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

by D. N. Leo

  “Madeline, you remember Orla?”

  “Yes, of course. Hello, Orla. How’s Lorcan?”

  “He’s fine. Out hunting now!”

  “Apparently, you’re not in Alphi, Ciaran.” Madeline kept the gracious smile on her face.

  Ciaran shook his head. “I was. But I got this urgent call, and there are a couple of things I need to do right now. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be late.”

  “Can you make the council meeting tomorrow?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Madeline nodded. “I’ll notified them if you can’t make it. What do you need me to do now? You wouldn’t call just to say you’re going to be late.”

  Ciaran looked into his wife’s brown eyes, and it killed him to see a hint of unspoken resentment. “On the holocast control panel, you can see the map with my location on Earth. Hit the record button on the panel to capture the location and save the information to a disc I store in our bed chamber. Then use our private channel to call my dad and transfer the file to him. Tell him that the Daimon Gate is fully responsible for this and that in order to solve this problem, his council has to use data from the EYE.”

  “Ciaran!” Ciaran could see the threat of tears in Madeline’s eyes, but he pressed on.

  “Please.”

  Madeline nodded. “I’ll do it right away.”

  The looked on Madeline’s face pained him more than the bleeding wound on his shoulder, but he had to live with it. He wanted so badly to caress the dimple on her left cheek and kiss her tenderly, but he couldn’t do that with a hologram.

  “Ciaran.”

  “Yes.”

  “Caed and Lyla spoke their first words this morning. Caed said ‘mom’ and Lyla said ‘daddy’.” Then a tear broke loose and rolled down her cheek. Ciaran instinctively reached out and touched the light beam, then withdrew his hand and shoved it in his pocket.

  Madeline continued, “I swear both of them have your goddam sexy British accent.” Madeline let out a wistful laugh. “You give your children kisses when you get back. They’d love that. Bye for now.” Madeline smiled graciously and turned away as her hologram faded, and the holocast disappeared.

  Ciaran stood in silence for a moment, gazing into the air where his wife had just been. He smiled sadly. “My twins. They spoke this morning. In English.” He snorted out a short laugh. “They were conceived in the Daimon Gate, and were born in Eudaiz. We were afraid that they might speak Eudaizian.” He shook his head and muttered. “Such stupid thought. But anything could happen we you live across multiple universes.”

  “They must be beautiful.”

  Ciaran nodded. “And soon, they’ll be too smart for their own good.”

  “You’re asking too much from Madeline, Ciaran.”

  Ciaran nodded. “And I’m sorry for that. But it couldn’t be helped.”

  “I’m no expert, but I know asking the Daimon Gate council to use the data in the EYE is a serious matter. I can’t imagine what it’s like from Madeline’s perspective to know that whatever it is that you’re trying to do could put your life in danger. And for what?”

  “The magnitude of the problem is a lot broader than I thought. It’s not just the key or the stone. All of you could see whatever was coming at us from the sand cliffs—I couldn’t. It’s because we were seeing different dimensions of the same thing. This island didn’t disconnect from the rest of the world all by itself. It was a dimensional shift—and it was manipulated. There are only a few people who could do this. And if my theory is right, we are in bigger trouble than you could imagine.”

  “And what’s your theory?”

  “I’ll let you know when I’m sure of it.”

  “Would our lives be in danger, too?”

  Ciaran gazed into Orla’s eyes. “I’m in this with all of you, and I left my family hanging because of that. I love my family, and I’m no hero. I’ll do whatever it takes to get me back home where I can hear my kids call me daddy.” Ciaran eyes sparked with fury. Orla could see his temper almost slip out of his control. Then he calmed down instantly. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have raised my voice.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so selfish.” Orla shook her head.

  At the door, Lorcan and Roy walked in, both covered in dust and sand. They could feel the tension in the room. “What happened?” Lorcan asked.

  Ciaran sat down on the sofa. “All right, everyone, we need a plan. Please tell me what has happened since you arrived on this island,” he said while laying out a portable liquid map on the coffee table.

