Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3

by Green, M. Terry

  “Because of my mother!” he screamed, white spittle flying. “My mother, Carmen!” He thrust the needle toward the covered body as his lower lip started to quiver. “My mother,” he said, more to himself than SK, as he glared at the body.

  “Well it’s over now!” he continued. “No more lies, no more pretending.”

  He swung his face back to SK, his eyes bulging and glassy. “You,” Joel sneered. “And people like you. She suffered because of you.”

  The blue electricity in the room was taking on a life of its own. The air crackled with ozone. SK could feel it starting to lift his hair. It was now or never.

  “And you, big man–or should I say mama’s boy?” taunted SK, hefting the poker. “You done crying?”

  Joel tossed his head back and barked a piercing, staccato laugh, before lowering his gaze to SK. The red-faced grimace was back as he took a step forward. The blazing white ends of two thick blue threads of electricity were snaking close to each other, almost over his head.

  “I’m going to enjoy this,” Joel snarled.

  “Me, too. Here,” said SK, tossing the poker at Joel’s face. “I picked it out just for you.”

  As Joel caught the poker, two electric bolts vaulted to each end of it. As they connected, Joel went stiff and shuddered. Smoke came from his hand and the needle in his other hand exploded. There was a loud hissing sound and, as quickly as the electricity had leapt out, it evaporated. Joel collapsed where he stood, crashing to the floor with the poker welded to his hand.

  SK ran over to Livvy. She seemed to be all right. He glanced around. Everybody seemed unharmed, and Wan-li was still breathing.

  • • • • •

  Tiamat’s screech rocked the Underworld as the lightning found her belly. Behind the kachina, Livvy could see Tiamat’s front paws flailing as the light of her eye swept around like a crazy beacon in the dusty atmosphere. The kachina turned around to see Tiamat, but as he did, she bucked to the side and sank into the dark dust cloud. Livvy dropped her hand. The funnel cloud retreated into the sky.

  There was a great thudding sound in the distance, but the dust had yet to settle. Livvy headed in the direction of that last sound and Ursula quickly joined her. Cautious at first, they picked up speed as the brown billows dissipated.

  Tiamat’s giant body loomed in front of them, lying on its side, but Marduk was nowhere in sight. As the wind died down completely, an eerie silence took over and they found themselves looking at the back of her neck. They moved left, around the top of her enormous head and eventually circled around the front.

  There stood Marduk, spear in hand, gaping at Tiamat. The lightning looked as though it had struck her in the heart. He took off his helmet but didn’t look at the approaching shamans. Alvina and the Nahual appeared from the opposite direction, accompanied by their spirit helpers.

  Shamans, spirit helpers, and Marduk all stood in silence for a moment and stared at the massive wound.

  “Did we do it?” asked Livvy.

  Slowly, the shamans shifted their focus to her and then to Marduk.

  “No,” said Marduk, shaking his head. “Not we–you.”

  He dropped his helmet on the ground and then the spear, unable to stop staring at Tiamat. They watched in silence as he solemnly approached her. Even as the elation of victory had started to well inside her, Livvy realized that the moment meant something entirely different to Marduk.

  “She was a powerful opponent once,” he said, looking down her length. “A mighty god, in an age of mighty gods.” He smiled weakly. “Look at us now.”

  As Livvy watched, he touched her beak.

  “I never thought it would end like this,” he said as he patted her. “No, I surely did not.”

  Finally, he drew in a deep breath, turned around, and strode past them, not bothering to pick up the helmet or spear. He stepped up into the chariot and turned to look at them. His bluster and anger were gone and Livvy began to sense what lay underneath. He had feared this battle, needed their help, but he had feared this outcome just as much.

  “Well,” said Marduk, running a hand over his bald head. “So much for the old gods.”

