Wary Is Her Love: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The School Of Necessary Magic Book 3) Read online

  Wary Is Her Love

  School of Necessary Magic Book Three

  Judith Berens

  Martha Carr

  Michael Anderle

  Wary Is Her Love (this book) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2018 Judith Berens, Martha Carr and Michael Anderle

  Cover by Fantasy Book Design

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, July 2018

  The Oriceran Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2017-18 by Martha Carr and LMBPN Publishing.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Other Revelation of Oriceran Universe Books

  Books by Michael Anderle

  Connect with The Authors

  Wary Is Her Love Team

  Thanks to the JIT Readers

  James Caplan

  John Ashmore

  Peter Manis

  Daniel Weigert

  Micky Cocker

  Larry Omans

  Paul Westman

  Tim Bischoff

  If we’ve missed anyone, please let us know!

  Dedications

  From Martha

  To everyone who still believes in magic

  and all the possibilities that holds.

  To all the readers who make this

  entire ride so much fun.

  And to my son, Louie and so many wonderful friends who remind me all the time of what

  really matters and how wonderful

  life can be in any given moment.

  From Michael

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  To Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  To Live The Life We Are

  Called.

  1

  Alison sat at a small round table across from Shay Carson at the South Central Avenue Starbucks in the center of Los Angeles. It was a hot and muggy day in California, and Alison couldn’t wait to get back to Virginia. She was ready to get back to school and see her friends.

  “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” She sipped her iced matcha lemonade.

  “Good thing you can’t see the green color,” said Shay, wrinkling her nose.

  Alison laughed and stuck out her green tongue. She looked at the different souls milling around the coffee shop, some magical, some not. Shay touched the back of Alison’s hand.

  “Did you have a good summer?”

  Alison sat up and smiled. “I did. It was full of surprises.”

  “I can imagine.” Shay laughed. “You learned martial arts. I bet you didn’t see that one on your summer vacation list when you left school last year.”

  “No, but it was really cool of Dad to take time to teach me.”

  Shay smiled and looked down. “It’s still so odd to hear you call Brownstone ‘Dad.’ I mean, it’s fantastic, but it still throws me off a bit.”

  “It’s nice to be able to call someone Dad whom I can look up to, and after he wanted to adopt me, well, it just kind of came naturally. I guess I’ve wanted a dad, even if I didn’t admit it to myself.”

  “Well, now you have a good one, and you still have all the wonderful memories of your mother too.”

  “The best.” Alison smiled, slurping the lemonade through a straw. “Thank you so much for taking me to your warehouse so I could work out. Those exercises to help my spatial awareness of souls and energy really broadened things for me.”

  “Good, that was the point. Now you can go back to school with those inner eyes wide open, able to kick some serious butt.”

  Alison laughed. “It’ll make it so much easier now that I finally decided to ‘fess up and tell everyone I have my own unique way of seeing.” She looked up when she heard the bell on the door and Brownstone hurried over to them. “Sorry I’m late. Should we grab a coffee before we go?”

  “That would be fantastic,” Shay replied, standing up.

  “Got mine!” Alison held up her matcha lemonade.

  “What? Why are you drinking grass?”

  “Millennial lemonade,” explained Shay.

  Alison smiled at Brownstone and stood up as she put on her bookbag. Brownstone grabbed her suitcase and headed to the counter.

  “Double shot of espresso,” he told the barista. “What do you want?” Shay ordered chai tea with a splash of soy milk.

  They collected their drinks at the end of the counter and followed the line of magical commuters heading down the hall toward the bathroom, and kept walking right through the hidden magic wall at the back. They emerged on the metal platform above the intersecting staircases, and Alison moved over to the right side, gripping the railing with one hand and her lemonade with the other.

  “Ready?” asked Brownstone, his hand in the small of her back, easily guiding her toward the stairs.

  A Light Elf in baggy jeans and an old Pearl Jam t-shirt, his dark hair braided down his back, started at the sight of Brownstone. He made an abrupt about-face and faded back into the crowd. “Can’t go anywhere these days,” he muttered, hunching his shoulders.

  “One of your prospects?” asked Shay, sizing up the tall, lanky young elf. She could still see his head above most of the crowd as he darted a nervous glance back at them.

