EDGE OF HUMANITY
Candace Blevins
eXcessica publishing
EDGE OF HUMANITY © June 2018 by Candace Blevins
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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.
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First Edition June 2018
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Contents
Connect with Candace
Book five of the ONLY HUMAN series…
Pronunciation Guide
Preface
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
Bibliography
Careful What You Ask For
About the Author
More From Excessica!
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Book five of the ONLY HUMAN series…
Abbott agreed to let Kirsten seek revenge on Gavin, and she hopes doing so before she pulls away from the supernatural community will make others hesitant to come after Kirsten or her family.
Before Lauren goes away to college, Kirsten wants to be sure she’s done all she can to prepare her daughter. They take a trip to China, and Kirsten hopes she can get her old teacher to train her daughter. However, when they arrive, things aren’t as they should be.
In China, the Lion Dance and Dragon Dance are ubiquitous, and the Monkey King frequently plays a part in both. Kirsten is friends with the Lion King and Dragon King, and despite the fact this has nothing to do with the legendary Chinese lion or dragon, the implications are far-reaching once she’s back in China.
Pronunciation Guide
You don’t need to be able to pronounce these words, but if you’d like to know how, here’s a guide. These are mostly Chinese names (of people, places, and weapons). You don’t need to know the meaning of the words — everything you need is in the story. This guide is provided for those who want to know more.
PLACES
Guìlín – gway-lin (City in China famous for its scenic beauty, close to the beginning of the traditional Li River Cruise)
Héngshān – hung-shon also Nányuè – non-you-eh (Mountain in Hunan Province. One of the five Sacred Mountains in China)
Mount Éméi – mount ay-may
Mount Wǔdāng – mount wue-dong
Yángshuò – yong-shwoh (long oh) – City at the end of the Li River Cruise
Zhāngjiājiè National Forest – jhong-jee-ah-jee-uh — protected forest and mountain area in northern Hunan Province
Zǐxiāo Palace – Zee-shee-ow Palace (at the base of Mount Wǔdāng, below the Temple of the Five Immortals)
PEOPLE
JūnYí – June-yee (Kirsten’s martial arts friend. She and Lauren stay with his family.)
Kuàiyàn – Kwie-yon, to rhyme with bye mom (Kirsten’s name, Cunning Flame)
Lìlíng – Lee-Leeng (Lauren’s original Chinese name, roughly translates to tinkling gem pendants)
LìMéi – Lee-may (Lauren’s friend from the orphanage)
LìXíng – Lee-sheeng (Master of Temple of the Five Immortals
Pángǔ – pon-gue (The first living being and the creator of all in some versions of Chinese mythology.)
Shīfù – shee-fu (Honored Master, Revered Teacher)
Sūn Wùkōng – Soon Wu-kong (The Monkey King, Sūn is the family name, and Wùkōng literally means “awakened to emptiness”)
Wú Méi – Wu-may (One of the five immortals)
Xuānyuán – shwan-you-ahn also known as Huángdì – whong-dee (one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and cosmological Five Forms of the Highest Deity (fivefold manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven)
WEAPONS
Hóugùn – hoe-goon (Monkey staff, approximately 6 to 7 feet long)
Húdié shuāngdāo, Hoo-dee-shwang-dow (Butterfly swords, short single-edged, carried in pairs. The blades are about the length of a human forearm.)
Nángùn – non-goon (Chinese fighting staff, approximately 6 to 7 feet long, usually)
Púdāo – poo-dow (rhymes with moo-cow) (Curved, graceful sword, four to six feet long, part of the Tiger form of Kung Fu)
OTHER WORDS
Báizhǒngrén – bie-zhong-gruhn (one of the nicer terms for a foreigner. Literally, white race person)
Měiguórén – may-gwah-ren (American)
Nǐhǎo – Nee-how (Hello)
Preface
“A mountain can’t stop the road; it can find its own way across.”
–Monkey: The Journey to the West
1
I walked in to see Gavin strung up in the center of the room, naked. He could smell my emotions, so I couldn’t let even an ounce of doubt into my psyche. I focused on my righteous anger — generally not a healthy place to put your energy, but it would have to do for now. Gavin had raped my mind. He deserved to have his mind raped. I had a right to be pissed.
