My Luck (Twisted Luck Book 1)

by Mel Todd

  It took me a second to place him. It had been months ago, and I had managed to dismiss him from my mind. "The private investigator?"

  "That's the one. A detective in New York following up passed on some more information. Something I felt you at least needed to know."

  "Okay…" Was I interested? Worried? Apathetic? I really didn't know, but either way, I did want to hear the information.

  "Apparently the search for Kory Monroe was his only open case. And it's a case that over ten investigative firms have taken on over the last eight years, all looking for a mage with a name similar to that. A Spirit merlin. They wouldn't give me details, but everyone seems to think it's very important this merlin is found."

  "Huh. Okay. Sounds odd." I pointed back at the TV. "They never seem to have any trouble finding people. Heck, some of the Pattern mages can recreate an entire crime scene with an offering of a nail or two."

  Laurel snorted. "Not quite that impressive but yes, missing persons usually don't stay missing unless they want to. Psychic and Pattern mages do manage to find people quickly. But either way, I wanted to let you know about their request. Note this is a request, not anything they can force you to do."

  I looked at her confused.

  What in the world is she talking about?

  "They are requesting, whoever is hiring these mages, that anyone with a name even similar to that of Kory Monroe go in for mage testing if they haven't already."

  "Huh? Why?"

  She shrugged and her husband just looked vaguely amused. "I'm not sure, but there seem to be some pretty high-powered people behind the hiring of these PI's. I don't like giving in to the whims of powerful people for spurious reasons. You've never emerged, or at least not at a rank that either you or anyone else has noticed. And I understand not wanting to get on the government radar more than we already are. But I was obligated to inform you of their request."

  I rolled my eyes. "Everyone lately keeps asking me to do this. I'm not a mage. Or if I am, I'm barely a hedge. No thanks. I think people test just because you get the education for free. I'm not high enough to qualify so why bother? Besides, I'll graduate soon. I'm almost there."

  My skin all but crawled and I felt like I was having a panic attack as I fought to keep a straight face.

  "I get that. So, I asked. You said no. It's done." She really didn't seem to mind, but the idea of government people having their fingers in my life freaked me out.

  "And you really don't know why they're looking for this mage?" I didn't know why I asked. My eternal need to know why probably, but it didn't make sense. All mages were registered when they emerged. Why would someone not register? The consequences were bad.

  Laurel sighed and peered into her coffee. Martin on the other hand seemed to smirk at his wife. He caught me giving him a look.

  "I told her you'd want explanations. And it isn't a huge secret. Mostly I'm smirking 'cause now she has to make dinner tonight."

  She huffed. "I should have known better. You've always wanted to know everything. Here's what I was told. A powerful merlin put out the call for this search right before he died. The mage supposedly had a huge emergence that was felt all the way to New York about oh, nine years ago around April."

  I frowned at that and she must have seen it.

  "Yeah, about the time Stevie died."

  He was killed.

  My mental rebuttal was instantaneous, but I didn't say it. I'd never wanted to face the possibility he died of natural causes.

  "And yes, I thought about it. But neither of you were anywhere near finishing puberty. If I had to guess, you had just entered, and he would have soon enough." Laurel shook her head, not looking at me. I felt oddly grateful for that little bit of privacy. "Either way, the call went out for an emerged merlin. Apparently, there is a will and a fortune at stake. Even more documentation about how spirit magic works, and until this merlin is found, it's all locked away. Spirit's still one of the least understood branches. That's probably why they're asking this and grasping for any straw. But really, the person would be in their late twenties if not early thirties by now. Heck with a name like Kory it could be a male as well."

  I nodded, feeling my tension drain from me a bit. It didn't make me happy. Too bad the name couldn't have been something like Gerald or Samantha.

  Outside, there was a huge crack, the squeal of brakes, screams, and a loud bang even as my head began to itch like crazy and my energy depleted like someone had punctured a bag.

