Release Of Magic: The Revelations of Oriceran (The Leira Chronicles Book 2)

by Martha Carr

  That was the misery of the world in between. Trapped beings could watch for centuries, millennia even, not aging if they fell in while still alive, or never going on to the afterlife if they were dead. But they couldn’t participate, couldn’t communicate with anyone on the other side.

  All they could do was watch, and hide when necessary from the evil that coursed through the world in between.

  Mara knew that well after four years trapped in the middle of nowhere and everywhere all at once. It took her well over a year to locate her daughter, Eireka in the psych ward but she still wasn’t sure how to get a message to her. Leira moved not long after Mara was trapped and Mara lost track of her altogether. Until she saw her on the street, walking with a Light Elf.

  The fear clutched at her again. Oriceran had brought nothing but pain to her family from the start. Now, they had found her granddaughter. Mara was determined to find a way to warn her.

  That meant dealing with the minions who moved throughout with the darker forces. The dead the humans called poltergeists that had learned just enough about how the world in between worked to cause trouble and dispense nightmares, but not enough to really harm anyone.

  They were the nasty bullies of the world in between.

  I can do this. I can do this for my granddaughter. Even if it’s the last thing I get to do.

  It wasn’t unusual to barter with the poltergeists to reach the other side of the veil but every once in a while, the darkness was attracted to what was happening and intervened, taking over the mind of someone trapped in there. The living in the world in between were their favorite targets.

  Mara knew she was risking madness.

  I can do this. I know enough magic to at least glamour myself for an hour. Hide from everything, living or dead. Long enough.

  The poltergeists were easy to spot. The energy surrounding them was erratic and tended to throw off sparks into the ether, creating popping bursts of light.

  Mara saw what looked like a storm cloud in the distance and focused on it, pulling herself closer. Distances in the world in between were relative. They could be a few feet, a few miles or another world. It took the same amount of focus to pull a being from Sacramento, California to Rome, Italy as it did to roam over a square city block. The world in between didn’t follow time or space.

  She pulled close enough that the sparks were flashing in her face. She knew the poltergeist was aware of her presence and it was best to wait for it to choose to pay attention to her. The negotiations would be easier that way. Mara made a point of spending the past four years wisely, gathering information, making allies when she could. It wasn’t easy. None of it was.

  You must want something. The poltergeist turned and fixed glowing eyes on Mara. It was dressed in a brown suit, still wearing a woolen winter coat and leather Florsheims. A dead human man, killed on a workday. Part of his head was smashed in. Mara wondered if he realized he was dead.

  She made a point of looking right back at him.

  I want to barter.

  What could you have that I want?

  Time.

  The dead man smiled, his broken teeth giving him the appearance of a jack o’lantern.

  Car crash? Mara pushed for information, if only to show she wasn’t afraid. If only to convince herself. Fear was something everyone trapped in the world in between could feel. Strong enough and it could even be seen, radiating off someone for miles. That kind never lasted long.

  Something like that. What has time got to do with this place?

  I can give you some. Mara focused on remaining calm, serene, giving nothing away. The poltergeist’s energy swirled around her, probing for a sense of what she was up to.

  Nothing. Impressive. You’re not a witch. I can tell you don’t play in the darkness. They often twist early, and into something permanently ugly. Let’s say you can give me time. What do you want in return?

  Knowledge. I want to know how to send messages to the living.

  Oh darling, that is going to cost you. Tell me what time is in this place and I’ll tell you if I want to teach you anything.

  The energy swirled closer. A bitter, acrid smell filled her nose, surprising her. She didn’t know if it was possible to still use the sense of smell.

  Of course it is. The dead man sensed what she was feeling. All your senses are still there. They just turn on and turn off differently and you have to know what you’re doing. You won’t figure a lot of this out accidentally. So tell me, what is time?

  A space where you can hide from the darkness to pull off one trick without being seen.

