Sonos. It was Sonos. He was really here.
As soon as he manifested in full, I tried to throw myself at him. I reached him, but my arms drifted right through his middle. Though he usually just stood there when I embraced him, this time he did open his arms, but he couldn’t touch me and I couldn’t touch him.
I fell beside him, down on my hands and knees.
That old dame looked as if she was about to die – again. “Sonos? You... your soul belongs to Sonos?”
I pushed myself up onto my feet. I was shaking. I tried to grab Sonos again, but once more my hands just drifted through him.
He stared at me, sadness filling his eyes.
“Sonos, where—” I began, ready to take this opportunity to find out exactly where he was, if he was okay, and if he was hurt. But the look he shot me made it clear that I could not converse with him.
He turned around. He pointed at a ghost who was in a chair right in front of him. The ghost quickly flew out of it.
Sonos sat. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
He shot me a look that clearly told me not to talk to him, but I still jerked right up to his side. “What’s happening? What are you doing?”
“It seems you have attempted to give yourself to another. I have the right of reply.”
Give myself to another? I wanted to tell him what had really happened, but he lifted a hand. He gestured at the old dame. “Please sit.”
She still looked as pale as, fittingly, a ghost. She managed to fall into her seat. She stared at Sonos. “What are your terms?”
“If you win, I will be forced to relinquish all claims to this woman’s soul. But if I win,” his gaze hardened, “she will acquire all your holdings.”
There was a gasp that traveled all the way across the table. Obviously these gamblers – despite their reputations – were not as used to playing such high-stakes games.
I hadn’t thought the old dame would be able to get any paler, but she did. She looked as if she was ready to disappear into the paintings behind her. “My entire holdings? You should leave me with some. This is a—”
“I doubt, considering your particular reputation, that you gambled for my fiancée’s soul legally. These are the terms you get. But mark my words, you will not cheat in this game. If you do,” he looked her up and down, “it will be hell for you.”
Total silence took over the table. It was as if someone had caught everyone’s voices and trapped them in a vault.
The game began. I was right there by Sonos’s side. I desperately wanted to grab up one of his hands. Hell, who was I kidding? I desperately wanted to clutch his face and kiss it. I needed to know he was okay. But he was forced to ignore me and concentrate on the game, and I could appreciate why. If he lost me... then what? I suppose it wouldn’t take long for this old dame to figure out who I was – and it wouldn’t take much longer for her to figure out she could sell me to Hilliker.
Mr. Fenticle raced up to my side. He watched the game nervously, his paws running over one another, his claws clicking. “A bold move – a brave move. But will it work?”
“Who’s winning?” I hissed at him.
“It is impossible to say until the end.”
I didn’t want to hear that. I wanted to hear that Sonos was gonna win, hands down. I wanted to hear that there was nothing he couldn’t do. But I already knew that wasn’t the case.
What followed were some of the most intense moments of my entire life. It beat Purgatory. It beat when Hilliker had been killing me in that vault. It beat them all because of one thing. Sonos’s hands were shaking. I doubted anyone else had noticed. They were too overwhelmed by the actual game. I had no clue what the cards stood for. The only thing that mattered to me was Sonos’s fragile form. He was holding himself upright, but I thought I could see a faint glimmer of blood trickling down from some wound in his stomach. It slicked across his abs and made them stick against his white suit shirt.
The other ghosts and damned continued to mutter among themselves. The one thing I was thankful for was that the doors were closed. No other gamblers had been allowed in. No one had left the room, either. I hoped that meant that word of Sonos hadn’t spread yet.
As the game became more and more intense, the other ghosts became more and more distracted. Though I didn’t know what was happening, unconsciously I got closer to Sonos. I would’ve wrapped an arm around his shoulders if I could.
I heard him let out a hissing breath. It invited me closer until the next thing I knew, he whispered. The words were so quiet, they couldn’t have been picked up by anyone but me. “When I tell you too, run.”
An electric bolt of nerves jerked down my back. “What?”
“When the game is over, and I give you the word, run.”
“Are you going to lose?” It was the hardest thing in the world to keep my voice whisper-quiet, despite what we were discussing.
“No. But Hilliker’s priests are able to track me. They know where my soul has gone. They will come for you.”
Terror gripped me. I wanted to run right now, and yet I wanted to take Sonos with me. I started to shake.
“Compose yourself and get ready,” Sonos warned.
The game continued.
“You will automatically be gifted this woman’s holdings. Use them.”
“How—” I stammered.
“Find a way.”
