Infinitely Human

by Candace Blevins

  “Where was the castle?”

  He sighed and then chuckled. “The hill behind your house.”

  The one we’d put a living quarters inside of. Our own little fortress. Fuck me.

  “I see you understand.” His voice was so low, I barely heard it.

  My mind went back to the day I grasped infinity. No, grasped isn’t right — I saw the edges of it enough to begin to understand. This plot of land had a story going back so far, it had to be caught in that infinite loop I’d seen. Loop wasn’t the right word, either, but I couldn’t come up with a better term. Our land was infinitely powerful, and Cora and I had recognized it. But, if it hadn’t been for sale in this realm, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to recognize it, so…

  “What does it mean?”

  “I don’t know if it means anything. You’re keyed into the land, the mountain.” He shrugged. “For now, it’s something to be aware of, but not something to focus on.” He smiled. “You have woodland sprites living here. It’s truly enchanted land, and with the addition of the Pack energy, it’ll become even more so. Keep making it yours and Cora’s. Find power from the energy here.”

  “I don’t know what to do with that.”

  “Then do nothing you haven’t already been doing.”

  “How do we prepare for the battle?”

  “You already have, just continue doing what you are. You have armor and weapons, and your people are trained. You’re now bound by treaties and pacts to help and be helped by others in the area. It’s coming. Be ready.”

  “Lauren?”

  “Is as safe as you can make her.”

  “I’m flying Aaron’s plane up to see the final performance of a play she’s in next week, and we’ll fly home together Friday evening after her last class, so she can spend spring break at home. Her bedroom is almost set up and ready.”

  “Enjoy your time with her.”

  “Any news on Rinaldo?”

  “Still dead as far as we know, but it’s possible he’s been revived and they’re keeping it under wraps.”

  “What, specifically, lines up with the Goblin King’s mountain? Is there a labyrinth in mythology, or was that just the movie?”

  “Mazes and labyrinths have long been seen as a path to a deity, or to enlightenment. It fit the movie.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I’m aware, but I believe I’ve told you all I can.”

  He looked sad, and I believed him, but I had one last question.

  “What was in our meadow? Does the boulder tie into it?”

  “I’ll be taking my leave now. You may speak to Cora and Lauren of this, but please don’t talk to anyone else. Only people who live here. Who get mail here. Who pay their taxes with this as their address.”

  “That seems pretty specific.”

  He nodded, and he was gone.

  32

  Lauren and I stayed up nearly all night talking, her first night home. She and her bear had broken up for a few weeks the previous year, but they were back together and closer than ever. However, he was in Greece on a Harvard approved expedition, exploring ancient sites after reading the Hellenistic classics.

  And I was happy to have her all to myself. Cora was in New York, spending a weekend with Marco. She’d ridden up with me on Aaron’s plane, and Marco was flying her home on his plane Sunday night. It wasn’t all fun and games — she had some serious politicking to do while she was up there — but she’d be in Marco’s bed plenty, I was certain. Also, being welcomed into the home of the Master Vampire of the area certainly didn’t hurt, while she was up there talking to the leaders of various animal groups.

  After staying up until nearly four in the morning talking, I woke Lauren at ten with a huge breakfast. I’m not sure why I wanted her to see the boulder at noon, but it felt important. Lauren has always been able to touch things and feel their truth, and if we had any hope of understanding the meadow, perhaps Lauren was the key.

  Had there been a labyrinth there? Was the boulder the center, or the entrance?

  She’d seen it, of course, when she’d been home for Christmas, but she hadn’t touched it. It’d been brutally cold, and we’d been living in the farmhouse, and she’d spent a lot of time in the valley with friends, so we hadn’t seen her as much as I’d have preferred, which was fine. Lauren is a young woman, with more poise and grace than I’d ever dreamed possible.