The playroom equipment in the coterie house was built to hold the strongest vampire, so there was no doubt the shackles, spreader bars, and chains would hold the ancient, surly, sexy-as-sin bloodsucker. With a long spreader bar between his ankle shackles, another between his wrists, and chains leading to the ceiling and floor stretching him taut, he could hide nothing.
I needed him to feel vulnerable. Open. No place to hide.
I’d requested one of the big, comfortable arm chairs upstairs be brought down
and put before Gavin, and I let my heels click across the floor on my way to it. I sat as if I were in my office, about to begin a session with a client.
Cora walked the room before taking her spot near the door. A nod let me know she’d checked for electronic monitoring devices and we were clear.
I looked at the vampire and held his gaze. “Tell me about the woman who turned you.”
Gavin glared at me.
“I’m guessing it was a woman. Was it a man?”
Nothing.
“Incidentally, I asked Abbott to pay my standard therapist fees for the night. Anything you tell me is protected by doctor-patient privilege. My guards have all signed non-disclosure agreements, so they can’t share information they overhear, which means Cora can’t tell what she hears, either.”
I glanced at Cora, who stood just inside the door with her arms crossed. Gavin could feel her but couldn’t see her. His Master had ordered him to stay out of our heads, but I still worried he’d take us over. My shields were stronger with Cora close, but it would mean he’d hurt us both if he tore into my head again.
I’d never get through the night if I focused on the possibility though, so I kept going.
Since Gavin has a thing for natural fabrics, I’d worn a silk blouse with heavy, silky rayon dress pants and suit jacket. My hair was in a French twist, though I’d debated far longer than was probably healthy about how to wear it. I was approaching this first part of the evening as a therapist, so I’d look the part.
Now, I crossed my legs and noted the way his body tensed. His cock was soft, but my instincts told me not to mess with him sexually. Today was about making sure Gavin feared and respected me enough to never risk earning my wrath again, but it was also about fixing our relationship. This powerful vampire hated me and wanted to get rid of me — I needed to assure him I wasn’t a threat to Abbott while convincing him he didn’t want to mess with me or mine ever again.
I keyed into his aura, tried to find his vibration. His frequency. It seemed all over the place, though I could sense the walls he had up.
“You’ve learned things about me. Private things. Personal shit. Tell me about the vampire who turned you.”
Still nothing.
“Tell me about your mother.”
The flash of emotions across his face told me I’d hit the motherload. So to speak.
“Tell me.” I let it be an order with a hint of a threat.
He shook his head, but he met my gaze and finally spoke. “I was born in Dacia — now known as Romania. My father grew ill and died when I was seven. I had four siblings, and my mother couldn’t feed us without…” He stopped, started again. “It was better to sacrifice one child than to watch them all starve. She sold me into slavery when I was eight. The man who bought me liked boys. He kept me until I was probably twelve or thirteen — I lost track of the years once I was a slave. The man who owned me had his moments of cruelty, but most of the time he was kind. So long as I complied and… performed as he expected, life wasn’t terrible.”
A single-shouldered shrug, but he continued without any prodding. “My next owner liked teens. I refused to call him daddy, and I held out five days before he broke me. I’m certain he enjoyed torturing me, and I’m just as certain he remembered it fondly every time he heard the word daddy come from my lips in the following years. He kept me perhaps three years before I grew too old for his tastes, and he sold me to a brothel. Dacia and Greece share a lot in their…” A sigh, and his eyes remained focused on a spot over my head. “I was fucked by a lot of men at the brothel. I wasn’t with a woman while with my first two owners — I never had the chance. I fell in love with a whore-slave close to my age within weeks of being sold to the brothel. We were caught fucking and punished. We didn’t own our sexuality and were supposed to keep it available for paying customers.”
He met my gaze again, his eyes hard, his expressionless face a wall of granite.
“It was a long time ago,” I said. “You’re pissed at me for making you remember, but you’re only giving me the bare basics. Did you ever see your mother again?”
“I did not.”
“You didn’t go looking for her after you were a vampire?”
