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

by D. N. Leo

  Mr. Quinn nodded and exited the room.

  Sedna pulled out her phone. “I’m unsure about this one. But it looks authentic.”

  “Looking authentic isn’t enough, Sedna. I need you to know with certainty. We can’t afford to make a mistake.”

  “Afton, if you make me choose, I’d say it’s real. I’m a damn good picker, and I’ve been doing this for years. The only reason I’m not sure about this one is that my gut is telling me there’s something wrong.”

  “So apart from your gut feelings, your professional judgment about the item is that it’s authentic?”

  Sedna sighed. “Yes, I would say so.”

  “Well, that’s good enough for me.”

  “You shouldn’t trust me so much,” she mumbled.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  She hung up the phone. Mr. Quinn entered the room and approached Sedna, waiting for an answer. She looked at him and said, “All right, I like what I see. I’ll go talk to my boss, and we’ll arrange a place for the exchange.”

  She returned for a last look at the sculpture. She supposed her gut feelings didn’t qualify as suspicion. They needed this merchandise. She snorted softly at the way Afton called it merchandise.

  Why should he disguise the fact that they were going for the leadership of the tribe? As far as she was concerned, her mage tribe was fair and righteous. She would be the rightful leader if she lived up to it. And Afton supported her. That was all that counted.

  But before she could say anything further to Mr. Quinn, she heard the muffled sound of a gunshot, and a bullet pierced through the glass window, so hard and fast that it punctured the glass without breaking the entire window.

  Blood and brains splattered both her and the sculpture of the scorpion. Someone had shot the old man. The bullet had pierced his skull from the left temple to the right.

  She ducked to the floor just before a bullet hit the cabinet behind where her head had been. She reached up and grabbed the sculpture then scrambled on all fours across the floor. More bullets whizzed through the room, hitting the furniture.

  She pushed the side door open and raced across the slippery, snowy backyard.

  Damnit! She had parked her car in the front. She started to turn around, but bullets sprayed in her direction again. Trying to get to the front was a stupid move. She turned back around and darted through the snow of the dark national park. She dialed Afton, putting her phone on hands-free so she could talk while she ran.

  She could hear footsteps behind her.

  More bullets.

  Her own footsteps.

  She ran.

  And ran.

  Afton picked up the phone.

  “Someone shot at me!” she shouted.

  “Where are you?”

  “Outside. I can’t go back to the car.”

  “Take cover somewhere. I’ll send Anatole to get you.”

  She ducked as bullets sprayed next to her and punched holes in a nearby fence.

  “Take cover, goddammit!” Afton shouted.

  “I can’t. They’ll catch me.”

  “Do you have the merchandise with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jesus Christ, that’s what they’re after. Throw it away.”

  “But…”

  A bullet hit her shoulder. She fell to the snow. The scorpion sculpture dropped to the ground and spun several feet away.

  “I dropped it…”

  “Are you hit?”

  “Yes. I dropped the merchandise.”

  “Goddammit! Leave it. Run. I want you back here alive, Sedna.”

  She hung up the phone and ran. Turning back, she could see a shadow dart at the sculpture. She wanted to keep running. Afton had told her to run. But they had worked for months to get here. She couldn’t let some coward with a gun scare her.

  She stopped running.

  The person wore a robe, a hood covering his head, making his face even darker in the night. Not your typical assassin’s outfit, Sedna thought. He held the sculpture in his hand and stared at her with inhuman piercing green eyes that tore through the darkness.

  He stared at her for a moment and then raised his gun, aiming at her.

  Chapter 25

  Caedmon held his breath. One more slot, and he would be free from the transformation chamber. He smiled. Slot. Such a term shouldn’t be used on Earth, he reminded himself. Last time, Uncle Tadgh had helped him with the conversion between Eudaizian time and Earth time. The distance between Eudaiz and Earth was a twisted maze of metaphysical elements and couldn’t be measured in typical time and space dimensions.

  Caedmon almost laughed out loud when he recalled the look of disdain on Uncle Tadgh’s face when he mentioned this description. In spite of being a mathematical genius, Uncle Tadgh disliked anything that sounded too complicated or formal.

  A slot in Eudaiz was equal to either several minutes or hours on Earth. But numbers weren’t Caedmon’s friends, so he had forgotten again. Not everyone had to be a walking, talking computer like Uncle Tadgh. Even Caedmon’s father had to check his wrist unit whenever he needed a conversion.

  His parents, Uncle Tadgh, and everyone else on the council were humans and had come from Earth. But he hadn’t. He’d been born here. So it was a steep learning curve for him even regarding such trivial issues as human behavior on Earth. But he was a quick learner.

  The glass door of the opposite chamber opened. Caedmon opened his eyes and saw his father. He straightened himself up quickly. He had passed through three stages of the dimensional transformation chamber, and his father couldn’t get in here.

