Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Legal Rites Book Two: Legal Rites, #2
    Legal Rites Book Two: Legal Rites, #2
    Legal Rites Book Two: Legal Rites, #2
    Ebook230 pages3 hours

    Legal Rites Book Two: Legal Rites, #2

    By Odette C. Bell

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    When a spate of kidnappings occurs in Knight City, Madeleine Macy is thrown together with Lord Valstein to solve them.

    Valstein won't leave her alone. And one thing's clear. He knows more about Madeleine than she knows about herself.

    Soon the two of them are thrown into the fight for their lives as three vampires come after Madeleine. But she's not their target – Ellery is. And Ellery is the key to everything.

    ….

    Legal Rites follows a wisecracking witch detective and a vampire with dangerous secrets fighting a shadowy magical council. If you love your urban fantasies with action, humor, and a splash of romance, grab Legal Rites Book Two today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOdette C. Bell
    Release dateJul 29, 2017
    ISBN9781386574033
    Legal Rites Book Two: Legal Rites, #2

    Read more from Odette C. Bell

    Related to Legal Rites Book Two

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Don’t Have A Bird

      Aug 2, 2020

      There are so many rites of passage you’ve already missed out on, and the school ball is destined to become another item on that ever-growing list. You try to delay the inevitable until every breath from your lungs sounds as if cystic fibrosis is cack

      12 min read

    • Article

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time

      Dec 1, 2023

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time
      9 min read

    • Article

      Prey

      May 10, 2021

      As I drove slowly towards the mob of angry protestors and my meeting with 200, I thought of 199. The ashes of a once hard man, staring at me with wide eyes that pleaded for hope like a dog begging for treats. I’d somehow found a way to give him that

      41 min read

    • Article

      Prey

      Mar 10, 2024

      As I drove slowly toward the mob of angry protestors and my meeting with 200, I thought of 199. The ashes of a once hard man, staring at me with wide eyes that pleaded for hope like a dog begging for treats. I’d somehow found a way to give him that h

      41 min read

    • Article

      Love And Other (chemo) Drugs

      Apr 14, 2019

      Love And Other (chemo) Drugs
      12 min read

    • Article

      Puppy Love

      Mar 19, 2021

      Puppy Love
      5 min read

    • Article

      “Apparently Life Goes On …”

      Jan 25, 2023

      “Apparently Life Goes On …”
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mature Adults In Your Area

      Aug 8, 2022

      I would say that I don’t normally do this kind of thing, except that on and off over the months and years, I’ve done “these kinds of things” too many times for that to be true. So yeah, I go on dates from time to time. This recent guy wouldn’t choose

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Little About Why

      Jun 1, 2023

      A Little About Why
      15 min read

    • Article

      “Apparently Life Goes On ...”

      Jan 29, 2023

      “Apparently Life Goes On ...”
      7 min read

    • Article

      Anthony Veasna So

      Mar 9, 2021

      Always they find us inappropriate, but today especially so. Here we are with nowhere to go and nothing to do, sitting in a rusty pickup truck, the one leaking oil, the one with the busted transmission that sounds like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Her

      22 min read

    • Article

      The Sunrise Manor Routine

      Jun 1, 2019

      The Sunrise Manor Routine
      10 min read

    • Article

      Now That I’ve Arrived

      Dec 30, 2020

      Now That I’ve Arrived
      5 min read

    • Article

      Present Tense

      Sep 4, 2018

      Present Tense
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Few Words to the Graduates

      Jun 11, 2018

      A Few Words to the Graduates
      7 min read

    • Article

      Lording

      Jun 14, 2022

      It’s 4:38 P.M., eight minutes after I usually go home, but now I’m rooting around under my chair cushion, double-checking my shirt pocket, hunting for an unmarked baggie of white bars, which I shouldn’t have left in my office, which I shouldn’t have

