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

by D. N. Leo

  It was a fight between her magic, fireballs and whatever weapons the goons had with them. She used the last reserves of dark magic that she had to blind the ones in front of them, making it so they could only see the horrors of their past. The three that she was fighting turned and ran blindly out of the temple. She didn’t have a second to take a breath before another figure loomed in front of her. This one would have to be handled the old-fashioned way, with fists. It got a strong punch in to her face, and her head snapped back. She shook her head to clear it then came at him with all the fury she possessed. It was like Orla had turned into a wild cat, hissing and clawing her way through its protective clothing to the flesh underneath. When she finally had the joy of seeing her opponent run, she turned to look at Mori and Lorcan.

  Lorcan had a few cuts and bruises, but with his new unexplained ability to heal himself, she wasn’t too worried about him. Mori had a large gash in her tail, but she seemed to be fine, too. Before Orla could say anything, she saw something small whizzing towards Lorcan’s chest. She whirled around to try to stop it, but Mori beat her to it. The little red fox threw herself into the air, was knocked backwards as the object hit her, then fell to the cracked and crumbling cobblestones, shaking.

  Orla turned to face the now empty doorway, looking for a target to let her anger and aggression out on, but finding none. When she turned to face the wounded fox, the animal was gone, and the woman stood in its place. Lorcan was reaching out to her, but she only stumbled away, trying to run, but only managing to zigzag dangerously.

  “What just happened?” Orla was stunned and wasn’t quite sure that she believed her own eyes, so she looked to Lorcan for confirmation.

  “One of the bastards shot at me. She copped the bullet.” Then he darted after Mori.

  “Lorcan!” Orla called out. A wounded little fox and an injured man didn’t make a good pack. Orla chased after him.

  It was dark outside, and the blood trail Mori left was not easy to find. Lorcan ran and ran. Orla was right behind him. A wounded fox can’t run that fast, can she? Lorcan asked himself. He didn’t think much as he followed, but he actually sniffed the air for a scent of Mori. He followed the faint trace of her in the air, which led him straight to a spot on the road where there was a small pool of blood.

  Lorcan crouched and sniffed the air again. Then he looked down at his arm and saw his skin glowing blue for a brief second. He jumped back to his feet and cursed. He didn’t like this at all. Orla had caught up, out of breath. They walked a little farther and stopped where the blood trail completely disappeared.

  Chapter 20

  From a distance, Mori could see Lorcan and Orla walk away. She had been watching Lorcan—the way he went after her, the way he sniffed the air, trying to detect her scent, and the determination in his eyes. She knew he wasn’t an ordinary human, but as to what he actually was, she didn’t know. Mori didn’t know how to explain her feelings, but what had been developing in her the last few days was disconcerting. She rubbed at the bullet wound which was still bleeding. She didn’t know why she had taken the bullet. She wasn’t invincible. If she died for this stranger, that meant she would have abandoned her mission and failed her ancestors and her family.

  She peeked her head out, and when she saw that Lorcan and Orla had turned the corner, she limped out. She hadn’t walked two steps when she heard a low growl that prickled all of her senses. She knew she was in trouble. Behind her were three gigantic wolves from a clan she had chased away a couple of years ago. She knew they held a grudge, but they had never come close to attacking her. Mori staggered back and shifted into her fox form, a tiny red fox against three large menacing wolves.

  The wolves charged at her, teeth bared. For a bystander, this would just look like a dog fight. They charged at Mori. Her clan were too far away to call. If she were to go down now, she would put up a good fight. She lowered her front legs, crouched in a fighting stance, and waited. The wolves came in a whirl of dirt and stone and a wall of howling sound. She was bitten everywhere, but she was sure each of the wolves received their fair share of her teeth.

  The bullet in her body was damn inconvenient. The pain slowed her down. She staggered, fell, and got bitten more. She was sure she’d be turned into a pile of bloody meat soon. Then a familiar howl came—that was Roy. The relief made her delirious. She could rest now, she might just lie down for a bit. Mori felt her eyes droop and the energy drain out of her. Then everything was a blur.

