Truth Seer Book Four, page 1
Truth Seer Book Four
Odette C. Bell
www.odettecbell.com
Copyright
All characters in this publication are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Truth Seer Book Four
Copyright © 2024 Odette C Bell
Cover art stock photos licensed from Depositphotos.
www.odettecbell.com
Truth Seer Book Four Blurb
It starts with dreams. It ends with blood.
Lord Omega continues his attacks on the city. Harper might’ve defeated him once. Until she delivers the final blow, he’ll keep hounding her.
As hidden connections unfold, she’s thrust on another journey to unmask a forbidden practitioner before it’s too late. But as Harper’s plunged further into the city’s dark underbelly, she learns facts she’d rather forget. Before too long, she’ll take a step into the abyss. It’ll throw her into a certain demon’s arms. But even Lux’s strong grip can’t save her from the inevitable.
Truth Seer Book Four
Title Page
Copyright
Blurb
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
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Newsletter
About The Author
Reading Order
Guide
Front Matter
Start of Content
Back Matter
Chapter 1
Was I dreaming? I had to be. This couldn’t be happening to Epista. Couldn’t be happening to me.
I stood on a cracked, fissure-lined street as screams split the air. They bounced off the broken walls as fire bled between the bricks, hotter than Hell’s worst inferno.
The crowd rushed past me, mad with fear. I joined them. I reached out, wanting to help. What could I do?
Magic squeezed between my fingertips. It fell from me, drip by drip, splashing onto the ground and disappearing through the fissures for good. I felt it draining out of me like my last breaths.
Much sharper screams split the air. Twisting my head around, I glimpsed between the laneway and watched a figure in a dark billowing cloak jump from the roof above. They landed with the grace and predatory ease of a cat.
A woman spun, her torn floral dress flaring around her shuddering knees. She fell to her butt as the figure loomed above her.
“Leave her alone. Leave her alone, dammit,” I cried. My voice might be strong, my sentiment clear. My magic was too weak to back it up with. I squeezed my hand into a tight fist. The few faintest crackles escaped out. They soon dragged my blood with it, and in a moment of weakness, I tumbled to my knee. I watched my force shuddering out of my palm and splashing onto the broken pavement. It disappeared in sparking hisses of steam.
The figure approached the woman. She backed off and lifted her arms, terror lining her face. But the man reached down, grabbed her with a large hand, and picked her up.
Fear stretched her features. She shrieked—
Then the creature bit her.
Creature?
Vampire. I heard his sharp fangs impacting her flesh, the scrunch like someone stabbing an iceberg lettuce with a knife. Then the glug, glug, glug. She struggled, kicking him in the chin, but her thrashing soon weakened.
She fell limp in his hands, a ragdoll being dragged around by its master.
He drank her dry. Not just of blood. She was a witch. As she withered into a husk in his hands, he pulled the magic from her veins. I’d never been more certain of something in my life.
I still sat there on my butt, a pale and shaking, fractured mess. Finally a spark of determination rose. I thrust to my feet just as he threw the dead witch away. She tumbled into an overflowing dumpster like she was only fit to join the trash within.
Trembling, I pressed my fingers hard into my brow, raked them down my flesh, and jerked back. Then I shot forward one step. “Whoever you are,” I hissed, “I will stop you.”
I couldn’t see the guy’s face. I guess he was a man from his large stature, prominent shoulders, and big hands. I knew he was a vampire. His cowl might hide most of him. I still saw two flashes of enamel, the dream highlighting them like a microscope showing you the world’s deadliest virus.
He took one resounding step toward me, and it beat like a heart about to stop. “You,” he whispered, voice darker than anything I’d ever heard.
I trembled back a step then stopped myself. I bared my teeth, clenching them hard enough my gums could bleed. “I’ll stop you,” I hissed.
“You don’t even know what I am yet. And you have no clue what you can do. No clue what you’re here for.” With a somnolent voice that could put me to sleep – even though I knew this was a dream – he lifted a hand and pointed at me. His rigid finger mightn’t be a chain, but I swore it locked me to the spot. Fear seized me.
He stepped forward again. His hand was still stretched out to me, but he opened his fingers in a viselike grip. All he needed now was a throat to squeeze.
Move. Wake. End this damn dream already, I screamed at myself. I was only partly lucid. I knew this wasn’t real – it couldn’t be. I also remembered my usual dreams were a heck of a lot nicer than this. They starred steamy demons – not wild vampires who could drink you dry of your every last drop of magic.
I trembled backward, feet finally unsticking, but they didn’t save me. Nothing could. My back banged up against the wall behind me. The vamp reached me. He locked a hand on the weather-worn brick behind my head and leaned down. His breath moved past his cowl’s hem, pulling it back and forth rhythmically. Again I saw a flash of his teeth, sharper than before, crackling with a force I couldn’t place.
“What are you, Harper White?”
