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    Ordinary
    Ordinary
    Ordinary
    Ebook154 pages2 hours

    Ordinary

    By A.M. Kuska

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    About this ebook

    It’s not easy being magic-less in a magical world...fortunately not all jobs require the ability to enchant.

    Amy is carving a name for herself as a world class snoop. Want dirt on the governor’s daughter? Amy’s got it covered. Information on the Duke’s enemies? Fees apply. Facts on the magic thieves known as the Underground? Well, no. You’ll have to hire a hero for that.

    Unfortunately, by the time Bernard, an Invoker from the inner-city and also her brother, comes knocking on her door the heroes have all been murdered. Bernard needs Amy to figure out why the assassin's are killing off some of the city's most important people, and why. Not the easiest task for someone with no fighting skills and no magical powers to defend herself with. Amy turns the job down.

    At least she does until the Underground starts threatening Amy's own friends. As the body count rises, Amy has no choice but to try and stop them once and for all. The more she investigates, the more she suspects it may not be just the Underground at fault. Amy must figure out the truth before its too late, but the truth itself might be enough to destroy her.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA.M. Kuska
    Release dateApr 12, 2011
    ISBN9781458127297
    Ordinary
    Author

    A.M. Kuska

    A.M. Kuska lives and works in the beautiful state of Washington, where she lives with a dog, a husband, and a kid. She has had 4 short stories published, and received two honorable mentions in writing contest. (Writer's Weekly and Writer's of the Future.)

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      Book preview

      Ordinary - A.M. Kuska

      ORDINARY

      A.M. Kuska

      Copyright 2011 A.M. Kuska

      Smashwords Edition

      Chapter One

      Amy closed her eyes, and let the image of an owl fill her mind. It was a struggle to think of nothing else, but in the end her mind quieted and the sounds of the Tower’s courtyard faded away.

      She made the picture as clear as she could, building every detail of the creature in her head, until she could almost feel the softness of its feathers, hear the whisper of its flight. She drew that image over thoughts of her own human body, and willed it to change into the animal she saw in her head.

      A tingle ran down one of her legs. Amy’s heart leapt with excitement, but she kept her eyes closed and forced herself to maintain the image of an owl. The tingle changed to itching. Amy cracked open an eyelid. No wings. No tail. No change.

      She'd chosen the wrong animal, Amy told herself. She wasn't a magicless nobody. She just wasn't good at figuring out magic.

      Amy reached down to pull her boots off, just in case they covered up a feather or some other sign her magic had worked, and screamed when a large brown rat streamed out of a crack in one of the walls. She started to swat it away, and then spied the tattoo on each side of the animal's face, marking it as one of the shapeshifting mages she hoped to become.

      Rat! she yelled, her voice somewhere between a growl and a whine. Don't sneak up on me like that. You know I don't like it.

      The rat reared onto its hind legs, growing larger by the second. Tight black curls and dark skin soon replaced whiskers and fur, until it was a young boy who crouched in front of her. You should have seen your face. Were you dreaming about magic again?

      Amy didn't plan on admitting to anything. You think I want to kiss up to some high-level mage just to get retested? I don’t think so. I'd rather rely on my own skills.

      That at least, was true. She would rather rely on her own skills. It would just be a lot better if those skills involved sneaking around with magical assistance. Mages had all the luck.

      Rat grinned. It might be a good thing you don't have magic. You're clever enough at snooping into other people's business as it is. Imagine if you had a shape like mine. He got out a coin and twirled it. You'd be stealing Lady Heron's books yourself instead of telling me who did it.

      What?

      The coin revolved slowly on its silver rim. The Duke's face flashed at her in fine detail, followed by the curve of the Duke's mage tattoo on the back of the coin. She couldn't think when there was money right there in front of her.

      I can't read. Why would I know anything about books?

      To avoid looking at the coin, Amy studied her fingers. Long and feathery, she imagined, but they stayed the same. Maybe her innate magic leaned towards the huge and carnivorous. Maybe Bernard didn't want to help her for fear she'd rip his head off.

      Rat handed her the coin he'd been twirling. It fell into her palm, shiny and silver, the back side of the coin facing up. Lucky. She slid it into her pocket.

      I have such a poor memory. Books you said? Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing something about books. Yes, it was Noisy Ness herself who told me that Laura Catcher was active again. She's been peddling a lot of reading material. Pretty covers. Expensive looking.

      Of course she didn't know if all of them were pretty. The one she'd caught a glimpse of was beautiful. IT was bound in rich red leather with a sketch of a mage shape-shifting into a dragon stamped on it in shiny silver. She almost bought it for the pictures alone, but the price was four gold coins, and at the time she hadn't earned a copper in weeks.

      Laura Catcher you say, Rat encouraged.

      Yes, you won't find her at the Wolf Trap though, so don't bother. She's around town right now. I can't quite recall where she's staying. Hmm.

      Rat passed her another coin.

      Oh yes! Amy said, snapping her fingers, I remember now. She's staying with a friend. Leo is it? Leonard? Yes, Leonard.

      And where would we find this Leonard?

      All these questions! I can't be expected to remember everything.

      Amy, Rat whined. I'm running out of coins.

      She doubted that. Lady Heron paid her messengers well, and would have given him extra coins to buy the answers she wanted. Then again, Rat was a friend, even if he did rub his magic in Amy’s face. She would let him go for two coins---and a few more secrets.

      Talk then. You want to know where Laura is. I want to know any new, exciting, preferably salable details about what's happening on the other side of the gate.

