Lasting Fury (Hexing House Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

beside her at the time,” Cora added. “That’s exactly how it happened. It was an accident.”
    “She’s a witch!” Mr. Fanatic screeched. “She’s a demon straight from Hell!”
    Just give him a second, and he’ll tell you all about how I’m a harlot, too.
    But Holgersen only shrugged. “Be that as it may, Mr. Agnew, this is the demons’ private property, and I think it would be most productive for us all if we just put whatever passed on both sides this morning behind us. What do you say?”
    Thea was pretty sure it didn’t work like that, and that he was supposed to be asking Mr. Fanatic if he wanted to press charges. But since the detective was ignoring procedure in her favor, she wasn’t inclined to argue.
    Mr. Fanatic, on the other hand, was. Holgersen nodded to one of the other officers, who pulled Mr. Fanatic aside and continued talking to him. After gesturing at both Alecto and Thea to stay where they were, Holgersen himself went to talk to Mr. Caulfield.
    Finally, Caulfield raised his voice to be heard by all. “I think we’ve made our point, folks,” he said. “We’re going to let these officers do their job for now. Let’s meet back at the community clubhouse to discuss our next steps, please.”
    There was a little more argument from the crowd, but most of the fire had died out of it. It didn’t take long for them to walk back down the road to where their cars were parked. Even Mr. Fanatic went, with just a few more insults for Thea as he walked away.
    When the last of them had left, Holgersen turned to Thea. “Well, that was easy. But it won’t be the next time. The sooner we get this straightened out, the better.”
    “Excuse me.” Alecto stepped forward. “I’m the head of this colony. It’s me you want to talk to.”
    But Holgersen was still looking at Thea, eyes narrowed in thought. “No,” he said finally. “I don’t think it is.” He glanced at Alecto. “I mean, I want to talk to you, too. But I’m pretty sure it’s her I came to see.”
    He pulled out his phone, tapped it a couple of times, then handed it to Thea.
    “Recognize this?”
    Alecto moved closer to look over Thea’s shoulder, then made a soft sound of irritation.
    Cora didn’t bother being that subtle. She just said, “Shit.”
    Ah. So that’s what Caulfield meant about the picture.
    The good news was, the picture was blurry. Thea’s features weren’t recognizable, although it seemed her height, shape, and hair were clear enough for someone observant—someone like Holgersen—to identify her.
    The bad news was, the basics were recognizable, and indisputably so: a winged creature, purple in color, flying young Talbott down from his ruined house.

Thea sat in Alecto’s office, watching her boss square off with Detective Holgersen. Despite being the source of their contention, Thea herself seemed momentarily forgotten.
    “I am the head of this colony, and we don’t recognize any other authority but our own,” Alecto was saying. “You’re welcome to question her. But you’ll do it with me present.”
    “No authority other than your own, huh?” Holgersen apparently saw nothing ill-advised in taking a step closer to an aggravated fury. Maybe he was brave, or maybe merely stupid. “Really? I can think of several parties who would be very interested to hear that.”
    “Nobody here has committed any crime.”
    “No?” Holgersen asked. “How about non-violent offenses? Like tax evasion, maybe. Because the IRS has never heard of your ‘company,’ any more than the FBI has, or Homeland Security. I know this, because pretty much every Federal agency I can think of laughed me off the phone today when I checked with them.”
    “And yet here you are,” said Thea. “Interesting that you had no trouble believing it yourself.”
    Holgersen glanced at her. “I wouldn’t say I had no trouble.”
    “Well, maybe the agencies you would need to talk to aren’t the kind someone at your level has access