The Leira Chronicles- The Complete Austin Series

by Martha Carr

  He set his glass down and looked through his phone, dialing the number marked Spalding. “Hello, anything to report?”

  The tall Elf on the other end of the line looked up from the liquid pool of silver in the stone basin in front of him. He was summoning images from each of the hidden locations, watching them work.

  Spalding was still nursing hurt feelings after everything came out and he was removed from the Prophets. Not even an apology to Queen Saria or the King or even Correk encouraged the group to keep him in the end. No one trusted him and they said it was better if he left. A rumor was started that he had introduced Rhazdon to the prophets in the first place. Over time, his loneliness grew as he found himself without friends or purpose.

  All lies. Bitterness began to creep into his heart. Eventually, he had found his way to the Dark Market, and heard there was someone on Earth looking for someone with leadership capabilities to help clear the way for when the gates opened again.

  Charlie Monaghan was doing his best to play to his audience and sell them on what his projects could do for them. Sell them the sizzle instead of the steak. “Are we on target?” He jingled the coins in his pocket nervously.

  Spalding had smiled when he heard about the project from some old scavenger Gnomes working out of the Dark Market. They were still willing to talk to him but only because they had a grudging respect for his alliance with Rhazdon. They believed the lies. Spalding did his best to hide his anger and disgust and got what he needed to find Charlie Monaghan and his projects. It wasn’t that hard after that to convince him of his motivation for staying on track and keeping things to himself. No one would have listened long enough to hear him out anyway.

  But this was a way back in to everyone’s good graces. The three projects held his redemption. He believed the prophesy that Oriceran’s time was coming to an end and his people would need to emigrate. He wanted to be the one who rescued them all.

  Charlie Monaghan was a convenience he was sure he could ultimately control.

  “Progress is being made but there’s nothing new. We will need more artifacts soon. Stronger ones. Can your source deliver?” Spalding had suspicions about who was the magical being that was helping them, but no real proof. Had to be one of the scavengers from the Dark Market. One of the better ones.

  “He has so far, hasn’t he?” Charlie’s voice sounded cold. He could feel the darkness creeping over him as a wave of panic crept up his spine. “Do you have everything you need in your secure location?” He was spitting the words out as fast as he could, knowing he was about to black out and come too just minutes later with no memory of what he might have said in the meantime. He gripped the phone tighter as his eyes grew entirely black.

  “There’s more supplies here than I need. I don’t even know what half of these things are for.” Spalding wasn’t going to mention his trips through portals back to Oriceran. He still had a certain loyalty to the Light Elves. Everything is just a misunderstanding that will straighten itself out. Time to take a little trip. Travel to where the veil is thinner and we can meet. “Charlie?”

  “I’m sure you won’t want to let us down.”

  “Us? Who else are you talking about Charlie?” The same familiar chill came over Spalding. The memory of watching Rhazdon transform from a Gnome into an Atlantean swept through him. “What else don’t I know?”

  “Huh?” Charlie felt the fog lift and a dull headache beating in his head. He felt like he was forgetting something, some important detail. A trip was in order. Check with my assistant. He felt the sweat up the middle of his back. She’ll have a note on it. Just a momentary slip. Spalding was still sputtering in his ear about telling the truth. “What?” He did his best not to sound startled, but the headache was making it harder to think. “There’s nothing else. No, no, I’m the only one. I created this. The ideas are all mine.” He felt a surge of pride and tapped his chest hard. “If even one of these projects succeeds, it will be big and become a new way of life. Improve the quality of life for millions.”

  Not for Oricerans. Spalding kept the thought to himself. The advantage was all his. He knew more about each of the projects than Charlie Monaghan. All the information filtered through him. And best of all, he had magic on his side. A winning combination. “Of course, Charlie. All is well. Everything’s on track. I’ll send the updates as I have them. Soon.”

