Infinitely Human
Page 1
INFINITELY HUMAN
CANDACE BLEVINS
CONTENTS
Connect with Candace
Blurb
Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Bibliography
Excerpt from Bubbles
About the Author
More From Excessica!
eXcessica publishing
INFINITELY HUMAN © January 2019 by Candace Blevins
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.
This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
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First Edition January 2019
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BLURB
Book six of the ONLY HUMAN series…
Kirsten is determined to get the piece of Josh’s soul back from the Siabhra. Her plan will fix another problem, but Abbott won’t be pleased.
It’s time for Cora to become alpha of her own pack, but no one knows what this will do to her bond with Kirsten. Will Cora get enough energy from her wolves so she’s in control of the bond? Or will Kirsten own Cora and the pack?
A night of explosions all over the South, a week traveling with Ryan, a few trips to Faerie, Bran saves her life (again), and she nearly has to battle Abbott (again). Oh, and she’s still dealing with the evil European vampires and their politics.
Strap in and get your popcorn, because the ride towards the big battle is picking up speed.
Note: This is book six in an urban fantasy series that must be read in order. The series starts with ONLY HUMAN.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Dear Reader,
I’m including a Cast of Characters for those who may not have recently read the first five urban fantasy books, and for those who aren’t following the various sister paranormal romance series.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Surtr: (pronounced SIR-truh or sometimes SIR-ter) Ancient immortal god who came for Kirsten in Only Human. He’s no longer a problem, at least for now.
Randall: Alpha werewolf of the Chattanooga Pack, and the Alpha of Alphas for several states. Twin brother to Duke.
Duke: President of a werewolf motorcycle club, the RTMC. He gets his HEA in Duke.
Aquila: (pronounced ah-KEE-luh) Celrau vampire who kidnapped Kirsten and took her to the Hell Realm in An Unhuman Journey. Kirsten tortured and then killed him in Edge of Humanity.
Killian: Aquila’s protégé and replacement. Draws bears to him, and lives with the bears he’s claimed instead of living with other Celrau. He’s a master of the mists and can go unseen as easily as Manandán himself.
Manandán: King of an island in Faerie, so he’s under the Merrow King and Queen instead of Mab and Titania. Master of the Mists. The Isle of Man and Manchester are named after him. Believed to be in league with the Celrau.
Apollonius: Works for the Concilio. Even the strongest supernaturals are afraid of him.
Xaephan: (pronounced shay-FAN) A second level demon in the Hell Realm, Demon Lord known as The Lord of Lust. He’s Mordecai’s brother.
Mordecai: (pronounced MOR-duh-kie, where kie rhymes with pie) Used to be worshiped as a god. He’s still quite powerful and has been teaching Kirsten. Xaephan’s brother.
Nathan: Amakhosi (pronounced ah-muh-KOE-zee), King of the Lions and part-owner of Drake Security. He’s featured in the dark novella, Pride, but he’s yet to get his HEA.
Aaron Drake: The Dragon King. Owns Drake Security. Aaron and Sophia get their HEA in The Dragon King.
Sophia: Married to Aaron Drake. She’s the Swan Queen, and is also queen of the Dragons. She can teleport in Faerie, and they often use her skills to travel to faraway places quickly. Aaron and Sophia get their HEA in The Dragon King.
Jonathan: Leopard. Sophia’s main bodyguard. He gets his HEA in Acceptable Risk.
Ranger: Drake Security employee. Werewolf. We first meet him in Riding the Storm as Eric’s uncle, and he gets his HEA in Acceptable Risk.
Mac: Werewolf. Drake Security employee. The third man in the Acceptable Risk ménage.
Bethany: Gen’s best friend (as in Gen and Duke). Bethany lives with Jonathan, Ranger, and Mac. We see her HEA in Acceptable Risk.
Patrick: Drake Security employee. Alpha werewolf over the Ringgold Pack. Often bodyguards Kirsten, especially when she’s with Master James since Patrick’s a Dom and understands what’s happening. Patrick gets his HEA in Careful What You Ask For.
Bran: Lugat vampire. Filthy rich and quite powerful. He’s featured in An Elegant Weapon, and is also a major player in Careful What You Ask For.
Marco: Bran’s lead bodyguard. Flies incredibly fast. Neither Kirsten nor Cora know what he is.
Marco: Yes, there are two. This one is Master of the City of New York as well as several surrounding states. He and Cora have a long-distance thing going, but aren’t monogamous.
Abbott: Master Vampire over most of the Southern states, also known as The Abbott. He’s a Strigorii vampire. He’s featured in Leashed, but it will be a while before he gets his HEA.