  She woke to find herself in the backseat of a car. She sat up, groggily, feeling a faint pain in her stomach where the bullet used to be. Her body must have pushed it out, and the wound was healing. She glanced up at the rearview mirror at the front seat of the car and saw Roy’s intent eyes looking at her. “Thank you,” she said.

  “You should lie down.” Roy said nothing else and focused his eyes on the road ahead. He was her guard. As a human, he owned a construction business in town. As a were-creature, he had mixed fox and wolf blood. Although he considered himself more of a fox than a wolf, because of his mixed blood, he could never be the male Alpha of the group regardless of how dominant he was or the fact that his father had been the previous alpha in the fox clan. Roy didn’t complain—he didn’t want the responsibility anyway. He hung around the group a lot because of Mori. He protected her and would always be there when she needed him, with the understanding that she could never mate with him.

  “I see that you can’t help but manage to put yourself in harm’s way.”

  “Why would I intentionally harm myself?”

  “If you’d stay where you’re supposed to stay, then nothing would happen. And what’s with the bullet wound? What if that bullet had been in your head? There would be nothing I could do to save you. I don’t think you put the best interests of your clan at the top of your mind. That’s fine, I couldn’t care less. But if you die, your clan will be left in chaos, and your people will die. Is that what you want? If I stayed out of town a little longer, would I come back and have to attend your funeral?” His voice exploded with anger.

  “I didn’t plan this. It was the Yakuz.”

  Roy hit the brakes, and the car swung and stopped at the side of the road. In the mirror, Mori could see the fury in his darkened eyes. Long strands of hair flopped down onto his forehead, making his long, lean face more mysterious and, she had to admit, beautiful.

  The Yakuz had killed his parents. Roy didn’t want to be involved in the clan’s politics and had said he would not seek revenge for his parents’ deaths, but the hatred was ingrained in him, and it soared when his mental shield was weakened. Mori knew him. She could read his mind as if it was the palm of her hand. He cared for her, and at the moment, his anger at her injuries had weakened his mind. She was responsible for fueling it. She wanted him to be at peace, and the only way to achieve that was for him to seek revenge. That was her way. She was the female alpha after all, and he was her guard.

  “The Yakuz are after the key again. I don’t know what triggered them, but I had to stop them before they came right to our doorstep.” Mori’s voice was soothing.

  Roy nodded and shrugged in agreement. He put the hand brake on, raked his hand through his hair, and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed.

  “There are two strangers from out of town. They’re after the key as well, but I don’t think they mean any harm. I think they could help us.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, if they really are good people, and they can take the key to a safe place far away from here and protect it, it will be an enormous load off our shoulders.”

  “But how can we be sure they’re good people?”

  Mori shrugged. “I guess that’s the problem. But at the moment, they could use some help. And . . . and . . . there is a thing . . . I think I bit a were-creature.”

  Roy’s eyes flung wide open, making Mori cringe and want to sink into the car seat. “You did what? You bit or you didn’t bite? What does that mean by you think you bit
a creature?”

  Mori waved her arms in defense. “I thought he was human. I still think he’s human, just his blood didn’t taste human. The bite wasn’t intentional.”

  Roy cracked up. “You know what, I think the biting ritual is rubbish, okay? So, I don’t care if it was intentional or not. It means nothing to me. But the simple truth is, if you open your mouth, use the strength of your jaw muscles, aim, and sink your teeth into someone’s flesh until it bleeds, you can’t say it was unintentional!”

  Mori shrugged. “Just wanted to let you know.”

  “Why?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Ah. So I guess you bit the from-out-of-towner?”

  She nodded.

  “Was he severely hurt?”

  “Not because of the bite.”

  Roy cocked an eyebrow.

  “I kinda threw a knife at him as well, and his girlfriend helped with a fire ball. But don’t worry—he’s completely healed from his injuries now. Plus, I copped a bullet for him, so we’re even.”

