The Peabrain's Magic Read online

  A glowing blue light filled the pavilion and Maggie instantly recognized it. All around the pavilion, the large live oaks were bending in the Elemental's direction, their branches shaking as the light spread out further and further. The trees are helping me.

  The trees had heard her distress call and were sharing their energy with her.

  The soft blue light spread over and around Simon, sapping him of strength as the irises in his eyes returned to a cold, steely blue. The swarm of bees turned to ashes, blowing apart into a gray, murky wind.

  The creeping red slime sunk into the grass with a sizzle, leaving behind a scorched Earth and disappearing into the ground.

  "That's gonna leave a permanent kind of mark," muttered Bernie, shaking his head. He cupped his hands together and bent toward the ground, bubbles erupting from his mouth as he shouted, "Look out below!" The bubbles sank into the grass, chasing ahead of the slime to warn the mechanics. Bernie stood back upright, smoothing out the front of his sweater. "That mess will eat right through a pipe or two."

  Simon spun around and looked at Maggie, the fury still evident in his face, which was pocked with small, bleeding wounds. "You should understand," he shouted. "This is for our kind! This is for you and me. We have more in common than you realize." He stumbled off in the direction of Cesar Chavez Street, one hand pressed to his face, the other stuffed in his pocket.

  "Let him go," yelled Wilmark. "We aren't ready to fight him again."

  "We weren't ready to fight him at all," stammered Bernie, the blue light reflecting off his face. "How the hell will we ever clean up this mess?" He patted the top of his bald head, a single firefly escaping his mouth.

  Maggie ignored Bernie's pleas and ran after Simon, her gun drawn, catching a last glimpse of him as two people helped him into a car and sped away. She pressed her lips together, and holstered her gun, planting her hands on her hips, curling them into fists.

  She spun on her heel and found Wilmark already right behind her. "He had someone waiting for him," she said.

  "We're lucky they didn't join him in the fight. We were outmatched... this time."

  Bernie caught up with them. "Not entirely. Here, give me your hands." He gently took Maggie's hands and blew out a steady stream of purple bubbles, healing most of the bee stings. Small red welts dotted her hands.

  Wilmark grasped one of her hands, turning it over to get a better look. "That's the dark magic. It leaves a residue, but it should heal in time."

  The blue light receded from the pavilion just as the sun crested over the top of the tall building. Maggie walked over to the closest tall tree and pressed her fingers against the hard, glossy blue resin that had formed in a new crack in its trunk. The tips of her fingers hummed as the messages flowing through the tree filled her head.

  "Thank you," she whispered. "Tell the others, tell them all."

  "Maggie," said Wilmark, softly. "Be careful, the trees are not a solution. They paid a price for fighting against Simon. He's using magic that was thought to be destroyed a very long time ago. Making sure no one ever had access to those spells was one thing that both the Kashgars and the Huldus could agree on."

  "Must have been those Kashgars that protected those particular books. Those tall bastards," muttered Bernie, punching his fist into the palm of his hand.

  Wilmark arched an eyebrow at Bernie. "There needs to be more formal lessons."

  Bernie stammered, whistling out the words. "Listen elf, I've been teaching her. These things take time." He flapped his arms up and down, revealing a hole in one of the armpits of the sweater. "She wasn't raised knowing she was an Elemental. There's a lot of programming in there that's telling her she's not magical," he said, tapping his head. "It may just take a day or two till she catches on to a couple millennia of magic."

  "You saw what she can do, didn't you? The trees interceding on her behalf? That's not written down anywhere. No one's ever seen them intervene like that before, no one even knew they were capable of that kind of thing. They connected to Maggie without being near her."

  "Fellas, it’s super flattering to have you talking about me while I'm standing here. Let's try and focus." Maggie looked at her hands, turning them over. "This is going to be interesting to explain at work, which is where I need to be in about an hour."

  "You need to learn how to be the Elemental."

  Bernie smoothed out the front of his sweater. "He's right, kiddo, I'm pretty sure Simon's not on any kind of work schedule anymore. He's not gonna wait and you are the key to his twisted plans."

