The Night of The Gods Book Four

By Odette C. Bell

The battle for the Coalition will begin.
Alyssa and Max might’ve found his crystal. It could be too late. The Observer smells blood in the water and sends the imperial fleet after them. They will have to retreat. But they can’t run forever. Not when the Scarax gods attack the heart of the Coalition. It will soon be up to every soldier in this twisted game to fight to the death to save the galaxy and more. Alyssa and Max will be called on to sacrifice the most, and together, they will give.
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The Night of the Gods follows a legendary creature and the man tasked to protect her as they bring the Scarax war home. If you love your space operas with action, heart, and a splash of romance, grab The Night of the Gods Book Four today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.
The Night of the Gods is the 12th Galactic Coalition Academy series. A sprawling, epic, and exciting sci-fi world where cadets become heroes and hearts are always won, each series can be read separately, so plunge in today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Dec 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005151973

Book preview

Chapter 1

Alyssa Night

She never wanted to break away. She wanted this moment here to go on forever. Eternal. Unending. The pivot around which the rest of the universe spun.

But eternity cannot exist in a single moment. Time can never stand still – a lesson she’d taught herself for thousands of years.

She finally broke away. She didn’t want to, but she could hear an alarm blaring through the ship, and she knew precisely what it meant.

Max had become aware of it, too, because as he pushed back, his eyes widened in fright. What is that? I might be wrong, but I can hear an alarm.

I think the imperial fleet is on its way. I might’ve dealt with Farron, but he was the least of my troubles. John—

Max held her hand harder. I can sense him out there. We have to call the Light of the Gods to us. We’re going to have one chance. He looked down at her.

She looked up.

That look right there wiped away every other look she’d ever seen Max give. The last six months didn’t matter. Or it mattered in a different way. Every day she’d spent with him felt like the inevitable lead up to this. Every moment, every snarled word, every fight. They were steppingstones. She’d… she’d finally arrived.

She shoved forward again. They might not have the time, but she collapsed her arms around him, and she placed her head on his chest. That brought her face perilously close to the crystal. The crystal she was purportedly meant to destroy.

Did the desire rise in her? No. The crystal wasn’t controlled by a god. It was a part of Max. Literally. She would no more destroy Max than she would destroy herself.

Max wrapped his hands around her back. He pulled her closer. The moment couldn’t last. The alarm continued to blare.

She pulled away. We need to gather the Light of the Gods to us now. Allowing the resistance to rise up is going to be the only way we’ll have a chance.

What about the artifact? he stammered.

Once we gather the Light of the Gods, it will be easy enough to destroy. Especially now… she trailed off. She just stared at his crystal.

They’d been searching for it for so long. Now it was just here.

Despite the situation, Max smiled, the move spreading easily over his parted lips. He leaned in and placed a hand on her cheek. It was so warm, he could’ve cut through all of the coldness of space. It was the kind of heat that was designed to let people know that, no matter how frozen they became, they would always thaw. We can do this.

That warning alarm only became shriller.

She had to break away. It was murder. She pushed back. He kept hold of her hand.

We have to do this together, he stammered. Here in this moment. I think… this is where we access the crystal, anyway. It will be more powerful if we remain here.

She followed his words. At least her mind did. Her heart already knew the truth. She shoved in again. She closed her eyes. She concentrated on the Light of the Gods, and it was a wholly alien experience to be calling out to it even though she had dedicated her entire life to destroying it. She didn’t want to think of all the times she’d ripped right through it. It felt like pulling off parts of herself.

Max sighed hard, pressed her head closer to his chest, and closed his eyes. A moment later, they felt a surge of power. It rushed all around them.

It could have lifted her off her feet – had Max not held onto her as strongly.

Alyssa realized something. She’d felt this – the way he held onto her – in every cold moment. The reason that she’d been able to pick herself up in those drains underneath the commodore’s palace was that she’d felt this. The reason she’d been able to push past the horror of destroying the artifact was that she’d honestly felt this.

This was the moment that mattered most – their eternity.

She’d come here so many times over her life. In many ways, the 2000 years of internment had been spent entirely here, wrapped up in his arms, even though she hadn’t been aware of it.

Concentrate, Max warned.

So she concentrated. She was aware that the Light was still all around her. As it pulsed over her shoulders, she reached out to it with her mind. At the same time, the crystal glowed. Its illumination was… astounding. It was much brighter than the other crystals she’d ever seen. For it responded to its true master.

The eternity path didn’t change. It wasn’t illuminated any differently. The stones beneath them didn’t break. Nothing cracked. For it was not a place of destruction.

