Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  She blinked, and then the encounter with the man came back to her. “We’re in serious trouble, Lorcan,” she said.

  Chapter 3

  Lorcan helped Orla sit up, leaning her against the head of the bed, then he went to get her some water. While Orla took tentative sips and looked at him over the rim of the glass, Lorcan sat at the side of the bed and checked the cut on her arm that he had secured with a bandage. He tried not to look into her eyes because all he saw in them was the trouble that would put to an end the short happy month they’d been living in the Daimon Gate. “What kind of trouble are we in, Orla? Who was the gatekeeper you fought with?” he asked when he thought any further delay on his part would seem odd to her. She told him about the man’s demands. Lorcan said nothing for a long moment. He went to the window and stared silently outside. After a while, he turned to her. “You’d agree with me that we won’t report Ciaran?”

  “Of course. There’s a dark side to Ciaran, and he must have created a lot of enemies along the way because of that, but he’s an important man. People in his universe—their lives—depend on him. If we did anything to harm him, we wouldn’t find a place in Hell.”

  The sorrow in Orla’s eyes cut at Lorcan’s heart. He wondered whether the universe Ciaran was ruling, the Daimon Gate, Earth, and anywhere else that had living creatures shared the same Hell. He had seen Hell on Earth when they fought to bring Riley back and tried to free Riley’s late wife, Michelle. If he and Orla committed a sin now, would they return to that same Hell? Or did Daimon Gate have its own version of Hell?

  “Lorcan!”

  “Huh?”

  He knew Orla was lonely in the Daimon Gate. They didn’t have many friends here, and after what had happened to them on Earth, they didn’t make friends easily. It had been a month, and the only time he’d seen the light back in her eyes was a couple of weeks ago when they’d had visitors. Ciaran LeBlanc and his people had stopped by on their way through the gate on a multiversal secret mission that he wouldn’t talk about. Some creature had used dark magic on Ciaran, and Lorcan and Orla had done what they could to help him find out what it was. Orla had used her sorcery combined with Lorcan’s computer skills, and for a little while, she had looked happy again. She’d been intrigued and had felt almost like she’d been back at her job on Earth.

  They didn’t, however, help Ciaran solely out of the goodness of their hearts. Ciaran made it clear that he knew that Lorcan had died on the 46th floor of the century tower, and that Orla had brought him back with her own dark magic, using it to cheat Lorcan back to life. He had used that as blackmail, and he’d also appealed to their sense of justice. Ciaran was to rule Eudaiz, a universe with hundreds of billion people who relied on him for their safety. Those two things combined had won them both over, and there was nothing else they could do but help him.

  The Daimon Gate was a universe full of virtue—governed by virtuous people and operating on virtuous principles. The most serious crime in the universe was cheating any system for personal gain. Lorcan had passed the test that they’d given him and then demanded a deal to get Orla to come with him. The fact that Lorcan had cheated death and come back would be a grave offense, and considered cheating, because he might not be the same person who had initially passed the test. He also hadn’t told them Orla’s real identity, or the fact that she was a trained sorceress. That was something else that could be considered cheating the system. Lorcan’s crimes were grave indeed, but no one knew about them yet. If Ciaran told anyone, then Lorcan would face death by a thousand lightning bolts. That was the vision Orla had just gotten in her delirium.

  Ciaran had promised not to reveal their secrets to the Host of the Daimon Gate, and they trusted him. On the other hand, although Ciaran was the king of Eudaiz, if he traveled in the Daimon Gate, he had to play by their rules. If he got caught cheating the Daimon Gate system, he would be killed before he returned to his world. And Ciaran had cheated the system here, right in this castle. He did it to save a senior gatekeeper of the Daimon Gate, Brandon, the prince of the Red Castle. Brandon committed a crime and was supposed to die, but for some reason unbeknown to Lorcan, Ciaran had manipulated the computer system to change the sentence from death to demotion. If Lorcan reported that incident to the authority of the Daimon Gate, the next time Ciaran traveled via the gate, he would be killed.

  “Do you think the EYE recorded my use of magic?” Orla asked.

