Infinitely Human

by Candace Blevins

“We need something to call our safe area. Calling them the tunnels gives away too much, should someone overhear. It’s made of reinforced storage containers, so maybe the Tupperware rooms? The Zip Lock?” I tried to fit Rubbermaid into a sentence and it was kind of lame, so I stopped. Not that the first two weren’t lame.

  Cora laughed. “Maybe we’ll set the Pack to coming up with a name. Winner gets… what?”

  “What did Randall do for winner prizes?”

  “He didn’t do them. I mean, he asked us to come up with stuff sometimes, but there wasn’t a prize for the person who thought of something we all liked.” She sighed. “I want to base the Pack off his, because it works so well, but I need to make it my own. I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing to change, though. His way is probably more relaxed. More like the way a family works.”

  By the time night fell, Cora and I were in the saferooms under the hill, and Ranger, Mac, and Kenny were patrolling the grounds.

  I’d expected Rinaldo to fly in and try to attack, so we were all a little shocked when he pulled up to the farmhouse in a black luxury car and said he had business to discuss with the wolf Alpha.

  No need for headsets when everyone can speak telepathically. I already had a telepathic link to Ranger, and the Pack bonds meant I could telepath with anyone who’d oathed to Cora. We’d known it was a possibility, but we hadn’t been sure how it would work.

  Tell him we aren’t available. He’ll need to make an appointment, Cora said. Do it so it comes off as the truth.

  We heard Ranger’s conversation with Rinaldo through the link.

  “They aren’t available. You’ll need to call her tomorrow and set up a time and place to meet.”

  “I’ll need her phone number for that.”

  “You found this property. You can find her phone number.”

  Cora and I were in the same bubble, but I extended it. I wanted to keep Rinaldo out of Ranger’s head, so I included him in the bubble. When I saw how easy it was, I pulled Mac and Kenny in as well. In retrospect, we should’ve practiced this before I used it in a real-world situation, but I hadn’t known I could pull people in from a distance. I’d needed physical contact, at first.

  I felt Rinaldo trying to get into Ranger’s head. He’d been partway in when I put Ranger in the bubble, and it’d booted the vampire out. Now, he couldn’t even get past the outer shields, and I couldn’t help my smile. We were going to be okay.

  Cora’s phone rang and she declined the call. She doesn’t use voicemail anymore, so Rinaldo would just get the ‘not available’ message. Ironic, since those were the words Ranger had used.

  “I could break you in half, wolf.”

  I could sense Ranger’s smile through the link. “You could try, vampire.”

  I looked at the missed call on Cora’s phone, and called Rinaldo from mine.

  “If you wish to speak with Cora, you’ll need to go through channels.”

  “What part did you have in the mass burning?”

  It took me a second to realize he was asking if I’d helped blow buildings up.

  “Why are you here, Rinaldo?”

  “I have information you need.”

  “You lost all credibility when you tried to lead us on a wild goose chase looking for Lepori. Say what you need to say and take your leave.”

  “I’ll only tell it to the wolf Alpha, face to face.”

  “Then go through official channels to set up a time to meet with her.”

  Ranger, I telepathed. I think I can take him out by using you as a focus, but I won’t do it unless you’re good with it.

  Hold off. Let’s see what his intentions are.

  Cora had heard us, and she touched my arm. Kirsten’s right. He’s bad news, and we have reason to believe he might be one of the people leading the dark side.

  Good reason? Ranger asked.

  Yes, I answered.

  Let me ask him to leave again?

  Of course, Cora answered.

  “You are not welcome here. Leave.” So much for asking, but I approved.

  Rinaldo looked at Ranger perhaps five seconds before he put his car in reverse and backed sideways so he could drive away.

  At least he took us seriously. I sighed. We need something to blow up. Pumpkins aren’t in season. A milk jug full of water will do.

  Several minutes later, Rinaldo’s car hadn’t exited onto the road. He was still on the property, and not leaving.

