Death Be Rising (The Terra Vane Series Book 7)

by Katie Epstein

  Head-butting him with force, I used the moment’s reprieve of his head snatching back to get my arm free.

  The zombie roared in my face, spitting his nastiness all over me. I scrunched my eyes tight in defense, rummaging for the blade at my side. Clutching my hand around the hilt, I lifted it, and stabbed it deep into his side. He howled in pain, so I stabbed again and again.

  They feel everything all right.

  Pushing him off me, I rushed to my feet, hacking at every damn limb I could reach. Someone grabbed me from behind, squeezing me tight. Blood from the body so fresh splattered against my skin, but I couldn’t get free.

  Another flew toward me. I kicked at him with both legs.

  Have more come from somewhere?

  I couldn’t tell, so I fought, screaming when the asshole who got me bit down onto my shoulder. I whacked my head back twice, hitting what felt like a brick wall. He dropped me to the ground, so I grabbed my weapon and shot him in the balls. Screaming in pain, he clutched his crotch, and stumbled back. Raising my arm to hack off his head, a heavy elbow crashed down on my joint, and a jolt of pain shot down to my hand. I dropped the weapon involuntarily, barely dodging a hit to the face.

  Mayra screamed. I looked over, but Libby, blood streaming down her face, got their first. I leaped over an unmoving torso and barraged into the one about to strike at Libby’s back. We scuffled, and he got the advantage by getting on top and slapping my cheek.

  Within a dash, a furry blur knocked him off me.

  Kaleb.

  He’d shifted, taking advantage of us being alone with the walking dead.

  Inhaling a deep breath, I got to my feet, and spun on my heel to evade a dagger a zombie shoved my way. But he cackled, pushing me back into a set of muscles arms.

  “Come with me,” their leader said in my ear. And he snatched me off into the shadows.

  29

  ‘Kaleb!’ I shouted in my mind, hoping it would reach him. I tried to grab on to something as the zombie jostled me around.

  ‘Where are you!’ he yelled in my head.

  ‘I don’t know. The one with the big mouth, their leader, took me. I can’t see!’

  I fought hard but Big Mouth threw me over his shoulder and held on tight. I hit where I could, unable to reach any other weapon. The next thing I knew, he me slammed against a wall, and I caught sight of a big screen.

  ‘I’m in one of the screening areas.’ I pushed to Kaleb, hoping we weren’t too far away. I wasn’t sure how far the telepathic messaging service went.

  Something hard hit my jaw. I swallowed blood. A kick to my gut came, and I wheezed.

  Punching at the darkness, Big Mouth laughed, giving away his position. I roared, kicking out to the darker shadow. Something hard hit the back of my head, and I staggered.

  The screen was pitch black. No lights filtered through the doorways or beamed from the floor. They’d lured me into tenebrous space, pulling me from the group. But why me? Because I was the weakest? Because they wanted to use me as bait?

  Shit. Kaleb.

  ‘Don’t follow me!’ I called out to him. Something sliced my leg, and I hissed. The warm blood trickled down my leg. ‘It’s a trap!’

  Someone hit me three times. Hard hits in the face. I stumbled to the ground, my body begging for unconsciousness. But I refused to let it. The second I did so I was dead.

  I rolled. I don’t know where. My back hit something. A row of seats, maybe?

  Scrambling around, my hand found the top of one, and I quickly got to my feet. My eyes adjusted enough to make out movement. So I shakily reached for my weapon and flicked on the flashlight mounted upon it.

  It was a trap all right. They’d filled the place. And I’m not talking about eager movie watchers.

  Zombie after zombie. Row after row of the undead. They formed a circle, squeezing in between seats, breathing in sync as their eyes focused on me, ready to pounce. I assessed the exits. A neon light stating ‘Fire Exit’ was too far away to reach. I noticed another set of doors, but again, too far away. They’d blocked me in. A barricade of zombies. All waiting with eagerness and hunger.

  One licked his lips.

  Oh balls.

  I knew it. I knew I’d go out this way. Eaten by bastard zombies.