Back in the city ship, however, it was a different matter.

Though Alyssa wanted to remain here, her mind started to fracture between both points. She opened her eyes, returning to her body for a brief moment. Her lips shuddered open. It was in time to see her hand spread out wide. The Light of the Gods swirled around her form. It sent illumination dancing high up over the ceiling.

It didn’t drive all through the channels and paths dug into the floor and ceiling. It had liberated itself of both.

Speaking of liberating. She watched the remaining gods pound on the door to her side. They finally broke through. She saw guards out there. None of them was stupid enough to thrust in, regardless of the prize she would be.

Maybe the gods of this world had finally realized that no matter what they did and no matter what they offered up to the Light, it would no longer accept their brutal sacrifices.

It was hell to have her mind split between two places, but Max’s presence made it manageable. As the Light lifted her higher off her feet in the real world, she crumpled her face against Max’s chest in their eternal world. It’s working. I think I’m calling it to me.

Try harder. Max’s gaze became unfocused. This might be little more than an impression, but I get the sense that John is imminent. I think… I think I can momentarily hack into the city world’s scanners. The imperial fleet is on its way. We have five minutes.

Five minutes? She didn’t add anything else. She concentrated. She voluntarily thrust her mind back into her real body. She felt herself spinning on the spot. Her hair wafted out around her, her clothes threatening to pull off her body. The Light continued to spread and spread. She was glad no one else was in the room. They would’ve just gotten in the way. As it was, she didn’t tame her power – not once.

She called to the Light on the ship.

She’d fought it her entire existence. But now she reveled in its presence. She thrust the equivalent of her psychic hands out, and it raced toward her like a loyal friend. As it embraced her, rushing up through the various cracks in the ship, she felt like she was home.

This was the feeling she’d searched for for 2000 years.

That’s it, Max said to her in the eternal world, you’re doing it. I can feel the Light rushing toward you. It’s almost all there. Just a little longer. Hold on, Alyssa. You can do it.

Those four words – you can do it – might not mean that much from another person’s lips. From Max, they were as good as the law.

So Alyssa did it. With one last push, she gathered the Light to herself.

There were so many blaring alarms in the city ship, the walls shook.

In a moment of pure, total power, the last of the Light spread into Alyssa. It coalesced around her, forming a permanent light shroud over her like she was an angel with a halo. Then she gently dropped down to her feet.

She was starting to spend more time in the real world and less in the eternal. It was harder to drag her mind back to Max, too, despite it being the most comforting experience of her entire life.

She heard Max breathe through a laugh. Finally.

The artifact, she reminded him.

Don’t you worry. I’ve got that.

Alyssa struggled. She forced her mind back into the eternal world. It was just in time to see Max finally pull apart from her. She went to clutch his hand, but she didn’t need to. He kept his fingers secured around hers but used his other palm to clasp his crystal. It immediately reacted to his touch. It glowed three times brighter. It had the kind of illumination one would always recognize as fundamental to reality. This was no candlelight. This was no electric lamp. This was the glow of existence.

He clenched his teeth and concentrated. The artifact is in the god sanctum. I… don’t think I can destroy it remotely.

Then transport us there.

I doubt I know how to, he admitted.

I’ll do it. She pressed around him again, locking her face close to his crystal. She concentrated. She remembered when she had coldly destroyed a Hendari crystal before. She’d used its power to get her to the Milky Way in the first place. That crystal had been different. It hadn’t been part of Max.

She momentarily connected with his crystal, and she, just like Max, realized the imperial fleet was imminent. They had minutes. Seconds even.

When John got here, if the artifact wasn’t destroyed, he would try to control Alyssa again. And though she wanted to say that now she was one with the Light of the Gods he wouldn’t be able to, that was nothing more than a guess.

John had been planning this for many millennia. He would have tricks up his sleeve she couldn’t begin to imagine.

I think you’re doing it, Max spluttered as he wrapped his arms harder around her. Indeed, she was doing it. She accessed the crystal. Her mind felt like it glowed, if one’s psyche could actually produce light. The Hendari crystal certainly shone with new brilliant illumination.

It scattered around Max, pulsing up high, momentarily illuminating the entire eternity path.

Then finally she felt their bodies shifting.

Her psyche was pulled back to the real world – and so was Max’s – just as they transported.

This wasn’t like the transportation of the Coalition – nor of the Scarax Galaxy. This was pure. This was the mind and body recognizing that ultimately space didn’t count if you held time in your hands.