  Lorcan shook his head. “I don’t think so. The gatekeeper you fought had blocked the signals well enough. But why did he want to expose Ciaran? The only reason I can think of is that someone is opposed to the fact that Ciaran saved the prince and the princess. But I would imagine there are many other ways to harm Ciaran. Why this way? And why would a gatekeeper of the Daimon Gate want to harm the king of Eudaiz?” he questioned.

  Lorcan’s wrist unit beeped. Text had come across the screen suggesting the call was made from the Host residence, asking Lorcan to come and meet with the Host of the Daimon Gate. His nerves started to heighten his senses, and he began to sweat.

  He showed Orla the text. A soon as she saw the text, a tear rolled down her face. “The bastard has reported us!” she said.

  Chapter 4

  Virtue is the core value of the Daimon Gate. As the Host of the Daimon Gate, this man had to be the most virtuous man in the Cosmo, Lorcan thought. Given that, the Host wouldn’t tolerate cheating from anyone. Lorcan shook his head, trying not to think about what may lie ahead of them. There were nine thousand gatekeepers at work here—why would this one want to cause them trouble? He asked Orla to stay in their bed chamber and he made a beeline toward the control room.

  The Host only dealt with high-level executives within the gate and top-level executives from the participating worlds. No one knew who the Host really was, though rumor had it that he was once human and used to live on Earth. Lorcan was nervous. He answered the call, and almost instantaneously, a hologram appeared. The image was life-sized, and the man looked like a kindly old grandfather in his late sixties. He had a British accent, and it made Lorcan wonder if the two might have been neighbors at one point.

  “Lorcan?” Before the Host could speak, Orla poked her head into the room. She saw the hologram in front of her, and her mouth dropped open. Not very many people had the honor of meeting the Host, for security reasons, but now that the two of them were seeing him in the hologram, they were a little starstruck. Lorcan excused himself hurriedly to the Host, rushed over to Orla, and ushered her outside.

  “I’ll be with you in just a second, okay honey? I don’t think the Host would care for you to see him.” She nodded and sat in a chair, clutching her stomach. Lorcan returned to the control room. The holocast of the Host stood in a beam of light, waiting. It had taken Lorcan a good two weeks to adjust to this universe’s way of communication. A holocast was like a telephone on Earth, but the technology was a lot more advanced. The significant difference was not only the life-sized hologram, but the fact that the person could choose to step out of the light beam and enter the environment of the person he was speaking to.

  “Lorcan, how are you and Orla faring? Have you had a chance to settle in properly?” The soft British accent calmed Lorcan’s nerves a bit, but he still felt a chill in anticipation of what was coming. The Host wouldn’t drop by his place simply for a cup of tea.

  “We’re doing fine. Sometimes it gets a bit lonely for Orla, but we’re managing. I’ve made some progress with the project. Would you like a report now?”

  “Lorcan, I’m going to speak to you off the record now. Whatever you say will be between us only. No record of it will appear anywhere or be recorded.” The hologram of the Host took a few steps forward until he was completely out of the beam of light. His fuzzy edges solidified, and his unintelligible details became concrete. Something about him looked familiar, but then again, it could just be that he had one of those kindly old man faces. “Is there anything you want to tell me off the record before I tell you the r
eason I am here?”

  Lorcan contemplated and then shook his head. He didn’t think he was breathing, but he must have been. No one could hold their breath for that long. He swore he could hear the sound of a clock ticking, even though time in the Daimon Gate was different compare to Earth, and they didn’t use clocks. It must be the countdown of his life he was hearing.

  “Let me give you a hint. The EYE reports a glitch coming from your system here a couple of weeks ago, resulting in inconsistencies. Any idea what might have caused the problem?”

  Lorcan felt as though the floor under his feet was shifting. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know. What sort of problem? I sent out a lot of signals daily while working on your project.”

  The Host nodded. “That’s how I figured out there was an inconsistency. I’m taking a preemptive step here. The computer hasn’t reported the issue to the council. But soon, the tech department at central will put a report together, and the issue will be picked up. Are you sure you didn’t do anything different?”

