Death Be Shifted (The Terra Vane Series Book 6)

by Katie Epstein

  He staggered back from my next shove and glared at me. “Stop it.”

  “No!” I pushed him again.

  “Stop it,” he said through clenched teeth, catching my hands in his when I went to do it again. “I said, stop it!”

  “No.” I put my face closer to his. “If I’ve done something wrong or if you’re mad at me, then vent it. Don’t hide away behind the quiet, moody veil. You know how I hate that!”

  “You hate it?” He laughed in disbelief. “How do you think I felt when I saw his hands on you!” he roared, but I stayed where I was, holding on to him so he couldn’t walk away.

  “You’re angry.”

  “Yes, I’m angry! To see him paw at you like that. Hurt you! What if he’d…” His voice broke, and he looked away. In that second, I saw genuine fear.

  “Kaleb…”

  “Kaleb nothing. You took that away from me! You ripped away my chance to tear him apart! To see his blood on my hands… I wanted to kill him! I’ve never wanted to kill anyone in my life like I wanted to kill him! To see his blood splatter across his face, to hear his bones crunch beneath my hand, to hear him whimper.” His eyes turned amber as he spoke. “It made my heart sing at just the thought of doing so.”

  “And after?” I stepped closer. My chest pressed against his. I needed to show him he didn’t scare me when he raged. “What would you have done then? Would you have bragged about killing your brother? Never once carrying the burden of taking his life?”

  “Yes,” he said, but I heard the lie.

  “Liar.”

  “I saw the look on his face moments before I got to you,” he growled. “I saw his intent. Trust me. Taking him out is something that would make me feel ecstatic.”

  “Maybe so. But afterward… the day after. A week. A month, maybe. It would have hit you. To have killed someone in cold blood like that when they’re already down. That’s not you.”

  He said nothing, so I tugged my arm from his hold, gathering his face in my hands. I looked up at him. “I know you too well, Kaleb. And no way in hell was I going to let you carry that burden. And when I saw him come at you with a blade.” I grimaced. “Let’s just say that even if first blood hadn’t spilled, I’d have stepped in between you both. He is a sly son of a bitch, and he’ll get what’s coming. But it will happen in the right way. In a way both of us can live with.”

  “Are you saying you wouldn’t have wanted to be with me if I’d killed him?”

  “Hell, no.” I kissed his cheek softly in promise. “I’m not saying that. And if you ever have to kill that asshole in self-defense, go at it. But not like that. Not when you could have broken him so easily in that fight. And not when you had to cross a line to a place where it’s no longer about survival, but about becoming your enemy to defeat him. You would never wear Eli’s skin so comfortably. And you know it.”

  He frowned, studying me. But my words had hit home.

  Letting out a deep breath, he rested his head against mine. “The thought of him hurting you like that… touching you that way. I could barely to keep it together.”

  “Your wolf…”

  “Not just my wolf. Me. Your friend. Your boyfriend. The one who is supposed to protect you. To keep you safe. And if you say one word about you being able to look after yourself, then so help me…”

  I bit down on a smile. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  “Now who’s the liar?”

  I shrugged. “All right. I’ll admit to it. If you admit you acted like an idiot running away like that.”

  “I didn’t do it to hurt you.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “I know you didn’t. And I knew you’d be angry. Hurt. Frustrated. I guess I didn’t realize how much. I’m sorry I stopped the fight.”

  “No,” he hesitated, brushing the hair back from my face. “You were right to do so. You were right to save me from myself.”

  “You’ve done that for me every day since I got to the academy. It’s about time I had the chance to repay the favor.”

  Something primal flared in his eyes. His eyes took in my face, hesitant fingers stroking my cheek. But then the fire ignited.

  He kissed me, his tongue evading my mouth. And I welcomed it all with enthusiasm.

  His mouth wanted more, his breathing heavy as he devoured, mine licking, kissing, absorbing him with all I had. He lifted me so my legs wrapped around my waist. He got us both to the bed, our hands wandering every which way. We crashed against the mattress.