  You know how to glamour in here? I am impressed. You’ve been saving that one. Light Elf aren’t you.

  The energy pulled back, sizing her up. And something more. He came in closer, again. Okay, deal. You first.

  No. You teach me, I hide you, or we go watch the universe’s largest reality show for a billion more years, ducking and hiding. Mara let go of wanting this to work and centered her energy. Indifference, as much as she could manage it, was going to help her win.

  Deal. But I choose the trick.

  Deal. Show me how to leave a message. She did her best not to think about what the dead man might want to do and paid close attention to his instructions. She was determined to warn Leira.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Leira and Hagan sat outside the jewelry store, waiting for something, anything, to happen. They had a tip from an informant they both trusted, Pink Harry, that this was the next target. The store was known to have a lot of cash and diamonds on hand. They had a guard and a safe but details like that hadn’t stopped the burglars so far.

  The Captain decided it would be less conspicuous to put his two detectives nearby rather than regular patrol cars.

  Hours had already passed. Hagan was getting antsy.

  “Are you telling me that you can’t ding dong something up and tell if the bad guys are on their way?” He was fluttering his fingers again, in front of his chest. It had become his signal for all things magical.

  “What’s with the old man jazz hands?”

  “Oh, that hurts, Berens. I could have taken the jazz hands part. You had to throw in old man. That wounds. Ah, and now the dead fish face. We’re going for broke.”

  “You deserved it. We’ve talked about this. No magic.”

  “They ain’t coming. I can feel it. I have a kind of magic all my own. A magical gut. Sometimes I even have a singing ass.” Hagan chortled at his own joke. “That one is really Rose’s joke. I should give her credit since she suffers through the consequences.”

  Leira almost spit out her coffee, coughing for a few seconds. “We aren’t this familiar, are we? By the way, I already knew. We’ve been on a few stakeouts together. It’s why you’re banned from anything spicy for twelve hours before you get in the car. You did follow the rule this time, I so hope.”

  Hagan made a small cross over his heart and gave the Boy Scout salute. “I swear. No singing asses tonight. By the looks of things, no nothing. Geez, we’re gonna end up here till that store closes.”

  “Which is not too long from now. They don’t know we’re out here, right?”

  “No, I have the same suspicion you do. Inside help. But how they would know at more than one store…I don’t know.” Hagan threw up his hands and shrugged. “Any doughnuts left?” He dove for the pink box on the floor.

  “You’re the only one eating them. You tell me.” Leira picked up the small binoculars and watched an older woman scan the street before entering the store. “That was weird.”

  “What?” Hagan took a bite of a cake doughnut, made a face and dropped the box. “Cake. Why bother. What’s happening,” he asked, picking up his pair of binoculars. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Woman looked around before she walked in the store. It looked like she expected to see something or hoped she didn’t see it. You think we’ve been made?”

  “She look in our direction?” He brushed off the front of his shirt.
>
  “Hey, watch the crumbs. That’s not a trash can down there. And, no, she didn’t look directly at us but I got the impression she knew we were here somewhere. Someone tipped them off.”

  “That’s not good. That leaves us with less than nothing and a leak.” Hagan tilted his head expectantly at Leira, raising his eyebrows.

  “No. Not gonna do it. We are damn good detectives. We’ve figured out harder cases the old fashioned way for some time now. We don’t take fucking shortcuts!” Leira ran her hand through her dark hair and lifted up the glasses again. The woman came back out, stopped just outside the door to check her phone, and took another look around before she texted someone.

  “There she is, doing the same damn thing. She’s the lookout. Maybe she gave them the all clear.”

  “Well, we’ll know soon enough. Not too much time before they close and take all that money with them to deposit. Now or never.”

  The woman held up her arm for a car service that pulled up right next to her. She opened the back door and got in, and the car drove off. Hagan took pictures of the license plate and the car. “If she’s in on it, they won’t have her real name. But at least we’ll have a good picture of her.”

