Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4)

by Melinda Kucsera

  “All the things? But not baseball?” His voice cracked with emotion.

  “I don’t know yet. Maybe the other things. If you try hard. Your mom is sad, Jimmy. She wants you to get better now. Can you do that? Can you wake up?”

  Thomas interjected. “Don’t do it, Jimmy. Come with me instead. If you wake up, you’re going to hurt again, like when the car hit us. You don’t have to do that. Let’s go now.”

  On the edge of her consciousness, Aamira sensed a change. She checked the monitors, the outputs. His aura went full-on black; the color that heralded death. There. His head. Something’s wrong with his... His blood pressure suddenly dropped. His nurse came over, checked the readings, and opened the box that automatically delivered the medicine keeping his blood pressure stable. Inside was a pint-sized bag containing the drug in liquid form; she put her palm on the bag and pressed, delivering a bolus to bring him back to normal readings. As soon as she took her hand away, his blood pressure plummeted again.

  Aamira called to the other nurse, some distance away. “Wake Mrs. Granger. She should be here now. Bring her over.”

  “Is the boy waking…?”

  “Something is different. Bring her. Quickly. And page whoever is on for neuro. This doesn’t look good.”

  “Neuro?” The second nurse checked the drain leading from the boy’s skull but saw nothing of note, while the first nurse continued pressing the bag of medicine and watching the patient’s reaction.

  “Neuro. Now.”

  “Yes, doctor. Right away.”

  The boy’s mother came over, bleary-eyed but suddenly alert. “What’s happening? Is my son…”

  Aamira interrupted, there was no time to explain. “Mrs. Granger, we have a crisis. Talk to your son. Tell him you love him, tell him to stay. Make him listen.” She was worried about the pain in her head that was the boy’s pain. Had they missed something in the CT scans, or had the diagnostician misread the films? Or had something simply changed for the worse?

  Aamira didn’t want to face it, but this child had more injuries than she could handle. She knew that if she went any further, she could force him to live; she could take away his choice and keep him here. His body was giving out, and his spirit was giving up. The severity of his wounds had changed this child’s life forever and he would be faced with many unpleasant changes. Too many perhaps. Partial paralysis; doctors and medicines to balance his care for the remainder of his life; learning disabilities, possible blindness or deafness if what she suspected was correct. How much was too much? When should she stop? At what point was her determination to help nothing more than torture for the child? Had the Wraith been correct all along? At what point should she let him go? What would his mother want? What did the boy want?

  Jimmy. Jimmy, can you hear me? Are you talking to Thomas? Come talk to your mom, Jimmy, tell her what you want. Tell her, Jimmy. Talk to her now. There was no answer now, and she wasn’t going to wait. Knowing Thomas was in one ear and his mother in the other, she made her decision. “Pack him up, we’re moving him back to surgery. Tell neuro to meet us there.”

  The response to her orders was instantaneous. She released his hand and helped the nurses prepare for transport. That’s when they saw it, a tinted color of spinal fluid was draining into the catch. She was correct, she just felt it before the machines could react. Auras never lie.

  And then he was in surgery with neuro, and she was standing alone.

  How does one summon an Angel of Death? Especially one you have accosted physically, one you have insulted and made an enemy of?

  “I don’t know where you are, but the boy needs you. I need you, all right? I concede. You were right, and I need you. For his sake.” She was on the roof again, long past midnight, with less lights, less traffic noise, even the moon obscured by clouds. The breeze had picked up and rain was on the way. And she was alone. She tried again; she needed to talk to him.

  “I can force him to live. But he’ll never be whole. He’ll be pretty miserable, actually, if he ever wakes up.” There was no answer. “You were right, perhaps I shouldn’t have interfered so heavy-handedly. Not every child will live. Or if they do, it will hardly count as a life. But how can I accept death when my very existence is to preserve life?” Still nothing but the sound of the wind.

