{"id":1825,"date":"2014-05-05T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestfantasynovel.com\/?p=1825"},"modified":"2014-05-05T06:00:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T13:00:33","slug":"bloodfire-by-helen-harper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/2014\/05\/05\/bloodfire-by-helen-harper\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloodfire by Helen Harper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bloodfire\"<\/a>Check out the first book in Helen Harper’s Blood Destiny<\/em> series:\u00a0Bloodfire<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mackenzie Smith has always known that she was different. Growing up as the only human in a pack of rural shapeshifters will do that to you, but then couple it with some mean fighting skills and a fiery temper and you end up with a woman that few will dare to cross. However, when the only father figure in her life is brutally murdered, and the dangerous Brethren with their predatory Lord Alpha come to investigate, Mack has to not only ensure the physical safety of her adopted family by hiding her apparent humanity, she also has to seek the blood-soaked vengeance that she craves.<\/p>\n

Download\u00a0Bloodfire<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>from Amazon<\/a>, Barnes and Noble<\/a>, Kobo<\/a>, iTunes<\/a> and Smashwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Excerpt<\/span><\/h4>\n

A sound came from outside and the waiting pack straightened their shoulders and puffed out their chests as if they were one. \u00a0I did the complete opposite and tried to hunch down. \u00a0The wooden doors at the right of the hall swung open and twenty or so people, all dressed from head to toe in designer black, came casually striding in.<\/p>\n

As if they owned the place, I thought, gritting my teeth and hunching down lower.<\/p>\n

The Brethren stopped and lined up in front of us. \u00a0All of their hands were resting lightly on weapons that hung from their belts. \u00a0Even from my lowered position I could see the glint of steel. \u00a0Flexing their authority, no doubt. \u00a0I looked fixedly down at the floor instead.<\/p>\n

A tall gray haired man stepped forward, eyes sweeping over all of us. \u00a0The room was so quiet that I fancied I\u2019d be able to hear Anton\u2019s balls finally dropping behind me. \u00a0I risked a glance up at their new leader. \u00a0He wasn\u2019t what I\u2019d expected. No obvious outpourings of power or charisma. \u00a0He didn\u2019t look weak physically but neither would I have thought that I couldn\u2019t beat him in a fair fight. \u00a0This was just a guy \u2013 and an old guy at that. \u00a0I studied him carefully. \u00a0There was certainly an air of grace and elegance surrounding him and he held himself with confidence and the suggestion of strength but still\u2026I didn\u2019t see it. \u00a0Maybe it was a shapeshifter thing.<\/p>\n

He started to speak. \u201cThe Brethren brings condolences for the loss of the Cornish pack\u2019s alpha. \u00a0We know that he was a good leader who kept the Way and held you together. \u00a0Do not fear that we will not uncover the truth of what happened.\u201d His slate gray eyes slid over the room. \u201cHis death was untimely and \u2013 unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

I blinked at the sudden unexpected rise of tears and my throat constricted and felt tight. \u00a0John had kept us safe, all of us safe. \u00a0He had never treated me differently, despite my non-shifter status, and had even spent a ridiculous amount of time training me to fight so that I could hold my own against the rest of the pack should they suddenly decide that having a puny human amongst them was them was too much insult to bear. \u00a0And there were some who thought that way \u2013 Anton behind me for one.<\/p>\n

A memory rose unbidden of my ten year old self and John outside the keep.<\/p>\n

I had been crouched down, throwing dagger in hand, shaking in fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cMackenzie Smith, if you give into fear then it will rule you. \u00a0Take the fear and turn it into focus. \u00a0Use that focus wisely. \u00a0Feel for the creature and prepare your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

We had been hunting a small wyvern that had been terrorising local farms. \u00a0The Cornish pack was generally peaceable and didn\u2019t engage in much fighting (well, very few people or even Otherworldly things came to sleepy Cornwall to fight) but John had insisted that this was the time I put my training to the test in the real world. \u00a0I had straightened up slowly and targeted my thoughts towards the clump of trees at the far end of the field. \u00a0No fear.<\/p>\n

A huffing sound had vibrated towards us. \u00a0I had blocked out everything else and focused on the noise, willing the wyvern to leave the safety of the brush and come out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d came John\u2019s voice. \u00a0\u201cYou WILL do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remember gripping the dagger tighter and taking a step forward, probing the trees with my eyes until I spotted a sudden movement on my far left. \u00a0I took a step forward, and then another. \u00a0Without warning the wyvern had burst out of the copse and flown like a dagger towards me, staying low to the mossy ground. \u00a0I kept hold of the fear and, as the creature swooped close, I swung up, gripped onto its leathery neck and hung on with one arm. \u00a0The wyvern had screeched in rage and dragged me up. \u00a0It had veered one way then another, trying to shake me off before a taloned claw came swiping round to scrape me off. \u00a0I had raised my leg and snap kicked the claws out of the way. \u00a0I felt hot inside and knew that the fire, if I let it, would burn out of control. \u00a0With my free hand I felt for the soft space in between the beast\u2019s shoulder blades and sank the dagger in. \u00a0Of course once the wyvern tail-spun down I had belatedly realised I was far too high and that hitting the ground was going to be very hard and very painful.<\/p>\n