“Where are you?” I asked, fighting back tears.
“You cannot come to me.”
“I must help you escape.”
“You must leave me behind.”
If terror had gripped me before, now emotional horror did the same. I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried to throw myself around Sonos again, but he was still insubstantial. All I did was fall against his chair.
It made people pay attention to me again. Sonos slowed down the game.
I dragged myself up, my face completely awash with tears. There was no way in hell – or chaos or heaven – that I was going to leave him behind.
“You must save your sister,” he whispered when he judged that the rest of the ghosts had become distracted again. “You know about her now, don’t you?”
I just cried.
“Leave me. I am a distraction Hilliker is using to trap you. Don’t fall for it. The game is almost over,” he whispered.
I shook my head. I knew I was drawing attention to us, but I didn’t care. I went to grab Sonos again, but once more my hands just drifted on through.
This felt like being punched in the heart forever. Sonos was right there – right there, dammit – but there was nothing I could do to hold him.
“You must break the snow globe,” Sonos suddenly added.
“What? No. That’s your dream, isn’t it? It’s connected to your soul.”
“You must still break it. You’ll find more power inside. You have to use it to fight Hilliker.”
I did not need to struggle to understand what he was saying. I had already ascertained that the snow globe utilized soul magic – dream magic, specifically. If I broke it, it would release a significant amount of power – but would do so at an incredible cost. I would be breaking something dear – and central – to Sonos. It would do lasting damage.
I was totally horrified now. I couldn’t move.
“You will break it, Eve. There’s no other way. You will need the energy. Do so in a safe place. A place that feels right. Now, run.” He placed his final card down.
The old dame crumpled. She shook as if someone had passed a thousand volts through her. “No. There’s no way I could’ve lost. No,” she shrieked.
I tried to grab Sonos again. I put my entire heart into it. I’d done that before – but it was different this time. Terror told me this would be the last time I would ever see him, and that terror dug deep until it accessed the heart of my power.
For just a flickering moment, he became solid enough to touch. He recognized it before I did, and he clamped a desperate hand on my shoulder. He d
rew close. He kissed me. It lasted no longer than a second, but it took up my entire world, my entire life, my entire soul.
Chaos suddenly erupted around us. There were screams from further out in the gambling hall. Hilliker’s priests were here. But I couldn’t pull away. Sonos—
He pushed me. He stared at me, grief filling his expression. “Do what’s right. Do what I couldn’t. Stop the Banished. Stay alive,” he added. Then he just disappeared.
I screamed, jerked forward, and tried to grab his fleeting image, but it was completely insubstantial. Then there was nothing at all.
“What’s going on?” one of the koi demanded as he floated over to the doors. The second he opened them, I’d be screwed.
I jerked back. I fell to my knees. I shook all over.
“My lady, I think we have been rumbled.” Mr. Fenticle tried to grab me up.
Meanwhile the old dame screamed and wailed. If I’d been paying attention, I would’ve seen that a diamond tennis bracelet broke off her wrist. The constituent parts crawled over the table, down the leg, across the carpet, and onto my wrist. They tied themselves around me. It would be the physical representation of her wealth. I didn’t care. I just screamed Sonos’s name.
The doors burst open. I jerked my head up to see two massive priests dressed completely in jet black. They had hoods. I expected to see faces behind them, but instead they were just these black voids.
It was over. They were here for me. I had to run.
I couldn’t. I couldn’t remove myself from where Sonos disappeared.
But Sonos, it seemed, still had a faint connection to me. He used it now. This jolt of energy passed up my engagement ring into my hand. It forced it flat on the floor. It pushed me to my feet.
I staggered back just as those priests started to chant.
I turned. I grabbed hold of Mr. Fenticle, secured him under an arm, and ran.
The end of Better off Dead Book Three. The final book in this series – Better off Dead Book Four – is currently available.
More by Odette C. Bell
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Don’t be put off by the police-procedural bit. These stories aren’t training manuals. They’re punchy Urban Fantasies with strong mystery sub-plots. Maybe the main characters are private eyes or magical detectives, but definitely they’ve been thrown into adventures that threaten to swallow them up. From getting caught up in the machinations of twisted magical councils to fighting forgotten destinies, these heroines will have to save the world before everything is said and done.
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These stories combine two things – frenetic action sequences and magic. Lots of it. From heroines who are the most coveted pieces in ancient games to broken angels who must consume souls to survive, these ladies have to win to save themselves. But to win, they’ve got to fight. Hard. If you like punchy plots that don’t detract from the action, then these books are for you.
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