The True Believer Novels & Stories

"Marie… Marie hasn't even hurt you in this life. I won't do that to you again. Holly, I was wrong. Please give me a second chance. I didn't know Marie's patient was you. I regretted what I did when I learned the truth!" He scrambled to give me a hug, but I shoved him aside. "Will you think it's right to let Marie off the hook if I weren't the patient?" He seemed confused. "What?" His response let me down. I reminded him, "You told me this on my first day at the law firm: An attorney works for justice. We keep the law and order in society. Everyone is equal before the law. I always abide by these principles, but you don't seem to remember them anymore."

He insisted I crouch by the door to listen to their voices. "On October 6th was Xavier's birthday. I summoned the courage to tell him the truth, but he said he would only listen if I finished all the cream on the cake on the table. He knew I was allergic to cream and couldn't eat any." ... The notebook contained records of events from nearly four years. With every page I read, my body temperature dropped, and countless images flashed through my mind, like someone stabbing me with a knife, causing excruciating pain. It was him, the man I dreamed about, Xavier Quinn.

I asked, and then he finally looked up at me. "I-I don't know, I just thought t-that you might leave me. I mean, I'm a don; danger practically sleeps with me. I don't want anything to happen to you; I wouldn't be able to handle it. I can't live without you. I was planning on telling you, but I didn't know when or how. Please, Jess, believe me. I'm sorry; I'll make it up to you, promise." I looked at him, and nothing but honesty and integrity shone in his eyes. I believed him, I did, but I guess I just didn't expect it.

"That makes it more dangerous. You're not con artists. You're true believers spreading a beautiful, comforting, ultimately harmful delusion." "And the eight years you spent with us? Working beside us? Watching the families we helped rebuild their lives?" "I kept hoping I'd see evidence that proved me wrong," Rachel said softly. "That I'd witness something unexplainable. Something that would let me believe again. Because God, I wanted to believe. You have no idea how much I wanted the magic to be real."

"You chose love. Real love. Sacrificial love. Eternal love. That's never wrong. Never a failure. Never doom." "But the Chronicler said—" "The Chronicler records what is. Not what should be. Not what could be. Not what you make true." Hope smiles. "You're a merged True Void collective. Yes. But you're also love incarnate. Unity chosen. Family eternal. That's powerful. That's beautiful. That's worthy." "But we're on the path to the Absolute."

Damien leaned forward, voice low and steady, the coach’s authority wrapped around something fiercer, more personal. “We’re winning,” Damien said, eyes locked on the sponsor. “That’s the only narrative that matters. Three wins and a clean sheet since going public. Numbers don’t lie. The fans are responding. Merchandise sales are up. Engagement is through the roof. The brand is stronger with authenticity than with forced silence.”

I looked at him—so young, yet already carrying the quiet authority of a king—and nodded with satisfaction. I had always known Gabriel sent nearly his entire Coven searching for us. What he never imagined—could never imagine—was that the woman and child he believed to be wandering, powerless Outcasts were in fact the true heirs of the North. And once my father learned how I and my son had been humiliated within the Brown family, there was no chance he would allow that truth to surface. So after our return to the North, no matter how desperately Gabriel searched, he found nothing. After all—

Elaine tells Ericka that she feels nervous since she knows it won't be difficult to answer her questions, but doubts start to creep in. "My Dear Ericka, don't give in to doubt, uncertainty, or unbelief. I implore you, Ericka, to hold fast to the truth—that is, the inspired writings of God that lead us down the right path in life, correct us when we err, chastise us for our transgressions, and train us in righteousness so that, as God's servants, we are fully prepared for all good deeds. Remain true to the truth— Which is the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures.

What I found instead was something more complicated. They believed in the system. All of them. But they did not believe in it cleanly. They believed in it the way people believe in something they have decided is necessary rather than true , with the specific tension of a commitment maintained through discipline rather than conviction, the daily work of continuing to do something you have concluded is right while knowing it is not good.

“We just—” “You are unbelievers who believe that creations are from the devil and that the devil only opposes a false creator that he invented so that humans would distrust the true gods,” said the Goddess, and I raised my eyebrows. “Don't believe us, but I invite you to confront Belial firsthand, and after that, you can dare to say such nonsense.” “Senator, I invite you to leave, please,” asked the president, and the man stormed out of the room in a rage. “I'm sorry about this, gods, the situation regarding faith—”