  Aamira knew she needed to be totally honest. This time she spoke from the heart, no ‘perhaps’, no equivocation. “I’m sorry. I apologize.” She sensed a presence, subdued, but it was there. She turned and faced him.

  “What is it you want of me?”

  “I want you to…” Aamira choked on the words, the abject failure of all she had tried to do. “Take him. Release him.”

  “You relinquish this soul to my care?”

  “If that’s what you call it. I can’t do more than further his suffering. He’s in surgery again, and my magic can force him to stay, but I don’t know that he’ll even wake up from this. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Choose. You must choose. For this boy, and all those to come who are beyond your grasp. Accept your role. Do not exceed it. You are but mortal, there is little shame in that.”

  She took a steadying breath. “Then I let him go. With you. If you still can.”

  “That was never in question.”

  “I was wrong to attack you and I’m sorry. But life can be wonderful, and I wanted to give him that chance. For him, for his mother. I’m sorry I lost my temper. I was afraid.”

  He held up a bony hand, still glowing from his encounter with her polluted energy covered in life-giving golden lace. “Perhaps we have learned a new respect for each other this night.”

  “Then do it. I concede. You are important to the world. I must not interfere with your role. Or at least try not to. You have a place in this world, a purpose.”

  She somehow felt his eyes, concealed amidst many folds of hood, regarding her intensely. “As do you.” With that, he disappeared.

  She didn’t need to go below and check. She knew from the convulsive pains that wracked her own body that, at that moment, a young boy with tremendous injuries was walking away from his body and toward his brother.

  Rain began to fall. Aamira sat on the rooftop long into the night and considered her life. Her successes, her failures. What was truly important, and what was not. Why she was given this healing ability and if there were times she shouldn’t use it.

  She had always been on the side of life. But despite all her training, all her skill, all her healing magic, she was just now realizing her magic was a double-edged sword; she also had the power of death.

  And then she cried.

  Bobbi Harwood is a divorcée and a reluctant witch who returns to her ancestral home to find she is heir to the family curse. Can Bobbi unravel the mystery of Fort Hope in time to save her business… and herself? Fortress of Fear releases in Fall, 2020. www.ghost-stalkers.com.

  About the Author

  As a newspaper reporter, Realtor, and paralegal, Barbara Letson told other people's stories. Now she tells her own, writing tales filled with magic, mayhem, monsters and ghosts.

  Her urban paranormal fantasy series, Fort Hopeless, follows Bobbi Harwood, a reluctant witch who returns to her ancestral home to discover she is next in line to inherit the family curse and is charged with protecting the town from ancient harm. ‘Aamira’ is the origin story of one of the main characters. The first novel in this exciting new series, Fortress of Fear, releases in Fall 2020. For more by Barbara Letson, visit www.ghost-stalkers.com.

  Weather Witch Weapon

  A. R. Johnston

  Sky and Braxton are the next Weather Witch couple and Elemental Royals. They are trying to learn what that means but most of the coven has forgotten and are stuck in their ways. They have forgotten the magics that will help these two in their quest that the Great Divine has given them. Figuring it all out on a deadline that could mean lives isn't easy. Not all things should be forgotten.

  AR Johnston

  Sky hasn't e
ven blown out the candles on her cake, and has already dealt with more than a teen should, from demons, the Great Divine and been given a quest. Crowned the new Elemental Royals, Sky and Braxton have twenty-four hours to regain the great book of the covens, find the charms of a former weather witch to defeat the demons, and save Sky’s ex-boyfriend Nick.

  Chapter One

  “It is youth that has discovered love as a weapon.”

  Peter Ustinov

  If Braxton hadn’t been holding me up, I’m not sure I would have still been standing. My legs felt like rubber and I knew I was in shock. People around me yelled, some even screamed or cried. Braxton held me close, whispering in my ear that everything was going to be okay, but I wasn’t sure I believed him right now.