  “If they’re smart, they use different lookouts every time and they’ve been smart so far.”

  Just then, a balding man ran out of the front of the store, waving his arms, calling for help. A call came over the police radio at the same time reporting a robbery at the same address they had been watching for hours.

  “Dispatch, we are at this location,” said Hagan, doing his best not to sound embarrassed.

  “Already?” said the startled operator. They both ignored the question and pushed opened their doors.

  “What the fuck!” Leira barreled out, pulling her gun from the holster as she sprinted for the store. Hagan was right behind her.

  “Goddamn motherfuckers! Make me look like a goddamn fool!” Hagan swore with every step he took, his face beet red. “Fucking amateur hour but it turns out we’re the fucking amateurs!” He spit out the last words as they reached the man, still frantically waving on the sidewalk.

  “They came in the back!” he sputtered. “Three of them! Bing, bam, boom! Just like that!”

  “You get a look at them?” Leira asked.

  “No, not really. Ski masks. I couldn’t see much of anything. They took everything! How did this happen?”

  “Good question,” Leira said grimly, pulling open the door to the store. “Very good question.” She felt the small traces of magic still in the room and a shiver went down her back. Something’s not right here.

  “You look funny. What is it?” Hagan narrowed his eyes. “I know that look. You already found a fucking clue! Spidey senses?” He fluttered his hands again.

  “There was nothing radioactive about my upbringing. At least, I don’t think so,” Leira replied, trying to ignore Hagan long enough to let herself feel the fading bits of magic still present. “Don’t do the fucking jazz hands again.” She turned away from him so she could concentrate. It’s there. I can feel it. Not smart thieves. Magical ones.

  “We may have a problem.”

  “You mean, besides sitting in front of a robbery in progress? There aren’t enough doughnuts in the world to live this one down. What else could make this worse?”

  “Magic.”

  “Fuck me. Well, there you go,” said Hagan, doing his jazz hands again but with a sour expression.

  ***

  The crime scene didn’t take long to investigate. There wasn’t much to find. Just like the other robberies the victims were confused about what they saw, if anything, and there were no fibers, no fingerprints and no real clues. Except for the unexpected one Leira found. Magical traces.

  “What do we do now?” Hagan watched Leira as if he expected her to do something immediately.

  They were sitting back in the Mustang as Leira finished explaining what she found.

  “I’m not going to pull out a spell. I don’t even know more than one or two. Don’t ask if I have a wand. I’m not that kind of magical.”

  “There are kinds? Fuck me again. How many kinds?”

  “You’re losing focus here. The game has changed. If magic is involved we need to come at this from a different angle. But I’m going to need to do some research.”

  “You’re gonna talk to the big guy with the pointy ears. Spock man.”

  “I have an idea how we can catch these guys without anyone getting hurt.”

  “I’m all for that.”

  “We use magic to find the gun that shot that guard and then find a reason to go get it.”

  “Works for me! You think it still exists?”

  “I don’t know. But a spell to find something can’t be that hard. Not if you can believe every Lucasfilm movie ever made.”

  “Call your friend. Do you need a phone for that or do we just say his name three times?”

  “I’m starting to see why we get on his nerves. We’ll have to go find him. He doesn’t have a phone. Okay, yes, there is a way to talk to him using magic. I haven’t learned that one yet.”

  “It’s like riding with someone from the Justice League. You should have a superhero name.”

  “Do it and I will fill your drawer with cotton balls. Remember, I know how they secretly creep you out. Come up with a name and I swear you will find cotton balls when you least expect it for an entire month. I’ll even use magic to make sure it happens.”

  Hagan held up his hands. “Fine. No nicknames. Kill all the fun.”

  “Let’s go get that gun.”

  “I can settle for that,” Hagan agreed. “Our clearance rate is going to skyrocket. Loving this new thing we’ve got going here.”

  Leira glared at him but wondered. Have things changed forever?

