Death Be Shifted (The Terra Vane Series Book 6)

by Katie Epstein

  “But Terra can?” Bernard didn’t look happy. I patted his arm, reminding him to keep his ass calm.

  “Do you think it’s an escaped prisoner doing this?” I asked Faraway. The anger fell from his face as he dragged his eyes away from our testy vamp.

  “I don’t know. But I also don’t know of anyone else who would have the gall to make these kills. Irrelative of that, you can use it as your reason for going in there. Follow up on a lead, see what’s going down, without there being too much of a fuss.”

  “Oh, they’ll be a fuss,” I told him, knowing why he wanted to meet us in private over this. He preferred us to put our heads on the chopping block instead of his own.

  “I know that,” Faraway replied. “But you’ve caused a few ripples over the past couple of months. First, with Rudolf River, and then with the vampires. It won’t surprise them to see you turn up ready to cause more. Especially if there is a killer on the loose.”

  “And what about Chief Cipher?”

  He blinked. “What about him?”

  “Why can’t you go to Cole with this?”

  “Erm, because of who his father is, maybe? I go to Cipher, and he will be obliged to apply for visitation rights for the agents via his father. By then, the Alpha of their pack will have tightened the borders. And those involved will play the game until we lose the scent. I’m not stupid,” he said to Kaleb. “I know how powerful your father is when it comes to the wolves.”

  “He craves power,” Kaleb replied. “Always has. And Faraway is right,” he said to me. “You go to Cole, and that’s exactly what will happen.”

  Letting out a sigh, I felt a headache coming on. “So what? You want us to turn up there, ask a few questions, piss off a few shifters, and roll back out again?”

  “I want you to follow up on a lead when I can’t,” Faraway replied. “There is something fishy going on, and my friend is at risk. I promised her I would do something, so I’m doing something. I’m asking you to do your job.”

  “Like you’re doing yours?” Bernard snapped.

  “Back off, vamp.”

  “Bring it, Fido.”

  “Calm it! The two of you.” I positioned myself in between them, but Kaleb took Faraway’s arm and urged him back.

  “We’ll resolve nothing this way,” Kaleb snapped. “Faraway, we have several other prisoners to consider. To go off on a wild goose chase into the shifter lands isn’t the greatest of ideas right now.”

  “And if it’s an escaped prisoner?” His nostrils flared as he turned to me in appeal. I had to admit he had us there. But then again, Faraway was the appointed lead agent in finding any prisoners who’d stayed behind on Portiside. However, he’d also played the political angle. And he was right. Shifter politics. Vampire politics. Each one is a pain in my ass as the powerful supernaturals of our world try to skirt around the rules.

  “How about this?” I sighed. “We’ll return and talk with the other members of the IET. If they agree to go ahead with this, we’ll head out to the shifter lands and look around. But if they don’t…”

  Faraway’s eyes softened. “All I ask is that you try.”

  Not entirely comfortable with the silent pleading eking out his pores, I nodded. Him being a snarling prick, I can handle. Acting like a lost lamb though, not so much.

  “Thanks, Vane.” He smiled, and he may have even meant it.

  “Give me twenty-four hours, and we’ll get our answer to you either way.”

  He shook his head. “If you’re going in, don’t contact me at all. If I don’t receive a note from you in the time you’ve allowed, then I’ll know it’s going ahead. It’s best we keep any contact to a minimal level from now on.”

  “Okay.”

  “The attacks are happening on the lands of the Caladonia Moor. Speak directly with the pack Alpha first. He’s new and eager to learn. The people are pushing him hard to find out what’s behind this, so, hopefully, he’ll accept the help.”

  “Brent Chaucer is the new Alpha now?” Kaleb asked in surprise. Faraway smiled meekly.

  “Life goes on when you’re not there, brother.” Faraway turned my way, regarding me with a contemplative eye. “You’ve always been a puzzle to me, Vane, one I was never sure about. But what you’re doing, how you’re going at the big leagues, I respect that. Just keep one eye on your back while you do it. Many people won’t like you stirring things up.”