  Chapter 20

  The wedge of the forest where the werewolf clan had captured Mori was quiet. Lorcan was sure he and Orla hadn’t killed them all while Mori took Roy away. But the most important thing they’d learned from that fight was that the area around the cave was blanketed with magnetic energy that had sucked the power out of Roy’s wrist unit. And it would do the same to Orla because she was now equipped with the same kind of wrist unit. Thus, Ciaran had asked Orla and Roy to stay back at Jay’s house.

  “They were in there before.” Lorcan pointed to the cave.

  “It looks like a trap,” Ciaran said and drew his gun, looking at it. “Will it work on them?”

  “The only time it didn’t work was when I used it on Bricius.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Speaking of Bricius, are you sure you have no recollection of when and where you or your family had come across a Flanagan?”

  “One hundred percent sure. You look like you know who it is.”

  “Too soon to draw a conclusion.” Ciaran followed a trail of paw prints in the mud. He heard slight movement. Pointing his gun to the top of a tree, he fired. A half-wolf half-man dropped down from a tree branch, howling in pain.

  “Come on, choose your bloody form,” Lorcan scolded.

  The man shifted completely into wolf form and fled. Lorcan wanted to chase, but Ciaran held him back.

  “Let him call his pack,” Ciaran said. “Where’s your gun?”

  Lorcan pulled it out, brandishing it in front of him.

  Ciaran nodded. “Okay, now don’t shift into your fox form in front of me. Two reasons. Most importantly, I don’t want to see you naked, and second, your gun will do a lot more damage than your teeth.”

  “But Ciaran, the rule is that when you fight were-creatures, you change into your were-creature form. Fair fight and all, you know.”

  “Your true form is human, Lorcan. Until I have evidence to prove otherwise, being able to shift into a blue fox doesn’t make you one hundred percent werefox. Roy said you’re different. You’re not like him.”

  Lorcan nodded and held the gun tightly in his hands.

  They heard movement in the bushes nearby, and a pack of gigantic black wolves crept toward them.

  “I don’t speak wolf,” Ciaran said.

  From the rear of the pack, Ganzorig stepped forward. “You know what we want. Do you have it?”

  “And do you have what we want?” Ciaran responded.

  Ganzorig signaled. Two men from the back brought Mori, standing her next to Ganzorig.

  “Are you okay, Mori?” Lorcan asked. Mori nodded.

  “Show me the key,” Ganzorig demanded.

  Ciaran took a small pouch from his pocket, sliding the key inside out to reveal its top. Then he put it back into his pocket. “The key is an important object. We want Mori—and all you have taken from us,” Ciaran said.

  “How much do you want? We don’t have access to unlimited resources.”

  “Can you put a dollar value on the key of Psuche?” Lorcan asked.

  “No, but money is all I have to deal with. I can’t give you men or territories.” Ganzorig scolded.

  Ciaran and Lorcan exchanged glances—it didn’t seem likely that Ganzorig had Rose and Jay.

  “Well, this island isn’t yours to start with, so you can’t call it your territory. If I let you have the key, you must move away from this island,” Ciaran said.

 
Ganzorig smirked. “Fair enough. Give me the key, and I will leave. You will never see me again.”

  Ciaran look again at Lorcan. They both knew that this was much too easy to be true. “Exactly how many men do you have here, and how can we be sure you’ll stay true to your word?” Ciaran asked.

  “I have two hundred and ten men on this island. You will just have to take my word that we’ll leave this island. Once we have the key, there will be no reason for us to stay here.”

  “I think you should withdraw first, and I’ll make arrangements to transfer the key to you elsewhere. The location can be your choice.”

  “Who are you?” Ganzorig asked, narrowing his eyes at Ciaran.

  “You don’t need to know who I am, but I have the power to destroy the people who hired you to do this.”

  Ganzorig paced. Lorcan was sure that even though Ganzorig had his men surrounding him at the moment, he felt vulnerable in front of Ciaran. He knew Ganzorig would give in. Lorcan relaxed his shoulders and the tension in his face.

