Better off Dead Book Two

by Odette C. Bell

  It was as if someone was trying to channel through me. This was not the first time I’d encountered such a spell, and I knew exactly what to do to fight it. I regained control of my body quickly by pumping my hand into a fist and reminding myself of who I was. Finally I wrenched my hand off the cross. It was just in time to see a glimmer running around the outer edge.

  It was some form of body spell.

  I thought I heard the sound of the priests in the corridor just behind me. I had officially run out of time. I still hovered over the cross, wondering what it could be. If Sonos were here right now, he would presumably grab me by the shoulder, shove me in the back, and tell me to run while I had the chance.

  ... No, sorry, if Sonos were here, he would kill me, right?

  Right?

  Oh, screw it.

  I went with my curiosity – because I always did.

  I did not officially know body magic. It wasn’t my stream. I still understood how it was practiced. And I appreciated that good body magicians could use any environment around them to hide spells. I wasn’t talking about the kind of body magicians I’d encountered when I’d fought that mob. I was talking about the exceptionally rare variety I’d mentioned earlier. The body magicians who retained the capacity to change into anything. They were exceptional fighters, and they were really good at hiding things. They could take on the qualities of stone or light or dirt. They could hide a spell or an object in between the very molecules of such a substance, concealing it from even the most skilled practitioners.

  Now, I wasn’t that talented – not by a long shot. So why was I so certain that there was something within this cross?

  I knew I was running out of time. I thought I heard screams right behind the wall. It wouldn’t take them long now. I still remained there, crouched down on my haunches, my bloodied hair trailing over my cheek as I got closer to the cross.

  According to basic body magic, if you wanted to extract a hidden object, you had to take on the qualities of that which it had been hidden within. If it was stone, then you had to draw up the perfect image of stone in your mind. You had to commit to it, body, mind, and soul. But you had to do it in such a way that afterward you could remind yourself that you were not stone and you could go back to living your comfortable, fleshy, human life. If you didn’t, you could inadvertently turn yourself to ash.

  This was where I had to run. I kept telling myself that – screaming it in my head as loudly as I could. But I didn’t run. So I pushed forward, locked both of my hands on the cross, and concentrated with all my might. It wasn’t impossible for someone who wasn’t a body magician to practice body magic – or at least the kind where you attempted to extract something and not hide it in the first place. It was very, very improbable however. It would take an exceptional magician – like Hilliker or Sonos himself.

  No matter how much I pointed out that this was stupid, I continued to concentrate until I could feel the essence of stone building within me. My body became heavy. My thoughts became solid. I felt impenetrable. While I couldn’t move, I could remain. That sense continued to build within me until it settled in my hands. Inconceivably, the cross began to react. The glimmer of light I’d seen tracing around the edge started to collect underneath my hands.

  There was a bang from the wall behind me. I officially had several seconds now. I used them. Thrusting aside all distractions, I finally did it. With one last charge of magic, something rose out of the cross.

  It was a necklace – a pendant somewhat like the one I sometimes wore. It floated in a cloud of nearly invisible magic right in front of my face. A few energetic wisps climbed around the perfect gold filigree, but that was it.

  There was a crack from the wall behind me. Rather than whip my head over my shoulder, I shoved my hand forward. Usually, you wouldn’t catch me grabbing a sign of God so quickly. I’d always been reticent about the light – as you well knew. But now there was no question. I clutched up the cross, and as soon as the intricate metal wirework settled in my palm, I knew this was the right decision. The knowledge sang deep within me as I thrust forward.

  The wall behind me broke. Chunks exploded everywhere. I reached the opposite wall, let magic spill over my shoulder, and busted my way through just as a shot slammed into the stones behind me. I sheltered myself as I brought my arms up and let magic spin around my body. All the while, I kept hold of the cross, clutching it in such a firm grip, it would’ve taken God or any other divine being to rip it from my clutches.

  The rest became a blur. I ran through the crypt, blasting my way through walls and corridors until finally I reached the basement of a real building. From there, it was a hop, skip, and a jump onto the streets of Prague above.

  Though it would’ve been tempting to stick around to see if Hilliker would be brave enough to bring this fight out into public, I wasn’t that stupid. I ran through the night until I found a portal jump point, and I headed straight home.

  All the while, I kept hold of that cross until its shape could have been burneded into my palm. I had never held onto something tighter in all my life. But from now on, I would hold on to something more. For this cross was more than a mere pendant. It was an opportunity like no other.

  Chapter 2

  I lay on my bed, face-first, staring at the silk embroidery of my pillow. Occasionally, I pushed my hand up under my face. My jagged nails snagged a few threads. I always lovingly pulled them back down. Other than that, I just lay there and stared. My mind... it should work, but it wouldn’t. It kept jerking back to Sonos as if someone had now anchored me to him and no matter what I did for the rest of my life, I would always return to him like a frigging carrier pigeon.

  I suddenly beat my pillow hard with a fist. I almost let a few charges of magic spill over my palm. I wouldn’t take my aggression out on this beautiful cushion, though.