  Maggie stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "This can't be good. You have one helluva stubborn streak when you want to." Bernie pointed his wide finger at Maggie.

  "People and gnomes call me stubborn when they disagree with me. I'm willing to work with you two. I can see the need for learning how to be an Elemental."

  "The Elemental," interrupted Bernie, the word whistling through his teeth. A stray firefly popped out of his nose. He pulled out his handkerchief and blew, the inside of his nose glowing as the insects piled out. "Long morning, sorry about that. I know what I said about remembering to enjoy these moments..."

  "And look at that, I listened to you. I'm going to work..." She held up her hand. "This is not a negotiation. I know what's at stake. I haven't forgotten that there's an entire world that may figure out I'm still here and take me out if I don't get that compass. But I have a job to do. I will meet up with you after dark."

  Bernie and Wilmark looked at each other, even as Bernie grunted and threw up his hands. "Fine! I have to get this cleaned up anyway and I have a few leads of my own to run down. I could really use a snack."

  "I want your word you won't go after Simon without me."

  "No promises." Bernie was gone in a flood of bubbles, disappearing into the Earth before Maggie could say anything else. It was going to be a long day.

  2

  Maggie walked into the precinct carrying a large cup of coffee from her favorite convenience store, despite a thief shooting a bullet at her head the last time she was in there. Magic was the only thing that saved her, for now. Joey insisted on giving her the coffee gratis but she drew the line at free food. Maggie had paid for a tacquito and eaten it sitting in the El Camino at a red light. She could still feel it sitting in the pit of her stomach.

  She took a good long swig from the coffee and made her way past the small break room, stepping in to grab an oatmeal raisin cookie. O'Malley's wife was baking again. She always baked too much when he had night shifts.

  I just need a little routine, something familiar.

  Taylor caught up to her, grabbing a small pile of cookies in his large hand, picking up his pace to walk alongside her. Maggie took another slow sip of coffee, turning briefly to the side to let another detective pass by.

  "Morning partner," said Taylor. "I don't suppose you know anything about the ruckus on South Congress this morning?" He slid an entire cookie into his mouth, filling his cheeks, and still tried to get out another sentence, dribbling crumbs on his pressed shirt.

  "I heard something about it on the scanner." Maggie kept walking, keeping her eyes straight ahead. It was a lot to explain.

  Taylor nodded at Detective Moss as they passed his desk. "Hey Taylor, you made the spread on the game last night, well done."

  "Even a squirrel sometimes finds a nut."

  Moss let out a snort of laughter and went back to typing. "The paperwork never ends," he muttered.

  Taylor smiled at his friend but as soon as he turned his back, he let the smile fade. "I spoke to the cop and he said something about a witness reporting bees attacking a man, a large snake and a blue light show that took up an entire acre." He counted the list off on his fingers. "Two days ago I'd have said the guy was having a flashback to a Twisted Sister concert and I might have even leaned in that direction today." He bit into another cookie, chomping down.

  Maggie raised her eyebrows, watching him. "That's like your Xa
nax, isn't it? You have a pileup on there," she said, pointing to his shirt.

  "Very funny. I come by this waistline honestly. Good solid Italian food at home mixed with whatever is in that vending machine."

  Maggie got to her seat and pulled it out, sliding into it and drinking down the last of her coffee. She kept her head down and started typing, opening a folder on the screen and filling out a form. But Taylor wasn't going to let it go and leaned over, taking a look around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear, picking up where he had left off.

  "But I had to stifle a few good swears when I heard the rest of the report. The witness said there was a short guy in an orange sweater wrestling with a young woman, standing under a man with white hair. I'm gonna guess you, your new friend, Bernie, and our coroner Simon. Am I right so far?"

  Maggie slowly looked up at Taylor. "You got me. We got caught playing out in the open and I'm pretty sure Wesley is our former coroner at this point. I don't see him coming back from this one."

  "This isn't funny, Parker. It's amazing that no one has a video of it."

