They both spoke at the same time, with Kieran asking, “You knew we combined our powers?” as Gwen asked “What other mythological creatures are you aware of?”
I decided to address Gwen’s question first since it was the shortest answer. “Just as I won’t be telling anyone else of the existence of vampires, I won’t be telling you of the existence of them.”
To Kieran, I answered, “Yes, I knew what you were doing. I realize most humans probably don’t figure it out, and you’re wondering what I am. Right?”
Hi tilted his head up so he was looking down his nose at me. “I do not wonder what you are. You smell human, ergo, you are human. However, you are the first human I’ve met in over sixteen hundred years who could stand against two vampires working together, and only the third human who could stand against me alone.”
I decided to take the bull by the horns, as I figured they had some kind of directive to not let me live with knowledge of them they couldn’t erase. If that were the case I needed to know sooner rather than later. My hands itched for my gun, but my instincts told me to leave it in my belly band. I considered drawing energy into me, but once again my intuition told me they wouldn’t react well if they noticed, so I didn’t.
“Well, our time is up and I need to get home to my family.” I wasn’t sure if the knowledge I had a family would help keep me safe, but figured it couldn’t hurt. “I hope the two of you are able to work on your compromise. If you aren’t then give the office a call and we’ll figure out whether a phone conversation will help, or whether we need another appointment.” As I spoke I pulled my laptop from the top of the desk, put it into my bag, and casually untucked my blouse in the back under my suit jacket so it would be easier to get to my gun.
The couple looked at each other and Gwen spoke first, “We need to talk to…I’d like to think she is trustworthy. I smell truth.”
Kieran’s nostrils flared. “Yes, but she’s had a gun since we walked in, but just did something to fan the smell into the room. I suspect she gave herself easier access.”
Damn. Vampire noses must be as good as shapeshifter noses. I needed to dig myself out of the hole I seemed to be shoveling deeper every time I spoke.
“Of course I adjusted my weapon. It’s ten o’clock at night, we’re downtown, and I’m about to walk outside to my car. It has nothing to do with the two of you and everything to do with me being a small female in the city at night.”
I raised my empty hands so they could see them. “I didn’t pull the gun. It’s still at my waist under my clothes. And, sorry about the change of conversation, but based on what Gwen just said, I’m guessing there’s a rule stating if you couldn’t erase my memory then you can’t just let me walk away, right?”
Two affirmative but terse nods.
“Yeah, you aren’t the only species with rules about who can know about you. Other species trust me with their secret, and I can assure you I’ll keep yours safe, too. Besides, I’m also guessing you gave me fake contact information, so there’s no way I could point to the two of you, and who’d believe me if I told the story, anyway?”
Kieran ignored my words and said, “You’ve had some sort of training. You mentioned shields?”
I leaned back in my desk chair, trying to look relaxed. “I’ve spent my fair share of time in Native American ceremony as well as lots of time on mountains meditating with monks. I’m not psychic, but probably only a few steps short of it. Extremely sensitive, I guess.”
“There is something you aren’t telling me, you are leaving too much out. You’ve learned to be defensive. Have you learned to be offensive as well? You mention knowing other mythological creatures. Have they taught you things?”
I kept to my relaxed posture leaning back in my chair, and gave him a steady look. I knew he could smell my fear and anxiety, but I had it mostly under control so he wouldn’t smell much. “I will not speak to you about any others.”
I bet he was great at poker. His face was completely devoid of emotion as he said, “Please, come sit in the chair in which you started. Give me a moment while I ask for permission to let you go with knowledge of us. To do so means I am personally vouching for you until my Master can speak with you, but I feel responsible that I did not verify you were under our control before we started speaking. And, I do believe you are aware of others, besides us, which means they feel you are trustworthy. So I will ask.”
I didn’t like it, but I moved. Once I was seated, Kieran walked to the window and looked out. Time dragged on and I realized he must be talking to someone in his head. I very slowly began building up an energy reserve and hoped no one noticed. If I pull it in all at once then anyone who can sense energy or magic or whatever you want to call it can tell what I’m doing. Drawing on the energy around you in large quantities is kind of like slamming a magazine into a gun and racking it — it tends to make situations even more volatile.