  With a sigh, I pushed up. I was in a right state. I hadn’t even bothered to change out of my clothes. That meant I was transferring dried blood all over my expensive covers. They would clean. I wasn’t certain my mind could ever be repaired, though.

  “Because I’m broken.”

  I pushed off my bed. I was tired – but this was no ordinary fatigue. It felt as if a great wall had descended in my mind.

  I was known for being bolshie, pushy, and forthright. I’d made a name for myself because I’d been one of the best bounty hunters out there. I was relentless.

  “But today,” I pushed off the bed and padded over to my dresser, “you were plain stupid.”

  My mind ticked back and forth over the details of the fight. I quickly palmed my face, locking my fingers in tight against my forehead until I could’ve clawed my skin from my cheek.

  “You were damn stupid,” I spat again as I formed another fist and tapped it hard against the polished walnut veneer. I soon let my hands collapse open. I dragged my fingers over the top of the dresser until I grabbed hold of that box. I did not dare try to open it. If I had proven one thing to myself today, it was that I was not ready.

  Barney had promised that I needed to be powerful before I tried to open this thing. He’d also said that within were memories.

  “Whose?” I asked as I trailed a finger over the carved top. It was smooth and made of various inlaid timbers. The varnish shone, collecting the light.

  It was midmorning. I heard a few wolf howls. They became my background music as I continued to trail my fingers over the lid of the box. While I was intrigued by it, I was using it as a distraction. Because I’d brought something else home that I couldn’t quite fathom.

  That was the cross.

  Not knowing what else to do with it, I’d put it on the hook inside my wardrobe door.

  I went to it now. Securing the box under my arm, I walked over to my wardrobe, plucked open the door, then stared at the cross. It was a legitimately good piece of jewelry – but its fine metalwork paled in comparison to its feel. Even from here, without stretching a hand out and trailing my nails down the gle
aming metal, I could feel its power.

  “Just how long did you lie in that crypt for, undisturbed?” I whispered at it as I patted it fondly. And yeah, you read that right – I was patting a cross – a symbol of the church – fondly. I couldn’t help it – it gave me immeasurable calm that I needed right now.

  I sighed again, scratched my head, and went to flop back on my bed. “This is all too confusing. I’ve got too many questions.”

  Almost as soon as I said that, I heard something rustle from downstairs. It was not a wolf. I could tell that, because it belched.

  I swore I could even smell the fumes from here, despite the fact none of the windows or doors were open.

  “Hey, you’ve got a message,” that drunk pigeon from yesterday blared. It flew up and hovered in front of the balcony, just beyond the force field. “Oy,” it belched again. “Get your little ass out here and take this off my leg. Do you think I’ve got all day, lady?”

  I made a face. Putting the box back down, I turned around, opened my balcony door, walked out, and crossed my arms. “Is this from Sato again? I’m not interested. He sent me on a wild goose chase. He—”

  “The way I hear it, you were an idiot. You went in gung-ho, and you lost. This was not Sato’s fault. Now take the damn message, lady.” He proffered his leg.

  Reluctantly, I shoved a hand through the force field, grabbed the message tube, and pulled a little piece of parchment paper out.

  “Now fortify me before I get back on the road,” the pigeon snarled.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “We birds don’t fly sober. Where’s your beer?”

  I placed my hand on my hip. “I’m not your employer. And if I were, I would not let you fly with that much alcohol on board. Now get out of here.”

  “Old crone,” the pigeon spat.

  He got out of there long before I could splutter at that insult and pluck his damn wings off.

  As he flew in an erratic path off toward the forest, I frowned and opened the message.

  “How are you?” Writing appeared on the page.

  “Pretty damn pissed off, Sato. Surprised to hear that?” I said sarcastically, dropping the paper. It didn’t fall under my feet. It hovered in front of my face, even when I turned away from it in a huff.

  “This is not Sato.”

  “Barney?” I frowned. “You tell Sato that he’s even further in the shit than he was yesterday.”

  “This is not Barney.”

  I opened my mouth to ask who the hell it was, but my lips froze open. There’d only been one other magical creature I’d been in regular contact with recently. “Sonos? You prick. This is a trap—”

  “I would hope that by now, considering everything I have done for you, that you would stop thinking every time I contact you it’s a trap.”

  I snarled at him. I took several steps back and crossed my arms, but the parchment maintained proximity with my face. If the parchment had been Sonos himself, he would be within kissing distance.

  ... I’m sorry – what did I just think? Kissing distance? Was that even a thing? And critically, was it a thing I would ever associate with that demon bastard?

  More in a reaction to my mind and the idiocy it was spewing up than Sonos himself, I opened my fingers and let magic build in my palm. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn this parchment right now?”

  “Because you don’t know what happened back there in that snow globe. And because you will die if you don’t know what happens next.”

  The way Sonos delivered that line was so damn direct, it was like a punch to the gut.

  I spluttered. “Are you threatening me—”

  “I’m telling you the truth. Things have become serious. They always were, but considering recent events, they have become more so. Time is quickening.”

  I would not let myself get creeped out by that. Quickening was usually only a word used by those too enamored of prophecies and scripture.

  “Just get out of here, Sonos.”

