Shifter In The Swamp (Academy of Necessary Magic Book 1)

by Martha Carr

  The principal gestured toward the door, and both girls stood to make their way outside.

  As they headed down the stairs, Amanda muttered, “At least they didn’t kick us out.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good thing this time.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  As the semester came to a close, the other students’ excitement was palpable. Of course, Amanda and Summer didn’t get to take part in it nearly as much as they wanted because they were still scrubbing walls and checking wards.

  One good part about Amanda’s actions the night the spirit attacked the school was that it had made the other students more comfortable around her. Most of the other kids either stopped to thank her or told her she was pretty okay. Some of them, like Candace and David and several upperclassmen, continued to ignore her, still treating her like the misfit among misfits.

  She could deal with that. Amanda wasn’t at the Academy of Necessary Magic to fit in with all the other kids. She promised herself to keep her head down from now on.

  If any of them knew what I’ve been through this year, I still don’t think they’d quit staring at me like I have two heads.

  During the last week of the school’s first semester, Amanda and Summer were still scrubbing and inspecting during their free time. They’d made their way to the northernmost edge of the campus for the third time that day, intentionally avoiding the pile of upturned earth the teachers had used to fill in the hole above the temple.

  Amanda tapped the long metal rod Petrov had given them for testing the wards against the air, which ignited a purple light where the teachers had renewed the protections, then she continued walking along the outskirts of the designated boundaries. “So what about you?”

  Summer scoffed as she tapped the wards with her rod, dragging it against the invisible boundary and leaving a trail of purple light behind her. “What about me?”

  “Everyone’s talking about what’s gonna happen here over winter break. You know, Christmas and New Year’s and everything.”

  “Yeah, it’ll be so much fun.” The other girl didn’t bother to hide any of her sarcasm.

  “You’re going home, then? I mean, I know the other kids here don’t have anywhere else to go. You didn’t come from LA, though.”

  “I’ll go back home. Probably. I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.”

  She doesn’t sound too happy about it.

  “Will it be only you and your parents?”

  “Probably.” Summer whacked her rod against another section of the wards. “It’s gonna suck. They think I’m a waste of space. Or at least they act like it. You’re going home too, right? I mean, to the bounty hunter, not New York.”

  “Yeah. I don’t think he’s expecting me to, honestly. Maybe I’ll turn it into a surprise.” The look on Johnny’s face when I show up at the cabin is gonna make all this detention pretty worth it. “You know, if you don’t wanna go home for break, I’d say you could stay with Johnny and me. Although he might kick us both out if I did that.”

  “What?” Summer barked out a laugh. “He have some rule about not bringing friends over?”

  “More like a rule about not having friends in general.” Amanda tried to hide her smirk. “He likes his privacy.”

  “And you.”

  “I mean, yeah. He taught me everything I know. Almost.” The wards cracked and sparked as the girls whacked their rods against them in the same route they’d taken three times a day for the last three and a half weeks. “You’d like him, though.”

  “Probably not.”

  “He’s big into explosions. Taught me how to throw grenades.”

  Summer stopped and turned to grin at her friend. “Maybe I should come home with you for break. If they let us out of this place.”

  Her rod came down in the air, but this time, there weren’t any sparks or purple light flashing at the magical impact. Just nothing. “Whoa.”

  “Is that…”

  “A hole?” Summer’s eyes widened. “Looks like it.”

  “How did we miss this a million times?”

  “Beats me, shifter girl.” When Summer swung her rod at the open space again, the air shimmered around the tool. “Oh, shit. Not just a hole. That’s an illusion.”

  “Then I guess we should go tell—hey!” Amanda darted after her friend as Summer stepped through the shimmering air and disappeared. “Summer?”

  No answer.

  Amanda spun and scanned the empty swamp around them at the edge of the school’s boundary. Even the school buildings were hidden from view by the thick foliage and all the draping tree branches. Crap. I should go after her, at least. Make sure she’s okay before we tell Glasket what she found.

  That was how she could reason it, at least. Because now her curiosity drove her to step through the illusion after Summer to see what was on the other side.

  “Whoa.”

  Summer scoffed and thumped the end of her rod against the soggy ground. “Yeah, I thought it was gonna be cooler than this. It’s only more swamp.”

