Theft of Magic Read online

  CONTENTS

  LMBPN

  Dedication

  Legal

  Oriceran Map - USA

  Oriceran Map

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Social Links

  Books by Martha Carr

  Books by Michael Anderle

  Theft of Magic

  The Leira Chronicles Book 6

  By Martha Carr and Michael Anderle

  A part of

  The Revelations of Oriceran Universe

  Written and Created

  by Michael Anderle & Martha Carr

  The Oriceran Universe

  (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are

  Copyright (c) 2017-2018 by Martha Carr and LMPBN Publishing.

  DEDICATION

  From Martha

  To everyone who still believes in magic

  and all the possibilities that holds.

  To all the readers who make this

  entire ride so much fun.

  And to my son, Louie and the wonderful Katie

  who remind me all the time of what

  really matters and how wonderful

  life can be in any given moment.

  And finally, a special thank you to

  John Nelson of the Austin, Texas

  Police Department

  who patiently answers all of my questions.

  I hope I made you proud.

  Thank you for your service.

  From Michael

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  To Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  To Live The Life We Are

  Called.

  THEFT OF MAGIC Team

  JIT Beta Readers

  Thomas Ogden

  Sarah Weir

  Paul Westman

  Alex Wilson

  Kelly O’Donnell

  Larry Omans

  Erika Everest

  Erick Cushman

  James Caplan

  John Ashmore

  Tim Bischoff

  Edward Rosenfeld

  Micky Cocker

  If we’ve missed anyone, please let us know!

  THEFT OF MAGIC (this book) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  This book Copyright © 2018 Martha Carr and Michael T. Anderle

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, February 2018

  The Oriceran (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2017-18 by Martha Carr and LMPBN Publishing.

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  Click to View Full Size Map

  CHAPTER ONE

  Leira stood in the center of the cavernous PDF warehouse looking around at the small circle of people, carefully measuring her words. Her hands were dug into the pockets of her favorite worn brown leather jacket where no one could see her clenching her fists. “You all heard me. Take a seat and someone start talking. Nana, I elect you. You brought the plus one.” She glanced at Jackson, falling back on her instincts as a federal agent and assessed the situation, sticking to the protocol. It’s what she did whenever a situation was quickly becoming a shit show. I see the resemblance. It could be true.

  Leira gave her grandmother the same patient look she used in any interrogation as a detective. The inevitability was obvious. The information was going to come out. It was just a matter of when and patience, but Berens women all had a measured amount of patience that could quickly hit a wall. Her partner, Hagan looked around at everyone counting the seconds in his head. “This is a new kind of shit storm,” he muttered. “He does not look old enough to be your father.”

  “He doesn’t look clean enough to be anyone’s father.” Correk grimaced, his feet in a wide stance and his arms crossed against his chest.

  “He’s an Elf who’s been on Oriceran. It’s like its own magic potion. And believe it or not, Correk, in his day he cleaned up pretty well. This hermit routine he picked up in recent years.” Mara pushed Jackson further into the center of the warehouse.

  The air in the large metal warehouse felt still and close as everyone froze right where they stood. A large black fly buzzed noisily over the long table set up down the middle of the room. Leira gave a sidelong glance at her grandmother to see if she was casting a spell to slow down time but Mara was avoiding her glance and her skin wasn’t glowing. An icy breeze blew across the back of Leira’s neck. The warehouse was never air tight and Austin was in the middle of a rare cold snap.

  Hagan finally found his voice and cleared his throat. “This has got to be the definition of awkward. So, in other words, a normal family get-together.” Leira’s eyebrows shot up as she looked at him, but he just shrugged. “I think honesty is going to be your friend here, partner. Your long-lost father showing up from another world in the middle of a large dinner ranks right up there.” He held his hand high in the air. “Moments like this we usually make sure everyone has checked their weapons, which is a little tougher in this crowd. Weapons being built in, and all. Kind of wish Lois was here. She wields a mean wand.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” Symbols flashed along Leira’s skin, subsiding as Jackson’s eyes widened in surprise. The silverware along the table rattled and clinked and rose in the air a few inches before settling back down.

  “The energy is telling her what to do next,” gasped the Elf. “It’s predicting the inevitability of outcomes…”

  “No fucking kidding,” whispered Mara. “Your daughter has a few magic tricks we’ve never seen before.”

  No one moved from their spot, turning their heads to look at Leira to see what she was going to do next.

