I was waffling about posting a Misfits 2 excerpt this week.
Firstly, my week went a little sideways, because we had to go off island yesterday for an emergency specialist appointment for Molly (an ulcer in her eye) that, within 30 minutes, turned into an upcoming appointment for a $3500 eyelid surgery. (And we literally just dropped dropped $4500 on her teeth) 😭 So I’ve spent today with my head whirling just a little as I figure out how were going to pay both those bills when the world is on fire, no one is reading, AI slop is flooding all the charts, social media is circling the drain … Anyway!
My second ongoing concern about serializing this novel (no matter how unofficially I seem to be doing it) is that along with all the recent changes that Meta is bringing to their platforms (Threads, Facebook, and Instagram) they’ve decided that if any creator has their website (etc) linked in/to their socials (in any way) they can use that connection to ‘legally’ scrape content from those personal websites, etc, to train their AI.
Now, Meta has stolen a lot from me (and other creators) already and there are a few lawsuits coming up that are trying to come after them, but I never ‘gave’ them permission just by being on their platforms. Meta is now trying to force that permission (and make it retroactive)(as in they can legally scrape my entire website, etc).
So *sigh* … that really screws with serializing novels … or sharing art … or even my personal thoughts … and maybe it means I’ll need to change up how I use my socials/website/newsletter, etc.
But let’s not worry about any of that today!
– MCD
Reminder: typos abound, and possible tense changes. Anything in [parentheses] needs to be fact checked or I’m not happy with the phrasing yet.
This is Kandy’s book, aka Misfits 2 (previous title mentioned is definitely going to change).
Start here: Misfits 2: Chapter 1, Part 1
Or if you’re behind:
Chapter 1, Part 2
Chapter 1, Part 3
Chapter 1, Part 4
Chapter 2, Part 1
Content of note: explicit language and sexual situations. Please remember that this is Kandy’s book and all that implies. 😜
I’d strategically approached the front stairs to the second level apartments in a way that didn’t force us to cross in front of the Cake in a Cup bakery windows, hiding our presence from any Adepts that might be within. We both paused on the first concrete step, allowing the magic of the blood wards that protected the entire two-storey building to pass over us.
Jorgen grunted at the wash of power. But the thick, questing energy wasn’t something I even thought about any more.
At the top of the stairs, I crossed left — to Jade and Warner’s apartment — not to my own space to the right. “Desmond and Audrey are staying at my place.”
The blood wards of the dowser were the strongest protection to be had in all of Vancouver. Maybe in the entire world. Jade Godfrey had literally bled her power all around the building that held the bakery and the two apartments above, then with the help of her witch grandmother, Pearl, and witch mother, Scarlett, she’d woven the energy into a barrier spell that repelled even the most powerful of Adepts.
Well, maybe not the guardian dragons, like Jade’s dad, but everyone else.
And that was before Jade had claimed all the deadly instruments of assassination along with all her many titles, including dragon and elf slayer.
I’d installed my pack alpha in my apartment behind all of that protection, not even giving him a moment to question it. Desmond might not be a wolf with an inherent need to den with his family unit but he still preferred the comfort of a private space over a hotel.
“And your BFF?” Jorgen asked with a smile evident in his voice. “Is Jade in residence?”
“She and Sixteenth Century are still dealing with the stupid-ass treaty with the elves.” Sixteenth Century was my nickname for Jade’s significant other, Warner. Yes, he was literally born hundreds of years ago. I hadn’t yet forgiven him for all the attention he stolen from my aforementioned BFF, and I wasn’t planning on doing so any time soon.
Anticipating Jorgen’s next question — he was a wolf, and Jade made the tastiest treats of all — I added, “Gabby is doing the baking for the wedding. If Leesa ever settles on a cake flavor.”
The door handle to Jade’s apartment scanned my magic, then opened at my touch. The lingering scent of lemon verbena tickled my senses. Jorgen breathed in deeply with obvious enjoyment.
I pushed the door open, stepping in, and finding my way blocked by the statue of a smiling buddha. About three-feet tall, carved out of ivory, and ancient as fuck, the sentry sported a massive smile and a rotund belly. A gold-inlaid dagger and a trio of gemstone rings were cradled in the buddha’s arms.
Jade had been collecting magical items again.
Seriously? The dowser got all the fun gigs these days.
Except for mediating peace between the elves and the guardians.