  “We don’t have all day,” Lorcan mumbled, loud enough for Ganzorig to hear.

  “How can we be sure that you have the right key?” Ganzorig asked. Ciaran nodded and signaled to Lorcan. They stepped farther away from the wolves. Ciaran took his wrist unit and coded something in. He gave the key to Lorcan. In front of them, a portal opened in magnificent blue and white light. Lorcan stepped into the light and approached the door. He slid the key in, and the door slipped open. On the other side of the door was a smoky area, steamy and sparkling with electric red and purple lights. Lorcan stood back from the door, as if something behind it would eat him alive. Then he slammed the door closed and ran back out, leaping through the portal.

  Ciaran closed the portal, while Lorcan breathed heavily. Ganzorig’s jaw dropped.

  “Are you okay?” Ciaran asked.

  Lorcan nodded. “I’m fine. As long as you weren’t asking me to go through that door, I was fine.”

  Ganzorig narrowed his eyes. “What kind of magic was that?”

  Ciaran smiled. “The kind that can make whoever employed you agree to the terms I set out. Now, you’ve seen the key in action. It’s not magic. That’s what the key opens. You’re welcome to try the door yourself.”

  Ciaran opened his palm to show the key to Ganzorig.

  “What’s behind that door?” Ganzorig asked.

  “If your employer didn’t tell you, it’s beyond your pay scale,” Ciaran said. “Do you want to try the door?”

  Ganzorig shook his head. “No, it’s not necessary.”

  Ciaran shrugged. “So will you give Mori back to us? Then when we’re sure you and your men have left the island, we will deliver the key to a location of your choice.”

  Ganzorig nodded. “In three days. Kaihanshin Prefecture. At the old farmhouse called Ushiza.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Here are the terms. You withdraw your men immediately, and then we need time to check the island. After three days, we will deliver the key.”

  Ganzorig nodded, raising his hand to signal his men to release Mori. He turned, and his wolves followed him quickly, dashing off into the misty forest. Their howls echoed back to Ciaran and Lorcan for a while, and then the forest returned to its mysterious quietude.

  “Well, that went more smoothly than I’d expected,” Lorcan muttered.

  Ciaran smiled at him. “I’ve just discovered a new talent of yours.”

  “I have plenty of talents, but which one are you talking about?”

  “Acting. You could make a career out of it!”

  Chapter 21

  The late afternoon sun shined on the bright red roof of Jay’s house, reflecting onto the row of mature pine trees flanking the sides of the house. However, it wasn’t the harsh light of the sun that had Ciaran and Lorcan squinting. It was the sight of Roy sitting on the roof that had their attention.

  “Well, Roy makes a perfect target for a sniper . . .” Ciaran commented and turned toward Mori, but Mori had left before he could finish his sentence. From the roof, Roy leaped down to the ground and sprinted toward Mori. The two embraced each other, rushed toward the house, and disappeared inside.

  “I was admiring Roy for the way he handled himself before!” Ciaran said.

  Lorcan laughed. “You’d admire him even more if you knew he’s kissing Mori for the first time right now.”

  Ciaran arched an eyebrow. Lorcan shrugged. “I guess that’s a werefox tradition. Some set of rules. I don’t know really understand them, but they suck.”

  Ciaran smiled. “The rules or the foxes?”

  Before Lorcan could answer, Orla approached, giving the two men a wink and nodding toward the house. “That might take a while.”

  “We have to head to the Raven House now. Roy and Mori know the plan. They’ll follow us later. Let’s go,” Ciaran said.

  “All right then,” Orla responded.

  “Ahh, I need to tell you this before we go, Orla,” Lorcan said.

  “What?”

  “Ciaran and I . . .” he hesitated, then he cleared his throat. “It was Ciaran’s idea to put on an act for Ganzorig, the werewolf, so we could get Mori back without a fight.”

  “I knew that already.”

  “Right. So the plan was that Ciaran would open the portal to the Daimon Gate, and I would insert the key to the front door of our house to open it in order to reveal some mysterious light inside. That way Ganzorig’d believe we have some kind of magical, mysterious power.”