  “Right.”

  “Oh, and the Palm-eye spy we placed in the Yakuz, he’s dead now. So we’ve lost that lead. Our only lead. The Yakuz kidnapped Chiyo and killed her boyfriend.”

  Roy leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. “Do you need more time to write a list of all the unfortunate events that occurred when I was out of town for less than a week?”

  “No. That’s it.”

  Chapter 21

  Lorcan and Orla returned to the warehouse after chasing Mori, and found Chiyo had regained consciousness. They shouldn’t have left her alone to chase the werefox, but they did, and it was a relief to see that she was fine. She sat next to the Goro’s body. Lorcan helped her to her feet, and she wobbled a little. Her face was cold, and tears still fell from her eyes intermittently, but that was something neither Orla nor Lorcan could help her with. Not many people had to watch a loved one executed right before their eyes—that was a traumatic experience that would never go away.

  The young doctor allowed herself to be led home, and she didn’t speak until they got there. Even though Orla and Lorcan stumbled a bit, trying to make their way back to her house, she didn’t help them. For the first time, Orla felt a kinship to her. She knew what it was like to lose someone she loved. Lorcan had died twice, but she’d been able to bring him back. Chiyo didn’t have the power to do that for Goro. Even if she did, now that Goro had been dead for a while, there was no telling what he would come back as.

  “I don’t understand.” They were the first words Chiyo had spoken since she’d come to, and they startled Orla and Lorcan. “How could I have been so vulnerable? I’ve depended on the two of you for my safety and protection. I’m embarrassed that I couldn’t do it for myself. And for Goro.” She fell silent as the name passed her lips. Whether she wanted them to be sympathetic to her or not, Lorcan and Orla couldn’t tell, and they remained silent instead.

  Orla and Lorcan looked around the house to check for signs of intruders. The body of the man with the eye on his hand was gone. Orla had been right. The Yakuz had come straight to Chiyo’s house, looking for them. They’d barely gotten away with their lives last time, and they were both still worried about Mori, who’d taken a bullet for Lorcan.

  “It’s not your fault.” The silence had gotten to Orla, and she wanted to break it. “You had no idea what you were dealing with, and even if you had, would you have believed it was happening?” The gentle tone with which Orla addressed Chiyo surprised Lorcan, and he raised an eyebrow. Orla scowled at him and turned back to Chiyo, who was now shaking her head.

  “No, I guess I wouldn’t have. You’re right. But how could I have been so blind?” Chiyo, her head down, was now making her way to the kitchen table, and when she reached it, she sat down and lay her head on her arms. She looked so broken and lonely that Orla wanted to put her arms around the woman in comfort, but she didn’t trust her completely. Just because they were protecting her didn’t mean she would necessarily play nice in the schoolyard.

  Lorcan sat on the other side of the young doctor and put a hand gently on her arm. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to stay in this house. They obviously know where you live, and they could send more monsters after you when we’re not here to protect you. Is there somewhere else you could go for a little while?” Lorcan tried to make the possibility of more trouble seem less likely than it was.

  Silence ensued for a few minutes, then Chiyo raised her head. Her eyes were blank and staring, but she said, “I need you to take me to see someone.”

  When she didn’t elaborate after a few minutes, Orla became impatient. “Okay, and who is this person? Someone you can stay with? Someone who can protect you? Can you give us a little more to go on?” Lorcan hid his smile. He’d been worried about her for a little while, but it looked like she was back to her normal self now.

  “He’s an old man who lives on the edge of the village. He used to be good friends with my grandfather. He might even know something about the Rojin and this key that everyone’s trying to get their hands on.” Chiyo shrugged innocently.

  Orla jumped to her feet. “Why are you just telling us about him now? Why didn’t you help us find him when we first came to you?” Anger blazed in her eyes, and as far as Lorcan could tell, she was ready to do battle. He positioned himself on the edge of his chair, just in case he had to dive between the two women.

