Better off Dead Book Two Read online

  All characters in this publication are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Better off Dead

  Book Two

  Copyright © 2020 Odette C Bell

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art stock photos licensed from Depositphotos.

  www.odettecbell.com

  Better off Dead

  Book Two

  Sonos has saved her life again. But does Eve Trust him? Hell no.

  She’ll never forget those who fell at his hands. But when she starts to learn there’s more to the orphanage case, her world is thrown upside down.

  Hilliker comes for her, and he’s content to rip this world in two to get to her. Soon, Eve finds there’s only person she can hide behind. Sorry, person? She means demon.

  ...

  Tune in for the thrilling second book in the action-packed urban fantasy, Better off Dead. It’s sure to please fans of Odette C. Bell’s Legal Rites.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  More by Odette C. Bell

  Chapter 1

  I tried to wrench my hands from Sonos, but I couldn’t.

  Slowly but surely, he became real. The plastic chipped away and gave way to the man underneath. Sorry, the demon.

  When I’d seen Sonos in Hilliker’s office, his wings hadn’t been prominent – just this faint lace outline poisoning reality. Now with a crackle, they spat out of his back.

  Demons only unfurled their wings when they were ready to attack.

  I still couldn’t move away. My heart was trapped there, hammering in my chest. My eyes grew wide. Sweat wanted to slide down my brow, but that was a step too far in this broken realm.

  “Don’t look so worried, Eve,” Sonos cooed.

  “Worried? This is a trap—”

  “Is that your favorite word?”

  “Let me go, bastard.”

  “If I let you go, you will return to that crypt, and Hilliker, his vampire guard, and his priests, will capture you. Do you want to know what they’ll do to you?”

  I didn’t need to ask. I knew full well. Hilliker had already said it himself. The vampire guard would bleed me dry, even once I was resurrected. I would die over and over again. Though usually when I was resurrected it happened in a blast of light that would destroy most things too close to me, the vampire guard wasn’t alive. As long as its magic was strong enough to keep it together, it could keep its fangs sunk into my neck and my blood pouring out in a never-ending sacrifice.

  “I would’ve thought you would have more of a plan,” Sonos said as he did another turn, my dress furling around my legs.

  “Plan?” I spluttered.

  He chuckled. “When I sent you off to Hilliker, I assumed you would hesitate before throwing yourself at him.” He dipped me. His face came close as my hair tumbled over his hand. We hadn’t dipped the last time I’d been in the snow globe, but I was dancing for longer than I had been then.

  I wondered if it had something to do with the severity of my injuries this time. It did not take me long to remember that before I’d been pulled in here, I’d lost a massive chunk of my back, one of my arms, and one of my legs below the knee. Injuries like that take a long time to heal, even with powerful magic.

  “I did not throw myself at him—” I began.

  “You arrived at the crypt he was practicing in, stupidly decided that he would not keep the entire thing under surveillance, and attempted low-grade necromancy in order to distract him.”

  “It wasn’t necromancy. The skeleton didn’t have a head. It was just... automaton magic.”

  He laughed again. The vibrations traveled through his grip and melted into my hand. I don’t know why I used the word melted. It was right, though. His words didn’t shake so much as slip on past my defenses.

  “It’s necromancy magic. And don’t be so worried about practicing it. It won’t land you in Hell.”

  I waited for him to add that he would land me in Hell instead.

  We continued to dance. I didn’t want to tell you what his grip did to me. His warm hands anchored me in a way nothing else could. And now I remembered why the touch of the engagement ring had made me think of the snow globe. The feel of it was exactly the same. I caught another glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. It was still the realist thing in here despite the fact that Sonos had lost his melted plastic features and become the demon I was so used to.

  He dipped me once more, then kept me there, his face pressed close to mine as his hand was anchored in the center of my back. “You can’t afford to be stupid around Hilliker. Not considering what he’s got in store for you.”

  I opened my mouth to reply – to snap back at him – but I got stuck on the way his eyes darted down to my lips.

  My heart skipped a beat, and I was comfortable enough to admit that.

  But then he pulled me up and twisted me again. We began to dance on the spot once more. If I’d been paying attention to the music, I would’ve realized that it, just like Sonos, was sounding more real. And if I’d been paying attention to the ballroom, I would’ve also realized that it was starting to look a lot more like home – literally. This ballroom looked eerily similar to the one I had in my castle. But the only thing I was paying attention to was his lips as they spread thin over his teeth. “Hilliker cannot be underestimated. Why did you wander into his trap?”

  “I was told by Sato that I had a finite amount of time to track Hilliker. I was told that he’d spent big on charms to attract me.”

  “So rather than wait for those charms to be initiated, you simply wandered in front of him. That was stupid, Eve. He almost trapped you.”

  “Almost?” My voice went up. “I am trapped.”

  “When the dance is done and the music stops, you will be healed once more. I know that you have a Santini charm around your neck.” He lifted a hand and pointed it at my neck.

