“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t have a choice, Vane,” Hanley said, silently pleading for me to comply. Well, screw him.
Another officer stepped forward. But the sound of an aircraft had him looking up to the sky. The tents blew furiously from the rotors of a transport helicopter, setting on a space to land. Gathering wind whipped at our faces.
The door to the helicopter flew open, and down jumped Dan, wearing his FBI jacket and a frown on his face. Two men wearing suits, shades, and some badass weaponry followed.
Dan approached us, barely giving me a nod. “Sorry I’m late. General Whitley, I can explain—”
“Explain? I take it you’re the fool who ordered this sorry lot to march in their against orders?”
“They weren’t going against orders, sir.”
“Maybe not yours! But they went against those of the US military.”
“Beg your pardon, sir. But they didn’t.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Orders from the President.” He shoved the manilla folder into the General’s hands. “You can’t get any higher than that. Please give me a moment while I brief my people, then I’ll answer all the questions you have.”
Leaving Whitley gaping like a bulbous fish, Dan grabbed my arm, and ordered us all out of earshot. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Lopez and the others, not sure if we should have done so, not wanting to get them into trouble. But when Lopez and Jackson grinned back, I’m glad we did it.
“Dan,” I whispered, once we came to a standstill. “I’m about two seconds from killing you! Where’ve you been?”
“I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch. But I had to get permission to stop things on the political front taking a nosedive. It’s taken me this long to get the go-ahead. We have people immersed in the government on this side from our world. But it took longer than I thought to get permission from the White House. How did it go?”
I lifted the make-shift bag containing Dreven’s head. “We decapitated the madman. The zombies are all out for the count. A lot of them dust. But we lost most of the soldiers we took in with us. We had to destroy their bodies to stop Dreven from…” I trailed off.
“I see,” he said, eyeing me with concern.
“‘I see,’” I scoffed, mimicking him. “Sure you do. What did you expect? For us to sneeze on the zombies and they’d all disappear?”
“No.” He didn’t bat an eyelid at my sarcasm. “I have a clean-up crew at the ready. Anything else I need to be aware of?”
“Yes. Dreven summoned evil souls to take them as hosts. He planned to create a ready-made army to take over the world. He also said I have bigger things to worry about in the Consilium and in the higher places of Portiside, whatever that means. And Zax turned dragon.”
“He did?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “Dreven brought over two bugbears, two crazed shifters, and a Fey-vamp to help with his cause. We haven’t been in there dancing to eighties tunes and painting rainbows, you know!”
“What?” he said confused. “What does eighties tunes and rainbows have to do with anything?”
“I have no clue! I’m mad and I’m holding a head after fighting zombies. I’m traumatized. Dan, I had no choice but to send us in. You weren’t here and—”
“I’m not doubting your decisions, Terra. You did well. You got the mage. Some collateral damage, yes, but you’ve all eliminated the threat. You’ve done the hard part, now let me sort the rest.”
“What do you want me to do with the head?”
I held up the bag again. He gently pushed my arm down. “All of you go. Leave for the portal, now. Take it through, all of you, and make yourselves scarce for a few days while I sort this mess out. If you’re not around, they can’t seek you out while my back is turned covering up what’s needed. Deliver the head to Cole. He will make arrangements to have it shipped to the Evolvers for assessment. They’ll report it to the Consilium.”
“Okay.” I nodded in agreement. Going over to Portiside for a few days wouldn’t be too bad. Although we’d be leaving our belongings behind, they had spare kit at the agency. We could take a shower, change, then we could return to our homes, get anything else we’d need to bring back to the house on Earthsidefor when we returned. Grady could crash with Kaleb or Bernard.
But then I remembered the wards.
“Dan. Dreven said he’d almost got through the wards. If he made it through, then the other prisoners…”
“It’s fine. Tell Cole on the other side and he’ll inform The Circle who are maintaining the wards. If an alarm hasn’t already alerted them of the mage’s tampering, he’ll make sure they’re told. They can sort that out.”
