Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  “Hello? May I help you?”

  Lorcan donned his most charming smile. “Yes, we’re looking for Doctor Chiyo Maki.” He didn’t want to divulge information to the wrong person, so he didn’t say anything else.

  “That’s me. What is this about?” Her English carried a strong accent, but both Lorcan and Orla could understand her.

  “We’re looking to buy a unique piece from an antique collection your family owned long ago. May we come in?” The woman eyed them for a few minutes longer, then stood back so they could enter. Apparently she didn’t want to discuss the delicate nature of the Royjin business in the open. She shut the door behind them and ushered them into the kitchen. The decorations were classic Japanese, but the furniture was modern. The three sat down at the kitchen table.

  Something was wrong, Orla thought. It wasn’t the house, or the air, but maybe the woman. What are you up to, stranger? Orla thought. What bothered her was the typical Japanese-style decoration in the house. Minimalist. Everything was squeaky clean. The floor looked as if you could eat from it. The conservative look on the woman’s face and the tasteful decoration in the house didn’t gel with the fact that the woman would invite strangers inside so easily.

  “You have come to talk to me about the Royjin pieces,” the woman said. It was a statement, not a question. Lorcan opened his mouth to answer, but she was already on her cell phone, speaking rapidly in Japanese. She snapped her phone shut with a little more emphasis than was necessary. “The business died with my grandfather in the Kobe earthquake of 1995. I have no involvement with it.”

  “Were the antiques sold to another family?” Lorcan asked.

  Chiyo narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”

  Chiyo was lying, and Orla knew it. Lorcan didn’t need Orla’s psychic abilities to tell that Chiyo had lied. He glanced at Orla, and then turned back to Chiyo. “We don’t mean any harm.”

  “Oh, I am sure you don’t.” The woman smiled again. “But I don’t have what you need. Would you like some tea?”

  “Can you tell us to which family the antiques were sold?” Lorcan asked.

  “As I said, I’m not involved with the family’s business. So I don’t know. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

  “If you don’t have the antiques, and you don’t know where they are, then there is no point for us to bother you further,” Lorcan commented.

  “All right then. I’ll see you to the door.”

  At the door, Lorcan turned around. “Do you know where we can find the family business records? Although you’re not involved with the business, you would know some basic facts and some contacts such as accountants or lawyers, right?”

  The woman shook her head.

  “You don’t know? Or you don’t want to tell us?” Orla asked.

  From the corner of his eye, Lorcan saw a police uniform. “Orla,” he called out, gesturing in the direction of the police. Orla saw looked again at Chiyo. The woman shoved Orla and Lorcan outside the door.

  “Now ask these questions to the police, you Yakuz spies!” Chiyo slammed the door closed. Orla and Lorcan glanced at the corner street. If they hurried, they could get out of here before the police arrived. They ran. They had just managed to make it a block over when they heard the sirens.

  “Crazy bitch! I say we go back there and beat it out of her!” Orla was angry, and Lorcan could understand why, but he had to calm her down before she got them in trouble.

  “It’s okay. We’ll just find another way to get the answers we need.”

  She cut him off with a groan. “And where exactly are we going to find these answers? Because it looks like Doctor Barbie in there doesn’t want to help.” Lorcan refrained from laughing at her joke because it would only encourage her.

  “I have my portable laptop in the suitcase, and I can look up a few things before continue.” He dug around in his suitcase for a little while, then pulled out his laptop. They were near a café, so the Wi-Fi reached their position. He typed quickly, and Orla felt a sense of pride at how good he was at his job. She stood there silently, keeping an eye out for the police while he did his search. When he snapped his laptop shut with a grin, she knew he had something.

  “All right, there’s a temple not too far from here, and it looks like Chiyo’s grandfather’s remains are there. It was a big to-do back then when they started to bury the Earthquake victims, so it wasn’t too hard for me to find. Let’s go.”

  “Not too far?”

  Lorcan smiled. “About twenty minutes, darling. I can piggyback you, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

  Orla groaned at the fact that they would be walking some more, but there was nothing to be done about it.