  Kaleb moved against me and growled, saying in between harbored breaths, “We can’t go much further than this,” he panted. “It’s getting stronger. The need to claim you.”

  “What?” I opened my heavy eyes as if I’d just come around from blissful slumber. But then I remembered. “Oh. Your wolf.”

  “Not only my wolf,” he whispered to me, and I saw the truth of it in his eyes. I all but melted.

  “Kaleb…”

  “Ssh.” He put his fingers to my lips. “No rush, remember?”

  I rolled my eyes, shaking his hand away. “I get it. Claiming—big deal. No backsies.”

  “Exactly.” He winked. “So let me just rock your world a little.”

  “A little?”

  “A taster, baby. That should be enough to keep you sated for a while.”

  I laughed at that. “You’re such a dick.”

  “And you want it all.” He winked and leaned down to follow up on his promise. But I stopped him, knowing the timing was right.

  “I need to tell you something.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “It doesn’t require an uh oh.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  I bit my lip. “Okay. It might. Depending on how you take it.”

  “On how I take it, eh?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’ve fallen in love with you.” I shrugged, failing at nonchalance. “I thought you should know.”

  When I dared to look at him, his eyes shone brightly. “Terra…”

  I put my hand against his mouth. “You don’t have to worry about saying it back. I only wanted to tell you. To let you know I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve never said that to a boyfriend before. So this is a big deal for me. But know there’s no pressure. I think you need to know someone loves you. I love you. And I know I sound like a stalker right now. We’ve only slept together once. Kind of had a date. And saying I love you is ridiculous so soon, but we’ve known each other for years. Seen each other’s bad sides, good sides. Hell, I’ve even—”

  He pulled my hand away from his mouth, his lips creasing with a huge smile. “Will you shut up?”

  “What? I just wanted to—”

  “Shut up.” He kissed me. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Look, I just—”

  “I don’t care what ‘you just.’ Tell me again.”

  “Tell you what?”

  “Tell me you love me.”

  I smiled. “I love you, Kaleb.”

  “More than as a friend?”

  “Way more than a friend. Now stop torturing me. Let’s get back to kissing.”

  “So I can torture you in a different way?”

  “Yes,” I said on a laughed. “I suppose. I’ll take what I can get.”

  “Good.” He leaned in close, kissed me again. “Because I love you, too, Terra. More than a friend.”

  My eyes widened with shock at his confession, my heart racing like a jackhammer. I went to say something, anything—I don’t know the hell what—but he swallowed up my words with his mouth and kissed me until my toes curled.

  THE END

  If you would like to read more about the shifters, you can subscribe to Katie’s newsletter at www.katieepstein.com to read the short story of Anya in Diary of a Shifter. You will also get free downloads of other short stories of the Portiside Diaries that support previous books.

  Book Seven, DEATH BE RISING, is coming soon!

  Keep reading for a n
ew sneak preview …

  DEATH BE RISING

  CHAPTER ONE

  A few days had gone by since our last case.

  We’d recently returned from the shifter lands of Totem Talamh—a world that sits through a portal—licking our wounds back in Seattle. So much had happened, and we all reeled from it. I also hadn’t garnered the guts to speak to Dan Vasquez about my evolving psychic gifts.

  So far, he’d only chased via one phone call, checking in to see if all was okay. But I’d barely got out the words, ‘We’re good,’ when he had to apologize and end the call with abruptness.

  I was in no hurry to speak to him about the fact a soul-borrowing demon had claimed he wanted my Fey blood because of its taste. Or about a nosy Head of House vampire who’d done some digging on me and my immigration files to discover a part of my testing was missing. And neither did I want to all tell him all about my psychic gifts spiraling into an ability to control people through their energy.

  But soon I’d have to. If anyone had any further information on what’s going on with me, then it would be the woodland elf with Finder capabilities who’d found me in a psychiatric hospital aged sixteen. An elf who operated within the FBI. And one who I adore and look upon as family.