\u201cFocus the fear and fan the flames,\u201d I had whispered to myself, before letting go of the wyvern\u2019s neck at the last minute and rolling to the side to avoid being squished.<\/p>\n

My technique had been sloppy and careless but John had run towards me with a huge grin splitting his face. \u00a0He\u2019d gathered me up in a bear hug.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee? See? \u00a0I knew you could do it. \u00a0You might not be a shifter, girl, but you have got skills, and power. \u00a0You\u2019re amazing.\u201d \u00a0His eyes had shone down at me with pride and I had realised in that moment that nothing else mattered. \u00a0I had killed the wyvern and he was proud. \u00a0It didn\u2019t matter that I was human; I could focus my mind with more skill than most shifters and I had taken down the little dragon when half of the pack would have been too scared to try. \u00a0I belonged.<\/p>\n

Later we had stripped down the carcass together and burnt it. \u00a0I still had a tooth from the creature\u2019s mouth in the small chest where I kept my meager valuables. \u00a0John had not let me fail at anything \u2013 but now he was dead and I had failed him.<\/p>\n

Not without some effort, I zoned back into the present and realised that the gray eyed man was still talking. \u00a0\u201cThese are dangerous times and you are without an alpha. \u00a0For thirty years we have left you in peace. \u00a0We respect the Cornish pack and the work that you do keeping this corner of the country safe, however we also offer you an opportunity to brighten these sad days. \u00a0We will aid you by conducting the ceremony and appointing a new alpha, as is our responsibility. \u00a0We will hold evaluations and interviews with every single pack member to ensure the appropriate alpha is chosen.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we also extend you an invitation. \u00a0The best and the brightest among you may join us, come to London and become part of the Brethren, the shape-shifter elite. \u00a0We have spaces for new recruits. \u00a0This is your opportunity to join in the battle to keep all of this world, not just Cornwall, safe from all harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tremor of excitement and fear ran through the assembly. \u00a0Well, that was interesting. \u00a0Not only would the individual pack members be able to leave and join other packs around the country but they now could also become part of the so-called elite. \u00a0I knew that just as there would be many shrinking from this challenge, just as many would rise to it and demand it. \u00a0My brow furrowed. \u00a0No doubt the Brethren were really just looking for cannon fodder. \u00a0I felt my hackles rise while forcing myself to acknowledge that this could be a good thing. \u00a0As much as I might despise them for their reported brutality and aggression, the Brethren could be doing me a massive personal favour. \u00a0A new alpha would keep my geas in place, and the Brethren\u2019s recruitment drive would surely allow me to see off the likes of all those troublesome shifters who still couldn\u2019t accept me. \u00a0And who were probably champing at the bit to show off anyway. \u00a0I was still contentedly sure that Julia would be named alpha \u00a0\u2013 otherwise why else would her Voice now be working?<\/p>\n

Without false modesty I knew that, despite my human shortcomings, Julia was right and the pack benefited from at least some of my skills. \u00a0I might not able to shift but I was pretty much the best they had in any fight, to the extent that since I\u2019d turned into a teenager and gone into defense full time they hadn\u2019t lost any shifter to anyone or anything. Apart from John. \u00a0I grimaced and shoved that thought away before it overwhelmed me.<\/p>\n

Beside me, I could hear Tom panting like a puppy, patently desperate for approval. \u00a0I wouldn\u2019t have been surprised if he jumped up then and there screaming, \u201cPick me! Pick me!\u201d \u00a0Never mind, I\u2019d manage to convince him otherwise later.<\/p>\n

Forgetting that I was supposed to be keeping my head down, I scanned the ranks of the other Brethren shifters. I was curious now about what their feelings were about taking in some of their distant country bumpkin cousins. \u00a0My eyes travelled down the line. \u00a0There was a bored looking blonde haired woman with a stance that suggested predator \u2013wolf perhaps \u2013 then a slight dark man who was obviously a fox judging by the calculating cunning in his eyes, then there was\u2026uh-oh.<\/p>\n

The next shifter was looking right at me. \u00a0Green gold predatory eyes gazed into mine expressionlessly. \u00a0I snapped my eyes back to the floor and stopped breathing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no-one, no-one worthy of attention, I whispered silently, trying to quash the rising panic. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t endanger the rest of the pack by being discovered. \u00a0Every sinew in my body screamed but I forced myself to keep my eyes and head trained on the ground.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t look up. \u00a0Don\u2019t look up. \u00a0Don\u2019t look up. \u00a0Seconds passed. \u00a0Minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To read the rest of the story,\u00a0download\u00a0Bloodfire<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>from\u00a0Amazon<\/a>,\u00a0Barnes and Noble<\/a>,\u00a0Kobo<\/a>,\u00a0iTunes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Smashwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find more from Helen on her website<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Check out the first book in Helen Harper’s Blood Destiny series:\u00a0Bloodfire. Mackenzie Smith has always known that she was different. Growing up as the only human in a pack of rural shapeshifters will do that to you, but then couple it with some mean fighting skills and a fiery temper and you end up with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549],"tags":[640,642,716],"class_list":["post-1825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-urban-fantasy","tag-fairy-tale","tag-fantasy","tag-urban-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}