  “An informant who gave me a bad piece of intel. I’ll catch up with him at a later date.”

  “Take a break, Dad. Summer’s not quite over.”

  They headed for the staircase as Alison’s hand glided over the top. She looked over her shoulder at Shay. “Remember what I said. You can see me off, but neither of you can touch the train. Only magical beings can touch it. You guys would go up in smoke. Poof! Like a cloud of ash.”

  Shay smiled and winked at Brownstone. “She’s looking after us.”

  Brownstone snickered. “Not what I usually inspire in people.”

 
; Shay nudged him. “Our hands will stay away from the train, we promise.”

  They made their way down the staircases, pausing at several platforms where other staircases intersected. Each led to trains heading all over the world. People hurried off to different destinations, swinging backpacks and briefcases. Alison glanced at their souls and wondered. Some were light greens and blues or a powerful red, while others had a hidden stream of dark magic swirling in the center.

  She moved closer to the rail as a witch passed her, looking away from the black swirl.

  The platform rattled as a train passed underneath. Brownstone cleared his throat and put his large hand on Alison’s shoulder as they walked across it to descend another set of stairs. Alison smirked, knowing what was coming.

  Brownstone frowned, not seeing his daughter’s expression. “While we have a few minutes, I wanted to check with you on some things.”

  Shay sighed. “Please don’t lecture her the rest of the way. We want her to come back to us next summer.”

  Brownstone ignored her comment. “You are a sophomore now, and I know there has been at least one boy that you’ve liked.”

  “You know very well that she is still talking to Tanner.” Shay arched an eyebrow, smirking. “Don’t beat around the bush.”

  “Always keep at least one foot on the ground.”

  “What does that mean? You realize you’re talking about magical teenagers. They would take that as a challenge.” Shay stepped aside to let a wizard slide by her.

  “Okay, keep both legs together. I know teenagers that age…”

  “Only when you’re hunting them, bounty hunter.”

  Alison let out a short laugh and put up her hand for a high-five from Shay.

  “And they think they can get away with anything, especially when they are alone...”

  “OKAY.” Shay sighed. “Move on. New topic.”

  “You really should only be thinking about your studies at this point. What you do in this school can help determine what you become later in life. You could be a mercenary, a banker, a professor, a magic hunter…anything you want. But you have to study. With your abilities, I think you would make a fantastic detective for the magical sector of the government.”

  Shay interrupted, “You really have morphed into her dad. Can she get past her second year before she decides on the rest of her life?”

  “Right. Anyway, get what you can out of the school. You have the rest of your life to hang out with friends.”

  Shay leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Have some fun. The rest will fall into place. Life has a way of doing that.”

  She looked up at Brownstone, who tried his best not to smile and failed. “Some tomb raider. You sounded almost Zen.”

  “So shoot me. I’ve learned a few things. Isn’t that what we do? Pass it along?”

  Brownstone saw a young wizard smile at Alison as he crossed a different platform, inspiring him to start up again.

  Alison kept walking down the stairs, nodding and smiling and sipping her green lemonade. Shay continued to do her best to change the subject, but Alison didn’t really mind. Her biological father had been the worst person on Earth; he had tried to sell her to an Asian gang. Brownstone had not only rescued her but had also gone out of his way to do right by her. She could nod her way through a few lectures.

  She stepped off the stairs and walked over to stand in front of the shiny red train. Brownstone set her bag down and took a deep breath, still talking. “And listen to the headmistress. Stay out of the kemana unless necessary. There is a lot of dark magic being practiced right now, and I don’t want you caught in any crossfires. You’ve already been through enough.”

  “Okay, okay.” Shay swatted Brownstone. “You better give her a hug before she completely misses her train and you are still standing here giving her advice when winter break comes.”

  Brownstone pulled her in for a tight hug. She smiled with her head against his chest, thankful for her new life. She pulled back, and Shay grinned at her, putting her hands on her shoulders.

  “Be safe, and please don’t listen to this boring old man. Say hello to Izzie for us and go have fun with your friends. Make memories.”

  Alison laughed and hugged Shay, feeling the warmth of her human energy. “I’ll miss you guys.”

  “We’ll miss you too.” Shay sighed. “Now, go on, get on the train and get a good seat before the whole thing fills up.”

