by Sedona Venez
Infinity Unleashed
Sedona Venez
Infinity Unleashed
Valkyries: Soaring Raven
Copyright © 2013 by T.L. Clarke
All Rights Reserved
No part of this work may be reproduced in any fashion without the express, written consent of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed herein are fictitious and are not based on any real persons living or dead.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9844993-8-0
Visit the author’s website: sedonavenez.com
DISCLAIMER
The characters, locations, and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
NOTICE
This is a mature New Adult novel with love scenes and mature situations. It is only intended for adult readers over the age of 18.
Acknowledgments
To all the readers out there, thank you for your enthusiasm and support.
My editors, Amy Eye and Cassie McCown, who spent hours reading, editing, and proofreading Infinity Unleashed. I really could not have done this without you.
My beta readers, Christina and Charity, for volunteering to beta read this book and provide me with valuable feedback.
Many hugs to my new street team. Thanks for helping spread the word about my novels.
And as always, my love and appreciation to R.C.
Infinity Unleashed
Sedona Venez
“I am the womb and the grave, The Now and the Ever.”
—William Ernest Henley
CHAPTER 1
New York… Friday
“Calm the hell down, Infinity.” Mason angrily wiped the blood dripping from the deep scratch on his cheek, injury compliments of me. He snatched me, shaking me like a rag doll against the leather seat. Our bodies jostled around as the vehicle careened through the streets.
My blood boiled, incensed that his diabolical plan had actually worked. In a matter of minutes, he had methodically stripped me of everything… family and freedom. It was humbling, depressing, and fucking infuriating, but I refused to go down without a fight. With wild rage still coursing through my veins, I scratched and punched like a mad woman.
I fixed him with a deadly stare. “Fuck you. I was going for your eyes. Give me a few more minutes, and I’ll make sure you’ll never be able to procreate again.” I eyed his manhood pointedly.
His gold eyes widened. “Shit! That’s it.” He pinned me against the seat, reaching into his jacket pocket, fumbling for something before pulling out a needle.
My eyes widened. “Oh hell to the no! You are not sticking me with that shit.” I launched my knee with deadly intent, aiming for his groin, but he was wicked fast. Dodging my knee, he jabbed me in the neck like a fucking Thanksgiving turkey.
Oh shit!
“What the hell did you inject me with?”
Instantly, my breath caught as a searing heat slid through my veins. Tensing, I gritted my teeth, fighting to keep my body from seizing as the serum raced through my bloodstream, momentarily paralyzing me from the neck down.
He smiled cruelly while rubbing my head as if I were some cute puppy. Repulsed by his audacity, I tried to move, but my body refused to comply.
“Now behave.” He kissed me hard on the lips.
“Don’t touch me,” I screamed, robotically tilting my head away.
He growled, grabbing my chin with bruising strength. “You’ll soon learn to love my touch. In fact, you will beg for it.” He snarled.
I rolled my eyes. “Beg? Please, you delusional tiger boy.” Just the thought made me sick to my stomach. I was about to tell him where he could go when the vehicle screeched to a stop. Stunned, I watched as two hulking men wearing all black and very serious expressions hopped out of the trailing vehicle and stormed toward us. One hurried forward, opening the door with eyes tightened on me in pure hatred.
“Everything is a go, Mason.”
Mason looked at him with disdain. “It better be. After all of the amateur mistakes you enforcers made tonight, I almost lost my opportunity to get her.” He slid out quickly, pulling me along roughly. “You idiots better get your shit together.” He looked at the man coldly. “And speaking of idiots, did Nick check in?”
The man grunted with displeasure. “No, and that’s not like him. I should’ve stayed when he volunteered to stay behind to make sure there were no survivors.”
The other burly man stepped forward eagerly. “Mason, you want me to go back to see if he’s all right?”
“Hell no. Nick can take care of himself. Besides, he knows the protocol. Call if there are issues. No. Let’s stick to the plan. We head out first and he’ll fly out when he’s sure the job is done.”
Speechless, my mouth dropped open at the waiting private jet with engines already humming. “I’m not stepping one foot on that jet,” I slurred, fighting the effects of the drug. God, this was some potent shit. I lurched forward. When my knees buckled, Mason swiftly caught me, taking the opportunity to grope my ass.
“Will you stop pawing me, pervert?”
He grinned widely.
My head swam as I fought the urge to faint. “What the fuck did you drug me with?” I asked, biting my now-heavy tongue.
“The newest rage on the streets… concentrated Rejuvenator.”
I was stunned when the psycho asswipe just grinned at me like a Cheshire cat.
My lips twisted with disgust. “You drugged me with undiluted Rejuvenator?”
Shit, he was pure evil. I was six months Rejuvenator-free and he drugged me with the one thing that could bring me to my knees. The one thing that nearly destroyed my career and relationship with my family… but that was the point. He planned to send me back to the pits of hell, while he controlled me like a damn puppet master… again.
