by Martha Carr
“I know, right?” Leira laughed. “All right, let’s take the metro. I don’t feel like driving. Oh, and that reminds me—never let Yumfuck borrow the car.”
“What?” Correk said.
“Long story. Just know he is saving for a car,” Leira told him, opening the door.
“I don’t think trolls were meant to drive,” Correk replied, shutting the door behind him.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Yumfuck took the bus to Adams Morgan, figuring it would be better than walking all the way there close to nightfall. He shrunk down to five inches as he made his way to the bus stop and hurried on behind a man in large army boots, carrying a backpack.
He found a space in the back of the bus where he could stand in the window and watch as the bus moved through the city. The lights of DC were blazing, and it was one of Yumfuck’s favorite things about the city. When the bus pulled up to the stop he hopped off, waving goodbye to the bus driver.
“Good bye and big thank you, motherfucker.” The troll let out a cackle and a wave.
“What in the… I don’t… Did you all…” The bus driver wrenched around in his seat, to look back at the other passengers. They stared blankly at him, waiting for the bus to start moving again. “Come on, one of you must have…” The bus driver reluctantly closed the door and started moving again. “I have got to retire. They talk about New York rats. DC rats take the bus and thank you for it.” The driver shook his head as he hit the gas, neatly maneuvering around a taxi, being careful not to look back. He didn’t want to know if the talking rat was still waving on the sidewalk.
Yumfuck headed to the boarding house and trotted up the steps to ring the bell. He was excited to spend some time with his friend since they had an evening of food and games planned—exactly how he thought a perfect night should go. He was still determined to get her to Georgetown to meet the others, but he understood she had a big responsibility as the owner.
“Hey there, buddy,” Mira said, opening the door for him. “Come on in. I just put some tea on the stove and I have Starburst for you, as promised.”
“That sounds amazing!”
Yumfuck walked past the desk and took in a familiar scent. It was one he hadn’t smelled since Leira’s birthday. He stopped at the desk and looked toward the stairs, not sure if he was right.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m looking for an old friend. I heard he might have moved in here. Is there a new tenant? Goes by Jackson?”
“Yeah, actually,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “A nice looking man with bright blue eyes, dressed like someone from the Renaissance Fair. Rented a room for a year. He said he has family in the area.” She tucked her chin on her chest. “You the family? I don’t see the resemblance.”
“Mind if I wait in his room?” Yumfuck was already scrambling up the stairs.
“I don’t mind if you wait outside his room. Who he lets in is his business. It’s room 8 upstairs, halfway down the hall on the right. But he’s not in there. He went out for a bite,” she yelled after Yumfuck.
“I’ll wait for him. If you could let me surprise him, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure, why not? All I ask is that you keep it civil. Is he from Hawaii too?”
“Aloha.”
Yumfuck made his way upstairs, sniffing the air until he reached Room 8. He stuck out a claw and pushed it into the doorknob, unlatching the lock and slowly pushing the door open. He walked into the room and looked around, not finding anything besides a wad of cash and two brand new pairs of pants laid across the dresser.
“Jackson,” Yumfuck whispered. “What are you up to?”
Yumfuck sat down on the edge of the bed as he grew taller, ready to wait for as long as it took.
Jackson is back, but why is he keeping it a secret.
FINIS
Kill The Willing
Did you know that Martha and Michael write another Oriceran series together? Book one, Kill The Willing is available now.
Available at Amazon
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written May 27, 2018
Here we are the dawn of a new age for Leira and Correk and Yumfuck… Whew! It’s one year later and the world has already changed. Magic is on the table and things are a little rough. No worries – our team is up to it. Michael and I are working on four series together – Rewriting Justice (Leira 2.0), I Fear No Evil (Shay), The Incredible Mr. Brownstone (Brownstone), The School of Necessary Magic (Alison) and there will be fun and exciting crossovers in all four series. If you’ve read this far you’ve already seen some of it. There’s more planned!
Also cool because I’m at the beginning of a new adventure. Moving into Austin with a new home being built and selling the first home I ever bought. It’s an ongoing opportunity to let go, be grateful, move on, repeat. Two more months, though and the next phase begins. Probably less magic than Leira but also less drama – hopefully a new tribe of regulars…
About the new house… just to keep Anderle honest… (read the next author notes – you’ll see) this is my dream house with some pretty sweet upgrades and yes… yes, I do want him to experience the upgrades and in particular touch the master bathroom tile floor. It has texture. I’ve had bathrooms with texture before, but it was from the missing tiles. This is going to be an entirely different experience. Who wouldn’t want their fave collaborator to get the chance to enjoy the fabulousness too? I’m generous like that.
As for the future, we’ll keep the stories coming – I’ll do my thing and bring the magic, bring the thriller and Michael will bring the sci fi and the adventure and we’ll come up with more fun. Maybe even a little local chaos… (cackle). And I’ll be settling into the new house, getting to know the local music scene better, and creating that tribe. Looking forward to that next chapter… Bring it on!
