Justice First Book Three

By Odette C. Bell

One immortal down. Countless to go.
Melanie has unleashed her true powers, but if she thinks nothing can stop her, she’s forgotten Tyr. He’s more intent than ever to catch her and strip back her every secret.
But Tyr has other problems. A specter from his past starts to rise, its shadow casting all of Erebus into darkness.
Tyr came to Earth to find one person, but now she will look for him. She will leave no stone unturned and no body unburned. Though Melanie wants to run from him, her heart pulls her closer and closer still.
....
Justice First follows a gritty witch and the immortal tasked to hunt her down on a quest to defeat heaven. If you love your contemporary fantasies with fast-paced action, non-stop fights, and a splash of romance, grab Justice First Book Three today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Jan 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005923983

Book preview

Chapter 1

Melanie Rose

She’d done it… she’d defeated Freda.

But she’d only achieved it with Tyr’s help.

Now he was right there above her. You’d think he wouldn’t be able to hold himself up. She’d heard when his ribs had broken earlier. And now… now he’d given her part of his life force.

And he….

He finally placed his hand down on her cheek.

She’d long ago forgotten she wasn’t wearing a shirt. Now she was all too aware of it. Her stomach twitched, crunching in as she tried to struggle for breath. Make no mistake, this wasn’t because she’d been attacked. She just couldn’t take her eyes off….

Melanie, what are you— Tyr said in a halting, breathy voice.

The floor shook.

Tyr jolted with fright. We have to get out. Freda’s magic sustained this place. Now she’s gone, it will fall down. He grabbed her arm and wrenched her to her feet.

She allowed him to pull her forward.

The whole while, he stared at her, even as the ceiling began to rain down. His questions looked like they wanted to burn her up – not necessarily in an unpleasant way.

Melanie’s lips still tingled. Hell, her skin practically raged as if she’d been foolish enough to swallow an entire river of electricity. Tyr’s life force was still within her, this impossibly hot power. That wasn’t to say it was searing her insides like beef. It was just… God, she didn’t know. Even if she weren’t running for her life, there’d be no hope for her to explain it – just experience it as it shot through her bloodstream, coursed into her heart, and pumped even deeper.

They reached the stairs, just as every stone cracked like shattering ice. They ran up them. Chunks of rubble rained down from above. Massive stones almost smashed into Tyr’s larger form, but she got there first, leaning up onto her toes and punching them out of the way.

Her energy was back, better than it ever had been before. She was no longer aware of the deep cuts across her throat that monster had given her. As for the wound between her shoulders? Gone.

Just what could Melanie face and come back from?

There was one thing she couldn’t hope to come back from, at least. Tyr stared at her again, and real interest flickered in his gaze. She went to say she couldn’t deny it – then reality struck her. Back there, Tyr hadn’t kissed her, no matter how passionately his lips had locked against her mouth. He had simply used it as a conduit to transfer his power into her to give them one final chance.

They reached that second room.

Melanie saw another door suddenly carve itself out of the wall as everything Lost structural integrity. She thought she heard something within. It sounded like a screaming weapon. She went to thrust toward it, but Tyr wouldn’t let her. He certainly hadn’t recuperated his force. He’d given most of it to her. But that didn’t stop him from tugging her resolutely up the last stair. He focused his attention forward as if nothing would ever be able to break it until finally they reached the grass above. They tumbled down onto it just as the steps gave way completely.

Melanie kicked back. She stared in fear as the ground started to bulge and shake. If they’d been down there, God knows what would’ve happened to them. With an eruption of crackling black-red power then a hiss like a dying snake, the ground settled. There were no more shakes. Everything became still like a week-old corpse.

She locked a shaking hand on her chest.

Tyr was somehow already on his feet. He swayed a little but soon stood resolutely. Then he slowly reached a hand down to her, the rest of the world around them dim, but each of his stiff fingers as clear as a cloudless sky.

She stared at his hand for a few seconds. Her gut kicked, begging her to thrust forward. But the promise in his eyes wasn’t what her body longed for. He wasn’t about to pull her into a kiss. The threat was over. Which meant a new one was here. It was the ever-present danger of Tyr capturing her and making her pay.

Take the hand, Melanie.

So you can just drag me back to prison?

It’s time we leave the bridge realm. Erebus will be in chaos. There was already a gang war. Now we have removed the Arcadia Gang’s true source of power, the other gangs will attempt to destroy them once and for all. We need to catch the criminals, not let them kill each other.

