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J.R.:

I couldn’t agree more.

The other questions I might have asked him drift out of my mind and into the fair skies above. When I hear a rustle of grass beside me, I realize he, too, has lain down. Together we stretch out on the grass, hands behind our heads, legs crossed at the ankles.

Eventually we return to the mansion and the bedroom we’d been in, and we talk about nothing special. I know that Phury’s giving me a chance to reorientate and I appreciate his thoughtfulness.

When it’s finally time for me to leave, he and I go down the hall to the study. I say good-bye to Wrath and Beth, and Phury stays there to have a meeting with the king and queen. As I put the grand staircase to use, I hear the voices of the doggen once again coming from the dining room. They’re setting up for Last Meal, laying out the place settings for the Brothers and the shellans.

Fritz comes forward, opens the vestibule’s door, and leads me back out to the Mercedes. Before I get into the sedan, I glance up at the mansion’s dour gray facade. Lights glow in almost every single window, evidence that in spite of the grim, bulwark-like exterior, there is great life and joy inside.

I slide into the backseat of the car, and as Fritz shuts the door I see that there’s a small black leather pouch on the place where I should be sitting. After the butler gets behind the wheel, I ask him what it is, and he says that it’s a present for me. When I start to thank him, he shakes his head and tells me it is not from him.

As the partition rises between me and Fritz, I take the satchel, pick apart the tie at the top, and spill its contents out into my palm.

It’s a small black-bladed dagger, still warm from the forge. The workmanship is breathtaking. . . . Every detail, from the hilt to the razor-sharp tip, is perfectly wrought, and the miniature weapon gleams. It took its maker a long time to create it . . . and he cared about the outcome, cared greatly.

I curl my palm around the gift just as the Mercedes eases forward and we descend from the mountain, heading back for the “real world.”

Lover Enshrined

The People:

Phury

Cormia

The Wizard

Rehvenge

Xhex

Lassiter

Tohrment

Zsadist and Bella

John Matthew

Qhuinn

Blaylock

Wrath and Beth

Fritz

Butch O’Neal

Rhage

Doc Jane

iAm

Trez

The Scribe Virgin

The Omega

Lohstrong (Qhuinn’s father)

Lash

Mr. D

Havers

Amalya, Directrix of the Chosen

Selena

Pheonia

The Princess

Payne

Low (the biker)

Diego RIP (gang member in the jail)

Skinhead (unnamed man in the jail)

Eagle Jacket (the human drug dealer)

Stephanie (the manager at Abercrombie & Fitch)

Places of Interest (all in Caldwell, NY, unless otherwise specified):

The Brotherhood mansion, undisclosed location

The Other Side (the Chosen Sanctuary)

Havers’s clinic, undisclosed location

ZeroSum (comer of Trade and Tenth streets)

Screamer’s

The Caldwell Galleria

Cabin in the woods, Black Snake State Park, Adirondacks

Rehvenge’s Great Camp, Adirondacks

The farmhouse (Lash’s birthplace), Bass Pond Lane

Lash’s parents’ house

Blaylock’s parents’ home

The Caldwell Police Department

Summary:

Phury finds love and conquers both his addictions and his race’s restrictive social and spiritual constructs.

Craft comments:

I love Phury. He was a dream to write, he truly was. And as I said, boy, did I need the break.

On that note, some thoughts about my daily working patterns.

My writing schedule is pretty much set in stone. I write seven days a week, no excuses, no compromises: sick days, holidays, travel days—my butt is in the chair. I’ve kept this up for about ten years now, and I think I’ve missed three days in that decade—due to extremely extenuating circumstances. I’ve gotten up at four-thirty in the morning in Manhattan in hotel rooms to write. Sat down after root canals.