by Martha Carr
"Take the doughnuts asshole and stop telling me your innermost thoughts. I thought we had an agreement not to share like that."
"My bad. Thank you," he said, taking the box. "Why are you really here? Ah, crullers, we meet again."
"If I say I missed you and needed to bounce a few things off you, will you not make a thing out of it?"
"Guaranteed. Feelings are not my thing. Although, I have to admit, I am touched. Come on, let's get out of the way of the coroner. We can take a rest by my car. My partner is too busy chatting up those college seniors to notice he's on the job."
Leira looked over at the young detective, smiling and flirting with the two girls.
"There could be someone running behind him waving a pistol, he wouldn't see it unless the gun landed in someone's cleavage." Hagan sat the box down on top of his Dodge Charger. "Not a Mustang but it gets the job done," he said, patting the car.
Leira leaned against the hood. "How’s Rose doing? Her cold finally go away?”
“It’s dragging on but she’s holding her own. What’s up, Berens?”
“Remember when you said I could sort things out with you? That's why I'm here."
"Oh yeah? What's happened now? More of the walking dead visiting you?"
"Not so far. But I think I found a place to do a showdown with the thing that almost ate me. The Driskill Hotel."
"Right around the corner?" Hagan hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "No shit. Makes sense."
"Makes sense? Why is that?"
"Everybody knows it's haunted. I take it that's really your people."
"Nice. My people."
"You know what I mean. So what's the dilemma? Bet I can guess. You want to go barreling in there but the big magical Elf is not up for it. You got the bejeezus scared out of you even if you won't admit it and you're not even sure it's smart to just go prancing in there. Am I warm?"
"Pretty warm. I don't even have all the pieces yet."
"Oh yeah, the oversized talking rat. Where do you find one of those?"
"A Willen. To find that I will definitely need Correk's help. He says they're great thieves and will bargain you out of everything."
"You can take 'em. You bring coffee? You are slipping. So you find a talking rat, you make a deal and then..."
"And then, we trust the thieving rat does the impossible and steals from a group known for their ability to keep things locked away. And that's the easy part. If we get the intel we need, then we hold the Oriceran equivalent of a seance with a bunch of magical people from Austin holding hands..."
"Oh, this really is getting good."
"And we open the gates of hell, or a kind of a hell and hope that nobody gets sucked in and my grandmother is standing there, ready and waiting when we do. Easy peasy."
"Sounds like it. What are your other choices?"
"Walk away. Forget I found out where she is."
"Then we both know what you're gonna do. Come on, let's go take a walk. Yes, we're headed there. We won't go in. We'll just stroll by. Satisfy my curiosity and make you feel better. Peterson! Peterson!" Hagan called to his partner who finally peeled himself away from the ladies. "You thinking about retiring sometime soon? No? Then you might want to try working the job. Interview a few people who aren't female and in their twenties and bring back actual useful information this time. Now, I'm leaving this box with you and I've counted them. If one is even disturbed, you're bringing me doughnuts from Voodoo for a month. Got it? Don't care who does the disturbing, you protect these."
Peterson nodded, taking notes.
"Oh geez. You don't have to write that down, do you? Alright, I'll be back." Hagan walked off in frustration, lifting the tape for Leira.
"At least he's enthusiastic."
"Yeah, for anything with boobs. I'm telling you Leira, I have even looked at my retirement package once or twice. Come on, let's turn here. How're you adjusting with your mother?"
"Bit by bit. Not easy feeling like I'm responsible for someone else."
"First mistake. You're not. Take it from an old married guy with a smart wife and a former partner who could run faster than I can. You're there for each other but you don't help unless you hear a fucking question. Enough withering glares from Rose in our early years finally taught me that one."
"Another Hagan-ism I can tuck away."
"It'll save you from a lot of arguments and you'll end up learning how to back off anyway. Might as well start early. Besides, you're still the kid, even if you wear a weapon. I tell you what, treat her like you treat a partner. You know how to do that. Okay, look up, you can just about see the hotel already."
Leira stepped off the curb to see around a tree and looked up at the windows. In the moonlight she saw a figure at the window and almost looked away. There was something so familiar. She looked again, shading her eyes from the streetlight. All the women in my line are connected, thought Leira, sending her energy out before her, reaching up to the window. This way, I'll know for sure. Her energy unfurled, dancing a thin curling stream reaching up at the window pane that would go unnoticed by ordinary humans.
But there was no one in the room, not really. Mara floated in the thick ether of the world in between, gazing down at her granddaughter. Her patience had been rewarded. She had found her again.
The curl of energy came up and drifted into the room, strong enough to barely penetrate the veil between the two dimensions, wrapping itself around Mara. It was the first time in four years she had felt it so purely. It was love. She closed her eyes, soaking it in, sending out her own energy to meet it, letting the two mix together for a short time.
Leira felt the energy mixing with something and knew it was her grandmother. They had found a meeting place. Maybe this will work. The feeling of hope grew stronger in her chest. There is a way. Her face flushed from the rush of love that slid down the stream of magic and into her being.