  Livvy looked back at Tiamat’s lifeless mound. Stunned, she looked down at her hands. Is that what had happened? Had she just killed an ancient god? She looked up to the other shamans. Ursula, Alvina, and the Nahual had come together, arms around shoulders and waists, hugging as though they were about to celebrate. Like Livvy, though, they had sensed that this was not the time or place, and their faces were somber.

  Marduk picked up the reins and the horses gave a preparatory shake of their manes.

  “Where are you going?” asked Livvy.

  “Back to my garden,” he said, in a voice that seemed…small.

  “We couldn’t have done this without you,” she said.

  He looked at the others, then at Tiamat, and then back to Livvy.

  “But you did,” he said, raising the reins. “You did do it without me.”

  With that, he slapped the reins down and the chariot rumbled off.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

  AS THEY LEFT through the Middleworld, the soul traffic was enormous, rushing in every direction. As anxious as they were to learn what had happened to Wan-li, they lingered for a few moments enjoying the sight of the spirit helpers and the ancestors who had been scarce.

  Back in the real world, Wan-li was waiting with SK. Immediately there were hugs all around. Livvy hugged each one as they crowded around her.

  “We did it,” Livvy said.

  “You did it, dear,” said Alvina.

  “Wan-li!” said Livvy, as Wan-li stepped forward and hugged her. “What happened?”

  Wan-li let her go and tilted her head toward the ground. The other shamans parted and Livvy saw Joel lying there, tied up with duct tape.

  “What?” said Livvy. “What’s going on?”

  The sudden burst of happiness was dimming.

  “Joel?” asked Livvy, looking at him and then Wan-li and SK.

  She started to go to him but Wan-li put a hand out to stop her.

  “He tried to kill me,” said Wan-li.

  Livvy felt her stomach plummet as she froze in place.

  “That’s why you disappeared,” said Alvina.

  “But…Joel would never kill anybody,” Livvy managed to get out. “He’s a paramedic.”

  “Yes, he tried to kill SK too,” said Wan-li.

  Livvy whirled to SK. “What? Is that true?”

  “I’m sorry, Liv,” he said, nodding his head.

  “No, but…”

  “SK saved me,” said Wan-li. “He saved us all, yes? Joel was working with Carmen. He was her son.” Wan-li nodded toward the floor, and they looked down at where Carmen lay, a sheet over the body.

  “What?” Livvy said again, even though realization was beginning to dawn–Joel’s impromptu visits, the accidental run-ins, the way he had seemed to care right from the start. It had seemed to good to be true–and it had been, of course.

  She forced herself to look at him, afraid of what she would see in his face. “Joel?”

  “Look at you,” he mocked. “All surprised.”

  Carmen’s son? Yes, she could see it now, the same mouth, and something about the eyes.

  “But why?” Livvy whispered.

  “The money,” he spat, his bloodshot eyes boring into her. “What do you think? She hated you, you know. Told me to get close to you. There was never enough money, never. You seriously thought I’d settle for someone like you?” His eyes began to dart around. “You ignorant bunch of–”

  “Right,” said SK, picking up the duct tape and heading toward Joel. “Guess what?” He ripped off a piece of tape. “I’m not your little guy and I’m not a midget,” he said as he jammed it over Joel’s mouth, cutting off the string of curses that had begun to flow.

  “I’m a dwarf, you piece of garbage.”

  Livvy tried to process it. Joel had been working for Carmen. He w
as her son. They had meant to kill her, kill all of them.

  “Did he hurt you?” Livvy blurted out, looking between Wan-li and SK. “Are you all right?”

  “I slept for awhile,” said Wan-li, shrugging.

  “Never better,” SK said, tossing the tape aside.

  “Carmen was more capable than she seemed,” said Wan-li, picking up Carmen’s goggles. “Yes, she knew how to reverse her goggles and permit the residents of the Multiverse into this world.” She set them down.

  “She was the last one with Sunny,” said Ursula, looking down at the body and shaking her head. “For the money.”

  “I’m tired of living in poverty,” said Livvy. “That’s what she said.”