  She finally looked up and saw Taylor's pursed lips. He only did that when he was up against a problem he couldn't solve. He always saw that as a temporary situation and would come back at it, twice as determined. She let out the breath she had been holding and decided to trust her partner with the truth. "The Huldus took care of that. Bernie's people. Before you say it, yes, they missed one. Magic isn't perfect. We were there because we tracked Simon to that pavilion, and he has something of mine that I have to get back."

  "Tracked him..." He shook his head. "I have a thousand questions, but I'll start with the one about the tall guy from the medieval festival. Was that the gnome in a taller version of himself?"

  "I'm pretty sure if Bernie could make himself taller, he'd just stay that way. Just call it a hunch. That was a Godwin Knight who has appointed himself my personal bodyguard. What? No laugh at even the idea?"

  Taylor finished off the last of the cookies, still chewing too fast to really taste one. "I know you can take care of yourself, Parker, at least under normal circumstances. What I don't like is the lack of normal." He looked down and saw the fading welts on her hands and narrowed his eyes. "Are you okay?"

  Maggie's face softened and she turned in her chair to face him. "I'm okay, really, well at least for now." She held up her hands and watched Taylor's eyes tracking the red marks along the back. "I know that was a lame sentence, but I'm catching on to all of this at about the same rate as you are. My hands are okay, I'm okay."

  "For now..."

  "That's the general state of things. What I could really use is a somewhat normal day of regular human mayhem, thievery and general disregard for others."

  Taylor's phone buzzed and he looked down, reading the text. "Then your day is getting better. I'm going to assume you'll let me help you when the time is right."

  "Thank you for trusting me."

  "That's how this works. Come on, we have a robbery over on Brodie. A nice normal smash and grab."

  "Unless someone turns into a bird..."

  Taylor's eyes widened as he grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. "Is that even possible?"

  "At this point, I wouldn't bet against it."

  3

  Maggie parked the dark blue El Camino in front of her house and got out carrying the leftover chicken and waffles. She came around her car and stopped short, feeling a tingle across the back of her neck. Her head jerked up, not sure what she'd find. "Bernie, are you back?"

  Instead all she saw was an older neighbor, Mr. Hines walking his cockapoo on the other side of the street. He had his grabber with him and was picking up trash along the way, putting it in the trash bag hanging from his belt. He was meticulous about keeping their block clean. Mr. Hines looked up and saw Maggie and waved good naturedly. She smiled, studying him as the tree over her head rustled, dropping a few leaves around her. Friend or foe?

  "Okay, now I'm being ridiculous. He gave you extra candy on Halloween every year." She turned to go up her walk, but something told her to turn around and she did, just as a glow around him subsided and she saw him push a wand deeper into his pocket.

  "Why Mr. Hines, you're a little more interesting than I realized." She stood there for a moment, gently rubbing the back of her neck, watching old Mr. Hines amble further down the block as his dog sniffed at the grass. "I've always been surrounded by magic. I'm really going to have to redefine normal."

  Time was passing too slowly for her. It had been like that all day, making her even more restless, but they had already taken too many chances blindly running after Simon Wesley. Maggie knew she needed to hone her skills, and out of view from others. Still... She looked down at her watch. Another hour at least till sundown.

  She walked into her house, moving quickly, shedding her jacket and tossing it on the purple wooden chair that sat in her hallway. She piled the cardboard takeout box on top of her coat, before taking the stairs two at a time up to her bedroom.

  She took off her holster and gun and laid them on the bureau, changing into jeans and a sweater. She pulled the soft blue cashmere over her head, even as she was throwing off her shoes and hunting for her sneakers.

  She put her hand on the gun, wondering for a moment if she'd need it in the state park where she'd agreed to meet Wilmark. "Yes, definitely." She slipped it back on and slid her badge and a small wallet into her purse and grabbed the leftovers, taking the stairs back down at a run, tripping on the broken step. "Really have to fix that."

