Ordinaries: Shifters Book II (Shifters series 2) (27 page)

Epilogue

Rian slams his fist into the table, hearing the cracking of his knuckles, but satisfied with the shattered glass sprinkled across the stone floor. “How did they do that?” he screams to his Council, who quiver in fear before him like mice before a snake.

“The-the-the Ordinaries on Nine have always been truh-truh-troubled,” the token Ordinary tries to explain.

Rian snatches a shard of glass quicker than the eye can see and sends it hurtling in the speaker’s direction. The Ordinary shrieks as he finds the glass embedded in the chair right next to his left temple, missing him by a millimeter.

“I don’t care about some traitorous Ordinaries!” he yells, his face purple and bloated with rage. “Those who are found guilty will be dealt with. I want to know how that child—that boy,” he screams, his voice breaking into an incoherent shriek of rage that makes The Council cringe, “managed to destroy an entire fleet!”

All eyes slowly turn to the mousy brown-haired woman at the end of the table. Her tech Apt has long been seen as unworthy of attention or notice. She was only placed on The Council to placate some of the more wealthy patrons of the state.

Her lips tremble as she tries to put words together. “He . . . he must have a powerful Endo,” she says in a hoarse whisper, cringing as though she’ll be beaten for uttering such foolish nonsense.

Rian pauses for a moment, his cold eyes watching her, his frozen, statuesque appearance reminding her vaguely of a reptile regarding its prey. “And,” he asks quietly, his face returning to its more typical pale complexion. “How do you propose we combat this powerful Endo of his?”

She cowers at the question, sinking lower into her chair, hiding her frail and bony body behind the large table as though it might shield her from this unwanted attention. “As you know,” she pauses, her eyes flitting briefly away from the table to his face, “Our wise leader, as you know, these gifts grow as the young age.”

His composed face breaks into a gruesome smile, the sort of smile only death can follow.

She quickly continues, “So, we need to destroy the child before his Apt becomes more powerful.”

Her eyes dart back to the table, and it’s clear she thinks her time in the spotlight has ended. Rian disdains speaking with those he views as his inferiors, and she is almost as low to him as an Ordinary.

Rian grimaces at her answer. “And how do you propose we kill him if he can use our own weapons against us?” Rian suddenly shrieks, digging his fingers into the wooden frame that once held the glass table.

“We use his weaknesses against him,” the blond on his left speaks up, her lavender eyes meeting his. She shows far less fear than the others; she emits confidence, exudes sexiness.

“What weaknesses?” Rian asks, shifting his eyes in her direction with a cocky smile.

The blond shrugs casually, replying, “His family, his friends, the people he loves. We just need to turn one. If we turn one, we can destroy him.”

Rian stops for a moment to consider, and The Council holds its breath in terror, waiting to see if he will approve. Finally, he smiles broadly. “Oh, yes.”

Coming Soon

For more information visit
http://pershingbooks.com
and join us on Facebook at
http://facebook.com/ShiftersBooks

Pick up Shifters Book I

About the Authors

Douglas Pershing was born and raised in Oregon. Having spent his early childhood in Seaside and later splitting his high school years between Hillsboro, Portland, and finally finishing up in Eugene—needless to say—he has seen a lot of Oregon. Ironically, growing up, he was never much of a reader. After taking some creative writing classes in college he discovered that he had stories to tell; who knew? Douglas now resides in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and son. Although the northwest life didn’t prepare him for the desert heat or the unexpected haboob’s (that’s an actual word: Google it!) of the monsoon season, the family has settled into a nice life with good friends. Douglas enjoys movies, reading, painting, and playing guitar when he is not writing. What he does not enjoy are scorpions and stepping in water with clean socks.

Angelia Pershing was always an imaginative child, creating games for her brother and cousins to play, and, when she grew too old for make believe games, she discovered writing as a way to channel her imagination. After finishing high school, Angelia studied English literature. She graduated in 2011 from Texas Woman’s University with a Bachelors of Arts in English and a minor in Education. She currently teaches seventh graders, hoping to inspire the next group of young writers. Angelia lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband John, and enjoys spending time with her cat, Mitten, and her rescue dogs, Beauty and Cinder.