Lasting Fury (Hexing House Book 2) by Jen Rasmussen Page B

was still spinning, and she looked down.
    She tried to scream, and managed only a feeble squeak.
    It was her own pillow—a giant version of it—that she’d been on. Her body was still there. Her wings had been cut off and were arranged on either side of her, gushing a pool of purple blood that was rising above her dead torso.
    Her head was gone.
    Thea was thrashing and screaming when her eyes finally snapped open. For the first time in months, she walked a circuit of her residence—three times, in the same direction—checking that every window was securely closed, as well as the door.
    “Well, thanks for the warning, Uncle Gary,” she muttered when she finally curled up on her couch, shaking. “I guess.”
    Half an hour later, Thea was recounting the vision in a journal, and sketching some of the images as best she could, when her phone rang. She glanced at it, then took the call.
    “Holgersen,” she said. “Miss me so soon?”
    “Don’t quip,” Holgersen said. “You’re not the type. Doesn’t really work for you.”
    “How would you know my type?”
    “That’s another quip.”
    “No, that was just a question.”
    “Listen, in the interest of keeping you in my loop, I wanted to let you know I tracked down one of your witnesses today.”
    “One of my witnesses?” Thea asked. “I wasn’t aware I had witnesses.”
    Did that count as a quip?
    Why do I care?
    “One of the names you gave me. From the lab,” Holgersen said. “Dr. Denise Forrester.”
    “Ah, the good doctor. How is she?”
    “She didn’t make such polite inquiries about you, I can tell you that much.”
    Thea laughed. “No, I’m sure she didn’t. The last time I saw her was the one time she didn’t win.”
    “She says you tried to kill her.”
    “If I’d wanted her dead, she would be. I have claws, remember? And her throat looked pretty soft.”
    For a second Thea remembered lying there, watching the pulse in that throat. The momentary urge she’d had to just kill Dr. Forrester and be done with it.
    Back then, that urge had passed in an instant. Thea doubted it would be the same now. Oh, she was pretty sure she’d still be able to resist it. Pretty sure. But she was also pretty sure it would be a much bigger struggle.
    “Did you just say her throat looked soft ?” Holgersen asked.
    “Never mind. What did she say? Anything useful?”
    “Yes,” Holgersen said. “She says you’re responsible for what happened at Hemlock Heights.”
    “I told you, Hexing House—”
    “Not you plural. You. Thea.”
    “She thinks I attacked Hemlock Heights? Personally? What for?”
    “She says you were the first person she thought of, when she found out what happened to the Lexingtons. She asked for protection, in fact. Said you were probably going after everyone from the lab.”
    “But that’s ridiculous.”
    “Well, you are a creature of vengeance, are you not?”
    “I’m a creature of justice .” Thea waved an impatient hand, although of course Holgersen couldn’t see it. “That’s beside the point. I didn’t even know Boyd Lexington. We were never at the lab at the same time. She would know that.”
    “Hey, I’m just telling you what the lady said. Something I obviously would not be doing if I was giving any credence to her accusations, by the way.”
    “And I’m telling you, she’s not thinking straight. Either someone put her up to pointing a finger at me, or she’s completely paranoid. Did she seem unstable?”
    Did she seem like she was her own monster?
    “Not especially,” Holgersen said. “But I don’t have a basis for comparison, either.”
    “I want to see her.”
    “Out of the question.”
    “You just said you don’t believe her,” Thea said.
    “That’s beside the point,” said Holgersen. “She asked me to protect her from you.”
    “I’m not going to hurt her!”
    “Also beside the point. She doesn’t trust you. I don’t get to make that judgment for her.”
    “Why do I get the feeling