A Plague of Leprechauns
Portals, #6
by P.L. Blair
Date of Publication: 2019
Publisher: Studio See
Cover Artist: Pam See
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Detective
BLURB
Someone has found a way to steal gold from a Leprechaun – leaving a trail of bodies across Corpus Christi, Texas.
Someone has found a way to steal gold from a Leprechaun – leaving a trail of bodies across Corpus Christi, Texas.
It’s up to Kat Morales and her
elf partner, Tevis McLeod, to find the thief, stop the killings, restore the
gold to its rightful owner – while keeping themselves from becoming victims to
murder and the curse of a Leprechaun’s gold.
Excerpt:
Harry
Anderson stared at the object on the countertop. Frowned. Lifted the frown to
the kid on the other side of the counter. “You're prankin' me, right? Freakin'
puttin' me on! A bag? You want me to give you money for a freakin' bag?”
“Not
... money.” The kid stared into Harry's face. He looked eighteen, might've been
in his twenties. Early twenties. Probably been smoking, shooting, snorting
since he was ten or eleven.
Harry
stared back. In the old days, he would've been suspicious as hell, some kid
coming into his place wanting goods. It was the kind of thing that had sting
written all over it.
But
this was now, and Harry had paid a Practitioner plenty to set wardings all over
the place to go off – silently, something only Harry could hear – when a cop
entered. Even a cop gone undercover. This kid wasn't a cop. And …
A
bag?
Still
... never hurt to be cautious. “I run a pawn shop, kid. Money's all I got,
unless you're lookin' to trade for somethin' else I got around here.” The sweep
of his hand included the jewelry and watches in his cases, old guitars hanging
from the walls, bicycles, lawn mowers ... junk. “And that bag ain't gonna get
you anything.”
“I
got friends who say you have stuff you reserve for ... uh ...” the kid leaned
forward, lowered his voice, “special customers.”
“Friends,”
Harry echoed. Oh hell, this was getting good! What'd the kid want? Weed? Crack?
Cherry? Maybe cherry – yeah. Some of that new stuff finding its way from the
other side of the Portals.
“They
say you sell Dust,” the kid whispered.
“Dust.”
Harry blinked at him. “Pixie Dust? You ever used that stuff?”
The
kid shook his head. “But my friends say it's awesome!”
“Yeah,”
Harry agreed drily. “And awesome-damned expensive. You know what that bag's
worth, kid? Zip. Zero. Nada.”
“It's
a Magic bag.”
The
pawn shop owner grinned. “Yeah, right.” He gave the bag another look: nine, ten
inches long, a little wider than his hand, made of some kind of velvety-looking
material – dark blue. Tied with a silvery-blue cord. Pretty thing – yeah; he'd
go with that.
But
... magic?
“I'll
show you.” The kid snatched the bag off the counter, shoved his hand inside.
And
kept shoving: into the bag past his wrist ... his elbow ... up his arm nearly
to his skinny shoulder.
He
extracted his hand, dropped the bag on the counter. Dropped another object on
the counter beside it: a coin. About the size of a nickel. Harry blinked at the
kid, picked up the coin. It didn't look like any coin he'd ever seen –
somebody's face on one side, odd markings on both sides. The metal the coin was
made of ... Harry gave it the bite test.
Gold.
Some
part of him had already known it would be. He gave the kid another look – hard,
eyes narrow. He held the coin between thumb and forefinger. “Where the hell did
you get this?”
The
kid flicked a hand at the bag. “See for yourself.”
“Stick
my hand in there.” Harry stared at him.
The
kid made a face, and stuck his own hand in again. When the hand emerged, it
overflowed with coins. Gold coins. Just like the one he'd pulled out the first
time.
The
world did a sideways slip under Harry's feet. Old memories stirring ... He
pushed them down. Picked up the bag, shook it. Nothing. Turned it upside down.
Nothing. How the hell ... He glowered at the kid; if this was some kind of
trick ... This was January, either way too hell early or way too late for
Halloween, and Harry took a dim view of pranksters. He thrust his hand into the
bag.