  “Some birthday, eh?” I spoke softly, tilting my head up to look into his gorgeous eyes. Who would have thought that barely an hour ago he had told me he loved me? So surreal.

  “Sky? Sky, honey. Let’s get inside. Your father will deal with everything out here,” my mother said as she touched my shoulder, then she gave Braxton a nod before he could say anything to me.

  Slowly, I managed to stabilize myself, finally able to look around and focus on the chaos that my eighteenth birthday turned out to be. I wanted to cry at the destruction of all the gorgeous decorations and careful planning that my mother and best friend Bess had put into this party. But I was too numb against it all.

  Willow was a demon and she had Nick. Nick, my ex-boyfriend who cheated on me. The one who, at this very moment was a hostage, who had looked pleadingly at me to save him. Right after he had just gotten through telling the coven that I was a weather witch and should be stripped and bound of all my powers. Was he just a puppet in Willow’s sick little game? I had seen the black energy wrapping the two of them together, and how that very energy had dissipated after she touched the great coven book.

  “You have to save him! You have to get my son back you little lying vixen. Look at you, all snug with your new beau, who you barely know. And you allow Nicholas to be taken—a man you have known your entire life. What kind of heartless shrew are you?” Vincent screamed at me. His eyes were wild, his hands clenched in fists at his sides.

  I had the distinct feeling that if Braxton had not been holding me, Vincent might have hit me. I couldn’t speak, could only stand there staring at him completely gobsmacked. Though I had never lied, he was right about one thing: how could I have allowed Nick to be taken? My heart hammered in my chest, but it was also breaking just a little bit more.

  “Vincent, you need to back off my daughter before I have you forcibly removed. Sky was not the one so easily led off by a demon. That was your son, and you, yourself, have been preening and carrying on about how amazing Emerson Coventry is as of late. Who would be the hoodwinked, heartless person here now?” My mother’s voice was full of contempt. “I understand wanting your son back, but don’t you ever attack my daughter.”

  I stared at my mother. She didn’t get angry often but when she did, it was a sight to behold. One did not want to end up on her bad side because they might not have lived to regret it.

  “Go back to your newest wife and get your consolation there. We’ll be taking care of Jordan here.” That tone brokered no argument. It was her way or no way.

  Vincent sputtered, looking from me, to my mother, and then to his son. Jordan looked just as heartbroken and lost beside me. I reached over to clutch his hand in my free one. He gave me a grateful look.

  “Go home, Dad. You’re not helping anything by being here. I’ll be staying to figure out how to get Nick back.” Jordan sounded broken. I squeezed his hand, and Bess took his other one, offering him support. Baxter rested a hand on his shoulder. A united front. A group of friends that couldn’t be broken apart.

  Vincent turned on his heels and walked away. Jordan looked deflated, sagging as he watched his father go. I could only imagine how he felt. His father hadn’t even offered him any sort of comfort after seeing his twin taken. I only hoped that we could find and save Nick, then maybe we could mend some fences that seemed to have broken since the arrival of the Coventry family.

  Chapter Two

  After getting out of our party clothes, Bess and I sat in my bedroom. She leaned against me as I sat against my bed, hugging my knees close and resting my head on my knees.

  “We need to go downstairs and talk about things,” she said in a soft tone.

  “Bess?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What if Willow had Nick under a curse or whatever demons use this entire time? What if the only reason he cheated was because she had worked evil magic on him?” I asked quietly, almost brokenly.

  The thought had been racing through my mind ever since I saw the black energy leaving him. What if he hadn’t really cheated on me? Well, he had but ... what if it was all a deception because of Willow?

  I felt Bess sit up straighter, moving into my line of vision. She titled my chin up with her hand.

  “Do you love Braxton?” Her eyes searched mine without a bit of judgment.

  I blinked at her. “Of course I do.”