“Are you going to be okay here?”
“Kid, you’ve done the hard part. Now I just need to distract the humans until the cavalry arrive. It’s all good.”
I sighed, rubbing my eyes with my empty hand. “Why do I feel we’ve just made things worse here?”
“Because they’ve made you think it. But you haven’t. You dove into the deep end and you swam. You all had each other’s back, and you made it through. The alternative would have been so much worse. Be grateful for the wins, kid. And get out of here. Do you all have your badges with you?”
“They’re in the tent. With all of our stuff.”
“Go get them. And then leave. The officers stationed at the perimeter have orders to let you through. Anything else you leave behind I’ll have shipped back to the house or in storage if I need to change your location. But go, now. Let me sort out this mess.”
He gave my arm a squeeze, then sailed off back to the others.
“Damn,” I let out. “Did all that just happen?”
Kaleb wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders. “If it didn’t, then we’re all dreaming the same dream.”
“Or having the same nightmare,” Grady added.
I turned to him. “You ready to go see a whole new world?”
He shrugged, his face still covered in who knows what. “After getting out of that shit show alive? I believe I’m ready to say, ‘Hell yes.’”
THE END
Look out for Dreven Asorin’s journal as part of the short story collection called the Portiside Diaries, by subscribing to Katie’s newsletter at www.katieepstein.com. Other stories are available to download for free as part of the collection.
DEATH BE HELL, book 8 in the Terra Vane series, will be coming soon!
Keep reading for a sneak preview…
Death Be Hell
Sneak Preview
Well, that was one for the books.
Fighting zombies.
Decapitating a mage.
Almost losing Bernard. And Mayra.
Not forgetting the weight we’d bear because of the losses from the US military. And the hostages the sick and twisted necromancer mage took as part of his master plan.
A vision of mine had shown his intent, fulfilling his desire to not only use an army of dead soldiers to take over Earth. But also take over Portiside. A world that sits through a portal. And one where supernaturals coexist in a dimension pocket alongside the ignorant lives of the humans.
I’ve lived there since I was sixteen. In Portiside, that is. Dan Vasquez found me in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from my psychic abilities, trapped in the nightmare of a sadistic doctor.
Dan, our dear woodland elf, who wore the glamor of a handsome older Hispanic man, with a fake name to match, had found me. He told me of a world where vampires, shifters, and the Fey lived. And I haven’t looked back since. Or to some degree I have since they appointed me lead agent on a special task force. One called the IET (Interside Enforcement Team), and one where they assigned seven of us to hunt down the dangerous twelve escaped convicts from Portiside Prison.
Some convicts stayed in Portiside, hiding out. Others used a magical bomb to blast through the portal and kill the Fey in Immigration Control who managed it. By
doing so, stealing it from the labs of Portis Forward, they fled through to Earth, ready to cause havoc. But so far, we’d taken out seven of them. That left another five to go. And even though I thought the necromancer mage was bad, we still had to find and apprehend an incubus, an assassin wolf shifter, a dark witch, a water fairy, and an evil Elf lord.
Yep. Just another day on the job.
And after arresting the escaped vampire, killing the raven-banshee shifter, two djinns, a soul-borrowing demon, a reptile shifter, and now the mage, we had a big tick in the plus column. Even if we’d lost one of our team in doing so: the beloved Earth fairy Dolly Linn, who we’d replaced with a human and his ghost friend, Karl.
Grady saw spirits, and his friend stayed as one to help keep the ghosts from consuming our new addition and his gift. Then there’s me, a psychic, one who may have Fey blood running through her veins. And whose gift is doing some freaky shit of late. Then we have my mate, Kaleb. A beautiful shifter with a head full of dirty thoughts and no filter on his mouth.