  Caedmon looked at his father. People said Ciaran LeBlanc was the most prominent powerhouse in the cosmos, the most formidable man. They also said Caedmon would be the spitting image of his father when he grew up—and he was grown up now. He hoped he wouldn’t disappoint.

  “Caedmon, you don’t have my permission to time travel. It’s dangerous, and the technology is still unstable,” Ciaran said.

  “I just want to help, Father.”

  “Then go back to your future and stay there.”

  “You’re in charge of a universe of more than six hundred billion citizens. I’m only trying to help you. As your son, it’s the least I can do. I’m not a fragile piece of crystal, you know.”

  “I have many important matters to see to, but instead I’m standing here negotiating with you. How is that helpful, Caedmon?”

  “You’ll fail this mission, Father.”

  “I beg your pardon!”

  “I’m sorry to have to tell you that. But remember, I’m from the future, Father. I’ve seen the records. You will fail to obtain the Scorpio key.”

  “Jesus Christ, Caedmon! What have you done? You can’t change the past. If I fail this mission, then so be it. You can’t change it.”

  “Don’t you want to know what happened after Hoyt Flanagan beat you to the key?”

  Ciaran braced his hands against the control panel in his compartment and looked down. Then he looked back up at Caedmon. “No, I don’t want to know.”

  “You’re being selfish, Father. You’re worrying about me and what might happen if I get tangled up with the time travel.”

  “I’m your father. I have the right to be selfish—”

  Caedmon cut in, “Hoyt pulled out the temporary shield you put in to replace the missing Scorpio key. And that sank the entire Arctic, caused massive floods, and killed half the population on Earth. Do you still not want to know what happened next, Father?”

  His father looked at him. Caedmon swore he could see tears in his eyes. He knew he was pushing the right buttons. So he pressed on.

  “I have a solution, Father. I can get the Scorpio key for you.”

  Ciaran paused for a long moment, and then he asked, “How?”

  Caedmon drew in a breath. “I hacked your system, and I found out that the failure was due to a mage tribe in Greenland. So I traveled to Earth to see what they were a
ll about and why they had caused this mission to fail.”

  Ciaran cocked an eyebrow “And did you find the answers you were looking for?”

  “No. But I think I know how to fix it.”

  Ciaran narrowed his eyes.

  Caedmon continued, “I met someone in the mage tribe. I can approach that person for more information.”

  “You met someone? Are you insane? When you time travel, you’re not supposed to cause sequential changes…” Ciaran trailed off then took a deep breath to calm himself down. “When did you travel?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “What was your Earth age?”

  “Thirty.”

  Ciaran shook his head and sighed.

  Caedmon continued, “It was a good contact. I’m sure I can get more information if I go back. And I know all about the issues with time traveling, Father. I’ll try my best not to cause significant changes. But there’s no other way. You tried and failed. You can’t go back and fix it. But I wasn’t involved. I can.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Who was the acquaintance?”

  “Actually, it was a little more than an acquaintance. I met a girl. A woman, I mean. We emotionally engaged.”

  Silence.

  “‘Emotionally engaged’…what do you mean by that?”

  “We…like…we did a lot of talking. I liked her. A lot. And I think she liked me, too…”

  “Did you have sex with her?”

  “Father! No, I didn’t… Okay, yes.”

  He saw his father’s jawline harden as he braced his hands on the glass wall and closed his eyes.

  “Father, I’m sorry.”

  “Did you say anything to her before you came back?”

  Caedmon shook his head.

  “So now you plan to go back to her. From yesterday to today, Eudaizian time, do you know what the time gap is on Earth?”

  Caedmon shook his head again.

  Ciaran said, “It’s been four years. You had a relationship with a woman, and you disappeared without explanation. You’re going to show up after four years, still without a good reason. Do you know how she is going to react?”

  “Based on my analysis, she’ll have a negative reaction that might result in tears and mild violence, given her personality traits. And she might initially object to my approach due to distrust. Am I correct?” Caedmon asked, raising his eyebrow in anticipation of a positive response from his father.

  Ciaran shook his head. “In a word, son, on Earth, they’d say she’d be pissed off.”

  “Say what?”

  “Never mind. You’re smart. You can deal with that. The problem is, in Eudaiz, people only know righteousness. You’re a Eudaizian …”

  “You’re human. That makes me human,” he cut in.

  “That’s debatable. You don’t know Earth. More importantly, you don’t know human, Caedmon. Your Earth knowledge and experiences are computer generated. You’ll be disadvantage when you fight humans.”

  “There won’t be a fight…”

  Ciaran stared at him. “All right, you really need combat experiences. I’ll load these experiences to your profile. Digest them and make them truly yours. However, if you have to make quick decision when dealing with humans, remember one thing - trust no one. Now, place your right palm on the control panel.”

  “Oh, no. Dad, I haven’t done anything to qualify that—”

  “I can’t let you go on a mission unarmed. I’m giving you the eudqi.”

