Fury Focused (Of Fates and Furies #2)
Melissa Haag
To my family,
Thank you for your support and patience during all the hours I hid away in my office to get this written.
To the many people involved in the writing process with me,
Thanks for having my back. I sleep better because of all of you!
One
In the complete silence of Girderon Academy’s secret library, my brain wanted to explode. The text explaining the numerous different types of giants and how to distinguish them, although not helping, wasn’t the sole reason for my imminent mental melt down. Too many thoughts whirled in my head. Too many to think straight.
Groaning, I absent-mindedly lifted my hands from the thick, old book and rubbed my face. The damn thing slammed shut and flew back to its place on the shelves.
“Are you kidding me?”
I stood to retrieve the book from its spot, yet again. The stupid return spell, which kept the library neat and prevented anyone from leaving with one of these precious, nonsensical tomes, was driving me as crazy as my thoughts about everything that had happened over the weekend.
Nothing had really changed since Trammer’s death, except my thinking. The Council, which consisted of Adira, the Quills, Raiden, and a few others, had decided that, as a fury, I’d be the best candidate to watch over the remaining humans until a new liaison could be found. I hadn’t considered the implications when I’d agreed, but after a weekend to think about it, the responsibility of being a liaison was starting to get to me. Look at how many had died since I’d gotten here. Everything in Uttira seemed to want a piece of humans. How was I going to stop that from happening?
On top of that weighing thought, I had Oanen and the promise he’d somehow twisted from me. What the hell had I been thinking? My previous, single attempt at a relationship had ended epically with my fist. The last thing I wanted to do was throat punch Oanen because of some weird fury fit of temper.
Fine, that wasn’t even it. I knew, as a fury, I only punished the wicked, and Oanen was far from wicked. He was great. Perfect. And, I was terrified of screwing it up with him. How many guys really wanted to go out with a girl who had a flash temper and a tendency to hit first and ask questions later? Not counting Oanen, I felt pretty sure the answer would be none.
With the book once again in my hands, I returned to my uncomfortable seat at the old table and forced myself to focus as I started reading again. It wasn’t easy. Because of the way the book had been added to by different people throughout the ages, it didn’t read like a book but more like a recipe card with special notes.
Not all giants were giants by human standards. The term giant could describe the creature’s size but also their birth place. Most giants mastered the ability to control their size by adolescence. Only a few had other gifts, in addition to having the magic to change their appearance. Most just trained as warriors in case the gods ever called upon them to once again fight in their wars over earth.
None of the information on the pages seemed particularly valuable. I sighed and scratched my forehead while keeping one hand firmly in the center of the book.
From my place in the middle of the moderately-sized room, I looked up at the other volumes lining the shelves along the stone walls. Adira had suggested I pick a shelf and start reading the contents, in order, so I didn’t miss anything. There were a lot of books. Over five hundred, at least. And if they all read like this one, I would just be wasting my time.
Rolling my shoulders, I got back to reading again and tried to ignore the doubts that kept poking at my mind.
A sudden knock on the thick, old door echoed in the room and made me jump. Not that the book I currently read was that gripping. I was just that focused on trying to absorb the words.
Standing, I realized how badly my back ached. I worked out the kink as I moved toward the door and wondered how long I’d been reading. Adira had taken my phone when I’d arrived, saying that entering with any kind of technology would just destroy the device due to a spell that prevented classified information from being copied and shared. All of which made no sense to me. One, there wasn’t anything important in here as far as I’d read. And two, what was to stop me from just telling someone what I learned? But, I hadn’t argued with her. Giving up my phone to hang out in a library and avoid sessions and other people had seemed a fair enough trade.
I opened the door, expecting to see Adira checking up on me like she’d said she would. Instead, I found Oanen leaning against the frame, his muscled arms crossed and his close-cropped, golden hair glinting in the light of the hall. My pulse gave a sudden jump at the sight of him. I still couldn’t believe I’d said yes to being his girlfriend.
His blue gaze held mine, and a hint of a smile tugged at his lips.
“You look surprised,” he said. “Expecting someone else?”
“Yeah. Adira. She said she’d check in on me.”
“She mentioned that she did when I saw her in the hall. Both times you were reading.”
“What? She never came in here.”
“She doesn’t need to with her portals,” he said. “Come on. I figured you’d forget lunch if I didn’t come get you.” He straightened away from the door so I could step out.
“It’s only lunch time?” I groaned. It felt like I’d spent the whole day in the library already.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked.
“Yep. Only lunch. Three more hours of reading.”
I barely heard what he’d said. My heart pounded in my ears as the feel of his arm around me sent my internal temperature from I’m-fine to is-it-hot-in-here.
His fingers idly stroked down my arm as he continued to speak.
“Don’t worry. We’ll do something fun afterwards to make up for it.”
All sorts of warning buzzers started going off in my head. Fun? What did he mean by fun? Was that code for kissing? It was too soon for that, right? Before I could completely send myself into a full-blown panic, I spoke up.
“You’re freaking me out.”
He sighed and dropped his arm.
“Yeah, I could tell by your pulse. I was wondering how long you’d let it go.”
I turned on him and slugged him in the shoulder.
“That wasn’t nice.”
“No. It wasn’t,” he said. “And yet you didn’t get fury angry, only girly mad.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Are you testing me?”
“No. I’m helping you see that I’m right and that there’s nothing for you to worry about. You won’t fly into a rage and hurt me.”
He reached out and gently touched my cheek. My slowly calming pulse went right back to racing, and Oanen’s lips quirked upward ever so slightly again.
“Not only do I make your heart race, I make you blush, too,” he said softly. “I like it.”
He wasn’t making me just blush, he was turning my insides into molten lava. I stepped back, breaking the contact to gulp in some cooler air.
“You said slow. And I’m not even sure I’m ready for touching yet. So, keep your hands to yourself.”
He tucked his hands into his front pockets and innocently arched a brow at me.
“That’s a start.” I resumed walking, and he stuck to my side as we navigated the busy halls toward the cafeteria.
“What did you bring for lunch?” he asked.
“Nothing. I figured I’d grab a tray.”
Yet, even as I stepped into the cafeteria, I knew standing in line was a bad idea. At least one out of ten students was doing or thinking something to set off my fury to a mild degree. Individually, it wasn’t enough to send me into a fit. Collectively, it was close.
“I packed an extra lunch if you’d rather skip the line,” Oanen said when I hesitated.
“Yeah, that might be a better option.”