Page 230 of Fury

“You’ve never asked me that before. Not once.”

“I know.”

“I’m very sure.”

“Good.”

Within two weeks, Mishap brought me Scrib. We secured him in our specially-made soundproof barn, and I contacted Butler who was now Vice-President of the One-Eyed Jacks. I wanted total commitment up front or I’d crush the Jacks myself.

We met at that abandoned gas station again.

“We’re with you on this,” he said. “There’s one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s a Blade I can vouch for.”

“The one who saved your ass?”

Butler and Jump’s teenage son, Wes, had been ambushed weeks ago on a stretch of road leading out of Deadwood, South Dakota. Led, Reich’s right hand man, had wanted revenge on Butler for double crossing Reich. Luckily, Butler and Wes survived with the help of a Broken Blade who’d happened to be there.

“Yeah, him,” he said. “His name is Pick.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

Butler eyed me, chewing hard on his gum. “You okay? You seem on edge.”

I scowled at him.

“You don’t usually seem on edge, that’s all,” he said.

“This edge is a very special, once in a lifetime kind of edge. Trust me, I’m liking the view from up here.”

He laughed, his face turning away.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

“Nothing, man.”

“Tell me.”

He shook his blond hair from his face. “I just got this image in my head. You on that special edge up above, hands raised, parting the raging sea down below. Claiming what’s yours. Tearing asunder all that deserve to be so torn.”

He was not wrong.

Butler straightened, his arms folding across his chest. “This guy Pick could prove useful to you. He can see the forest for the trees, unlike Notch. I figure if he’s shown some respect, he’ll show it back.”

I mounted my bike. “What are you telling me, Butler?”

He adjusted his fancy sunglasses, his lips turning up. “Maybe you don’t have to massacre all of them.”

“First I want to see how they deal with my shock and awe. That’s always telling. That’ll tell me who to massacre.”

Butler gnawed on his growing smile.

I slanted my head at him. “Now what?”

His wide grin lit up his face. “I like that about you, you know. Every decision is precise and carefully calculated, every move has a purpose.”

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