  He was receiving the Silver Blood that everyone talked about. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he could get it — the most powerful energy and weapon in Eudaiz. He obeyed his father and placed his palm on the control panel. His father entered a series of commands and codes into the computer from the other side of the glass wall.

  A burst of energy came into his body. It flooded his system. His body and mind floated. It felt as if he had disintegrated and then reassembled. He felt an inexplicable flow of blood and energy through his body.

  Power.

  “Your eudqi critical point is on your chest, toward the right. That is your weakest point. If you’re attacked there when you have your eudqi on, it will be fatal. If you have your eudqi off when you are injured, your eudqi will heal almost all of your injuries very quickly. So think carefully before you use this energy source.”

  Caedmon nodded. “Thank you, Father.”

  “When you come back, you will be a commander.”

  “Father!”

  “When you land, try to hold off the action for as long as you can. I’ll send help your way. But because I haven’t planned this, I’m not sure who to send. Can you promise to think carefully before doing anything drastic?

  “Father, I—”

  “Can you follow orders? Do you understand the implications of not following protocols?”

  “Yes.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Go now.”

  He looked at his father one last time and then turned on his heel.

  Chapter 26

  Sedna could smell the stench of fresh blood from the man as he approached. He still pointed the gun at her. She cursed the fact that she was unarmed. She wasn’t arrogant. She just hadn’t thought she’d need a gun to visit a client.

  “You’ve got what you wanted. I don’t have anything else with me,” she said. Blood seeped from the bullet wound on her shoulder. Her vision started to blur.

  The man still approached. “Sedna Aardel?” he croaked.

  She could heal her wound, but she really needed to rest to do so. At the moment, with only half her brain functioning properly, she knew admitting to the name would be unwise. “Who?” she said.

  The man frowned. “You’re Sedna Aardel,” he repeated.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” She inched a bit farther from the man to give herself enough space to strike. Damn, Afton. All of her training had focused on defense. And now, in this situation, she didn’t know how to attack a man. The fact that he had a gun on her didn’t help, either.

  “Okay, I lied. I’m not Sedna Aardel, but I know where she is.”

  The man cocked an eyebrow, considering.

  Not very smart, are you? she thought.

  “Where?”

  “You’re pointing a gun at me. If I tell you, I’m sure you’ll go ahead and shoot me.”

  He nodded and lowered his gun. Taking the opportunity, she charged at the man for a tackle. Not a wise idea. His body was as hard as rock. Her shoulder cried out in searing pain. She felt she was going to pass out.

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  The man staggered back a few steps and smirked. He slid the sculpture into his pocket and holstered his gun.

  Great. She followed with a roundhouse kick, the back of her foot impacting with his face. He smiled like she intrigued him. Oh shit.

  He walked slowly toward her. She felt as if she was pounding a brick wall. Is he a creature? He certainly isn’t human. That much she knew. No matter how much she punched and kicked him or how much energy she used to strike him, he kept walking toward her, intact.

  She hit him again and again. And she could tell it wasn’t going to work.

  It was too late to run as he would shoot her in the back. She swung one last kick. He grabbed her foot. His hand was like a pair of iron pliers. One twist of his hand, and her leg would be torn flesh and shattered bones.

  She yanked hard. To her surprise, she freed herself from his grip. She lost her balance and fell on her backside, skidding over the snow.

  The man growled and charged at her. She kicked her feet at the snow, pushing herself away and sliding backward. She didn’t have enough energy to get up and run.

  “You know what I’m going to do to you, bitch? Call Afton—he can come and collect your body after I’m done with you.”

  “Who are you?”

  Her world started to fade. The man smirked and advanced on her. She couldn’t let it end like this. She gathered the last drop of her strength and pumped a two-leg
kick at his groin.

  He roared.

  But that was all of the damage she could do. She dropped back down to the snow. The man hunched over and charged at her.

  Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. From behind her, beams of light struck the man. He staggered. He roared and looked as if he was on fire.

  “Afton!” she said.

  A shadow walked past her then darted straight at the man, piercing a dagger through him from his front to his back. It was no ordinary dagger. And the man wasn’t Afton.

  That was her last thought before her world went black.

  EXCLUSIVE INVITATION

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  About the Author

  D.N. Leo is an Australian author. She writes urban fantasy and supernatural thrillers, and has published several series in the Multiverse Collection. She is an award winning author, a USA bestselling author, an accomplished film director and a passionate advocate of social cause and human rights. She lives in Melbourne with her beloved husband, a polite dog and a sarcastic cat.

  For a short period of time, D.N. Leo gives away several books and audiobooks in the Multiverse Collection.

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  info@dnleo.com

  Also by D.N. Leo

  THE MULTIVERSE COLLECTION

  SERIES READING ORDER

  http://dnleo.com

  A SHADE OF MIND

  The Journey from Earth to Eudaiz

  Main Characters: Ciaran, Madeline, Tadgh, and Jo

  (Recommended reading in order)

  1-4 Random Psychic

  2-4 Forever Mortal

  3-4 Elusive Beings