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Written May 24, 2018
First, THANK YOU for not only reading Leira’s story, but reading through these author notes, as well!
This book is the first in the second series for our heroine, Leira. While I don’t want to go too much into the first series (The Leira Chronicles), suffice it to say that her life drastically changes from the opening pages of Waking Magic where she is running down a perp in Austin, Tx. (oblivious about magic) to where she is now.
With a light elf and a troll.
Unfortunately, our world has turned rougher since then and in response, Leira is reacting to all of the challenges that she and her friends have been through.
Including her relationship with the government itself.
The challenge (at least from the government’s side) is that Leira isn’t someone they can just boss around anymore but they need her too much to ignore her. On Leira’s side, she has decided she will help, but it won’t be free anymore and constrained by rules for politic’s sake.
She won’t allow others to mistreat her by abusing her natural desire to help.
It’s a new world and somehow, she has been placed in a pivotal role which helps change the future.
MARTHA CARR
So, I was on the phone this evening with Martha (I’m in Boston, she is in Georgetown near Austin, Tx) and we were talking and catching up since it had been a while. In between laughing (she has a penchant for saying ‘clearly’ which I typically find funny-as-hell) we spoke about our plans for Leira and Corrick, Yumfuck, James Brownstone, Shay and Allison and where the hell Oriceran is going.
I mean, just because we will have probably 44 total books in those four new series out by end of year, there is no reason not to think ahead, am I right?
Well, I was having a moment of concern where I was thinking. ‘Do I have any other characters in me than James Brownstone? Am I stuck because he is doing so well? Will I be able to…’
I’ve had him, Shay and Allison in my brain at some level for a year, and I shared with Martha I wasn’t sure I had another set of characters or ideas post Brownstone for Oriceran.
That’s when Martha started to scare me.
You see, she comes from Thriller-ville writing and started discussing the political machinations of the large countries and how we would have to adjust this or that, and what societies might implode and it scared the crap out of me.
(I didn’t want to write that kind of book or even talk about the beats on that stuff.)
In fact, she scared me so bad my mind was running hard to come up with ideas that I felt could work EVEN though I’ve got another 7 books to finish with Brownstone (and therefore time.)
No, in order for me to sleep easier that evening, my mind was working to provide me the barest glimmer of hope I’d come up with something.
While the fan’s might continue loving Brownstone enough to extend his series from 12 books to 20 or something, I wasn’t entrusting that would be sufficient to mitigate the risk of having to deal with Martha.
Oh no.
No, I needed to come up with ideas RIGHT THEN or risk having to work at the macro level with system governments and I didn’t like that idea at all. (I’ve already done some of that with my Kurtherian Gambit series and frankly I’m not wishing to do it again at this time.)
I came up with a few ideas. (EUREKA! – No, not really.)
However, I do feel if I need to pack the Brownstone series in at 12 books, I have the very beginning concepts which could be fun for the readers and writers to move forward.
Needless to say, I’m not so sure I’ll ever speak to Martha and make the offhand comment, “I might not have ideas for anything past
MARTHA’S HOUSE
I received word today from Martha that her present house is under contract to be sold (WOOHOO!) Which means she is about two (2) months from moving into her new house. The problem (at least for me) is the ‘touch the upgrades’.
The story…
About a month ago, Martha was enthusiastic and excited about her trip to the designers of the company which is building her home. She was sharing with me on the phone (she lives in Austin, I’m in Las Vegas) how many upgrades she had purchased and how it made her feel.
Then, the feelz.
Martha: “That’s right, I want you to come over and I’m going to make you touch all of the upgrades.”
Mike (a little scared) : “Did I understand you right? You want me to feel all of your upgrades?”
Martha: “Yup, I want you to feel all of my upgrades to the house, especially the stone.“ (in the bathroom I think she said? I forget.)
Either way, she came across so urgently in April that I’m still talking about freaking out at the End of May. It’s feeling a bit like Misery (in my mind.)
It doesn’t help my comfort level to hear her cackling about it, either.
I can’t tell if she is cackling because she finds it funny that I’m concerned, or that she really cackles with delight
And Now…
The other three series that are ‘beyond’ this Leira series are The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone, I Fear No Evil (Shay) and School of Necessary Magic (Allison). Martha and I have worked these four series to work together, and you don’t have to finish Leira to enjoy the later books because they are set about twenty (20) years in the future. So, while there will be some cool connections, nothing that happens in this series with Leira is needed to know to enjoy the other stories.
I’d like to say ‘thank you’ one more time for enjoying our stories. We work hard to provide you fun entertainment and hope that you enjoy as many of our stories across our many LMBPN Publishing Universes. Further, if you are reading a collaboration series, I encourage you to read the personal work of our collaborators as well (you will find their other books in the back of the stories).