      Rat grinned, that mischievous smile reserved for boys of trouble-making age. Well, he said, stretching out the word, I thought it'd be more fun to let you go up and find him yourself, but since you asked, your brother visited the Shadowfy this morning.

      Amy snorted. I already knew that, and you knew I knew that, or you wouldn't be checking a magic silo for a person like me.

      Yeah well, I just thought you'd like to know he's in your room right now, ransacking it.

      She had a sinking feeling he wasn't talking about the one at the inn. Here?

      Yeah, they're in the upper reaches of the tower. A couple of his apprentices are looking for trip wires. Bernard thinks you've got traps waiting for him. You didn't, did you?

      When was the last time I ever answered a question like that?

      Amy needed to think, and fast. There weren't many great places to hide in the silo. In fact, there was nothing except an old dead tree twisting its way to the ceiling, and pots that must have once contained plants strewn around the edges of the room. If Bernard invoked an opal to light the room, she would have nowhere to hide.

      Did you want me to stop him? Rat asked.

      No, I'll take care of it. She paused. Leonard lives in the matched houses nearest the main gate. If you can lead Bernard's friends away for a minute, I'll let you know how to recover one of the books. I believe it's the crown of the collection. You'll make a lot of money off it. Amy hesitated. But ask Lady Heron how much trouble she wants to get into first. They both belong to the Underground.

      Rat nodded, and whisked into his rodent form. He gave her a salute with one tiny paw, and then dove through the crack in the wall. She didn't bother to wait before approaching the inner stairway that led to her room. Rat worked fast when he wanted to.

      The smooth stone steps made no noise as she climbed them. Amy paused outside the splintered, timeworn door to listen. A cricket started chirping somewhere beyond the door, and she felt herself relaxing. It still might be a mage trying to fool her, but few mages stooped to taking on the habits of their animal form. The cricket was probably a real animal, and not a mage.

      A cautious peek revealed an empty hallway. Amy crept out, wincing as the cricket, half-hidden under a fallen tapestry, stopped chirping. No one came to investigate the cricket’s conspicuous absence.

      Amy moved down the hall to the abandoned storage room she had converted into a bedroom. The door stood open, revealing her brother and a very large mess. Everything was out of order on her favorite set of shelves, and some things were even on the floor. It looked as if a complete amateur had looted her.

      Did you want a word with me, Invoker? Amy purposefully didn’t call him brother.

      Bernard dropped the tiny puzzle box he'd almost finished opening and turned so fast the embroidered robes he wore flared outwards, knocking her leather washbowl off its stand. He cleared his throat. As it happens, I do. Are you alone?

      Of course, she lied, stooping to pick the box up as she passed him.

      She kicked Bernard's supply bag aside, taking satisfaction in the delicate crunch of something inside breaking. Amy’s lockpicks had been underneath it, and she bent to retrieve them.

      The picks looked okay, but her favorite tension wrench was bent. Five copper pieces to replace it, and at least a year to wear the grooves of familiarity into its handle. She placed it on her shelf, willing herself to stay calm, and crouched down to pick up the rest.

      What ever it is, the answer is no, Amy said.

      Bernard glanced out the door before he shut it tight. Don't you at least want to know what brought me out here?

      He'd found the basket of handkerchiefs she kept her mage-bombs in, but had not investigated past the first over-perfumed layer. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to the protection gods and pushed the container aside as if it were unimportant.

      No.

      The storage space hidden in the back of the shelves, where she kept her skeleton keys and a handful of blackmail items stood open a crack. Amy forced her eyes away from it. She could check and see how much he’d found later.

      Bernard moved to the window, scanning the world outside as if the crisp autumn frost would save him from answering for his deeds. I had to make sure you weren't already compromised. If they'd gotten here first all would be lost.

      Amy rolled her eyes and examined her desk for signs of intrusion. He'd already put some of his own things out. Paper, pen and inkwell crowded the surface she kept clear for making batches of Tongue-Loose Tea. Amy helped herself to the page Bernard had started writing on.

      I know it’s hard to believe, but things don’t work the same way in Rotgut Alley as it does on Noble Street. People don’t try and kidnap me hoping to learn our family secrets. They pay me to answer questions.

      She'd hoped to see Bernard turn a suitable shade of red, but he didn't. Instead, he turned from the window and nodded to the paper in her hand.

      Amy glanced down, expecting to see indecipherable words, and frowned at the simple drawing she found instead. Bernard had sketched the tattoo of a wildcat in bold brush strokes. It was a symbol Amy was familiar with on many levels. It belonged to her most savage opponent in the information trade.

      She met Bernard's gaze. There was more to the symbol than just a warning that Trenton was there, spying on them. Bernard was out of magic, or he’d have gotten rid of Trenton himself. What ever Bernard needed to talk to her about, it was serious.

      Amy set the drawing back down on her desk, and swept her gaze over the tiny room she’d holed up in. Without magic she couldn’t counter a spell for invisibility, or sense the presence of someone else’s life force. Fortunately, there were other ways to detect hiding mages. Amy reached for the small set of billows kept on her lowest shelf, and pumped the handles vigorously as she spun around the room.

      Flour poured out of the open end in a foggy white mist, blanketing everything, including the man concealed by her door.

      The man cursed and jerked the door open, his free hand making jagged signs as he escaped. Amy felt her heart lurch. Shape-shifters didn’t draw symbols in the air to change their shape. Invokers didn’t either. She glanced at Bernard, wondering what

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