  “Um… Hello? That’s a dock.” Amanda pointed at the long, sturdy wooden planks stretching out across the shallow waters before the swamp bed deepened and the murky water stretched out toward a wide river. “Look at this. What does that say?”

  They stepped down the dock together and peered up at the wooden sign mounted on a pole and painted in green letters.

  “‘To the Everglades kemana,’” Summer read aloud. “No way. This is where all the other grades disappear and head off to the magical city in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Looks like it. This is the one Ralthorn was talking about in class.”

  “Yeah, right before she dissed shifters in front of everyone. Including you.” Summer smacked Amanda’s arm with the back of a hand. “I’d say we should go check it out, but those weird boats over there don’t look like they’re ready.”

  Amanda gazed at the two flat-bottom airboats moored at the end of the dock, and a slow smile spread across her face. “Those are airboats.”

  “Whatever they are, we have to wait for next year to get into the kemana. We’re freshmen.”

  Amanda tossed her hair out of her eyes and grinned at the other girl. “Hey, I’m a twelve-year-old freshman at a juvenile delinquent bounty hunter school. Exceptions for everything, right? Come on.”

  “Wait. Hold up.” Summer took off down the dock after the shifter girl, laughing. “I mean, yeah, you’re an exception to a lot of really shitty, outdated rules. I’m not arguing there.”

  “So what’s the problem?” Amanda stopped in front of the first airboat and looked it over.

  “The problem is there’s no driver for these boats. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to hop on one of these things and go find the kemana, but I don’t know how the hell these things work.”

  Amanda turned and scanned the long dock behind them and the shimmering light of the illusion that let all the other upperclassmen out to this part of the swamp for their kemana field trips. Then she met Summer’s gaze and waggled her eyebrows. “Johnny let me take his airboat out all the time. Good thing I know how to work one.”

  The story is far from over. Classes continue for Amanda and Summer in MAGIC IN THE MARSH

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  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  January 19, 2021

  Yesterday was a weird day. It had a theme running through it of slow down, let others help and loving connection with others. The morning started with me trying to quickly flatten a few more boxes before the recycling truck arrived. Ever since Covid, there’s a lot more boxes and that truck comes early. The good dog, Lois Lane was in the car waiting for me to drive her to daycare. Her boyfriend, Harry, the golden retriever was there and Lois was anxious
to get going.

  Normally, I’m on top of things like this so my brain was also busy chastising and looking for solutions to something that didn’t need a solution. I mean, sometimes we don’t get to everything.

  The Offspring was there, and he suddenly looked alarmed and said, “Hey, did you cut your hand?”

  I thought he had to be wrong but nope. I had given myself a pretty good paper cut and not even noticed. One band-aid later, I gave up on the rest of the boxes and drove dog number one to daycare.

  I got home to walk the sweet pittie, Leela, who has too much anxiety for daycare. They very kindly asked me not to bring her back and showed me video proof. Leela does better at home with me.

  I set out for the walk, glad to finally relax a little and was tromping around the brand new neighborhood nearby, walking briskly and feeling pretty good when my toe caught in a gopher hole hidden by new squares of grass.

  I managed to hurl myself forward with such oomph I cleared the new front lawn and landed with surprising force on the cement driveway. Leela failed to notice and kept inspecting a nearby light post. I landed so hard I set off the Apple Watch, which asked if I needed emergency services. Boy, did I quickly click ‘dismiss’ on that one.

  However, I was dismayed to see that no one came out of their door to see if I was okay, while simultaneously glad no one was making a fuss. Even in the middle of trying to figure out if I was okay, I let out a laugh. Leela was still busy.

  I was surprised to find nothing wrong except for a weird tweak in my left arm. Since most of me was fine, I walked the mile back home but noticed the arm was not quite working right. It was obvious I would need to get it looked at…

  However, there were a few deadlines to finish, first. I mean, what if they put on a cast? The Offspring checked in a few times to see if I’d done anything and it was fun pointing out to my grown son, that’s what it looks like when I need something from him. That was mostly ignored.

  Okay, so I finally went for that x-ray and yeah, I fractured my elbow. I jammed my hand so hard against the pavement, it cracked the bone at my elbow. Wow. Let’s also remember, didn’t break anything else. I still feel good about that.