He
couldn't feel the bottom. Nothing. Empty space. He jerked his hand out again.
The
kid gave him a nervous grin. “Yeah, I did that too,” he said. “The first time.”
First
time? How many times had the kid dipped into this thing? Harry didn't ask. He
took a breath and shoved his hand in again ... to the wrist ... the elbow ...
up his arm. The bag just kept going.
Then
...
His
fingers touched something. Something hard. Cold. Small, round objects … Coins.
Had to be … Lots of coins. Dozens ... maybe hundreds. He could feel them under
his fingertips, a pile of coins. He thrust his hand as far into the pile as he
could go – and felt still more coins underneath.
His
hand came out full, dripping coins onto the counter top, a few escaping into
the bag, but Harry didn't mind. He knew how to find them. He stared at the gold
in his hand, the coins that'd spilled onto the counter. Gold coins. Just like
the ones he'd already seen. Freakin' gold coins like some kind of pirate's
treasure – all high-grade stuff, if Harry knew anything at all about his
business. Which he did.
That’s the background for my Portals books. In our distant past, the gateways – the Portals – that separate our human world from the other stood open, allowing the inhabitants of that other world free access to our own. That’s why we have legends of wizards, elves, ogres, dragons. Those creatures are real, and once upon a time, they moved among our human ancestors, wielding their magic for both good and evil.
Then, also a very long time ago, the wizards worked a great Magic and forced the Portals to close. Magic faded from the human world and with the passage of time, we forgot the reality of the other world. Its inhabitants became the stuff of our myths and legends, fairy tales for children.
But then, in recent years, the Portals reopened of their own accord. And that’s the beginning of my books. The creatures on the Other Side of the Portals – the creatures that humans relegated to myths and legends – are once more crossing from their world to ours, bringing their Magic with them.
My books are an exploration of what could happen under such circumstances, especially if some of the creatures used their magic for dark purposes. They’re written for escape, no deep meanings or messages, just a chance to get away into another place for a while.
My hope is that you, my readers, have as much fun reading them as I have in their writing.
*****
The Worlds of Portals
Adjacent to our own world, but separated from our world by gateways, is another world that’s somewhat similar but with one very large difference. Magic rules this other world. Wizards, elves, ogres and goblins – all of the creatures of our myths and most fantastic dreams – and our worst nightmares – exist on this other world.That’s the background for my Portals books. In our distant past, the gateways – the Portals – that separate our human world from the other stood open, allowing the inhabitants of that other world free access to our own. That’s why we have legends of wizards, elves, ogres, dragons. Those creatures are real, and once upon a time, they moved among our human ancestors, wielding their magic for both good and evil.
Then, also a very long time ago, the wizards worked a great Magic and forced the Portals to close. Magic faded from the human world and with the passage of time, we forgot the reality of the other world. Its inhabitants became the stuff of our myths and legends, fairy tales for children.
But then, in recent years, the Portals reopened of their own accord. And that’s the beginning of my books. The creatures on the Other Side of the Portals – the creatures that humans relegated to myths and legends – are once more crossing from their world to ours, bringing their Magic with them.
My books are an exploration of what could happen under such circumstances, especially if some of the creatures used their magic for dark purposes. They’re written for escape, no deep meanings or messages, just a chance to get away into another place for a while.
My hope is that you, my readers, have as much fun reading them as I have in their writing.
*****
Author Info
A native of Tyler, Texas, Pat
Blair – writing as P.L. Blair – has lived in Sheridan, WY, since 1986. She has
a degree in journalism, and has worked first for newspapers and, most recently,
Sheridan Media, an organization of 10 radio stations and a website, since 1970.
But her goal was always to write books. Her first book in her Portals series,
Shadow Path, was published in 2008. When
not writing books, she continues to cover news events for Sheridan Media. She
shares her home in Sheridan with two dogs and a cat – all rescues.
Website: https://www.authorplblair.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plblair
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WKAaDa
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