The 1st episode is up
I’ve been having fun writing another story about supernaturals. Magic Hills is a town filled with a variety of them–witches, vampires, and shifters all living together. I’m eight chapters in and have enough to post two or three of them a week on Vella, so I put up the first one. Vella is for serialized stories, so I’ve tried to make each chapter punchier than most of my cozy mysteries. In cozies, I can spend time on looking for clues and talking to suspects. I can enjoy a more leisurely pace. For HIDDEN MAGIC, I want the book to move faster, so I thought I’d post its opening here. I hope you like it:
A spot between Allura’s shoulder blades prickled. She had the uncomfortable feeling that someone was following her. She’d glanced over her shoulder several times, but no one was there. She was nearly to the edge of town, walking home, when she heard footsteps pounding toward her. She whirled to face who was coming but still saw nothing. No matter. She threw up her hands and blasted her magic. She heard a smack and then something heavy hit the pavement.
A man materialized and rose onto an elbow, shaking his head. He glared at her and then sprang to his feet. His tall, lean body shifted and a monstrous wolf narrowed its yellow eyes. Its lips pulled back in a snarl.
A shifter. But more. How did he make himself invisible? She braced her feet, calling on more magic, then drew a circle around herself and waited. He raced at her, hit her protective spell, and bounced backward. His neck was at a crooked angle. When he shifted back into a man, he looked really irritated. He winced as he rubbed his strained muscles, and as she watched, his neck healed. Even for a shifter, it healed faster than usual. If she’d judged rightly, he’d broken it and should be dead. But he wasn’t. What was he?
With raven-black hair and eyes even a deeper blue than her own, chiseled cheeks and a square jawline, he was good-looking, but the stubborn slant of that jaw told her that he wasn’t going to give up. He stood and put his hands on his hips.
“If you give yourself up, we won’t have to prolong this. I’ll just take you to High Court, and they can decide what to do with you.”
She frowned. “Who are you? And why are you bothering me?”
He reached into his back pocket, removed a wallet, and opened it, showing her his badge. “I’m Chase Ayre, a ranger sent to track a supernatural killer who’s left a lot of dead mortals in her wake. I’ve finally found her.” He pulled a pair of handcuffs off his belt. Not any handcuffs, the type that canceled magic.
“Don’t take a step toward me. You’d better stop now,” Allura warned him, “before I hurt you. And if I don’t, they will.” She pointed to the people coming out of their shops to watch what was happening.
“Why are you trying to arrest Allura?” a man called from the sidewalk. “She hasn’t left town for a decade.”
Chase lifted his head and sniffed. “Impossible. She has the scent I’ve been following through three states. How do you explain that?” A good question. People looked at each other, shaking their heads. Could two people have the same scent?