  Not knowing what to say to such a revelation, we watched and waited as Faraway left us; the trees swallowing him whole.

  6

  Once we passed through the portal, my cell rang.

  It was Grady.

  “Hey, Grady. What’s up?”

  “Hi, Vane,” he replied tersely. I raised my eyebrows, waving Kaleb and Bernard to go ahead to the car.

  “You okay?”

  “Not really,” Grady sighed. “I guess you could say I’ve thought on a few things.”

  Worry flooded through me. Has he called to decline the position with the IET?

  Will none of us see him again?

  It hurt more than I thought it would. Grady. The guy with a pole up his ass. Former military. Frustrating pain in my rear. Honorable. Tough. Respectful. And thoughtful when he had to be. You could say we’d bonded during our last case, the suit-wearing, stern-looking, handsome (if you put an arm behind my back), dark-haired, gray-eyed devil worming his way into my heart as a friend.

  I quickly pushed my fears away, realizing it was up to me to say something. “Oh,” I replied, trailing behind Bernard and Kaleb. “And?”

  “I wish I had an answer for you,” answered Grady. “I had a chat with my fiance last night. You know how she’s staying at her friends while I try to get my priorities between work and her on track, right?”

  “Yes. You told me on the plane to Denver.”

  “Yeah. Well… she wasn’t happy when I told her the job would be a temporary promotion, a need-to-know thing, that might give me more time at home occasionally.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Got angry. Told me that if I thought anything of at her at all, I’d leave the bureau completely. She wants me to crawl back to my father to get hold of my trust fund. Take a hiatus. Invest in her business. Invest in us before we marry. But…”

  Disappointment lodged in my stomach. “But what?”

  “You’ve got to give me more, Vane. If I’m risking my relationship, if I’m to make a life-changing decision instead of fighting for what I have, then you’ve got to give me more.”

  “Like what?”

  “I told you things aren’t right between Cassandra and me. She’s changing. But she’s not the only one. I’ve changed, too. And I’m torn. I have a choice, you said. I can stay with my life of normal and forget all I’ve seen. Or…”

  “You can come on board with us?”

  “Yes,” he exhaled.

  “So, what are you getting at?”

  “I need to know more,” he demanded. “About the job. More about what I’m letting myself in for. You said there’s more to tell.”

  “There is. A lot more.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “Grady…”

  “Please, Vane. I’m on edge here. I don’t know what to do. Who to trust. What to feel. What to think. Everything is reeling round in my mind on a carousel, and I…” He hesitated. “I’m freaking out.”

  “You think knowing is better?”

  “Yes!” he replied with exasperation. “At least then it’s not my imagination filling in the blanks. And since meeting you, things I thought I’d denied, pushed away, have come rising to the surface with a vengeance. Things about my…” He cut off. But I knew he spoke of his gift to see the dead. I sighed. It didn’t seem fair to rip off the band-aid and tell him all about another world and the species there that shouldn’t exist: magic, fairies, vampires. And then disappear off into the shifter lands while he got his head around it all. But then again, hearing his distress, leaving him in the dark, that didn�
��t sound like it was doing him much good either.

  “We have a potential lead on the people we’re after,” I told him. “I might have to drop off the grid for a while.”

  “Then it’s more important than ever that you tell me now, isn’t it?” he pleaded. “I’ll handle it, Vane. I will. But I need to know the full facts. Do I fight for what I have? Or take a leap into something that might help the person I’ve become?”

  I blew out a breath. “Fine. But I can’t tell you over the phone. It’s classified.”

  “Then I’ll meet you somewhere. Anywhere.” The tension simmered through the phone. “Please.”

  That did it. I couldn’t leave him like this.

  “Meet me at the house in fifteen minutes. But I want to ask two things of you.”

  “Anything.”

  “One, if you can’t handle it, you don’t blame me.”

  “Done. And the second?”

  “You’ll believe me.”