  The day was cloudless and cold — March in the South might be twenties or it might be seventies. We were in the low fifties, and I’d donned silk long johns, jeans, and a fleece hoodie. Lauren was used to the Cambridge winter, so I didn’t mother her too much about dressing warmly.

  “We’ve taken to calling it the meadow,” I told her, when it came into view. “You’ve heard the story of the boulder, but I’m interested in what you’ll feel, so I’m trying not to talk about it too much.”

  She wore a small backpack, which I knew had a sketchpad and fancy pencils. She’d taken a few art classes, and now she could sketch the things she saw in her head. We’d spent a great deal of time looking through it at Christmas, and some of her pictures were eerily accurate. She’d drawn what she’d seen of Abbott, when she’d first touched him, and it’s what he looks like when he gets pissed and vamps out. More insect than human, but still recognizable as Abbott.

  So, when she touched the boulder and pulled her sketchbook out, I quietly levitated the two of us to the top, so she could sit on it and draw.

  “What does it mean?” she asked, when she finished and showed it to me.

  She hadn’t just drawn a labyrinth. No, this one had true dead ends — with quicksand in one, a crocodile pit in another — that you wouldn’t see until you rounded a corner and it was too late. A wrong turn in this labyrinth would mean certain death.

  What’s more, the third turn was like the second turn in the movie — a false wall you couldn’t see until you were at the right angle.

  “How does the boulder figure into this?” I asked.

  “Can you take me to where it was?”

  I nodded, and we started the long walk. We were perhaps a mile away from the boulder’s original resting place when she said, “Here. The edge of it was here.” She took her backpack off, pulled the map out, and pointed to one of the sides of the labyrinth she’d drawn. She showed me where on the drawing we were as we walked, and I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the boulder had been at the center.

  When we reached the hollowed-out piece of earth where the boulder had once rested, she stood in the center and said, “Damn, mom. This is kind of freaky. You took the center of the old labyrinth to your meadow.”

  “Why would a boulder have been at the center?”

  “It wasn’t always a boulder. It was some sort of building, when it was a labyrinth. Not really a temple, but…” She shook her head. “Maybe like a mini temple? Or shrine? I’m not sure, but it was a place of power. Like a church or temple or whatever.”

  The castle had been turned into a large earthen hill, and the shrine in the center of the labyrinth had become a boulder. It almost made sense.

  Tuesday was the first of the three full moon nights, and Lauren got to witness the Pack’s energy for the first time. We walked back to the house after the wolves had all changed and ran into the woods.

  “How about some hot chocolate?” I asked.

  “Sounds good. Maybe some soup, too. I’ve always known Cora was special, but she has power, mom.”

  “She does. I used to be stuck on the word metaphysical, because the scientific part of my brain needed it to be logical. Eventually, I’ve started using magical for some of it. I mean, the logic’s still there, so metaphysical isn’t wrong, but magic seems a better description.”

  “It does. I feel safe, here. It isn’t what one would expect to feel, on land where werewolves are engaging in a Wild Hunt, but it feels as if we’re safer here than anywhere else on Earth.”

  Her words made puzzle pieces com
e together in my mind. The Goblin King. The Erlking. The Harlequin. All were associated with The Wild Hunt, which was nothing like what happened here on the full moon runs, and yet… the term still fit.

  I wasn’t sure where Lauren fit into the grand scheme, or even where I fit into it, or our land. However, on this evening, while we drank hot chocolate and made a huge tureen of soup we could eat the next day, life was exactly as it was supposed to be.

  My little family of me and Lauren had grown. Xiaolan had gone back to China, but Cora had been added, and now, the Pack was our extended family.

  I knew we still had a huge battle to fight, and it was looking like the fight might literally come to our doorstep, but on this night, I sat with my daughter, drank hot chocolate with marshmallows, and watched an old eighties movie about a sister trying to find her baby brother — and life was good.

  Stay up to date on Candace’s new releases by signing up for her newsletter.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Bubbles’ story, where you’ll get to see the night of explosions from someone else’s point of view.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  If you enjoyed Infinitely Human, you may also like other books set in the same universe, though in different series.