  Lorcan matched the Host’s gaze. “No. Nothing. If the EYE picked up discrepancies, please let me know, and I will formally address it.”

  The Host smiled. “You’re a good man, Lorcan. It wasn’t a mistake recruiting you. Thank you for protecting the person who sent out the discrepancies from your system.”

  Lorcan shoved his hands into his pockets and remained silent.

  “The EYE can’t record private conversation, Lorcan, you know that.”

  Lorcan nodded. “It seems you’ve fixed the discrepancies and know who caused them, so why are you telling me?”

  The Host sat. “While I was looking into that particular issue, I came across a nuance, a piece of information from a computer database on Earth that recorded something about you and what happened at Century tower.”

  Lorcan whirled around. “How is that possible? The EYE can’t see into private places.”

  “I said the information is from an Earth database.”

  “But it was recorded into the LeBlanc security system. It’s not possible for an outsider to . . .” Then the truth dawned on him, and Lorcan gasped. “You . . .”

  The Host smiled. “You did Ciaran a favor, so I will return the gesture, and I hope you appreciate it. I am Ciaran’s father, so of course I have access to the LeBlanc’s security system. That information alone is a life and death matter for many people. Although Ciaran didn’t expose you and Orla, the information was recorded. Sooner or later, it will leak.”

  “It already has, I’m afraid.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “My wife was attacked by a gatekeeper just before your holocast. He forced her to use her magic and threatened to report us if we don’t expose Ciaran.”

  “A gatekeeper?”

  Lorcan nodded. “But I don’t know who he is or his ulterior motive.” Lorcan’s hands were clenched into fists.

  “How did he attack Orla?”

  “He pulled his gatekeeper’s walls from dimensional holes.”

  “He used his resources. There will be a record. I’ll find out who he is. But that can’t be good for you. When he has to answer to the incident, he will reveal your information.”

  Lorcan was pacing now, his face clouded over, his eyes stormy. He kicked an empty chair in frustration, sending it through the row of other chairs and creating quite a mess. The Host smiled calmly. “I would never come to you with an unsolvable problem. I appreciate your keeping your promise to Ciaran. So I have a suggested solution.”

  Lorcan stopped pacing. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the Host, waiting for him to continue.

  “There is an artifact, a key that we lost. It is the key to the life force of one of our gatekeepers. A long time ago, an unknown creature from another universe attacked the gatekeeper of Gate 131. The Daimon Gate connects to nine thousand portals, and this particular portal is an Eastern gate. The creature trapped the life force of the gatekeeper inside of a rock with the key of Psuche, locked the gate with the same key, then fled. No one can travel through that gate, and the gatekeeper can neither die naturally nor be saved. As to the creature’s whereabouts, or even what it is, we have no further information. If you can obtain the key of the Psuche of Gate 131, it will solve your problem.”

  “How so?”

  “Although I don’t understand magic, and I am not a true believer, there is no rule set in stone saying you cannot use unexplainable resources in the Daimon Gate. The problem is that you have to report it and get it approved. The Eastern gate is a perfect example. That gatekeeper used to be a wizard on Earth.”

  Lorcan cocked an eyebrow.

  “Yes, you heard me right. It was long before my time. Because of the gatekeeper’s origin, it is deemed appropriate that you would recruit someone with expertise such as Orla’s. I can put your case to the council, stating that I was aware of Orla’s talent before I recruited you, and that you are now both recruited for the mission.”

  “You would lie to the council for me? I . . . I thought . . .”

  “That I have to be the most virtuous man in the Cosmo? Well, I suppose I am. And I’m not lying. I will simply move the time I received the information about Orla up a little earlier.” The Host smiled.

  Lorcan ruffled his hair. “Thank you. I’ll get you the key.”

  “It’s not going to be a walk in the park. If it were, it could have been done long time ago.”

  Lorcan nodded. “I see. Thank you very much. I appreciate this.”

  The Host nodded and turned on the holocast beam. “I should return to my residence for tea.” He smiled gently, like a grandfather, and turned on his heel, vanishing into the light beam.