  Charlie hung up the phone, his mouth dry even as sweat trickled down the middle of his back. He didn’t see the transparent bubble creating a soft spot in the veil pushing into this world, a dark mist creeping around the edges. “Nothing can trace back to me.” His head jerked up. He could have sworn he heard someone answer, nothing will, trust us.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Patsy, did you get all of that?” Lois pushed her glasses up her nose, her eyes wide. Her wand was aimed at the overhead screen watching Charlie Monaghan pace his office.

  “Wooeee, that sent chills through my whole body that a nice Excaliburation spell couldn’t even touch!” Patsy was sitting in her office chair, just under the screen, her head tilted back so she could take it all in.

  “Like those two are plotting the end of the worlds.” Lois leaned closer toward the screen. She was sure she saw something peculiar in Charlie’s eyes for just a moment. Whatever the hell that was, it’s passed. Still… may have to chat with Lacey Trader. Her face tensed for a moment, but she put back on a smile for Patsy. No need to start rumors. Not this kind, anyway.

  “Well, as we know it.” Patsy loaded up her mouth with the green peanut M&Ms from a baggie in her pocket, chomping down hard.

  “I’m telling you. Fools to the left of me, traitors to the right. Here I am…”

  “Lucky to be here in the middle with me.” Patsy flinched, anticipating a magical poke from Lois.

  Lois let out a laugh and a snort, her glasses sliding part of the way down her nose again. “I wasn’t going to poke you. Geez, that was a lot to take in, and you haven’t seen a lot of battlefield action.” Lois raised her wand toward the overhead screen as a thin electric blue stream of light fed into it scrambling the images into symbols that compressed into a square and zipped off to the side. “Sent! General’s got his report and we can relax, like that’s possible after all that nonsense! They always think they’re so smart.” She shook her head. “It’s why I’m of the opinion that criminals are morons and most other beings are basically good, especially my Earl. Keeps me optimistic in general.”

  Lois wandered back to her desk, tearing off the spell of the day page from her calendar and glancing at the spell for making potent itching powder. “Ah, a classic. Haven’t used that in years…,” she muttered to herself.

  “I see what you mean. That young Wizard could have kept his yap shut about his customer list even if we did have him dead to rights on scavenger hunting in our neck of the woods.”

  “Darkness like that has a way of coming out. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen all the time in cases over the years.” A sour look came over her face. “And by the time we had the details that kind of darkness would have seeped inside of him. Louie made the right choice on more than one level.”

  “And may never even know it! Foolish human. Knows about magic and it never occurs to him we could be listening in this whole time.”

  “I don’t think that Charlie Monaghan is doing a lot of deep thinking these days.”

  Patsy pointed her wand at a nearby wall, sending out a stream of magic that pushed off, sending her rolling chair across the wall. She came to a gentle stop near her desk and opened the drawer, pulling out her reserve Twizzlers.

  “Patsy, if you’re going to keep eating candy like that you might want to consider at least walking across the room to get them.”

  Patsy crossed her arms across her chest, tucking her wand in where it couldn’t be seen and briefly considering giving Lois a nice jolt of a magical what-for but let it pass. “You may have a point. Patsy suddenly sat up straight, throwing her arms in the air. “What a
plot twist! An old prophet turns out to be a traitor! General Hospital couldn’t have done a better reveal! I almost expected some forgotten twin to show up halfway through their conversation.” She bit down on a red licorice and chewed excitedly.

  “So tense! I was on the edge of my seat listening to those two conjure up a twisted new world…”

  “Here, let me help you out. Sit back in your chair a second.” Patsy waved her wand in a rolling wave as the back of Lois’ chair began to undulate and massage her. The top of the chair reshaped itself into two hands, gently rubbing her neck.

  “The best… How do you think the world would feel if they knew we stood between them and that kind of dark mess?”

  “I’d say nervous, Lois.”

  Lois swiveled in her chair, the meshed hands growing out the top of the chair still massaging her neck. “Someone should let Pearson Cowley know what’s happening under his nose.”