  “I’ll believe you. I trust you, Vane.”

  “Then I’ll see you at the house.”

  Cutting off the call, I caught up with the others. Kaleb looked at me with concern. “Is Grady okay?”

  “Sort of,” I told him, “but he’s freaking out. An ultimatum from his fiance is putting the pressure on. He wants to know more about what he’s getting himself into before he makes his final decision about joining the IET.”

  “Which is fair enough.”

  “Yeah. But you don’t understand humans. Some things they can handle. Some things they can’t. And hearing about our world, what exists, what is possible, they tend not to deal.”

  “Grady will,” he reassured me. “He’s made of sterner stuff.”

  “Let’s hope so, Kaleb,” I sighed. “Let’s freaking hope so.”

  Grady made it to the house before we did.

  So much for giving the others the heads up on the chat with Faraway before Grady arrived.

  Encouraging Bernard and Kaleb to tell the others what had gone down, I instructed Grady to make himself comfortable in the kitchen.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No, thank you.” He removed his jacket. I took a seat opposite to him.

  “So…” I hesitated. “What would you like to know?”

  “Everything.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, Vane!” He took a breath, settling himself. “How about you tell me what you meant when you said that Kaleb’s not a demon, but he’s something else? And so are the others on the team?” He narrowed his eyes. “And about you thinking you might not be human.”

  “Ah,” I said, recalling that tidbit I’d let out. “Okay. Let’s start there then.” I put my hands flat out on the table to steady myself and let the words fall out of my mouth in a rush. “Kaleb is a wolf shifter, Bernard is a vampire, Libby is a lust demon, Mayra is a witch, and Zax is a dragon shifter.”

  His eyes widened. “A vampire?”

  “Out of everything I just said you’re holding on to the vampire?”

  He shook his head and squeezed his eyes tight. “Vampire,” he whispered. He opened his eyes. “Okay. Vampire I get. So, Bernard does what? Bites people? Drinks their blood?”

  “Yes. Although he confessed this morning he rarely bites at all. But he drinks blood. Vampires struggle with sunlight, but the older ones can venture out in it. Bernard is old so he probably could, too, but he doesn’t chance it. He wears a ring that allows him to go out into the day instead.”

  “Okay,” he drew out, looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “Don’t look at me like that.”

  He quickly apologized. “Sorry.”

  “Bernard is super fast, super strong,” I continued, “and one of the most loyal and supportive guys I know. Don’t judge him.”

  He put his hands up in defense. “I’m not judging him. How about we move on?”

  “To who?”

  “I don’t know… You said something about shifters and dragons?”

  “Yes. Kaleb is a wolf shifter, which means he can shift from wolf to human in the blink of an eye. Zax, who can turn into a dragon, takes longer to transform. His bones shift, break, crack. It pains him, so he doesn’t do it often. And he’s never done it over here because of, you know…” I shrugged. “Humans.”

  “Okay.” He frowned. “So Kaleb is a werewolf?”

  “No. He’s a wolf shifter. There’s a difference. Would you like me to get him to show you?”

  “Here?”

  “Well, maybe not a full wolf because he’s huge in furry form and we need to keep a low profile. There’s a risk his wolf would want to hightail it out of here and go back home. But he could part-shift for you?”

  “Okay…”

  “Now?”

  “In a minute, maybe. I need to get my head around all this.” He drew in air, let it out and tried to relax in his seat. “You have a vampire on your team and a man who turns into a wolf.”

  “Yes. And a lust demon, and a witch, and a man who can turn into a dragon.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean? Why?”

  “Why, if they exist, would they work for law enforcement?”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “I mean, why would the government hire them. Not…”

  “Experiment on them?”

  He appeared chagrined. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Maybe because the government doesn’t know about us. Or where we come from. Want me to go into that?”

  He nodded, his face strained. “Sure.”

  Here goes. “We came through a portal from another world, one that sits in a dimension pocket. And one where vampires, shifters, and fairies all exist, including a few mermaids. The odd giant.”

