Title :
Skin Deep
Series :
Darkworld # 1
Release date : April
30th, 2013
Publisher :
Infinite Ink
Genre :
Urban Fantasy
Panther
Shape-shifter Kailin Odel just wants to be normal. Leaving her clan, and her
Alpha responsibilities, to live with her grandmother in Chicago had been the
best thing for her. Only then did she discover her ability to track and kill the
soul sucking undead creatures called Wraiths. Now she protected the humans, and
had something to be proud of.
But,
when she discovers the body of a murdered shape shifter, Kailin has to come to
terms with the reality that her own kind are just as vulnerable as the humans.
The
closer Kailin gets to the killer the more she has to face the intricacies of
her people. When the time comes can she accept who and what her real purpose
is?
Skin Deep by T.G. Ayer is the first novel in her Darkworld
Series and I loved it. I’m already a huge fan of her Valkyrie Series, so I knew
this book would get me hooked too and it did. It pulled me right in form the
start and I couldn’t put it down for long.
Kailin Odel is a young strong woman, a panther
shape-shifter, a skin walker and not to mention from the Alpha line. She has
some troubles at home, so she decided to move in with her grandmother in
Chicago, where she discovers that she has another talent. It appears she is a
Wraith Hunter, she can track and kill these soul sucking creatures. Then one
night she witnesses a body being thrown from a car and when she takes a closer
look, it happens to be another shape shifter. But the body dumpers are coming
back and Kailin has to run to stay alive, but gets hurt on the way.
She has to take care of herself first and then get
that body to safety before the human police get their hands on that body.
But she is too late; police are all over the place and
investigate the crime scene. Logan Westin and his partner Jess are called in,
they are part of Omega; a special team within the police department who
investigate the paranormal. And it won’t take long before they show up on
Kailin’s doorstep to ask some questions.
I loved Kailin and Logan as main characters. Bryn is strong,
determined and real alpha material; who is learning more about her heritage and
try to deal with the changes in her life. Logan is also strong, determined and
trying hard to keep his own special gift a secret from Kailin, but when she’s
in the line of fire he will do anything to keep her safe.
There are some very interesting secondary characters
that make the story complete. I love Grandmother Ivy, whose gets back from her
trips just in time to give Kailin another live lesson. Anjelo, who’s Kailin’s
best friend and another shape-shifter, he might be young but stands his own in
a battle.
T.G. Ayer has written a fantastic novel, created a
fabulous world with great characters. I’m definitely looking forward to the
second book in this series, because the story isn’t done yet. There is more to
tell and I really need the next book to see how it will turn out.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a
strong female shape-shifter and a yummy police detective, because you won’t be
disappointed.
Excerpt
Icy pain sliced through my bones, the muscles of my arms,
and the flesh of my back. My spine and thighs rippled, shifted. Changing. Damn.
Too fast.
I spared a rueful glance at my new leather pants. And ran
faster. Had to make it to the Rehab Center a few blocks away. I ran, my speed
super-human, my need super-charged, covering ground fast enough to make it to
safety before my Panther took over.
I took the corner of the street behind the Center at
breakneck speed, and headed for the nearest of the gaping holes pockmarking the
rusted fence.
The wind changed before I stepped off the curb. My ears
peaked and I skidded to a halt, panting slightly, my backpack thumping against
my side. The scream of tires on blacktop echoed on the night air, shattering
the silence as it grew ever louder. Closer.
Followed in tandem by the whining wail of sirens. A battered
sedan scorched down the street, suspended on the turn on only two wheels. The
angry whip of charred rubber spiked the air. Horizontal again, the car jumped
the curb and skidded sideways, avoiding a collision with the fence by mere
inches.
I shrank into the shadows at my back, expelling a long,
stale breath. My Panther, still confined within my body, bucked and jerked,
craving release. I let her surface. A little.
For now, super-sight would be welcome. Unlike the ability to
run like the wind while still in my Human skin, tapping into my Panther's sight
required a partial transformation—a risk I needed to take as my gut screamed
danger.
Adrenalin surged, different again from the calm fervor of my
wraith hunts. I blinked. Heat nipped at my corneas as I released my Panther
sight—enough to give my eyes feline vision.
Sight, which sliced deep into the black nothing hugging the
sidewalk, transformed my eyes into a solid Panther emerald. For the moment,
plain old Kailin Odel was back to being Kailin of the Clan Panthera.