I didn’t envy Jade that task. Not even when overseen by Alivia, the apparently not-so-mythical elf that saved all our asses from a collapsing dimensional portal. That good deed trapped Alivia in our Earth dimension, leaving her vulnerable to being wooed by Jade, in the form of her cupcakes, into helping form a peace treaty between the elves people and the guardian dragons. That’s cupcakes as in the sweet treat. Granted, Jade has a great rack. But it’s the magic embedded into her treats and trinkets that beguiles. In the best of ways.
Alivia was a completely snooty, total bad ass prone to cutting out the tongues of anyone who pissed her off. She outwardly despised me. Possible due the untold number of elves that died at my hands the day they tried to invade.
I liked her.
Jorgen stilled beside me, eyeing the buddha statue.
Yes. The power roiling around the grinning statue was pretty intimidating.
“Missed me?” I asked the buddha archly. “You know it’s rude to block the entrance.” I ran my fingertips over the statue’s smooth domed head as I toed off my runners and nudged them with my foot into the tiny coat closet. The buddha’s magic licked at me, lingering on my cuff. “Ugh, no. Icky, icky, no licky, bubbie.”
Jorgen tried to stifle a laugh, failing.
I flashed him a grin, already feeling a little lighter, more grounded. Due to his presence, yes. But mostly because I was back in my claimed territory.
“Do you need to eat?” I asked Jorgen as I headed toward the second bedroom, ignoring the kitchen directly ahead.
“The chocolate and almonds will hold me.”
Attention still on the ivory statue now between him and me, Jorgen clicked the door shut. “Isn’t the buddha normally in the living room area?”
I pivoted, walking backward while undoing my stupid suit jacket, I let my amused grin become goading.
Jorgen huffed, then deliberately laid his hand on the buddha’s head.
Yeah, never bother playing chicken with a werewolf. Alpha or not.
Jorgen lifted his hand, examining his palm thoughtfully before taking off his shoes and tucking them nect to mine, before following me across the living room. He raised an eyebrow, indicating that I hadn’t answered his question.
I smirked at him instead of answering. The habits that supposed inanimate objects picked up after extended contact with the dowser didn’t surprise me anymore. My cuffs were a perfect example. When I’d first been gifted the magical artifacts from the far seer of the guardian dragons they made me incredibly strong. Far beyond the natural strength of a shapeshifter, as well as a bit faster. Both in wolf or human form. But Jade had a compulsive need to protect those she deemed family, and in her hands, layers of magic and years of application, the cuffs were way, way more. They couldn’t be removed from me by force. They repelled any and all malicious magic. And I healed ridiculous quickly. Jade had woven all my inherent power and abilities through the power of embedded in the cuffs, and they made me … well, in my warrior form at least — a meld of human and wolf that I was still perfecting — it was possible that I was now the most powerful shapeshifter in the world.
Such power should have probably corrupted me. That was what extreme power was supposed to do. But I didn’t feel particularly inclined to do anything more than protect my chosen family, and train my misfits. I had my own pack. I didn’t need to challenge anyone else. I could finally chose to occupy the empty Tate seat in the Assembly but I …
Jurgen was staring at me with a bemused look on his face. “Where did you just go?”
“I was wondering why you were still wearing pants.”
He frowned. “I hope not. You looked …”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He didn’t finish the sentence.
I shrugged exaggeratedly. “The buddha … is like a guard dog.”
Jorgen raised his eyebrows. “And if it doesn’t like someone? It bites?”
“Not that I’ve seen. But it holds onto things that it deems dangerous.”
Jorgen glanced back at the ivory statue. It hadn’t moved from the front door. But then, I’d never caught it in motion.
“Like the dagger its currently holding?”
“Yeah. Jade probably brought it home, collapsed into bed exhausted, then forgot it the next time she took off. The buddha will keep it safe until she does something with it.”
Eyes narrowed on the statue in question, Jorgen muttered something, sounding slightly disconcerted.
Grinning, I reached between his legs and cupped his cock.
His attention snapped to me.
“That’s better,” I purred.
– Misfits 2, Chapter 2, Part 2 – first draft
Are you new to the Adept Universe? Click here for the suggested reading order where you can download a PDF that includes all the shorter stories (and where to find them).
The first book in the Misfits of The Adept Universe Series is Mory’s Misplaced Souls. Kandy’s three prequel shorts can be found in Moments of the Adept Universe 1