  “Then don’t drive yourself crazy wondering if things would have been different if Nick wasn’t touched by dark demon magic. It doesn’t matter.” She gave me a soft smile. “Braxton loves you. I have seen that since the first. You two were meant to be together more than you were ever meant to be with Nick. I mean seriously, Elemental Royals? Dang, girl. Who doesn’t want to be blessed by the Great Divine and made royalty?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at her. She always had a way of bringing everything into a simple perspective. She was right. Nick being turned by evil didn’t change the fact that I was a weather witch and had found my balance of power with an amazing man who loved and supported me. But years of being with Nick didn’t change the heartache I felt. Being a teenager sucked.

  “I mean if you ever need a lady in waiting …” She looked at me with speculation.

  “What does that even mean? Lady in waiting indeed. You are ridiculous Bess,” I teased, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice. “What does Elemental Royals even mean?” I frowned at her and tilted my head in question. “Sounds made up.”

  She laughed. “Made up by the Great Divine. Are you going to argue with that?”

  I giggled a little. “No, I guess not. Fine, let’s go downstairs and work this all out.”

  She leaned forward and gave me a huge hug. I hugged her back as if it was the end of the world. Maybe it was. It was the end of the one that I had known my entire life. I had stepped into a new one now, and I had no idea what to do. Either way, I sent a silent thank you to the Great Divine for giving me such a wonderful friend.

  “Let’s get cake! I’m starved,” she chirped, pulling away from me and bouncing to her feet while offering her hand to help me up. I chuckled and took her extended hand.

  We gathered in the kitchen, and everyone surrounded the center island and sang happy birthday to me. But it really didn’t feel that happy after everything that had happened.

  My mother placed the gorgeous homemade chocolate cake in front of me, a bright smile beaming from her.

  “Make a wish, Sky. Wishes are important,” she said in a gentle voice.

  Make a wish. What should I wish for? I shut my eyes.

  “Blow them out before I do it! I want cake!” Baxter shouted, laughing when he got slugged by Jordan and Bess. “Like you two weren’t thinking the same thing.”

  “But we have enough tact not to say anything out loud, unlike some people,” Bess scolded.

  I just snickered listening to them, not opening my eyes as I tried to decide what I should wish for. Does it even really matter?

  What one wishes for will always matter, young Sky. It is a show of what one's heart desires most at that moment. But it will always be up to you to make sure the wish comes true.

  I heard the words aloud in my head as if the Great Divine was standing beside me again. My eyes snapped open and searc
hed the room to see if she was actually there. Everyone stopped talking to stare.

  “What? What is it?” Braxton asked in a worried voice, his hand coming to touch mine.

  My eyes came to rest on his and I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Just thought I heard something.” I smiled at him.

  “Just this one’s stomach.” Jordan sucker punched Baxter in the gut.“Make your wish.”

  I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “Okay, okay …” I closed my eyes again. “I wish …”

  “Not out loud!” Everyone spoke at once.

  I flipped them the bird. “I wish for …” I trailed off, not finishing my wish aloud even as I blew out the candles.

  Chapter Three

  I was putting the final dishes in the dishwasher when mom handed me a mug of tea.

  “You don’t need to do dishes on your birthday honey.” She smiled.

  I shrugged. “I’d say it’s any other day, but after everything that’s happened …” I sighed before taking a long sip of my tea as I leaned against the counter.

  “I know, love,” she murmured. “It really isn’t fair that something so grand has been put on your shoulders. Your father and Becca are combing the library for any mention of the last weather witch from this area. They would have just asked the great book if that demon hadn’t made off with it.”

  I nodded as I wrapped my fingers around the mug for warmth, as if a simple mug of tea could bring peace, comfort, and solve all my problems all at once. I shook my head as I took another sip.

  “We’ll figure it all out, I promise.” Mom’s voice sounded distant.

  “Mom,” I warbled. “Mom, what did you do?”

  I heard her sigh heavily as my eyes grew so heavy I could barely hold them open any longer.