      17 min read

    • Article

      Longer on Moon

      Sep 22, 2022

      Longer on Moon
      19 min read

    • Article

      Planetesimal

      Aug 15, 2022

      Planetesimal
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Space Between Us

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Space Between Us
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Good Samaritan

      Dec 6, 2022

      It was hot that day, hot for the morning and hot for April and with a stickiness in the air that suggested something had to break. I was headed up the street to ask my neighbor Meech to give me a jump when I heard a scream come from the fourplex next

      10 min read

    • Article

      The Problem with My Dachshund

      Dec 11, 2019

      The Problem with My Dachshund
      10 min read

    • Article

      My Friend, Mitzi

      Jul 16, 2021

      My Friend, Mitzi
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Book of Loki

      Mar 12, 2018

      The Book of Loki
      20 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Clarence Page: Again, I Wish You A Happy Pandemic ‘Blursday’

      Dec 17, 2021

      With apologies to Clement Clark Moore, may he rest in eternal peace, I offer an update of my pandemic-era update last year of his classic Christmas poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas”: On a night before Christmas In our little house, Once again I was b

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Legal Rites Book Two

    4.5/5

    14 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Legal Rites Book Two - Odette C. Bell

      1

      Yeah, so not much has been resolved.

      I haven’t magically found out the guy behind Suzanne’s murder.

      I haven’t moved out of the police station – which is a win, frankly.

      And – more to the damn point – I still have no idea who Ellery is.

      Which isn’t that much of a surprise, because it’s only been a month since Ventara attacked me.

      And here I am, sitting in my sweet chair, feet up on my sweet desk, staring at my sweet view.

      But that’s the only stuff that’s sweet about my life right now.

      Gosh, aren’t you a sweetie today. What’s ruining your mood, sunshine? Calista says in my head with her usually wry, sarcastic tone.

      Ah, just a feeling, I say out loud as I hook my hands harder behind my head and dart my gaze over to the gargoyles beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of my office.

      That feeling based on anything tangible?

      Sure is – look at those clouds racing in the sky. They’re being chased, I say flatly.

      Calista snorts hard. Wow, damn, lady – that’s cheery. It’s also wrong. They ain’t being chased – they’re just moving with the wind. Your perspective is all wrong.

      I don’t answer, just let out a soft, Hmm.

      For what it’s worth, I agree, though. It’s been too quiet recently. Something’s definitely cooking out there. Just hope loverboy will be back in time for the big show.

      How many times have I told you not to refer to him as lover boy? Valstein is….

      Calista snorts so loudly, she might as well be a cymbal crash in my head. Still confusing the heck out of you. But don’t kid yourself, deary – the second he’s back in town, you’re going to throw yourself at him.

      Ah, Jesus, would you just shut up already? There’s no way—

      Oh, there’s every way. Or maybe Valstein will be the one to throw himself at you. Maybe he only went away on this three-week-long so-called business trip just to do some digging on you. Just to figure out how you possibly know the name Ellery.

      I twitch. For several reasons. The first – I’ll admit – is at the prospect of Valstein throwing himself at me. Yeah, okay, so I’m… warming to him now I know he didn’t murder Suzanne. But not nearly as much and as quickly as Calista would like to think. After all, Valstein is still an overbearing, lying, manipulative prick who’s content to keep information from me at any costs. He’s also been steadfastly avoiding me since I said Ellery to him – only hanging around long enough to ensure the Chief has a plan to keep me safe.

      As for the other reason I twitch – that should be even more obvious. Come on, it’s because of Ellery.

      Crap, I just wish he would show up so I could have a chance of figuring out what’s happening, I groan out loud.

      Yeah, well, anyway, Calista thinks back, you have to wait till tonight to see him. So just put that vampire out of your head for now. Ellery too. Put it all aside and get to work. City needs us, after all.

      I finally kick my legs off the desk, shove down onto the carpet, and stand, my chair slowly rolling away from me.

      I bring my arms up, stretch, and head for the door.