  He’d call back soon enough. Then I’d tell him.

  We’d all had an intense few months. And after the crap that had gone down at the shifter lands, my team deserved a break.

  It had begun with seven of us. Seven members of the IET—the Interside Enforcement Team—to apprehend the escaped prisoners from our world. And now there were six.

  We’d lost one of our team members to a vengeful djinn. One who’d taken out the innocent Earth fairy, Dolly Lin, leaving a hole in our hearts and our task force. But I still hoped we’d be a team of seven once more soon. That’s if Special Agent Noah Grady answered his damn phone.

  I’d left several voicemail messages. Some getting more urgent in tone as time went on. Not that I wanted to annoy him into accepting the position. But I’d grown concerned over the past day or so when Grady hadn’t answered my calls or called me back.

  The last time I’d spoken to him he wasn’t in the greatest of places.

  He’d handled me being psychic. He’d even come to terms with the fact I went against his precious protocol by wearing my black leather jacket on the job. I’m a far cry away from your average-looking FBI agent with my long dark hair and purple tinted ends that scream rebellion, and he’d struggled with it at first. But at the end of the case where a soul-borrowing demon hijacked the soul of a serial killer and kidnapped me, Grady had caught sight of the demon in his true form. After that, he called up, begging for me to fill in the blanks of who we are and what the job would entail before he chose between his fiancee’s ultimatum and joining us.

  I hadn’t disappointed. I’d told him all about a world sitting through a portal—one where vampires, shifters, fairies all live—and a place I’d called home since my mid-teens.

  You could say I’d blown his mind. And now I worried. I worried I’d broken Grady.

  “Morning gorgeous.” A set of strapping arms wrapped around me, pulling me into their comfortable, warm embrace. I turned away from the balcony view and settled into Kaleb’s arms.

  “Good morning.”

  He kissed my hair, then lifted the cup of coffee from my hands to take a sip.

  “You keep stealing my coffee and we’re going to have to have a serious talk.”

  “What’s yours his mine,” he whispered, gently turning my head so his lips could taste mine. The instant heat made me melt like putty in his hands.

  A slight groan left my lips, and a growl left his. He lowered the cup to the balcony floor, and like lightning he pulled me into his arms, his mouth upon mine, devouring, tasting, licking, and taking all he could so my unruly leg found its way around his waist.

  He lifted it, urging me back against the doorframe. He rubbed against me, eager and wanting, and I knew then I wouldn’t be able to do this much longer without combusting into dust.

  No sex.

  No freaking sex.

  Not when Kaleb’s wolf wanted to claim me every time we tried to do so.

  And it was getting worse during every attempt.

  Stupid wolf shifter hormones. Needing to claim the woman both man and wolf had deemed as their mate.

  Don’t get me wrong, I’d fallen in love with Kaleb. And he’d confessed the same to me, melting my heart. But come on! No sex? No release for the steam created by the muscled shifter whose taunting, shoulder-length blond locks, sparkling blue eyes, and probing tongue…

  Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

  I needed a cold shower. And like STAT.

  Kaleb chuckled against my mouth. “It’s killing me, too. Trust me.”

  Letting out the longest sigh in history, I dropped my leg and leaned my head against the wooden frame behind me. “I’m planning on killing your wolf.”

  He laughed out loud, pulling me with him toward the bed in my room. Not that I’d slept much in it as of late. I’d slept and cuddled with Kaleb in the basement the owner of the house had converted into a game room.

  Neither of us had mentioned it. But I found some of my things gradually making their way downstairs. Including my toothbrush he’d pilfered and put into the basement bathroom alongside his.

  Lying down next to him, I took a deep breath and shook off the heat. “I don’t mean to keep acting like a bag of hormones. I love being close to you, talking, eating ice cream, plotting in taking down the bad guys. But I’m not only craving the sex. I can live without that if I have to. But it’s the connection. I want to feel it more deeply with you. To explore. To show you how much I love your sexy little ass.”