  “Tiamat’s influence had been growing in the real world long before you tried to network the goggles together,” SK said. “With Tiamat’s help, Carmen was doing well for herself for the first time in her life. Then you showed up.”

  The doorbell rang and Wan-li led the police in. Livvy sat down, still trying to absorb what she had heard. Eventually, Joel was taken by ambulance to the hospital with a police escort. According to one of the policemen, he’d probably be going to jail for attempted murder.

  It had taken the remaining officers a few hours to get everybody’s story–except for the Nahual. In the tumult of returning to the real world, nobody had seen her slip away.

  When Wan-li and Alvina weren’t being questioned, they had been talking quietly to each other and making phone calls. As the coroner took Carmen’s body away, Livvy and Ursula’s eyes met. In the Multiverse they had seen souls rushing in every direction, finding their way at last. Without having to say it, Livvy knew that she and Ursula were thinking the same thing. Among those souls were Bruno and Indra, finally able to find their peace as well. Ursula nodded, lifted her shoulders and straightened her back, although she didn’t smile.

  The investigators had seemed to take most of it in stride, finishing the interviews, photographing the crime scene, and dismissing the witnesses. One by one, Wan-li, Alvina, and Ursula had taken their leave. There had been quiet hugs and whispered good-byes.

  As Livvy and SK watched the last patrol car reverse down the driveway, she turned to him. “There’s one last thing I need to do.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

  WEAK BUT AWAKE, Min’s smile could have lit up the Underworld. “You did it,” she said, holding open the one arm that wasn’t hooked up to tubes.

  Livvy rushed over and gave her a hug as a spark jumped from her waist to the bed rail. Min reached behind Livvy and grabbed SK’s hand.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Her family stood to one side, making room. Even Min’s mother was all smiles.

  Livvy and SK both told their tales and, as Sam translated certain snippets, there was the occasional exclamation of wonder from their audience–especially the part where SK had tossed the fire iron to Joel.

  “Nice one,” said Sam, nodding.

  Min had listened intently to the whole thing. “Oh my gods, Livvy,” was all she could say. “Oh my gods.”

  Finally, her mother came around the end of the bed and gave Livvy a hug and then SK, saying something in Korean and crying.

  “She says she owes you her daughter’s life,” said Sam.

  The father sniffled as he looked on, nodding.

  Livvy didn’t know what to say and then SK said something in Korean.

  The father and Min laughed, and mom smiled.

  “Since when do you speak Korean?” asked Livvy.

  “I never said I didn’t.”

  “Well, what did you say?”

  “He’s putting in an order for home-made kimchee,” said Sam.

  Despite being asleep the last few days, Min was easily tired so the visit was short. As they left the hospital lobby and stepped into the parking lot, SK said, “Guess I’ll drop you off at your apartment.”

  “Oh,” Livvy said, nearly missing the curb.

  She hadn’t thought about the burned out dump for a while and it brought her up short. He was right. She couldn’t live at the Nahual’s house, if the house was even owned by her anymore. She couldn’t sleep on SK’s couch forever either.

  He must have seen her hesitate.

  “I think it’s going to be all right,” he said, as a corner of his mouth curled into a smile and he tilted his head toward the car. “Come on.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  “I JUST WANT to walk you to the door,” said SK as they reached the gate to the building.

  Livvy opened it with her keys, barely noticing the spark. Although the Multiverse crisis was over, it might be a while before word had spread through the non-shaman community. It made sense that SK would want to walk her up to the apartment–except for the fact that he was trying to hide a smile and not doing too well.

  She half-smiled, half-frowned as they made their way into the building. What is that sly little grin about?

  Although the stairs and hallway looked the same, she realized immediately that her front door had been painted and all traces of the inverted pentagram that she had tried to wash off were gone.

  She opened the door and stepped into an apartment that she recognized and yet didn’t. It had been completely redone.

