Susan Illene served in the US Army for eleven years and worked as a human resources specialist and an Arabic linguist. She served two deployments to Iraq, and after leaving the army, she studied history at the University of Oklahoma. She currently lives with her husband and two sons.
I have a few updates for you all on various matters. First, I didn’t post a DOGE Supernatural story this last Friday because I was pushing to finish revisions on Galadon. I had to give that all my spare time and attention. There will be another episode later this week, though.
In relation to that, I am now working on getting Galadon up for pre-order on all the retailers with a release date of April 24th. As soon as I have the links ready, I’ll put up a post for you all with the cover and summary included. This spin-off book has been so much fun to write as I let go of the self-imposed restrictions I tried to maintain for the main series. There are some very spicy scenes in this novel, so if you do decide to read it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Of course, there is a plot and plenty of action, along with appearances by some of your other favorite characters.
As another distraction last Friday, Oklahoma was hit with some very high and strong winds. I kept getting news alerts that parts of Norman were getting evacuated due to uncontrollable fires breaking out. Sadly, some people did lose their homes. They were in the area closest to the Taugud fortress for my Dragon’s Breath readers. I was lucky that no fires occurred in my area of town, but I feel awful for those who were affected. Many barely got out in time, unable to grab any of their things, or in some cases even their pets.
We did have damage from the wind, though, and during one of my breaks while working on my book I looked out my kitchen window and realized my backyard fence was going down.
For those of you who have been waiting, the audio pre-order is now available for Cast by Flames. It will be released soon, on March 25th, so the wait isn’t much longer. It is just under sixteen hours long! Of course, the amazing Marguerite Gavin is the narrator again, and thanks to Tantor Audio/Recorded Books for handling the production. Links to Audible, Amazon, and Spotify are below.
High Wizard Elron stared incredulously at his electric car manufacturing plant in California—or rather, what was left of it. Nearly all the buildings had been leveled the day before, and what little remained would have to be torn down. It was incomprehensible.
“Tell me again what happened,” he said to one of the managers who’d been on-site during the incident.
Jack, a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair, shook his head. “They’re saying it was likely an EF-4 tornado based on the damage, but we won’t know for sure until the experts finish their investigation.”
“Right.” Elron clenched his fists. “Since when has California ever had an EF-4?”
The manager cleared his throat. “Never, as far as I know.”
“Perhaps you should start from the beginning,” the wizard said, thinking something wasn’t right about this.
“It was the oddest thing. The weather forecast called for sunny skies, but storm clouds started rolling toward us in the late afternoon. Thunder and lightning got loud. Then, some guys ran inside, saying a tornado was heading straight for us. It moved really slowly, like it was crawling, so we were able to evacuate in time. As soon as everyone was out and far enough away, it got bigger and stronger just as it reached the plant. Then it stayed there for a few minutes, grinding down everything like a giant drill.”
Elron had spent enough time in tornado alley states to know that this was not traditional tornado behavior. They never “waited” for people to evacuate, and many people would have had to clear the numerous buildings for there to be no injuries or casualties.
He took a deep breath. “What happened next?”
“The tornado lifted back into the clouds, and about five minutes later, the storm was gone.”
The High Wizard noted most of the employee cars in the parking lot had no damage and those that did only had broken windows. “You said it took its time coming here. What other places in the area were damaged?
“None.” Jack shrugged. “Heard that it didn’t fully touch the ground until right before it struck this place.”
Now, that was too peculiar.
“But it managed to destroy the whole plant after avoiding everything else?” he asked, incredulously.
“Well…” the manager hedged. “There was one other odd thing.”
“Show me.”
Jack guided him around the piles of debris to another side of the ravaged facilities, and High Wizard Elron nearly stumbled as the “odd thing” came into view. Half a dozen nearly finished electric cars were stacked vertically on their backends like dominoes. They showed no signs of damage, and even their windows were intact. Considering all the debris scattered around them, that didn’t seem possible.
