by Martha Carr
“That could take a while. Government likes their paperwork. Remember, we’re not supposed to even know about them.”
“He’s waited long enough. I do know a shortcut we can take. Make things easier for everyone. I’ll call Leira Berens.”
Chapter Nineteen
Leira wanted to play this one by the rules. “At least try.”
“That is supposed to be the very definition of our jobs. We don’t decide who gets to bend them. Entirely different department.” Hagan drummed his fingers on his desktop. He was resisting the urge to get up and go get something out of the machine.
Leira eyed him suspiciously. “What is up with you?”
He was just grateful Lois wasn’t there to read his mind and shoot peanut M&Ms over to him. His stomach growled and he rolled his eyes. “Doing the health thing again. Rose insisted and she’s the brains of our operation.”
Leira hooted. “True that. Can you eat anything right now or are you over the limit for the day already? Not judging.” She held up her hands.
“I’m supposed to be learning to hold out for mealtimes. So far, I’m about one and three.”
“When did you start?”
“Yesterday.”
Leira stared at him, shaking her head. “Okay, moving on. Let’s see what good we can do in the world today. Would be a nice change of pace to help someone out.”
“Instead of locking them up. Boy, I’ll tell you this dogged race to get to places first…”
“That’s where you’re such an asset.”
“Don’t blow smoke Berens.”
Leira gave him a dead fish look. “Don’t get sensitive on me. You’re good at looking at all the puzzle pieces and figuring out what the other player’s next likely move is gonna be. Reason we’ve managed to beat the corporations to the punch so many times.”
Hagan rolled his eyes. “You need a loan, Berens? Trying to get me to babysit the troll? Tell you what, I’ll loan you… what do I have in my pocket?” Hagan pulled an old leather wallet out of his back pocket, flipping through it.
Leira arched an eyebrow and sat back in her chair, letting him play it out.
“Oh hey, I have two twenties. Seems this waiting around to eat is working for my budget too. I’m not babysitting Yumfuck. He turns up enough as it is. Should probably save these two twenties to pay his tab somewhere. You could have my Subway Sandwich card. One more and you get a free one.”
“You done? It’s coming back to me why we don’t trade too many compliments.”
“That was all you. I did not say anything nice.”
Leira gave a crooked smile. “I stand corrected. Let’s call the general. This should be an easy one.”
Hagan shook his head. “That’s usually the first line in what turns out to be a great big shit show. Hello hell.”
“A little hell goes with our job, don’t you think?”
“How was that shindig for your friend? Everybody get their magic on?” He waggled his fingers.
Leira made a point of looking at her phone. “Don’t do the magic hands.”
“You didn’t even look up.”
“I know you. The tribute was a trip… Hello general?”
Hagan started to say something but realized Leira was avoiding looking at him. That’s not like her.
He waited till she hung up the phone. “Rule four.”
“What? Were we in mid-conversation and I missed the first part?” Leira got up and stretched. She had taken to doing a lunchtime five k around the complex when they stayed in town.
“Rule four,” he said more evenly.
Leira stretched again as she remembered rule four. She stopped and looked at him, holding very still. “Tell your partner everything. No half measures.”
Hagan pointed a large, meaty finger at her. “Never seen you break that one before. You even told me about the little hairy guy before you’d figured out this whole damn magic crap. I knew all about your mother. You even came to me when your grandmother was trapped inside clear Jello. That means this one has to do with you.”
Leira started to say something but Hagan stopped her.
“Next words out of your mouth better be the unabridged truth.” His thick brows were drawn down and he was breathing a little hard. “Don’t treat me like we don’t have trust between us.”
Leira gave him a dead fish look but said the words anyway. “Fuck. Okay. I turned on the juice a little too hard and almost vacated the premises.”
“What the ever-living fuck?” Hagan got up abruptly from his chair, rolling it backward as he hitched up his pants.
“You have been losing weight.”
“Not now! I actually appreciate that one and it’s about time you noticed. But not now! For the love of Pete…” He paced behind his desk, his eyes widened. “You almost die and don’t think to mention it. What would rate a morning mention? Anything that happened to anybody else?”
“I can see that you’re a little mad.” Leira leaned her elbows on her desk. “I’m sorry. That was a bad call on my part.”
Hagan threw his arms up in the air and sat back down. “We run toward magical bogeymen every day. Never know what kind of weird shit we’ll find. A black mist tries to get us or a seven hundred-year old hag plots to take over two worlds and blow up a gym.” He held up two fingers. “I’m right there with you. The one thing that always makes me think we have a chance is not your magical abilities.” He waggled his fingers but Leira pressed her lips together, staying quiet. “It’s because I trust in this. This partnership. Don’t fuck with that.” He looked at his computer and started typing, filling out a report without saying another word.
Leira watched him for a minute. “I do trust you.”
Hagan didn’t look up and kept on typing.
“I thought we weren’t doing the feeling thing,” she said.
Hagan cleared his throat.
Leira looked up at the ceiling. Good time for a portal or a fireball. She looked back at Hagan. “I don’t like to talk about things I don’t have a solution to… yet.”