  Cora was watching the map of our property. The motion sensors had gone off until he was about forty yards from the gate. Just before the last turn. We both watched for some of the ones placed in the woods to light up, but none did.

  “He can fly over the woods. We might not see evidence of him.”

  He’s on the roof. Mac’s voice was all business. Should I engage?

  “I’m not staying in here while they’re outside,” I told Cora.

  “I was about to say the same thing. Let’s go.”

  Not yet. Cora told the men. We’re coming out.

  It was chilly out, but not bitterly cold, and I stripped down to my unitard. I twisted my hair into a bun and took ten seconds to secure it, and I was ready. I didn’t know if I was ready to do the fire thing, but it wouldn’t hurt to be dressed for it, just in case.

  Then he’ll get what he came for, said Ranger. The two of you should stay inside.

  Not a chance, Cora told him. I’ll never be the kind of Alpha who sits in a secure spot while my people fight.

  I know, and I respect you for it.

  We made it into the basement of the house, secured the secret door, and lifted the table to put it in front of the panel. It was just a worktable now, but we’d put something in front of it once we moved in, too.

  Cora won’t speak, I told everyone. I will. He’ll be told that either he can tell me what he came to say, or he can make an appointment to speak to Cora later. I don’t trust him.

  Understood. I felt Ranger closer, but didn’t ask where he was. Mac was obviously close enough to see the roof, and I thought Ranger probably was, too.

  We’re going to pop onto the roof, Cora told them. Where is he, exactly? What direction is he facing?

  Over the kitchen, facing the front.

  I’d been planning to levitate, but that worked, too. I wrapped an arm around her side and stepped us into the nothingness, then onto the roof.

  We arrived behind him, and I said, “You were told you aren’t welcome here. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”

  “I was wrong about Lepori. I apologize.”

  I shook my head. “It was a wild goose chase. You aren’t giving me a reason.”

  “The property already feels of Pack. You and the Alpha have done well.”

  I was in the habit of holding my power in, but it seemed a good time to let it out. Not all of it, but enough to show he should take me seriously.

  He raised an eyebrow. “You threaten me?”

  “You’re on the roof of my home, uninvited. You were asked to leave, and you came back before you were completely gone. State your business and go.”

  “Killian wants you.”

  “And Aquila wanted me before I tortured and killed him. That isn’t news.”

  He shook his head. “There are politics you do not understand. Killian wants you for his own reasons, and not merely because he’s been ordered to capture you.”

  “You’re probably the one who ordered him to capture me, so why do you stand here and pretend you have my best interests at heart?”

  He looked to Cora. “If you want to keep your partner alive, you need to negotiate with me.”

  “I grow tired of this,” I told him. “Say what you came to say and leave. You aren’t welcome here.”

  I can’t explain what happened next. Somehow, eagle shifters had managed to get onto the property without us realizing. They were in eagle form, so it makes sense the mechanical security system didn’t pick them up, but the wolves should’ve been able to.

 
But they dropped from the trees, changing into their warrior form mid-air, and landed close enough to our people to engage them in a fight — and caught Ranger, Mac, and Kenny totally off guard.

  I sent energy to Cora, but she had enough to make sure our men had what they needed. She’d take care of them; I needed to handle Rinaldo.

  He’d brought people onto our land to fight us, and that was all I needed as an excuse. I formed a staff and aimed heat into his head, but before I knew what was happening, a sword was poked into my chest — past the ribs and still pushing in. I swiped up with my quarterstaff and melted the sword into two pieces, but I still had to pull the sword out of my chest. It was in maybe two inches: enough to hurt but he hadn’t been close to my heart. Yet.

  I leapt towards him, intending to take his head off, but he ducked, dodged, and then went into the air. I levitated and chased him, but he was just playing with me. He could fly, I could levitate, and he was clearly better at this than me. I took a breath, stepped out of reality, and came back into it behind him. I swung and should’ve taken his head off, but he dropped like a stone for ten yards, and then came up and at me as if he had a rocket on his feet.