  No one except Jackson who gave the same familiar one-sided smile as his daughter, Leira, his green eyes half-closed. It hid the even mixture of panic and anger roiling through him. Correk noticed the Elf working his hands by his side even as
he tried a casual stance. He looked over at Leira and saw a familiar pain in her face. Bits and pieces of lost family coming together again. This time not by her reckoning.

  “No one’s going to sit down at the table? Okay, we can start right where we are.” Leira blinked hard a few times, her chest rising and falling. Breathe. For once, don’t say what you’re thinking. She was twisting the sapphire ring on her finger. “Nana, you care to explain? I thought you said he was dead and best forgotten.”

  “That stings.” Jackson scowled at Mara. “I should have known that would be your general description of me.”

  “More of a hope mixed with a truth… for a while. What I told you in your shack was true. Hate me,” she said, pointing at Leira, “she’s still your daughter.”

  “More of a cabin than a shack and I can’t stay in this world forever. Left my dog alone.”

  “Already trying to leave. Now, that is familiar.” Mara’s Texas twang grew thicker, a short burst of anger crawling up her spine. “Think you have enough time to at least help out your only child? She needs the information inside your head.”

  “See? Regular family dinner…” Hagan gave another shrug and wiped his face with his handkerchief, pulling out a chair. “I’m sitting and if no one starts making sense soon, I’m eating.” He opened the box sitting on top with the familiar Home Slice logo to see what kind of pizza was inside.

  Jackson worked his jaw as he looked at Leira locking eyes with her. She held his gaze, defiantly lifting her chin.

  “I’ve seen that look before,” said Jackson, evenly. “You get that from your mother. Fight your way out of a corner with a rusty hair pin if you had to.”

  Leira looked past Jackson to her mother on the far side of the table.

  “Mom? You knew he was alive and kicking?”

  Don squeezed Eireka’s hand as she licked her dry lips, buying a little time. She raised her chin and chose her words carefully, eyeing Jackson. “You left me before I could tell you about Leira. Vanished. I was hoping that meant you were dead.”

  “At least you women are all consistent in hoping I’m dead.”

  Mara cleared her throat just as alarms went off overhead. There was more footage on the screen of the troll in action in a bar with a barely distinguishable view of Hagan behind him just as Hagan turned and the letters PDA appeared on the back of his nylon jacket.

  “Well, fuck me.” Leira stood in front of the magical screen hanging high in the air, watching the video of the troll standing well over six feet tall in a dark bar in Austin, growling at a trio of over-muscled meatheads. The comments were piling up underneath with people guessing if it was a fake or there were now Yetis in Austin, Texas. There were even comments about the fat dude behind the hairy beast. “The other kind of trolls of a human variety making themselves known,” said Leira.

  “This is going to make it hard to go back to Barfly’s. That’s my favorite hidey hole. Best cheap beer in town…” Hagan let out his own growl and slapped his hand down on the pink Voodoo doughnuts box, bending the top.

  “Hey!” The troll peeked his head out from inside the box, his mouth full of chunks of chocolate doughnut as he looked up at the screen. “Uh oh, that’s not good.” Crumbs tumbled from his shoulders and belly, down around his feet. “Huh?” Yumfuck licked a finger and pressed down on the stray bits of doughnuts, popping them into his mouth. “Yummmm…”

  A loud growl filled the room, echoing from the video. The troll looked up at the screen, surprised. “Hey, I look good. Nice angles.” The troll let out a cackle and dove back under the box as it jiggled across the desk. Hagan looked at the box and back at the screen, taking his handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiping his forehead. “Not Barfly’s,” he moaned.

  On the screen everyone watched the video of Yumfuck dragging his oversized claws across the bar letting out a roar. In front of him was a man in a sleeveless plaid shirt with hairy arms, snarling even as his eyes grew wide with fear. Leira felt a certain amount of satisfaction and dread. Always nice to put down a Jughead but not in front of the world.

  The number of views was rolling in the lower left-hand corner, quickly climbing to three million views and hundreds of thousands of shares. She felt the tension grow in the pit of her stomach. The desks across the room rattled for a moment as if the ground was shaking. Leira took a deep breath and let it out. That’s new.

  “Maybe no one will know it’s Barfly’s.” Hagan licked his lips just as the neon flashed by the side of the bar. Barfly’s sputtered in bright red with a Budweiser in blue glowing beneath it before the whole thing sparked and fizzled out.