He’d bite me. Without the force to stop him, he’d take my magic’s last few drops. If they didn’t disappear on their own. They continued to drain from me in a shivering mess. Internally, I tried to hold on to them. You could give me a thousand hands – they’d just slip through the cupped fingers.
“Harper White,” he asked in a deeper, more insistent tone that drilled through my nerves, “what are you?”
I sneered. I squeezed my eyes closed for half a second and snapped them open. If you can’t run from death – face it. “Harper White, Truth Seer.”
He laughed. “Harper White, sacrifice.” He jolted forward, yanked my neck to the side, and plunged his fangs in. He greedily drank the last drops of my magic, never slowing down once.
Chapter 2
I screamed and shot out of bed so fast, I fell onto my butt on the plush cream carpet below. Several cushions tumbled around me. For seconds, I couldn’t place them – didn’t know what they were. My mind transposed cracked, burning bricks around me, and I huddled against my knees, trying to protect myself from the vampire.
… But he wasn’t here. That was a dream.
Someone knocked on the door. “You okay?” Artie’s deep voice rumbled under the frame.
I rubbed my face. “Sorry, Artie. Fell out of bed. Bad dream.”
He grunted. “We all get them, Harper. Shake it off, have a shower, and come down for breakfast. Virginia is making madeleines.”
I grinned softly, grabbed a pillow, did what he suggested, and shook my shoulders. “Be there in a minute.”
“Take your time. If you don’t deal with trauma when you get it, it piles up,” he grunted as he moved off down the corridor.
He’d lived a hard life. That was sage advice from someone who knew.
I rubbed my face. Beth wasn’t in the room. Good. Though she was under the impression I only ever dreamed about steamy magical encounters, I didn’t want her knowing about that nightmare. Didn’t want anyone knowing about it.
So why did I pause halfway toward the bathroom door, fingers trailing over my neck as if I could still feel the vamp’s fangs?
“Shake it off,” I hissed. When I didn’t drop my hand, I used my other, forcing it down like someone else controlled me.
When I finally regained my senses, I twitched my hand into a fist and tapped it against my thigh. Then, giving in one final time, I opened it, squeezed it, and called to my blood magic. It rose just a fraction – enough I could see it. Satisfied it was still there, I smiled, shrugged my shoulders again, and headed into the bathroom. I showered quickly and dressed in sensible clothes – sturdy trekking pants, a thick woolen top, a leather jacket, and shoes.
Since finding leather jackets, I wore them constantly. It wasn’t just the protection. It was… look, sometimes a girl needs a hand to feel strong. I had my magic. The leather gave me an added sense I could do this. I wasn’t the ex-realtor, wasn’t the crazy, flushing, babbling magical wreck. I was Harper White, Truth Seer.
“No,” my lips moved of their own accord. “You’re Harper White, sacrifice.”
“Excuse me?” Bethany banged against the door and opened it with her magic. I didn’t know exactly how she did that. She moved against the handle and forced it open without her orb visibly changing.
It was a mystery.
What I’d said was not. Bethany possessed perfect hearing. I winced.
“Harper White, sacrifice? I heard you scream from the kitchen. A nightmare? I’m assuming it wasn’t pleasant. It didn’t star Lux, then?”
My cheeks didn’t redden. Not close. “It wasn’t a nightmare. I… dreamed of Lux,” I lied, trying to give her what she wanted to hear.
If Bethany had arms, she’d cross them. With a foot, she’d tap it until the driving rat-a-tat-tat got to me.
I ran my hand through my hair. “Just let it go, Beth.”
“Sounds like you’re talking to yourself. If you want to let a dream go, sharing is the best way to do it. Harper, tell me.” It was a driving command.
I winced. “Nothing—”
She shot close, ramming in front of my face and stopping a centimeter from my nose. I didn’t double back – I knew Bethany would never hurt me.
But so help her if I prevented her from finding out the truth. She might not be a seer. She was just as dogged as me.
“After everything we’ve gone through, Harper, you should not hold the truth back from me. I’m your guard, your friend, your—”
“Partner,” I whispered, reaching out, grabbing her, and sliding my thumb down her perfect, light-filled side. “I know that. I just don’t want to worry you.”
She chirped like a bird. “Worry? Me? Have you met me?”
“No. I’ve only met your soul shard. I know precious little about you and your life. You’re a mystery.”
She cackled. “I want to keep it that way. It makes me seem far more interesting. Plus,” her voice dropped with disappointment, “I wasn’t that interesting, Harper. I was a simple magical teacher. I’d recently retired from that job, looking for another career. You’ve seen my house – and when you say you never met me, you spoke to me plenty of times over the phone.”
“Sure. It’s not the same as actually meeting someone, as reaching out, finding out about their magic, and…. I don’t know, just getting to know them.” I shuddered. It rocked up into my back, seized my shoulders, and squeezed.
“This is about your dream, not me. Share the details. Now,” she commanded.
I sighed, momentarily flopped against my bed, grabbed a plush cushion, and held it with tight fingers. “A vampire was running around town, draining people of all of their magic and life force with single bites.”
