Better off Dead Book Four

by Odette C. Bell

  Every day, I’d trained and studied to try to find her. And every day I’d told myself that I was getting closer.

  “We do not have the time to find your sister, nor break her out. We have around 22 minutes now, if my ability to estimate that candle’s remaining wax is accurate.”

  I closed the book. I pressed it against my chest. Sato had told me to find my sister and break her out. I knew I couldn’t do this without her.

  As I clutched the book, I concentrated on her ring.

  I sat down on my haunches.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need to concentrate.” I tried to get comfortable.

  “We do not have time,” Mr. Fenticle warned.

  “Then I’ll make it.”

  “The candle’s burning down quicker,” he warned in a grave tone.

  I clutched the book. I tried to concentrate on everything I could remember of my sister, but now I wasn’t reading the exact words of my diary, those recollections were slipping once more. Whoever had blocked my memories off had done a good job – a thorough damn job that was almost impossible to fight through. But I tried. With all my damn heart.

  I pushed the journal closer against my chest as if I was trying to draw it into my very heart.

  But time ticked on. Mr. Fenticle gave me a minute, then two, then he rushed forward and got right up in my face. “We must search through Sonos’s mansion, find his strongest weapons, and gather them.”

  “Nothing will work without Lilly,” I snapped back.

  I tried to throw myself back into concentrating, but I couldn’t. Frustration and fear were building within me, and they were ruining my focus.

  Why couldn’t I do this? My 16-year-old self had sacrificed everything to find her sister, and yet I’d wasted my entire adult life not even knowing she existed. I was stronger than I ever had been. I’d finally communed with the Deep. Hell... I even had Sonos’s magic now. But it still wasn’t enough? Just how much more did this damn world want from me?

  As frustration built within me, I threw the journal down. I brushed my fist against it as tears trailed down my cheeks. “This isn’t fair,” I screamed. I knew now was no time for some massive emotional display, but I couldn’t control the frustration and grief. I made the mistake of staring over at the candle. Mr. Fenticle was right. It was burning down even quicker now.

  I struck the diary again. I crumpled over it, tears sailing out of my eyes. They were so thick and fast, they could’ve inundated all of Hell.

  “It isn’t fair,” I croaked.

  Mr. Fenticle clearly had no idea what to do. He stared at me, obviously disappointed by my display but incapable of drawing me out of it.

  I brushed the diary again until I stopped, frozen and cold. I stared over at the candle. Maybe I should just wait here. It wasn’t as if I could do anything.

  As soon as that despairing thought flitted through my mind, I felt the wisdom paper gathering a charge. It was still tucked under my arm. I pulled it out. I groped to the side until I found my pen.

  “What is it?” I wrote as tears continued to wash down my face and my hand trembled from frustration.

  “Do not give up,” the page wrote.

  I let out a bitter blast of a laugh. “Why not? There’s nothing to hold on to anymore. I can’t find my sister. I have no clue how to get to her.”

  “Draw her to your side.”

  “What?” I spluttered.

  “Use a compulsion spell to draw her to your side.”

  I laughed. It was ribald, but it was completely broken and insane at the same time. It made me feel as if someone had clutched hold of my head and they were shaking it as violently as they could. “Firstly, I don’t have enough Santini charms to create such a spell. Secondly, the only thing I have of her is this ring. I don’t even have a clear picture of her. I don’t even know what she looks like,” I stammered as I wrote that.

  “But I do,” the paper wrote.

  I froze.

  I stared at the journal. I... I hadn’t thought that through. If this wisdom charm really was built on my diaries and, when I had written these diaries, I had known about my sister, then it had access to memories I didn’t.

  My body suddenly became unstuck as a rush of energy blasted through me. I crumpled so far over the paper, it was like I was trying to swallow it. “What was she like? What did she look like?”

  The paper responded by drawing a perfect picture of her image.

  “Oh my God.” Cramming my hand over my mouth, I used my other hand to trail my fingers down her image. She had the nicest smile.

  Mr. Fenticle was too smart to interrupt. He hovered a few meters back from my shoulder, staring on but not getting involved.

  “Do you... do you remember enough to be able to bring her here?” I wrote quickly.

  “Yes. If you gather together enough Santini charms.”

  I suddenly stood. I had a plan. It wasn’t much of a plan, to be fair. And I barely had any time. But, still, it was something.

  Mr. Fenticle rocketed up beside me. “What are you planning on doing?”

  “Going and stealing the remainder of Hilliker’s Santini charms from his priests.”

  “How will that work? Aren’t most of his truly powerful priests stuck in the tunnel system?”

  Mr. Fenticle had a point. I pressed my lips together and forced a hiss through them. “It doesn’t matter. I’m stronger than I was the last time I fought them. I have no time.” I brought a finger up and drew a clock face over my wrist. A rudimentary watch appeared over it. It would be my countdown. I had 20 minutes. I would give myself ten to get this done.

  I marched away. I went to leave the paper and pen on the floor, but I quickly thought better of it.

  “I’m going to put you in my subspace pocket. I’m going to draw you out when I need you. You’re going to have to help me with the compulsion charm, got it?”