  Now, I was on the defensive, because he had another damned sword and he was under me, where my quarterstaff couldn’t reach. Mordecai had worked with me for just this scenario, though, and I pointed my toes and shot a laser out of both feet, from the tips of my big toes at first, and then as wide as my feet. A simple rotation of my ankles and the bastard should’ve been dead, but he fucking disappeared.

  I hovered in midair perhaps twenty seconds, but he didn’t come back, and the fighting sounded intense on the ground below me.

  I wasn’t in a mood for more hand-to-hand combat, so I exploded the heads of the three eagles still fighting. Four were on the ground. How in the hell had he managed to get seven people onto our property without us knowing?

  I landed and took control without even thinking about it.

  “Cora, blow his head up without my help. You know how it feels. Do it so your wolves can feel what you’re doing.”

  She nodded and did it. It took her twenty seconds, but she managed it without me needing to do a thing.

  “Great. You’ll need to try it without me around, because I felt you pulling hard on my energy, but it’s nice to know you can do it while I’m otherwise involved.” I looked to Ranger and the other men. “I’m going to do one, and I’d like ya’ll to sense what I’m doing, too. Ready?”

  They nodded, and two seconds later, the eagle shifter’s head exploded.

  “Two left. Who wants to give it a go?”

  “I will,” said Ranger. “Can you talk me through it?”

  “Yes, but let’s get physical touch for your first time, and don’t be shy about pulling whatever you need from me. I can handle it.”

  We worked for twenty minutes, but he couldn’t manage it. He could heat it up, but not enough to explode it.

  Kenny tried next with similar results, and Mac said he didn’t need to try, but Cora insisted.

  And then we were all surprised when Mac managed it a mere five minutes in.

  Well, everyone except Ranger, who said Mac can do anything he sets his mind to, and this was all about setting his mind to it.

  We put the final man in our jail cell and called Abbott, because someone needed to go through his mind and see what information we could harvest. Odds were, he knew nothing Rinaldo didn’t want us to know, but we had to try.

  “You’re bleeding.” Cora waited until we were back below ground to bring it up. I knew I was, but I also knew it was going to hurt worse once I started paying attention to it.

  “The body armor didn’t stop his sword.”

  “Shirt off,” said Ranger.

  I shook my head. “I’m going to need help. It’s a unitard thing. A one piece, in case…” I shook my head again and looked to Cora.

  She helped me pull it down to my waist, and then helped get the body armor off.

  “Can it be repaired?” I asked. The body armor was special-order and expensive.

  “That’s a Nathan question.”

  Beautiful.

  As I’d known, the cut was deep but not immediately life-threatening. Still, it either needed medical attention in the form of stitches and antibiotics, or Lugat blood.

  I called Bran.

  “This isn’t a life-threatening injury, so I figured I’d call before I popped in. I kind of fought Rinaldo.”

  “Not on the phone. I’ll let the guards know you’re arriving. Give me two minutes.”

  “Thanks.”

  I hung up and looked to Cora. “We need to know how the eagles made it here without us knowing. We need to know how he disappeared. We need a game plan to make sure avian shifters can’t do that again.” And we needed to know why Rinaldo wanted me, but I was going to have to figure that out, not Cora.

  Mac handed me a huge beach towel, and I draped it around me to hide my boobs.

  Cora nodded, and I stepped into the nothingness.

  Mordecai was waiting for me.

  “My adrenaline levels had to clue you in.”

  He nodded. “I’ve stepped over the line several times on your behalf, but I’d have attracted unwanted attention if I’d interfered tonight.” He touched my cheek. “I would’ve, if I saw a chance you’d be mortally wounded, but you held your own.”

  “You aren’t supposed to interfere in human wars.”

  “There’s a lengthy list, but that’s one of the things we’re supposed to stay out of.”

  “I’m going to Bran.”

  “I know. Take care and watch your back.”

  29

  I stepped away from him without responding. My chest was starting to really hurt. Every breath felt like being stabbed all over again.