After what seemed like five minutes, he turned towards me and said, “I’m sorry to make this sound as harsh as it will, but it’s the best I can do. You have a choice, we can kill you now, and your family and friends will be safe. Or, you can walk out and promise to keep your mouth shut, but should you ever tell anyone of our existence then we will kill you, your family, and close friends. If one of them strikes our fancy, we may give them the option of becoming one of us.”
“Will there be some sort of trial, or will you just take someone’s word for it and start killing?”
“You will have a chance to speak up on your behalf, of course. Also, it is likely my Master will make inquiries about you in the supernatural world to see who you are friends with, to verify you were already aware of others.”
“I keep the secrets of others; I can keep yours as well. I do insist that should my honor ever come under scrutiny, you come to me with polite questions and not the assumption of guilt.”
He nodded, pulled his wallet out, and removed a stack of cash as he stepped towards me. He laid it on the table beside my chair and said, “For services rendered. You have been most helpful. Gwen and I will walk you to your car to make sure you are safe.” As I stood, he retrieved the questionnaire and handed it to Gwen. I locked up, and they walked me to my car and watched as I drove off.
Chapter Three
The next afternoon I received a text message from Aaron.
We need to talk. Please call me when you have time.
Aaron may have embraced technology in spite of being thousands of years old, but he would never take shortcuts with language — I think it might kill him to use a ‘2’ in place of ‘to’ when texting. Even back before smartphones, when you had to wrestle with the number keyboard.
My day was back-to-back patients and I texted him between appointments to let him know it would be after work before I had time. So as I left my office that evening I put my Bluetooth earpiece in and called him as I slid into the driver’s seat. It isn’t a good idea to talk to him while I’m walking to my car because our conversations aren’t usually fit for the general public to hear.
He jumped right to the point with no niceties, which wasn’t like him. “The new police chief in Fort Oglethorpe called me in to a murder scene, as he didn’t think a death this way was humanly possible. I’ve known him for years as he’s moved up the ranks in the county sheriff’s department, so hopefully things will work smoothly with him at the helm in Fort O.”
He took a breath and continued, “I’d like to spare you the details, but we have something nasty in the area and you need to understand what’s going on because whoever did this seems to have skills similar to yours. I’ve called someone in who might be able to help with whatever this is. And, well...” He really didn’t want to tell me, but took another breath and did so anyway. “The body was cut up and each slice appears to be cauterized. It was like the pieces were melted apart. No splintering of bones; a smooth cut.”
“You don’t think I did it, do you? I only kill in self-defense, and even then I’m racked with guilt.�
�� There was no need to say it, he was well aware of my guilt when I was forced to take a life. Still, I felt I needed to defend myself. “Besides, if you aren’t there when I have to kill someone, you always know about it as soon as I can call you and tell you.”
“I know, Bug. I’m just a bit spooked that someone else is killing, and the mode of death appears to mimic one of your kills.”
“Yeah, well, thank goodness the new police chief doesn’t know what it would look like if I killed someone.”
“Right, we’ll have to be extra careful with you around him until we solve this murder. Good point.”
Fort Oglethorpe is a small town in Georgia, just over the state line from Chattanooga. Because of its proximity to Chickamauga Battlefield, a lot of non-human activity happens in the area. The police force has had to come to terms with the fact they can’t deal with non-human beings, so they call Aaron in to help on their supernatural cases.
I’m not sure why I didn’t tell Aaron the new police chief and I had met. Intimately. Perhaps because I wasn’t sure how things would be when Denny and I were within speaking distance of each other?
Chapter Four
The next evening, I found myself at the back of the children’s theater watching my daughter practice for Alice Through the Looking Glass. I was checking email on my tablet when a gentleman sat down a few seats away, and I glanced up long enough to see an attractive man impeccably dressed in an expensive suit, clearly not off the rack. His black hair was cut stylishly and his face looked as if it’d been chiseled out of granite by a master sculptor who agreed with my definition of sexy. It was hard to tell his age, but I’d have guessed within a couple of years of my own thirty-four. I nodded to him politely and looked back to my tablet.