  “I am not anywhere near you. This is but a message. However, we should meet.”

  I let my mouth deliberately and slowly drop open. “You think I’m gonna do that?” My voice was low and threatening.

  “It would be better to answer your questions in person.”

  “It would be all the easier for you to attack me. No way.”

  “Don’t you want to know what you are, Eve?”

  I stared at those words. For a while, I couldn’t quite take them in.

  Did I want to know what I was? Yes. A thousand times over – a million times over. I needed to know what I was right deep down in my soul. I had this lingering yearning that stayed with me every hour of the day, no matter what I was doing. Even when I was entrenched in the height of battle, I wanted to know why all of this was happening. Why me? Why had I been cursed like this? What had I done to deserve this kind of fate?

  “I cannot see you, but you have become silent, which means you are thinking this offer through. I will tell you everything. We should meet in person.”

  “Why?”

  “Because things will start happening to you – and you will need to learn how to control them.”

  I ticked my head back and laughed as hard as I could. “What do you mean things will start happening to me? Crap has been happening to me every day of my life, ever since you,” I growled at that, “showed up. And as for learning how to control myself? I’ve never bothered.”

  I delivered that line like I was some sassy warrior. And I was. But even at the back of my head, I understood the use of control. If you didn’t have it, you were a walking liability. Which, incidentally, was exactly what I was today.

  Knowing full well that the parchment didn’t have the capacity to see what I was doing, I indulged in jamming my thumbnail into my mouth and chewing on it hard. I also let my shoulders drop. “I don’t need your help, Sonos. I never have, and I never will.”

  “And how about Sister Mary Frederick?”

  I stared at the page until both my eyes started to water. That... that was a name I hadn’t heard in years.

  I’d already admitted that I had hated everything to do with Saint Fredericks. No one had liked me. I’d had a miserable time. I’d also been against everyone. I’d been a mess. There had been one person who’d tried to shine light into my darkness, however.

  “Sister Mary Frederick?” I shouldn’t have whispered that out loud – especially in the shaking voice I used to utter every tortured syllable – but I couldn’t control myself.

  Tears even touched my cheeks. “Wait – you captured her, you bastard?”

  “No. But she would like to meet you. Here is the address.”

  I recognized it as a bar in New York of all places.

  “I’m not going to fall for this trap, Sonos,” I said, but there was precisely no force in my words whatsoever.

  “You will get curious sooner rather than later. So come to me sooner rather than later. Remember, things are quickening.” With that, the parchment curled up on itself. It formed a ball of paper, then sought out the closest bin and threw itself inside.

  I jammed my thumbnail back in my mouth again, but I couldn’t distract myself from the fact that tears were trailing down my cheeks. It was all at the mention of the sister’s name.

  I hadn’t heard about her in years. I’d stopped thinking about her after I’d been struck with the resurrection curse. She’d promised me that I had a good heart, a heart smiled on by God. That maybe I’d start off with a rocky life, but in the end, if I stuck to following my heart, I would shine – for that is what I was meant to do.

  “But I didn’t damn well shine, did I? I guess this heart,” I thumped a hand on my chest hard, disturbing the ragged remains of my top, “is no good after all. I’ve done things that would make your toes curl, Sister.”

  I knew full well that she wasn’t in the room with me, but I continued to converse with her.

  Though I’d only glanced at the address
of the bar once, I found myself muttering it as I walked back over to my bed and intended to flop face-first on it again. But I had to question whether that was a good idea. So I would sleep? So I would beat my pillow? So what? What would that achieve? What would it change? Nothing.

  Hilliker was still out there. And though I really didn’t want to believe a word Sonos had said, it... it did feel as if something was quickening.

  I’d already chewed off a good chunk of my nail. I kept going until my skin protested. Wrenching my thumb out of my mouth, I began to pace. “There’s no way I’m going to that bar, Sonos. I’m not gonna face you again.”

  As if in reply to that thought, I subconsciously reached into my subspace pocket and pulled out the snow globe. I didn’t activate it. I let it fall on the ground in front of me. And I just... stared at it. If I touched it, I’d be pulled back into that spell with him, right?

  Though maybe it was safe to have a conversation with him inside that strange realm, I didn’t want to. There was something special about it. I didn’t know how long that realm would work for, either. And though this was really hard to admit, it was useful. If it stopped me from ever having to be resurrected again, I would use it – even if it meant dancing hand-in-hand with him.

  “Your thoughts are going nowhere. You’re a complete mess. You have no direction. You’ve got to find out what Hilliker wants. You’ve got to do something before he does something to you.”

  I closed my eyes and stopped in the middle of the room after I returned the snow globe to my etheric pocket. I thought of the way that Hilliker had stared at me. The greed and anger had been there – flaring in his gaze, burning like damnation fire.

  I opened my eyes. Clarity overtook me.

  I couldn’t just wait here. Hilliker would not be waiting. He’d caught a taste of me, and like any shark, he wasn’t about to let go now there was blood in the water.

  “Shit. You shouldn’t do this, but Sonos...” I hissed to myself. No matter how much I protested, it couldn’t count. There was nothing else I could do.