by ST Branton
“Your confidence is inspiring, Smitty,” the sheriff said.
“Hey, I’ve seen Weres at work,” the old man replied. “Hell, I’ve been one—guess I am one. It’s nothing to mess with, believe me.”
We shook hands in silence, a pact between us that only those who have gone through hell together and made it out could understand. It was an agreement to wade through hell again, if the need arose. I left the Sheriff’s office, knowing that Silver Banks was in capable hands.
Still, there was a little bit of sadness as I packed up my few things in the attic room of Smitty’s house. Amber had given me some clothes from her bottomless closet, which I was pleased to see actually fit me pretty well. Other than that, I didn’t have much. I arranged everything neatly inside the big backpack I’d got at a discount from the general store, laid the sword hilt on top, and zipped it shut.
A soft knock made me look up. Smitty crossed the threshold. He had something wrapped up under his arm. “Got you a parting gift,” he said. “Take a look.” The old man lowered himself into the desk chair and watched me unwrap the package.
My breath caught in my throat. “You found it.” The silver blade, ornately carved, glowed in its bed of paper atop an expertly wrapped hilt. It was so beautiful I could have almost cried looking at it. During the chaos of chasing down Maya, I had forgotten Smitty’s blade in the woods.
“I heard my granddaughter took it for an early test drive,” the blacksmith said, scratching his head. “So I made her help me find it and give it the finish it needed. Too bad the whole silver thing was a bust though.”
“Silver might not do any more damage than steel,” I said, “But it’s still one big-ass knife. I’d wager in the right hands it would make a fierce weapon.”
He gave me an odd look. “What do you mean the right hands? I saw you fighting in the cave. Surely you’d know how to use something like this.”
“Smitty…” I carefully rewrapped the silver blade, picked it up, and handed it back to him. “I love this. It’s the most incredible gift anyone’s given to me in a long time. But I want it to stay here with you.” I smiled. “I’ve already got a sword. But a one-armed militiaman at the right hand of the girl fighting the Forgotten is going to need a damn good blade himself, don’t you think?”
Smitty grinned back at me with more than a hint of pride as he looked down at his weapon. “Yeah.” He placed the knife on the table and reached over and grabbed my hand in his. “I guess he is.”
***
“Hey, Vic.”
I looked up from the book I’d taken off the shelf in the attic room to see Maya standing in front of me on Smitty’s porch. In the waning light of the afternoon, her black hair had reddish highlights, the same color as her Were fur. The effect was weird, but also badass. A reminder that she was more than she once was.
“What’s up? You doing okay?” I laid the book down on my lap.
She shrugged. “Still a little rattled to be honest. I’ve spent my career saving lives. It’s remarkable how easy it could be to take them.”
Putting the book down, I closed the distance between us and pulled her into a hug. “You did good,” I whispered. Stepping away, I rubbed her arm and smiled. “And I for one was glad you accepted a violent approach—at least when it wasn’t me you were slobbering after. You’ve got some mad skills. I’m going to miss having you by my side.”
“Yeah...about that.” She trailed off, but I caught the hint of a question in her voice.
“What?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said in the sheriff’s office, about doing your duty. And…” She trailed off, choosing her words carefully. I braced myself for a bombshell. “I don’t think I can stay here, either.”
Not what I was expecting. “Why not? Didn’t you say you liked it here better than in the city?”
“Well, yeah, and that was true when I was a veterinarian, but now, I’m not so sure what I am.” She parked herself in the other rocking chair and rocked it gently on the balls of her feet, staring out toward the horizon. “I thought you were mistaken or joking about me being a Were at first. Now I know you weren’t, and it’s like I don’t even really know myself anymore. I need to figure out who I am and how to deal with this new body. I’m not sure I can do that here.”
“Okay.” I sensed she had more to say.
“But when I was with you, when you had your hands on me, I felt the only real peace I’ve known for days. It has to mean something.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
She glanced at me. “I was going to ask if I could come with you. It’s not as crazy as it sounds, I promise. I have savings, and a car, and camping gear in storage. And while you’ve got a lot to teach me about your world, you seem like you could use a level head in your life, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
You have not told her about me yet, have you?
I laughed, which made Maya laugh, breaking her spell of nervousness. “I’d like to say I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re totally right. My life is often lacking in the common-sense department.”
I have plenty of that. You simply never want to indulge in any.
He was on point today.
“Sure,” I said. “Come with me. It’d be nice to have some company in the midst of this crazy mess.”
I am perfectly charming company. Though I admit to lacking a corporeal form, which hinders my charm somewhat.
“Thanks, Vic. This really means a lot to me.” Maya smiled, and I thought I saw her eyes well up a little. Poor thing. And I thought I’d been through hell.
“Pack your bags tonight,” I told her. “We’ll head out tomorrow morning. Don’t want to risk missing the next big event.”
She left shortly thereafter, and as I watched her trek down the path out of the glade, I thought about how drastically the face of my circumstances had changed in a week. “I guess we’re really living in the short term,” I said to Marcus.
One of us is, anyway. As I mentioned a moment ago, I have no corporeal form.