  Chapter 10

  Twenty minutes or so later, they’d found the temple. From the outside, there was nothing special about it. It was quiet and peaceful. The curvy roofs decorated with beautiful oriental symbols and painted with red and gold were mesmerizing. The landscape and the garden were designed and maintained meticulously with love and passion. Orla admired the temple so much that she totally forgot the gigantic problem now in front of her—the temple equals dead people, and Lorcan suffered from severe necrophobia, a fear of dead things. He had said nothing yet, but he paused on the path and looked at the temple as if it would eat him alive.

  She turned and approached Lorcan, reaching out to touch his shoulders and give him comfort and assurance, but he raised his arms to stop her. “I’ll be okay.”

  “You don’t look okay.” Sweat trickled down his forehead. Orla knew his hands were clammy and his heart was racing. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  Lorcan nodded again. He swallowed hard, looking up at the roofs of the temples, seeing the statues of the deities guarding the gates between Heaven and Hell looking down at him. He shook his head, staring down at the ground for a short moment, and then made his way into the temple.

  Inside the temple, rows and rows of remains sat in jars, marked by shiny golden plaques. Orla rolled her eyes. All the words were in Japanese. Normally, Lorcan would have automatically whisked out his device for a translation, but given his current mental status, she thought it best to remind him.

  “Lorcan.”

  “Huh?”

  “All the words are in Japanese.”

  “Right.” No reaction from Lorcan as his eyes glazed over the rows and rows of jars containing the ashes of dead people.

  “Lorcan.”

  “Huh?”

  “All right, honey, I’ll need you to get your device out and read the Japanese for me.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” He fumbled with his bag and pulled out his laptop. He used a small device to scan the text. They walked past all the plaques, and the Japanese words appeared on the screen of Lorcan’s device in familiar English letters. Once they had the translation under control, it wasn’t hard to find the remains of Chiyo’s grandfather. The names of the individuals were written on plaques, and Orla busied herself scouting out the names.

  Orla approached the jar of Chiyo’s grandfather’s remains to see if she could glean any information. But before she could move closer, a sea of red hair flowed in front of her. A woman slid in, standing between Orla and the ashes. The woman turned around. Her flaming red hair framed an attractive, fox-like face, long and cut with sharp angles. Orla silently admired the beauty of the woman. The woman arched an eyebrow and didn’t seem to want to move.

  “Excuse me, I need to see this, please.” It was hard for Orla to be polite when she was still felt outrage at Chiyo’s treatment of them, but she did her best. The woman gave her a look she couldn’t read, but she didn’t move. Orla’s blood was starting to boil. “Look, I’m on a mission here, lady, and you’re in my way. So step back for a minute.” The woman didn’t say anything to her, nor did she step away. Orla grabbed her shoulder to push her back a little, but the woman’s hands came up lightning fast, breaking her grip before she’d been moved an inch. Orla’s temper got the better of her, and she reached out to slap the w
oman. The woman grabbed Orla’s hand before it hit her. She looked stunned at what Orla had just done. She rocked back on her feet and struck a fighting position. Orla grinned at her and took her own fighting stance—she was in the mood for a good fight.

  “No, no, women, we’re in a temple, for God’s sake.” Lorcan charged over to pull Orla aside. At the same time, Fox Face flew through the air and landed a kick which had been intended for Orla, but hit Lorcan’s back instead. He stumbled and turned around. “Look, I don’t fight women, okay. But if you keep attacking my wife, I’ll make an exception.”

  “We’re not married yet, you can’t call me your wife, and I don’t need you to protect me.” Orla snarled and leaped at Fox Face. Fox Face turned quickly and gave Orla a roundhouse kick, connecting with Orla’s middle and sending her reeling backwards, rolling outside of the temple.

  Orla stood up, wheezing. Lorcan went after her. Once outdoors, he was back to his alert self. Fox Face was approaching Orla, a knowing smile on her face. Orla wanted to wipe that smile off with her foot. She lunged at the woman, tackling her around the waist and throwing her to the ground. Either Fox Face hadn’t been trained in grappling, or she was just stunned to find herself on the floor with Orla on top of her, because she let Orla get a good punch in to her face before she began to protect herself.

