SHINING FURY
A Tale From The Tome of Bill
“Go away!”
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”
The burning stench rising off the mulch pile assaulted my nostrils. The acrid smoke made my eyes water. However, being that this was all my fault, it seemed a small price to pay. Deep down, I knew it could be far worse, that I deserved far worse.
After all, I wasn’t the one on fire.
All I’d wanted to do was end the impasse between us, finally make a move to show that, despite everything, I believed we had a chance. I’d tried to tap into the confidence I felt when facing every damned obstacle in my life, of which there was no shortage as of late.
Every damned obstacle, that is, except for him.
It hadn’t worked out quite like I’d planned.
I quickly stepped forward to offer what aid I could. The flames were already dying down, thank goodness, helped by the damp ground upon which he lay. As I reached out, though, a glow illuminated my outstretched hand, causing me to pull back quickly lest I make things even worse. I gritted my teeth, forcing the power inside of me back down, willing it to not strike out again unbidden. At times like this it could be like a snake, struggling to be set free, to strike out at that which it deemed an enemy.
“Please, let me make it right,” I said more to myself than anyone, but I knew he’d hear me nevertheless. His kind had senses far beyond that of a normal person.
“Leave me alone!”
I couldn’t blame him for being angry. Time and again this had happened. We’d come into close contact, some of our encounters being closer than others, and the white fire inside of me would lash out.
Each time it had happened, he’d laughed it off, pretended it didn’t hurt despite the painful obviousness of it. I’d always known, though, that eventually even he would reach his limit. That eventually the jokes would stop and, with them, whatever he felt toward me. I’d hoped – prayed even – that I would find the control I needed before that happened. I’d done it before, so I knew it was possible, but that had been before Remington’s final desperate gambit, a gambit which had almost killed me.
A growl, disturbingly inhuman in pitch, escaped from him, reminding me that he’d been affected by that incident too, in many ways worse than I had. I didn’t know if the sound he made now was due to pain or fury, but it didn’t matter. He needed my help.
I reached down and grabbed hold of his still-smoking shoulder to turn him over. He needed to know that I was sorry and I needed to know he was all right.
Under normal circumstances, that last concern wouldn’t be a question – his kind healed at an exaggerated pace. Anything short of a fatal wound would be gone in minutes. There were exceptions, though, and I was one of them.
I’d been told my power was a gift, the blessing of light, God’s way of balancing the scales against the darkness. I never really bought into that, despite how many times such dogma was repeated. There was no denying, however, that the white hot fury inside of me was capable of consuming his kind whole. Considering that the vast majority of the undead hated me with a passion, and wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me if given the opportunity, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most that I’d met had been little more than monsters given human form anyway; wolves in sheep’s clothing.
He was different, though. He was kind where they were cruel, self-deprecating where they were arrogant. He’d told me he didn’t want to hurt anyone and I believed him. That he was a vampire wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t asked to become one of them, to be dragged into their world. Despite our powers being polar opposites, we had that much in common. I hadn’t asked for any of this either.
I pushed that thought away, although a bitter aftertaste remained as always. A part of me blamed him for that and I hated that part of me for doing so. It was stupid and selfish of me to dwell upon it now, especially when I’d just hurt the man I...
His eyes opened, inhuman black orbs that seemed to contain no trace of the gentle soul within. I knew better, though.
“It’s okay, it’s me,” I said, dropping to one knee. “I won’t hurt you again.”
The promise was a lie. I had no way of knowing if I might lose control of the surging torrent of power inside of me. No matter how much I tried, at times it was almost as if it had a life all its own.
He seemed to sense the untruth in my words, but where I expected scorn and rejection, he instead sprung from the ground and tackled me with savage strength. His fingernails became talons that dug into my arms, pinning me in place. He opened his mouth, revealing his fangs.
With a snarl, Bill Ryder – a man I called friend and had hoped to call more – was upon me; forcing my head to the side and digging his teeth into my neck.
I wanted to lash out, to call upon the power within me. It was what the Templar had trained me to do, told me was my destiny – to destroy the Night Spawn and take my place as the last defender of humanity.
But I instead forced it back down, took control of it at last, even as the life blood flowed from my wounds. This was what I had brought upon myself.
It was what I deserved.
* * *
SHINING FURY
Coming soon!
Table of Contents
Prologue: Destiny’s Bitch
Part 1
Bartender in Training
Welcome to Crazy Town
Busy Little Bees Buzzing Around
The Mean Streets
Twenty Sides of Terror
The Douchetastic Four
Hunkering Down
Wrath of the Defilers
Meet and Greet
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
The Bitching Hour
The Telephone Game
Vamanos, Muchachos
A Rare Blood Type Indeed
Dreamscape
The Call of the Wild
Deal With the Devil
Fire and Brimstone
Like Oil in Holy Water
Uneasy Alliances
The First Step of Many
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skull
Head Games
War Party
Catching Up
Down on the Farm
The Long Kiss Goodbye
Part 2
Raising the Stakes
Score of a Lifetime
Shit Storm
A Turd in the Hand...
Prisoners of War
The Last to be First
The Rebel Alliance
First to Escape
Not You Again!
Pound Puppies
The Monster Squad
War of the Gargantuas
Midnight Tryst
Pillow Walk
Gee, Didn’t See That Coming
Sight Seeing
Doctor’s Note
Pandemonium
Out of the Frying Pan
The Big Bad
One Shall Fall
Greasy Kid Stuff
A Small Problem
Infiltration
Undead Alive
Class Reunion
That Sinking Feeling
The Choice
The Sacrifices We Make
All Hell Breaks Loose
To Destroy The Destroyer
Freewill Versus Freewill
Face Off
Sting Like a Bee
The Cleanup Crew
Unexpected Company
First Base
The End Days
The Spine Crushing Epilogue
Author’s Note
About the Author
Bonus Chapter
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The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead Page 51