Gavin: Second in command to Abbott. Featured in the dark novella Indentured Freedom, but he’s yet to get his HEA.
Queenie: Werewolf. Belongs to Gavin. She’s introduced in the Bash trilogy, and she’s a main character in Indentured Freedom.
Kendra: Third in command to Abbott. She gets her HEA in Ridin
g the Storm.
Josef: Abbott’s head of security. He gets his story in Unhallowed Murder.
Ryan: Slayer. Likely a sociopath. Bran hired him to help keep Kirsten safe in Of Humans and Monsters. Kirsten worked for him during the events of Defining Human.
The Siabhra: (pronounced see-AH-bruh) The boogeyman of the Fae, responsible for relentlessly punishing those who deserve it. Introduced in Horse as the scariest being in Faerie. The Celrau sold a piece of Josh’s soul and a little of his blood to the Siabhra, which means by the rules of Faerie, the Siabhra owns Josh.
Josh: Kirsten’s cousin. The Celrau mindfucked him until he learned to wield lightweapons similar to Kirsten’s. She rescued him from them and he’s now learning about himself and reality the right way.
Martin: Most powerful tiger in town. Uber-asshole.
Rinaldo: Historical Nebuchadnezzar. Attractive. Wears high-dollar modern day suits. No one knows if he’s a good guy or a bad guy this time around.
Griffin: Historical King Manahem. Dresses like a college professor. Short and ugly. Animal is the crocodile. Kirsten took his head off and meant to kill him in Defining Human, but enough of his brainstem survived and he managed to heal.
Freyja's Necklace: Given to Kirsten during the events of Edge of Humanity, it’s sentient and thus a character. It warns of dangers, it hides when it doesn’t want to be seen, and it sometimes shows itself at inopportune times. Kirsten has the metal part of the necklace, which has been reworked. She’s told Xaephan has the stone from it.
“What you must do," said Monkey, "is lure the monster from its hiding place, but be certain it is a fight you can survive.”
― Wu Cheng'en, Monkey: The Journey to the West
1
We’d been working on this on-and-off for weeks, because pulling Cora’s wolf from her more than twice a day was extremely uncomfortable for her.
I could do it on the Pack lands, but wolf magic is stronger there, and I worried it’d be harder elsewhere, or maybe even impossible. I was scared I’d hurt her away from Randall’s oversight, but we had to do it eventually. If she was ever gravely injured to the point she couldn’t change, I could save her life by doing it for her. This was important.
“You can do this,” she assured me, stripped to nothing. We’d closed on our land two days earlier, and would officially move into the small farmhouse once Randall’s construction company renovated it. This was our land, which would one day have its own Pack magic.
I hoped.
Pulling Cora’s wolf from her was easiest when she was already on all fours, but tonight wasn’t about easy. I sank into the telepathic link between us, and then deeper, into the bond I’d formed the night an ancient god had tried to own her and I hadn’t let him.
The first time I’d managed to pull her wolf from her, it’d reminded me of those reversible stuffed animals — you turn them inside out and presto-chango it’s something else! That isn’t anything at all like what happens, and yet, the comparison is still in my head.
I followed the pathway, the connection between us, found the soul of her wolf inside of her, and coaxed. It was easier to yank it, but doing so hurt Cora. I encouraged her wolf to wake up and stand, and then I pulled. Her wolf doesn’t like being told what to do. I promised good food, and it helped, but she’s stubborn.
In an emergency, I could be rougher and faster, but it wasn’t called for today, so I alternated coaxing and insisting, and the promise of fresh buffalo meat — not in words, but mental images. Once the change started on a physical level, I pulled harder. The less time the physical portion took, the easier it was on my friend.
When the wolf finally stood before me, I sat in the collapsible cloth chair I’d brought. A massive hunk of buffalo was already off to the side, and she knew it was hers. Still, she butted my leg before moving to the food. I don’t know why. It wasn’t a threat. Some kind of acknowledgment, maybe.
Cora wanted to explore the entire property in wolf form, by herself. I’d have felt better if she’d taken a few other wolves with her, but I understood why she wanted to. It was important she make it hers, this first time.
We’d managed to purchase eighty acres for just under a quarter million. We were in Marion County, a thirty-minute drive from downtown Chattanooga, and adjacent to Prentice Cooper State Forest, though we didn’t expect our wolves would venture off our property. It was on top of the mountain, had several mountain streams, and was perfect.
The only downside? A different time zone than Chattanooga. We’d programmed our phones and cars not to change automatically though. We planned to operate on Chattanooga time and ignore the local time zone.