  Chattanooga Supernaturals series, paranormal romance:

  The Dragon King (Aaron Drake’s story, and the first time we meet Duke and Brain)

  Riding the Storm (Kendra and Eric’s story)

  Acceptable Risk (Bethany, Ranger, Mac, and Jonathan’s story)

  Careful What You Ask For

  Hallowed Destiny – Forged by Darkness

  Uncaged (Ghost’s mother’s story)

  Cocky Queen

  Unhallowed Murder

  Unexpected Gifts

  Only Human series, urban fantasy

  Only Human

  An Unhuman Journey

  Of Humans and Monsters

  Defining Human

  Edge of Humanity

  Infinitely Human

  Unhuman Acts (summer/fall 2019)

  Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Series

  Duke

  Brain

  Bash Volume I

  Bash Volume II

  Bash Volume III

  Horse

  Gonzo (where we first meet Britches/Briana)

  Nix

  Ghost

  Bud

  Razor

  Bubbles

  The Dark Underbelly of The Chattanooga Supernaturals

  Pride (A short story featuring The Lion King)

  Indentured Freedom: Owned by the Vampire (Gavin)

  Leashed (Abbott)

  An Elegant Weapon (Bran)

  A Dark(ish) Faerie Tale

  Slave

  Lady

  Consort

  Queen

  The Safeword series, intense BDSM contemporary romance

  Safeword Rainbow

  Safeword: Davenport

  Safewords: Davenport and Chiffon

  Safeword: Quinacridone

  Safeword: Matte (Sam and Ethan Levi’s story, we first meet Frisco and Cassie)

  Safeword: Matte – In Training

  No Safeword: Matte – The Honeymoon

  No Safeword: Matte – Happily Ever After

  Safeword: Arabesque (Frisco, Cassie, Abbot, and Cam’s story)

  Safeword: Mayday (TBA)

  Check out other books by Candace Blevins at candaceblevins.com.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Bubbles’ story, where you’ll get to see the night of explosions from someone else’s point of view!

  EXCERPT FROM BUBBLES

  Lexi is late for her cosmetology class. She races another car for the only parking space close to her building — and wins. She ignores the other driver’s string of not-terribly-creative cursing and threats, and scurries to class. However, when she comes out hours later, she freezes when she sees members of the local gang sitting on the hood of her car, waiting.

  Terrified, Lexi rushes back inside to call her sister, who works for the local MC. Ten long minutes later, her sister tells her to go to the athletic center and wait for some guys on bikes, who’ll take her to her car and keep her safe.

  Bubbles can’t believe how tiny the girl with the pastel blue, pink, and purple hair is, and wants to lash out at anyone who scared her. He and Slick get her into her car and away from school, and Bubbles follows her home to be sure she’s safe. When he realizes she lives in the heart of the gang’s territory, his protective instincts kick in and he takes her home with him.

  Lexi’s nineteen and has been with two men her entire life. Bubbles is in his thirties and has had every sexual experience known to man. He’s a felon who’s spent serious time in prison and is still on parole. He’s the last kind of complication she needs in her life, but for such a gruff, giant of a man, he’s gentle with her. He makes her feel safe.

  Little did Lexi know how drastically her life would change because she hit the snooze button one more time.

  Chapter One

  Lexi

  I flew down Amnicola Highway and took the turn onto campus way too fast for my little Neon, but I forced myself to slow down in the Chatt State parking lot because I couldn’t afford a ticket, and the security guys were all about getting even more money from students. By the time I made it over the thousand speed bumps and around the buildings, I was fit to be tied because class was starting while I was still in my freakin’ car, and the parking lots were full.

  Like the sun shining through a cloud, I saw an empty parking space semi-near my building, and raced for it. Another car dashed towards it from the other direction, but my adrenaline kicked in and I got there first — though barely. My little lime green Neon kicks ass when I need it to.