  “Do you think this is funny?” he snapped at me.

  “Do I look like I’m laughing?”

  He said nothing, so I reminded him, “You said you would believe me.”

  He bit down onto his lip and gave an abrupt nod.

  “Keep an open mind for a sec, okay?” I pleaded. “You’ve served in the military, you know a lot goes on in this world without being advertised for all to see. So stick with me here.”

  His jaw clenched. “Go on.”

  “About twelve thousand years ago, when the ancients predicted the Great Flood coming to Earth, many beings coexisted, including species like the ones I’ve just mentioned. Not forgetting wizards, witches, shamans. Even humans operated on an elevated level back then, according to the history books—psychics, telekinetics, and so on. And through desperation, many of the beings worked together to stop the flood or to escape. Anyway, they found a portal, one that led through to a desolate land, which sat in what we know as a dimension pocket. Because of the talents of the Fey, and those who can weave magic, they created an ecosystem to survive. Many migrated over. Many did not. But for those who did, it was the start of a new world, and one that’s become known as Portiside. A world I’ve lived in since I was sixteen years old after Dan Vasquez found me in the psychiatric hospital and showed me another way.”

  Grady’s eyes widened. “Dan?… Vasquez?”

  “Yes.”

  “My boss told you about this so-called world?”

  “Yes. And it’s not so-called. It exists. It is real. And it’s a place that resembles a lot on Earthside—sorry, Earth—because it evolved similarly. But in other ways, it’s very different.”

  He hesitated. “So what the hell is Vasquez?”

  “He’s an elf. The woodland kind. He has magic. A gift where he can identify talents in others. That’s how he found me.”

  He shoved his hand through his hair. “And how he knew about me?”

  “Dan said something had changed in you when you woke up from the coma, something that wasn’t there before. You confirmed his suspicions when he overheard you talking to Karl.”

  “Shit.”

  I hurried on. “Our world isn’t as big as this one, but it’s vast. Portisi
de City sits in the center. Totem Talamh, where many shifters live, is in the northwest. Darkwood, where a lot of vampires live in twenty-four seven darkness, is in the northeast. The Fey Lands sit in the south. There are four portals in total: one leads through to Seattle, another one to Egypt, one to England, and the other comes out in the ocean south of India. Immigration Control manages each portal, and people need papers to get through, much like customs. You will receive yours if you accept the position. Dan has a contract waiting and ready for you to sign should you wish to join us.”

  “To do what exactly?”

  “Join us. The IET. The Interside Enforcement Team. My boss put us together when we discovered twelve dangerous convicts had escaped prison. They broke into the labs of Portiside and stole a bomb that could blast through the magical security on the portal. Many died that day. And we’re here to stop any more from doing so. Lauz Magpie, the demon you saw, he was a soul-borrowing demon. He was one of the escaped prisoners, and he was the one who took over The Bard’s body to come after me. That’s why The Bard changed MO from the Grimm fairytales, and why he played cat and mouse with me. It was all because of Lauz. But even though he’s now dead, there are other prisoners out there just as dangerous. If not more so.”

  “So let me get this straight,”—he put his hand up—“you were in a psychiatric hospital and got rescued by an elf pretending to be an FBI agent, who told you of another world through a portal where vampires and fairies exist?”

  “Pretty much. Yeah.”

  “And you didn’t think you’d lost your mind?”

  “Of course I did. I was in a psychiatric hospital for goodness sake. But when my mom remained an asshole, I knew then it had to be true. In my illusion she’d have behaved better.”

  Someone chuckled, booming and hearty. It made me jump seeing as Grady’s lips didn’t move.

  “Karl?”

  Grady stilled. “What?”

  “You know I can hear him. Don’t you?”

  He went to deny it, but couldn’t. He’d seen too many of my reactions to what Karl had said, or from Karl’s laughter, to do so. I may have brushed them off at the time as nonsense, but now Grady’s reactions to me at those times all made sense.