Bernard. My ex-boyfriend, best friend, and a vampire with a heart of gold, is a rarity in the vamp world, but not the only one. And then there’s Libby. The pain in the ass lust demon who’d give a few goddesses a run for their money. Not that I’d ever tell her that. And we have Zax. Our tech-geek dragon shifter who shifted to help beat the mage and his minions. And what a sight to behold when he donned the scales. Something Kaleb remained miffed about because Grady and Libby got to ride him.
Kaleb fan-boys over dragons. A lot.
And that left Mayra. Another one of my best friends. A witch who has a license to wield both light and dark magic, and one who worried the hell out of me.
She’d saved not only Bernard’s life when the mage tried to pierce a stake into his heart. But she’d eradicated the shield around Dreven so I could chop off his head.
I gagged again at the thought.
But I worried because Mayra didn’t look well, and she’d snapped my head off a few times. She’d had to dance with the darkness to deal with him, and it left her tainted. Something she vowed rest and a herbal tea would fix. But I kept an eye on her, just in case, even as we all crushed in the FBI assigned vehicle we had while on Earthside.
Dan had arrived in time with papers from the President of the United States, giving us permission to have overseen the zombie mission under our guise of the FBI. Immersed in high positions of influence on Earthside, Dan took advantage of that, and timed it by the skin of his teeth before we’d got arrested for treason by the Chief of Staff. Now my mentor wanted us out of the way. And to stay in Portiside for a few days while he sorted out the political mess and the abandoned mall devastation we’d left in our wake.
I drove. I still hadn’t given Kaleb the driving lessons he’d wanted. I’d avoided the subject when he raised it, not wanting to teach a wolf shifter how to drive. Call me a coward. And so much had happened of late, he’d only mentioned it in passing, anyway.
Portiside.
We were going home.
Part of me couldn’t contain my excitement, all of us able to be our true selves for a while. And I’d get to see my stepdad and roommate, Rosie. I’d missed them both so much.
The others’ excitement grew too, aside from Mayra who remained solemn. And Grady, who looked confused. He’d only recently heard of Portiside, his conformed mind struggling with the concept until Kaleb and Bernard showed him their “other” selves. But even after fighting zombies, the idea of seeing a whole other world pushed Grady close to the edge.
When we reached the portal in the National Park, I had to laugh at his face in the rearview when I pulled up outside an airport hanger. He’d expected flashing lights and swirling orbs, I’m certain.
“This is it?” Grady frowned, shoving a hand through his dark hair. He climbed out of the car. “It’s an airport?”
“I told you Immigration Control manages the portal.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t expect an airport.”
I smiled. “It’s not one. Not really. It’s glamor. A magical disguise, if you will. But don’t try to overthink it, Grady. You’ll break your mind.”
Grateful to see Kaleb had grabbed Dreven’s head wrapped up in a dead goblin-bugbear’s chain mail, we headed toward the hanger first. There I handed over the car keys to an Immigration Control officer who welcomed us with a smile and logged it in. She’d store it there ready for when we returned. Or if Dan needed to collect it.
Entering the shiny white doors, we entered the airport, looking a sight. None of us had cleaned up since the battle. And whereas most of us had healed—Kaleb healing my injuries through the mate bond—we were still covered in blood and zombie dust all over our combat gear.
A few officers stopped what they were doing when they saw us. A senior Immigration Officer approached wearing his pale blue shirt and navy trousers. The fire emblem on his sleeves matched the one on his hat.
The Fire Fey looks after the Fire Arch of Atsila portal. It’s one of four and is positioned closest to the city. It’s the most used to travel through to Earthside because of it.
After the explosion that allowed the likes of Dreven and his minions to pass through, they’d recruited to replace those who’d lost their lives that day.
“You’re IET?” the officer asked. I nodded.
“Yeah. And we’re carrying precious cargo for the Consilium. We’re taking it to the agency first though.”
He put out his hand to Kaleb to take the package holding Dreven’s head. “May I?”
“Knock yourself out,” my mate replied. “Might want to poke your nose in there first. But mind the stench.”
