Tears of the Furies (A Novel of the Menagerie)

  All of his Menagerie had returned from Greece alive. That was the only saving grace of this mission, as far as he was concerned. Medusa would no longer endanger the world, but though Clay and the others had been the ones to capture her, Gull had murdered her. Though they might have had to kill her anyway, the callousness of it had been unsettling.

  Nigel Gull had used him, drawn him in, and now, at last, everything had gone horribly wrong for the mage. Once upon a time he had been a man of quiet strength and dignity, but his ambition had been stronger than his nobility. The dark magicks that had twisted his flesh had tainted him forever, but Nigel had never understood that. All he had understood was the power that they had granted him.

  Conan Doyle wondered if Nigel understood, now.

  He doubted it.

  To all appearances, Gull was on his own now. Those he called his Wicked were dead. Tassarian for the second time. The girl Jezebel had been a tragic figure from the moment she crossed Conan Doyle’s doorstep, doomed from the start, yet he would have saved her if he could have. Hawkins had been doomed as well. He had invited death constantly. It had only been a matter of who would play executioner.

  But Gull might have other allies. Conan Doyle certainly had operatives that he kept in abeyance, old friends and acquaintances that could be called upon if the need arose.

  Nigel Gull would be back.

  At the moment, however, Gull was the least of his concerns. There was Danny Ferrick, who seemed too unstable for the work the Menagerie undertook, and yet who had nowhere else to go. He would have to adjust to what he was, or it would tear him apart. Then there was Dr. Graves. Conan Doyle had sworn to help the ghost solve his own murder, but thus far had been able to uncover precious little.

  He knew he ought to concern himself with his allies. His friends. But such things seemed so small and petty in comparison to the threat of the DemoGorgon.

  "There’s nothing you can do."

  Conan Doyle turned, broken from his reverie, to see Ceridwen standing in the open door of his study. Silhouetted in the light from the hall, she had never looked so beautiful and his breath caught in his throat. His eyes watered from tobacco smoke in his lungs that he could not exhale.

  The Fey princess had showered, her blond hair still glistening with water. She wore only a thin shift the same blue as a robin’s egg, and the light from the hall caught the lines of her body through the translucent material. Lithe limbs, supple muscles, and the gentle, familiar curves that made him forget his heart was beating.

  "Arthur?"

  He blinked, the enchantment of her presence lifting, but only slightly.

  "Yes?" Conan Doyle rasped.

  Ceridwen entered the study, the fabric gliding over her body as she moved into the dim room. She crossed to the window, where the moonlight touched her as though it had longed to do so forever.

  "You struggle with the rage you feel at Sanguedolce for having manipulated you. And the rest of us as well. But you resent him as well, because he belittles you at every turn."

  Had anyone else spoken these words, he would have been affronted. Would have denied the truth of them, even to himself. To Ceridwen, he only nodded.

  "He’s a fool," Conan Doyle rasped. "His magick is so great that he believes himself omnipotent. No matter how powerful he is, if this DemoGorgon is what he claims, he will need all of the allies he can find."

  Ceridwen crossed to him, then. She took his pipe from his hand and set it on its stand, then moved his chair away from the desk and slid down to sit before him. Arthur went to stop her, but she only smiled softly.

  "In his own way, regardless of what he says, he is preparing to defend this world. When the time comes, we shall see if he rejects assistance." Ceridwen gathered his hands in hers and gazed up at him, and those violet eyes were all of the sustenance and comfort he had longed for. When he thought of the time they had lost, at what his stubbornness had cost them both, it crushed his heart.

  "Meanwhile," she whispered, drawing herself upward, the fabric of her robe sliding over his hands, "you must focus yourself on matters at home. On the everyday darkness in this world, but also on the light. On the sunshine as well as the shadows. On your life, and the lives of this strange family you have gathered about you."

  Her hands caressed his face and Ceridwen climbed up onto the chair he sat in, kneeling so that she was astride him. Hope and joy and sadness swam in her eyes and she trembled as she bent to kiss him. Their lips brushed only lightly at first, reacquainting themselves, and then she kissed him deep and long.

  His heart had seemed to stop before, and now it beat with such speed and vigor he thought it would burst. His own hands trembled as they slid over her back, tracing her body from the softness of her hair to the extraordinary spot at the small of her back where his touch had always made her shiver.

  "Meanwhile," she whispered, drawing her face back only inches from his, her profile illuminated in moonlight, her small breasts still pressed into him. "Focus on me."

  Ceridwen began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

  Arthur decided that, for this evening at least, the world would have to wait.

  END

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Of Saints and Shadows, The Myth Hunters, The Boys Are Back in Town, and Strangewood. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Soulless, Poison Ink, and The Secret Journeys of Jack London, co-authored with Tim Lebbon. His current work-in-progress is Cemetery Girl, a graphic novel trilogy collaboration with Charlaine Harris.

  A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. He has co-written three illustrated novels with Mike Mignola, the first of which, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, was the launching pad for the Eisner Award-nominated comic book series, Baltimore. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series Magic Zero and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, he co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion for the BBC.

  As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead, The Monster's Corner, and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at http://www.ChristopherGolden.com.