  “Great…” Hagan let out a deep sigh. “I suppose there are other watering holes in Austin with the same appeal.”

  Leira looked at him, slightly amazed. “I take it you mean early decrepit with a solid C rating from the Travis County Health Department. Maybe just a few dozen”

  “You are looking at Texas vintage,” he argued. He opened the top pizza box and pulled out a slice, folding it in half and taking a big bite.

  “Hagan, you manned up more when you were shot. How about we focus on the real problem here. You’re blowing our cover, which won’t sit well with the General. I kind of like our job and I’m thinking anonymity is a key part of the job description.”

  “That’s not something you see every day. An oversized troll taking care of business on Earth. At least not since the gates slammed shut.” Jackson scratched his chin through his scruffy beard as he walked closer to the screen. Closer toward Leira.

  Mara cleared her throat and reached out to tap Jackson on the shoulder. “Uh, Jackson… most of these people just met you. Including your…” The word caught in her throat for a moment. “Your daughter.” She choked out the words.

  Leira felt the hairs bristle along the back of her neck. Of course this is the way I meet my father. She rolled her head, stretching her neck. After all these years. An ache rolled through her chest. She kept her attention on the screen making a point of not looking at her mother or grandmother. Not yet.

  Correk slid in between Jackson and Leira, taking a wide stance, nudging Jackson over a few feet. “We can come up with something. The world already knows about magic, thanks to Rhazdon and the prophets. The video misses the part with the troll growing and Hagan is in the background. Hard to tell who he is, mostly… PDA won’t register with anyone.”

  Leira turned around to glance at Hagan who looked sheepish as he grimaced with a hard swallow of pizza. “All kind of happened pretty fast. If it makes you feel any better, we stopped an old Wizard at the bar from using his wand.”

  Leira gave him a dead fish look and looked back up at the screen.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Turner Underwood looked up from the ancient Oriceran manuscript on his desk, moving the large magnifying glass to the side and turning off the small light on the side of it. The letters on the page quickly faded, leaving the page blank. He lifted his chin and listened for a moment, a smile coming over his face even as the concern never left him.

  “The next phase has begun. This is good. I can work with this. The seer’s prophecy is rolling right along.” Turner cupped one hand over the other in front of his chest and whispered into his hands, slowly pulling them apart as a blue ball of light grew to the size of an orange. “Big enough to do the job.” He waved his arm over the ball of light as it vanished with a pop and found its target, hovering just under the bumper of the green Mustang parked outside the warehouse.

  ***

  The troll pushed up the lid of the pink box, swallowing the remains of a jelly doughnut as he jumped off Hagan’s desk. He scrambled across the warehouse and up Leira’s leg as she reached down and held out her hand, placing the troll on her shoulder. “I’m a celebrity,” he chirped, letting out a cackle.

  “Your lack of concern is doing nothing for me.” Correk drew his mouth into a thin line and watched the video loop, his hands on his hips and his elbows out at his side even as the troll shrugg
ed and sat down on Leira’s shoulder.

  Jackson let out a short laugh as he sized up Correk, taking a step back behind him. “Okay, big fella, I can take a hint.” He ran a hand through his thick hair, creating more tall peaks along the top of his head.

  Correk took a whiff of the air, wrinkling his nose as he looked down at Jackson’s boots and up at the different stains along his tunic. He looked straight at Jackson and slowly crossed his arms across his chest. Leira shook her head and went back to looking at the video. “Some kind of male Elf posing. Suddenly, I’m back in a squad room again.” She pointed at the screen. “Look, this isn’t a problem. Not yet.” She puckered her lips. “Not unless the Silver Griffins decide to make it a problem. Only a handful of people know what PDF or PDA really stand for.”

  “You think the Silver Griffins will care enough to do something about this?” Eireka spoke up from the far side of the long table, still holding her boyfriend, Don’s hand tightly. Leira looked over at her mother and saw the tremor pass through her shoulders. I can finally return this favor. Comfort her. Leira’s bright green eyes glowed as she sent out a thin stream of magic, curling around her mother’s shoulders to hold her in an embrace that hummed with energy.

  “Not if we can get to the General to explain things before they have to come looking for us. Hagan did everyone walk out of there under their own power?” Leira ran her hand through her hair in the same way as Jackson had just done, giving Correk a start.

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  Leira gave him a long look, waiting for more, knowing there wasn’t more coming. She’d done enough cases with him by now to know what he was about to say.