Ritual Space

by Viola Grace

  She never wanted to inherit, but being trapped in an altered body on a magical property has its perks. The 24-hour guard.

  In a flash of agony, Adrea knew her Aunt Neadra was dead. Waking in hospital was strange enough, but having her colouring changed to that of her dead relative was a little hard to take.

  Adrea called the authorities to let them know her aunt had been murdered and made the three-hour trip to get to her aunt’s home.

  Shockingly, things get out of control from there. She is arrested, questioned and released back to Ritual Space, where she has to seal the breach in the wards with her own blood.

  Officer Hyl Luning is assigned to watch her, but he had better be quick, because she has an agenda that even she isn’t sure of.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Ritual Space

  Copyright © 2016 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-14-6

  ©Cover art by Carmen Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com, amazon, kobo, B&N and other eBook sellers.

  Ritual Space

  An Obscure Magic Book 4

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Adrea worked to stock the shelves with the recently dried herbs that she had painstakingly prepared. The bell over the door chimed with perky insistence.

  Adrea screwed a smile on her face and descended from the ladder. “Good morning, what can I get for you?”

  When Adrea got a look at her client, she winced.

  “It is that bad?” The woman’s voice warbled from beneath skin turned toad green.

  Adrea tilted her head. “Do you have any of the original substance?”

  The woman reached into her purse. “I bought it near the old quarter.”

  Adrea opened it and sniffed, jerking her head back at the pungent odour. “Okay, that is an easy fix.”

  She gathered a bowl and got back on the ladder. With quick and economical movements, she gathered the ingredients for the salve that would restore the woman’s skin.

  Worts and weeds went into the bowl in quantities that she carefully measured after eight years of working in Foxes Tea and Herb Shop.

  The bowl was polished wood, and scrubbing them out and oiling the work bowls was one of her evening duties. It was a neutral substance and would not alter the effects of the herbs.

  When she had collected what she needed and returned to the counter, she picked up a glass pestle and ground the herbs into a fine powder.

  “Does it smell?” Her client looked nervous.

  “Like peppermint and chamomile.” Adrea reached for some of the essential oils, and she mixed them in.

  When the paste was mixed, Adrea grabbed a spoonful of the neutral face-cream base and mixed it all together before scraping every bit of the cream into a small screw-top container.

  “That will be fifty dollars. Take it next door to Leda and give her the prescription.”

  The woman nodded eagerly and handed over the cash.

  Adrea got her the change and slipped the small container into a paper bag before writing a prescription with the details of the ingredients. “Leda, next door to the left. Express Enchantments. She will have you out the door in a few minutes.”

  The woman nodded and clutched the bag to her chest as she nearly sprinted out the door.

  Adrea shook her head and sighed. That was a rough one, but folks tended to get what they paid for in some of those old-quarter shops.

  The bell rang again, and she looked up. She didn’t need to ask; with a bit of flair, she measured out a series of herbs and set water to boil.

  The elderly woman took a seat in the teashop portion of the space and leaned over, “You are looking cheerful today, Adrea.”

  “I am always cheerful when you are here, Miss Crathmore.”

  “You know I have told you to call me Milly.”

  “I know.” She winked. “And I have told you not to call me cheerful; it makes me look less than serious.”

  She poured the water into the pot containing her herb selection and set the pot and a teacup on a tray with a small container of honey and a spoon.

  She carried the tea over to Miss Crathmore. Her high school teacher was looking spry for a woman in her nineties.

  The tray was settled, and Adrea was heading back to the counter when agony ripped through her. She might have screamed, she tried to scream, but pinpoints of fire assaulted her body.

  Miss Crathmore shouted, Adrea heard a phone being dialled and everything went dark.

  The hospital was cold, sterile, and Adrea felt perfectly fine. She was laying in the bed, and to her less-than-impressed gaze, her parents were in the room.

  Her father looked furious. “I can’t believe that you did this, Adrea.”

  Her mother looked resigned. “You should have told us about this, Addy.”

  “About what? I had some kind of attack.” She swung her legs out of the bed and got to her feet. She wasn’t even on any kind of IV.

  Her mother reached to help her, but her father held his wife back. Adrea staggered past them and into the bathroom to wash her face. She leaned down, splashed cold water on her face, and then, she stood up to glare at herself.

  She nearly fainted again. Her skin had lost all traces of a tan, her hair was snowy white instead of honey brown, and her eyes had gone from chocolate to vivid blue. She looked like her great aunt and namesake, Neadra. That could only mean one thing. Neadra was dead.

  She wobbled back to the bed and sat down.

  Her father scowled. “How long have you known about this, Adrea?”

  “About what?”

  “About you being Neadra’s inheritor? The magic was supposed to come to me as her next of kin.”