  I fired, shot bullet after bullet into the air. Big Mouth screamed, falling from the stream of bullets, his eyes filled with surprise that the weapon had done damage. He collapsed against the floor. But the others, matted hair, half their teeth, skin peeling from their faces—they were the puppet kind. The ones that didn’t even feel the bullet because they couldn’t feel at all.

  How had Dreven got hold of so many dead without people noticing?

  It didn’t matter. Another life or death situation had come my way, and I had to fight my way out of it with limited bullets, a blade in my boot, and a concussion. My gift wouldn’t work on this occasion. They had no energy to manipulate. And I couldn’t risk being out of it. My Pulsar had proved to be useless against the puppets.

  One of them reached for my throat, so I kicked at him, simultaneously slamming my gun against his head. I grabbed small blade from and slashed at another, fighting hard, unable to take a minute.

  More hands came. Another tugged hard at my hair. I roared in rage and pain and elbowed them hard.

  My leg tingled. I hoped it was a shallow cut. But I wouldn’t give in. Screw that. I refused to become a zombie meal. Nope. No way.

  Anger drove me harder. I hit and kicked more. Hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed as laughter rang through the air.

  Trying to get free, one zombie yanked my gun from my hands, tearing it from the strap. Another bit into my arm, so I hacked into its neck with the blade and shook his head free. But it left an opening for the others. They pounced, and I sank, drowning in a sea of zombies.

  My worst nightmare had become my reality. And a tear escaped me. But still I fought.

  When I caught the leathery skin of one my beneath my hand, I squeezed hard, happy when it crumbled. But it didn’t stop them. The crowd knocked me to the ground, and fought hard as they touched, grabbed, and hurt, scrambling to get my blood. My flesh. But then a fight between the zombies broke out above me. They didn’t want to share their meal now they were this close. Dreven had given them the means to act like true zombies. True zombies. Ha!

  Damn. I’m losing it.

  Taking advantage of the reprieve, I stumbled to my feet. The flashlight beamed from the ground where they’d slung it, too far for me to reach. I pushed against the wall of the hungry dead. But another knocked me down.

  Something sloshed around in my brain, and I was unable to grasp a thought. So much hurt, so much consumed me. I tried to grab to a sense of my surroundings.

  I hit, lashing out with limp arms.

  ‘Where are you?’ I heard Kaleb yell in my head. And all hope dissipated. They didn’t know my location. They had no idea where I was.

  How cruel was I, encouraging him to claim someone who faced death every two freaking minutes? But then the love I’d felt from him during our mating shimmied its way into my soul. Anger filled my chest. Fury fed me, and I devoured it. I wouldn’t freaking die today. And I wouldn’t do so by a bunch of rabid zombies.

  Maybe my gift can reach out and find zombies with a spirit inside? If so, as a pathetic last resort, I could manipulate them to sail in and rescue my body, taking it to Kaleb and the others.

  It was all I had. And if I had to risk them dining on me, then at least I’d be in the white room, away from my body, and unable to experience the devastation as they took my life away.

  Tingles erupted in my toes and fed their way through me as I called upon my gift. Energy filled me while shining brightly. I dropped all of my psychic shields with no hesitation, seeing no auras around these beasts. But what I saw surprised me. Energy from Dreven’s magic pulsed through their shells.

  I reached out to every single one, no other thought in my mind but survival. I craved it. Like
a thirst I needed sating. I pushed out to one, then the other, then the other, and a white light danced across the room. I sensed the power that kept them locked inside the dead bodies, and focused on the bubbling green light, tethering them to the zombie shell. My energy wrapped around it, tight and unwavering.

  ‘Terra!’ I heard Kaleb in my head, but I was beyond him now. My focus remained on draining the zombies dry of the magic that pulsed through them as my gift took over.

  The white room consumed me. But I willed my energy to stay with my physical form, begging it to stay within myself so I wouldn’t be vulnerable to the surrounding enemy. The tugging worsened, but I refused to let go. My pulsing white energy continued to cloak that of the green, and I had to let it. When my essence began to detach from my body, I heard Kaleb shout, ‘No!’