  ***

  “Okay, try again.” Correk waited patiently for Leira to move her hands through the intricate movements.

  “This isn’t easy with everyone watching me.”

  Hagan rolled his eyes and turned around so his back was to her. “This better?”

  Leira looked at his sagging pants. “Not really.”

  “Hardy har, Berens. Come on, try again,” he said, turning back around. “What? I don’t want to miss the show.”

  “Not a show. I’m not doing sleight of hand on South Congress for the tourists.”

  They were standing in the center of Leira’s small living room in the guesthouse behind Estelle’s bar. The only place they could be certain no one would bother them. Correk preferred a confined space anyway, where it would be easier to contain her magic while she was learning. He had already put a charm around the cottage, ensuring no one would see any light or hear suspicious noises from the patio.

  The bar was humming with patrons, including Leira’s tribe of regulars, but Estelle had made it very clear early on that just because Leira lived nearby and someone had a few drinks didn’t mean they could waltz over and knock on her door. It was up to Leira when she wanted to come out.

  Everyone respected the rule, for the most part. Estelle was small but scary and no one wanted to be on her bad side. Mitzi and Margaret were known to do drive-bys but even they would only do that during the daylight, most of the time. They said that was normal girlfriend behavior.

  “Oh, come on, this is like a show! And for an old homicide detective it’s like Christmas Day and hearing the words, we find the defendant guilty, all rolled into one. You move your hands around and have all the feelings and boom, there’s your murder weapon. Didn’t even leave home. It’s a fucking show!”

  “You’re doing the jazz hands again. It’s distracting. Okay, okay, I can do this.” Leira took a deep breath and shook out her hands. “Attempt number five. I thought you said this was one of the easy ones.”

  “I said this was a simple one. None of them are necessarily easy. Let me show you again.” Correk raised his hands, making circles with his thumb and forefingers.

  “Why can’t you ju
st do it and tell us where the gun is?” There was a sheen of sweat on Leira’s forehead.

  “You need to embrace this side of you. If I do it for you what will you do when there’s some kind of danger and you have to find something or someone with just moments to spare?”

  “You can find people this way, too? Holy crap, this changes everything!” Hagan slapped his forehead, smiling as he hitched his pants back up over his belly.

  “Not always. Even human beings have the ability to hide themselves from us with their intentions or feelings. Even when they don’t realize they’re doing it. That’s why the late Bill Somers was impossible for us to find. Now, try again. I thought you said you never back down from a challenge.”

  “Oh, okay, fuck me,” she grumbled. “He threw down a challenge. Alright, okay.” She cocked her head to one side then the other, stretching her neck and flexing her fingers.

  “Oh, now she’s ready. Now you got her.” Hagan licked his lips nervously. “You can feel it, right?”

  “I haven’t even started! Okay, everyone take a step back.”

  Correk stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. “The floor is yours.”

  “Okay.”

  “Try shutting your eyes. It can help.” Correk gave her an encouraging look. “Remember how it felt at Lavender Rock. That wasn’t something you created. It was something you allowed. Like turning on one of your light switches. You flip up the switch and the electricity just flows.”

  Leira closed her eyes and started moving her hands. She felt the first small surge of energy, boosting her confidence.

  Hagan and Correk watched as her skin started to glow and the symbols appeared. Hagan’s mouth opened, forming a perfect O. He started to say something but Correk put a heavy hand on his arm and gave him a stern shake of his head. Hagan nodded, whispering, “Right, right,” earning another withering look from Correk. “Okay,” he whispered, holding a finger to his lips. “Shhhhhh.”

  Leira was already lost in the spell, mesmerized by the images passing through her head and feeling the surge of power that was becoming familiar.

  Correk read the symbols as they appeared and saw that she was getting close. “Remember what you know about the robbery, the gun and the store. Recall the traces of magic left behind in the last robbery. Let all of that flow through you and focus on what you desire. To know where the gun that was used to shoot the guard is.”