“Ah, yes. I apologize for that, but even worse, I regret to inform you that we have already filled the position for which you were being considered.”
Joanna scrunched up her face slightly.
“I see,” she said. “I’m...so, why are you interviewing me?”
Bradley smiled.
“That’s the funny part,” he said. “I’m interviewing you because it has come to my attention that you are working on a story about our company, and I wanted to let you know that we would be more than happy to answer any questions you have. At a later date, of course.”
Joanna was stunned and let out a long breath that she had been holding. This was better than she could have hoped for.
“That’s wonderful,” she said. “I’ve been watching this place for a while now, and I’ve seen some very strange things going on around here, to say the least. What do you know about the disappearance of Officer Diggs?”
Bradley held up his hand, then set it back down with a grin.
“Officer Diggs,” he said. “Well…Officer Diggs discovered a magical cube of ours, and after she unlocked its secrets, she was killed by a member of the Wind Family. They live in the clouds and worship Araki, the Wind Dragon, of course. Oh, and her killer rode in on that twister that touched down in Tysons Corner a few weeks ago. The one by the grocery store.”
Joanna was silent.
“If you’re not going to take this seriously...”
Bradley laughed.
“Actually, I was being completely serious,” he said. “But regardless, let’s set something up for next week maybe, and I promise I will answer all of your questions then. Fair enough? I could always go to another news station if that arrangement doesn’t work for you.”
“No,” she said with a laugh, “later is fine. You just had me going for a second there.”
“Excellent,” Bradley said as he stood up and extended his hand to shake. “Leave me your card, and I’ll have my secretary call you later today. You have my word.”
“Thank you,” she said as she walked with Bradley to one of the main exit doors.
She handed her Rune Corp visitor badge to Bradley at his request and entered the vestibule, where she again was forced to sit through another warning about taking security seriously. As she listened to the recorded message drone on, she felt a slight vibration in her stomach that lasted for about thirty seconds before fading away.
When she stepped outside of the Rune Corp building, the sky was dark, and the rain was soft but steady. She felt disoriented and tried to focus on the interview she had just had. Even as she attempted to recall details about the person with whom she had met or about the topics they had covered, her memories of the event seemed evasive and just out of reach.
The crews of construction workers scurried to get the site covered with tarps as the rain began to fall harder. They weren’t wasting any time at all rebuilding the place, and from what she had heard, they would be using this disaster as an opportunity to expand the building into a campus and to hire more employees.
The boost this would give to the local economy would make a good story for the series her channel was working on about the modernization and expansion of Tysons Corner.
Joanna hurried across what was left of the Rune Corp parking lot, being careful to follow the narrow path that had been staked out with bright fluorescent emergency tape but which was already filling with rainwater and mud.
Just as she was about to step up onto the sidewalk, she noticed a reflection of light at her feet. She bent over and picked up a small shard of metal that looked as if it had been broken off of something larger. She didn’t recognize the material, but it looked like a cross between steel and black marble and it pulsed and glowed as if alive.
She slipped the piece of metal into her pocket as she hurried to her car. It was probably nothing, but if she remembered, she would take it to her friend who was into meteorite hunting. Maybe he would know something about what kind of rock it was.
Joanna sprinted across the street and hopped into her car, right before the rain started coming down in heavy sheets.
She was still bothered that she couldn’t remember what she had talked about while inside the Rune Corp building, but she took a deep breath and tried her best not to worry about it. She reached down into her boot, took out her digital tape recorder, and hit the stop button.
She had learned long ago that human memory was fallible, which is why she always carried her trusty recorder with her. Later in the day, she’d run the recording through her voice recognition software that would produce a full transcript of everything they’d talked about during the interview. She’d give it a quick read-through in case she’d missed something interesting, even though her reporter’s instincts told her that doing so would probably be a waste of her time.
###
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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Thank you for reading – Mike
DEDICATIONS
This novel is dedicated to the memory of two special people who are no longer with us.
My Uncle Pete was the man who kept me fed with a steady supply of fantasy, sci-fi, and sword and sorcery tales as a child. I owe much of my taste in literature and art to him, and I miss him very much. I’m sorry you never had a chance to read this novel, Pete.
Mrs. Godar was a wonderful woman, whom I never had the pleasure of meeting in person. I knew her mostly from the daughter she gave to this world, Laura. Mrs. Godar did me the pleasure of reading the first book in this series, and I am sorry that she did not have the opportunity to read this book, its sequel. I hope that you have an endless amount of reading material wherever you may be, Mrs. Godar. Please rest in peace.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my beta readers for their amazing work in helping to make this story as good as it turned out to be.
Special thanks to Shawn Ferry and Glenn Himes for their comments. Very much appreciated, guys!
Chris Morello, not only my best buddy since fourth grade, it turns out that you are also a great reviewer. Thanks for the time you put into this and for your comments. I’m especially thankful for your insight into the Japanese language and culture, on which some aspects of the Wind Family were based. You rock!
Thank you, Sunny L’Heureux, for your considerable time and dedication reviewing the manuscript for this book. I was lucky to have your eyeballs on this one, and I hope you will consider being a beta reader again in the future!
Juli Alperi! There is no way that I can thank you enough for your help and your support! Great comments at all levels and an amazing eye for proofreading. I don’t know what I would do without you.
I must also thank Sherri Leach, whom I have affectionately and officially dubbed as my Alpha Reader. I am not sure whether it was your support and genuine encouragement on a personal level or your dead-on insights and comments about the story that were more critical to me completing this book. Thank you for reading the manuscript at every stage, often only chapters behind where I was actually writing. You were invaluable, and I am a lucky author to have you in my corner!
I’m also thankful for my Gamma Reader, Kevin McMahon. Thanks for reading all of my books after they’ve been published and for catching the mistakes that have somehow eluded everyone else.
Last, but never least, a world of thanks to my mom, who has reviewed and critiqued each of my books. You have a detailed eye for catching all sorts of inconsistencies
and errors that seem to evade other readers. Thanks for being my beta reader and my mother!
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
The Science of Magic Series (Contemporary Epic Fantasy) Written for Adults, Loved by Young Adults
The Applicant (Science of Magic #0) (FREE)
The Conservation of Magic (Science of Magic #1)
Trent Walker Series (Supernatural Thrillers)
Becoming Walker (Trent Walker #0): FREE only with signup to Mike’s thriller e-mail list.
Trapped in Whittier (Trent Walker #1)
Hunted Under Vegas (Trent Walker #2)
Buried in Alaska (Trent Walker #3)
The Whittier Trilogy (Discounted Three Book Bundle-Trent Walker #1, #2, and #3 in one book)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY OF THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
PART TWO
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
PART THREE
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
CHAPTER 86
CHAPTER 87
CHAPTER 88
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 89
CHAPTER 90
AUTHOR’S NOTE
DEDICATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
CONNECT WITH MIKE ONLINE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2014 by Michael W. Layne
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Jeff Brown Graphics (http://www.jeffbrowngraphics.com)
Table of Contents
THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
SUMMARY OF THE EQUILIBRIUM OF MAGIC
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
PART TWO
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
PART THREE
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
CHAPTER 86
CHAPTER 87
CHAPTER 88
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 89
CHAPTER 90
AUTHOR’S NOTE
DEDICATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OTHER WORKS BY MIKE
CONNECT WITH MIKE ONLINE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The Equilibrium of Magic Page 42