Five or ten minutes later I heard my daughter’s voice, and I stopped what I was doing to watch her sing and dance around the stage. When her piece was over, the gentleman beside me said, “That may be one of the best illustrations of a mother’s love I’ve ever seen.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t have to ask if she’s your daughter, I could see it in your eyes.”
“And you are?”
“How barbaric of me. I am Abbott Hamilton.”
I don’t like giving out my last name to strangers, but all he’d have to do would be to look at a program to get our last name. So, I nodded politely and said, “Kirsten O’Shea. Do you have a child in the play?”
“Heavens, no.” His smile looked both relieved and sad. “I am a benefactor of the theater and I enjoy watching the plays come to life.” His speech was proper, with each word enunciated perfectly, but not annoyingly so.
“So this is like a hobby for you? I’m here quite a bit and I don’t recall seeing you around.”
“My time is generally spent in the adult theater, but I occasionally come to the children’s theater to watch. Your daughter is in Cats as well, is she not?”
“Yes.”
“You and her father must be very proud.”
He was fishing for information I didn’t want to give. I’d adopted Lauren as a single mother, so there was a biological father out there somewhere, but no legal father. Plus, my daughter doesn’t like for me to talk about her story with strangers.
I was about to say, “Yes, I’m very proud of her,” when Mister Hamilton gracefully moved us beyond my few seconds of silence to say, “I’m sorry to make presumptions. If her father is no longer around and I’ve brought you grief, I am sorry.”
I smiled. “No need to apologize, there’s no grief. I’m very proud of my daughter, but my pride isn’t so much for her grace or her beauty, or even her intelligence — my pride is because she’s a kind and generous soul who cares about the feelings of others. The rest is just a bonus.”
Something about him set my off radar and made me cautious, and yet he seemed to project vibes intended to make me feel safe in his presence. I checked my shields almost constantly, but no one tried to probe them.
“What a wise mother you are,” he said, his face the perfect mixture of polite and friendly. “I am intrigued. I’ll be at the final showing of Cats Saturday night — would you like to join me in my box?”
The last weekend was always a big kick for the kids, as they got to perform in the big theater instead of the children’s theater. Since he was inviting me to sit in one of the boxes only available to generous benefactors, he must’ve been telling the truth about that part, at least. If he’d asked me to do anything else I’d have said no; however, this seemed safe enough. My parents and Xiaolan would be in the audience in regular seats, Lauren would be on stage, and I’d be in a big fancy box watching the show. I’d ask what could go wrong, but I’ve learned not to.
“That is most kind of you Mr. Hamilton,” I told him, for some reason feeling the need to copy his almost-formal speech. “I’d be honored to join you.”
Only Human is available at most online booksellers.
About the Author
Candace Blevins lives with her husband of 18 years and their two daughters. When not working or driving kids all over the place she can be found reading, writing, meditating, or swimming.
Candace writes BDSM Romance, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and is currently writing a Motorcycle Club series.
Her Safeword Series gives us characters who happen to have some extreme kinks. Relationships can be difficult enough without throwing power exchange into the mix, and her books show characters who care enough about each other to fight to make the relationship work. Each book in the Safeword series highlights a couple with a different BDSM issue to resolve.
Her urban fantasy series, Only Human, gives us a world where weredragons, werewolves, werelions, three different species of vampires, as well as a variety of other mythological beings exist.
Candace's two paranormal romance series, The Chattanooga Supernaturals and The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, are both sister series to the Only Human series, and give some secondary characters their happily ever after.
You can visit Candace on the web at candaceblevins.com and feel free to friend her on Facebook at facebook.com/candacesblevins and Goodreads at goodreads.com/CandaceBlevins. You can also join facebook.com/groups/CandacesKinksters to get sneak peeks into what she's writing now, images that inspire her, and the occasional juicy excerpt.
Stay up to date on Candace’s newest releases, and get exclusive excerpts by joining her mailing list!
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