“This I know. That or God forbid, being afraid.” He still didn’t look up and leaned closer to the screen trying to read something.
“Use your reading glasses. I know you need them.”
He let out a grunt and shuffled around in his desk drawer, pulling up a tangle of dimestore glasses, slipping on a pair.
“I…” Leira hesitated. “I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I was happy. I didn’t know how to tell you I almost died and I was going right along with it.” Hagan finally looked up at her concerned, and Leira looked steadily back at him. “I didn’t even know I was in danger. It didn’t feel like danger. No pulse pounding, no fear. Just joy. Kind of hard to bring up that over coffee.”
Hagan gave her a long look before he spoke. “I’m one hundred percent human. No foreign planet in here anywhere.” He rubbed his stomach. “I grew up in an era when the smart phone was mind blowing. Before that, my job was the same for me as it was for my grandfather. Hear me out. I’m the senior partner here. I have more experience figuring out a case. A lot more.” He leaned forward over his desk.
“Lately, every day has some kind of shit that flies or zaps or sucks things in that could kill us in ways I didn’t realize were possible until that very moment. All magical, all foreign to me and nothing that a gun will take down. So, I have to pull up my big boy pants and run in there anyway and improvise. Ask for help. Let go of the lead. None of it easy, I’m a planner by nature. But it’s all doable. That’s what over twenty years on the job will get you. The maturity to speak up even when you don’t know the right words and a heaping helping of humility that will save your ass. You can learn that one a lot sooner. We’ll just make that rule number fifty-four.”
Chapter Twenty
General Anderson didn’t waste any time coming by the warehouse. Leira looked up to see him come striding into the warehouse followed by several other agents. In the back was Alan Cohen. He gave Leira a smile but d
idn’t wave. The general was not in the mood.
He took the chair opposite Leira and laid his hat on his leg. “Long days lately. For everyone.” There was a scowl on his face and deep lines from not sleeping. “We’re ahead in the race to keep magic in check but just barely. Tricky business.”
Alan looked over the top of the general’s head at Leira but didn’t give anything away. The agent next to him glanced over at him and back at Leira.
“This is unrelated, sir. There’s a royal Gnome that was trapped on this side of the veil. He’s not doing well and needs to be returned to Oriceran. Currently, he’s with the dean at the Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.”
“I take it that would require a nice bit of magic.”
“It would take opening a portal. It would be a humanitarian gesture and the right thing to do. Low risk.”
“But a momentary distraction from the assignments at hand.”
“A day at most.”
The general didn’t answer for a long minute.
Open a portal. Help a royal Gnome go home. The new normal. Leira shifted in her seat.
He gave her the same stoic, stony expression she was used to seeing on many occasions. She waited him out for an answer. His entourage stood behind him, patiently waiting in silence without moving. Even Alan.
Hagan sat across from her, not moving a muscle, giving the general the same blank look.
“Minimal amount of magic used?” The general abruptly rose out of his chair, putting his hat back on his head. Leira knew if he was asking questions they already had his okay.
“Should be.”
“No humans find out?”
“Not a one.”
“Do it. We owe the Seminary a few favors anyway. They’re good people. Well, good Elves or something.” The general waved a hand. “I’ll clear it with the Silver Griffins but you go there and open the portal personally. I know the dean and the last time he opened a portal I was a young man. That’s right. None of this magic is news to me. Is that everything?”
Except for a few run ins with the light force. Nothing else. “Yes, that’s everything.” Leira gave him a dead fish look. She knew better than to give information no one was asking for. Another old lesson from Hagan.
“You can take one of our planes. Get you back here faster. The artifacts issue is heating up and we can’t afford to waste time while you’re changing planes.”
Leira walked the general to the door. “Thank you.”
“Humanitarian effort all the way around. They’re a good idea whenever you can do them. Frankly, I like to do them every time. Balances out the other things I find necessary to do that aren’t so pleasant. Do you need to take Lois or Patsy with you?”
“We’re good. Hagan and I can handle it.”
“Take Alan with you. Well then, I’m off to the next item on my agenda.” He strode toward the door without looking back. “Alan will meet you at the hangar. Take your PDA jacket.” Alan gave Leira a nod as he turned to go, pulling the door shut behind him.
“Better call Rose. Tell her to hold dinner. Maybe I’ll get those M&M’s after all. Call it the beginning of a meal.” Hagan pulled out his phone. “Always make the call first. You ever manage to hook up with someone, I’ll start you on the relationship rules. Give you a sample. Rule number one, call the spouse first. Hello Rose?”
Chapter Twenty-One
They got to the hangar thirty minutes early and found Alan already waiting for them. At the last minute, Leira brought Correk with them. “For help with the portal,” she said. And to keep me grounded.
The flight was uneventful and they got there just as rush hour was winding down. It wasn’t long before they were pulling onto the grounds at the tree-lined seminary.
“Turn here. He said to come to his residence.” Leira pointed to the right as Hagan turned the rental car around the curve, the lights shining on an old red brick Colonial with dark green shutters. The dean was standing in the open doorway.