  Chapter 5

  Orla had waited a few minutes to make sure the holocast was gone before she entered the control room and strode toward Lorcan.

  “You were eavesdropping?” Lorcan cocked an eyebrow at her.

  Orla shrugged, put her arms around him, and snuggled into his chest. Then she rose up on tiptoes to kiss him. She had no idea how they were going to find this unknown creature, but she knew that if anyone could do the impossible, it would be Lorcan. She was going to make sure that she was there with him. They did everything together, and she wasn’t going to take a backseat and just watch his next adventure from the sidelines.

  When he had regained his footing after the bone-melting kiss, Lorcan combed his fingers through her long black hair and kissed her forehead. “I guess you want to work on this with me?”

  “Are you saying I’d never love you without having an ulterior motive?”

  He smiled. “No and no. You always love me, the same way I love you. And that’s unconditional. And you always have an ulterior motive for anything you do, irrespective of whether love is involved.”

  Orla pressed her body against Lorcan’s and pushed him against the wall. “Well, this has no motive whatsoever.” She slid her hands underneath his shirt and up his torso. Lorcan grabbed her. He kissed her jaw, trailing his kisses down her neck, rubbing against her smooth milky skin. He turned her around, pressing her against the wall. While his mouth was busy on her lips, his hands fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. She removed his shirt in one swift move, but Lorcan was unable to take hers off, fumbling again and ultimately yanking it open, tearing off all the buttons.

  It was unusual of him, Orla thought. He knew every seam of her clothes, every zipper, button, and what-goes-where of a woman’s dress. Sometimes Orla wondered how and where he got that knowledge.

  Lorcan stopped. He looked at the buttons rolling across the floor. He then pulled her again into his arms and pressed his forehead against the wall. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m out of my depth this time, Orla. I’m going to do my best to save us, but if I can’t, I want you to get yourself out of here, do you hear me?” He had her face in his hands now, and they were standing forehead to forehead. She pushed him away.

  “I saved your ass twice on Earth, and you think I’m useless
now?”

  “No. But you heard the Host. If it’s doable, why hasn’t anyone done it before? I can dig and find any data we need. I can fight. I can even kill. But magic! I don’t even know where to start with that.”

  “Isn’t that the very reason you’ll need me? And if I’m not mistaken, I’m officially recruited in the mission, too. Do you seriously think I’m going to sit here and let you go on with this alone? And if we don’t know anything about this creature, then you’re going to need me there to help you find it!” The more she said, the angrier she became, and the higher in pitch her voice rose. Lorcan did his best to catch her fists as she angrily enunciated her little speech with them.

  “Orla, I don’t want you to get caught up in this. If I don’t know what I’m doing, I can’t let you go with me. It’s dangerous.” His voice was calm and neutral, but she knew that he was just letting her blow her steam off. She started crying, and he pulled her in close.

  “If it’s going to be as dangerous as you let on, then I’m not going to let you do it by yourself. You need me, and I need you. Please don’t make me stay behind and worry about you. I want to come with you.” When he saw the tears in her eyes, his voice became more soothing.

  “All right. If that’s what you want, then you can go with me. I don’t want to be separated from you, either. But promise me if I fail, you’ll go back to Earth and find my family. They will protect you because you are mine.”

  “I won’t let you fail.” They stood there in the middle of the control room, holding each other for countless minutes.

  Chapter 6

  It was as dark and creepy as it could be inside the Daimon Gate. Lorcan approached Gate 131 with caution, pushing Orla behind him. He wasn’t sure if coming here was a good idea, but they had to start somewhere. The aura of the area made it easy to imagine zombies lurking just around the corner. It wouldn’t have surprised him to see bizarre-looking creatures darting at them from seemingly nowhere. This wasn’t exactly a gate. Perhaps it hadn’t been in operation for a long time. There was no door, no lights, no computer, and no sign of living creatures. The dark Gothic archway peered down at them, imposing and full of secrets. “This is used to be a gate, I think,” Lorcan speculated.