by CM Raymond
“What’s got you so shit-faced goofy?” She tried to smile back.
Shaking his head, Parker responded, “OK, so, I thought you were hot before.” He took a step back and soaked in the new Hannah before him. Everything about her had changed subtly, but each little alteration added up to a total transformation that had changed beauty into drop-dead gorgeous. “But this is something else.”
Hannah stuck out her lower lip in a fake pout. “The simple girl from the Boulevard wasn’t enough for you, Arcadian?” She swiped her hands across her body and moved them slowly over her breasts and down her torso. “You needed something a little more enhanced?”
Parker laughed and covered his blushing face with his hands, shaking his head. “No, no, no. You were perfect, Hannah. Damned perfect. But now—well, you’re like, intimidating.”
Hannah laughed. “I’ll try to find some baggy clothes so we can get on like in the old days.”
He grabbed her hands and pulled her into him, gripping her around the waist with one arm while he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Enhancements or no, you are far better than I deserve, and far more extraordinary than I had ever imagined.” He leaned in and kissed her slowly and gently, as if time would wait for them to finish.
She pulled back and furrowed her brow. “You were saying something about unfinished business?”
“Yeah. Remember the fight at that smaller rift on our way back to New Romanov?”
Hannah nodded. She remembered it well. It felt like a lifetime ago, though it had only been a few days.
“I said something to you, do you remember?”
She cocked her head to the side. “How could I forget?”
His eyes brightened, and his mouth curled up in a smile. “Good.”
“You told me that you loved…” She paused and looked down at her feet as a knot twisted her stomach. Finally she looked back up at him. “You told me that you loved it when I kicked ass so hard that the enemy wished they had never been born, right?”
She passed him a smile and gripped his shirt, pulling him into another kiss. This one was more passionate than the one before.
Parker stepped back. “You’re impossible.”
“Yeah. I’m still impossible.” She moved away from him and walked toward the door of the residence. Holding the knob in her hand, she looked back at him over her shoulder. “And Parker, I love you too. More than life. More than Irth.” She pointed toward the sky. “More than whatever might lie behind those stars in the sky. I will always love you.”
He felt his face burn. For days he had tried to convince himself that he didn’t need to hear those words, but now that he had, something felt right. Complete.
“But don’t tell anyone else. Don’t want the rest of the Triple-Bs to think I’m gonna play favorites.”
He laughed. “Think they don’t know?”
“I am the Queen of Secrets and the Goddess of Subtlety, so I don’t think they do.” She paused for a second and he joined her on the doorstep. “Oh, and, Karl and I have a little sex thing going on the side. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ruin that for me.”
She turned the knob and stepped through the door, leaving Parker laughing outside.
****
The door swung open and slammed against the wall, announcing her arrival. Aysa turned to see the new and improved Hannah walk into the dining room. Parker was behind her, outlined by the light of the moon.
The room went silent and everyone stared.
Finally Aysa whistled a catcall. “Damn, boss. You’re freaking smokin’.”
“That I am, Aysa. Thank you for noticing!” Hannah quipped.
Laurel stood and dropped Devin to the floor, and the squirrel ran over to join Sal, who was lazing by the fire. “Noticing?” Laurel laughed. “I’d give up the Dark Forest for half the rack you have now!”
Gregory cleared his throat. “Well, Laurel... Um, your quarter-rack is, er, really quite finely... I mean, good with me.” He turned bright red and then the laughter of his friends pushed him to crimson.
“Smooth, Gregory,” Hadley said. “Really, really smooth.”
Hannah approached the table and picked up Hadley’s glass. “To the Bitch and Bastard Brigade,” she toasted.
All of them raised their glass except for Hadley, who was happy to mime his toast, and they drank. Hannah tilted the goblet back, letting the wine cool her throat. When she placed the cup back on the table, all eyes were on her. A blood-red line of wine ran down her bottom lip.
She cleared it with her tongue and then wiped away the remains with the back of her hand. “Oh, chill the hell out already. I’m still just Hannah.” She pushed the glass over to Hadley. “Now fill me up and get one of your own.” She glanced down the table. “Karl done telling his fictional account of his god-like victories yet?”
“Scheisse, lass, me tales could fill volumes.”
“And so could your bullshit,” Hannah replied.
The room erupted and they fell back into their celebration, each taking a turn trying to outdo one another’s stories of victory from the stand against Laughter and her Skrima. Hannah grabbed Parker’s hand under the table, then leaned in and whispered, “Once we’re done here I’m going to show you what the new Hannah can really do.”
Parker’s eyes went wide and he undid the top button of his shirt, hoping that the room might cool off enough for him to make it through the celebration.
Hours later, after the wine pitchers had been emptied for a fifth or sixth time, Hannah stood and steadied herself at the head of the table. “I’m proud of you, each and every one. If I took the time to tell the true stories of your heroics here in New Romanov, Ezekiel there might not live long enough to hear them all.” She glanced at the wizard sitting beside Lilith and winked.
He uncharacteristically raised his middle finger and blew her a kiss.
