Fury’s Kiss (33 page)

Somatophylax
, Alecto translated for me.
He names himself our protector…what you would call a bodyguard
.

My eyes welled up even more, and Jackson raised a hand to my face.

“I love you,” he said again, wiping a tear away with the pad of his thumb. I leaned into his hand, craving his touch.

“I love you, too,” I whispered.

He pulled me down to meet his mouth and Alecto hummed in satisfaction. I sighed with happiness as I curled up next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

“Where did you learn to speak Greek?” I asked after a while, toying with the dog tags around his neck. “You and Nora used it on the phone, too, back at the Stardust.”

“Nora and Cash were crazy about each other even as little kids. He was always over at her place, listening to her family, so he picked it up there. The two of them used it as their own secret language at school.”

“That doesn’t explain how you learned it.” I looked up at him and he grinned.

“I was a typical big brother, and I’ve always had an ear for languages. I’d listen in on their phone conversations so I could make fun of Cash for being so sappy.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable. You learned another language just so you could torture your brother?”

Jackson shrugged. “It’s that stubborn streak, I guess. It used to drive Cash crazy, but he could never hold it against me for long.” He paused, remembering. “I think he’d be glad now that I can speak Greek to Ruby. Being on the run for the past couple of years, Nora hasn’t had any contact with her family, so Ruby never got to know her grandparents.”

I nodded against his shoulder. “She’s a great kid.”

Jackson shifted his weight, suddenly tense. “What do you say we make this official and set a good example for her?”

My mouth went dry and I scrambled to sit up. “What are you saying?” He couldn’t mean what I thought he meant.

“Marry me.”

I stared into his eyes, and my own widened. He did mean it.

“What happened to being too old for me?”

He mock-growled and nipped at my throat. “I’ll try to keep up with you. Now say yes, or I’ll have a relapse.”

My mind flashed to my own parents’ broken marriage as I considered his words. They had loved each other in the beginning, too, but it hadn’t guaranteed them happiness. What if Jackson changed his mind later on, when the newness wore off? I loved him, but marriage was a big step. What if he didn’t feel the same way when he realized what he was in for? Life with a Fury was never going to be normal, or even safe.

He groaned theatrically. “I’m relapsing. I can feel it. You call that gratitude? I took a bullet for you, woman.”

He was joking, but it was the truth. Not only had he taken a bullet for me, he’d put himself in harm’s way over and over again for my sake. He’d faced death to keep me safe and aside from the physical connection that bound us, we were tied together by a deeper, stronger bond. It was that bond that had led Jackson to find me when I’d left him in New Bedford.

Some people would judge us, I knew. For our age difference, the short length of time we’d known each other, or whatever else they might think of. But if my encounter with Spiro and Hélène had shown me nothing else, it was that life was short, sweet, and over too soon.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Yes?”

“Yes!”

He surprised me by letting out a celebratory rebel yell loud enough to bring the nurses running. Nora and Ruby were hot on their heels, followed by Alex and Rachel.

“What is it?” Nora asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Uncle Jackson and Tara are getting married!” Ruby told her before we could speak, and I had a feeling she’d known this would happen before we did. The little girl looked like her birthday, Christmas morning, and the last day of school had all come at once. Congratulations were said all around, and soon the room was full of crying women.

“You better get her the biggest rock on Cape Cod,” Alex joked tearfully.

“I’ll do one better,” Jackson said. “I’ll give her a restaurant.”

“You’ll what?” I pressed a hand to his forehead, wondering if I should call a nurse, though he didn’t feel feverish.

“Well, it’ll be a bar to start with, but we can expand and renovate. I came to town looking to settle down now that Ruby’s getting bigger and I had some cash saved, so I figured I’d buy a place and have Nora run it for me. If I give it to you instead, I don’t have any of the headache and you and Nora can do all the work.”

I knew his claim of wanting to avoid the work of owning a restaurant was all for show. What he was really doing was giving me my dream. Not just a piece of property, but something that was all mine.

“You didn’t tell me about any of this,” Nora accused.

Jackson shrugged. “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up before I was sure. Since you already do all the work at Spyder’s anyway, I wanted to see if I could get the place cheap. I signed the deal right before Perris shot himself and this all blew up in our faces.”

“Who owned Spyder’s, after all?” Rachel asked. “I always wondered.”

“Believe it or not, it was old Lefty himself. Turns out he was more than happy to unload the place. Said he found the ‘rigors of management’ too demanding, if you can believe it. He’s probably halfway to Mexico by now.”

“Good riddance,” Alex said. “Just let me know if you need a bouncer while you whip the place into shape.”

Though they were still coming to grips with the changes they were going through, Alex and Rachel already enjoyed increased strength nearly equal to my own. Even better, they had Alecto to help guide them through the changes they were experiencing. Their integration with the Furies who had bonded with each of them was progressing much more smoothly than my own had. Alex’s Fury, Megaera, had been known in ancient times as ‘the jealous one’, though she seemed to have mellowed somewhat over the centuries. Rachel’s Tisiphone—otherwise known as ‘avenging murder’—was as bloodthirsty as ever.

“You guys would give up your free time to help me open my restaurant?” I was touched.

“Of course,” Alex said. “We’re the Three Musketeers, remember?”

I smiled, thinking of the year we’d all gotten parts in our middle school production of the Alexandre Dumas classic. “You’re right. All for one and one for all.”

“It’s like Good Will Hunting,” Rachel added. “You know that part when Robin Williams says the guys from Southie would take a bat to the other guy’s head if Will asked them to?”