“The Master Vampire who turned me did so because he wanted to add me to his personal collection. He hired me out when he grew tired of me, recalled me when he wished for my company. I was a sex slave for another couple of hundred years. My mother was long-dead before I was in control of my destiny.”
“Your mother had black hair? Like you?”
The muscles of his jaw flexed. “Leave her out of this.”
“No. Was she pretty?”
His gaze bored into me but he must’ve realized he was giving too much away, and he focused somewhere over my head again, his face impassive. “My parents were peasants. Stocky. Strong. Practical. Peasants aren’t beautiful.”
“You’re their son, and you’re one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen.”
“If we’re just going to talk, let me out of the shackles.” A hint of annoyance in his tone, a flash of anger in his eyes. The wall was cracking.
“No, and don’t pretend you don’t know you’re beautiful. I’m guessing it’s why she sold you instead of your siblings? She could get the most money for you? Practical in all matters.”
“She did what she had to.” He wanted me to see the granite wall again, but I could sense the care he was taking to look unemotional.
“Did she? Was there a way for her to whore herself out, instead of her son?”
He looked above me again, his eyes unfocused. My gut told me he was telepathing with Abbott, and I said, “No. Focus on me. Stay in the room. With me.”
He closed his eyes. “Abbott is insisting I answer your questions, and reminds me I promised him I would accept punishment from you instead of him. Do what you will, but stop this incessant talking.”
“Abbott, I know you’re listening, and that’s fine, but this is between me and Gavin. I’m respectfully asking you to stop talking to him. Cut him off so he only has me to talk to.”
Gavin gave me the tiniest of nods, and I had a feeling it was Abbott making it happen.
I repeated my last question. “Was there a way for your mother to whore herself out, instead of selling her son and turning him into one?”
His entire body seemed to tense. A livewire. He focused over my head again but answered me this time. “She wasn’t attractive. I’m not certain she’d have brought in enough money to feed us all. For sure, she’d have had to leave us alone at night. Every night.”
“You’ve talked this out with someone already? Came to terms with it?”
A vicious laugh, and when he met my gaze this time, it was with a mocking, contemptuous look. “Talking is bullshit. She did what she had to. My suffering allowed my siblings to have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. I’ve done much worse to those I loved in order to save…” He closed his eyes a few seconds, and focused over my head again when they opened. “Before she sold me, we were freezing from lack of fuel for heat, and starving because we couldn’t afford food. I knew what she was rescuing my siblings from because I lived it along with them. Once she sold me, I was warm and had food. Life as a slave was harsh, but I was never again in danger of freezing or starving to death.”
“How did you escape the man who turned you into a vampire?”
“I killed him.” No anger now. Gavin’s voice was silky, soft. He wanted to shock me, scare me. I crossed my legs the other direction without looking away from his piercing gaze.
“Tell me about how he turned you. Did you know ahead of time? How were you prepared?”
“I was a fuck-and-feed whore in his brothel — a human sold to sadistic damned vampires — for years before he decided he didn’t want me to age beyond…” A shrug. “This.”
I took a fresh look, observing the body without considering the man who inhabited it. If Gavin didn’t look so hard — so weary of life and pis
sed at the universe — he probably could’ve pulled off a surly eighteen-year-old. However, I’d assumed early-to-mid-twenties the first time I’d met him. I didn’t ask how old he was when turned — he’d already told me he’d lost track of the years once becoming a slave. There were no birth certificates back then.
“Did you want to be turned?”
His tone and look were acidic. “Right, because eternity as a slave sounded like a wonderful idea.”
“You wanted death?”
Nothing.
I kept my voice soft. “Why are we here, Gavin?”
The muscles in his jaws and temple flexed. “I wanted escape. Death was the only escape I could imagine. I tried to kill myself before being returned to a particularly sadistic Duke — and was severely punished. After, there was never an opportunity to kill myself. No knives, a windowless room so I couldn’t jump. Old age was my only chance of escape.”
“They taunted you with it?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions. Of course they did.” His voice was a whip this time. Good.
I kept plugging away — questioning, demanding answers until I’d heard the whole sordid story of Gavin being used sexually almost nonstop during the week they prepared to turn him, and then finally undertook the horrible, unbearable, unescapable deed.
Edge of Humanity (Only Human Book 5) Page 1