  I ticked my gaze down. Sure enough, I saw the glimmer of the Santini charm. It was no longer discreetly hidden under my flesh. It was out and proud for everyone to see. It was this green ball, and it glimmered like trapped nuclear energy.

  “You can use it to gain the upper advantage. As soon as you get out of here, cast it. It will directly interact with the time charm that has already been cast on you – counteracting it.”

  “But the time charm that was cast on me is powerful—”

  “And that Santini charm is no joke. Cast it, and it will give you the distraction you need to get out of there.”

  “What about Hilliker?”

  “I’m starting to regret sending you after him. I assumed you were ready. You’re clearly not.”

  I became defensive. “I have been hunting since the day I was 16—”

  “Not quite,” he whispered.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Never mind. Simply do as I say. As soon as you are out, initiate the Santini charm.”

  “But I’ll need my hands to do that.”

  He looked at me. He was completely incredulous – his lips spread thin, his cheeks stiff, and his eyes narrowed. “You are the Cursed One. There is little you cannot do if you put your mind to it. Do you really think it’s impossible to activate a powerful mandala without using your hands?”

  I went to splutter a yes, but he kept staring at me directly as if I was a fool.

  “You have a great power
within you, Eve – it’s time to wake up to that.” There was something about his voice. It led me – opened my mind. I thought I saw something at the dark edges of my consciousness. It was this fleeting memory. The way it shot past me, it felt like I’d never catch it. But knowing it was there....

  I shook my head suddenly. “I don’t trust you, Sonos—”

  “Yes, you do,” he said flatly over the top of me.

  “You’re a demon.”

  He twirled me. My ball gown struck his trousers, the silk sliding on by. He dipped me once more. Again he held me there, his face close enough that I could see every flicker of light deep in his pupils. “And why is that?” I spat.

  “Because I’ve always been the only person on your side.”

  “You always try to kill me.”

  “Correction – I always try to kill the resurrection curse.”

  He twisted me again. I glowered at him as soon as my eyes locked on his. “There’s nothing you can say or do to make me believe in you.”

  “I don’t need you to believe in me.” He suddenly stopped dancing. He just held me there. “All I have to do is keep you safe. And now the music stops.”

  The snow globe world didn’t suddenly disappear. I was treated to the sight of him for another five seconds. When we were dancing, weirdly enough, I wasn’t too aware of the fact that we were hand-in-hand. Now, I couldn’t wrench my mind from what was happening. It kept collecting little details – from the rough feel of his thumbs, to his heat, to the promise in his grip.

  He had the chance to come close, his face almost touching mine as the snow globe world began to fizzle, pop, and pinch away.

  “Just get out of the crypt. Everything else will be explained in time. Do not allow yourself to be captured. No matter what, you cannot fall into Hilliker’s hands.”

  Just as the world gave way and Sonos disappeared, I added, “What? I can only fall into yours?”

  Sonos was long gone, and there was no one to utter that snide comment to.

  With a magical fizzle, I was back in the real world. I was expecting it, but my mind almost couldn’t keep up. As the dank scent of the crypt suffocated me and I saw the blood from the explosion all around me, I knew I had a split second to react. Though the last thing I wanted to do was follow Sonos’s instructions, I still yanked up a hand and went to settle it on my Santini charm. But the time spell snagged hold of me. I couldn’t move quickly enough.

  Hilliker was only several meters away. Now I’d reappeared, I watched his eyes widen. He went to catch me.

  I tried to concentrate. I watched as Hilliker spread a hand toward me, magic building in his palm. I didn’t have to search around me to see the fragmented remains of the vampire guard. It would’ve caught that grenade right to the face. It would take time for it to be rebuilt.

  Come on, I whispered to myself. You have to do this. You have to frigging do this.

  I concentrated, pushing my mind into the Santini charm, forcing myself to believe what Sonos had said.

  Just before Hilliker could send that charge of magic spiraling into me, I finally connected to the Santini charm and initiated it.

  Magic spread out of me in a wave. It instantly interacted with the time charm that was already cast on me. Energy zipped around me. It caught my hair, furling it around in a fan, and sent me skidding back.

  Hilliker released the charge of energy in his palm. But rather than shoot forward and disintegrate me, it smashed into the effect field that had been created by the two Santini charms and sizzled out.

  “No,” Hilliker cried. “Stop her.”

  I’d already thrust to my feet, turned hard, and shot forward.

  I wasn’t about to head out of the main door of the crypt. That would presumably lead me right back into the waiting arms of Hilliker’s priests. Instead, utilizing my knowledge of this underground structure, I suddenly thrust to the left. I sent magic blasting around me. I collected it around the tip of my left shoulder as I pushed it forward and smashed it into the wall beside me. The stone didn’t have a chance. Not only was I powerful, but I was goddamn desperate.

  My clothes hung off me from where they’d been blasted apart. There were a few scraps of my jacket left and a few more of my T-shirt, but at any moment, they could fall from me. They, unlike my body, had not been repaired by the snow globe.