Randall’s construction company was updating the old farmhouse for us to live in temporarily, but we were working with an architect to decide on the main house. Once we moved out of the farmhouse, we’d be able to use it for Pack wolves who needed a temporary place to live. Three bedrooms on the main floor, and a basement Randall could easily turn into a row of jail cells, to house new wolves when necessary.
Or prisoners, but I hoped we didn’t have to do that. Still, it’d be nice to have the option, should we need it.
We’d be forming a new Pack of the families who live on Signal Mountain, North Hamilton County, and most of Marion County. Also, many who work with Cora at Drake Security. Not all of them were choosing to join with us — some would continue to drive to Randall’s, or to Monteagle, but Randall had been correct about the need for a pack on this side of Chattanooga, and we’d be starting out with nearly forty wolves, including some who lived in Chattanooga but preferred Cora to Randall.
Mac was moving from the Ringgold Pack to ours, and Ranger would be joining us as well. Also, Kenny would be joining us, and he was currently Randall’s Fourth in the power structure. I assumed Ranger would be Cora’s Second, and Kenny her Third, but I couldn’t be sure. Mac’s powerful for a new-ish wolf, but I didn’t think he’d make the top five.
The wolf finished eating and trotted off, and I folded my chair, slung it over my shoulder, and made the half-mile trek back to the farmhouse.
The kitchen was a shell. We’d ripped everything out — floor, cabinets, appliances. The old farmhouse only had one bathroom, which was still circa 1950 or so. The crew was building another bathroom onto the back of the structure now, and would wait until it was functional before taking the existing one down to a shell and starting over. The huge screened-in back porch was finished, and we’d moved furniture onto it. Mordecai was sitting in a chair, staring out into the forest.
“You hit the lottery with this property. Mountaintop, with a beautiful, healthy creek and a number of streams — and the land has never been used for anything nefarious enough to make an imprint.”
“We have two months until fall. I can’t wait to see the colors.” Also, I was hoping we’d have an indoor space to entertain before cold weather hit, but I wasn’t sure we would. “The paperwork shows that two-thirds of it was farmland until around sixty years ago.”
“Yes. There’s more pine in those sections of forest. The hardwoods will take over eventually. I believe you’ll get the most energy from the older forested areas.”
I pulled fresh squeezed lemonade from one of our coolers and poured a glass for both of us. “What can you tell me of the Siabhra?”
“He’s of the same race as Mab and Titania, but of an earlier generation. Closer to source.”
“So, he’s more powerful?”
“Different. Apples and oranges. Much of his power has been eaten up with anger and hatred, but yes, I’m certain he’d be stronger than them individually if he focused what he has.” Mordecai sighed. “He’s one of those tragic figures you feel sorry for, once you know the story, but you have no need to know it. Suffice it to say, he lives off the suffering and pain of others now. It’s his main currency.”
“What are the odds I can trade for the return of the sliver of Josh’s soul?”
“I don’t know of anything you might use to barga
in with — nothing you wouldn’t mind giving up. Under no circumstances are you to give him a portion of your own soul.”
“Josh lost his because of me. It’s only fair.”
Mordecai shook his head. “Josh is doing okay without the sliver. He’s used to it. It’ll be better when he has it back, but he isn’t hurting. The more we heal him, the more he misses it, but he’s okay. However, I’m positive losing even a tiny sliver of yours would come close to destroying you.”
“He’s okay because the Celrau made him think he was okay without it. Just one of the many ways they fucked with his head.”
“Correct.”
“Okay, so let’s say I come up with something to trade.” His look told me he wasn’t above putting me in a jail cell somewhere to keep me from giving part of my own soul away, so I rushed to add, “Not my own soul. No part of me. Something else I find that he wants.”
He nodded, and I started over. “Okay, so I have something to trade. How do I go about making the bargain?”
“You’d need to appear at the gates to his citadel with whatever you intend to bargain, and call him out. You’ve been in his presence before. You have to know it isn’t something any human should ever do. Not even you.”
“Are you offering to bargain with him so I don’t have to?”
“If I have to, yes.”
“And if my bargain would put you at odds with someone powerful?”
He crossed his arms. “What are you planning, kitten?”
“Just playing around with some ideas. Nothing concrete.” I was getting good at sidestepping the truth so my words didn’t come off as a lie — I had no plans to swap concrete with the Siabhra.
After an intense five-second stare, he said, “I don’t sense a lie, and yet I don’t believe you.”
I took a drink of my lemonade and changed the subject. “The Pride lands near Cambridge have a huge, freestanding fireplace and chimney on one end of their clearing, and a mountain of boulders on the other side. We’ve been looking at possible ways to do something similar. Randall has a stage, which works well because his Pack is so large, but we aren’t ever going to have a hundred members.”