  Alison grabbed her bag and climbed on board, finding her way to the first seats on the right. She scooted across the empty seat to the window and looked out at Brownstone’s and Shay’s swirling energy. She smiled, seeing the hues of sadness swirling through Brownstone’s, but she also knew he was doing his best to maintain his serious look. She waved goodbye as the train started to inch forward. Suddenly it took off with a whoosh, blowing Shay’s hair back, leaving them standing alone on the platform.

  Alison settled in, putting her bag next to her and looked around at the magical energy all around her. The whole train was lit up with vibrant energy. The train moved fast, pushing her back against the seat.

  “Arriving in Kansas City, Missouri. Stand clear of the doors. Next stop, Charlottesville, Virginia.” The doors opened, and commuters rushed out as others waited impatiently, ready to stream inside. The trains made it possible for commuters to live a thousand miles from work and still get there in under an hour. People stood in the aisles and held onto the handrails attached to the ceiling as the train started up again. It made a few sharp turns and climbed for a while before slowly descending into the Charlottesville underground stop. It only took a matter of minutes to go the entire distance across the country.

  “Please watch the doors. Stopping in Charlottesville, Virginia. Next stop, Boston, Massachusetts,” the announcer’s voice blared overhead.

  Alison gathered her bags and headed off, following the swirling colors of the souls ahead of her. They started rising, so she knew there were stairs in front of her. She climbed the stairs, running her hand over the railing, taking what was becoming a very familiar path. She got close to the first platform and looked up, recognizing several souls ahead. She smiled widely and waved her hand in the air.

  “Peter, Ethan, Aya, Kathleen!”

  They all leaned over the side. “Hello! What took you so long?”

  “We were gonna send out a gargoyle to look for you.”

  “Ethan, we were not.”

  “We came halfway down the stairs to meet you.”

  She got to the platform and hugged each one, happy to see them. “Feels like it’s been forever. Facetiming isn’t the same. I missed you all! How was your summer?”

  “The best.” Kathleen sighed, smiling.

  “I just can’t believe we are sophomores now!” Aya cheered.

  “Hey, and that doesn’t come without its perks,” Peter replied. “We can now get passes to the kemana.”

  “We can go legit!” said Ethan.

  Aya grimaced. “I don’t know if that’s something I will be rushing to do after last year.”

  Alison smiled, and Aya took her hand, squeezing it. “It’s a new year, which means we can start over.”

  The students and parents packed the platform as they made their way up to head to the University of Virginia or the School of Necessary Magic.

  The line moved slowly, one step at a time, but Alison and the others were too busy chatting about their classes to even notice. When they reached the top, they walked through the hidden opening into the Starbucks located on the mall in downtown Charlottesville. The smell of chocolate wafted over them, and Aya slipped away to order a drink from the counter. The others stood to the side, waiting for her as they looked around the crowded coffee house.

  Alison could sense all the souls and the energy coursing from elves and gnomes, and the different witches and wizards’ wands, carefully hidden away, but always within reach, just in case.

  “Where is Emma?” Alison asked, noticing the fragrant smell
of Kathleen’s perfume.

  “Oh, her parents wanted to bring her directly to the school. I think they conjured a portal this year. Magical world’s idea of first-class travel. My parents would have done it—they hate the train—but they couldn’t make it this year. I told them just to put me on the train; I could use the time to read.”

  Alison laughed. “Hopefully you didn’t need too much time. It only took me twelve minutes to get from Los Angeles to Virginia on the red line.”

  “Took me thirty-two minutes from Paris, but by the time I got settled in, it was time to get unsettled.”

  “I’m sure.” Alison smirked.

  “All right, guys.” Aya walked over with her iced white mocha. “We can go catch the bus now.”

  Alison searched the crowd for Ethan’s and Peter’s souls and found them sitting at a table, surrounded by a crowd of graduate students from UVA, some of them alumni of the School of Necessary Magic. Kathleen smiled at a silver-haired elf who had cut his hair and spiked it on top. “I might go to UVA next,” she announced dreamily.

  “That guy won’t still be there, you know,” said Peter.

  “I haven’t even thought about college.” Alison looked at the UVA crowd. “I feel like I’m just starting to understand high school.”