      That’s it, kid, get your game on. Because I think you’re right – even though I genuinely hate to agree with you. I think something is about to go down in this fair town, and considering the rest of our colleagues are incompetent, it’s going to be up to you and me to fix it.

      I smile. I shouldn’t smile. There’s 1,000,000,000,001 reasons not to smile. Primary among them being that only a short month ago I was almost sucked dry at the hands – or should I say fangs – of one of the city’s most powerful psychic vampires. And even though Valstein hasn’t spoken to me much since my ordeal, his silence has promised me one thing. Out there is going to be something worse.

      Much, much frigging worse.

      2

      Why won’t he just shut up? I mean, it’s a peculiar skill to be talking to someone who’s steadfastly ignoring you, isn’t it? Can you believe before I was lumped with you the Chief considered Harding as my next host? Calista rattles off in my ear as I sit patiently in the passenger seat, one hand hooked on the handle above the door, dead gaze locked over the dashboard.

      I mean, you’re not even a magical enforcement officer anymore, are you, Mads? You’re pretty much just a liability, right? Harding continues his one-sided conversation as I use every skill I have not to reach around, flatten a hand on his head, and attempt to whack his brains out of the back of his skull.

      Moving in to the police station and benefiting from our protection is one thing, Madeleine, but insisting on coming out to ‘help’, the bastard actually does air quotes, pulling both hands off the wheel despite the fact we’re in thick morning traffic, is just insisting on making everyone else’s lives hell, too. I’m not going to be responsible for you, he says flatly.

      Excellent. How about I be responsible for me, and you be responsible for that big fat mouth of yours? I say. Yeah, I know – calling his mouth big and fat is decidedly preschooler. I should follow it up with the tried-and-true insult of his mother smells. Instead, I finally make eye contact, bring my arms down, and cross them over my chest as I look serious. Plus, Harding, do you genuinely think anything is going to go down at this case? You yourself said it’s already been scoured for clues. That’s why you spent the last half hour complaining that you’re just on babysitting duty.

      He actually snarls at me. But even though I can tell he’s putting a lot of effort into it and he genuinely means it to be frightening, it’s about as scary as a kid jumping up in a ghost costume and shouting, Boo.

      So I just stare right back at him.

      Harding is the first to break, and he clears his throat, shoving both hands back on the wheel just before we run into the taxi in front of us.

      I snort.

      But I get back to brooding quickly as Harding finally locks his mouth and shuts the hell up.

      I don’t know, Mads, do you really have to get back to ruminating? For the love of God, I already told you, you’ve just gotta put Valstein out of your head until tonight. There’s no point going all gaga about the boy until he’s back in the city.

      For the last time, Calista, I snap back at her, my thoughts as loud and fast as cracks of a whip. I’m not going all gaga over him. This is just serious. I know you love to pretend nothing is serious, but I also know you can appreciate that we both almost died over this. Valstein being away is one thing, but once he’s back, we really need to find out who the hell Ellery is and why that Ventara bastard wanted to hide me.

      Aren’t you forgetting we also need to figure out who killed Suzanne Somers? Calista says, adding to my already massive to-do list.

      I take the kind of sigh that suggests I’m a second from death. I draw a hand up, clamp it on my head, and stifle a groan.

      Harding’s gaze locks on me once more. If this is you mentally prepping yourself for this mission, just turn the hell around, Mads. I’ll pay for a taxi myself.

      Would you also pay when the Chief chews you out, rips you up, and chucks you in the dumpster out back of the station? Because that is exactly what he promised to do if you let me out of your sight on this mission. That’s the last thing I want to remind him, but at least it’ll shut him up.

      Harding looks like the golden boy who’s just been told off by the teacher for the first time. And, in many ways, that’s exactly what he is. Because, despite the fact he’s an insufferable brown noser, the Chief usually supports Harding.

      Usually.

