Much Ado About Magic Read online

  MUCH ADO ABOUT MAGIC

  Shanna Swendson

  MUCH ADO ABOUT MAGIC

  Shanna Swendson

  Copyright © 2012

  All Rights Reserved.

  AGENCY INFORMATION

  NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Writers struggle to support themselves. Please help them by buying their books from legitimate sources. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Also by Shanna Swendson

  Books in the Enchanted, Inc. Series:

  Enchanted, Inc.

  Once Upon Stilettos

  Damsel Under Stress

  Don’t Hex with Texas

  Much Ado About Magic

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  About the Author

  An Excerpt from No Quest for the Wicked

  Chapter One

  I was lost in an underground maze, getting more turned around at every corner. A sea of dead-eyed zombies surrounded me, making me feel like I was swimming upstream. And the unearthly wailing was really getting on my last nerve.

  I didn’t remember the Union Square subway station being this confusing, or had I been gone from New York too long? It had only been about four months—four months of driving to work, aboveground, in an old pickup truck and with no traffic to speak of. Was that long enough to lose my subway navigation skills?

  I started to head down a flight of stairs, only to realize they went to the uptown tracks. I needed downtown. Morning commuters swarmed past me, ignoring my frustration in their mindless, relentless journey to work.

  I caught my bearings and headed back the way I’d come, past the woman responsible for that creepy keening sound that sent chills up my spine. It was way too early in the day to have to listen to a musical saw, I thought.

  Finally, I found the right set of stairs and headed down to wait for a train. I checked my watch, then remembered that I wasn’t running late because I didn’t technically have a job. I was merely going to see if my old company would take me back, and for that, I didn’t have to be there precisely at the start of business hours. They weren’t even expecting me.

  A train pulled into the station, and I let myself get pushed on board by the flood of commuters. I’d missed a lot of things about New York, but this wasn’t one of them. The subways hadn’t miraculously become better smelling or less crowded while I’d been gone. The commuters on the train with me hadn’t changed much, either. There were the business-suited types heading to the financial district of lower Manhattan, a few downtown hipsters, a couple of fairies, and an elf. Once upon a time, the fairies and elf would have startled me, but now they were just part of the landscape.

  One of the fairies smirked—not at anyone in particular, but rather in that way that generally means that someone’s up to something or thinks she knows something no one else does. At the same time, a strange tingling sensation made me shiver. Someone nearby was using magic.

  I tried to play it cool as I casually glanced around the subway car, looking for any sign of magical activity. A man near me had an odd, glassy-eyed look, but was that from a late night and insufficient morning caffeine levels, or was he under the influence of a spell? My question was answered when he lurched forward and took the wallet out of a nearby man’s pocket. The victim didn’t seem to notice anything as the thief moved toward the smirking fairy.

  I grabbed the unwilling pickpocket’s arm and said into his ear, “Hey! Do you really want to do that?” The thief blinked, lost his glassy-eyed look, and stared in shock and horror at the wallet he held.

  Before he could do anything, the victim patted his pockets, then his eyes widened and he lunged toward the pickpocket, shouting, “Thief!”

  The thief’s mouth opened and closed, as if he was trying to come up with an explanation, but he still hadn’t spoken by the time the wallet’s owner reached him. But then a few other commuters took on that glassy-eyed stare and, moving jerkily like marionettes, they blocked his path.

  I moved myself between the unwitting thief and the spell-casting fairy as a fight broke out and then spread from the enchanted people to the rest of the car. In the chaos, I squeezed between fighters, took the wallet out of the still-shaken thief’s hand, and then wormed my way to the victim, ducking a roundhouse punch and sidestepping a misguided attempt at a karate chop.

  I had to tug on the victim’s sleeve a few times to get his attention before I could drag him out of the fight and give him his wallet. “I thought you might want this back,” I said.

  He started to thank me, but in mid-sentence he went glassy-eyed and before I could react, he had his hands around my throat. I instinctively grabbed his wrists, but he was bigger and stronger than I was, and I suspected his strength was magically enhanced. I hated hurting someone I knew was an innocent victim, but I preferred to breathe, so I kicked him firmly in the shin, then jabbed his ankle with the heel of my shoe.

  He let go and backed away. Over his shoulder I saw the trouble-making fairy give me a look that could have set fire to dry grass. I felt a wave of magic hit me, but since I’m immune to magic, it had no effect. The lack of effect definitely had an effect on the fairy. Magical immunes are rare, and most of us who are in on the magical secret (instead of in mental institutions, where people who think they see fairies and elves tend to end up) work for the good guys of the magical world, a company called Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. MSI doesn’t sanction using magic for harm or for doing things like making other people steal for you.