She stared right at his fingers. We? It took so long to say that. It was as if she had to relearn how to speak.

He twitched. He hadn’t meant to let that slip, ha? There would be no we. Everything would just go back to the same game of cat and mouse it had been previously. So why did she reach up, and why did she press her fingers into his?

He looked at her for a few seconds. Why was his gaze so damn disarming? Yeah, she wasn’t wearing a top, but why did it feel as if his mere darting eyes stripped her of the rest of her clothes? Because there was no wall between him and her. He wasn’t holding back like he usually did.

He suddenly jolted down.

He reached her pant leg and pulled it up.

What? she spluttered.

He didn’t proceed to tug the rest of her trousers off. He just grabbed up the remaining set of bells.

Crap. It took her too long to realize this was a trap—

But it wasn’t. He placed the bells in her hands. We have to ring our bells together. We have to time the movement exactly.

What?

We need to ring them at precisely the same time, he said.

He was trying to distract her with his look, and it was working. Her stomach did untold things. Things the rest of her life simply hadn’t prepared her for.

Allow your magic to pulse into your bells. Then ring them at the same time I do. He shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out his own set of bells. Are you ready?

She nodded.

One, two, three. He rang his bells.

His hand was still locked on the set she was holding, and he forced her to ring her bells, too.

The sound as they tinkled out through this realm was unmistakable. It was so light, so different from the horrors they’d experienced. Everything started to melt away, from the cold, wet grass beneath them to the dark canopy above. Even the far off screams became distant.

The process wasn’t a violent one. They weren’t yanked back as if they were attached to a helicopter that had just jerked into the sky. Everything simply slipped on by like a fleeting dream.

That was aside from his grip. It only became tighter, his fingers locking around her as if they would never let go again.

Why was he so focused on them ringing their bells together? She could fool herself and see attraction in his eyes that wasn’t there, or she could wake up and realize this was a trap.

Maybe he wanted them to be together so they would arrive in the same place when they went back to Erebus?

There was nothing to suggest they would have to go back to the exact place they’d left. Magic gave you options – it rarely took them away.

Which meant they could go anywhere.

Melanie realized that just in time. She jerked away from him.

Melanie, he screamed.

She said nothing.

She locked the bells against her chest and concentrated on her safe house with all her damn mind. She thought she saw a hand clutching out of the darkness to catch her, but Tyr wasn’t that lucky. His fingers just flew on by.

She heard him calling her name one last time – then she did it. She pulled herself right out of bridge space. She appeared down on her bed with a thump. The springs immediately protested, and she wondered if they’d break, but they held on.

Melanie? Not so much. She clutched her fingers over her mouth and went to scream. It quickly died in her throat. Her fingers became way too obsessed with the tingles still trapped in her skin.

Melanie had done it. She was back. She’d defeated Freda. She’d saved the day. But….

She pulled her pillow under her face, closed her eyes, and tried to chase the feeling of one immortal from her mouth before it was too late.

Chapter 2

Tyr

She figured it out right at the last moment. He had every hope she wouldn’t recognize what he was doing.

She still escaped his grip.

Just as loss and confusion swamped him and Tyr groped toward her once more, he realized he had to decide where to go.

He was right now in a perilous part of this journey. He was in a kind of void space – a bridge, if you will, from real bridge space to the earthly realm. If he allowed himself to become distracted by Melanie’s disappearance for too long, he might find himself stuck here for good. So with his full force, he sharpened his mind like a laser, and he concentrated on his office.

He landed down right behind his desk with two heavy thumps. He fell to his knees. He could remain there, considering his significant injuries, but he shoved up.

He twisted in the pathetic hope that Melanie would be here after all. She wasn’t. He would know if she were right behind him. He’d shared his life force with her. For the next few hours at least, if not longer, it would call to him when they got close.

But she was nowhere near him.

He staggered over to his chair, pulled it out, and sat in it heavily.

He looked down at his body.

It was covered in his crystalline blood. Injuries were scattered over every segment of flesh.

He, by all rights, shouldn’t be able to function. But he had to.

He shoved up.

He could just wait here, concentrate, and try to heal. Or he could act.

There was a jacket hanging behind his chair. He pulled it on, buttoning it over his naked torso. Then he reached the door. He opened it and strode out. It was just as Gyna came running down the hall. She looked terrified. It was as if someone important to her had died.