  “The Silver Griffins will take care of that one. Report’s on its way to the general. We can relax! Hey, there’s a few minutes left of Kathie Lee and Hoda on.” Patsy waved her wand toward the screen. “Today’s the makeover day! We should see about getting a couple of those.”

  “Patsy, if I wanted a makeover I’d wave my wand. This look has taken me decades to perfect. Righteously badass suburban Witch.”

  “Yeah, the sparkly cat pin on your favorite sweater set really finishes off the look. Didn’t know kilts were still a thing among the senior set.”

  “I’m not changing a thing,” she said, as she finally let out a small zing, poking Patsy in the ribs.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jackson walked nervously along the road toward the Dark Market, looking over his shoulder and glancing into the nearby forest.

  “Expecting company?” Leira felt the magic surging through her like a vibrating hum now that she was back on Oriceran. She opened and closed her hands, flexing her fingers.

  “No, just not used to approaching the market with somebody working for some government agency and, by the way, she’s my daughter. Been wondering if I should introduce you as kin or let it go.”

  “Let it go… for now. We have bigger things to worry about.”

  “Tell me again why we had to cross worlds to find Louie and you couldn’t contact him through your what is it, PDF?”

  “I don’t want to explain that magic has become an itchy finger on a loaded gun for me. They wouldn’t take it well. And if I asked too many questions about Louie they’d want to know why. I do my best to keep lying to the bare minimum and only with felons.”

  She opened and closed her hands again as the symbols along her arms briefly lit up and died down.

  “What was that? What are you doing?”

  “Not used to this much magic right at my fingertips. It’s like it’s always there on high. Why didn’t I feel this on other visits?” She picked up the pace, feeling her heart rate quicken, fighting the instinct to run it off.

  Jackson gave her a look up and down, stopping at her blue and orange Merrell running shoes.

  Leira always liked to have on her favorite pair when walking into unknown trouble. An outing with her father to the Dark Market fit the bill.

  “Some pretty colorful shoes you got on there. Resist the urge to take off running. I’m in no mood to keep up with you.” He scratched his head, tucking the shorter hair behind his ears. “Magic isn’t like the fairytales. It isn’t just there or not there at the same levels all the time. People who can access it have to be willing to take it in, give the energy access. Magic isn’t something you do as much as something you feel and you grow into it, especially if you’re a Jaspar Elf. Didn’t Mara tell you any of this?”

  “Nana may have been waiting for the right moment and then shit happened. She took a detour into the world in between trying to find you.”

  “You have a pretty good potty mouth going there. Another gift from Mara.”

  “Thanks for noticing, motherfucker.” Leira gave him a dead fish look but kept moving. “And you have a mullet that isn’t popular anymore on two entire worlds.”

  “Nice touch. Explains a lot about the troll. I’m going to assume you said that with some affection. You dig in deeper when challenged. You get that from me.”

  Leira stopped in her tracks and felt her legs shake for a moment as the energy settled down, feeding into the ground. Nearby, a doe nudged her fawn back, deeper into the forest, glancing fearfully at Leira as they bounded away. The animals can feel it pulsing off me. I need Correk, or even Hagan here right now. Not this stranger. “Jackson, I get that you are probably my father, but I just met you. I might have gotten green eyes or your chin but that’s about it. Don’t rush this whole thing. I’m a grown ass woman who has an entire life on a different planet and I was told you were dead.”

  “That wasn’t my doing.” Jackson set his jaw, his hands on his hips.

  Leira recognized the gesture she had made herself a thousand times and rolled her eyes. “Let’s just start with finding this artifact that can slow the magic down and we can work from there.” She walked on, taking bigger strides as she watched the trolls rolling through the grass away from the path. The trees gave a loud rustle as birds took to the air, flying away from her.

  Jackson looked up at the flight of the geese overhead and reached out, grabbing Leira tightly by the arm, flowing his own magic into her, leveling down the energy. Leira was about to pull back when she felt the energy get easier to control and something more. She looked up at Jackson, startled. “I felt your intentions. Damn, that was weird. You really are trying to do this father thing.” The tall grass at the edge of the path straightened up as the energy slowed. The edges closest to her stayed bent in a perfect circle. Wonder if that’s what made crop circles.

