Blood Unleashed (Blood Stone)
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Blood Unleashed (Blood Stone)
Cooper-Posey, Tracy
Tracy Cooper-Posey (2013)
* * *
About Blood Unleashed
Who is the real enemy?
Marcus Anderson, chemical weapons expert and CIA handler of assets like world famous Kate Lindenstream, finds vampires troubling. He’d rather have nothing to do with them, until the world-class sniper known only as The Whisper takes a shot at him...and misses. While Marcus’ supervisors wrangle over red tape, Marcus follows the trail back and meets Ilaria, a hot-tempered, diminutive, smoldering Italian beauty who captures his scarred and defensive heart.
Meanwhile, Cyneric Pæga’s radar is prickled by a trail of clues that he puts together to reveal that Ilaria Scarvo, a vampire assassin just like Rick once was, is in town. He doesn’t know who The Whisper’s target is but Nial, leader of the revolutionaries, is at the top of the list. Then Rick meets Ilaria and finds she’s not at all a cold-hearted killer. Ilaria is a wounded woman with a terrible secret that binds Rick to her.
Is Ilaria working for the League for Humanity, or the Pro Libertatus? Is she involved with Menes Heru’s plans to use the doomsday weapon, the Blood Stone? Or is she as innocent as both Marcus and Rick want desperately to believe?
WARNING: This book contains two hot, sexy alpha heroes, frequent, explicit and frank sex scenes and sexual language.
It includes heart-stopping sexual scenes between the aforementioned sexy heroes, ménage scenes, and anal sex. Don't proceed beyond this point if hot love scenes offend you.
No vampires were harmed in the making of this novel.
This is Book 3 of the Blood Stone series.
Book 1: Blood Knot (#1 Best Seller, Fantasy Romance)
Book 2: Blood Stone
Book 3: Blood Unleashed
Book 4: Blood Revealed (Upcoming)
These are continuing characters and storylines. Reading the series in order is strongly recommended. Click here for series information.
Praise for the Blood Stone series
This author excels at tightly crafted plots that are the backbone for the sexy romances. The Romance Reviews
As with every MMF book that I’ve read by Tracy Cooper-Posey, the relationship is so flawlessly interwoven, it never feels like three people, but one entity that simply couldn’t exist without each of the pieces. Vampire Romance Books
Steamy sex, gorgeous vampires, action, mystery, and some history thrown in for good measure. Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
This is one of those hidden gems in the self-publishing world. The Romance Studio
Contents
About Blood Unleashed
Praise for the Blood Stone series
Contents
Who’s Who and What’s What
Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Part II
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
EPILOGUE
Chapter Thirty-Five
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Copyright Information
Who’s Who and What’s What
Blood Stone, The: A stone created in antiquity by the Serena to contain three war-like species that once preyed upon humans; the Elah, the Ĉiela and the Summanus.
Bradley, Elizabeth: Female lead in Warrior King.
Bryon: Human CEO of the League for Humanity.
Ĉiela, the: One of three ancient races contained within the Blood Stone. Ĉiela = “from the sky”. Army of winged creatures. Deadly. It’s where the idea of angels came from. They were led by An. “An” = Sumerian god of the heavens. He was immortal, but he had a weakness: He could not be away from the sun for too long. Locking him up in the Blood Stone killed him. The Ĉiela were defeated by the Summanus, despite being the superior and immortal force. There were few left when the Blood Stone was created.
Curandero: A species that can heal and adjust the physiology and biology of others through their touch. Winter is a Curandero.
Danich Wulfson: a.k.a. Dan Wilson. Vampire president of the League for Humanity. Originally from Vinland, circa 1000 a.d.
Elah, the: One of three ancient races contained within the Blood Stone. Elah = mighty, tree. They were the inspiration for elves and elven lore. But they’re not as user friendly as the mythology paints them. Led by the Emperor Daichi (dye-chee), who was immortal, but not a god like An, the god of the Ĉiela. The emperor held sway over dozens of kingdoms and minor holdings. They were earth oriented -- of the earth and grounded. They were defeated by the Summanus, and by treachery within. Much civil strife that was their undoing.
Euphrasia: The Ancient One who was the Greek child of Nial’s maker. She lived until the Second World War on an island in the Aegean. She was treated as a prisoner of war by the Germans.
Fettercairn: The distiller of single malt and blended Scotches, located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, where the Bruce Clan (and Calum Garrett) originates.
Finka Zupan: Serbian immigrant, who once knew Winter when she lived there as a child. In Blood Stone Finka attempts to blackmail Winter.
Garrett: Calum Micheil Garrett. Hero, Blood Stone. Vampire.
Greg Evershot: Hollywood A-List Actor and film star. In Blood Stone, he is considered for the lead in Kate Lindenstream’s movie.
