In Too Deep (33 page)

Abyss -
Faerie version of hell. It is a dark, desolate wasteland.

Air Faerie
– A fae descended from the Air Kingdom in Faerie. They mostly cast air or electricity based spells. Some can dematerialize, scattering their cells. They can watch without being detected in this form, and travel great distances rapidly.

Alpha
– The leader of a werewolf pack. Usually the most dominant wolf in a group.

Alpha Voice
– A command given by the Alpha using pack magic. The command forces a single or multiple wolves to obey.

Blood Oath
– Contract created between a vampire and another being. It is written in the vampire’s blood. There is dark magic involved that compels the vampire and the other party to follow through on the terms.

Brownie
- Fae that takes care of a family or house. They tend to have brown hair, skin and eyes. They are typically very secretive.

Circle of Protection
– A spell many casters use to protect something or someone. An invisible shield and will keep most things out or the person being protected in. The spell will end if the caster breaks the circle or dies.

Dales
– Group of vampires and dark mages that run an illegal fighting ring for Others. The majority of the competitors are Others that have been abducted and forced to fight either through blackmail or mind control. They were a problem ten years before but disappeared until recently.

Dark Mages
– Usually rogue mages, though sometimes just mages that use darker arts such as necromancy, blood magic, death magic or other illegal magics.

Druids
- Humans who possess mostly nature magic. They aren’t as common as mages. Most tend to stick to other druids. They cast mostly earth and air spells, though most can manipulate fire and water. Druids can shift into most animals with practice.

Earth Faerie
– A fae descended from the earth kingdom of faerie. Their powers include superhuman strength and super sensitive hearing, smell and sight. Most can manipulate the earth itself, or create compounds of rock from dust or dirt. Some are able to communicate with animals.

Iron
– Certain types of faerie have an aversion to iron and other metals with iron content

Liche
– A mage who undergoes death magic rituals to transcend their human body and become a spirit. The process takes years, and the body decays. Eventually only the soul is left, making them nearly impossible to kill.

Mages
– Humans who possess elemental magic. They can either sling spells like weapons or heal, though it is rare for a mage to be a healer.

Mana-blades
– Enchanted swords or daggers that are tattooed into the skin. They can be pulled like a normal weapon, but only by the one with the tattoo. Most people cover the blade with another tattoo to hide the magical weapon. The blade themselves do more damage than a normal blade, and depending on the creature it cuts, can do even more specific damage.

Mate
– Werewolves, and some other creatures sometimes create a bond with their soul mate. The bond is nearly impossible to break unless one party dies. The bound couple will sometimes feel what the other is feeling, or sense the danger the other is in.

Others
- Any being that isn’t quite human. Werewolves, vampires, shaman, druid, mages, witches, warlocks, fae are just some examples.

Pack
– Or werewolf pack is a group of werewolves in an area. The size of the pack determines to size of the region. Werewolves in a pack have a hierarchal structure based on the creature’s innate dominance. Usually there is an Alpha who is the leader, and several enforcers who enforce the will of the leader, and the rest of the werewolves. Every pack is run differently

Pack Enforcer
– Werewolves high in the pack hierarchy who carry out the alphas orders or discipline.

Shadowstalkers
– Specific breed of vampire. They are one of the most dangerous breeds. They manipulate shadows, are adept at mind control, and generally only feed off Others whose blood can be quite addictive for its magical properties.

Silver
– Wereanimals have an aversion to silver. It burns, and wounds caused by silver weapons or bullets are much slower to heal than a normal wound

Shaman
– Humans who possess nature magic. Similar to druids, but not the same. Most shaman can shift into a specific animal.

Silver Council
– Organization of mages. They are the governing force of most Others. Not everyone recognize them, but they try to police all Others. The Silver Council is mostly made up of formally trained mages. They occasionally will employ other casters.

Silver Council Enforcer
– The mages who police Others.

Soul Prison
– A device or talisman that can house a being. Usually small orb or sphere, it basically transports the being to its own empty realm.

Translocation
– Some mages can vanish and reappear in another area. It is a rare talent.

Warded tattoos
– Tattoos usually done by Druids, Shaman or sometimes Mages that have a spell imbued into the pattern. The spell is typically of a protection variety.

Warlock
– Male witches are sometimes referred to as warlocks.

