Texas Charm (Aberrant Magic 6), chapter one (Patreon)

Zach nodded at an older man who passed them on the way into the faux adobe two-story clinic. The Texas heat radiated up from the sidewalk. Maybe Salma al-Ghamdi blamed the summer weather for the lack of foot traffic, but if half of Art’s stories were true, the magical community had better reasons to avoid this place. The “Djedi Center” sign was artistically carved in metal and the lawn was nicely manicured and artfully overwatered, but even without any Talent, Zach felt an unpleasant undercurrent he couldn’t quite identify.

“This is the only Djedi Center in El Paso?” Salma asked. Her voice was carefully neutral. No doubt she wanted to condemn the entire community, and given that the local council had misallocated or openly stolen federal money, she had a right to disapprove. 

Art wore his stoic face, but he didn’t respond. Given that he loathed interacting with the shamanic community, Zach wasn’t surprised.

“Let’s see what the inside is like,” Zach said, politely smiling at the representative of the Egyptian council. He might not understand Salma’s exact position or the breadth of her powers, but the fact that every shaman except Art developed a twitch around her revealed enough.

“A fair suggestion.” She tucked the end of her headscarf into the neck of her modest, long-sleeved shirt.

Silently, Art took lead while Zach walked with Salma. Zach wished he could read her mind. A few shamans had that ability, but Zach was in a strange middle-ground between mundane and Talent. Unlike shamans who sought the spirit plane before they reached full adulthood and magic users who developed their powers later, Zach had no special abilities of his own. 

What he did have was a spirit guide—an old one. After thirty years of hearing that only shamans got to have magical spirit animals who could travel between realities and share power, a non-corporeal hummingbird had adopted Zach. Pochi was connected to Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec hummingbird god of war, sun and human sacrifice. At the very least, he had been on Earth when people worshipped Huitzilopochtli and had chosen the form of the hummingbird due to that association. The little bird had a temper and a love for firearms practice to match.

But as much as Zach enjoyed Pochi’s antics on the firing range, the bird did not share his powers. So Zach couldn’t read Salma’s mind or magically sense hostility. He had only mundane senses developed by years on the police force. A dirty clinic smelled of stale urine and cheap disinfectant—of unwashed bodies and old mattresses. A clean one smelled of plastic and cleaning products. This one smelled like those fragrance pots that plugged into the wall.

Art went to the reception counter and stood waiting until an older man looked up and gave Art a bland smile. “Do you have an appointment?”

“Nope. I want to see what resources you have for those with Talent.”

“Are you new to the area?” the man asked. His expression didn’t vary at all, but Zach still got the impression that he didn’t have a lot of respect for Art. Zach had no idea if the receptionist was judging Art on his shamanic power or his race. People sometimes misjudged whether Art was a Native American or a Mexican, but no one mistook him for white. Sometimes that brought the racists out of the woodwork. 

Art simply said, “No.” That was such an Art move—to give so little information that his opponent didn’t know how to argue. Zach hated it when Art did that when they fought over house colors, but watching Art screw with someone else was one of the great joys of Zach’s life.

The receptionist managed to maintain the exact same expression. “There’s no one available to give you a tour. If you leave your number someone will call you.”

Salma passed Zach and headed for a interior door. She was so calm it took the receptionist a critical extra second to register her movement. Only then did his eye go wide with panic.

“Hey!” the receptionist leaped to his feet and started after her. “You can’t go back there.”

Art quickly moved to block him at the low swinging door set into the back counter. “She’s an adept, so she can go anywhere she’d like in a Djedi Center,” Art said. “Now find someone to offer a tour.”

The receptionist shoved Art to the side. Even though Art had the training and power to win any fight, Art allowed the man past. Zach shoved a row of waiting room chairs that had been bolted together. They screeched across the white tile floor and thudded into the wall right in front of the receptionist. “Oh, I’m sorry. My mistake,” Zach said with a bright smile. “I wanted tour as well.”

“Get out or I’ll call the police,” the receptionist climbed over the chairs and headed after Salma. Since Art and Zach were police, that wouldn’t help him.

“Will you tell the police that you’re denying a shaman and an adept the right to use their own Djedi Center?” Art asked. He leaped over the chairs, and both Art and Zach stayed on the receptionist’s tail as he chased after Salma.

Zach had to assume that she knew where she was going because she was all the way at the far end of the hall, passing numerous closed doors. Two stood open to show well-decorated rooms, one with a massage table. Since Djedi Centers were supposed to serve the magical community, both spiritually and physically, medical treatment and massage and even ping-pong were all legitimate activities. However, the number pads set into each door to lock them was not standard.

“You can’t go up there!” The receptionist’s voice had grown shrill and angry, and he tried to grab for Salma’s arm; however, he missed and stumbled to the side. 

A puff of air hit Zach’s cheek, and then he saw Pochi. The non-corporeal hummingbird zoomed up toward the ceiling, and Zach stumbled as reality seemed to slide like water. Art caught his arm, and love rushed between them. The emotion overwhelmed Zach until he gasped for air and struggled to keep his thoughts on the job. 

“Go!” Zach said, shoving Art.  He didn’t want Salma left without backup.