Heru: Menes Heru Asar Iah, a.k.a. The Deadly Moon. Vampire – An Ancient One originating out of Akkad circa the third millennium BC. Antagonist, Blood Stone and Blood Unleashed. Asar means Osiris = god of the dead. Iah = moon.
Ilaria Scavo: a.k.a. The Whisper. Heroine of Blood Unleashed.
Kate: Kathrine Lindenstream: Human. Heroine, Blood Stone. Action thriller movie director.
Khurshid Tabrizi Amirmoez: Madam Kurshid is an Ancient One, who can drink alcohol. She is an empath.
League for Humanity, the: Vampire political group opposed to Nial’s plans for revelation. They believe in and practice the old ways, that includes human servitude
Marcus Anderson: Human. Hero of Blood Unleashed. Kate’s CIA handler.
McLaren: Marcus Anderson’s supervisor. Division director, CIA
Morena: Winter’s birth name, which she was known by in Serbia. “Morena” means "death" in Slavic. In Slavic mythology this was the name of the goddess of winter and death.
Narish: A human who is permanently in the company of a vampire, for that vampire to feed upon as needed.
Nial: Nathanial Aquila Valerius Aurelius. Vampire. Hero, Blood Knot. Leader of the Revolutionaries. Born 559 A.D., northern Italian mountains. Married to Sebastian and Winter.
Nizari Ismail
is: The original Assassins. Hassan bin Sabbah was the first leader. Alamut was their central fort (castle). Alamut(Persian:الموت, transliterated Alamūt) was a mountain fortress located in Alamut region in the South Caspian province of Daylam near the Rudbar region in Iran, approximately 100 km (60 mi) from present-day Tehran. The name means "Eagle's Nest".
Patrick Sauvage: Hollywood A-List Actor and film star. Works with Kate Lindenstream in Blood Stone.
Pro Libertatis: Vampire political group opposed to Nial’s plans for revelation - comprised of powerful shadowy vampires – politicians and government personnel around the globe.
Pyrrhus: An explosive/corrosive that kills vampires. Anything under a cupful is highly corrosive, and can ignite and burn with intense red flames (from the strontium chloride). Anything over a cupful explodes. More stable than nitroglycerine. More powerful than TNT. Contains Strontium chloride, oil and a few other controlling agents.
Richard Lowenstein: Speaker of the House, Vampire. Suspected leader of the Pro Libertatus
Rick: Cyneric Pæga, a.k.a Cyneric the Assassin. Hero, Blood Unleashed. Vampire. Pronounced Sin-er-rick
Roman: Adrian Romanus (“Roman”) Xerus: Hero, Blood Stone. Vampire. Born 1437. Enslaved 1453 (16 y.o.), during the Fall of Constantinople.
Sasha: Marlen Alexandrovich Mikhailov. GRU officer and major in the Russian army. Friend of Marcus Anderson’s, although they’ve never met in person.
Sebastian Worthington III: a.k.a. Bastian. Former vampire, hero of Blood Knot. Married to Nial and Winter.
Serena, the: a.k.a. “The Serene Ones” A mythical species with omnipotent powers. Not gods, but servants of unnamed higher powers. They take human form, and they’re ethereal and beautiful...and frightening. White to vampires’ black. Unreasonable and unreasoning. They mete justice with no regard for the human equation. The Serena created the Blood Stone.
Summanus, the: One of three ancient races contained within the Blood Stone. A race of blood shifters. An older power, and older creatures -- the predecessors of vampires. Instinctual, nocturnal, powerful. A private army. They’re shifters, too. They can imitate humans, but only those who are asleep, and for the length of their REM cycle. (10 minutes to one hour). They were led by Abiram (= ‘swallowed by the earth’). They were of the ground and under it -- the Underworld. None of the Summanus were immortal. They were considered the weakest and most despised race among the others, but they won the ages long struggle for supremacy (to the despair of humans). They were the only race that needed to renew itself and its energy, which they did by drinking blood. They used humans because humans were weak and easy to overcome. They used human “recruits” to bolster their armies in the final battles, and that is how the humans finally rid themselves of all of the Others. The Summanus did not pay their dues and the humans called upon the Serena and demanded retribution.
Suresh Harris: a.k.a. “Sushi”. Danich Wulfson’s narish.
Warrior King: The name of the movie that Kate Lindenstream wrote and directed in Blood Stone. Post-production occurs during Blood Unleashed.
William Donnelly (Billy): Kate Lindenstream’s former husband.
Winter: Winter Menon Kennedy. Human. Heroine, Blood Knot. Former professional thief, married to Sebastian and Nial.
Part I
Ilaria
Chapter One
By Thursday, the dreams and dogged memories were so persistent, Marcus closed up the house and drove downtown, looking for people. Noise. Distraction.
An hour later, he found himself in the middle of Pershing Square, stepping over the low angled borders and patches of grass that were emerald, instead of the dried-out pale green and yellow it would become toward the end of summer.