  I reached a room on the opposite side of the crumbled down wall. It had skeletons strewn across the floor. It looked as if there’d been some kind of massacre here – or a necromancy party. I did not wait to find out which one it had been. Even if a full-blown necromancer had appeared right in front of me and tried to pluck my bones from my body, I would’ve just sailed on by.

  I reached another wall on the opposite side of the room and repeated my move. There was now so much magic blasting over me, I looked like a flare.

  I thought I could hear Hilliker back in the main room screaming at his priests to track me down, no matter the costs. There was real fear in his voice. Grief, too. It was the same emotion I’d heard back when I’d listened in to his phone call to that demon.

  I’d thought it was Sonos – but as hard as it was to admit, now I wasn’t so sure.

  I was physically fine. There wasn’t an injury left on me. I had copped the grenade to the back of my frigging head, but there wasn’t a sign of damage anywhere on my flesh. In other words, Sonos had kept his promise – he’d healed me and let me go.

  Why?

  “No time to think,” I snarled at myself, knowing that once I got back to my mansion, there would be plenty of time to flop onto my bed, punch my pillow, and question what the heck was going on here. But there would be no time if I did not escape.

  Snarling, I reached another corridor in this circuitous, winding, labyrinthine crypt system. As always, there were more skeletons. I mean, if there weren’t, it wouldn’t be a crypt, would it? It would just be a dingy tunnel system.

  There were a few old stone coffins in this section of the corridor, too. They were cracked through. I could see the hint of a human bone peeking out through the broken chunks of one. I even glimpsed one or two rings and a few swords. That told me that this section of the crypt had never been disturbed, because if it had been, all of that treasure would have been stolen years ago. That was unusual. In a place as famous as this, budding dark art magicians usually picked over its bones, if you didn’t mind the pun. They would leave no stone unchecked to unravel every single dark secret they could find.

  But maybe I was going deeper into the crypt system than anyone had ever gone before. I sure couldn’t hear the screams of Hilliker’s men anymore.

  I continued to focus, not letting anything distract me as I saw another wall and blasted right through. My magic was fine. It was better than fine. It was acting as if – contrary to almost dying – I’d spent the entire day relaxing at a spa. As sparks crackled over my shoulder, marched up my jaw, and blasted around my eyelids, I realized that I was more powerful than I usually was.

  I reached another wall and smashed right through. This time I came across a room that was completely empty save for a mark of a cross on the floor.

  With a single step into the room, I stopped. I could feel the sheer power of this place as it unfurled in front of me like a mama bear pulling herself up and out of hibernation.

  Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the crypt sure was powerful, but this place was something else. I almost backtracked, suspecting it was some kind of trap, but then I tasted the musty scent in the air and appreciated the room was old.

  “What the hell?” I muttered quietly.

  I heard Hilliker’s men growl. I was trying to take a circuitous route to leave them behind, but I was of course leaving a pretty compelling path of evidence. You did that when you smashed through walls like a giant two-legged jackhammer.

  I took another step into the room. My attention was brought down to the cross on the floor.

  Though I didn’t have time to waste, I wanted to figure out exac
tly why this place was having so much of an effect on me.

  I quickly turned. I didn’t waste the magic to try to repair the damage to the wall. As I’d already demonstrated, repair spells were expensive. They tended to require unique charms that you couldn’t come across at your average emporium. But there were other ways to repair things if you didn’t mind the job looking slapdash.

  With my thumb pressing out and my Jupiter finger extended, I drew a circle in the air, a few charges of magic blasting out in every direction. I pressed my tongue against my palate and concentrated as I magically grabbed hold of every stone and crushed chunk of mortar. I remotely placed them back in the wall, then connected to the mortar and stuck it through the cracks. If anyone paused long enough, they would realize that it was not the original stonework. It would’ve looked like a kid’s version of the wall. I just hoped that the priests were so used to tracking me by the destruction that I left behind that they wouldn’t automatically see it. It would give me time – maybe a minute or two at most – to look through this place. Hopefully that would be all I needed.

  I turned around, moving so quickly, my hair whipped around my face. It was covered in my blood. So too were the scraps of my clothes. I would’ve lost most of my blood after I’d caught the grenade to the back of my head. Hell, I was almost certain I could see tiny little fragments of my skull trapped in it. And there was some kind of squishy substance over my left hip that I didn’t even want to go into. Let’s just say it looked suspiciously brainy.

  A few splatters of my blood fell to the stone floor as I got down on my knees. I didn’t instantly trail my fingers over the cross. I wasn’t that stupid. Its power was intense. As I waved my hand over the top of it, I saw that the air was vibrating. It was as if it was getting ready to explode, and yet at the same time, it gave me the impression that it had been in this state for hundreds if not thousands of years.

  “What the hell?” I muttered again. I finally pushed my hand down and touched the actual cross. Instantly my hair stood on end. So much energy and magic spun through me, it felt like I was being used as a funnel. I almost jerked my head back and screamed, but I grabbed hold of myself at the last moment, clenched my teeth, and held the hell on.