Mara felt the connection return and let it linger for just a moment longer. She knew she couldn't stay. The dark mass of old magic was looking for both of them and her granddaughter's magic was powerful. It would attract attention in the world in between.
She let the tendrils slip away from her, sliding back down the side of the hotel and she moved through a wormhole quickly finding herself on the streets of San Francisco, watching the harbor seals in the bay.
"She's gone," said Leira, standing under the windows of the hotel. "She's gone, but it was her. She was there. I felt it." Her eyes shimmered in the streetlight. She looked back up at the window and saw the mist creeping up the glass. It was moments too late. Leira grabbed Hagan's hand. "Let's get out of here."
"Bogeymist back?"
"Yes, but that's actually good news. It won't see me coming."
"They never do, Berens. Dumb fucks."
***
Leira hurried home, coming into the dark guest cottage as quietly as she could. She dropped her purse onto the red velvet chair by the door and tiptoed across the floor toward Correk. She could hear the troll snoring in his shoe box on the floor by the couch. He gave out a trill and a giggle and curled up into a ball.
She took another step, pausing as one of the floorboard's creaked under her weight. She waited to see if anyone stirred before taking another step.
"The anticipation is killing me. Will you just walk over here?" Correk put a hand behind his head. Leira could see him arching that one eyebrow even in the near darkness.
Leira took the last few steps a little faster as Correk sat up and swung his legs around to make room for her, watching out for the troll's nest.
"Did you realize he gets a clean pair of your underwear every day? It's like he makes his bed."
"I did not. Really going to have to move going to Target up the list of things to do." Leira sat down next to Correk, already waving her hands, too excited to sit still. "I saw Nana! I saw her! She was in a window at the Driskill." She was whispering as loud as she dared.
Leira waited for Correk to lambaste her for
going near the Driskill but he sat back against the couch, stifling a yawn, patiently waiting.
"I didn't go in."
"I didn't say anything."
"I feel judgment from you anyway."
"That's you projecting."
"Your TV viewing has moved on to Dr. Phil."
"Don't make this about me. But yes, the man gets right to the point, unlike you right now... in the middle of the night..."
"I went to see Hagan, I missed him."
"Understandable."
"And I told him what we're trying to do. He was at a crime scene right around the corner so we walked around the block, and there she was!" She pounded Correk's leg for emphasis. My God, that Elf has muscles for days. Focus, Leira. He's your cousin. She gave off a shudder.
"What was that for?"
"Nothing." She shook her head, feeling her face warming in the dark but quickly went back to talking with her hands, waving them around in the air, bouncing in her seat. "I think this may just work," she whispered. "I know where we need to tempt the dark mist to come after me and at the same time have a good shot at Nana being ready to go."
"You're determined to do this. We still need to find a Willen."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to go in the morning. There's no time to waste. That thing is hunting me and it'll keep trying so why give it so many chances. Toni's already talking to the community at large. All we still need is to gather background on the world in between."
"Don't you have to work?"
"Not if a magical bad guy doesn't appear. I'm on twenty-four, seven call."
"Where we're going there's no phone reception. You'll be out of range for a while."
"I'll let the general know. You up for this?"
"Of course, I said I'd help you. I meant it. Light Elves keep their word, no matter what."
"We leave at dawn."
"Fine, I'm not even going to ask. You realize we're going to a place that doesn't know what a dawn is. Not really."
"We can go now instead."
"Dawn it is. Make sure you bring cash. At least a hundred dollars. We'll need to exchange it once we get to our destination."
"Done and done. I keep a stash in the house for emergencies. And I'll leave Mom a note." We'll leave before she can insist on coming with us. Leira felt the excitement grow inside of her. Fucking feelings. Not all bad. Who knew?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Correk and Leira were out of the house early, just as they planned. A post-it note was left on the bathroom mirror.
'Off to see a Willen, back as soon as I can. Took Correk with me this time.'
"If you want this to work, this is necessary." Correk and Leira were walking across the dry, rocky terrain of Lavender Rock State Park. Correk stopped for a moment, looking in the direction of the oversized crystal in the distance and the direction of the rising sun, shading his eyes. He turned his back to the sun and planted his feet, drawing on the energy from the crystal as the glowing symbols appeared on his arms and his eyes glowed. He formed a ball of light in his hands, pinching at it till it flattened out, stretching it into a screen.
"Never seen you do that before." Leira got closer, peering over his arm so she could see what he was doing.
"There's a lot of things you've never seen me do. Let me focus." Correk moved his hands around the flat rectangle of blue light, moving his fingers as a map made of light overlaid the ground they were on. A bouncing red dot marked the spot where they were standing.
"You have your own apps," Leira whispered, her eyes widening.
Correk moved his fingers into different shapes again and another blue dot appeared with a connecting gold thread that glittered between the two points. Coordinates appeared on the virtual blue screen, pointing away from Lavender Rock.
"This is like an iPhone 25.0. How many bars do you need for that thing?" Leira reached out to touch it as Correk batted away her hand.