  “I know you understood what I was saying. Want to tell me why you wouldn’t move?” Orla was giving her a chance to talk, but it was really just to gloat over the bruise that was blooming ever so nicely on the woman’s pale face. Fox Face didn’t respond, and that angered Orla even further. But what Orla didn’t see until it was arcing towards her chest was the knife that Fox Face had pulled out of nowhere. Orla let out a squeal and threw her arm down at an angle, forcing the blade and its wielding arm go in an entirely different direction. The woman dropped the knife, and it skittered across the worn cobblestones until it came to rest at Lorcan’s feet. He picked it up and pocketed it quickly before anyone could see what had happened.

  “No, Orla, don’t fight. We’ve got things to do.” Lorcan tried to hold her back, but then the woman tried to run at Orla. “Hey lady, calm down. Let’s talk.” Lorcan stood in the way to stop her from jumping on Orla. She gave him a hard kick, pushing him to the ground. Lorcan stood. “That’s enough! This is stupid.” He grabbed the woman from behind while she scuffled with Orla and dragged her away. The woman wriggled but couldn’t release herself from Lorcan’s grip. She snarled and shouted for release in Japanese. Lorcan didn’t need the device to translate—he knew what she was cursing about. He refused to let go, dragging her as far away from Orla as possible. As Lorcan’s right arm wrapped around the woman’s neck from behind, she tilted her head and bit at his right wrist. As soon as her teeth sank into his flesh, he loosed his grip and staggered back. He leaned against a tree, holding on to it to keep his balance. He felt as if the ground under his feet was moving.

  The woman stumbled backward. She kept her stance, wiped her mouth, and locked her gaze on Lorcan. Then her skin began to glow all over in a warm shade of light, and seconds later, a red fox sat in front of an astonished Lorcan and Orla. Before Orla could pulled her jaw closed, the fox darted over and bit Orla, then scampered away. It was making its way to the temple exit when Orla pulled her own knife out of her boot and threw it at the fox. The fox stopped and transformed back into the red-haired woman, throwing a blaze of flame in Orla’s direction. Unfortunately, the blast of flame rerouted the knife Orla had thrown, and it ended up striking Lorcan instead.

  He caught the impact of the knife and the fire at the same time.

  Chapter 11

  The fox woman ran away, and Orla threw herself to the ground next to Lorcan. She didn’t have to be a doctor to know that he was injured very badly . . . again. “Hey. Hang in there for me, okay? I’m going to take you somewhere where they can help you. Just hang in there for me.”

  Lorcan opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t force any sound past his lips. He hated to see the tears welling in Orla’s eyes. He tried, but he wasn’t able to move. Yet his mind was crystal clear. There was a surge of something strange running through his body, and he didn’t care for it. It was burning hot. It wasn’t the wounds that held him down. It was something else, something new. He forced his eyes open.

  Orla caressed his face. “Okay Lorcan, you have to try for me. I can’t carry you. Come on, baby, sit up for me.” Lorcan summoned as much energy as he could, and with her help, he sat up. It felt like being inside a front-loading washing machine.

  They stood up, and Orla wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Step by step, the made it along the narrow road back to the village. Chiyo was a medical doctor. Orla had no idea where else to go. She didn’t know where a medical center or hospital might be. She didn’t speak Japanese and couldn’t understand the street signs and storefronts. There wasn’t any time for her to regret that she could have been a bit more cultural.

  She backtracked as far as she needed to get to Chiyo’s house, and she only got lost once. Lorcan stumbled to the ground a couple of times, but he kept up. At the house, she rang the doorbell and waited. Chiyo came to the door.

  “You again! I will not have spies in my house! I’m calling the police.”