  Love suddenly poured into me. So pure and deep. Like a waterfall it caressed as pink cascaded over my vision. A stream of light wove with my energy, anchoring me to my body.

  What is this?

  I laughed in blissful pleasure, tears kissing my cheeks at the wonder. It was beautiful. It was serene.

  Have I died?

  But then I sensed him. Kaleb. Our bond. The mate connection.

  Power surged inside and out. It spilled out of me, the two of our energies combined. Kaleb’s essence entwined with mine, holding me down as my light passed through the flailing zombies, dousing the magic as it traveled. My feet held firm on the floor, and my surroundings spun around me, shifting from the white room, to the reality of where my body stood.

  Raising my palms out before for me, I watched in awe as the energy remained, fulfilling my purpose. But then some of the pink streams swirled away from me toward the door, and in rushed Kaleb.

  “Terra,” I saw his mouth move, his expression falling into one of concern. He raced toward me, letting the others fight the remaining zombies still tied to their puppeteer’s strings. He pushed through the horde, eager to get to me, his gaze holding mine, pleading for me to hold on. I focused on him, drawing him forth.

  When he reached my position, he tentatively cupped my injured face, and rested his forehead against mine.

  ‘You’ve got this, baby,’ he said, pushing all he had toward me. The connection grew stronger. ‘But you’ve got to stay with me okay? Stay with me.’

  Screams echoed around us. Kaleb’s rose light wound its way around my body. And my energy did its thing, reaching out in its mist-like way, snuffing out the zombies light one by one.

  ‘Kaleb?’

  ‘I feel it. I see it. I’ll keep you grounded. I’ll keep you here.’

  And he did so, the rest of the IET hacking away at remaining zombies, turning them to dust.

  My skin knitted together through the mating bond, and I gasped. Broken bones healed. The gash in my leg no longer pulsed with piercing agony. Everything felt right again.

  ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘The bond is healing you.’ He told me. ‘Let it.’ He flinched beneath my hands.

  ‘Is this hurting you?’ I tried to pull away, but he held on.

  ‘You hurt, I hurt. That’s the deal.’

  ‘No. Kaleb…’

  ‘Don’t even think about it.’

  Another pulse of love came forth, wrapping me in a cocoon of tingling pleasure.

  ‘I don’t want you hurt,’ I pleaded when he winced again.

  ‘Same here,’ he growled in my mind. ‘You looked a sight. You were covered in blood. I barely saw your face for bruises. I scented your blood. And you almost left me.’

  ‘It was my gift. I—’

  A final rush of love drew me to Kaleb. Our eyes met, and in his beautiful gaze I saw everything.

  “That’s better,” he smiled, stroking my cheek.

  “You healed me,” I said in awe, a shaky hand reaching for my leg. No wound. I checked my face. No swelling. No cuts. No bite marks. “You saved me.”

  “You saved yourself.”

  I shook my head venomously. “No. I had to use my gift. I had no choice. You anchored me. You kept me here.”

  Feeding a hand around the back of my neck, he drew me close and kissed me. It was slow, and pained, and desperate. And I took it, showing him my relief and gratitude.

  “I thought I’d lost you.” He breathed, taking a minute. “I felt you leaving your body. I tried to get to you—” his voice broke. He kissed my forehead. “We found you. You showed us the way.”

  “You heard me?”

  “We noticed the light shining, and somehow, I knew it was you.” He kissed me again.

  A cry of fury brought me back around. I blinked my eyes open to see Libby raising her sword down on a zombie, hacking off his head. Mayra quivered in Zax’s arms, standing by, watching me, ready to intervene. Kaleb reassured her by kissing me some more. But then Bernard appeared by our side, and coughed loudly, a smirk on his lips. “You two finished the show?”

  My cheeks reddened. “Shut up.”

  “No one’s judging, sweetheart. But if I don’t intervene, then Kaleb will go all caveman and do you in the shadows. And we need to get to Dreven before he clocks on to your gift. He won’t be happy with this.” He waved toward the dust scattered around the ground, highlighted by the streams of light the IET created from their weapons.

  What has my gift done?