He did so, cringing when he caught sight of what was in there. “Ah. I see. I’ll scan it through the machine as per protocol, but we’ll bypass additional security checks because of your level of clearance.” He coughed, waving another officer over. “Scan this,” he ordered, after taking a deep breath. “My name is Raythorn. I’ll assist you through your security today.”
“Thanks, Raythorn. Sorry about the mess.” I looked down at the shiny, now grimy, floor behind us.
He waved me off. “We’ll clean it up. It’s the least we can do for the IET.”
“I’ve got to say. It’s good to be home.”
“Thank you for everything you’re doing on Earthside,” he replied. “We can’t reap vengeance for those who killed our kin. But with every prisoner you take down, we celebrate.”
I nodded, knowing how much it would hurt the Fey to have their own killed and not be allowed their retaliation. But they abided by the rules unless you entered their territory. Then the laws became somewhat sketchy.
“Have a drink for us.”
“We will.” He smiled. “Who’s first?”
“You guys go,” I told the men of our group. I’d go through with Mayra to make sure she was okay. And I knew Libby wouldn’t leave her side. Her concern for Mayra had grown since we left Kirkland. And that in itself bothered me. Libby rarely worried about anything. But she and Mayra had also bonded during our time on Earthside and had become close.
Bernard and Zax went through first. Once they were cleared, Grady looked on in awe as Kaleb directed him inside the booth, explaining what to expect.
My mate turned and winked at me before scanning his IET badge on the transparent screen of the white pod. He smiled, and with our new communication ability from the mate connection, he sent to my mind, ‘See you on the other side, beautiful.’
I smiled back, my cheeks blushing at such a comment. I’d so suffer for my reaction later. He looked smug at such a sight, disappearing behind the closing doors.
When they cleared the security, Raythorn ushered us forward, and said, “Your turn.”
“Can the three of us fit in there?”
“Sure. Three-person limit, so step inside.”
We did so, but the act shook Mayra out of her reverie. “Where are we?” she blurted, and I shared a worried glance with Libby. The doors closed behind us, a
nd Mayra jolted.
“It’s security clearance,” Libby explained, rubbing her arm in comfort. “That’s all.”
Mayra’s aqua eyes widened, and she spun on her heel, trying to locate a way out. She banged on the doors.
“I need to get out of here!”
“Mayra,” I soothed. “It’s fine.”
A green band of light came down, assessing us. It targeted me first. “Enforcer Field Agent, Terra Vane. Sapphire Citizen,” an automated voice said. An image of me appeared on the chamber wall. “Sanctioned for dual citizenship. IET level access.” Another beep alerted for Libby. “IET Agent, Libidine Alala. Onyx Citizen. IET Clearance.”
The machine readied to scan Mayra, who tugged at her white-blond hair. “This is bullshit,” she snapped, stepping back. She banged at the door. “Let me out!” she shouted. “Let me out now!”
“Mayra,” I tugged at her arm, “stop it. You’ve been through clearance before. It’s nothing to fear.”
The automated voice echoed around the chamber. “Alert. Status unknown. Status unknown.”
I panicked, looking at Libby in appeal. She appeared as confused as I was. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “She can’t have gone dark. We’d know.”
Mayra screamed in frustration, yelling for them to get her out of the booth. She turned toward me. “I haven’t turned dark,” she breathed, her chest rising and falling fast. “But my magic is all off-kilter. What if they think I have?”
“Alert. Status unknown.”
Alarms began sounding. Mayra began banging the door again.
“They won’t!” I shouted over the noise.
She turned on me. “How the hell do you know!”
I put my hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged me off. “I’ll tell them you fought the mage. I’ll explain it’s shifted your magic. That you have a license to practice dark magic.”
Her back straightened at that. Her gaze drinking me in to ensure I spoke the truth. Her lips curved when she realized I meant what I said, and her shoulders sagged with relief. “You’ll tell them that?”
Death Be Rising (The Terra Vane Series Book 7) Page 24