  “I thought you were Yakuz at first. After that, well, there really hasn’t been time, has there?” Chiyo’s voice was almost dreamlike. Grief did strange things to people, that was something that Lorcan knew about first hand.

  “Okay, let’s say for argument’s sake that we take you to see this old man. Then what?” Orla asked.

  Chiyo shrugged again. “He might be able to help you. He claims to be a wizard, and he’s the last remaining member of the Rojin group. He might know about that key you were asking me about. It seems like everyone wants the damn thing now.” The last part she mumbled more to herself than to her audience, but they heard her just the same.

  “Do you know how to find this wizard? I assume he’s within a walkable distance?” Despite her best efforts, Orla couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Chiyo turned to face them again and nodded. She didn’t seem at all aware of the growing tension in her new friends. “Then let’s go. I want to see if he knows anything, and the sooner the better.”

  Chapter 22

  Silently, Chiyo led the group through the winding roads of the city. Now that it was early morning, traffic was picking up, and the streets were considerably more crowded. Orla and Lorcan kept their eyes darting everywhere—they couldn’t afford another attack. The walk took them just over two hours, but they arrived at a little hut on the outskirts of the village that looked like it might have grown out of the earth. There was a heavy metallic scent in the air around it, and Orla thought it had to be another breed of magic. Chiyo squared her shoulders and marched right up to the front door, hesitating only slightly before giving the old wood a sound beating. She retreated a few paces, trying to appear less of a threat. As they waited, a chill crept down Orla’s spine. She sidestepped, moving a little closer to Lorcan, muttering under her breath, “Something’s not right.” Lorcan looked around, tense and on edge, but he didn’t see anything alarming.

  “What do you mean?” The whispered conversation wasn’t meant for Chiyo’s ears, and since she hadn’t turned around, they were safe in assuming that she hadn’t heard them.

  “I just get his feeling that something’s off about Chiyo. I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel a wrongness.”

  Lorcan shrugged. “Her boyfriend’s throat was cut right in front of her, I’m surprised she didn’t go mad. It’s to be expected that she’s behaving a little oddly.”

  “I’m telling you that from a magical standpoint, something is off. I just don’t know what.” She huffed as she stepped further away from him. Lorcan was going to make a smart remark back to her, but at th
at moment, the door opened, and a stooped, wizened old man came out.

  “Can I help you?” The old man opened the door wide. Chiyo took a step forward and began speaking hurriedly in Japanese. The old man listened politely, and when her river of words dried up, Chiyo fell silent, waiting. The man looked over her shoulders at Orla and Lorcan. Then he looked at her, focused. He had a genuine and calm smile. He said something, and she looked up at him. It felt like the warm reunion of very familiar acquaintances. In Western culture, people would jump up and down, embracing each other in joy and tears. But here, it was expressed in polite nods and bows.

  The old man said nothing to Lorcan and Orla, but motioned them to come into his hut as well. Orla wondered if he knew the concept of robbery, or if a stranger had ever pulled a weapon on him. Maybe not, judging by the way he enthusiastically ushered them into his home. The man waited patiently for them to come into his kitchen before he closed and bolted the door behind them. “Please, sit down. We have much to talk about.” The trio of visitors stood awkwardly, not sure if they should do as he said, and casting furtive glances at one another. The old man sat down, then spread his arms out to encompass the other seats in another silent invitation to sit down. Chiyo was the first to obey. Orla and Lorcan followed, but they sat stiffly, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. “You can go ahead and relax. We’re safe here as long as my wards and shields are up. I know a little of what you’re going through from what Chiyo told me, but I can assure you that nothing can attack you in my house.” For some reason that she couldn’t explain, Orla believed him, and she sat back in her chair, keeping her hands in her lap.

  “Chiyo, you have grown up a lot since the last time I saw you. I am sorry to say that I might not have the answers to all of your questions. I don’t know much. But there is something I have to tell you. Are you comfortable for me to speak in front of your new friends?” the wizard asked.