As soon as she saw him, she skidded back. She was so shocked, she couldn’t say anything.

I’m back, he snarled. I must send a message to the higher realms immediately. One of us has sinned… and she has been punished, he added.

Has been… punished…? What happened? Where is— Gyna stopped abruptly.

I told you, I’m fine, he said.

She hadn’t been asking after him, had she?

She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, but then she straightened. I’m so glad you’re alright, my lord. She thrust forward.

She locked her arms around him and buried her chest against his as she looked up into his eyes.

What are you doing? he asked haltingly.

His body longed for intimacy, but not hers.

Locking a hand on her shoulder, he pushed her back resolutely.

She spluttered. You’re so injured. I will transfer my life force—

You will not suggest something so base. We do not have that connection, he growled.

Here he was, defending the tradition of life force, even though he had broken it with a mortal only minutes before.

Gyna looked suitably chastised, and she paled.

At least she found her feet as she staggered back from him. She clutched her mouth. What happened? You said that… an immortal—

Freda tried to kill me. She has killed many in this town. She has paid the ultimate price.

Gyna looked as if Tyr had just hit her. The ultimate price? You—

She has killed countless people. Judging by her power, she has been doing it for a long time.

You killed an immortal? Her voice became far off.

Tyr stopped.

He had to play a careful game here. He couldn’t admit he’d been working hand-in-hand with a serial killer. Yet he also had to tell the truth. He twitched. I didn’t kill her—

Melanie Rose, Gyna said, her voice coming out in halting gasps. Even though it wasn’t one continuous statement, that didn’t defuse the anger tearing through it. Gyna clutched a hand into a fist so tightly, her fingers could have perforated her palm then burrowed into the wall behind her. She took one angry step up to him. Where is she? Let me wrap my hands around her throat—

I will deal with her personally, Tyr said, his tone empty.

She killed one of our own. How does she even have that power?

Tyr opened his lips. He still didn’t have an answer. He’d been clutching at one ever since Melanie and he had tumbled into that realm. But it didn’t matter. The answers kept slipping from his fingers like water through a badly cupped hand.

Where is she? I will kill her myself—

Melanie Rose cannot be killed. For all intents and purposes, she is still considered a human. She must be handed over—

I don’t care about the contract, Gyna shrieked, her voice hitting such a pitch, it actually affected the wall behind her, and it started to crack.

Tyr’s gaze became dark. Control yourself.

Control myself? Not only did she kill an immortal, but look at what she did to you? She will not be handed over to the police. She will be crushed like the termite she is.

Control yourself, Tyr now roared. His voice didn’t crack the walls, but it didn’t have to. It just sat there heavily in front of Gyna like a cocked gun.

She finally realized what she was doing and who she was talking to, and she staggered back. She brought her hands up. She had clenched her fists so tightly, her nails had indented her palms, and a few little drops of blood were visible. For now, they were still red – could still fool any human into thinking she wasn’t a mortal. But Tyr could see a glimmer of power within.

Why was Gyna having so much trouble controlling herself? Yes, Freda was dead, but the two wouldn’t have known each other. It would be a shocking fact, but it shouldn’t be an undermining one.

Maybe Gyna could see that Tyr’s eyes were narrowing in suspicion, because she suddenly shook her head. The anger just disappeared, almost as if it was a small fire someone had doused with the entire Pacific Ocean. I am sorry, my lord. I only do this because of your injuries. Her gaze flicked down his body.

Fortunately he was no longer bleeding profusely. Now he was far away from Melanie, he could allow his magic to heal him, and it did. But while most of him was covered by his suit jacket, the top of his chest was not. She would be able to see that his mandala no longer glowed nearly as brightly.

I must send a message to the immortal realm, he said, both because it was imperative and to distract her.

I will do it for you, Gyna suggested as she ran in close behind him.

Tyr paused. He would prefer not to have to do this in person. He couldn’t lose the momentum he had with Melanie. God knows what kind of state she was in now, but she might be vulnerable to capture.

And yes, he’d just thought those words. Because now they were out of the bridge realm… the only thing that mattered was finally capturing her and finding out what she was.

That compulsion could drive him – drive him through any wall, through any ocean, through any barrier.

At the same time, who exactly could he trust? He would’ve once said he could trust Freda. She was a good immortal. At least that’d been the theory. Now he knew she’d been a coldhearted murderer who’d been churning through victims in Erebus like a chef casually tossing old organs into a meat grinder.