  Livvy took a step in, stopped, and then turned to check the number on the door.

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  “The Nahual,” said SK, smiling broadly. “She made all the arrangements and paid for everything as well. There was a whole team, as you can imagine, working since you left.” He took a peek inside and whistled. “I guess their real estate investments must be doing well.”

  Livvy wandered through the place in a daze. Fresh paint, new carpet, and new furniture. She went into the bedroom. There was a new futon and matching dresser, and when she opened the drawers, her clothes had all been cleaned and put away.

  “I don’t believe it,” she whispered.

  Then she noticed a carpeted cat pedestal mounted in the corner of the room and a pair of orange ears poking up from the top level.

  “Nacho?”

  He raised his head, his green eyes only half open, and yawned.

  “Nacho!” she exclaimed as she held his little head between her hands.

  “New apartment for everybody,” said SK.

  Livvy turned to say something to him and noticed the altar next to the dresser. As Nacho pulled away and leapt down to a lower perch, she slowly stepped closer. She recognized most of the objects there. Many of them were hers–small things that hadn’t broken in the vandalism and a few things that been repaired–but there were new additions.

  Livvy picked up a small doll from near the back. With its white hair, jeans, and army surplus jacket, she recognized it as herself–a voodoo doll version of herself. She grinned as she realized that Ursula must have made it. A small pair of goggles were on its head, and a tiny amethyst crystal had been strapped over the chest. Livvy gently set it down.

  She lifted a sage bundle that was next to the doll. It had been carefully wrapped with a thin leather cord, which also served to hold several glittering amethyst crystals of various sizes against the sage. As she lifted the bundle to her nose and inhaled, she remembered the bundle that Alvina had used at her home.

  Carefully replacing it, she picked up the coiled Buddhist mala next to it. She let the long circle unfurl and watched as the tiger’s-eye beads gleamed and swiveled. At the center, a golden tassel emerged from an amethyst guru bead. It must have come from Wan-li.

  It was the item furthest in the back, leaning against the wall, that really caught her attention: a small sun kachina, his circular face staring at her. His one leg was lifted in dance, and he held a rattle. Had the Nahual left it?

  Finally, as she backed away, something small at the front of the altar glinted. Not quite able to believe what she was seeing, she picked it up and turned back to SK, who was leaning against the doorframe, smiling.

  She held it in front of her, in t
he palm of her hand.

  “You got my mother’s ring back?”

  “The ticket was in your bag,” he said, hands in pockets, grinning.

  “But how did you…”

  She remembered the nightmare she’d had on his couch. He’d said that she had been screaming.

  “SK, I…” As her eyes teared up, she rushed over, bent down, and hugged him, nearly lifting him off the floor.

  “Don’t pick me up,” he said. “I hate that.”

  She laughed and sniffed and kept hugging him, but was careful not to pick him up. Finally, she let him go.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Don’t thank me,” he said, adjusting his shirt. “You’ll be working that off.”

  She gazed down at the ring, unable to stop smiling.

  “In fact,” he said, taking his phone out of his pocket and tapping it. “Seems you’re in demand.”

  She carefully set the ring back on the altar.

  “But, first things first,” he said, putting the phone back in his pocket. “What sounds good for–”

  “Steak,” she said.

  He nodded, smiling. “You know, for some reason, I was thinking the very same thing.”

  Then, a worried look came over his face.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You have to promise,” he said, suddenly serious.

  “What?” she said again. “Promise what?”

  “No syrup,” he said. “Please. For my sake.”

  His face erupted into an irresistible grin and she couldn’t help but laugh. When he burst out laughing too, she realized they’d never done this before–laugh together. It felt good.

  “Come on,” she said, pushing him toward the door.

  Just before they left, she paused and stole one last look around.

  “Now, about your wardrobe,” SK was saying, behind her.

  Livvy smiled as she shut the door. He might be right. Maybe it was time to dress like a shaman.

  BOOK TWO