“No,” Art said just as firmly. His fingers tightened around Zach’s arm, and that became an anchor of stability at the center of a world where concrete waved gently like a clump of deer grass in the wind. Zach focused on Art’s dark eyes, and the concern that overlaid their shared love. And then as suddenly as the emotions crashed in on Zach, they vanished. Zach stood in the center of a perfectly stable corridor with white tile floors and scuffed white walls. A large number of huge fish with domed heads and yellow fins swam through the air.

Zach closed his eyes tightly and then opened them to see the same fish, only now he noticed they swam through walls and a few were drifting up and through the ceiling to the second floor. Clearly Pochi had decided this was a good time to share a few shamanic powers. Zach sighed. “Hummingbirds are annoying.”

Art’s eyebrows went up. “Are you okay?”

Zach watched the last few fish dart upwards and the general feeling of wrong increased. “Better than Salma,” he said as he headed toward the steps. “We have trouble.” If Pochi was going to give Zach powers, Zach saw a lot of time training with Salma in his future. Otherwise, Zach wouldn’t trust himself in the field, not if he could lose his ability to see straight at any time.

“Of course she found trouble,” Art said, his voice tense. Zach didn’t need Pochi’s help to recognize the aggravation. Ever since the FBI Talent team from D.C. had shown up talking about ancient guides and dangerous power, Art’s temper had been on a hair trigger.

Zach pounded up the stairs to the second floor, turning toward the largest clump of spirit fish. Zach couldn’t see his own spirit guide, but since he could see the invisible fish, Pochi had to be somewhere close.. When Zach turned the corner, he stopped at the sight of a small group of people in medical scrubs crowded around a set of open double doors. 

Art strode past Zach. “Move aside, people.” Art ordered firmly. People responded to the authority in his voice, parting to create a clear path. As Zach followed, he was increasingly aware of the smell of urine and something that remind him of an old, damp dog on a hot day.

Two steps into the new room, Art stopped so suddenly that Zach nearly walked into his back. Over Art’s shoulder, Zach saw the three beds set up against a windowless wall. The bodies lay still, their eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling and their mouths slack.

Salma stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips and a whole school of those ugly fish circling around her. “They have lost their ways back to their bodies. Why have you not brought a shaman here to seek these people on the spirit plane?” she demanded. She looked at the various medical personnel both in the room and standing in the corridor. Silence and a shuffling of feet responded until a young man cleared his throat.

“The council has attempted to find the shamans, but they failed. We don’t have the funds to bring in a specialist from another Djedi Center, and the closest centers in Cuidad Juarez, Las Cruces, Deming, and Hatch don’t have volunteers willing to come.”

Salma turned toward Art and Zach. “No one will volunteer? But these shamans will die without assistance. The woman is so disconnected from her spirit, even a powerful shaman may not be able to assist her.” Salma’s confusion was almost painful.

Art sighed. “Most shamans know to avoid El Paso. Our council is not the friendliest.”

“So you allow those under the protection of the Djedi Center to die slowly, their bodies deteriorating while their souls wander the spirit plane?” Salma looked around at everyone as though expecting someone to speak up, although Zach wasn’t sure if she wanted and explanation or a solution. Even if Art refused to get involved in shamanic politics, Zach knew he had to do something. He wasn’t technically a shaman or even able to publically claim Pochi without telling people that the oldest guides who had abandoned the Earth thousands of years ago had returned. That limited his options. However, Zach had never turned his back on a victim, and he would be damned if he was going to let this council continue to hurt the people of El Paso.

“What can we do to help right now?” Zach asked.

Salma turned and studied the three bodies lying in their beds. “I will call someone in.” She pinned the medical staff with a furious glare. “And I will pay them. If any of these three shamans wish to complain about the care they have received at this center, I will also be very pleased to provide legal assistance. I will assist any shaman, adept or magic user who wishes to ask for it, and I will investigate any complaints I might hear.”

Zach contained his smile rather than antagonize any of the clearly worried staff; however, he was starting to really fall for Salma. If she weren’t dedicated to the Egyptian authority and if Zach weren’t both very gay and very committed to Art, they could make beautiful babies together. Since that was not in their future, Zach looked forward to watching her rip through a council that had failed its people.

When Zach gave Art a small shoulder bump, he expected to see an equally satisfied look on his lover’s face. Instead Art looked resigned. Resigned and a little tired. That wasn’t what Zach had expected, but he didn’t have time to worry about it now because Salma had her cell phone out and she was charging back out into the hall. Zach knew how people in power could react when someone challenged them, so Zach focused on making sure he covered Salma’s back. Her adept powers might be stronger than most, but she would never have the sheer magical force of a shaman, so Zach needed to make sure one of the council members didn’t kill her before she could take action.  

Chapter 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-6-19034447 

Chapter 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-2-19050307 

Chapter 3: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-3-19066252 

Chapter 4: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-4-19087127 

Chapter 5: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-5-19132901 

Chapter 6: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-six-19159661 

Chapter 7: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-7-19179823 

Chapter 8: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-8-19190078 

Chapter 9: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-9-19201497 

Chapter 10: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-10-19220764 

Chapter 11, 12: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-11-19228890 

Chapter 13, 14: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-13-19244456 

Chapter 15: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-15-19264338 

Chapter 16, 17: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-16-19276375 

Chapter 18, 19: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-18-19290091 

Chapter 20: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-20-19301548