He paused and clutched his hand into a tight fist.

I will head to— Gyna began.

I will head to the higher realms, Tyr concluded reluctantly. This was huge. His people needed to know what Freda had done, and they had to hear it from him. He might be able to tell the story to Gyna, but she may knowingly or unknowingly not tell it truthfully.

Tyr had to be careful. This right here was the first step toward mistrusting Gyna. If he kept doing that, he would question one of the most loyal assets he had in this realm.

Now more than ever, he needed friends by his side.

Perhaps Gyna tried to prove herself as one again as she clutched his arm. She held it in a trembling grip, sweat sliding between her long fingers. Please, my lord, I will do this. You must catch Melanie. Catch her and punish her. Gyna’s lips became bloodless.

The viciousness collecting within them was indisputable.

Tyr fancied he could read Gyna’s mind, in fact. When she finally came across Melanie, she would wrap her hands around her throat, and Gyna would squeeze until said throat finally snapped.

But maybe there was something Gyna didn’t yet appreciate. You do not have the power to defeat her, he said flatly and without any remorse.

What?

You do not have the power to defeat her, Gyna. You are no longer working on this case. It is too risky, he added.

He didn’t know why he said that. Was it too risky because he couldn’t trust her, or because he didn’t want her to get harmed?

That was a very important distinction, and it was one he should be able to discern the difference of easily. Yet could he? No.

His suspicious gaze kept darting left and right, almost as if he was trying to find a crack in her usually perfect appearance.

Gyna slowly clutched her chest. She was wearing a slim black dress that accentuated her figure. He didn’t glance at it once, even as her fingers revealed more of her bust line as her grip tightened and tightened and tightened like a screw. What do you mean, my lord?

It is not a comment on your power – but simply a reflection of hers. She killed Freda on her own.

She got lucky. Freda—

Freda had been feeding on the souls of Erebus’s citizens. She created battery spells, he spat. The derision in his voice couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than poison.

But clearly Gyna didn’t care. She was only stuck on what he’d revealed. She must’ve gotten lucky—

I do not know what Melanie is. But that wasn’t luck.

You saw it? What kind of power did she wield? Gyna now spluttered so quickly, she couldn’t push the words out fast enough. It sounded like she wanted to take a knife to her throat to reduce the transit time between each stammered syllable. Based on the look in her eyes, there was nothing she wouldn’t do when it came to Melanie.

Tyr paused. He closed his eyes. Ever since he’d returned, he’d desperately been trying to part his foggy memories to recall anything of significance. But aside from a massive blast of light, he hadn’t seen how Melanie had killed Freda.

My lord? She locked her fingers around his arm.

He looked at them slowly. Wordlessly, he broke away from her.

What power did she use? What is she?

I still don’t know, he reluctantly admitted. Now, remain here. If Williams calls, tell her I will call back.

I should go out there and search—

You have clearly not listened to a word I have said. If you are ever unlucky enough to face Melanie, Gyna, you will not survive.

Chapter 3

Melanie Rose

She didn’t sleep. There was no way her body could possibly succumb to rest right now. It wasn’t just the memory of the last time she’d slept and she’d run into Freda. It was Tyr – in all his damn forms. Tyr, with his ever-changing personality. Tyr, with his unstoppable heat. And Tyr, with his unquenchable desire to catch her.

She sat there on the edge of her bed. She hadn’t even bothered to get dressed. She was still just in her inside-out trousers. She trailed her hand distractedly over her stomach, once, then twice, then three times. What? Did she think if she dug in far enough, she’d reignite what it felt like to be held by him?

Yeah, maybe she really did think that, because her hand suddenly darted up to her lips. It hovered there just a few centimeters above the skin, then finally settled down.

Her touch really did ignite something now.

It was a blast of his power. His immortal force was still in her.

She had a chance to be excited by that – then reality slipped in pretty soon after and warned her this was a terrifying thing. What if his lingering power could be used to track her down?

She darted to her feet. She started to nervously pace her room. She stared over at the door, then down at the trapdoor where her bed had once been positioned.

Tyr didn’t suddenly burst into the room.

She was alone. As she started to calm down, she realized that if Tyr could simply track her using his immortal life force, he’d probably be here already. He wasn’t. So she was… safe.

What the hell did that word mean now, though?

She stared at her hands.

Tyr had saved her life in more ways than one. He’d answered the question that’d been haunting her ever since she’d found out about her powers, too.

She used life force – something inside