  “Yeah, we talked about that. I knew that part, too.”

  “The thing is . . . to make it even more convincing, I wanted to add a smoke effect to the light. Ciaran had learned a trick from his cousin, George, and they’d done it safely before, so I tried it.”

  “And . . .” Orla narrowed her eyes.

  Lorcan stepped backward a bit so he stood by Ciaran.

  “We were short of time. We needed some colorful powder, so I sent a command to Gini asking him to sample the color from your makeup kit.”

  “Who’s Gini?” Ciaran asked.

  “Our home robot,” Lorcan answered and continued, “Based on the amount of colored smoke, and the odour when I opened the door, I think Gini might have sampled your entire wardrobe as well.”

  “What do you mean by sample?”

  “A chemical process involving the use of fire and some other bits and pieces . . .” Lorcan looked sheepish, but that didn’t stop Orla from advancing on him, her hands on her hips. Lorcan glanced around and saw Ciaran backed far away from him.

  “It was in the interest of the greater good, and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of new clothes in Eudaiz, Orla.” Ciaran felt obliged to help Lorcan out as much as he could.

  “You see! Did you hear that? That’s a promise from Ciaran. It’s no big deal. He’ll supply you with an entire new wardrobe when you come to Eudaiz. He’s the king there, right?” Lorcan grinned, knowing his life might depend upon a favorable response from Orla. He moved in, kissed her face, and bit her bottom lip.

  Ciaran rolled his eyes and looked away.

  “An entire new wardrobe would normally be any woman’s dream!” Lorcan whispered and deepened the kiss.

  “Don’t make assumptions, Lorcan. Women are not that shallow. Besides, I’ve been managing my own wardrobe since I was five. Women have specific tastes and preferences. An entirely new bunch of clothes from an unknown universe where I have no idea what their sense of fashion is? That’s not necessarily desirable.”

  “Hmmm, only since five? So . . . you didn’t wear any clothes before five?” Lorcan laughed.

  Orla jabbed her finger into Lorcan’s chest. “I’ll have you know I wore very nice clothes before five. I lived with my parents in Paris, the fashion capital. Mother just didn’t let me choose what I wanted to wear.”

  The smile faded from Lorcan’s face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you talk about your parents.”

  Orla shrugged. “It’s okay. They died when I was so young. I don’
t really remember much. But my aunt took good care of me.”

  “I know. But I’m sorry anyway,” Lorcan said.

  “Because we are on an important mission, and I don’t want to be petty, I’ll let the wardrobe issue go—for now. But there will be punishment, Lorcan.”

  Lorcan smiled.

  As they turned around, Mori and Roy hurried out of the house. “You wouldn’t leave without us, would you?” Roy asked.

  “Never,” Ciaran muttered as he headed to the road.

  “You guys go ahead. I forgot something,” Lorcan said and darted back to the house while the group left.

  Chapter 22

  Back in the house, Lorcan ran to the bedroom and pulled out his computer. He didn’t need to connect to the central network of the Daimon Gate to get what he needed. He opened a computer game he had been designing for Orla, a fun simulation, and pulled up all the historical data he’d imported into the program about her life. Orla Foley, born and raised in France until five. Her parents died in an accident, the rest of the family took her back to Ireland after the accident.

  Lorcan stared at the data. He had never registered this information in his mind before. He thought he’d known every detail about her life. He put the computer away, sat back on the bed, and ran his hands through his hair. Then he stood up and rushed out to follow the group before anyone would ask questions.

  The Raven house was the same as they had found it a few days ago, but it looked even more ancient now. The heavy, crooked wooden door was shut and covered in dust, as if it had never been opened, as if there had never been a fight, and as if there had never been sixteen people shackled inside, waiting to die. Ciaran stopped everyone at a fair distance from the house. He checked his wrist unit and turned around. “There’s an unusual astronomical energy here. This isn’t an ordinary house,” Ciaran said as he saw the flashing signal of an incoming message on his screen. He read it and responded, then turned toward the group.