  Orla leaned Lorcan up against the side of the house and grabbed the woman by the throat. “Listen here. He’s very badly hurt, and you’re a doctor. We’re not spies or lunatics. I just want you to help him. I’m pretty sure your Hippocratic Oath says that you can do no harm. If you send us back out into the streets, he’s going to die, and I’m pretty sure that death counts as harm, so how about you let us in and tend to him?” Before Chiyo could answer, Lorcan’s eyes rolled back, and he fell face down onto the ground, half in and half out of the house.

  The woman reached up and gently removed Orla’s fingers from her throat. “If he stays like that, I can’t close the door, either with you in or outside of my house. Bring him in. I’ll see what I can do.” The two women struggled with Lorcan’s dead weight, but they were able to lay him on the living room floor, tucked among the cushions. Chiyo disappeared into the next room and then came bustling in with a black leather doctor’s bag. She pointed to the corridor. “The guest room is upstairs on the left.”

  “What?”

  “Close the door on your way out.”

  “Huh?”

  “You want me to treat him or not?”

  “Yes, of course. Please. But can I stay?”

  Chiyo glared at Orla.

  “I guess not,” Orla muttered and turned on her heel. She didn’t go upstairs to the guest room but waited outside. It seemed like decades. Orla sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and fell asleep. When she woke and tried to get back into the living room, the door was locked. “Doctor my ass,” Orla muttered and sat back down on the floor.

  Chapter 12

  Orla wasn’t at all happy with being locked out, but she knew she couldn’t be pushy right now because Lorcan’s life hung in Chiyo’s hands. She waited for what seemed like hours, pacing back and forth in the hallway, thinking that she might actually see the carpet start to fray under her feet. When the door finally opened, Orla ran to it and tried to push through, but Chiyo stood in her way.

  “He’s asleep right now. You can’t go in there. He’s lucky to be alive with those injuries.” Her voice was hard, and she cast a condescending look at Orla.

  “Watch your tone, doc. I would’ve taken the knife for him if I could have, regardless of whether he was happy about it or not.” She got the words out through teeth gritted in anger.

  Chiyo just shrugged and walked away.

  “Listen here. If it weren’t for the fact that you threw us out of your house instead of offering to help us, we wouldn’t have had to go there to search for your grandfather’s remains.” That stopped Chiyo short. She turned around, anger flashing from her eyes, and her cheeks growing red.

  “How dare you defile my grandfather’s memory by looking for him like
common grave robbers! I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever told you no. I think you need to start taking rejection a little better.”

  Orla was barely controlling herself, and her hands were clenched into shaking fists at her sides when she threw her next verbal barb. “Grave robbers? Look who’s talking. This might be beyond your understanding, but in the place we call home, someone from here—very possibly a member of your extended family—robbed a man of a key and buried him in a wall, leaving him to rot. We’re simply try to retrieve the key and return it. So don’t you dare stick that robber label on us.”

  “Robbery and murder? What exactly are you accusing my family of?” Chiyo snarled.

  “Look at who is not taking criticism well now.”

  “You’re only guests in my house. Remember that I can kick you out again at any time.”

  Lorcan woke in the living room. Opening his eyes and at the blurry edges of his vision, he saw elegant wallpaper and tastefully arranged furniture. He felt his body comfortably tucked under a thick blanket. He could hear the argument between Orla and Chiyo echoing in from the corridor. He tried to shift, but his limbs seemed to weigh a ton. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and tried to take mental inventory. He had been dragging a woman away from Orla when the woman bit him and then turned into a fox. He remembered it now. All of it. The sensation of her teeth sinking into his flesh. It hadn’t hurt, but he remembered the inexplicable feeling of something flooding into him. It was like her bite had flipped a switch and opened a floodgate, except what poured into him wasn’t water but something else. Exactly what, he wasn’t sure.

  He opened his eyes again and found his vision and strength had improved significantly. He shifted, freed his hands, and felt the blanket rub against his skin. He lifted it, looking underneath, and as he predicted, he was half naked. The wound on his abdomen had been dressed carefully. Lorcan shifted and sat up. For a split second, he saw the skin on his arm glow an electric blue. He shook his head and looked again—his skin had gone back to normal.