  Adrea closed her eyes and took an inventory of her body. She felt miles away.

  “Dad, the space can only be inherited by a woman. You know that.”

  He jolted. “You are lying.”

  A terrible sense of calm came over her. “I am telling the truth. Neadra told me that little tidbit when I was thirteen. I am surprised you didn’t know, as you seem to be so sure of everything else.”

  Adrea looked at her parents and saw the small, ineffectual being who was her father, and the weasel that had birthed her. It was true enough that her mother was a ferret shifter, but looking at them through her new gaze, she could see the truth; they were grasping and greedy.

  She went to the locker and grabbed her clothing, heading back to the bathroom and changing into her street clothing.

  When she emerged with the hospital gown in her hand, a doctor was speaking with her parents.

  “Doctor, I would appreciate it if you didn’t share any of my medical information with them. They are leaving.”

  The physician blinked. “Oh, I thought they had your medical power of attorney.”

  She snorted. “Not likely. I am guessing that my boss called them. She is obsessed with healing the familial rift.”

  Her parents vibrated with indignation, but they had to keep themselves quiet with the doctor’s ears perked to hear anything that would make them look less than credible.

  “They are not on your next-of-kin list?”

  “They might be, but I did not put them there. I live alone, and I plan to die that way. Now, is there any reason f
or me to remain in this facility?”

  The doctor shook his head. “Aside from whatever magic altered your hair and eyes, you are completely normal. Better than normal, actually. Your medical results are perfect.”

  “Good. I will settle up with billing and get myself home.”

  She left her parents and the physician, and made her way to billing. Of course, the bill wouldn’t be ready, but she couldn’t stand another moment with her family.

  Dorothea Minx was waiting for her, and she dangled Adrea’s purse from her fingers. “I have taken care of the bill, but I thought you might want your phone.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, Doro.”

  “You passed out in my teashop. It is the least I can do.”

  Adrea smiled at her employer. “Sorry about that. There was a death in the family.”

  “Apparently you felt the shock.” Doro looked her over. “It is a good look for you.”

  “It comes with a bit of baggage.” She took her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder, digging for her phone. “Can you give me a ride back to the shop? I need my bike.”

  A glance at her phone told her that she had lost at least three hours.

  “What are you doing?” Doro took her by the arm and led her toward the entryway.

  “I am calling the Mage Guild. They are going to need to send someone to find Neadra’s body.”

  She punched in the number for the non-emergency line and asked to be transferred to the Guild of Redbird City. She kept her voice calm as she described what she needed.

  “My Aunt Neadra, proprietor of Ritual Space, has been murdered. I would like some of your officers to go to Ritual Space and examine the scene.”

  “Miss, how are you aware of this?”

  “Ritual Space is a family inheritance, and I have now inherited the first wave of what is coming to me.”

  The officer sounded bored. “What would that be, Miss?”

  “I have inherited the magic.”

  She disconnected the call. All she could do was let them know and get her own ass to her aunt’s home and business. The sooner her body was discovered, the better.

  Chapter Two

  She had been on the road for three hours when her phone started buzzing.

  Adrea pulled to the side of the road, removed her helmet and answered her phone. “Hello?”

  “Is this Adrea Morgan?”

  “Morrigan. Yes.”

  “This is Officer Welling of the Redbird City Mage Guild. After a tip, we sent an officer to check on your Aunt Neadra, and I am afraid I have some bad news. Can you come to Redbird City?”

  She snorted. “I am twenty minutes away from Ritual Space.”

  “Ah, I am still on scene. See you soon.”

  Adrea hung up and tucked her phone back in her bra. She started up her bike again, settled her helmet into place and drove to her aunt’s home and the site of her demise.

  Official vehicles crowded the parking lot near the expansive gates. The hole that they had hacked through the high fence told the story. No one had opened the gate, and they had not been able to enter using magical means. Sometimes, an axe was what was necessary.

  She wove through the vehicles and parked next to the heavy and ancient oak and stone wall that kept the magic in and the uninvited out.

  When she lifted her hands to remove her helmet, officers approached her.

  “Miss, this is a crime scene. You can’t be here.”

  She pulled the helmet free and shook out her hair. “I know. I called you. Adrea Morrigan of Ashfall City. I have driven for the last three and a half hours to get here. I am looking for Officer Welling.”

  Five of the nearest officers stared at her, and she smiled tightly. “Which way to Welling?”

  The officer looking at her pointed toward the hole in the wall. She nodded, set her helmet down on her bike and walked through the wall and into Ritual Space.

  Two mage officers were on the other side of the wall and muttering softly. Adrea frowned as she passed them, but then, she realized that they were holding back the stone. It was trying to seal itself again.

  This was stupid. She needed to check in with Officer Welling and make her way to the centre of the property. Once she had done what she had seen Neadra do so many times, she would be able to control the doors.