  Laurel and Martin were up and running for the door. It took me a minute to stand up, the wave of dizziness making my knees wobble. I blinked it away reminding myself to eat better. I had food, good food in the fridge, and money to buy groceries. I really needed to quit skipping meals. It took another few seconds, but the dizzy faded and I followed them out the door.

  The old Bartlett pear that stood near the intersection had snapped in half and fallen in front of a car. Laurel and her husband were talking to the people in the car.

  How long did I sit here?

  I watched for a few minutes, but no one was hurt and as soon as the EMTs got there and a squad car pulled up, Laurel and Martin headed back towards me.

  "I told those blasted city planners Bartlett's are a safety risk. They're brittle and you never know when they're going to break. I wish we'd pull them all, but every time I suggest it, everyone whines. I win the lottery I'm donating the money and trees to replace all of them. Menaces, I tell you." Martin's voice carried clearly as they walked up to me.

  "You okay, Cori?" Laurel asked. "You looked a bit gray when we ran out, and not too much better now."

  "I'm fine. You and Molly are just working me to death."

  She tilted her head looking at me. "This is what you want, right?"

  "It is. A good degree. A way to make a solid living, and a backup plan. I'm good." I reassured her, nerves flashing through me again. I couldn't risk losing this. I was more than ready to graduate and start working for real. The internships had been more fun than I thought they would be. I had learned a lot. I'd be able to work with the police and medical personnel with a bit more clarity.

  Huh - maybe the designers of this new course aren't as big a bunch of idiots as I thought.

  "Good. Well, I'll see you in the morning. Last week. Let's hope it's quiet and uneventful."

  "Always and never," I replied, a joke I was quickly learning that cops used. You always wanted to be bored and never were.

  "Truth there." She paused looking back at the tree then at me and shook her head. "Never mind. Have a good rest of the weekend, Cori."

  As soon as she and Martin had left, I locked the door and rushed to the restroom, glad for the lack of customers. My skin itched and when I pulled off my shirt, I found patchy spots of dried skin everywhere, peeling as if I had the world's worst sunburn.

  I stared into the mirror. One of the first clues to an emergence was a sunburn all over the body, but even as I stared in the mirror, I didn't look red or burnt anywhere. My hair never seemed to grow, my eyes didn't look dilated and the patches of skin were in odd places. Nothing concrete.

  See, stupid, you're not a mage. Even if you were, you'd be a terrible one.

  Giving into the urge, I scratched my scalp, and ignored the fine white powder that drifted down. It felt so good to get it off. This time I managed to quit scratching before I drew blood. Glancing down, I saw the white all but disappeared on the tile floors. I heaved a sigh. That was why I usually did this outside. Not in any place I now needed to clean up.

  Once back out in the main area I saw that more time had passed than I realized and I shrugged. Closing thirty minutes early wouldn't make a difference. I sent Molly a text and started closing up, making sure to vacuum and mop the restroom. It had been a long weekend.

  Chapter 34

  The draft was put into place immediately after World War I. Education and control of mages was treated as mandatory by the US, and many other countries adopted some form of it. For mag
es, wizards, and archmages, they were required to get a college degree, then work in government service for one year for every year of college paid for. The average is a bachelor's and four years of service. ~ History of Magic

  If I strangle Monique, I wonder if people would donate money to get me out of jail?

  Class on Monday sucked. From nine am to four pm we were in a morgue practicing medical techniques. I did great but was about to kill the others with their whining. Variations of "This is gross, who wants to work on dead bodies?", "Oh they stink" were solid for the entire time. Even Bruce looked ready to strangle a few of the students. Monique was the worst. Complaining about the smell, the stiffness of the flesh, that they were all old and ugly, and on and on.

  My temper snapped. "Monique, suck it up or quit. If you can't handle doing this, I don't want you in the field where I might ever need you. There's the door, use it."

  A whispered round of "yes, please", caused her to shut up, but the constant glares at Monique from the rest of class were just about as distracting.