Involuntarily, my eyes drooped as I struggled with the sedative effect of the drug. Of course, he didn’t care. He tugged on my arm, dragging me across the tarmac with more brute force than necessary. I didn’t have the strength or coordination to fight him.
“You left me no choice, Ice Princess. You threatened to harm the family jewels and I can’t have that. I need it in top-working condition to create all those babies I intend on having with you,” he snapped.
“Babies?” I screeched. He was a damn lunatic and his penis was going nowhere near me.
He arched a blond brow. “Yup, you heard me right. Now, calm the fuck down and enjoy the high, and before you know it, we’ll be home.”
“My home is right here in New York,” I mumbled with reflexes too slow to even kick and scream. My legs felt like rubber and it was getting damn hard to string my words together. “Where are you taking me?” I hissed.
“Colorado. It’s about time you met my father and your new family. The Degrassi pride.”
Oh, hell. He was taking me out of state, with every intention of trapping me with a bunch of crazy tiger-shifters. “Are you out of your damn mind?” I snapped, and with the last of my strength, I dug my heels into the ground, hoping to stop him.
“Shut the hell up!” He growled impatiently, nearly pulling my arm out of the socket. “I’m warning you, Infinity. If you give me any more trouble, I’m going to knock you the hell out.” He pushed me up the stairs. “Now move that ass!”
Drained of all my energy, I looked at him tiredly. “Mason, I have nothing else to give you.” I bit my tongue, gagging on the copper taste of my blood. “What else do you want from me?” I asked with a resigned tone.
“Everything… Now move your ass.” He hissed, shoving me u
nceremoniously into the jet. “Sit your sexy ass down! And I swear if you even blink, flinch, or look at me the wrong way, I’m going to lose it in here.” He shoved me again, sending me tumbling against the soft leather seat.
“Asshole,” I mumbled, scanning the passenger lounge of the jet, taking in the sheer ridiculousness of the over-the-top luxury of the cabin. A long couch curved across two walls—the luxury of the built-in bar and television told me Mason spared no expense on this little adventure. All wasted. I was not impressed, and with a last burst of energy, I lunged forward, my last attempt to escape.
He swore loudly, snatching me back ruthlessly, grabbing a handful of hair. “Sit the fuck down. Try that shit again and I’ll shoot you up with so much Rejuvenator you won’t even remember your own damn name.”
I swallowed nervously. I had to play this smarter or I wouldn’t survive the wrath of Mason. Settling back in the seat, I watched helplessly as Mason’s two enforcers took up posts at the front of the jet as it taxied down the runway.
My tongue tingled and mind started to cloud, side effects from an amped version of my former party drug of choice. I blinked, fighting the effects for as long as I could before it took hold.
“It will never work,” I rasped.
With an amused smirk, he arched a blond brow.
I continued. “If you think you can keep me drugged up like some circus freak, you’re wrong.” My eyes narrowed, desperately searching for a trace of the man I once loved, the shrewd businessman who was once my biggest cheerleader and supporter as I built my massive music business empire. My stomach heaved with fear. There was no trace of him—Shit! He totally checked out mentally.
I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. “I’m out of here the first opportunity I get. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
“Where will you go?” He gave me a very perplexed stare. “I stripped you of everything, baby.” His strange, gold eyes lit with arrogance. “I’m one signature away from being made the conservator of your finances and I made sure the vampire Collective killed your friends and finally…”
He looked at me diabolically. “I killed your beloved Kara.” His lips curled into a horrific sneer that distorted his handsome face. “She was a conniving bitch, but you were too stupid to see it.”
“Show some respect, you bastard,” I snapped. With energy I didn’t think I had, my palm cracked across his cheek before he grabbed it roughly, shoving me back.
“Respect? She’s not even your real mother.” He grabbed my chin roughly.
Trying to pull back was useless.
“She’s manipulated you for years, Infinity. You were nothing but a means to an end, a pawn to be used against the High Council.”
“Like I would actually believe anything you say.” I scoffed. “Mason, you’re a lunatic who has absolutely no remorse for killing a woman that raised you like her own.”
His face distorted, transforming back and forth between human and tiger-shifter.
“She didn’t raise me. My pride did. She never wanted me in her home and only tolerated me because the High Council forced her. So don’t you dare sugar coat this shit. I was all business for her and you were too.”
I rolled my eyes. He was certifiably crazy. Mom loved me. She may have lied about a lot of shit, but loving me… She didn’t fake that.
“She adopted me, loved me, and treated me like her child for years. Yep… sounds like one mean bitch to me.” I spat with disgust. “If you hated her so much, why didn’t you just leave?”
God, I really wished he had. She’d still be alive today.
His eyes filled with unadulterated lust as he glared at my body. “I needed to stake my claim on you. Waiting until you were ready to accept me as your rightful mate. So it was hands-off until you turned eighteen.”
Repulsed, I looked at him with wide eyes. Sluggishly, I scooted as far away from him as possible. He pulled me right back, pinning me to his side.
“I’m twenty-two, Mason. You could’ve had me way before I realized what a major asswipe you are.”