Wereanimal
– Any type of wereanimal. Werewolves are the most common. Werecats probably second. They are stronger and faster than your average human. There are rare cases of other wereanimals. Each species varies in what it may or may not be able to do. These creatures heal most wounds incredibly fast.

Werecat
– Any wereanimal that turns into some form of cat. Lion, tiger, leopard are just some examples. Werecat strains of lycanthropy are harder to catch. They tend to be more patient than most wereanimals. They are extremely fast. Unlike werewolves, they tend to be solitary, though sometimes form clans that are spread out over great distances, and will sometimes meet and hunt together, but for the most part have no structured clan.

Werewolves
– Specific type of wereanimal. A werewolf is created when a werewolf in either its beast form or half-man form bites and sometimes scratches a human. They are incredibly strong, and faster than a normal human. Powerful werewolves can not only shift into their wolf form but a form bigger than human, covered in fur with enormous claws and bestial head. Their sense of smell and sight are very strong, especially in their beast forms.

Witch
– A human who is highly sensitive to magic, and can cast a limited amount of magic. Abilities vary from clairvoyance, empath, telekinesis, various other psychic abilities. Most are adept at potions that combine natural ingredients with magic.

Vampire
– There are several varieties of vampire. They live off human or Other blood. For the most part, are highly allergic to sun. They are incredibly fast, and each breed possesses a different set of abilities.

Brandy L Rivers is the author of the Others of Edenton Series. The prequel New Beginnings will be out in July and will cover Jess and Slater’s story. She plans to have the second full book out in the fall.

Always an avid reader, Brandy has always loved writing. She became serious about it as a stay-at-home-mother.

She lives in Western Washington with her husband and three kids, where she is already working on the prequel and the next couple stories in the series.

If you are interested in receiving emails about future book releases, please sign up for her email distribution list by visiting her site at:
www.brandylrivers.com

You can also find her on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/brandylrivers

And at Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BrandyLRivers

Copyright 2013 Brandy L Rivers

Preview of Chapter 1

Someone was snoring like a freight train. The racket threatened to shatter Jess
’ skull. She was burning up thanks to the blazing hot furnace pinning her down. One eye opened to find a sheet of auburn hair draped over her face.

Oh shit.
She was dreaming. Right? Surely she wasn’t stupid enough to sleep with her goddamned Alpha.

Gregory ripped a nasty fart and she just about died from the stench.

Fuck
. It wasn’t a dream. She barely managed to scoot out from under him while holding her breath.

Thanking every deity she could think of, she gathered up her scattered clothes and snuck out without waking the dumbshit up. After she pulled her outfit on, she crept out the door and into her truck.

The night before was a blank. She couldn’t remember how she managed to get there. Hopefully she wouldn’t remember. Maybe she’d be lucky and he wouldn’t either.

Sure
… and hell might freeze over
.

Years of turning Gregory down because of this exact vision, and there she was living it. He had always been a misogynistic sleazeball, but had respected her hands-off policy. Now that he had a piece, he was going to be after more.

Jess gagged and tried to force back the repulsion.

At least she had a backup plan. It seemed like the perfect time to put it into effect. She turned toward Painted On You. Her best friend Fallon would be there, but Jess hoped to God she was busy. The last thing she wanted to do was start World War III over moving.

Fallon’s boss was the one Jess needed to see. She just needed to get Gabriel alone. A week ago he told her about an Alpha with a vacant bar to sell.

Flashbacks of the previous night plagued her drive. It all started with Bill
’s Moonshine. Now she knew why she hadn’t bothered with it before. Her head was still pounding like a bass drum. The last time she had been buzzed was before becoming a wolf fourteen years before.

Jess attempted to tell Fallon why Isaac was late to the party. Fallon wasn
’t hearing it, she was sick to death from all of Jess’ visions regarding the man in question.

It killed Jess to know that the bastard was cheating after less than a month in a relationship. There was no proof, so Fallon refused to listen.

Instead of arguing, Fallon brought Jess a plastic cup full of something that smelled like strawberry flavored rubbing alcohol. Fallon raised her glass and said, “To new beginnings.”

Jess tapped her cup against Fallon
’s and then gulped down the sweet yet potent concoction without a second thought.

It quickly turned into a drinking competition as Fallon handed her another and downed her own.

Everyone was yelling, “Chug, chug, chug.” And Jess was always up for a challenge.