I nodded.

“Well, you’re our Will Hunting.”

I had to laugh. Tisiphone’s influence on Rachel’s usually peaceful disposition was becoming more and more apparent every day.

Footsteps sounded in the hall, and I turned to the door in time to see Ethan Graves lean in to the already crowded room. “Got space for a few more in here?” He was accompanied by Nicky and a middle-aged woman I didn’t recognize.

“Uncle Jackson and Tara are getting married!” Ruby announced for the second time. She grabbed Nicky by the hand and dragged him into the room. “You can be in the wedding with me. Can’t he, Tara?”

The boy looked down and toed an invisible scuff mark on the floor, and my happiness was dampened by the awareness on his face. Now that the Perris family was out of the picture, he had no legal guardian and was facing an adolescence spent in foster homes. It was better than the alternative of life with the demented duo, but it still wasn’t an easy future.

“Nicky just came to say good-bye,” Graves told us. “I ran into him in the elevator.” He stepped back to admit the woman standing behind him. “This is Patricia Carlson, his social worker.”

“Where’s he going?” Ruby asked. Nicky stared steadfastly at the floor, and the social worker answered for him when it became clear that he wasn’t going to.

“Nicky is going to stay with a nice family here in the city for a little while.”

Ruby started to cry. “No! That just means you’re going to make him go live with strangers.” She hugged the boy hard. He still didn’t make a sound, but one big, wet tear plopped onto her head.

“I’ll take him,” Nora volunteered.

All eyes turned to her, and the social worker peered at Nora over her glasses. “Pardon me?”

“Nicky can come stay with us. We’d love to have him, wouldn’t we, Ruby?” Ruby nodded her head so hard she almost toppled over. “Nicky was homeschooled, right?” Nora went on. “So it’s not like he’d have to leave his friends or anything. And I own my own house…he can even have his own room.”

“As of today, she owns her own business, actually,” I put in. “We’re partners.”

Nora turned to me, eyes wide. “Do you mean it?”

I nodded. “You know the place better than anybody. It’s as much yours as it is mine.”

Nicky looked at Nora, then back at his social worker. The hope in his eyes nearly broke my heart.

“There is training you’d have to do,” the woman said.
Say yes
, I urged, as if my thoughts could convince her.

“Whatever it takes,” Nora answered. Nicky’s eyes pleaded with the woman.

“We do have a special need for homes for older children and teens,” Ms. Carlson said thoughtfully. “I don’t see why this couldn’t work—
if
you pass the physical standards and background checks, as well as complete the necessary training.”

“I’ll do it,” Nora vowed.

“Do you mean I can stay with them?” Nicky asked his social worker.

She relaxed her stern expression and smiled down at him. “You can stay with them.”

Ruby squealed in delight and squeezed Nicky harder. His grin nearly split his face in two.

Agent Graves spoke up from his position in the doorway. “I’d say this calls for a celebration. Bad coffee and vending machine brownies are on me.” He turned to Rachel. “Care to give me a hand?” Despite everything the agent had done for us, Rachel hesitated and I rolled my eyes. She still hadn’t forgiven him for suspecting me—rightfully—of having a hand in Clinton Miller’s death.

“She’d be happy to,” I spoke up on Rachel’s behalf.
Go
, I mouthed at her.
And be nice.

When they returned a few minutes later laden with plastic-wrapped treats and coffee in steaming Styrofoam cups, I looked around, watching the family I’d found celebrate together. Apate was still out there somewhere, planning gods knew what, but I had my sisters to stand behind me and the man I loved beside me. Alex and Rachel met my eyes and an unspoken message passed between us. Whatever was coming, we would face it together.

We were Fury. We would be ready.

Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading
Fury’s Kiss
! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please help other readers find this book by lending it to a friend or writing a review. Every review helps a reader decide whether a book is right for them.

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The Fury’s Kiss Companion
contains information on the mythology that inspired
Fury’s Kiss
, detailed background information about Tara and her friends, and even Agent Ethan Graves’s top-secret FBI file on Tara!

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Fury Scorned,
book two in the exciting New England Furies series!

Happy reading!

Nicola R. White

About

Fury Scorned

by Nicola R. White

Tattoos? Check.

Stripper heels? Check.

Ancient Greek Fury living in her head? Check.

Born on the wrong side of the tracks, Alex Hughes has always known what people think of her—and working as an exotic dancer hasn’t exactly helped her image. But since bonding with a Greek goddess of vengeance six months ago, Alex has had bigger problems. Like dealing with the Spartans, the outlaw biker gang with supernatural connections terrorizing Boston.

And then there’s Tyler Kelly…

Tall, dark, and sexy, the ex-Navy SEAL is a deadly fighter and a potential lover. But Alex is more comfortable kicking ass than facing her feelings, and none of the men or women she’s dated in the past have made her feel the way Ty does. As if her life wasn’t complicated enough, she discovers there’s no wound like a bruised ego when she takes on the goddess behind the Spartans’ reign of terror—and loses. Alex’s faith in herself is shaken as enemies turn out to be allies and friends offer betrayal. But as the saying goes…

Hell has no Fury like a woman scorned.

Chapter One

I arched my back and tossed my mane of hair as I spun around the pole mounted at the centre of the circular stage. Tonight I was a purple-haired, punk rock goddess, my own shoulder length, dyed-black hair tucked up beneath a wig. Purple light shone down from above, highlighting my curves as the men seated at the rail gazed up hungrily.