  “We understand,” the parchment wrote.

  With a tense breath, I shoved the parchment and pen into my subspace pocket. Then I faced the library.

  Mr. Fenticle was practically as white as a sheet. “You can’t honestly be planning to go back to the tunnel system. It’s an assumption that the priests in there still have any Santini charms, anyway.”

  “They’ll have them, all right. I know for a fact that Hilliker bought up most of the stock. If not, I’m sure I’ll be able to find more in the tunnel system, anyway. It contains the most valuable objects on Earth.”

  “You can’t honestly be—”

  I thrust past him. I’d already felt a transport node in the library when I’d walked in. It was on the opposite side of the room in the middle of the floor.

  A lot like with my castle, it was right underneath a rocking chair.

  I sat in it. I stared over at Mr. Fenticle. “You coming?”

  He was still completely pale.

  I thought it through. “No. You’re staying here. You’re going to guard this place. And Hilliker’s box. Speaking of which,” I raised my voice. “Mansion,” I commanded it, “in mine and Sonos’s absence, Mr. Fenticle runs this place. Do exactly what he says and help him.”

  With that, I began to concentrate. I usually needed a map in order to travel to some place around the globe with a transport node. I didn’t have a handy atlas beside me, but I had something better. Smiling to myself, I thrust a hand into my subspace pocket and pulled out the keys I’d stolen from that concierge. I settled them on my lap and waited until their energy imbued the transport node beneath me. As energy slipped down, traveling across the chair legs and into the floor, the transport node opened up.

  “Good luck,” Mr. Fenticle squeaked from behind me. He even snapped a salute.

  I smiled.

  Luck? Screw luck. It had never been with me. Because I’d always made my own.

  Now would be no different. No matter what happened, I would not leave that tunnel system empty-handed.

  Chapter 5

  I arriv
ed back in the atrium just outside of the tunnel system.

  It was still chaos. While I’d been through some pretty crazy things in the hours since I’d left here, the atrium looked as if it had seen its fair share of hell.

  As I touched down in front of one of the locked doors, a concierge jerked out of the way. “It’s illegal to transport here. Security—”

  I thrust out a hand. I pointed to my engagement ring. “I’m going back in there.” I jammed my thumb toward one of the doors. “Go find me the minotaur.”

  “I’m here,” he said in a booming voice from behind me.

  I jerked around to see him striding up, a deep frown marking his face. “You cannot go back in there—”

  “I have to. I need Santini charms. And Hilliker’s priests have them.”

  “Sonos would not want—”

  “The only thing Sonos wants is for the Banished to be destroyed and Hilliker to be defeated. It’s the only thing all of us want. And this is the only way.” I surprised myself with just how strong my voice was. It did not waver. There wasn’t a hint of indecision in it. This was an order.

  It obviously impressed the minotaur. He did not question again. He nodded once, and it was a low, deferential move. He gestured to the concierge. The surprised man spluttered and stood to the side.

  I faced the doors.

  I could not believe that I was actually going back in there. It had been chaos before I’d left. And that had been literal. Who knew what state the tunnel system would be in this time?

  The minotaur came to a stop beside me. “It is not too late to back out. Though, judging by your truly impressive determined stare, that is not on the cards. So let me offer you this advice. When you go into the tunnel system, it will be complete chaos. It will be a maze like no other. In order to get through it, you must fix your current location and destination in your mind.”

  That rang a bell. With a frown marching over my face, all I could do was remember the Deep. “I think I know what you mean.”

  “It takes even the strongest practitioners years to understand chaos space. How have you come to understand it so quickly?”

  “Because I know how to go deep.” I clutched a hand into a fist and tapped it on my chest once. I took a solid step up to the door. “Can you let me in without letting the priests out?”

  He nodded. “But it will be hard for you to get out.”

  “How will I do it?”

  “You will have to call for me.” He handed something over. It was a whistle.

  I stared at it. Then I went to throw it into my subspace pocket.

  He grabbed my wrist before I could chuck the whistle behind my shoulder.

  “No. Keep it on your personage at all times. You may only have a split second to use it. I do not know just how chaotic it will be in there, but judging by how much magic is in the system and just how much we had to crush the tunnels to keep the priests contained, it will be a lot. Remember, fix your current location—”

  “And my destination firmly in my mind.” I saluted. Then I turned back to the doors. I waited patiently.

  I glanced down at my watch. Crap. I’d already wasted two minutes.

  I squeezed my eyes closed. I could get this done in eight minutes, I told myself firmly.

  The minotaur reached past me, locked a hand on the door, and sent magic spilling into it. Silence spread through the previously chaotic foyer. Everyone turned to watch what was happening.

  I’d seen strong displays of magic over the last couple of days, but there was something completely unique about this. Despite the technical sophistication of the tunnel system, I could feel this ancient energy picking up from the minotaur. I swore I caught flashes of Roman legionnaires, Greek tunnels deep under mountains, and treasures the likes of which had not been seen in thousands of years.