By the fifth cup she was well on her way to drunk. So she didn
’t protest when Gregory came up behind her to kiss along her bare shoulders as his hands grazed along the waist of her skirt. In no time, he was all over her, and she was horny as hell. Toys only got you so far, and he had agile fingers and a talented tongue.

Jess shuddered, there was a reason she didn
’t play naked with other wolves. She didn’t want to be permanently bound to an overbearing dipshit. Mating sounded like a pain in the ass to her. Thankfully, she never saw anything to suggest that would be a problem with her pack. However, she didn’t choose her visions, and she rarely got enough from them to actually be useful.

She parked behind the shop and snuck in the back.

Gabriel was right there and caught her shoulders to hold her back. One brow arched as he took in her appearance. “You look like hell.”

Jess whispered,
“Can I talk to you?”

He nodded and stepped into his office. She followed and shut the door.

Now, he looked concerned. “Jess, is everything all right?”

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she looked up at him through her lashes.
“Seal in the sound?” It was a simple spell for most casters. Gabriel could do it in seconds.

He nodded, but frowned as he worked the magic.

She dropped into a chair and fidgeted with her leather bracelets as she looked at all photos on the walls. He didn’t have a computer on his desk. Just everything he needed to draw his art, an old phone, an ancient ledger and an old fashioned rolodex.

He turned to her.
“Spill it, Jess.”

The words poured out of her mouth in a rush.
“I don’t want to tell Fallon, but I need that Alpha’s number, the one in Washington with the empty bar. I need a fresh start, and to get far away from Gregory before his sleaze factor becomes unbearable.”

Humor lit his eyes.
“Oh Jess, I tried to tell you to slow down on Bill’s Moonshine.” He moved around his desk and flipped through his contacts. At a hundred years and some change, the man was opposed to most technology unless it had to do with tattoo guns. “You sure you want to move without telling Fallon? You know that’s going to hurt her worse than you just telling her what’s up.”

“I don’t know about that, Gabe. She doesn’t want to hear shit, and if Fallon doesn’t know about me and Greg, then maybe I can forget it.”

“Can you ever forget anything?”

“You know you aren’t helping, right?” She glowered at him, and snapped the card out of his hand. “Please don’t tell her. I will in time.”

“Good luck with that.” Gabe snorted. He already knew how the conversation with Fallon would play out because she had told him about it a week ago.

It was futile to avoid the subject, but maybe just once it would work. She didn
’t want to hurt her best friend, and she knew this would. It was a damned mess.

“Thank you.” She gave Gabriel a squeeze, and then let herself out before Fallon could catch her.

* * * *

Clara screamed, and Slater ran through the forest, back toward their cabin. He flew past the trees with his heart thundering in his chest. The love of his life was in trouble, and he had to get to her. He heard the roar of a bear, and she screamed again, this time in pain.

He ran past their home, through the stream, and into the clearing. A giant grizzly tore into Clara, ripping into her stomach and ribs. She didn’t fight, didn’t even scream this time. A wet gurgle escaped her lips as the light faded from her eyes.

Slater yelled, and charged at the bear, shifting into his half man form as he went. He threw the bear across the clearing, and dove on him. Driving his knees into the beast
’s chest, he grabbed it by the head and wrenched it around with a series of sickening pops. His claws slammed into the carcass and tore, shredding the hide as he ripped apart its entrails, and crushed the bones.

The ringing cell phone brought him out of the nightmare. He bolted upright, and the deadweight of a cold arm fell from his chest and landed on the bed with a thump. His heart pounded in his chest, but he shook off the chill as he looked down at Victoria who was dead to the world until dark.

While the vampire was among his closest friends, she was the only one he released his sexual tension with. He still hated waking up next to her cold corpse in the morning, and the always present scent of blood in her lovely home.

The second ring snapped him back to his surroundings. He took a deep breath and answered.
“This is Slater.”

“Hi. I’m Jess Abrams and I’m looking to become a part of your pack.”
Her voice was warm and melodic, but colored with attitude. “I’m not really sure how this works since I’m sort of avoiding my Alpha at the moment.”

That caught his attention and he scrubbed his hand over his face.
“Who is your Alpha?”

She let out a heavy sigh,
“Gregory Harper.”