  Anatomy I had down cold, and I could slip a needle in without anyone realizing I had done it. Performing tracheotomies wasn't an issue. Mostly it was just the meds and making sure I had them all grouped together. And I had three more weeks of practicals. I wasn't sure everyone else would make it out alive. Monique, the rest of us might kill. And I didn't know who was going to strangle her, Bruce or my classmates.

  Back at the police precinct Sam seemed preoccupied, but he said it wasn't anything, so I didn't push. Heck, for all I knew he was fighting with his girlfriend. The week sped by and to my delight and regret, it was quiet, nothing more exciting than one drunk and a fight at the shopping center. That incident and the aftermath reminded me why I never wanted to be popular. The popular girls' nails should be regarded as lethal weapons.

  I couldn't figure out my disappointment as I walked in late Friday morning to return my belt, shirt, radio, and other supplies. Being a cop or even any sort of law enforcement had never been anything I'd thought about before this experience, but I had enjoyed this. The solidity of the law made a nice backdrop to lean against. To know what was and wasn't right, or legal, felt comforting. I had never realized how much I missed or needed it.

  The desk person looked up as I buzzed in. I'd be giving up my card today too. That was another tiny cut in my soul I didn't want to look at too closely.

  "Go on in. The chief asked you to head back to her office."

  "Thanks," I replied, heading back. I had a whole day to myself. I tried to keep that in mind. A true day off. What did I want to do?

  I knocked on the door to her office. She looked up and smiled as she saw me.

  "Cori, come in, and take a seat. Sam will be here in a few minutes. You're early as always."

  Worry churned in my gut as I sat. Someday maybe I'd quit expecting the worst, but I doubted it would be anytime soon. I sat gingerly, setting my uniform and equipment on her desk.

  "Thanks." Laurel leaned back, lacing her fingers together and looking at me. "Tell me, what did you think about the experience?"

  Oh, she just wants to get feedback. That I can do.

  The relief that washed through me was ridiculous. I needed to get my worry in check. "Honestly, I had expected to hate this. Preconceived notions, I guess, but I enjoyed it more than I thought. I felt useless a bit too much, but there's more to law enforcement than just being a jerk."

  A burst of laughter from behind me caused me to grin as Sam walked in.

  "You trying to say I was a jerk?"

  "Not now, but when I'd run into you prior? Sometimes."

  "That was only because this young girl kept being in the middle of crime scenes or dangerous situations and it scared the hell out of me. Getting to know you has helped with that." He dropped a folder on the desk and nodded at the chief.

  "You weren't useless. Having someone to call for help is always a good thing. We've done police explorers and ride along for civics classes for years, but we wanted to try this. Our rate of people quitting after less than a year as an officer has been over sixty percent. The common reason is that being an officer wasn't what they expected. It's part of the reason we had you write so many reports and fill out everything. We are trying to give people a real glimpse as to what it's like before the police academy. Do you think we succeeded?"

  I leaned back to think about that. The boredom, the terror, the endless paperwork, but there had been parts I thought were neat. Parts that made the other parts worth putting up with.

  "I think so, though voice-to-text software would make dealing with all the reports so much easier."

  To my amusement Sam gave a little arm pump and Laurel sighed. "I'll take that under advisement. Thank you for that feedback. Your grade will be turned in to the college, but I'm giving you a 4.2 out of 4. You handled the incidents you found yourself in with poise and I want to make sure that is noted in your college record. And just to reiterate, Cori, if you ever want to apply for the police academy, I'll sponsor you. Hell, I want to sponsor you. I think you'd make a damn good cop. Put me down on your reference list for when you start job hunting."

  "And me," Sam added, winking at me.

  The smile that crossed my face almost hurt my cheeks. At this rate maybe I would be able to get the good job I needed and to live with Jo in Atlanta. Just knowing the chief of police thought I'd be good at any job helped a lot, but the glowing reference would help even more. I'd been worried about getting a good enough job as Marisol had narrowed it down to three apartments. Any of which would be incredible, and larger by at least twice than what I lived in now, but my portion of the rent would not be insignificant.