Alyssa and Max arrived in the god sanctum. They weren’t on the first level. They appeared to be at the top of the spire. They were in a room with a hole in the floor and one in the ceiling. Though she had never seen it, she got the impression that the Light of the Gods was meant to permanently glow through that shaft. But now it was within her.

That was not the only thing in the room, however. There was a spinning crystal right in the middle of the now empty shaft.

The crystal had a long pillar in the middle, and it spun around that central point.

It was tiny compared to the artifact she destroyed in the subterranean complex. Or, more likely, the bulk of the artifact back there had cleverly hidden what was within.

She momentarily couldn’t breathe. Perhaps, momentarily, she reminded herself she didn’t have to.

Max staggered away from her, though he didn’t break his grip on her hand. They pushed forward.

He was wordless, breathless, stunned. Fear and awe rushed through him, widening his eyes, making his cheeks dappled. This is it. We have to— He jerked his head up. He swiped his hand to the side.

The ceiling was some kind of holographic viewscreen. It showed space beyond. And Alyssa could see lights suddenly blinking close. They weren’t newborn stars. They were massive heavy cruisers of the imperial fleet appearing around the city ship. One, then two – then hundreds.

They were surrounded.

Worse? This sense of impending doom crashed upon her. She clutched the side of her face. A flicker chased through her Light shroud. She went to stagger down to her knee, but Max wouldn’t let her. Nor did he have to question what was happening. John’s here, he hissed.

She nodded emptily, the move devoid of force as she had to redirect everything into protecting her mind. It’s different this time, Max. I think… I think he can control me directly without you. I don’t—

Hold on, Max roared.

He finally broke his grip on her. He thrust toward that crystal. What exactly did he plan to do? Wrap his arms around it and try to destroy it with nothing more than his strength?

No.

Max got a step away from it, then punched a hand out. He placed his other hand on his chest, and he concentrated, deep lines digging into his brow and cheeks.

All the while, Alyssa tried to hold on. She… she had no clue what John was doing, but she had to… she had to hold on.

Energy spread out from Max. He accessed his crystal, and what a display it was. As power erupted around him and shot toward the crystal, the floor began to shake. But so did Alyssa. She…. I think, she had to screw her face up as pain ricocheted through her temples, he has access to other Hendari crystals now. He must’ve taken them from the empress. I… Max, I don’t know how long I can hold on. He is trying to control me. Even as she said that, she felt her fingers twitch. They spread toward Max.

Max turned, one hand still held toward the artifact as power bled off him into it, his attack never faltering. Hold on, he roared. His helmet was off. She didn’t know if it had crumbled or if it had simply receded. She saw his face, recognized the emotion tearing him up. Sweat scattered across his brow, and his short fringe whipped into his forehead. More and more light bled off him. His control of his crystal was almost complete. But John’s control was….

Max, she stammered. She clutched her chest. She then lost complete control of one hand. She reached it toward him, the fingers twitching madly.

Remember everything we did to get to this point, Max said in a far-off voice.

It stilled her because he used that wise tone she’d only ever heard a few times. It was a tone that could take her right back to that eternity bridge.

Max?

Just hold on. You’ve done it before, and you can do it again. I don’t care who John is, don’t care how many Hendari crystals he has at his fingertips. There’s no one like you. You can endure anything, Alyssa. I’m right here. Just a few more seconds. Just hold on.

Max wasn’t the only person who’d ever told her to hold on. Forest had done it, and the more Alyssa thought about it, she’d been telling herself that same refrain ever since they’d arrived in the Scarax Galaxy. But if mere words were enough to see her withstand even the greatest force, then all she’d have to do is repeat that. But the more she whispered it in her mind, the weaker she became as the Observer used all of his crystals in a coordinated attack. She suddenly shrieked as pain incarnate stabbed through her skull.

Energy began to pick up around her. The Light of the Gods tried to race in and protect her, but it wouldn’t work.

Alyssa felt something happening with her holographic armor. It contracted suddenly and pushed in against her body. It felt like a lethal embrace.

Alyssa, Max screamed. He had to finish his attack. The Light pulsed off him and sank into the artifact. But it wasn’t close to being destroyed yet.

Unlike the other artifact they’d broken, this was a really powerful one. Talon had already confirmed that.

It just kept soaking up Max’s energy, no matter how much he threw at it.

They… would fail. It was only a matter of time.

A stupid thought. It robbed her of yet more strength. And every time she trembled, the Observer simply pushed in more.