“Gruesome. On topic, too. Was it Lord Omega?”
I winced. “Don’t be so… cold. This is my nightmare. You should be kinder.”
“You should be more efficient. Madeleines and black coffee await, Harper. Though this is ironic coming from me, I’ve recently learned you must take the time to have family interactions when you can. I never thought I’d be living with my sister and her boyfriend. I am. They are my family. You are too. They await below. Everyone here has their own problems. But when we gather for breakfast, that’s irrelevant. Only stuffing our faces matters.”
I chuckled warmly and meant it.
I squeezed my eyes closed. “I don’t know if it was Lord Omega. He wasn’t wearing his usual cloak.”
“An irrelevant fact. Dreams often transpose different details. They are not accurate or lifelike. Did it feel like Lord Omega?” She used the same emphasis I had previously when speaking about meeting people for the first time. This was a vague sense I’d never thought of before, but now I was a truth seer, I appreciated there was more to folks than first impressions.
When you met someone, you didn’t just note their eye color, hair, and build. There was this… sense about them. This complete quality that added together every detail. That’s what Beth was getting at. If I removed the wrong cloak, could I conclude my attacker was Lord Omega?
I shook my head, grabbed a few stray strands of hair, looped them around my finger, then dumped them. “I don’t know. I don’t think it was him. He bit me. He called me a sacrifice.” Even though I’d banned this, I dragged my fingers down my neck. There were no fang marks. It still felt like a shadow of them clung to my skin.
“In part, Artie is right. Shrug it off. But remember you are a truth seer.”
I cupped my knees, leaning close to her as she bobbed in front of my face. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“Irony will get you nowhere. I can pull it off fabulously. It makes you sound truculent.”
“Ouch,” I laughed. I shoved to my feet, walked to the door, and opened it. The sweet smell of fresh madeleines wafted up the stairs. My stomach rumbled. I reached the staircase, slid a hand down the polished banister, and smiled. Beth was right. You took the time to live when you could. My life was going to hell. In parts, it’d already reached it. I’d fought Lord Omega. I’d found his stronghold. He was gone. Because it turns out he had more help than I’d suspected. A truth seer – likely Vince’s ex-fiancée – was out there helping him. I’d assumed someone from the light or dark side was working with Lord Omega. This was worse. I didn’t know this truth seer personally. She was older than me, more experienced, and clearly more desperate.
Bethany pushed close. “Dreams are sometimes to be ignored.”
I frowned then shrugged. “Fine. I’ll ignore it.”
“And sometimes their warnings are to be heeded,” she added ominously.
My brow squeezed together. “Thanks for that. I just want to ignore it, actually.”
“Lord Omega is out there gathering forbidden power. We haven’t heard from him for a month. That’s meaningless. He will be waiting and watching.”
I slid my gaze down to the main door as we reached the first floor. Lord Omega didn’t kick it down, his cloak billowing in the wind, that single cowlick of sandy blond hair curled like a butcher’s hook.
I still paused on the final step, fingers drumming the round banister.
“You gonna come get your food?” Virginia called.
“She can smell it, honey. She’ll come when she’s ready,” Artie said, clearly giving me time.
I smiled, turned to Beth, and jumped backward off the last step. I plunged my hands into my pockets. “Fine. I’ll take the dream’s warning seriously.”
“Good girl, Harper. It takes someone of character to recognize when they’re in danger.”
My eyebrows scrunched together. “Ah… it just takes a human with an adrenal system.”
“Don’t be stupid. Most people would rather bury their heads in the sand than recognize when they’re up against something they can’t fight. They’ll run. They’ll lie. They’ll give up. The brave and smart will understand the odds and fight anyway. What are you?”
I paused, considering her question. Then I strode toward my madeleines, ready to carve out my family time. “I’m neither. I’m Harper White, Truth Seer.” With that brave – and thankfully accurate – statement, I walked into the kitchen and smiled.
Smiles don’t last. Nor do fabulous home-cooked breakfasts. Few things do.
Chapter 3
I stood outside, a warm cup of coffee in my hand, steam rising off it as I watched a few droplets of rain turn into sleet. They fluttered onto my truck’s half-frozen windscreen.
It was ten o’clock in the morning… and I was bored. You heard that right. I had nothing to do, no facts to find, no battles to fight.
Beth was busy with Virginia. Artie was at work. He didn’t have to work. He chose to. The Council kept an eye on him and sent a tracker with him on every job.
I’d personally spoken to Lux. He had someone tracking the dump truck company, too.
If anything happened to Artie – even a hint someone was after him – Lux’s friend would sweep in and bring Artie back here. For now I wanted to pretend Artie had freedom – that the rest of us did too.
How long would it last?
Tilting my head up and ignoring the chill biting at my cheeks, I watched a few droplets turn into snow. I didn’t actually see the process. They froze up in the higher atmosphere. But it felt like they reached the house – reached Epista – and froze.
Because I couldn’t shake the impression Epista was about to get more dangerous. Yet again.
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