Chapter 1
Lex ran, sweat prickling her back. It was almost too dark to run safely, but she loved the yellow, orange, and red glow of the autumn leaves at dawn.
She’d had so much bad luck lately, it couldn't get any worse, she thought. Then she balled up her fists in case she just jinxed herself, and a rustle in the woods turned out to be an attacker.
Her grandmother used to call her hapless, but that was just a nice way of saying catastrophe. Lex Canniff was the type of person who could win a hundred bucks on a scratcher and get into an accident on the way to the store to collect. I really miss that car, she thought.
So much bad luck! Her job consisted of busywork that was beneath even the company’s AI platform. Her boss, who used to be one of her best friends, was getting on her case lately for showing up late. Andy acted like he was doing her a favor, but the job barely paid the bills in a good month. And this was not a good month with all of her boyfriend’s medical bills.
Jorge was finally over his recent relapse. She’d helped him navigate a heartless healthcare system, which was why she was constantly late. She’d become skilled at insurance appeals, and in between working and caregiving, she begged their landlord for an extension on the rent.
She still needed to master the art of taking care of herself.
Thinking about everything, she felt her jaw clench, but she made herself relax by looking around at the autumn color along the Minuteman bike path - one of her favorite places in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Her dark shag-cut hair always managed to escape from her ponytail, but she pushed it off her sweaty face, found her footing, and added a burst of speed for a few strides. That felt better, until a man stepped out of the trees onto the path and she ran right into him.
“Oh! Crap!” Lex felt her quadriceps cramp with the jarring stop. “Owwww!”
She went into defense mode, ready to punch him in the throat. The man was tall with a mop of light brown hair and brown eyes that registered the same shock she felt, so he likely wasn’t attacking her. But what made Lex take several steps back was the fact that he was shirtless. In November.
Shea Risi felt his head spin. He hadn’t believed it possible to even find the portal known as the Egan Lan, never mind open it. He struggled to clear his vision and focus on the woman in strange garb who had crashed into him seconds after his crossing.
The hair on the back of his neck prickled with recognition. He bowed slightly with respect.
“My apologies, Mistress, I am truly spun senseless!” Shea saw twinkling stars in front of his eyes.
“Mistress?”
The woman looked both amused and cross. Mostly cross. Shea felt his face flush with shame. Leave it to him to insult the one person whose help he desperately needed.
“I don’t know your proper form of address, Lady…” he bowed lower.
“Not lady and not mistress, and no, I’m not going to tell you my name. I'm sorry I bumped into you, but you came out of nowhere; you should be more careful when you enter the path.” She turned and ran.
Shea shivered. It had been a practice session. He’d been working in his room and hadn’t fully dressed yet. He didn’t know how he’d worked it, but he knew Mage Ottaviano would not be happy.
Maybe he’d be happy that he found the Egan Lan when no one else had, but bumping into the Venerable Guest and then losing her would be the end of his apprenticeship.
It had been many years since the Assembly of Stately Mages beat someone publicly, but his master, Otto, might do so, and Shea wouldn’t blame him. They were fighting for their survival. He couldn’t lose the woman.
“Wait! Please!”
Lex hadn’t said her typical have a nice day and didn’t want to turn around for the shirtless man. She had about a mile to go and then would need to rush to get ready for work. Then she heard his voice closer.
“Please, Lady…I must speak with you.”
Damn! His leather boots muffled his steps, so she hadn’t heard him running behind her. The path crossed Woburn Street ahead. Lex sprinted. She sensed she was pulling away - this was going to be a harder workout than she'd planned.
She ran across the intersection and hoped the man would stop for traffic. It was a flawed plan - she had run into the path of two teens on thick-wheeled bikes, and it was too late to avoid the impact.
Lex closed her eyes tightly mid-stride as time slowed down, but instead of a crash, she felt strong arms clamp around her, swing her out of the path of impact, and drop her again.
Her feet touched down just as the kids barreled right into the man and popped a few wheelies as they sped away laughing. He was left crumpled in an unnatural position in the middle of the crosswalk.
Lex swore under her breath. He had saved her from more bad luck, but now she needed to help the guy she should probably be running from.
“Oh, God, are you OK?” She watched him blink up at her and stretch out. “Whoa, you probably shouldn’t move.”
She took out her phone, but before she could call for an ambulance, he pushed himself up and followed her out of the middle of the road. She saw ten missed calls from her boss.
“OK, just stand still a minute, would you?” She held her arm out between them like a traffic cop as he looked around like he was sightseeing.
She called Andy and spoke to his voicemail.
“Andy, I’m sorry, I’m on my way. This guy just got hit on the bike path…”
She looked at him as he dusted himself off and inspected a gash on his shin that would have made her pass out. He was at least six feet tall and muscular, but like a skier, not a linebacker.
She continued her message, “I’ll make the time up this afternoon.”
Lex slid her phone back in her jacket pocket. “One disaster at a time today, OK, Karma?” She sighed.
“I’m not acquainted with Master Karma; I’m Shea. Shea Risi,” He pronounced the R with a flourish and nodded his head in his version of a bow again.
“Right. Shea. You probably need to go to the hospital. Can I call someone for you?”
“Nay! We’ve been looking for you for weeks, Lady…Anyway, my mistake today resulted in good fortune. I’m to escort you back to the Assembly of Stately Mages.” He smiled like he had earned a reward.
The woman spewed a few obscene words that didn’t have anything to do with the situation, and Shea saw he was losing the conversation.
“Come to think of it,” Shea limped and coughed theatrically. “I would just like to get out of the chill. Could I trouble you for a cup of beebury tea?”
She looked around as if for help and then shrugged.
“I’m not going to be on time anyway. I’ll take you to the urgent care clinic. We can stop at my apartment on the way, and maybe I can find a sweatshirt big enough for you.”
“You are too kind, Lady…what shall I call you?” Shea frowned.
Courtly manners were not his strong suit. He was much more comfortable outside splitting firewood, but Mage Otto had done his best to teach him how to behave in the presence of important people.
“Lex. No lady before it, just Lex.”
Shea saw the sign pointing to downtown Lexington.
“This is your land, then!” Shea bent almost double in deference, lost his balance, and toppled into her.
“Hey!” She grabbed him and pushed him back upright, and for a moment, he was astonished by the deep purple-blue of her eyes in the morning light.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Oh - Otto is going to have my eyeballs. I mean no offense, Lady Lexington. I’m new at this.”
“Whatever this is. Come on. I can’t take all day. I’ll be lucky not to get fired. And it’s just Lex.”
Lex led Shea off the bike path and past large houses that overwhelmed him. Outside of Kell Castle, he had never seen such grand homes. It was an amazing land he’d found himself in. He knew from his studies that the Egan Lan would only be open a short time. He had to figure out a way to convince Lex, who was surely the Venerable Guest, to come back with him and save them from absolute destruction.
