Cold Case Of The Witch: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (School of Necessary Magic Raine Campbell Book 5) Read online

  Cold Case Of The Witch

  School of Necessary Magic Raine Campbell™ Book 05

  Judith Berens

  Martha Carr

  Michael Anderle

  Cold Case Of The Witch (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 © 2019 Judith Berens, Martha Carr and Michael Anderle

  Cover by Fantasy Book Design

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  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, March 2019

  The Oriceran Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright © 2017-19 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

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Free Books!

  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Other series in the Oriceran Universe:

  Books by Michael Anderle

  Connect with The Authors

  Cold Case of the Witch Team

  Thanks to our beta reading team

  Mary Morris, Kelly O'Donnell, Nicole Emens and Larry Omans

  Thanks to the JIT Readers

  Misty Roa

  Daniel Weigert

  Keith Verret

  Diane L. Smith

  Jeff Eaton

  Micky Cocker

  Angel LaVey

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

  Editor

  The Skyhunter Editing Team

  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.

  Chapter One

  Raine stepped into the narrow hallway and licked her lips, more nervous than she’d anticipated. She cast furtive glances at the long lines of people standing in front of the Starbucks counter, desperate for their morning caffeine. Everyone waited patiently for their drinks and nobody paid her any attention. That didn’t prevent the paranoia that threatened below her calm.

  Cameron carried both their suitcases and leaned forward to whisper, “Don’t worry, Raine. If the train’s stayed a secret this long, you won’t be the one who ruins it. Take a deep breath and keep going.”

  A small ripple of relief passed through her. Having her boyfriend accompany her helped to ease the nervousness of traveling to the school on the magical train rather than the usual drive with Agent Connor. It wasn’t her first time on the train, but it was her first time using it for the journey to the school.

  Raine waited a few moments until she could almost believe that people somehow paid even less attention than the none from before and ventured into the hallway. Cameron followed and together, they strode to the end and stepped through the hidden entrance.

  The wall gave way to a wooden platform from which crisscrossing stairs led down to the tracks and main station below. A Wood Elf woman in a flowing floral-print dress frowned as Raine almost barreled into her.

  “Watch where you’re going, girl,” the woman said, her face pinched in a frown. She adjusted her purse and sniffed disdainfully.

  “Sorry, but there was a wall in the way.”

  “Then walk slower.”

  “Sure, but—” Raine blinked as she looked around and finally took in the entire area around her. “What the heck?”

  Magicals jam-packed the platform. They formed a line all the way down the stairs. A chaotic din of overlapping voices in dozens of languages filled the air. The Wood Elf woman was penned in by two winged arpaks, who stood behind six twenty-something wizards all in colorful jerseys.

  Cameron peered at the scene and a frown settled on his face. “I knew it.”

  “You knew what?” While she had ridden the train a few times, she’d never, ever seen a station so filled with people. “Is something special going on?” She stepped to the side to avoid someone walking into her from the Starbucks.

  The shifter stared at her with utter shock. “You seriously don’t know?” He laughed. “You didn’t mention it, but I assumed you’d paid attention.” He shook his head.

  Raine rolled her eyes. “You’d need magic to be vaguer than you are right now.”

  “The first match of the IPLL. It’s taking place in Washington D.C.”

  Raine tossed the acronym around in her head for a few moments before she gasped. “The new International Pro-Louper League?”

  “Exactly.” He nodded. “The Washington Wyrms will take on the Chicago Comets to kick off the first game of the Eastern US Division. I can’t believe you forgot. We talked about it for about an hour last week.”

  “I was excited to go back to school, and it’s not like you mentioned it these last few days.” She stuck her hands on her hips in defiance. “You’ve been really quiet recently. Was it about the game?”

  “No, it was because I was a little nervous. It was great staying at your house for that week, but I swear, your uncle…” Cameron shrugged and the suitcases rose and fell with his shoulders. “Half the time, he was super-nice to me, and the other half, it was like he wa
nted to put an ankle bracelet on me.” He frowned. “Do you think he doesn’t trust me because I’m a shifter?”

  “I don’t think it has anything to do with that.” Raine laughed. “It’s because you’re a boy and specifically, my boyfriend. If it weren’t for Agent Connor, there was no way he’d even let you stay in the house, even if it was just for a week.”

  “Oh, good point.” Cameron averted his eyes and blushed. “I didn’t even think about it that way.”

  A red train arrived shrouded in billowing clouds of thick steam. The doors opened a moment later, and people pushed their way onto the mostly empty cars. It wasn’t that surprising that there were more travelers heading to D.C. than those from Grand Rapids. She assumed that most people who clogged the station were from somewhere else and transferring.

  Four robed lizard men from a species she didn’t recognize stepped off the train. They hissed something to each other in their native language. She pitied them as they tried to make their way through the thick crowd.

  As passengers boarded the train, the line on the stairs and platform began to move.

  “Thank you.” Raine took her suitcase from Cameron. “But you didn’t have to carry this.”

  “It’s the least I can do.” He shrugged but relinquished her luggage before they started down the stairs. Several more people stepped onto the platform ahead of them.

  Raine and Cameron made it all the way to the loading zone before the train closed its doors and instantly departed to disappear in another cloud of smoke. She didn’t worry. It wouldn’t be that long before the next train, and as long as they arrived at the School of Necessary magic that day, they wouldn’t get into trouble.

  “This is cruel,” Cameron muttered. “Terrible.”

  “What? Do you see something?” She jerked her head back and forth, ready to intervene in whatever injustice might be occurring at the train station.

  “No. It’s them making us go to school on the first day of the start of pro-Louper.” He shook his head, disappointment heavy on his face. “It’s a sad day to be a Louper fan. Still, I’m glad to see that Adrien’s the new captain of the Cardinals.”