She totally lost control of her hand. And through it, she lost control of the Light of the Gods enshrouding it. She suddenly sent a pulse of power into Max, but he was somehow expecting it. He spread his other hand and created a shield from his crystal. Alyssa’s attack blasted into it, and while his shield held for now, it couldn’t hold forever.

Max, Max, that wasn’t me. I’m… losing control. He’s using every Hendari crystal he has. I’m failing, Max. Just get out of here. Don’t let them use me to kill you.

You’re not killing anyone, Alyssa. Just a couple more seconds.

It wouldn’t take a couple more seconds. This was like the countdown she’d given Max back when they’d destroyed the first artifact. She’d told him three minutes. It’d turned out to be more than five.

But she couldn’t last five minutes. She couldn’t last another second.

She screamed. Some strange pain started to spread through her chest. Alyssa had never swallowed acid. She had no clue if this is what it felt like. Nor had she ever turned her temporal particles in on herself. But this… it had to be similar.

She bucked back. But her hand was still held out, and she still attacked Max. All the while, she felt this hole developing within her.

Max yanked his head around. No, he shrieked at the top of his lungs. Don’t you dare attack her.

Alyssa’s lips moved, jerking around her teeth. It took her a while to realize someone was trying to control them, and by the time she did, it was too late. Give up, Max, or she will destroy herself. Give up now, John screamed through her lips.

The pain continued to crumple her chest. Alyssa didn’t want to see, but she couldn’t spare herself because John suddenly controlled her face. She glanced down at her chest. The armor stabbed into her body. It pushed toward her heart. She could actually see her blood and tissues and bones.

She got momentary control of her lips again, and she shrieked.

Max didn’t stop his attack, but he stared at her now, and terror gripped him. Don’t you dare kill her, you bastard, he screamed with everything he had. It wasn’t enough.

The pain… it took a turn. It became worse. And far more threatening than that, it felt like it would never stop. It reached a corner and took it. And… Alyssa would die now, no matter what Max did.

Yet her arm was still held out to him, her hand still spread wide.

He had to control that shield in front of him. It started to crack up. The second it failed would be the second her power tore him apart.

Alyssa, he screamed at her, his throat-punching cry louder than John’s screams in her mind. You just have to hold on. Push him back for a little longer. We’re almost there. The second we destroy the artifact is the second he is pulled from you. You can do it.

Could she? No, she couldn’t. She was forced to watch in horror, her neck crunched down, her eyes locked on her chest, as it just disappeared in front of her. It would never come back. Alyssa would….

Death had always been such an impassive fact to her. But now it would embrace her. She could not get away.

She closed her eyes.

Alyssa, don’t you dare. You have to face it. If you close your eyes, you’ll just let him further in.

Max was right, but there was nothing she could do. The pernicious force of John’s control spread like wildfire.

And so did the damage to her chest. Alyssa had convinced herself she had a heart. But if she did, it was now completely consumed. This jolt of fearsome power spread through her, and she knew it was the holographic armor tearing through more of her internal organs.

She waited for the moment she’d die. Because it had to be now.

It didn’t come. Not yet. The Observer was dragging on her death so she could feel every terrifying moment.

Alyssa, Max screamed, but she couldn’t hear anything else. That damage spread up her neck to her face. Was it crumbling apart?

She….

Inevitable, John hissed in her mind. Your destruction was always going to come to pass. For with it, civilizations can finally reach the top. You are nothing but an outdated guard. Now it is time to stand aside. Crumple, Night, like you have made so many crumple before you. His vicious glee tore through her, charging through her chest, leaping higher.

Alyssa… this was it. The point of no return. She felt the moment her fight crumbled.

She opened her eyes one last time. The artifact started to spin chaotically. Max’s power was finally getting to it. But….

Alyssa flopped forward.

It was over.

Max was forced to make a choice.

Her or the artifact.

She saw the decision in his eyes. It would be her. But just… just before he could break away from the artifact and lose, Alyssa heard her own voice echo through her head. Never let him fall. If he falls, all die. If he falls, every sacrifice loses its meaning. If he falls, you’ll never get him back.

Never… never get him back.

Alyssa had found meaning, purpose, a point of creation. She could not return to what she’d been before. She’d grown so much over the past several days that she couldn’t compare herself to what she’d once been.

This was her last chance. If she didn’t rise now, she never would again.

She saw the moment Max went to drop his hand, the moment he chose to lose control of his Hendari crystal.

So she roared. The scream came down from her soul, blasted up her throat, and spread, not through the room, but back into John. It was a psychic shriek like no other.

And it worked.

For a fraction of a moment, it broke his control on her. The pain crumpling her chest stopped. The damage reversed.