  The theft victim went after another guy, who pulled something that looked like a keychain out of his pocket and waved it in the air. Everyone—including the theft victim—lost the glassy look and most quit trying to kill each other, though the fight had taken on a life of its own and some people were still throwing punches even without the magical trigger. The would-be thieving fairy rolled her eyes and sighed, then slipped out of the train when it stopped at Canal Street.

  The guy who’d stopped the fight must have noticed me staring. “This is coming in handy,” he said, holding up the keychain-like thing. “I got it at Spellworks, and it helps counter these influence spells people have been using lately. You should get one.” Spellworks was the rival to MSI, and their spokesman, Phelan Idris, had been Public Enemy No. 1 for MSI until he surrendered the week before. Obviously, losing their spokesman hadn’t slowed them down, but I was surprised that they’d actually sold something that used magic to help or protect people. That wasn’t their usual style, so I smelled a rat. They had to be up to something.

 
; “I’ll look into that,” I said, edging my way toward a door so I could escape at the City Hall stop. Couldn’t he have used his gizmo before someone tried to strangle me?

  Once I was safely aboveground, I took a moment to collect my breath. I wasn’t even back at work yet, and I was right in the middle of the magical war. It was a good thing I had a history with the company, I thought as I inventoried the damage to my appearance. I’d have been sunk if this had been a real job interview. My hair had been neatly pinned up, but pieces had come loose around my face and neck. I had a run all the way up one leg of my pantyhose, the sleeve of my blouse was ripped, and I could feel bruises forming on my neck.

  Yes, this was exactly the way I wanted to present myself to my former employer and ask for my job back.

  With a sigh, I limped across the park and headed toward the castle-like building that was the headquarters of Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. Each step I took toward the building made my heart beat faster, and I wasn’t sure if I was more excited or nervous. I’d been dreaming about coming back for months, and while I’d been told there’d always be a place for me, I wasn’t sure where that place would be. Would I be starting all over again in the company’s depressing verification department, or would I be able to pick up where I’d left off?

  Sam, the gargoyle sitting on the building’s awning, leaned forward when he saw me coming. “What happened to you, doll?” he asked.

  “Commuting was even more brutal than I remembered,” I said, giving him what I hoped was a wry smile. Then, more seriously, I added, “I didn’t realize things were so bad here. They’re openly using those dark spells now.”

  “Yeah, there’s quite the crime wave going on.”

  “And I thought it would get easier once we caught Idris. But is Spellworks selling protective charms to fight their own dark spells?”

  “That’s their new thing. They’re stirring things up and playin’ both sides.”

  “So they’re spreading the virus, and then selling antivirus software to fight it? I guess it’s a good business model, if you have no conscience.”

  “And it’s givin’ us fits. Looks like you picked a good time to come back.”

  “Or maybe I picked a really, really bad time.” I pushed open the heavy wooden door and went inside.

  The security guard in the lobby let me pass without challenge even though I wasn’t officially an employee, which was encouraging. I headed up the stairs to the executive suite where my office was—well, had been. “Oh, there you are, Katie,” said Trix, the executive receptionist, as I approached her desk to ask if the boss was in. “You’re late for the meeting.”

  “What meeting?” I asked. “I don’t work here. That’s why I came today, to talk to the boss about getting my job back. Or, well, getting a job at all.”

  “And you think he didn’t know you’d be here? He wants you in the main conference room downstairs. You remember how to get there?”

  I thought I did. That was where I’d had my job interview at this company, more than half a year ago. It was also where I’d first learned that magic was real and that I was immune to it, which turned out to be a pretty valuable power. I couldn’t zap things into existence or make trains come when I wanted them, but I could see past any illusion, and no one could use magic on me. I headed down the stairs and hoped something would look familiar to me along the way.

  If I’d thought the Union Square station was a maze when I didn’t quite have my city bearings back, the office building was even worse. It didn’t help that I was mentally, as well as physically, confused. How could I be running late to a meeting I didn’t know about when I didn’t even have a job and nobody was supposed to know I’d be at the office that day?

  I apparently hadn’t forgotten everything, since I rounded a corner and found myself at the conference room. I took a deep breath to steady myself before opening the door. This conference room was imposing on any occasion. The Knights of the Round Table would have felt right at home in it. The vaulted ceiling with banners hanging from it made the room look regal. It was not a room you wanted to walk into late for a meeting that was already in progress. Most of the seats around the table were taken, with the heads of almost every department in the company present.

  Every one of those heads turned to look at me. I was painfully conscious of looking like I’d just been in a fight. That wasn’t the best way to enter a meeting of department heads on my first day back at the company. I automatically searched the room for the person I most wanted to see, Owen Palmer, who usually represented the Research and Development department at meetings like this. He was there, looking his usual ridiculously handsome self in a dark suit. Owen was one of the company’s resident geniuses and overall magical whizzes. He was also my boyfriend.