  Distracted by my mate, it took seeing the dust on the floor to realize what we’d achieved. We’d taken out so many.

  “He’s right,” Kaleb growled, his eyes flashing amber with lust. I shuddered, biting down on to my lip to stop the need to pounce and me do him in the shadows.

  Blinking free of him, the severity of our current issue returning, I glanced over his shoulder to see Grady. “What happened with the Lopez and the others?”

  “I radioed Young’s location and ordered them to get the hell out of here and report back to Hanley,” he replied. “Lopez radioed to say they found Private Young. He was unconscious, but unharmed. They’re taking him and Jackson back to get medical attention. But Lopez wasn’t happy. He said he intends to return.”

  “It’s pointless.”

  “He’ll do it. He’ll have to. But hopefully, by the time he returns, it will be over.”

  I sighed, looking at the encompassing mess. “Let’s hope so. We need to keep moving before Dreven throws a tantrum at the huge dent we’ve just made in his army.”

  Zax threw my lighter back at me and smiled with warmth when I caught it. But then he frowned. “Anyone get the feeling this is only the icing on the cake?”

  “Yeah.” I shoved the lighter into my pocket. “So let’s go take a bite before Dreven levels the score.”

  30

  “Terra, wait,” Mayra said, pulling me to a standstill.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ve just ramped up the urgency by taking them all out.”

  “That’s why we need to get to Dreven before he makes his next move.” I went to walk by her, but she pulled me back.

  “Listen to me,” she demanded. “You’ve not allowed me to use my magic because you’re worried Dreven will use it against me somehow or be aware about the threat coming. But you’ve just showed him yours. Trust me when I say, he won’t worry about some mediocre witch riding with the IET.”

  “Mayra…”

  “Dreven won’t be somewhere without protection, waiting for you to attack. He won’t be vulnerable that way. But he will have to be at the source to control so much magic at once. And he could be anywhere, moving around, watching us from the wings. Let me do my magic to find him.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing. I’ve listened to you this far because we had an army to blast through. But you’ve taken them out. And Dreven won’t have expected that. You give him time to plan and it won’t be me you have to worry about. It’s you.”

  Glancing at Kaleb and the others, I already knew they’d outvote me if I asked for their take. “What do you need?” I said to Mayra eventually, and she sagged with relief.
>
  “Give me five minutes and some space.”

  “Libby, will you help her set up, please?”

  “Sure.”

  Zax swung his weapon around his back, leaving to help them both.

  “What’s your plan of attack for Dreven?” Bernard asked. He appeared no worst for wear now his injuries from our previous battle had healed.

  “If I’m honest,” I sighed, “I have no damn clue. Mayra’s right that he’ll be here somewhere. He’s strategized all of this aware we’ll get to him eventually. But slowing us down in doing so. I’d predict a shield. More bad guys. Maybe a long-winded speech and a cackle before blowing us all to pieces?”

  “You think his aim will be to wear down the wards, and to use the army he’s gathered to take on this country then the rest of the world. He wants us dead, yet we’ve got through his fun house. It will surprise him you took out so many with one hit. So what’s the end goal?”

  “I’m not sure. But we go in with what we have. That’s all we can do.”

  Five agitated minutes later, Mayra shouted, “Got him!”

  On alert, we raced over to her. “Where?”

  “He’s outside. On the perimeter of the outdoor parking lot at the rear of the mall.”

  “He wasn’t there when we checked the borders?” Bernard questioned.

  “Then he’s moved. Because he’s there now. I used something of his from the prison I brought with me. I wove it with the magic he fed into the amulets to keep the escaped prisoners from being tracked.” She held up an amulet we’d taken from one of the fallen convicts.

  Grady stepped forth and rested a hand on his weapon. He didn’t look convinced. “Rough co-ordinates?”

  “It’s not specific like that. Only an awareness and whispers. That’s what the magic told me.”

  Doubtful, he sought me in appeal. I had to hide a smile.

  “You can see your friend as a ghost. You’ve fought zombies. You’ve seen the magic Dreven conjured in the lights, the zombies, and the talents of the team. Are you really questioning the word of a witch?”