monsters came back.
    She sat still, breathing slowly in and out, steadying herself. Until she jumped in a most unfurylike way, startled by the blare of her phone.
    “Flan. You got my message?”
    “Yeah, I got it. And I almost didn’t call you right away, because I’d already seen the pictures on the news, and I didn’t recognize anyone.”
    “Would you mind looking again?”
    “I did. Still didn’t recognize him.”
    So much for that, then. Maybe Mr. Fanatic was confused. (Well. Definitely Mr. Fanatic was confused.) Maybe Boyd Lexington just looked like someone he used to know.
    “Well, thanks for calling to tell me,” Thea said.
    “No, but then I did,” said Flannery.
    “Huh? Then you did what?”
    “His head used to be shaved,” Flannery said. “That’s why I didn’t notice right off. But then it hit me.”
    “What hit you?”
    “That’s Lex . He used to be a nurse at the lab.”

“What is Pete doing here?” Thea whispered to Aunt Bridget.
    “He was helping me out in the orchard today,” Bridget said with a shrug. “When he heard you’d be here for dinner, he asked if he could stay. You know there’s always plenty of food.”
    “ Plenty of food is not the point.” Thea pulled some of the plenty in question—a ham that had to weigh at least seven pounds—out of the oven. “You don’t think it’s a little awkward for Flannery and Nero, having him around?”
    “He’s around all the time. He still helps me with things. And why should that be awkward anymore? I can see when they first broke up, but— Here’s a platter, you can start slicing that. Use a knife.”
    Thea laughed. “What did you think I was going to do, claw at it?”
    “My point is, Flannery and Nero are happy,” said Bridget. “They wouldn’t begrudge you and Pete the same.”
    And what about Pete? Does he begrudge their happiness?
    Thea hadn’t had many chances—hadn’t made many chances—to talk to Pete alone since his breakup with Flannery. On the surface, he seemed to be taking it all in stride, and remarkably well. But then, on the surface, Pete took everything in stride, remarkably well.
    “There is no me and Pete , Aunt Bridget.”
    If there was, I would know what’s going on beneath that surface.
    Although Thea wasn’t sure that was true, either. The people closest to Pete were identifiable mostly by how much time they spent with him, not by being in his confidence.
    “He’s worried about you,” Bridget said.
    “He doesn’t need to be.” Thea dropped a kiss on her aunt’s cheek on her way out of the room. “And neither do you.”
    She brought the ham into the dining room, where Pete was chatting with