“Only briefly, when it was in transit between whatever hiding place she kept it and the Academy’s Realm. We sensed it then, but it was the merest flicker, and we didn’t locate it before the flicker of magic stopped.”
“It was as if someone briefly opened the box it was contained in and then closed it again before entering the Academy’s Realm.”
It’s possible the only altruistic thing Lady Tirelli ever did was to keep those bones contained. Although, if I think about it, it was to her benefit. She wouldn’t want other creatures to use the bones’ power in ways that worked against her. When she died, Hadrix tried to take control of her organization, working with Oliver Draven in an attempt to shore up control.
Hadrix and his family seized many of Lady Tirelli’s possessions, but it’s unclear if they took control of the other bones, too.
“We haven’t sensed the other bones,” my sisters continue, their voices completely in sync.
I jump in. “Which should mean they’re contained.”
“For now,” my sisters reply.
Possibly in a box, or even multiple boxes, like the one that Vulture carried the White Wand in.
“We must be alert for even the briefest hint of Typhon’s power,” my sisters say.
I remember the power radiating out from the White Wand the first time I saw it. Its energy was foreign to me at the time, but I immediately recognized its nature as raw and feral. A wild animal that refused to be tamed.
It had reminded me of Striker.
His unlimited fury and brutality, which he used with full force to protect the other students—even if that meant beating them senseless when they were about to have a flicker fit, stopping the fit in its tracks.
A flicker fit meant death.
His violence saved the other students so many times that violence became Striker’s norm. A survival mechanism. A necessary brutality.
I shake myself again, trying to dislodge these memories that connect me to the person I once was.
A person who can no longer exist.
I must have closed my eyes because when I open them, I find my sisters studying me.
I try to find the words to ask the question I need answered, choosing now to speak within our hive mind.
Is it possible, I ask,for me to remember the person I used to be? To feel her emotions again?
They are quiet for a long moment and then, in unison, they say,Anything is possible, but as for this… It has never happened before.
Without another word, they huddle in closer, wrapping their arms around me.
No matter what, you are strong, they say into my mind.You are whole.
I drag a firm breath into my chest.
I reply,I am Fury.
Shaking off my questions, I make a promise to myself and my sisters, speaking within our hive mind.
We will find these bones and destroy them. If Vanguard deserves death for his crimes, then he, too, will die.
14. STRIKER DRAVEN
Ican’t sleep, and it has nothing to do with the couch I’ve chosen as my bed, which is far more comfortable than my Academy bed was.
More than ever before, I find myself dreaming of Peyton, reaching for her over and over, only to surface from my dreams to find the space beside me empty.
Fuck, she fills my thoughts completely, even though staying away from her is the best thing I can do for her.