  Two men came by with a gurney, concealed by a white sheet.

  “Miss Morrigan?”

  She stopped staring at the body of her aunt as they took it away, and she turned to face the officer who had called her name.

  The tall, blonde man paused in surprise when she turned. “Wow, that is uncanny.”

  “The hair colour is new. It happened this morning. The family resemblance of my features has been there all along.”

  He shook his head and extended his hand. “I am Officer Welling. Thank you for coming.”

  “The property was calling me, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

  “If you will come with me, we will leave and I can escort you to our offices while we wait for the coroner to prepare your aunt for identification.”

  Adrea sighed. “I can identify her now. She has white hair, blue eyes and stab wounds here, here and here.” She touched the places on her torso that had burned before she passed out.

  She shook her head. “Oh, and I can’t go with you yet. I have to go to the centre of the space and let it know that I am here.”

  “I am afraid that this entire area is a crime scene. You can’t go anywhere.” He went from friendly to stern.

  She wanted to fight him, but she settled for asking. “Can I touch the outside of the wall?”

  He frowned. “I don’t see why not.”

  At least there was that. Neadra had referred to it as locking the door. If anything was trying to get out of Ritual Space, marking the wall with her blood should keep it in, even without the more involved ritual at the centre of the space.

  They walked past the murmuring officers, and Welling spoke to them softly. She stepped through the hole a moment before they followed her, and when they were outside, the hole closed.

  She turned away from the mages and walked down the wall, trailing her fingers along until she felt the slight snag into her skin that drew blood.

  She whispered to the wall, “Keep tight against those who would use you or those who would escape.”

  A ripple went through the wall and moved outward until the stone appeared to buckle and reshape.

  Welling ran up to her. “What did you do?”

  She smiled and sucked her finger. “I locked the door. When you come back or need to investigate, bring me with you, and I will open it up.”

  “Miss Morrigan, you have just tampered with a crime scene. I am going to have to put you under arrest.”

  She glanced at her bike, and it glowed against the wall. It was protected.

  “Fine.” She turned her back, and he put her in cuffs.

  Adrea looked at Ritual Space as long as she could. She settled back in her seat and watched as they drove past the fields of the countryside with the stretch of the wall on her left.

  Near a copse of trees, she felt something unpleasant. The officer driving the vehicle shouted, and they swerved from side to side. Adrea saw the flash of green scales and one huge golden eye before they skidded to a halt.

  She looked around, and there was no sign of the beast, but she could feel it out there.

  She wasn’t a mage and didn’t even like magic, but she could feel the pulse of the beast in the woods. “What the hell?”

  “I am sorry, Miss. I don’t know what that was.”

  Her driver got himself together and drove her to the Mage Guild headquarters, taking her by the arm as he helped her out of the SUV and down the sidewalk to the building.

  Her hands were still cuffed behind her back, but the officer with her kept her upright. There was a surreal feeling to being taken into custody on the day tha
t her aunt died.

  It was so weird. She was operating completely on automatic. Her mind was scrabbling around trying to understand what was going on, but her body was sure of what it did and said.

  Adrea heard herself say, “I need to speak with the commanding officer on duty.”

  “I need to book you in first.”

  “Trust me. Tell him that the inheritor of Ritual Space is here and I am not going anywhere until my lawyer arrives. It should be within the hour if he isn’t here already.”

  They entered the sheltered hall, and she felt the passive wards pressing against her skin.

  “You seem pretty sure that he is coming. I didn’t see or hear you make a call.”

  “He would have been notified when my aunt died. From there, this would be his next stop.”

  The officer with her blinked, shackled her to a bench and went to speak to the desk sergeant. He glanced back at her several times, but when a familiar voice spoke from her left, she turned with a smile.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Grant.”

  The gargoyle with the suit and briefcase nodded. “Ms. Morrigan. You are all grown up; I am surprised you remember me.”

  She grinned. “You make an impression. I would shake your hand but…” she lifted her hands, and the cuffs clanked against the wood.

  “Of course. I will get that taken care of right away. Your aunt left very strict instructions as to what I was to do for you. You will be set right in a few minutes.”

  Mr. Grant went to the desk sergeant, and the human straightened as the gargoyle rapped out information in no-nonsense tones.

  A moment later, the sergeant was calling the captain.

  When the captain emerged, he was the poster boy for the Mage Guild. Mr. Grant spoke quietly to him, and suddenly, an officer was undoing her handcuffs.

  She got to her feet, and the captain ushered her and her lawyer into the offices.

  Once she was seated with a glass of water in front of her, the captain gave her an embarrassed look. “Ms. Morrigan. I apologize for your arrest. The officers on the scene were not familiar with the restrictions of your property.”