I couldn’t believe that I ever offered my virginity to him on a silver platter. This was another damn reminder of my bad taste in men. Shit, at one point, I practically threw myself at his feet and rang the “come and get it” dinner bell. It was embarrassing but true, but what was more embarrassing was that he actually rebuffed me.
He shrugged. “The High Council calls the shots. They didn’t want their prized trophy marked by me before it was time. God, it was so hard staying away from you. Denying the urge to claim you…” He licked the side of my neck, nipping it. “Believe me, you would have thoroughly enjoyed it.”
My eyes widened at the obvious bulge in his pants. God, he was a freak in more ways than one.
He continued. “So we agreed. We made too many sacrifices to risk them offering you to someone else”
“Are you freaking serious? I don’t want you, Mason. So you and your pride of crazy tiger-shifters can go fuck yourselves.”
He smiled, showing his elongated canines. “The only thing that’s getting fucked, and hard, is you on the full moon in front of my pride.”
Holy shit! This was not good. The next full moon was Saturday night. “You’re going to claim me tomorrow night?” My voice squeaked.
“Unfortunately, no.” He stared into space. “We must wait for the next Blue Moon, which is set to occur in a couple of days. That’s when the High Council will allow me to claim you.” He looked at me angrily. “I think it’s a mistake to wait, especially with Boulder and Torch suddenly becoming a part of the equation.”
My pulse raced at the mention of Boulder.
He grabbed the back of my neck, squeezing it dominantly. My mind and body rebelled against his touch, but the burning of Rejuvenator coursing through my veins paralyzed me.
“You may have killed Torch, but Boulder will find me and kick your tiger ass.” I did my best to fake bravado.
He smiled icily. “He won’t. Attacking my pride would be an act of war, not only against the tiger-shifters, but also against the High Council. No one fucks with the Council’s”—he looked at me pointedly—“property.”
“What is this Council?”
He sighed impatiently. “The High Council governs all Others.”
I just stared. “And? What does that have to do with anything?”
He shook his head impatiently before continuing. “Glen Thorburn, the leader of the Council, needed warriors when he disbanded the Valkyries. Tiger-shifters saw a job opening and swore an allegiance to him for the rest of our lives. We are now his warriors to use as he wills. In exchange, we are under his protection and untouchable by the Others.” He looked at me lustfully. “And not even the promise of that liquid gold between your legs will make Boulder risk their wrath.”
I snapped my teeth with a soft growl. “Jealous he has a chance in hell of breaking my virginity seal?”
“You belong to me.” His eyes went wild. Damn near feral. “I will kill you before I let him have you.”
This was fucking scary. I knew without a doubt that he was crazy enough to do it.
“Boulder will find me,” I whispered. I didn’t know how, but I felt it deep in my soul. He would find me.
“I love you, Infinity.” He grabbed a strand of my hair, running it through his fingers. “Why isn’t that enough?”
My vision swam and stomach heaved.
“How don’t you understand how crazy you sound? You don’t love me, Mason. You love what you think that I can give you. Power.”
I forced back the flood of tears that threatened to fall. I couldn’t ignore the truth of the matter. That’s what most men wanted from me. What I could give them. Now with this Valkyrie bullshit, I was like a dog chew toy that everyone wanted. A trophy coveted by the scum of the earth.
My thoughts abruptly flashed again to Boulder and the instant connection between us. He saw through my tough walls, pulling th
em completely down. He was different. I didn’t know how or why, but I felt it, and this made me very uncomfortable.
Mason interrupted my thoughts with his arrogant retort. “You will learn our ways. I’ll show you how to be my perfect mate and Alpha-fem to our pride.” There was a sadistic hunger in his gaze as it slid over my curvy body. “Most importantly, how to satisfy me in bed.”
He made my skin crawl. I pushed down the bile that threatened to erupt.
“Not going to happen,” I rasped over my dry throat.
“We’ll see.” He leaned forward, his fingers grazing my brass-winged charm.
My body froze as static electricity slid through the charm, zapping his fingers so hard that I felt the sting dance across my chest.
He pulled back his fingers angrily. “You will give yourself to me, Infinity. This is not negotiable,” he gritted out.
There was no rationalizing with him, which was frustrating and scary as hell. I knew he would do whatever he needed to break me. I swallowed nervously when I felt myself slipping into a lull as the drug fought to take over.
My toes curled into my boots from the sheer effort it took to stay focused.
Mason laughed. “Stop fighting it. We’ll be home in a couple of hours. Just rest and it all will seem like a brand new world when you awake.”
That was what I was very afraid of…
CHAPTER 2
New York… Friday
“Infinity! Wake up.” A woman’s lightly accented voice hissed into my ear.
My breath caught before a zap of energy surged through my body. Disoriented, my limbs convulsed like a fish out of water before my eyes snapped open.
The room whirled as something shoved me to my feet, pushing me forward. Before I could fight the momentum, my body slid forward, smacking me against the thick glass door marked with Collective Laboratory and No unauthorized personnel beyond this point written below in big, black, bold letters.
