Risen Episode Four

By Odette C. Bell

This is it – I’ve climbed the ladder, and the only way down is defeat.
But I won’t fall this close to the end. I don’t care how much I have to give – or fight. And this battle will take me right through the rotting lies at the heart of magic and out to a new dawn.
If I’m lucky I’ll bring the other students with me. If not, I’ll crash and burn alone in one last fight for everything.
Will Richard stand by my side, or will the truth kill the both of us?
...
Risen follows a witch hell-bent on revenge and the man who banished her as they navigate a dangerous magical academy. If you love your urban fantasies with nonstop action, high stakes, and a touch of romance, pick up Risen Episode Four today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Jul 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005908829

Book preview

Chapter 1

This was it. Or at least that’s what John thought. All eyes were on me. But no one really knew who I was.

It didn’t matter that Richard had screamed my name before the attack. A lot of the students hadn’t been there at the time. Since then, the room had filled with them.

I could see the question reflected in everyone’s eyes. Why would John, the new king, be holding his hand out to some random student?

Victory glittered in his pupils. All these students needed to do was pay attention to that. And all I’d ever needed to do was pay attention to that look, too. His stare cut me out of the background and would never let me slip back into it again.

When I didn’t grasp his hand, he grasped mine, though the uninjured one. He thrust it into the air as if I’d just won some boxing match. It’s over. It’s finally over. She’s defeated Fenrir. We don’t have to fear for our lives anymore. The war, he slowed that down as he reached over, grabbed my hand harder, then looked into my eyes, is over. We can now have everything we ever wanted. With that particular statement, still looking deeply into my eyes, he swiped his hand down my face.

It was a strong but intimate move, considering he had to touch my cheeks and nose and chin.

I just faced him as he ripped off my disguise in front of everyone.

People had been asking how the hell the fight could be over, considering only Arwyn could technically destroy Fenrir.

Then I was treated to it yet again. The sheer surprise of everyone as they realized who I was. These mutters shot through the crowd. Richard wasn’t here to join in with their surprise. I strained my gaze to find him, but I couldn’t. Patrick was, though. He just stood there, arms loose by his sides, expression completely… dead.

According to John, I’d just defeated Fenrir, even though of course that wasn’t true. According to John, everything was over. All the nonstop fighting, all the sacrifice. It was now in the past. People could just… people could just do whatever it was they wanted.

But not Patrick. He stared at me as if someone had hollowed out his gaze. There were a couple of the other Boys standing around, though only a few from my time. It was the same for them.

Why wasn’t my stomach jumping with nerves, or at the very least with some sense of pride? Sure, it was all fake. No one knew I’d actually made a deal with Fenrir. Not my point. I’d imagined this moment once upon a time. And even though it wasn’t everything I had dreamed of, surely I should feel something. What about pride? The very pride that a bright like me should’ve always been after. Instead, I was just empty and blank.

He kept my hand held up for way too long. Then he let it drop. He placed his broad palm on his chest and bowed. I’ve already introduced myself, but I will introduce myself again. I am John Astor, rightful king. It is I who organized this, I who planned this, and I who helped her. And it is I who will usher you all into a new day. With that, he finally dropped my hand. He didn’t take a step away from me, though. He was way too close for my personal tastes. He settled a hand on my shoulder. And all the while, I thought of Fenrir down in the basement.

I had made peace with my greatest enemy. Because he’d never been my greatest enemy. My true enemy was around here. Either John or Richard or someone else.

You could accuse me of being tired from all of my nonstop fights, and I was – this deep weariness sucking at my bones like somebody attaching a sponge to them. But I could fight more. And I would fight more.

I distanced myself from John. I did it on the premise of bowing to everybody. That was an ancient tradition. If I’d had my staff, I would’ve used it, too, to seal the deal, to make this into the ceremony it ought to be. I’d envisioned victory day, though I’d never imagined taking part in it.

Isn’t she meant to be dead? someone whispered.

The bright is meant to extinguish itself when it fights Fenrir, right? How do we know he’s even dead?

John’s lips twitched. That was an old story, a lie, he said, voice vibrating down low. It was there to benefit no one but my brother. And that is what I am here to tell you before I rise to take my rightful place on the throne. You have been lied to. You have been manipulated. And you have been attacked, all by my brother. All for his own personal gain.

I slowly tilted my head around and stared at John. I’d already heard this, so I didn’t need to pay attention. It meant my senses were there, ready to lock on his every movement, ready to find out as much as I could. My first question was this – did he believe what he was saying? Hard to say. He was a consummate actor. He knew exactly when to raise his voice, went to drop it, when to look stern, and went to look easy. It would be simple to believe him. Hell, it would be nice to believe him. The way he led the mind made the most complex situations seem easy to grasp for anyone. My tired brain certainly wanted a piece of that. But the rest of me kept watching. Kept watching until he was finished and there was dead silence.

