“One day, she met two great warriors and a wiseman,” Actaeon turned the page.
She definitely recognized this painting. The three-headed dog by the brunette’s side was a pretty good hint. “I think I know this one. Are you sure you’re reading from the book?” The pictures made her think he was, but it was an odd coincidence.
Actaeon showed her the words, and she puzzled out enough that she couldn’t deny he was delivering the story as it was written.
She rubbed her arms, but it didn’t chase away the chill.
“Do you want me to keep reading?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“She faced many trials with her companions. Battling a fierce warrior, a great wizard, and a powerful orator. A chimera and a dragon.”
Sure enough, the picture was of the same dragon she’d created from thin air when she was younger. The same green-scaled lizard Morpheus appeared to them as. “Who wrote this?”
He flipped the book over. “There’s no author name.”
“Keep reading.” Lexi had to know if there was more here than she’d lived. Athena must have known this was about her. Or the goddess had a really fucked-up sense of humor when it came to coincidences.
Actaeon nodded. “She and her companions faced each trial and triumphed, until only one was left. She had to confront the master of the realm. The beast who had taken her parents from her and had done the same to so many others. What she didn’t realize...”
“What? What does it say?” She didn’t care for the way his brow furrowed as he scanned the next page.
Actaeon cleared his throat. “What she didn’t realize was that the great master had been planning this for a very long time. As centuries passed, experience warped his perspective, but his goal was always the same—to save humanity from itself.
“The girl believed people should be allowed to decide their own fates, but the master felt they’d lost that opportunity. They needed those decisions made for them.”
It wasn’t identical to what she’d heard from Charon and Aphrodite, but it was close. “How old is this book?”
Actaeon shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard this story before.”
“What happens next?” Lexi wasn’t sure she wanted to know, because they’d almost reached now as it corresponded to her life.
“The girl and her companions stood against the master, knowing that he had to be stopped. Her friends joined them, and their might was great. But the master had other plans. He and they retreated to regroup.”
Actaeon turned the page, and was at the end of the book.
“No. It can’t end there.” Lexi needed to know what happened next. “There’s no moral? No happily ever after?”
“It might be better that way.” He closed the book and set it on the cushion next to them. “One thing I learned from Cassandra that was actually valuable—it’s not always great to know what comes next.”
Lexi didn’t like hearing the other woman’s name, regardless of context, but if she paused, she had to agree it was a good point. She had to sate her curiosity, though. “Athena said there were more.” She was already on her feet and looking at the card Athena gave her.
There were no numbers on the rows. Where was she supposed to start?
“Lexi, are you sure you want to do this?”
“She wouldn’t have given me the information if she didn’t want me to look.”
Lexi spun in a circle, scanning the stacks. There was a wider gap between two of them. Was she lucky enough that this was where Number One started? She counted until she reached the number on the card, and hurried down the row.
Actaeon followed, apprehension radiating from him.
“Yes.” Lexi let out a tiny whoop when she found more books like the one in her hand. There was even an empty space, about the width of the story she held. She pushed the row of books upright, and a note fell out.
The writing was in the same neat script as the card Athena gave her.
These were written by the first oracle. She spent years locked away, crafting these tales. When she finished, she gave them to me and asked me to keep them hidden from everyone, until the time was right.
Lexi was careful but anxious as she flipped through them. There was one for Clarity, Strife, and others, including another that said Truth.
She grabbed the next book in line, Clarity, and flipped to the first page. “This is Conner.”
“You’re going to read them all, aren’t you?”
“They’re not long, and it’s not as though there are hundreds.”
Actaeon grasped her fingers, drawing her attention. “What are you hoping to find?”
“Zeus being vanquished. The bad guy can’t win. He can’t.” The insistence came out more desperately than she intended.
“Every villain is the hero in their own story.”
Lexi clenched her jaw. “That’s a shitty answer.”
“I can’t guarantee that we’ll find an answer, one way or another, but we’ll keep reading them. But remember—if you live your life based on what an oracle says, you won’t ever have the whole picture. You’ll spend all your time second-guessing your decisions, without having all the information.”
“I understand that.” Lexi didn’t know why this was so important, but it was.
Actaeon took the book from her and tugged her back to the seats. “Let’s read the next one, then.”
She settled next to him on the cushion, anticipation spilling inside.
“What happens if we get to the end, and it says you lose?”
That was her fear, but when he asked the question, some of her tension evaporated. “We won’t.”
“Why are you so certain all of the sudden?”
“Because I have my loyal warrior and my wiseman and my broken-but-fixed guardian, and whatever the books say, we’ll triumph.”
“How do you know we’re not the villains?” Actaeon asked.
“Because I know.” She kissed him, then laid her head on his leg. “Because it doesn’t matter what fate says or what any oracle says. I love you, and I know you feel the same, and it’s real and strong and will withstand anything.”
He trailed his fingers through her hair and leaned in to press his lips to her forehead. “But you still want to read these?”
“Yes.”