“I love you too, Zeke. And we owe all this to you.” She paused and let the raucousness calm to a quiet din. “Laughter is gone now, and her demon children will be held at bay by Gregory’s Gate. With some simple maintenance and upkeep it should hold for a long, long time, but there is still the issue of the other rifts like the one we saw before we arrived back in New Romanov. Before she was vaporized, Laughter told me her generals would go forth with her plan. And as long as those bitches from beyond are able to open a cosmic portal, no matter how small, Irth won’t be safe.”
The BBBs looked at each other, each holding their breath.
“I wish today had been a true end ta the fightin’,” Karl said.
“We all do,” Hannah replied, “and we’ll get that chance, but it’s time some of us went on the offensive.”
Aysa cocked her head. “You’re not leaving us, are you, Hannah?”
Hannah smiled. “Not a chance. I’m an Irthling through and through, and this is where I belong.”
Ezekiel stood, staff in one hand and the other resting on Lilith’s broad shoulder. “She’s talking about Lilith and me. We’re the ones who are leaving.”
There was a general look of confusion across the table.
Lilith tried to address it. “Since I’m partially responsible for the rifts in the first place, it’s only fitting that I do the work necessary to end this once and for all. Besides, I’ve felt a little cooped-up for the last several centuries. It’s time I stretched my new legs. Laughter was one of my teammates, so I need to undo the damage she’s done. Not just here, but everywhere.”
Everyone was shocked by the proposition, or everyone except for Hannah. “Zeke and I agreed that it must be done. They will travel through the Rift onto Laughter’s planet and right whatever went wrong over there. In the meantime, I—and any of you bastards who stick with me—will keep up the Matriarch’s work in Irth.”
Hadley stood and his chair slid out behind him, sending a squeal through the room. “Sounds fine, except with Lilith gone who will keep the Gate fueled and in working order? If it fails, the remaining Skrima will have an easy
door into our world.”
Hannah shifted her eyes to the other side of the table, and they landed on her friend from the Academy.
Gregory cleared his throat. “I’m staying in New Romanov to make sure that never happens.”
The room fell silent.
Laurel reached out and covered his hand with hers. “And I and my quarter-rack will remain to keep him out of trouble.” The room watched them gaze into each other’s eyes like lovesick teenagers, but an angry chatter from the corner broke the moment. “Yes, yes, yes, and Devin too. Devin, Gregory, and I will be the watchers.”
All eyes turned back to Hannah. She looked at her team. Even though it was changing, she knew they would always be there for each other.
“That leaves the rest of us,” she said. “Now, I recruited all of you for a mission, which turned out to involve a bit more than we bargained for.”
“Scheisse, it always does with ye!” Karl shouted.
She nodded. “But we’ve completed it, and I am grateful. Irth is grateful. From this moment on, I expect nothing more from any of you. From here we can go our separate ways, heads held high, knowing that we have won the battle of the centuries. But the war is not over. The Queen Bitch’s blood is running through my veins, and so is her cause. For good or bad I’m Irth’s defender now, and until there are no more threats facing this planet it’s up to me to keep her people safe.”
They were silent, waiting for the word. Hannah took her time, looking at each and every one of them. Her heart was full of love for her Brigade, and she knew she would never forget the journey which had brought them to New Romanov. Her throat constricted and she bit her lip to hold back tears of joy.
She looked down at the table, and then back up at her team. “So, anyone feel like joining me?”
EPILOGUE
Somewhere in deep space, a vast distance from a small planet called ‘Earth’
She stood under an alien world’s night sky surveying the stars, imagining the planets beyond. The peoples she felt a responsibility to protect.
The size of it all was staggering, but she knew she had the strength and resources to make something good happen. To still make a difference this many centuries into her life.
And most of all, she had the resolve to do it.
It was the reason she was out here, so far away from home.
She had just turned to go back inside when something deep inside her rang out, like pain from some phantom limb. A trauma that she wasn’t experiencing personally, but one she felt intimately that came to her through the Etheric.
Someone was in trouble—someone connected through her nanocytes.
The Queen Bitch smiled.
Maybe it was time to go back home after all.
FINIS
Author Notes - Lee Barbant
Written December 5, 2017
Hey all,
I’m planning on keeping these notes short, but I just wanted to say that I’m really, really happy with this book--and you all are the ones to thank for that.
Rebornrepresents the conclusion of months of hard work, and it was your support, your feedback, your fandom that encouraged us to keep going and pushed us to write better, faster, and more kickass stories. And I will be thankful to you all for that for the rest of my life.
Reborn wraps what we’ve been calling our “second ROM arc,” but it’s not the end of Hannah’s story—not by a longshot. We’ve got big plans for Hannah and her allies in the upcoming year (I mean, she’s just gone through a pretty big change, right?). And even as Team BBB moves in different directions, it will only open up the Age of Magic in huge ways (that I can’t wait to share with you.)
So in the meantime, make sure you’re checking out the other Age of Magic books! Those authors are kicking butt (I’m pretty sure Candy will surpass us in terms of publishing speed, and she’s doing it solo!), and we have a new author who will be joining the fold shortly. In some ways the Age of Magic is just getting started.