  The day had passed without any sign of Bernie, which worried Maggie. There was no sign of the unexplained breaking out either, and the radio in her car reported nothing unusual. She wasn't sure how to take the news that magic wasn't blowing anything up.

  She pulled out her phone and stuffed it back into her pocket again. No messages from Jake. It was easier when I had a short list of people to care about.

  "Bernie, if you can hear me, let me know you're okay." She bent over at the waist and talked to the floor in her hallway. "I'm really not sure how to find you. Go tell a tree? I have fried chicken." She gave the box a little shake. Nothing. She looked down at her watch, waiting for the sun to go down. She straightened back up and opened her fridge, grabbing a Fire Eagle beer, taking off the top with the edge of the counter. Her mother had taught her that trick a long time ago.

  She walked through her kitchen and out the back door, stopping in her tracks at the sight of her sister, Diana, sitting in a chair drinking a beer. Her curly red hair was piled on the top of her head in a giant clip and she was wearing a St. Elmo Beer Run 5K t-shirt. "Is there no beer at your house?" Maggie looked down at her hand and thought about hiding it from her sister. That won't work. She put down the takeout box and waited for the inevitable.

  "Yours tastes better. I came to watch the chickens. I find it very calming." The Brahmas were standing quietly near the fence, the wind ruffling their feathers.

  Maggie pulled up a chair and sat down, resting her feet on the railing of the porch. "That's a new one." Maggie pointed at the t-shirt, leaning forward to get a better look.

  "I may actually run this one. At the end you get a beer."

  "You must have one of the best collections of 5K t-shirts for races you've never run."

  Diana let out a hearty laugh. "It's a thing. I aspire to finish a 5K, but I'm not sure my hobby goes beyond that part."

  "I like that you even go to cheer on others at some of these. Interesting hobby."

  "And then go to brunch. Don't forget that part." Diana let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes for a moment, resting her beer on her stomach.

  "Long day at work?"

  "Long enough. A kid shut his hand in the car door and broke a few fingers."

  "That's still a thing?" Maggie took a long sip of her beer, watching the chickens strut out of the coop. She was going to have to go feed them in a minute.

  "It is when the car is an old classic. Those doors pack
a mean punch. And there was a pretty bad hand-meets-giant-industrial-machine accident. I was on my feet for most of the day putting that one back together."

  "All those hot summer nights spent putting together giant puzzles were not wasted on you."

  "I was pretty good at them."

  "You were freaky good. You spotted how the pieces in a giant blue sky went together, and you did it without putting the corners together first." Maggie raised her arms up and down, bending over. "I bow to your awesomeness, my big sister."

  Diana smiled at her, but arched an eyebrow, studying Maggie's face. "You look like you had a rough morning yourself."

  "Lawlessness broke out early today. It's over now. Hey, I have an old puzzle or two inside that we can start."

  "Sure, I have a few minutes to kill before I go see Mom. She's showing me how to embroider a cape."

  "Now, there's someone who cannot do a puzzle." Maggie grew quiet and leaned back in her chair. Chickens are calming. A grey striped cat made its way along the top of the fence at the back of the yard, eyeing the chicken coop. Diana picked up a tennis ball and aimed carefully, hitting the fence just below the cat. Maggie waited, hoping the cat would erupt in bubbles and be replaced by a crabby old gnome, but the cat let out a loud meow and jumped down into the alley.

  "We're both good at seeing the big picture. We get that from Dad." Diana tilted her head to the side, smiling at Maggie. "I know you don't like talking about Dad too much. It's okay."

  Maggie looked up, startled. "No, I wasn't..." She gave in to the ache in her chest and spit out the truth. "It's not what you think. I don't have enough memories of him, and the ones I do have are a little faded."

  "You can borrow some of mine, anytime."

  Maggie gently shook her head. "Another time. We go too deep and it breaks my heart a little, then puts it back together again. Not my favorite activity." She reached out and took her sister's hand, sipping her beer. "Remember the summer Mom didn't fix the air conditioning? She said it was better to sleep with the windows open, anyway."