  She patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I know we don’t have TVs that get signals or the Internet at the school, but maybe there’s some sort of magical link or something—some way to watch. It’s magic-related, so they might go the extra mile.”

  “I doubt it,” the shifter said glumly. “Once we get to that school, they’ll lock us down. No pro-Louper. What a rip-off.”

  Raine grimaced. She needed to cheer him up, and quickly. While she liked Louper, she was more concerned about FBI training, magic, and getting back to the library. Her breath caught as she remembered something.

  “You’re forgetting something important.” She smiled.

  “What?”

  “We’re juniors now. Remember? We talked about this the other day.”

  Cameron furrowed his brow but in the next instant, his eyes widened. “And we can leave the school grounds. Even if we can’t go to the matches, we could go to the library in Charlottesville or something and watch future matches on the Internet. Nice. Good catch, Raine.”

  A Willen passed by, and Raine watched him for a moment and couldn’t help but wonder if he was up to no good. It wasn’t as if the creatures were bad, but they unfortunately did have a different understanding of what constituted theft compared to many other species. At least he didn’t wear a red coat.

  The Oriceran disappeared into the crowd in the direction of a hot dog cart tucked away in the corner.

  She returned her attention to her boyfriend. “Sure, but once school starts, we’ll probably be too busy to worry much about sports, even pro-Louper.”

  Cameron shook his head. “I’ve only talked about this a million times. I don’t think you get how exciting this is. Not all of us have a one-track mind about the FBI. I can’t believe you studied case files during summer vacation. Agent Connor works you too hard.”

  “I asked him for more case files because I knew I’d have more free time.” Her cheeks heated. “I have a lot to live up to, but I did want your help for something.”

  “Wait. Help with FBI training?”

  Raine nodded. “I need help to work out. I practice my martial arts when I have a chance, but it wouldn’t hurt if I was a little fitter.” She shrugged. “I want to be top of my class when I go to the FBI Academy. As the first open witch in the bureau, I need to be the best example of everything it means to be in the FBI.”

  “You do realize that’s still six years away?” Cameron eyed her with disbelief. “There’s preparation, and there’s going overboard.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?” He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She leaned closer to whisper. “Agent Connor’s talked with some people at the bureau. He told me they’re really interested in having me sooner, and they’re willing to make some special exceptions provided he makes sure I’ve done certain things beforehand.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like all the training he’s having me do. In the next couple of years, on top of my magical training, he’ll help to make sure I’m basically a fully trained FBI agent before I show up at the FBI Academy.” Raine took a deep breath and tried not to bounce with excitement. “I’ll have to put in a lot of extra work, but he says it’s a real possibility after graduation.”

  Cameron smiled. “Congratulations, Raine.” He blinked. “Wait. That’s still two years away. That’s better than six, but it’s not soon, either.”

  “And I can never start perfecting myself too soon.” She looked up as three pulsating pyramids of light flew overhead, unsure if they were alive or quite what they were. They flew to the platform and in a flash, transformed into three normal-looking men in suits and entered the Starbucks. That solved the mystery.

  “Fine.” There was pride in the shifter’s eyes. “I’ll help you. It’s not like you’re out of shape, to begin with, so it’ll be easy to push you to the next level.” He grinned. “But don’t complain later.”

  “I won’t. At least, I won’t complain a lot.”

  A new train arrived and came to a stop.

  Raine beamed, her happiness hard to contain. She was certain Agent Connor would be able to arrange her special admittance to the FBI. Not only that, it was a new year at the School of Necessary Magic. Nine months with all her friends, her boyfriend, self-improvement, and the best library in the country, in her opinion.

  The crowd moved forward, and the two students shuffled with it.

  All she had to do was get through the year without any weird trouble.

  That could happen. A school filled with magic should be able to pull off a few miracles now and again.

  Chapter Two

  Boarding the train proved the only difficult part of the journey to the school. Raine and Cameron stepped off the jitney in the circle drive and a thick crowd of students and their parents was already there.

  She inhaled deeply through her nose. “It even smells magical here.”

  Cameron snort-laughed. “I think that’s because it’s in the middle of the woods, not the magic.”

  “Just saying.”

  She looked around for her friends and spotted a girl she didn’t recognize—a pale young elf with a flower backpack clutched to her shoulder. The freshman girl’s long, cyan hair stood out, and the complete absence of any roots and matching eyebrows suggested it was natural, but she had no idea what kind of elf she was. The girl maneuvered among some of the other students and parents, her gaze fixed on the ground. When she raised her head for a moment, Raine made eye contact.

  “Huh,” she said.

  One of the girl’s eyes was green, and the other was red. Raine’s stomach knotted. She’d spotted another girl—a witch, from what she remembered—with heterochromia leaving last semester, but it didn’t have to mean anything. It wasn’t like dangerous tutorial faeries were the only ones who had special eyes, and she’
d not personally inspected the eyes of every student on campus, especially the new arrivals.

  The elf girl’s eyes widened, and she lowered her head with a jerk. She hurried toward the entrance to the main building with surprising dexterity as she weaved between other students and their parents.

  Raine sighed. The poor freshman girl was probably terrified on her first day at school. She didn’t need suspicious FBI trainees thinking less of her because of an unusual physical feature.

  “What’s wrong?” Cameron asked.

  “Nothing. I’m only looking for trouble everywhere when I shouldn’t.”

  He grinned. “That’s the Raine we all know and love.”

  Raine pushed into her dorm room. Evie and Sara already sat inside on the edge of a bed, chatting. Once she’d set her suitcase down, both girls hopped up and rushed over to her for the obligatory beginning of semester hugs. Even though the friends had been in contact over the vacation, it wasn’t the same as seeing each other in person.