I considered Patrick. He still appeared to be utterly empty. He locked his eyes on mine, and I could see the question playing behind them. Did I believe a word of this? I must have if I’d joined forces with John.

My stomach twitched.

I watched everyone.

They were starting… starting to believe John. Not because of his tale… because of where I stood beside him.

I’d always underestimated my power at this school. I’d always underestimated what my presence could do. But I was a royal, and I was she who had defeated Fenrir. If I threw my support behind John, so would the rest of the school, apparently.

It started off with one cheer. Then another, then another. Soon there was righteous applause. People just wanted the promise that it was over and it would never come back. They wanted to see a new dawn on the horizon, and John had offered that through me.

But wasn’t John forgetting something?

I don’t know where Belle had disappeared to, but now she came back.

I watched John’s lips twitch as he saw her appear on the other side of the atrium. I could see from the tender, lost-puppy look in her eyes that all she wanted was to throw herself at him. She wanted people to know that she’d been the force behind him.

But he reached over and tightened his grip on my wrist, doing the visual equivalent of marking his territory.

She took a shaking step into the room. John. You’ve told them all about me, haven’t you? I can’t find Richard, but—

He turned from her, grabbed up my hand, and lifted it high again. There was another round of cheers. They struck my ears, but they were empty, like sounds but without all of sound’s force – as if you were a computer and you’d been told something had made a noise, but you hadn’t actually heard it.

I arched my head over my shoulder and watched her, watched her as her expression fell, watched her as everything clicked into place. One of her hands became loose like it would never form a fist again, while her other fingers ground so hard against her palm, I thought she’d perforate a hole in it.

John, she said in a more triumphant voice. I’m back. It’s over. I can’t find Richard, but—

She couldn’t find Richard? I finally tuned in to what she was saying and not the way she was saying it. Richard had… run away?

My stomach squirmed at that prospect. I wanted to see him. I wasn’t entirely sure why. Did I want to rub it in? Did I want to point out to him that regardless of how much he’d tried to control me, I’d won anyway?

Did I just… want to look into his eyes and see how he was?

Those complex thoughts kept flitting through my mind.

But while I could ignore Belle, John couldn’t afford to. One last step forward. John, she said, voice now insistent, have you told them who I am to you? The rightful—

He grabbed my hand so hard, I could feel his magic. He let it shoot up my elbow and around my face.

We have saved you, and we will take our place as your rightful king and queen, he announced to the crowd.

Belle just stood there. She stood there, and she stood there, and she stood there. She stood there, and behind her vacant gaze, I watched everything align.

She’d forced the truth away for so long, but she couldn’t escape it now.

John? she said once more in a defeated voice.

He just watched her in that way you would something so unfortunate that it couldn’t even understand its place in society.

He turned from her. A mistake. Yeah, Belle might be easy to control when her adorations were locked on him, but she would not be a good spurned lover.

He turned again. By that time, she’d disappeared. He didn’t even notice. That’s what arrogance will do for you. It will stop you from seeing the threats right in front of your face. Instead, all you’ll see is the glamor, all the attention, and all of the things you’d ever wanted. I shouldn’t have to tell you that one of those things was me.

He lifted my hand again. More cheers. They just kept coming. Someone even made the magical equivalent of fireworks. And why wouldn’t they? Everything the school had ever wanted was finally coming to pass.

There would be no more wars.

Or at least that’s what everyone thought. But there would be one more final war for the truth.

When it was over, a party had started.

I managed to pry myself back from John. I should really get my arm looked at.

He did the rounds, soaking up the attention. I had to admit one uncomfortable thing. He looked good as a king. It had something to do with his towering form and his even more towering personality. I think I’d read somewhere that if you starve human minds of too much reason, they will clutch for the first person or thing that can offer them simplicity. That’s how totalitarian leaders rise to the top. They offer people simple solutions to complex problems.

I was tired – don’t get me wrong. My mind also wanted to find the truth as fast as it possibly could. But I could see through his act, and I wondered how many other people could see through it, too.

People came and went. A group of Boys at one point disappeared down one of the corridors together.

I locked my eyes on it and saw it for what it was – something coordinated. John didn’t. He soaked all the attention up until finally he came back to me.

I just stood there at the edge of the crowd. People had paid attention to me at first, but when I’d done nothing whatsoever but act as a wallflower, they’d gravitated toward John. The students knew me. John was something completely different.

Now as he locked his gaze on mine, he shrugged to the left. Follow, Arwyn.

I’m not your dog, not like—

Poor unfortunate Belle? I wonder where she’s disappeared to. Into some corner to cry, likely. Let her do that. Come. We have important matters to discuss.

I imagined shoving my foot down his throat. Let’s see how he could discuss anything with my toes against his larynx.

I let that image sway through my head. But I still followed – still told myself there was more to find out.

He kept leading me until we reached the center of the school. These corridors had been