  He smirked. “Sexy little ass?”

  “Not literally. Even if you have a cute tush. But you know what I mean.”

  He sighed, brushing the hair back from my face. “Yeah. I know. I’ve never worked out so much.”

  Laughing because I knew the truth of it, relief reared at the thought of me not being the only one to suffer.

  “Tell me about it. We’re on shift soon. Hopefully, work will help take our mind of it.”

  “You also need to call Dan back.”

  “I know,” I breathed. “I keep putting off. And I can’t any longer. I’ll call him later. See if he’s free tomorrow. I’ll speak to him then.”

  “You can also check in and see if he’s heard from Cole.”

  Cole Cipher.

  Enforcer Chief of the Portiside City Agency.

  Our boss on the other side of the portal.

  Kaleb’s brother.

  And a shifter I’d tried to date and failed when I realized I had feelings for Kaleb.

  Talk about a touchy subject.

  He’d also helped save our skin from their father, Alpha Theodulf Cipher when I’d interceded a challenge between Kaleb and his younger brother Eli.

  Eli had attacked me. Kaleb had challenged him to the death. Not wanting Kaleb to risk his life or bear the weight of his brother’s death, Cole had found a loophole, and we’d saved the day by the skin of our teeth when Kaleb took the out we’d offered. But Theodore was up to something, so eager to take back the reptile shifter we’d caught. In the end, we’d encouraged Brent, the Alpha of the lands Torroro of the Dark hills had hunted upon, to burn the body after Eli had so callously killed the reptile who’d given himself up. Who didn’t want to hurt anyone. Who couldn’t help himself. And who the escaped prisoners took with them for no other reason than for him to be their guard dog. Eli had shot Torroro in the head before anyone of us could blink, causing ructions from that moment on.

  However, we were another prisoner down. Agent Jay Karim who knew of our world and who worked for Dan, had sent us a message to confirm the Consilium expressed satisfaction at our efforts, and to keep our focus.

  In other words, they had the audacity to shove us along when they’re the ones who may have prevented such a disaster if they hadn’
t dragged their heels.

  “I’ll check in with him,” I agreed with Kaleb. “See if Cole is okay after all that business with your father.”

  Kaleb’s face darkened. “For once, I feel sorry for Cole. My father has him tucked neatly in his back pocket and he’s up to something. If he was pissed off at you before, he’s going to be more pissed now.”

  “And he’s going to come after my badge for reasons unknown. It’s not like I did anything untoward. Before the challenge anyway.”

  “I know. It makes no sense. But like I said, if he my father comes after you, in any way, he’s done. I mean it.” He hesitated, his eyes swirling into amber. “There will be no stopping me the next time.”

  “Kaleb…” I warned.

  “No. I get it. You stopped the challenge. But I won’t have you threatened. I won’t have you hurt. Especially by any of my kin.”

  Leaning into the hand he’d cupped against my cheek, I smiled. “I love you.”

  He grinned. “You can’t keep saying that every time I say something you don’t want to hear.”

  “Why not? It works doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does.” He pulled closer and kissed me lightly. “Because I love you too. And I love I can say that now. I love we can be this way with one another.”

  After being friends since our days at the agency academy, then partners for a couple of years more, it had taken a mind-blowing kiss and jealously stirred on both sides for us to own up to our feelings. I may have a few concerns about it all going to shit and our friendship being at risk, but I’m glad I took the leap. If only we could go to the next level so I didn’t keep imagining him in some very precarious positions.

  “Come on,” Kaleb said, snapping me out of yet another wanton thought. “It’s our turn to go to the store and stock up on the groceries.”

  “Oh all right,” I said reluctantly, glad we’d swapped the shifts around so we’d be working some together. It would allow us the time to hang out more too.

  After grabbing my jacket and keys, Kaleb followed me to the front door and shouted up to Bernard and Mayra in the den to tell them we were heading out.