He settled himself tiredly into a plastic chair, at the table and umbrella that sat at the very corner of the array of tables that dotted the edge of the park. It gave him an almost three-sixty view, taking in the length of the square, and right across to South Olive Street. Picking out the most strategic viewpoint had been completely automatic.
There was more than the usual number of people generally found in the square. It was a cool day for early April. Cool enough to need a light jacket. The sun came out fitfully, diving behind the bruised clouds that covered most of the sky, which normally would discourage most nature lovers from lingering in the square. The large numbers meant there had to be some event happening.
Marcus turned his face up to the sun as it appeared once more, then watched the people milling about on the grass, talking and laughing. Nearly all of them carried big pillows and Marcus coupled that up with the time of year. This had to be National Pillow-Fight Day. Despite the L.A. pillow fight being cancelled over two years ago, enthusiasts still congregated in the square on the day, for an unauthorized fight.
This was perfect, Marcus decided, as the fighters all turned their heads to listen to a young man speak. There was a small, almost cold breeze moving the leaves of the bushes edging the park, and making the edges of the umbrellas flap and snap. It smelled like rain. The breeze meant Marcus couldn’t quite hear what the man – presumably the coordinator – was saying. But that was okay. He was happy to just sit here and absorb what little sun emerged and watch cloud shadows race across the grass. Also, to watch feathers fly.
There was a pair of cops standing at the edge of the park, taking in the unauthorized assembly. They would have called it in and would be waiting for a decision on whether to bust up the group or let them have their fun. Marcus voted for fun. Fun had been absent for a while.
* * * * *
Getting into the building wasn’t an issue. Ilaria was using the Paratus, which broke down and nestled inside an innocent-looking backpack. It didn’t have the range of her precious Timberwolf, especially when she needed to use the silencer, plus it needed to be recalibrated after only a few shots because breaking it down and putting it together again destroyed the rifle’s precision, but it let her move about a cityscape without issues.
Once she had left the foyer, she avoided all the public areas. Instead, she used elevator shafts, air ducts, service access ways and ceiling space to climb upwards. There was no trouble. Ilaria stepped upon the roof undetected, ran across the helipad and dropped down next to the parapet. She peered over the edge and down at her target while her hands moved independently, unpacking and snapping the rifle together, then sliding the scope and the shell box into place and winding the silencer on.
She gathered her hair into one hand, twisted it and pushed it down the back of her coat, then lifted the light-weight weapon up and over the edge of the parapet, holding the barrel in her left hand while her elbow rested on the flat edging. She swiveled the barrel delicately, her eye to the scope, until the target came into view.
There were dozens of humans moving about, right next to the target. They looked like they were fighting, but it was hard to tell because of the snow drifting in the air over their heads. Ilaria checked through the sight once more. The humans were beating each other with pillows. A pillow fight.
She glanced at the nearest trees. There was a breeze. She picked up sand and leaf litter that had accumulated in the angle between the roof and the wall of the parapet and tossed it into the air, studying the way the wind took it and how hard.
The calculations for the shot were almost invisible to her. She had been doing this so long that sometimes it felt like instinct to adjust the scope and nudge her aim to account for externals.
She took three deep breaths and let them out, as she curled her finger around the trigger. Then she drew in a last deep breath and began to whisper. “Danich Wulfson, Asshnunna, Zane Shelley, Larsa, Rosalyn Black, The Hanged Man, Raphael Harker, Salomon the Barbarian, Nicolos de Cremona...” As her breath was expelled, she rested her eye against the scope for the last time and cocked the rifle by squeezing the trigger into the active position. She squeezed against the trigger until she felt the spring resist. As the last of her breath ran out, she held still and silent for three seconds, l
ocking onto the target through the drifting feathers.
She squeezed again and the rifle jerked against her shoulder.
* * * * *
There was no warning and no sound, except for a short, high-pitched ‘crack’ that was so soft Marcus nearly missed it beneath the laughter, shouting and mayhem of the pillow fight, three yards away. The only reason he registered the sound at all was because he had heard it before.
The hairs on the back of his neck tried to stand up, and a chill washed over him. Moving slowly, using normal gestures, he looked down at the back of the chair between where his arm was hooked over the top of it and his side. There was a three inch slat of green molded plastic between his flank and the arm of the chair. Dead center on the slat was a ragged hole an inch across. Marcus pressed his fingertip against the edge of the hole.
It was warm, the plastic pliable and soft.
He staggered to his feet, pushed into the alarming movement by shock and the heart-starting adrenaline surge. It brought him up against the edge of one of the geometric borders and right next to the pillow-fight, which raged on unwittingly.
* * * * *
Ilaria kept watching in the scope to ensure her aim had been true. Then, when she saw a second shot was not necessary, she relaxed.
Moving fast, she broke the rifle down, using the corner of her coat to handle the hot barrel, then packed it away in the backpack. She threw the carrier straps over her shoulders as she ran back across the helipad.