Actaeon opened the book. “Once upon a time, there was a god. He wasn’t a wrathful god. He preferred love and reason. But his best friend was war’s champion...”
THE END
Esper, Conner, and a whole new harem will return in the Clarity’s Harem series. Keep reading for a series sneak peek. Click here to sign up for my newsletter, to get coming soon and new release updates.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for demons, angels, action, and a bit of sexiness in your urban fantasy reverse harem, check out my Ubiquity Series. Click here to grab Soul Reaper (Book 1), available March 11, 2019.
CLARITY’S HAREM
(A Truth’s Harem Spin-off Series)
Sneak Peek
Conner moved around his classroom, prepping it for summer courses. The silence was pleasant, especially after all the bedlam he’d experienced over the past several weeks.
He sneezed.
“Someone talking about you?” Serenity’s voice came from behind.
He turned to see her standing at the entrance at the top of the auditorium.
“I assume,” he said.
She strolled down the steps, toward him. “You work too hard. It’s going to drive you to an early grave.”
“Unlikely.” Conner had known Serenity since they were in their late teens. Since his grandmother took him away from Lexi, and Eros injected him back into the word of the gods.
The first time Conner saw the vibrant red cord that connected him to Serenity, he thought he was lucky. No one got a fated mate. Especially in modern times.
He adored her. She was the best friend anyone could hope for. But they weren’t in that kind of love. They
both knew it. They were okay with it.
And the sooner Aphrodite got that message and stopped with the whole Friends make the best lovers spiel, the better. Yeah, Serenity was incredible in bed, but Conner knew better than to confuse that with romance.
“You have plans tonight?” Serenity asked.
He did, but not the kind most people took seriously. “No?”
“In other words, you were going to find some lonely man or woman online and keep them company for the night.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Conner didn’t do it to lead anyone on. He was up front about who he was—God of Internet Dating. This was good for his faith base, and he liked making people’s nights. Some people just needed a friendly ear or an outlet, and he was happy to provide it.
Serenity sat on the edge of his desk, crossed her legs at the ankles, and kicked. “Come to Tokyo with me.”
That meant she wanted to go to an anime convention. “No.”
“Please?” She batted her eyelashes.
He sighed. “What do you want me to wear?” If she was inviting him, she had costumes and wanted a second person to help pull off the look.
“Nothing too revealing.” And if she was hesitating, she was worried he’d tell her no a second time.
“Is it another girls-school uniform?” He wasn’t in the mood to shave his legs.
“Nothing like that. Gloves, a blue trench coat, and a little bit of spark from your fingertips?” She watched him with hope in her bright eyes.
He didn’t do the party tricks—like sparking hands—for anyone but her. But she loved to cosplay, and there were things she’d do for him without question. From her description, he knew she wanted him to be Roy Mustang, from an ancient anime she was obsessed with. “You have to let me say it, and I’ll go.”
“I wasn’t going to stop you.”
He grinned. “The philosophers stone is people!”
“You’re such a fucking dork.” Serenity laughed.
And this was why he liked spending time with her. Everything was simple. There was no conversation about loyalty or serving the pantheon, or which gods were evil. It was a chance to live life. “Says the woman who wants me to dress up like a cartoon character who’s almost a century old, so you don’t have to do it alone.”
“Think of it as preparation for the rest of your life.”
Most people hit forty and were well on their way into the rest of their life. For Conner and Serenity, this was nothing. “That doesn’t make sense the way you want it to.”
“But you know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do. Tokyo—”
An ear-shattering blast rocked the room, and all the glass in the windows shattered, raining down around them.
What the fuck was that?
Conner’s story continues in Passion’s Dawn. Clarity’s Harem Book One. Click here to sign up for my newsletter, to get coming soon and new release updates.
Also by Allyson Lindt
3d20
3d20 Box Set (Books 1-3)
Love Equation Box Sets
The Love Equation Box Set #1 (Books 1-3)
The Love Equation Box Set #2 (Books 4-6)
Love Hack
Breaching His Defenses
Sheltering His Desire
Securing Her Surrender
Love Hack Box Set
Ridden Hard
Hard Flip
Hard Pack
Riding the Wave
Drive Me Wild
The Love Equation
The Rival and The Billionaire
The Geeks and The Socialite
The Second Chance and The Auctioneer
The Virgin and The Kingpin
Their Matchmaker
Truth's Harem
Apathy's Hero
Version 2.0
Denial of Interest
Standalone
Paranormal and Loving it!
Toeing the Line
Room for Love: A Roommates Contemporary Romance Box Set
Watch for more at Allyson Lindt’s site.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Allyson Lindt is a full-time geek and a fuller-time contemporary romance author. She likes her stories with sweet geekiness and heavy spice, because cubicle dwellers need love too. She loves a sexy happily-ever-after and helping deserving cubicle dwellers find their futures together.
Read more at Allyson Lindt’s site.
Apathy's Hero: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (Truth's Harem Book 3) Page 23