      But a funny thing has been happening ever since my little altercation with Ventara. The Chief is on my side more than ever.

      Not funny, Mads – it’s logical. The Chief will be going through with the explicit orders that Valstein gave him. Every single time Calista talks about Valstein, her voice always does the same thing. It draws down real low and gets this unnatural purr to it like she’s suddenly turned into a boudoir mistress.

      I’ve developed the fine art of not reacting.

      All right, we’re finally here, Harding spits as he draws up to the curb. Now, let’s go over this one more time— he begins.

      I completely ignore him as I open the door, swing my legs out, get out of the car, and stretch.

      Hey, he blusters as he jumps out in traffic, almost gets struck, then runs around the side of the car. He also reaches out a hand, presumably to grab my wrist. I just look at him. You know, one of those looks where you lock your full, deadliest attention on someone, letting them know with nothing more than simple pupil contact that if they go through with what they’re planning, you’re going to roast them alive.

      Suffice to say, it works on Harding, and rather than go through with grabbing my wrist like I’m nothing more than a damsel out of some 50s flick, he actually gulps and takes a respectful step back.

      Before I can continue staring him down and point out that there’s no way in hell that I would ever let a bastard like him touch me, Calista snorts in my head. Don’t you find it ironic that you’re willing to glare at Harding until he dies just at the prospect of him grabbing your wrist, but you’ve never stopped Valstein once?

      I clench my teeth.

      Because yeah, I realize that I’m a woman who has a very strong sense of personal space. I’m not the kind of lady who’ll let just any man grab her and swing her over his shoulder.

      But, ah, Calista says, and there’s an obvious trill of satisfaction to her voice, "Valstein’s not a man, is he? He’s one of the most powerful and categorically mysterious vampires in all of the city. I know you’ve been dreaming about letting him bite you," she adds.

      I can put up with a lot of Calista’s shit. I really can. But sometimes she crosses the line. And right now, this is crossing the line. Calista, that is disgusting. I would never submit to a vampire, and I’m horrified that you’d think I would. Now take that back. And I have not been dreaming about letting him bite me.

      Jesus Christ you’re in a touchy mood this morning, aren’t you? No doubt because you erroneously thought the clouds were being chased by the wind. I bet with that kind of mood, you’re going to interpret everything in the worst possible light today. But back off, Mads. Because you know what I mean. I don’t think you’ve been dreaming about submitting to Valstein, just joining him.

      I hate the way her voice sounds as she thinks joining.

      The reason I hate it so much is because yeah, it’s been on my mind. And doubly yeah, it’s been in my dreams.

      I’ll admit something to you, even though it’s a fact that makes my toes curl and my teeth clench as hard as they can. I’ve been dreaming about Valstein pretty much every night. The dreams haven’t been ordinary dreams. Nope. You see, ever since I read that little tidbit of information in the very much illegal vampire history of Knight City, I’ve been obsessing over it, night and day, even though I’ve been trying to stop myself by any means possible. And what information, do I hear you ask? You know. You have to know. The fact that every single member of the clan of Bane must marry a human. Not another vampire. And they only have one chance. One chance at happiness.

      And you can’t stop your little brain from thinking and dreaming that maybe, maybe you’re it. Maybe you’re Valstein’s singular chance at happiness in all of the world, Calista says, and as she speaks, her tone becomes more and more romantic until it puts me in mind of someone singing a ballad.

      I’m barely paying any attention to Harding anymore. I can’t. I’m so angry at Calista. Maybe I’m angry at myself, too. Because this is not the shit I signed up for when I became a magical enforcement officer. Maybe some of the other women and men in my unit go a bit gaga over the vampires. And I will freely admit that one or two have actually fallen for a noble.