  "But that brings us to the next part." Her words grabbed my stomach in a vise once more and I hated how I reacted to her. She was the one who told me Stevie was dead.

  The memory slammed into me and everything snapped into place. I'd never remembered that before.

  "You. You told me he was dead." I'm sure my words seemed to come out of nowhere, but they were said before I could think to control them.

  Laurel blinked at me and then nodded slowly. "I did." She tilted her head, looking at me confused.

  "There were parts of that day I've never remembered. That memory just coalesced into my mind. I think that's why I always expect the worst from you."

  "Ah." There was a world of understanding in her tone and she did understand. I could see it in her eyes. Something in me healed as I realized what my issue with her was, and I relaxed. She'd already told me the worst thing in my life; nothing else would even begin to measure up.

  "Well, what I want to give you now is nowhere near that traumatic. I know your parents sold the place and moved. The grapevine let me know they told you no contact with your brother." Laurel growled. "For the record, your parents are broken idiots, but as he is seven, I can't override their wishes and he is in a household that loves him. From what anyone can see, they dote on him." She shook her head. "But that doesn't mean I approve of what they did or how they reacted. So here." She handed me the folder.

  "We decided you and Kristos should have options in the future," Sam said, his voice serious. "We'll let you know over the years if the information changes."

  "The chief of police where they live is someone I know. We've worked together occasionally. He'll keep me informed."

  With fingers that I couldn't stop from trembling, I opened the folder. There in black and white was their new address, who they worked for, where Kris went to school, and their phone numbers.

  "When he turns sixteen, if you still want to make contact, we'll get him your phone number." Laurel's voice was soft as I tried to read the paper that blurred as I looked at it. No matter how much I blinked, it still remained blurry.

  "I don't have words," I managed after staring at the information for too long.

  They both grinned. "Don't worry about it. Regard it as an early birthday present. We have the information in the system and reminders on our calendar
s. Someday maybe you'll get to know your brother."

  I nodded and carefully put the paper back in the folder, clutching it to my chest like it held all the answers to every question I'd ever asked.

  Sam rose. "Come on. Today I'm buying you a coffee and then giving you a ride to anywhere you want."

  He remained true to his word. He got me a large raspberry mint latte and then gave me a ride over to the Guzman's shop. He waved as he left, and I watched him go.

  Why did I ever think he was a bit of a jerk?

  I needed to remember to get to know people before I made judgments about them. Who they were was often different than who I thought they were. Yet another lesson I needed to learn. Life was full of them.

  I headed into the garage. I saw Stinky and Paulo working, but didn't see Jo immediately. With a shrug I headed into the office. Henri looked up from the desk and gave me a smile.

  "Cori. What brings you here today?"

  I ran his tone through my head, but all I got was a bit of worry, which made sense as I could count on two hands how many times I'd shown up at the shop in the middle of the work day.

  "I've got the day off and was wondering if I could steal Jo for the day. Maybe go shopping or figure out how to survive Tia?" Calling Marisol aunt for the first time felt right and wrong at the same time.

  "Wanting a chance to go play hooky and enjoy being young?" His voice held humor and affection. "It's good to enjoy being young. You are both too serious for your age." He looked down at the schedule and nodded. "She needs to finish up the oil change and tire rotation she is working on, but our schedule is light. And I need to get used to not having her here in a month or two anyhow. Go on back and let her know. You two girls have a good afternoon. To live. You don't do enough of it."

  "Thanks, Henri."

  "Cori." His voice stopped me, and I turned to look at him. "Marisol is Tia. I am Tio."

  I ducked my head feeling my face heat, then I lifted it back up. I refused to be ashamed for being loved. Maybe my parents hadn't been able to get past it, but others thought I was worthy. "Thank you, Tio." The word rolled off my tongue and he winked at me.