  A guard was waiting for me, and he moved to pick me up when he saw me. I put my hand up. “I’ll walk.”

  He shook his head. “Not in that shape, you won’t. Shallow breaths, huge pupils, rapid pulse, and you’re grey. That’s shock, and I’m carrying you.”

  He lifted me in his arms and I didn’t fight him. “I don’t even know your name.”

  “You don’t need to know it,” Bran said from the hallway. “You only need to know mine.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned into the man holding me. He was so warm.

  I opened my eyes. I couldn’t pass out until I’d bargained for Bran’s blood. “I’m hoping we can just rub your blood on the injury, so I don’t have to drink it again. What am I going to owe you?”

  “Mordecai has arranged payment. Don’t worry about it.”

  I’d have to figure out how to pay my own way at some point, but I was quickly fading, and talking hurt.

  He did, indeed, start out by dripping his blood into the wound, but since the knife had pierced the edge of my boob, I got the feeling the act of doing it should’ve been at least a partial payment.

  He also insisted I drink a little of his blood, but I knew from experience that the little bit he put into the wine wasn’t enough to put me at risk of being turned. Even in the wine, it should’ve tasted horrid, but it once again tasted savory, and I worried about being overcome by bloodlust again.

  “I’m going to have to stay away from humans again.”

  He shook his head. “You’ll control it. Just keep everything else fed. Tell me what happened.”

  “Rinaldo attacked. He had a bunch of eagle shifters with him. Cora and some Pack members handled the shifters while I fought Rinaldo on the roof. He flew up, I levitated after him. We fought up in the air. He’s faster than me. I couldn’t hit him with my quarterstaff or lasers. He managed to get his sword into my chest a few inches. I guess the body armor kept it from going farther.” I shrugged, and it didn’t hurt as badly as it would’ve thirty minutes earlier. “I melted it in two almost right away, so he couldn’t shove again. I thought I had him, but he fucking disappeared.”

  “Fighting those who know what you’re capabl
e of is going to be harder than fighting when they just see you as a human without power.”

  I nodded. “It’s rude to pop in and leave, but I need to get back to Cora and the Pack members I fought with.”

  “Take me with you. I’ll arrange for someone to pick me up in a few hours.”

  I called Cora. “Are ya’ll still in the farmhouse? Bran wants me to bring him back.”

  “The hawks are patrolling for us. Bring him to the farmhouse kitchen. Did he get you all patched up?”

  “I’m on the road there. See you in a minute.”

  Bran put an arm around me, and I wrapped mine around him. “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  I barely stepped foot in the nothingness this time, so it seemed I went straight from his house to the farmhouse.

  I’d probably given Rinaldo way too much information about me while I fought him, but it couldn’t be helped.

  Or could it?

  I’d need to talk to Aaron about it, and perhaps Mordecai, but I wasn’t sure he’d be able to answer my questions. The closer we got to the big war, the more careful Mordecai would have to be not to break the rules.

  And yet, he’d made arrangements for me to be healed. He was breaking them, but — as he’d said — he had to be careful about how he stepped over the line.

  Bran took a deep breath when we landed in the kitchen. “Can the eagle prisoner hear us?”

  “No,” Mac answered. “Rinaldo might be able to tap into him and hear us, so he’s trussed up like a hog for slaughter, and we pierced his eardrums with silver.”

  Bran nodded. “Rinaldo can dodge bullets. You’ll need three people to shoot at once. One aims at his heart, the other aims to his right, and the other to his left. When he steps to the side, he’ll still get hit. He’ll probably fly up if he sees three coming at him, but you should theoretically still hit him, just not in the heart. If you have heavy silver loads, any hit will slow him down enough you should be able to manage a shot to his heart.”

  “And if I send three lasers instead of one?”

  Bran shrugged. “It could work.” He looked at Cora. “There’s no need for us to have any kind of agreement, but I believe it’ll benefit us both if I get an invitation, and then we’re cagey about answering when asked why.”