That made me smile, like he always did at the end of the day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I put my hands on Amber’s shoulders. “Promise me you’ll keep an eye on that cranky old badger,” I said, nodding toward Smitty. He scoffed, but a smile hid in the depths of his beard.
“Of course.” Amber threw her arms around me. “Don’t be a stranger, okay, Vic? You’re literally the coolest person who’s ever come through Silver Banks. And I mean literally.”
“Said the girl who could outshoot me with her eyes closed.” I grinned. “I’ll be back. You can’t get rid of me that easy. You stay tough. Keep this town safe.”
She saluted. Smitty and I shook hands, and then I hopped into the passenger seat of Maya’s Subaru. The thing was loaded to the gills, but even weighed down, it ran like a dream. That made it easier for me to hide the fact that I was kind of having cold feet about the whole partner thing. In fairness, Maya had never called herself my partner or even mentioned the word, but that was what it felt like to me.
It was unfair of me at best, and outright shitty at worst, but I’d always been a loner at heart, a solo flier. Marcus integrated into my routines so easily because he wasn’t physically there. Also, he had a knowledge base I couldn’t hope to acquire on my own. And he had trained me to fight.
Plus I could always stick him in my nightstand if he was being an ass.
Maya had patched me up at the crack of dawn on my first day in town. Upon reflection, I had to admit that was pretty decent. Even with the nectar, the addition of a medic to the team was far from the worst that could happen. And besides, it wasn’t like my best friend’s club hadn’t already expanded by one. I had Namiko in San Francisco. Sometimes I even sort of had—
“Deacon?” I spouted, looking out the windshield.
Maya had turned the Subaru down a dirt road leading out to the interstate, and a big black Suburban was blocking the path.
I could’ve recognized the chiseled profile of the agent leaning on the side of the hood from a mile away.
“What do we do?” Maya asked softly. She was clearly on edge. “And why didn’t anyone tell me they make lawmen who look like that these days? I could have been a cop!”
I snorted. “I’ll handle this. Give me like, ten minutes.”
“Girl, for that man, you can take all the time you need.”
Okay, so maybe acquiring Maya wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I was still chuckling as I approached Deacon’s vehicle. “Can I help you, agent?”
“You can tell me what the hell happened after Mormouth. And while you’re at it, you can apologize for tying me to a motel bed.”
“Oh, please. I’ve had guys beg me to do that kind of shit.” I leaned on the opposite side of the hood, resting my chin in my hands.
“Seriously?”
“Nah. But I knew a girl once…” I flashed him a smile. “Besides, the cleaning crews come around every morning.”
“Yeah, and I thought they were gonna eat me alive.” He shook his head. “Seriously, Vic, what is all this? I get the feeling that there are a million things working below the surface, but you won’t even give me a hint. How can I help you like this?”
I smirked at him. “I don’t need your help, Deacon.”
“Bullshit. Every time I see you, you’re in trouble. I bet you’re in trouble right now, aren’t you?”
My eyes rolled dramatically. “No, I’m not in trouble, thank you very much.”
“Then you just got out of it.”
That caught me a little off guard, but I recovered quickly. “Deacon, I’m flattered that you want to be at my beck and call so bad, but I don’t need anyone. Not even you.”
“Oh yeah? Who’s the girl in the car?” he asked abruptly. “Someone else you don’t need?”
“She’s a friend. Jeez, you’re nosy today. But I guess it is your job.” I was determined to keep things lighthearted.
He made that difficult, as was his wont. “You’re coming from Silver Banks, huh? Anything interesting up there?”
“It’s very sleepy,” I said. “I took a lot of naps. Read. Got my nails done.” The look of utter disbelief he gave me was totally worth however annoyed he got.
“Okay. Whatever.” He shrugged elaborately. “You want to tell me what I’m gonna find in Silver Banks?”
I mimicked his shrug. “You seem like the kind of guy who likes surprises. But don’t worry, I got things under control.”
He laughed, which made my cheeks burn a little. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“Deacon.” I pushed away my half grin and put on my sincere face. “Look, I don’t say this enough, but thank you.”
“Vic, you’ve never said that. Ever.” A beat of silence went by. “But you’re welcome anyway. God knows why.”
Maya looked at me as I climbed back into her Subaru. “So, are you gonna dish on this guy or what?”
“No big deal,” I said.
“Uh huh.” She put the car into gear and pulled off after Deacon’s disappearing tail lights. “Because I look at ‘no big deal’ like I want to have it for Sunday dinner, too.”
I sat back and folded my arms, side-eyeing her. “You’re a lot sassier once you get out of a medical environment. And I thought you were—”
Maya held up her hand. “Nothing wrong with a self-assured lesbian admiring a good-looking man in a suit.”
“Uh, huh.”
Maya laughed. “Well, just be assured that I won’t be competition for you with Mr. Smooth as Butter. You have any other men in your life you should tell me about.”
I glanced down at the odometer. New York was over 2,500 miles away.
“Let me tell you about my friend Marcus.”
