Chasing Magic [Paperback]

USStacia Kanehas been a phone psychic, a customer service representative, a bartender, and a movie theater usher, and she thinks that writing is more fun than all of them combined. She wears a lot of black, still makes great cocktails, likes to play music loud in the car, and thinks thatDie Hardis one of the greatest movies ever made. She believes in dragons and the divine right of kings, and is a fervent Ricardian. Stacia Kane lives in England with her husband and their two little girls.Chapter One

The pursuit of material goods must never eclipse the pursuit of Truth.

--The Book of Truth, Veraxis Article 1745

All of the documents were in place: the Affidavit of Spectral Fraud, the Statement of Truth, two Orders of Imprisonment and two Orders of Relinquishment, and, of course, the list of Church-approved attorneys. The Darnells would want that--well, they'd need it, because they were about to be arrested for faking a haunting.

At least, they would be when the Black Squad got there to back Chess up. She didn't always want the Squad to come along; police presence tipped people off, made things more difficult, and most people came pretty quietly once they realized they were busted, anyway. The Darnells didn't seem like the come-quietly type, though. Something told Chess they weren't going to take this well.

But she'd told them she'd be there at six, and it was five past already and their curtains kept twitching. They knew she was there.

Right. She'd taken a couple of Cepts before leaving her apartment in Downside, so they were starting to hit--smooth, thick narcotic warmth spreading from her stomach out through the rest of her body, a pleasant softness settling over her mind.

That was the best thing about the drugs, really; she could still think, still be coherent, still use her brain. She just didn't have to if she didn't want to, and it was so much easier to keep that brain from wandering into all those pl³'