My cat sight adjusted, focused. The blackness surrounding
the darkened vehicle changed depth and color, became lighter, clearer.
Someone shoved the rear door open, and I cringed as it
creaked and complained. The occupants remained shrouded in the shadows of the
vehicle's interior. Something large, long and heavy hit the ground with a dull
thunk. Then the sedan revved as unseen sirens drew closer, louder, and it spun
around and skidded off the curb.
The battered car roared off, a police cruiser close on its
tail with sirens screaming blue murder. It didn't take a genius to figure out
the parcel had to be awfully incriminating, for them to chuck it into the
garden in such a flaming hurry.
My nostrils twitched at the stench of exhaust smoke, and my
heart thumped as I waited to cross the street. I flicked a furtive glance at
the dull red glow of taillights disappearing into the darkness. A breeze
skimmed the sidewalk, ruffling my hair, and I hurried across the street as the
sounds of sirens faded in the distance. I paused a few meters from the bundle,
released my Panther's nose and sniffed. Whatever I'd expected to scent on the
air, it wasn't the tang of copper drifting toward me—strong, rich and
intoxicating.
Blood. Fresh blood. A luscious odor, laced with tendrils of
the familiar.
I moved closer, my mind warring with my emotions. This was
no bundle of rags, or some stolen junk those thugs had thrown away, but a
living being. The blood surely meant the person now lying on the sidewalk
needed medical attention.
I stood over the bundle, the cloying odor of the blood
filling my nostrils, and hesitated in a moment of doubt and fear. Now or never.
I took a deep breath and crouched beside the silent form. My
hand quivered as I reached out and touched the scratchy, ragged fabric covering
the shoulder of the silent figure. At first it resisted my tug, stiff against
my touch, but one more gentle urging turned him toward me.
I gasped, my throat closing on the sound. My heel caught as
I pulled away, and I staggered backward as hot horror burned through my veins.
The face glistened, bloody and mangled. Raw muscles and ligaments lay exposed,
bare. A low moan of horror echoed around me. Chills streaked up my spine when I
realized the stricken sound had originated from my own throat. The familiar
richness of him clouded my mind, clogging my throat and drugging my senses. A
Skinwalker.
My throat spasmed, silencing a shriek as he stared at me.
His breath whispered—shallow, irregular, the sound ragged as he labored in his
final moments. He gripped with desperation to the disappearing threads which
held him to this mortal earth.
His face held my gaze, and somewhere behind ribs of ice my
heart clenched, threatening to implode. My own face stared back at me,
reflected from within eyes as blue as oceans. Eyes filled with excruciating
pain and desperate fear. He didn't speak, just studied me for a few moments
with those glorious eyes. Recognition. Gratitude. Relief. Then... release.
Life flickered and sputtered out of his beautiful eyes—eyes
unable to close even after his soul departed his mortal body. Eyes stark and
ghastly within a face flayed of every inch of its skin. Mere seconds had
passed, although I would have sworn it had been hours. Screeching tires again
interrupted my horror, and the sedan skidded beside me before I could do much
more than scramble away from the body. The killers had managed to lose the
cops, and now they'd returned to retrieve the body. They hadn't bargained on
having a witness.
The cold-cocking of guns set my body on fire. It also did
something worse. With mortal fear gripping me, my imminent Change refused to
take second place anymore. My body churned the fear and my Panther grasped at
the visceral power of the adrenalin in my veins.
I ran. A gunshot echoed around the garden, the sound
ping-ponging off the aging brick walls of the surrounding apartment buildings.
I gasped as a blast of searing pain slammed into me, as a
bullet buried itself deep within my shoulder.
Author's bio:
I have been a writer from the time I
was old enough to recognise that reading was a doorway into my imagination.
Poetry was my first foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best
friends, my escape, my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my
personality is impossible to practise given I have two teenage daughters, who
are actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a
husband who has left me for golf. It’s a fair trade as I have left him for
writing. We are both passionate supporters of each other's loves – it works
wonderfully…
My heart is currently broken in two.
One half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart
still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer
downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been
transplanted to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha,
beautiful Maraes, and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly
inspires. And because I am so torn between these two lands – I shall forever
remain cross-eyed.