“Man lives next to a cemetery.” Alan watched the headlights play over the headstones and a tall carving of an angel in flight.
“Kind of goes with the job description.” Hagan turned off the car and was already opening the door, pushing the button to unlock his seat belt. “Where’s your jacket?”
“I brought it with me. It’s in the car.” Leira got out and walked up to the dean, her hand outstretched.
The dean grasped her hand in both of his. “I knew we’d be seeing each other again, and under much better circumstances. Thank you all for coming.”
The dean led them into his study where the Gnome was resting comfortably on his brown leather tufted couch. The bruising on the side of his face had turned a deeper purple and green and his eyes were still swollen. Correk clenched his fists at the sight but said nothing as Leira went over and put out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Harvey. We’re here to help.”
He looked up shyly at Leira. “It’s been a long time since I saw my home. Thank you for wanting to help me.”
“We’re going to get this done.” Leira nodded her head. “Do you need a few minutes before we do this? Do you need to gather anything?”
The Gnome patted a duffel bag next to him. “Got everything I want to show my folks. Mostly souvenirs. I’ve been waiting a while for this. I’m ready when you are.”
“Okay, then let’s get this show on the road and return this Gnome to Oz.” Leira glanced at Correk who gave her a nod. She formed a light ball in her hands, her eyes glowing and let the magic grow, pulling in the energy with her feet.
“Regulate the energy.” Correk watched carefully as Leira pulled her hands apart, easily opening a portal. “You’re doing fine.”
The dean leaned closer to Hagan. “Is she new at this magic thing? I got the impression she was a very powerful Elf.”
“Long story.”
Leira felt the magic beckoning to her, like it was asking if she needed more. She kept her eyes open and felt for the human DNA within the magic stream. The portal widened just as a large macaw flew by, the colorful wings expanding. The royal Gnome’s eyes filled with tears and he struggled to stand as Correk and Hagan helped him to his feet. He walked unsteadily toward the opening as a breeze hit him in the face. “Oriceran,” he whispered with reverence.
“Look at that. It’s been a long time.” The dean put out his hand to reach through the portal and touch the ground. “You never know how much you miss a place…”
The Gnome stepped through the portal as Correk reached through and laid his duffel bag down on the ground next to him. The Gnome got on his hands and knees and kissed the dirt, running his hands through it, getting it under his fingernails. There were tears running down his face.
“What the hell…” Alan’s mouth opened and his eyes widened.
The Gnome was still reveling in the dirt, rubbing it on his cheeks, stretching out his neck. In the process, his back began to straighten and his features on his face moved just slightly into a better position. His entire body shifted, realigning itself.
The Gnome stood up, straightening his sweater and brushing some of the dirt off his pants. Clods still clung to his cheeks.
“It’s the magic. It’s restored him.” Correk smiled and gave the Gnome a wave. “Royal Gnomes in particular were never meant to leave the dense field of magic. They don’t fare well. It’s as if their very being is kept alive by magic.”
“Can’t stop thinking of Santa’s elves.” Hagan shook his head. “Sorry.”
The dean smiled. “Totally appropriate. They are often the support system on Oriceran and can see the bigger picture when others are too focused on winning the details. Gnomes are some of the kindest creatures on Oriceran unless someone they love is harmed. Then they’ll nobly go into battle but they only fight to stop a war. Never to crush an enemy.”
Leira held the energy steady, giving everyone a longer look at Oriceran as she resisted the stronger surge of magic swirling around her feet.
“You
’re Leira Berens. I’ve heard of you.” The Gnome beckoned to her with his finger. “You will do great things. Remember this from an old Gnome. Everything works for the good. Even an ass kicking managed to lead me home. But you’ll need to be looking for it to spot it. Whatever you focus on will grow.”
Leira could feel the magic growing stronger within her and she stepped back, letting the portal abruptly close with a shower of sparks as the Gnome gave a last wave and a smile, standing upright and breathing in the scented Oriceran air.
“That never grows old.” Hagan waved his arm around in the space where there had just been a hole.
“That was a nice piece of work we did tonight. Good for us.” The dean clapped his hands together, delighted.
“Wow, that was a new one for me,” said Alan, quietly.
“You okay over there?” Hagan clapped him on the back.
Correk put his hand on Leira’s arm. “You did fine.”
“I know you’re sending in your magical scout to check.” She gently pulled away her arm. “Ask me outright, I’ll tell you. Feels like you were crawling under my skin. The urge was there. I managed to resist it. What did the Gnome mean, you’ll have to look for the good?”
“Things work out the way they’re supposed to even when it doesn’t look like it at the time. Old Elven kind of wisdom.”
“Sounded like something right out of Turner Underwood’s playbook. Why is it, I keep thinking he knows so much more than he ever says.”
“Because it’s true. We should talk. He’s asked me to be the next Fixer.”
“Whoa. Mind blown.”
“You are without words. Not even a good string of swearing. Now, I’m more impressed with the offer.”
“Fuck off.”
“Much better. Troll approved.”
“There must be more to you than I realized.” She studied him carefully. “You have had a knack of saving the day. Funny, I never noticed before.”