Enjoy your week!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
Other Revelation of Oriceran Universe Books
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone
* Michael Anderle *
Feared by Hell (1) - Rejected by Heaven (2) - Eye For An Eye (3) - Bring the Pain (4)
I Fear No Evil
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Kill the Willing (1) - Bury the Past, But Shoot it First (2)
School of Necessary Magic
* Judith Berens *
Dark Is Her Nature (1)
Rewriting Justice
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Justice Served Cold (1)
The Leira Chronicles
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Waking Magic (1) - Release of Magic (2) - Protection of Magic (3) - Rule of Magic (4) - Dealing in Magic (5) - Theft of Magic (6) - Enemies of Magic (7) - Guardians of Magic (8)
The Soul Stone Mage Series
* Sarah Noffke and Martha Carr *
House of Enchanted (1) - The Dark Forest (2) - Mountain of Truth (3) - Land of Terran (4) - New Egypt (5) - Lancothy (6) - Virgo (7)
The Kacy Chronicles
* A.L. Knorr and Martha Carr *
Descendant (1) - Ascendant (2) - Combatant (3) - Transcendent (4)
The Midwest Magic Chronicles
* Flint Maxwell and Martha Carr*
The Midwest Witch (1) - The Midwest Wanderer (2) - The Midwest Whisperer (3) - The Midwest War (4)
The Fairhaven Chronicles
* with S.M. Boyce *
Glow (1) - Shimmer (2) - Ember (3) - Nightfall (4)
Other Books by Michael Anderle
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04) - Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07) - We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10) - Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13) - Don’t Cross This Line (14) - Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17) - Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20) - Life Goes On (21)
THE KURTHERIAN ENDGAME
Payback Is A Bitch (01)
THE SECOND DARK AGES
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
The Dark Messiah (01) - The Darkest Night (02) - Darkest Before The Dawn (03) - Dawn Arrives (04)
THE BORIS CHRONICLES
*with Paul C. Middleton*
Evacuation (01) - Retaliation (02) - Revelations (03) - Redemption (04)
RECLAIMING HONOR
*with Justin Sloan*
Justice Is Calling (01) - Claimed By Honor (02) - Judgement Has Fallen (03) - Angel of Reckoning (04) - Born Into Flames (05) - Defending The Lost (06) - Saved By Valor (07) - Return of Victory (08)
THE ETHERIC ACADEMY
*with TS Paul*
ALPHA CLASS (01) - ALPHA CLASS: Engineering (02)
*with N.D. Roberts*
Discovery (03)
TERRY HENRY “TH” WALTON CHRONICLES
*with Craig Martelle*
Nomad Found (01) - Nomad Redeemed (02) - Nomad Unleashed (03) - Nomad Supreme (04) - Nomad’s Fury (05) - Nomad’s Justice (06) - Nomad Avenged (07) - Nomad Mortis (08) - Nomad’s Force (09) - Nomad’s Galaxy (10)
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
*with Natalie Grey*
Risk Be Damned (01) - Damned to Hell (02)
The Vigilante Chronicles
*with Natalie Grey*
Vigilante (01)
~THE AGE OF MAGIC~
THE RISE OF MAGIC
*with CM Raymond and LE Barbant*
Restriction (01) - Reawakening (02) - Rebellion (03) - Revolution (04) - Unlawful Passage (05) - Darkness Rises (06) - The Gods Beneath (07) - Reborn (08)
THE HIDDEN MAGIC CHRONICLES
*with Justin Sloan*
Shades of Light (01) - Shades of Dark (02) - Shades of Glory (03) - Shades of Justice (04)
STORMS OF MAGIC
*with
PT Hylton*
Storm Raiders (01) - Storm Callers (02) - Storm Breakers (03) - Storm Warrior (04)
TALES OF THE FEISTY DRUID
*with Candy Crum*
The Arcadian Druid (01) - The Undying Illusionist (02) - The Frozen Wasteland (03) - The Deceiver (04) - The Lost (05) - The Damned (06) - Into The Maelstrom (07)
PATH OF HEROES
*with Brandon Barr*
Rogue Mage (01)
A NEW DAWN
*with Amy Hopkins*
Dawn of Destiny (01) - Dawn of Darkness (02) - Dawn of Deliverance (03) - Dawn of Days (04) - Broken Skies (05) - Broken Bones (06)
TALES OF THE WELLSPRING KNIGHT
*with P.J. Cherubino*
Knight’s Creed (01) - Knight’s Struggle (02) - Knight’s Justice (03)
~THE AGE OF MADNESS~
LIVE FREE OR DIE
*with Haley Lawson*
Unleashing Madness (01)
~THE AGE OF EXPANSION~
THE ASCENSION MYTH
*with Ell Leigh Clarke *
Awakened (01) - Activated (02) - Called (03) - Sanctioned (04) - Rebirth (05) - Retribution (06) - Cloaked (07) - Bourne (08) - Committed (09) - Subversion (10)
CONFESSIONS OF A SPACE ANTHROPOLOGIST
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
Giles Kurns: Rogue Operator (01) - Giles Kurns: Rogue Instigator (02)