And I hope you’re planning on sticking around.
For Irth!
Lee
Author Notes - Chris Raymond
Written December 5, 2017
Hey, everybody,
I just got home from the day job, which most writers grumble about, but I’m one of the rare few that have a pretty damned awesome 9-5.
OK, it’s not really 9-5 because I teach at a college, and the life of the faculty member is pretty sporadic. It’s a lot more like contract work than anything. My job is to teach my classes, meet with students, do some occasional research, serve on a committee or two, and then, really…whatever. It takes a lot of time, but provides a lot of freedom and flexibility.
My main job is teaching master degree students who want to work at universities. They’re largely working outside of the classrooms, but working with students in pretty close roles, doing mentoring and leadership development. I won’t get into the nasty-ass details, but tonight we were talking about how people change, what makes them change, and how they deal with it.
Students were sharing examples of changes they were seeing in their students, and one person in particular talked about a young woman who didn’t know her potential before going through a ton of crazy experiences, only to come out on the other end stronger for it, more empowered, and knowing EXACTLY who the hell she was.
“It was the grit that made her find out what she was made of,” the student told us.
I leaned back in my chair and stroked my imaginary philosopher’s beard. I’m sure they all thought I was considering a tale from an old dead white guy or some human development theorist.
Nope.
I was thinking of Hannah. Freaking Hannah.
This is her story! She’s come a long way, baby.
And maybe, just maybe, you have had Hannah moments too.
When we talked about the end of this book, and the end of the arc--when I pitched the idea of her drinking Bethany Anne’s blood (which I’m pretty damned proud of, so don’t listen to Lee if he says it was his idea), I got chills down my spine. Literal chills. Then when we talked about shaping the cover after Death Becomes Her, I got a tiny little knot in my stomach, and thought, “This is cool. REALLY freaking cool.”
So, we’re at the end of arc two, and our friends (who were once just our characters) have come so far as a team and as individuals. It sounds strange speaking of fictional characters like this, but I’m proud of them.
I am so excited to see what’s happening next! Quite frankly, as of early December, 2017, we don’t quite know. But whatever it is, it’s going to be kick-ass!
As always, thanks so much for reading. You mean EVERYTHING to us.
See you back on the Unlawful,
Chris
PS: They say that a writer is only as good as his editor (and his wife, but I won’t get into that here). I wanted to take a quick second to thank our editor Lynne for all the work that she does (and my wife…if she reads this!) (Editor note: Good catch, Chris!). Not only does she pick up on our ridiculous typos and make our words more prettierest (Lynne, is that right?) (Editor note: Chris, is that one of your artistic eccentricities?), she is also a Kurtherian Gambit encyclopedia, checking and double-checking how our stories fit into the larger canon. Hands down, she’s awesome. The team at LMBPN has a lot of moving parts, and she is the grease on our gears.
Thanks, Lynne! (Editor note: You’re very welcome—now make a story out of that last line in the Epilogue!)
PPS: One more thing… There’s now a Facebook group for fan fiction in the Kurtherian Universe. It’s really starting to get off the ground. Lots of great ideas and some pretty great stories have been posted, plus there seems to be a great sense of camaraderie. And soon there will be an anthology published! Watch for details…
Want to join the fun? https://www.facebook.com/groups/TKGFansWrite/
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Written December 8, 2017
First, THANK YOU for not only reading this sto
ry of Hannah’s but also reading through Lee and Chris’s author notes, to read mine as well.
;-)
Normally, I would say ‘Chris and Lee’s,’ but since he went first …
As we come down to the last book in the second arc for Hannah, we see changes in the future of the team. We (and by we, I mainly mean Chris and Lee) have ideas of how we see Hannah’s team working in the next four books, the core antagonist, and that ‘something different’ which is hinted at in the Epilogue.
The Queen Bitch …
Right now, I am ten chapters finished with Capture Death, TKG #20. This is the second to last book in her series which will wrap up February 14th, 2018. The story which is hinted here will take place later in the second series for Bethany Anne, and I’ve already started stroking my chin (see Chris’s comment) thinking ‘hmmmm, what can I do here?’
Some readers enjoy behind the scenes stories about what goes on when we are writing these books, and I can provide a little more color commentary on the cover for Reborn.
First, I’m going to tell you what happened last.
(See how I did that? Personally, I think that is a GREAT turn of phrase. I might be the only person who believes that…But I easily amuse myself.)
So, what happened last with the cover was a note I received from Stephen Campbell, the man behind the curtains, who handles all last minute issues with getting these books finished and into your hands to enjoy.
Namely, the title was the same as another book in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe (Rebirth by Ell Leigh Clarke.)
So, here is a piece of the communications:
steve [10:26 AM]
Thanks - FYI - Chris & Lee’s new book is called Rebirth. Ell’s fifth book back in July was also Rebirth.
michael [10:29 AM]
Well, shoot. Did you mention to those guys? I don't (personally) think it's a big deal...thoughts?