  “Call it instinct. Not bad at having a dog either. We have to stop by my cabin and look after Roscoe. He’s too old to stay alone for very long. Not big on long walks anymore but he needs an ear rub every so often. What? Keep talking to keep ‘em calm. That’s what the parenting book said.” He let go of Leira’s arm slowly as she took a deep breath, waiting to see if the energy surged through her system again.

  “You’re using a parenting book on me.” Leira let out the breath she was holding and gave a crooked smile even as she shook her head. “I’ll give you some credit, Jackson. You are trying pretty hard, here.”

  Jackson reached into a deep pocket of his tunic and pulled out a handful of caramels. “I even have these just in case…”

  “Just in case I throw a tantrum at the Dark Market?” Leira let out a snort of laughter and took one from his hand. “You may have to just get to know me and let the Dr. Spock stuff go.” Leira saw a horse and buggy coming around the bend, packed with Elves and Gnomes and even a Kilomea headed in the direction of the market. She turned and started walking for the market, stepping to the edge of the grassy path as the buggy passed them. The Kilomea looked over the side at the grass circle and up at Leira, grimacing.

  “That was not a friendly grunt.”

  “They don’t do friendly very well. If he’s not raising a weapon at you, just ignore him. They aren’t very subtle creatures.”

  Leira felt her chest expand easily, taking in air. “See that’s the kind of fatherly advice I can use. Thanks for the assist back there. It helped. The energy flow has slowed down.”

  “It can be tricky for any magical creature coming into their own who didn’t grow up on Oriceran. When the gates finally open there will be a lot of people losing their shit trying to get their sea legs.”

  The market came into view, the large colorful tents taking up most of the horizon and the chatter from the market carrying all the way to them. The horse and buggy that had passed them on the road was making a turn coming back this way with a new load of customers. Leira stepped aside again with Jackson right behind her as they came closer to the entrance.

  Jackson walked up to the table out front and knocked hard on the top. “Ronnie, wake up. I know you�
�re in there. Ronnie!” He pounded a little harder, shaking the stones on the top. “Does Louie know you sleep under the table with his wares spread out. This isn’t the best neighborhood.”

  The old Gnome poked his head out from under the table, rubbing his eyes. “Louie isn’t here. Come back later.”

  “Not exactly the best sales pitch, Ronnie.”

  “Not exactly a good salesman.” Ronnie looked up into the sunlight as he crawled all the way out from under the table and stood up. “Oh, it’s you, Jackson. Same answer, Louie’s not here. He’s off on some mission or adventure. Not really sure.” Ronnie opened his mouth wide, yawning. He reached under the table and pulled out a battered bowler hat, brushing off dirt and placing it on his head, tilted to one side.

  Leira stood to the side, picking up different artifacts and holding them in her hands, feeling the hum of the stored energy. Ronnie kept taking sideways glances at her, interested as he spoke to Jackson. “Not sure when he’ll be back. He doesn’t keep a regular schedule.”

  “Tell him I’m looking for him and it’s important.”

  “Where can he… Hey, I know you.” Ronnie pointed a stubby finger at Leira. “You’re that Elf chick from Earth that Louie likes. You have some badass power or something. No wonder you can handle those stones like they were marbles.” Ronnie smiled, placing one hand to the side of his mouth and saying, conspiratorially, “He told me not to tell you, but he kind of has a thing for you. Louie likes women who could kick his ass.”

  Jackson stared at the Gnome. “That’s my kid.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder at Leira.

  The Gnome’s eyebrows shot up and wrinkled his forehead. “Well, then this is awkward.”

  Leira gave a crooked smile watching Jackson glare at the Gnome. “It’s still weird,” she muttered.

  “You want to find Louie, ask the kid here. He’s working for you now, isn’t he?” The Gnome’s voice rose to a defensive whine, trying to regain some ground with Jackson.