EPILOGUE
Lorcan’s mouth smiled over his snifter of brandy, which sat perched in his long, slender fingers. He touched the rim of the glass to his lips, and a sliver of the tawny liquid disappeared. “What a fool Lupres was,” he murmured. “Such impatience should be a sin, don’t you think?”
Delano wasn’t drinking. He never compromised himself in the presence of his lord. Like always, he stood at attention with his hands clasped behind his back. Not looking directly into Lorcan’s eyes, but not facing away from him, either. It was a delicate business, serving a god as mercurial as Lorcan.
“And such stupidity.” Delano could not keep the bare scorn from his voice. He had never, ever been anything other than disapproving of Lupres’s boorish ways, and a sense of relief was all he felt knowing the beast was dead. “He took too many chances, my lord. Far too many.”
“Indeed.” The corners of Lorcan’s mouth turned down. “His scheme, though it was quite grand, took shape much too soon.” A smooth laugh cascaded from the god’s throat. “The idiot.”
Delano cleared his throat. “But the girl, Lord Lorcan. She is becoming something of a problem.”
“Hmm.” Another sip of brandy disappeared. “She’s impressive, isn’t she? Rather remarkable, I’d say. Lupres may have been the worst kind of oaf, but he was hardly a pushover. There was absolutely no reason to believe he wouldn’t destroy her completely. Do you know what this means?”
“What, my lord?” One of Delano’s most-used skills was his ability to recognize questions that were meant to be responded to, not answered.
“She is getting stronger. Her bond with the sword grows deeper. Soon, she will hold her own against gods greater than Lupres without breaking a sweat.”
“Is that possible, my lord?” Delano could still see her in his mind, standing outside the slaughterhouse with that infernal sword in her hand. She hadn’t looked like the successor to the Gladius Solis then, and he would bet she didn’t now.
“Everything is possible, my dear Delano. As exemplified by the situation we are currently facing. I had hoped it would not be so, but the time has come. I cannot wait any longer.” The brandy swished around the snifter as Lorcan rose from his chair.
Delano stepped back. “Lord Lorcan, are you sure?”
“Perfectly. If not me, then whom?” He smiled again. “I shall deal with her myself, and when I am through, she will be less than a spirit’s memory.”
Author Notes CM Raymond
Written March 27, 2018
Dear Readers,
Still along for the ride? Good. We are too. The further we get into The Forgotten Gods Series, the more we fall in love with Vic, and the closer we get to shit going sideways in a big way.
No spoilers, but it’s coming. You can feel it right?
We can too.
I’m not making any promises, but for some reason four book arcs always feel like the way to roll, so let’s see what the next one brings!
Anticipation, I am convinced, is a good thing in our lives.
Too much of the everyday, and I find myself getting lulled into the status quo. The days can tend to lose their sharpness, their distinction.
Kids help with this, of course. Having a ten year old boy and a (very newly) teenage girl, I never know what to expect when I walk into the room. The boy is particularly precocious these days, and his sense of humor is only matched by his propensity for mischief. It’s all well meaning, that’s what we tell ourselves. And hell, they’re either going to keep us young or send us to an early grave.
Now that I mention it, I shouldn’t need more anticipation in my life. But for some reason, I love it. I’m a sucker for it, an addict maybe.
It’s one of the reasons I love writing so much. Being an indie author guarantees I never REALLY know what is coming next. Stories and series have a way of keeping us on our toes. Lee and I are pretty damn good at planning a tale, but as we weave it, it always has a way of turning left when we want it to go right. Characters develop into the heroes we didn’t quite expect them to be.
Releasing books is an entirely different sort of anticipation. We work and work and work until release day is finally here. And then we slap the metaphorical b
aby on its metaphorical ass and send it off into the world. Out onto your readers and we wait. We watch. And (hopefully) all that anticipation is paid off in a great launch and feedback from readers.
So far, it hasn’t let us down. Tomorrow, we drop this off for publishing, then we turn to the next one. The anticipation starts again.
Thanks again for joining us. It means everything to me. Now, if you don’t mind, quell my anticipation a bit and take a second to leave a review for the book. It means a lot.
Cheers,
Chris
PS: Don’t miss a release, fan pricing, or some of Lee’s favorite YouTube videos. Join our mailing list here: https://www.subscribepage.com/Age-of-Magic
Author Notes LE Barbant
Written March 27, 2018
Hello Friends!
My wife just told me that I spend so much time writing author notes, it’s like you all are my pen pals, and every week I write you another letter about what’s going on in my life.
So what’s new with you? My life is going fine.
For example, Baby Barbant is still growing. Weird how that happens. In my last author notes I talked about how he was learning to stand. Well today I walked in on him playing the piano. Seriously. I turned my back for two seconds, and he somehow pulled himself up onto his tippie toes and started banging away on the keys. I’m so freaking proud. How soon is too soon to declare someone a prodigy?
And I’m also proud of our girl Vic. She’s making friends, learning to stand on her own two legs, seeing the world. No musical interests as of yet, but she can swing a sword pretty well.
In my experience, something really interesting happens when you get three books into a series. You all know Vic Stratton by now. You know what she loves and what she hates, and you know where she draws the line. And that’s such a great point to be in when you’re an author, because the baseline is set.