  CONNECT WITH CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN ONLINE

  Official Website

  http://www.ChristopherGolden.com

  Twitter

  http://twitter.com/ChristophGolden

  Facebook

  https://www.facebook.com/christophergoldenauthor

  No Rest for the Wicked Blog

  http://christophergolden.blogspot.com/

  Join the Wicked Street Team

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wickedstreetteam/

  THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI is a New York Times best-selling author of books and comics for children, young adults and adults. He is the writer of the New York Times best-selling The Fallen: Vol. 1 & 2, as well as the popular urban fantasy books featuring angel turned private investigator, Remy Chandler. He is also the only writer ever invited to work on Jeff Smith’s international, award winning series Bone, working with Smith on Bone: Tall Tales. Sniegoski has just finished writing the third in an original Bone trilogy, Bone: Quest for the Spark, for Scholastic Books. The newest addition to The Fallen series, The Fallen: Forsaken and the latest Remy Chandler novel, In the House of the Wicked, was released in August 2012.

  CONNECT WITH THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI ONLINE

  Official Website

  https://www.sniegoski.com

  Twitter

  https://twitter.com/TomSniegoski

  Facebook

  h
ttps://www.facebook.com/ThomasSniegoski

  OTHER WORKS BY CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN

  THE MENAGERIE

  The Nimble Man [w/Thomas E. Sniegoski]

  The Tears of Furies [w/Thomas E. Sniegoski]

  Stones Unturned [w/Thomas E. Sniegoski]

  Crashing Paradise [w/Thomas E. Sniegoski]

  THE BODY OF EVIDENCE SERIES

  Body Bags

  Thief of Hearts

  Soul Survivor

  Meets the Eye

  Head Games

  Skin Deep

  Burning Bones [w/ Rick Hautala]

  Brain Trust [w/ Rick Hautala]

  Last Breath [w/ Rick Hautala]

  Throat Culture [w/ Rick Hautala]

  Strangewood

  Straight On 'Til Morning

  The Ferryman

  The Boys Are Back in Town

  Wildwood Road

  The Secret Backs of Things

  The Shell Collector

  Bloodstained Oz [w/James A. Moore]

  The Seven Whistlers [w/Amber Benson]

  The Ocean Dark [As Jack Rogan]

  The Collective [As Jack Rogan]

  Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire [w/Mike Mignola]

  Joe Golem and the Drowning City [w/Mike Mignola]

  Father Caetano's Puppet Catechism [w/Mike Mignola]

  SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH

  Horseman [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]

  Drowned [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]

  Mischief [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]

  Enemies [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]

  THE VEIL

  The Myth Hunters

  The Borderkind

  The Lost Ones

  THE HIDDEN CITIES

  Mind the Gap [w/Tim Lebbon]

  The Map of Moments [w/Tim Lebbon]

  The Chamber of Ten [w/Tim Lebbon]

  The Shadow Men [w/Tim Lebbon]

  THE SHADOW SAGA

  Of Saints and Shadows

  Angel Souls and Devil Hearts

  Of Masques and Martyrs

  The Gathering Dark

  Waking Nightmares

  GHOSTS OF ALBION

  Astray [w/Amber Benson]

  Initiation [w/Amber Benson]

  Accursed [w/Amber Benson]

  Witchery [w/Amber Benson]

  THE WAKING

  Dreams of the Dead [As Thomas Randall]

  Spirits of the Noh [As Thomas Randall]

  A Winter of Ghosts [As Thomas Randall and Christopher Golden]

  OTHER WORKS BY THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI

  ADULT FICTION

  THE REMY CHANDLER SERIES:

  A Kiss Before the Apocalypse

  Dancing on the Head of a Pin

  Where Angels Fear to Tread

  A Hundred Words for Hate

  In the House of the Wicked

  Walking in the Midst of Fire

  THE MENAGERIE

  The Nimble Man [w/Christopher Golden]

  The Tears of Furies [w/ Christopher Golden]

  Stones Unturned [w/ Christopher Golden]

  Crashing Paradise [w/ Christopher Golden]

  TEEN FICTION

  THE FALLEN SERIES

  The Fallen

  The Fallen: Leviathan

  The Fallen: Aerie

  The Fallen: Reckoning

  The Fallen: End of Days

  The Fallen: Forsaken

  The Fallen: Armageddon

  Force Majeure [w/ Christopher Golden]

  Sleeper Code

  Sleeper Agenda

  Legacy

  JUVENILE FICTION:

  THE OUTCAST SERIES

  The Un-Magician

  Dragon Secrets

  Ghost Fire

  Wurm War

  BILLY HOOTEN: OWLBOY SERIES:

  Billy Hooten: Owlboy

  Billy Hooten: Owlboy - The Girl With the Destructo Touch

  Billy Hooten: Owlboy - Tremble at the Terror of Zis-Boom-Bah

  Billy Hooten: Owlboy - The Flock of Fury

  THE BRIMSTONE NETWORK SERIES:

  The Brimstone Network

  The Shroud of A'Ranka

  Specter Rising

  MEDIA TIE-INS

  Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book [w/ Christopher Golden and Stephen R. Bissette]

  Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel: Monster Island [w/ Christopher Golden]

  Angel: The Soul Trade

  Hellboy: The God Machine

  Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory

  Bone: Tall Tales [w/ Jeff Smith]

  BONE: QUEST FOR THE SPARK TRILOGY

  Book One

  Book Two

  Book Three

  ANTHOLOGIES

  Hellboy: Odder Jobs

  Mean Streets

  21st Century Dead

  An Apple for the Creature

  WANT MORE

  CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN AND THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI?

  VISIT THEM AT:

  http://www.ChristopherGolden.com

  https://www.sniegoski.com