So she was from San Francisco.
“Is there a particular reason you’re avoiding your Alpha?”

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

His mouth curled into an amused grin. “Try me.”

“I happen to be psychic,” she told him. “I saw this morning a hundred times, and I still made a stupid mistake last night. Gregory was always slimy, but now he’s going to amp up the sleaze factor and treat me even shittier, even though I’m the only reason his damned bar is successful. I honestly don’t think I can take his begging and pleading to get back into my pants.”

Slater’s jaw clenched and he nearly crunched the phone.

Her groan was full of self-disgust.
“I’ll never be an Alpha’s little toy because I respect myself too much to repeat
that
mistake. Plus, I’ll take great pleasure when he realizes his bar will fail without me. He’s going to beg me to come back and I’m just going to laugh.”

It sounded as if she flopped back on her bed.
“See? It sounds ridiculous. I get that. You can feel free to laugh and call me crazy, but you did ask.”

He didn
’t laugh. Instead, he fought back the anger that twisted through his gut, and repressed a growl.

One, he never disrespected women, but Gregory was notorious for treating women like second class citizens. Two, the thought of this unknown woman with Gregory did not sit well with him at all.

“Well, I do believe you.” He told her. Gabriel had called the week before. That’s when he mentioned a feisty werewolf who was interested in joining Slater’s pack. He also mentioned that she was psychic and close to her breaking point where her Alpha was concerned.

“You do?” Her surprise made him smile.

“I do, and I can talk to Gregory for you. We’ll work it out if you give me a time frame.”

“Two, three weeks at most. Otherwise you may have to send someone to put me down for conspiring to murder Gregory. He was a pain in the ass before, but he’s going to be about a million times worse.” She half-laughed but regret laced her humor.

He doubted she would attack her Alpha without good cause, but he refused to leave her in that situation either. “Don’t worry, Jess. I’ll be happy to get things moving quickly.” He meant that more than he should. Slater refused to consider about what that could mean.

She hesitated before saying,
“Gabriel Sharpclaw mentioned that you have a bar you’re looking to sell. I’m looking to buy one. Trust me, I have the experience. I do everything now even though Gregory doesn’t trust me to own it myself.” Slater didn’t miss the hope and doubt warring in that statement.

He smiled, and was truly pleased that he could give her something she wanted.
“Well, the bar is currently empty and I am happy to sell it to you. I should warn you now, you’ll likely want to redecorate, and I can help with the funds for that. Rhonda was a wild card. It doesn’t look much like a bar at the moment. Feel free to decorate as you please.”

Jess interrupted,
“I can cover the costs, and I don’t mind revamping the place.”

“Good, and I kept all the licenses, so until you can get that paper work squared away, you can run it under my name. I’ll have the contracts drawn up and sent immediately.”

They continued their conversation a bit longer. When he finally hung up, he looked down at Victoria’s dark hair and pale skin. For the first time in a long time he felt guilty, but he didn’t have a damned clue why.

* * * *

Liam flopped down in the middle of a clearing some miles from his home. He ran himself out of breath which wasn’t easy for a werewolf to do, but he wanted to outrun the voices. He knew better, but he had to try.

Reality seemed to slip a little further every day that Brody kept Slater
’s favor. Once, a long time ago, he was Slater’s confidante. That was why he was Slater’s second. He still held the title, but the old man no longer trusted him.

Break Brody.

Ruin Slater.

Take the pack.

“Stop,” he screamed at the top of his lungs, pulling at his hair. Brody, it was all Brody’s fault. If he hadn’t stepped in and saved that damned human, Liam would still be the golden boy who could do no wrong.

What was one measly human compared to the wolves. Slater let Hayden shoot Raj through the head with a silver bullet in a bar full of Others. As the Alpha, Slater should have sided with the wolves and allowed Raj to tear the human and Brody to shreds.

No. Instead Slater promoted that goody-two-shoes to enforcer to fill Raj’s place. The one man who understood why Liam was the only one fit to rule the pack. Slater never even tried to stop that bastard fae from putting Raj down like a crippled horse.

Liam still felt as if Slater had betrayed the pack when he rewarded Brody for saving a filthy human. The voices constantly reminded him of that fact.

The shrill ring of his phone jolted him out of his head and into the middle of the mountain forest. He took a moment to slow his breathing before he answered Slater’s call. “Hello.”