  Mr. Mervyn, the boss, crossed the room to greet me. “Miss Chandler, I am so pleased to have you back with us,” he said, clasping his hands around my right hand. Ambrose Mervyn is his name in modern English, but he’s best known as Merlin. Yes, that one, King Arthur and all. I’m not sure exactly how true any of the legends are, but I do know that Merlin is real, that he really is a wizard, and that he spent about a thousand years in a magical coma before he was brought back to run the company he started all those centuries ago.

  “It’s good to be back, sir,” I said, glad he hadn’t asked why I was such a mess. Then again, this was Merlin, so he probably already knew. I had a ton of questions, namely exactly what job he thought I was doing and what role I had in this meeting. It wasn’t the sort of question I wanted to ask in front of all these people. Merlin escorted me toward a seat as I discreetly tried to tidy my hair. Once seated, I was grateful for the cover of the conference table so my ruined stockings didn’t show.

  Owen caught my eye, smiled, then frowned and gestured toward his neck. I unconsciously mirrored his gesture and winced when I touched the developing bruises from the subway incident. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile and mouthed, “I’m okay.” He nodded in response, but still looked worried.

  Kim, the magical immune who’d taken my place as Merlin’s assistant, was seated behind the boss, her steno pad and pen at the ready, so I guessed my role in this meeting wasn’t to take notes and capture action items. What, then, was I supposed to do? I’d heard about expecting new employees to be able to hit the ground running, but they usually got a job description first.

  The door opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered man strode in like he owned the place. Merlin rose to greet him. “Mr. Ramsay, what a surprise,” he said, his tone coolly cordial.

  Most of the people in the meeting looked up with welcoming smiles, like they knew and liked the new guy. He worked his way around the table, shaking hands and exuding good-hearted warmth. In a group full of unusual-looking beings, Ramsay stood out. He appeared to be in his sixties, though considering that Merlin was at least a thousand and didn’t look a day over eighty, that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He wore his thick white hair slicked back into a ponytail fastened at the nape of his neck, and his fingers were covered in heavy silver rings. He’d look at home in Western wear at a Santa Fe art gallery or in a slick, European-tailored suit at a sidewalk café in Milan. In generic—but expensive—American business attire, he looked a little out of place.

  When he reached me in his circuit around the table, he stopped. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “I’m Ivor Ramsay.”

  “Mr. Ramsay is my predecessor as chief executive,” Merlin explained. “Ivor, this is Katie Chandler.”

  Ramsay smiled at me in a way that made me feel he knew more about me and my role in the company than I did. “Ah, the famous Miss Chandler. I’ve heard so much about you.” He gave my hand a firm squeeze as he shook it.

  “All good, I hope,” I said.

  “Oh, most definitely.” He gave another of those knowing smiles, this one tinged with amusement, as if he was laughing at some private joke. “It sounds like you made a big impact in t
he time you were here, so it’s good that you’re back.” He finished his circuit and someone quickly moved out of the way so he could sit next to Merlin.

  Merlin began with a quick overview of Spellworks’s latest gambit to sell protection against their own dark spells. Then he turned to me and said, “Miss Chandler, it appears that marketing may remain our best immediate strategy to hold off their attempts to gain inroads. Do you have any ideas?”

  I shook my head to clear the confusion. Being asked for a plan in a meeting I didn’t know about was the kind of thing I had nightmares about, though in those nightmares I was usually wearing my nightgown—or less.

  Okay, marketing, I told myself. I could do this. That was my area of expertise. “I don’t have a good sense of the current situation, since I’ve been away awhile, but we may have passed the point of just saying we’ve been in business longer and, by the way, don’t do bad magic. I’d have to do some research to come up with a plan.” And, you know, find my desk and get some coffee, but I’d never say that to Merlin in front of everyone.

  At that moment, a cup of coffee materialized on the table in front of me. I looked up to see Owen winking at me. Then a bright pink flush rose from his collar to his hairline, and he had to look back down at the table. I’d only dated him a short time, but I’d gotten to know him pretty well and I was fairly certain that he couldn’t read minds. He did, however, have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly where I’d be and what I’d need at any given point in time—a handy trait for a boyfriend.

  Ramsay leaned back in his chair, making it creak alarmingly. “What we need here is a big idea,” he said, gesturing expansively. “We can’t beat these guys by being subtle. It’s time for an all-out effort to let the magical world know who we are, what we do, and why. We need to find a way to let everyone know this, all at once.”

  “Do you have any specific ideas?” Merlin asked with an edge to his voice. I knew he wasn’t the type to say something like, “Well, duh!” but the concept was certainly implied in his tone.