  Triumphant, I grabbed my bag from the other seat and ignored the other driver, still idling right behind me — inches from my bumper. It’d been a race for a parking space and he lost. End of story. Go find another space, loser.

  The asshole wasn’t going to let me keep my eyes averted so we never made eye contact, though — he bounced out of his car and started yelling, waving his arms and fists around like a wannabe gangsta.

  “Bitch! You know what’s good for you, you’ll take your lily-white nasty ass back to that piece of shit green car and get it out my parkin’ space!” He made the gun sign with his fingers — one the Playas mostly use — but he wasn’t wearing colors and he came off as a wannabe.

  He was between me and my building, and while he didn’t scare me, I hate conflict, so I backed up and went around another car to get to my class without responding. Dude needed some anger management classes.

  I wasn’t terribly late to class this time, and it turned out okay. The rest of my day was pretty normal, and I didn’t think of the parking-space asshole again. I’m in cosmetology school so I can learn to cut and color hair, and the dude was carrying a navy shirt like the guys in the automotive building wear, so I figured he was learning to be a mechanic. There was no reason to think we’d bump into each other ever again.

  My last class let out at two thirty, and my stomach dropped into my feet when I stepped out and saw the asshole with two of his friends leaned against my car.

  I angled towards the library, my heart beating in my throat, and dug my phone out of my pocket to call Etta. I wasn’t afraid of one asshole alone, but three in gang colors was another story.

  “Whatcha need, baby sister?”

  That was my big sister, always looking out for me. We talk a lot, but I don’t usually call her right when class lets out, so she knew somethin’ was up. I told her about the guys waiting for me at my car, and about the race for the parking spot that morning.

  “He wearin’ gang colors?”

  “He wasn’t this morning, but he is now, and so are his friends. Blue.”

  “Fuck, Lexi. Okay. Stay put. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, Etta. I love you.” Our mom has ties high up with the Disciple Playas, and she’d be a lot more li
kely to make a few phone calls if Etta asked her.

  I started to go in the library, but then I wouldn’t be able to answer my phone. I made my way to the cafeteria, sat so I could see both doors and no one would come up behind me, and opened one of my books to read the next assigned chapter. May as well make use of my time. I didn’t think the asshole had recognized me — my hair had been in a ponytail when I’d arrived and was down that afternoon, and I’d had a lightweight jacket on, but it was in my bag because the day had warmed.

  Etta called me back nearly ten minutes later. “Slick and Bubbles are on their way. Bubbles is as big as a house, but Slick can be just as dangerous. They’re both nice guys. Slick’s doing it as a favor, but I’ll be providing some services to Bubbles. All you have to do is be gracious and thank them. I’m handling payment. Don’t offer anything.”

  “Damn, Etta. I’m sorry.” I cuss in my head all the time, but I hardly ever do it out loud. I really didn’t want her to owe the RTMC for this, though.

  “Don’t be. Bubbles ain’t a hardship. It’s all good, baby sister.”

  Etta’s a workin’ girl for the local biker gang. At first, I hated the idea of it, and I kind of still do, but she’s never been roughed up unless the customer paid big money for it and Etta agreed to it, and she doesn’t hate her job. She’s happy, she seems to be safe, and that’s enough for me. They call her Betty because they insisted she take another name for her working persona, and she wanted it to be something she’d respond to.

  Still, I’d assumed she’d call one of our mama’s people and get these guys to back off, but she’d called the bikers. I didn’t want her to have to service them on my account.

  “Maybe so, but I owe you big time. I’m in the cafeteria, where did you tell them to meet me?”

  “They’ll pick you up in front of the gym, and both’ll be on bikes. You won’t be able to miss them. Slick’s a lot smaller than Bubbles, so get on the smaller guy’s bike and point them in the direction of your car. He’ll have a helmet for you, so security won’t lose their shit.”