      But me? I have a head on my shoulders, for heaven’s sake. I know that nobles aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Their preternatural good looks are just that – preternatural. They aren’t real. Vampires have the ability to modify their appearance by stealing someone else’s. They find young, hot lads and lasses they like the appearance of, have a quick suck of blood, and then copy the best of their victim’s features. That’s nothing to covert, is it? And yet, even though I keep telling myself that, my mind keeps replying with another fact. It’s not Valstein’s good looks that are getting to me. It’s… Valstein.

      There’s something about him.

      And it’s driving me crazy.

      Sure is. You won’t listen to reason, Mads, Calista says as I spy the right door in the building in front of us and head toward it, hands stowed in my pockets. And even though this is cruel, I’m going to need to remind you of one fact. It’s hopelessly romantic to think that you’re Valstein’s one and only, but I’m pretty sure that was Suzanne. It makes sense, kid. She was bled dry by a vampire and left on his desk as an example.

      But we already know that Ventara had a hand in killing Suzanne. He’s not part of the Bane clan, I spit back as Harding snaps at me to wait up.

      We don’t know who told Ventara to kill Suzanne. And no matter which way you look at it, I bet you the order came from a Bane. And I bet you Suzanne was killed to get back at Valstein. But what does that matter? Maybe you won’t be Valstein’s one and only. But you could be his rebound girl, she says hopefully.

      I snort out loud. It’s derisive, bitter, and hard enough that Harding comes to a grating stop. What now? he asks with an accusatory tone. I haven’t done anything. You’ve got some real lip, Madeleine. You’re the one making my life hell and not the other way around.

      I don’t even bother replying to Calista and telling her there is no way in hell I will be Valstein’s rebound girl. I decide it’s time to concentrate my attention on Harding instead. I make my gaze about as deadly as I can. Can we just get this done already? So we can mutually benefit by getting the hell out of each other’s hair?

      Harding makes eye contact and nods. Right, I take it you know the facts of the case? Wait, hey, of course you don’t know the facts of the case. You’re an idiot. And now you barely come down to the office, you have no idea what’s really going on in this city. So let me fill you in. This, he stabs a finger at the floor, is the probable scene of a kidnapping. A nasty one. One in a series of many. Five in total, if the data I’ve got is anything to go by. Current predictions make it that it’s a human experimentation ring behind the crimes. Probably one acting out from the coast. But now they’ve come here to our quaint city. And the Chief has been pretty clear. We’re going to do everything we damn well can to stop these bastards before they kidnap more people. We’re here to see if we can find any more clues. Or should I point out I’m really here to babysit you and make you feel like you’re still part of the team? Most of the hard work has already been done on this crime scene, he spits dismissively.

      I shoot him the kind of look that I hope tells him just how much of an idiot he really is.

      Though it takes a few seconds, finally that look starts to wear him down.

      I open my mouth and let out a tense breath of air that puffs a few stray strands of hair over my face.

      And yet, just for a fraction of a second, it feels like it slams against my fringe. My thick black fringe. A fringe that’s long and belongs to a completely different set of hair. That long, glossy, thick hair I always have in my dreams these days.

      The hair that belongs to Ellery.

      I force myself not to react to that thought, even though it’s a truly unsettling one. I concentrate on belittling this idiot instead, which is a surprisingly rewarding task. Yes, I say in my most patient, derogatory tone, Harding, I have heard about this case. Just as I’m aware of the fact that while it’s easy to assume these kidnappings have been perpetrated by the human trafficking ring working out of the coast cities, it’s still a stretch. There are important differences in the last two kidnapping cases, and it would be a mistake to assume we’re dealing with only one perpetrator.

      Harding looks disgusted at me as he actually flicks his gaze up and down my body. I don’t let him get away with that move, though. Just as he reaches my eyes, I take a hard step toward him, and as I do, I let my gaze tick up and down his body.

      Harding actually recedes, gulping a little like a surprised fish at the unexpected sight of a massive shark.

      But with a gruff cough, he regains his composure. "I know you think you’re better than everybody else, Mads, and I know you think your brain is unstoppable.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1