"It's not a toy. Light balls are very personal. Never touch someone else's light ball without asking first," he snapped.
"Got it. No means no when it comes to your light balls."
"And you wonder about your mother and her man-chest fetish."
"It's not a fetish, just a break in a long dry spell. She's burning off the top layers. She'll go local eventually."
Correk looked up from the small screen in front of him. "You have someone in mind?"
"Really? We're diving headfirst into my mother's old love life in the middle of a moonscape with a few trees as we're about to go to an underground world to look for a talking rat?"
"Most of our days sound like that description. I fit in topics when I can."
Leira drew her mouth into a straight line, mashing her lips together.
"Okay, moving on." Correk looked back at the screen.
"I don't know. There was someone but Mom hasn't said anything about him and I haven't told him she's out."
"A name? Seems a little cold hearted." Correk didn't look up. He tapped the screen and slid his finger across the top, gathering information.
"He works with Ralph. Donald Entin, another mechanic. I'll tell him, or I'll ask Mom if she wants him to know. I don't know. How did this get to be my business? Can we focus here?"
"That was my point about five minutes ago. Alright, we need to walk just a few yards in that direction. I have the address of someone who should be able to help us find the right Willen. You brought the cash, right?"
"There's an address out here? I live by the big red and beige rock. Can't miss it. Yes, yes, I brought the cash," she said, patting her pocket.
"And not your gun."
"Thought about it but something told me that was a bad first impression."
"It would have gotten us kicked out and banned for a month. This way."
They walked till they got to a cluster of nondescript boulders at the edge of the park.
"How did you even know this was here?" Leira squinted, looking around at the vast terrain of different-sized rocks, cacti and short, twisted trees in similar shades of brown or pale purples. "It all looks the same to me, and I'm from these parts."
"There is a detailed map available to anyone in our community. Shows the underground cities beneath all the kemanas in your world."
"I'm living in a giant nesting doll. You open one world and there's another. Oh wait, there's another world inside of that one."
"This is only the third kind of world, if you can call it that. It's really part of Earth, just underground."
"Everywhere."
Correk gave a half shrug. "Not exactly everywhere." He pointed to Lavender Rock in the distance. "They're all centered around the giant crystals that are pushed deep into the Earth. The last time the gates were fully open a lot of people from Oriceran wanted to stay. But some are not as suited to be out in public all the time. Like the Willens. They also wanted to make sure they had access to some level of magic better than what the Earth gave off naturally."
"So they fired up these beauties."
"Exactly. They poured magic into them, turning these spaces into something more than a relic. They're very powerful. It would be a lot easier to just show you." He looked at the screen again and back at the rocks. "It says we're right on top of the entrance. There it is!" He crouched down, holding his hand over his eyes as the sun rose slowly over the park. In front of him were three symbols carved into the rock. A circle, a square and the infinity symbol.
"What are those?" Leira bent over to get a better look.
"An alarm system as well as an entrance." Correk waved his hands and the screen in front of him changed into dust, blowing away in the strong breeze. He crouched down and gently pushed against the infinity symbol as the ground beneath their feet rumbled.
"What happens if you push the other two?" Leira put out her hands for balance, feeling the vibration in her legs.
"Knocked out in various ways. Electric shock. Magical sleeping gas. They're the alarm system."
"Lik
e one method wasn't enough."
The air around them grew colder as rays of gold light spread out from between the pile of rocks in front of them, circling around them.
The rocks pulled apart as the ground beneath them ripped open, revealing a set of wide stone stairs that wound deep into the ground.
"Ladies first," said Correk, nodding his head.
Leira looked at him and at the steps. "Why not?" She headed down the stairs, her hand running along the wall. Everywhere she looked there were glowing lavender crystals embedded in the wall, lighting the way. She looked back at Correk who was only a step behind her, as the ground above magically closed over them without caving in. A fine shower of gold dust fell on their heads.
"Is every underground place like this? What do you call them? Towns? Cities?"
"They're just like places above ground. Some are hives of magical creatures living in caves, one on top of the other. Others are more like villages with a little more space. Depends on the place. The largest is in Santa Barbara. It's called Fairhaven. You'll find a little bit of everything there."
Leira kept walking down as the stairs curved round and round. The lower she got the more light came spilling up the stairs to greet them. "This is Texas, so I'm guessing things are more spread out down here."
"Accurate guess if the reviews I read were correct."
The noise picked up as Leira descended the stairs until they finally turned the corner and were greeted by a hearty, "Hello!" from a passing female Light Elf holding on to the hand of a youngster. Leira stopped in her tracks, her mouth open, staring at the scene in front of her.
"It's an entire fucking village!" she said in awe.
"It's actually a city. Welcome to the city of Hilldale."
She was looking at a town square deep under the ground just outside of Austin. In the center of the square was the large lavender crystal. "Lavender Rock is huge," whispered Leira.
It was giving off a glow bright enough to light everything around her. Grass surrounded the crystal, swaying back and forth. "I recognize that from Oriceran." She looked back at Correk.
"Everyone wants things that remind them of home," he said.