  Finally there was a click. That was it. It wasn’t even that impressive.

  “Good luck,” the minotaur said. He opened the door for me.

  It led out into nothing but blackness. It didn’t look nor feel like a void so much as just... nothing much. It wasn’t simply a lack of illumination, because not even the tiniest glimmer could make it through from the well-lit foyer.

  It was nothingness. And yet I swore I momentarily glimpsed flashes of everything from within. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. It felt... it felt like being on the edge of a dream. For that is the same experience. You face nothingness only for glimpses of everything to flash around you.

  I took a deep breath, settled it in my chest, clutched my cross, and walked through.

  Walking abruptly ended. So too did breathing. Heck, so too did having a body. I seemed to be crossing through some kind of event horizon, and it was one of the most confusing experiences of my life. At least down in the Deep, I’d been able to see. Here I could only approximate what was happening to my body through the waves of heat and cold and oppressive weight that crashed against it. I felt as heavy as a mountain yet as light as a feather. I felt as if I was moving on fast forward, flashing past like a photon. And yet at the same time I was certain I had never moved an inch in my life.

  Explosions of sensations blasted over every centimeter of my skin. I was hot and cold. I was being grabbed from every angle. And yet I was completely alone in a realm where neither heat nor touch existed in the first place.

  Finally, finally I crossed through that event horizon. My feet locked against a solid floor.

  I was in some form of corridor. It looked like one of the ones I’d traveled through earlier today to get to the vaults. But this one was broken. While sections of it certainly looked whole, others were missing. They had been replaced by seemingly random objects. One part of the ceiling above me was in fact a bed. Another was half of a tree. There were jewels embedded in the floor. There was gold glittering from every surface.

  I took another step, and I realized what had happened. The tunnel system was desperately trying to re-create itself. But because all of the objects of all of the vaults had been mixed up, it was having to call on them.

  I took another step forward only to see a hand. It was thrust right out of the floor. It twitched slightly. I didn’t need to get closer to realize one thing. Based on the black lines of pernicious light snaking across the wrist, it had to belong to one of the priests.

  With no time to waste, I jerked forward, grabbed the hand, and pulled the guy right out of the floor. The whole while, I called on my magic, settling it in my bones and getting ready to use it when, not if, the fight would come.

  The priest gasped. It took a while for his face to resolve. Crackles of magic kept sparking over his body as chaos gave way to order. But it did not completely give way. There were still random blasts of energy flashing across his body. His clothes were in no way solid. I would see a glimpse of purple robes only for them to be replaced by vault doors and random sections of the floor.

  At least his eyes were functioning. And his shoulders. That gave me something to hold. I gripped him, letting the power of the Deep blast over my form to hold him in place. “You’re going to give me the last of the Santini charms Hilliker bought. If you do, I’m going to get you out of here. If you don’t, you’re going to be in these tunnel systems for the rest of your life. You will be swallowed up by chaos for eternity.”

  You would think that a priest who had thrown his hat in with the Banished would be totally groovy with chaos, but as I threatened him, his eyes bulged. His eyes first had to become solid before they could do that. They were much larger than his head for a few seconds until they condensed down into his skull. His lips parted. “No. Please. Don’t.” There was real need in his voice.

  I snarled in his face. “You don’t like chaos, ha? Well that is exactly what is going to swallow this world when you allow Hilliker to call the Banished. If you want to get out of here,” I said through clenched teeth, “and you don’t want your future swallowed by chaos, then you tell me exactly where those leftover Santini charms are.”<
br />
  “There are no leftover Santini charms.”

  At first I just thought he was lying. He obviously needed just a little more encouragement. I brought my snarling face close. “Like Hell there are no Santini charms left. I know for a fact he bought up most of the stock. So tell me where they are.”

  “He already used them.”

  “Stop lying to me.”

  “I’m not,” the guy spluttered.

  Though I really didn’t want to admit this, he looked honest.

  My heart beat hard. I made the mistake of glancing down at my watch. I had four minutes left.

  I shook my head wildly. “I know he bought up most of the stock,” I said desperately, not wanting to face the prospect that I had just wasted some of the last time I would ever be given. “If you don’t want to help me, I guess I’ll just throw you back down into the floor where I found you.” I pulled him around and went to push him back through the unstable section of floor I’d saved him from.

  He stiffened like a steel plank. “No, please,” he spluttered. There was real need in his voice. It told me he wasn’t faking his fear. “Don’t throw me back down there. The chaos... it eats away at my mind. Please.”

  I didn’t take the opportunity to tell him how much of a frigging idiot he was. He had devoted his life to letting chaos spill across the three worlds only to find out that he didn’t actually like it that much.

  I grabbed his shoulders. “If you don’t want chaos to spill out across reality, then you tell me where those damn Santini charms are now.”

  “Like I said, they were used. But we have equivalents.”

  I frowned. “What?”

  “Hilliker has been stealing from the church for years. He acquired their angel charms. All of them.”

  I spluttered in shock. Angel charms were some of the strongest there was. They were also exceptionally rare. And they were never used. They were more reliquaries than actual objects of power.