  I walked out of there with a large black sling, which I had to take off to drive myself home. Neighbors finally heard of my flying lesson and offers of help came pouring in, which I actually accepted. Food is coming, along with decorating this sling that will be my new best friend for a while. I was reminded that I’m part of a community, which can make a weird day like yesterday into a good memory.

  By the way, if you’re wondering, my hand is resting on the large keyboard so I can type, which they said was okay.

  But wait, before you go… there was one more weird and funny twist to the day.

  My friend, Beth called to check on me. A more polite and well-spoken person you will never meet. I missed the call and went to read the text of the message. It said, “Hey my fat ass happy Monday um…”

  That’s an interesting way to greet someone.

  I listened to the message and discovered that when my iPhone hears my name, it interprets that as my fat ass. So judgie.

  My friends have decided we should keep it as our new greeting. Maybe the phone will translate that as, hey Martha. More adventures to follow.

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  January 22, 2021

  Thank you for reading to the back of this book and our author notes!

  So, I'm not suggesting my collaborator-friend Martha Carr is trying to author-block me… But seriously? She takes a flying leap and smashes her arm against the pavement (when a perfectly good and kinda soft ground was available), so she can provide a sob story.

  Well, maybe she didn't do it for THAT reason… maybe. What's the term for someone who fakes symptoms to get attention? Yeah… that's not her. I don't think. ;-)

  BWAHAHAHAHA…. I can't wait to hear what she has to say when she reads these author notes. I suspect Grace (who works with Martha often through the day) will rat me out sooner rather than later.

  When I found out about Martha's arm in the sling… You KNOW I had to ask the following (because this is how authors support authors) "Yes, that's nice Martha, you didn't break your head… But can you still type?"

  Fortunately, Martha understands my dark humor.

  FOOD

  So, I'm on a mission of utmost importance for my bucket list… What is a bucket list? Glad you asked:

  From Wikipedia:

  Bucket list may refer to:

  · A list of activities to do before dying ("kick the bucket") ß This one!

  I want to learn how to smoke a brisket Texas-style. As a native Texan, I feel a call to my roots. My grandfather was a huge cook/pit boss and I always admired his ability to cook outside, with smoke.

  The challenge is I have been BORED to tears tending any sort of fires in my life. So, it hasn't happened until I bought a wood-fired pellet grill. So, last night I did something I never, ever ever ever thought I would do.

  I watched YouTube videos on how to cook a Texas-style brisket and one video on five things a guy screwed up cooking his brisket.

  It got so bad, I was damn near dreaming about how to cut the fat off a full packer. I've also found out that the best brisket meat comes from Snake River Farms.

  So I went there and looked to see what it would cost. I'll save you the effort, it was $179 for about a 15-pound brisket.

  I don't think I'll be buying that brisket any time soon. I will consider it another bucket list item to attain AFTER succeeding with a Prime quality brisket.

  To make a fantastic Wagyu Snake River Farms brisket and know that I'm not going to screw it up.

  Goals.

  For those that know, I'm considering low and slow, probably about 225 degrees or so for (maybe) up to 15 hours, paper-wrapped (not foil unless I do an injection), and I haven't decided whether fat up, or fat down. THAT right there probably just caused a few of you to throw your Kindle.

  BBQ - it's a religion.

  Talk to you soon, and sometime in the future I'll speak about my 2021 Brisket Challenge and my results!

  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

  Waking Magic

  Solve a murder, save her mother, and stop the apocalypse?

  What would you do when elves ask you to investigate a prince’s murder and you didn’t even know elves, or magic, was real?

  Meet Leira Berens, Austin homicide detective who’s good at what she does – track down the bad guys and lock them away.

  Which is why the elves want her to solve this murder – fast. It’s not just about tracking down the killer and bringing them to justice. It’s about saving the world!

  If you’re looking for a heroine who prefers fighting to flirting, check out The Leira Chronicles today!

  AVAILABLE ON AMAZON AND IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!

  Other series in the Oriceran Universe

  SOUL STONE MAGE

  THE KACY CHRONICLES

  MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES

  THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES

  I FEAR NO EVIL

  THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES

  SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC

  SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL

  ALISON BROWNSTONE

  FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC

  SCIONS OF MAGIC

  THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE

  MAGIC CITY CHRONICLES

  DWARF BOUNTY HUNTER

  OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS

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