This was no natural disaster, and his insurance company would not cover the damage should it prove magic-related. This was going to cost him a fortune. Only one race of people he knew was powerful enough to pull this off and had the motive to do it. There happened to be a community of them living not far away in Santa Cruz. He needed to get his team together and formulate a plan before he visited them.
Hope everyone’s week has gone well. Sorry this is getting posted a little later in the day than usual, but it’s been a little hectic around here! Just a reminder that while these stories are fantasy in nature, they will allude to current U.S. politics. If you’re not up to date on the latest big news, a few things might go over your head a bit, but you should still enjoy it. This latest episode also has some minor references to past stories, which you can find here.
DOGE Supernatural Division (episode 5)
High Wizard Elron sat at his desk, plotting his next move. So many possibilities for where the Department of Government Efficiency- Supernatural Division could cut waste and spending. This was especially true of those regulatory agencies who abused their power by putting too many restrictions on the banking industry. Ha! He’d get the last laugh with them very soon.
“Excuse me, High Wizard,” Ruby said, appearing in his office doorway.
The raven-haired secretary was a good-looking woman for being in her thirties and nearly past her prime. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t settled down and made a few babies. Instead, the woman had cats—three of them! She even had framed pictures of them on her desk like they were her pride and joy children. He’d surreptitiously removed them two different times, but new ones appeared the next morning. Each replacement was worse than the last, with the latest photos having her felines wearing Halloween costumes. What kind of madness was that?
He’d fire the woman, but she was loyal and ruthless when it came to running his agency behind the scenes the way he preferred. No one could do it better, but he wished she had better taste in pets.
He rested his elbows on his desk and leaned forward. “Yes, Ruby?”
“The D.C. Ghost team has failed to email their five accomplishments for the week,” she said, pursing her lips. “It’s not all that surprising, considering they haven’t done their jobs very well recently.”
He nodded. “Hmm, yes. They’re supposed to be annoying that insufferable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez woman whenever she’s in town, but the congresswoman just gets more obnoxious every time she speaks on the House Floor. I’m tired of hearing her complaints about the brilliant budget cuts that will save this country money. She’d be falling asleep on her feet if the ghosts had done their jobs right, certainly not giving misguided speeches.”
“Should I send one of your minions…I mean, assistants, to speak with the ghosts?” Ruby asked, tilting her head.
His lips twitched at her “stumble” of words since she accidentally used the term quite often, but it didn’t bother him. In his mind, his people were more like minions, but some would frown at him using such a term publicly. Trying to be politically correct was so annoying. Certainly not one of his better abilities.
Elron sighed. “Sadly, only one of them has developed a sufficient talent for seeing ghosts, and I’ve already got him manipulating a few to spy on the NOAA water elementals in Florida. I’m certain they’re up to no good after I fired some of them, and they might be planning revenge.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I’d thought someone else would have built an aptitude for ghosts by now.”
“Axe is beginning to see and hear them a little, but he can’t communicate well yet. Perhaps with a little more practice.” The High Wizard rose to his feet, mind buzzing with a plan. “I’ll bring him along to work on it more.”
She nodded. “Good idea. I’ll let him know to get ready.”
Jumping straight into the story today. Hope you enjoy!
DOGE Supernatural Division (episode 4)
High Wizard Elron and his four assistants entered the witch coven’s command post in Laredo, Texas. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. Over a dozen women and men of varying ethnic backgrounds bustled around the open, cavernous room. They wore plain clothes that ranged from jeans and T-shirts to skirts and blouses.
In the center was a round space about twenty feet in diameter with black tile and a perfectly drawn white chalk circle. The ceiling above it had a frosted glass dome that allowed soft sunlight to filter down and brighten the room. At the area’s perimeter were desks with laptops and a few random doors leading to other rooms. Only one was open, leading to a small break area.
Magic tinged the air, crawling across his skin like ants on the march. It was different than his wizard powers and highly uncomfortable. Some would say his energies were darker and witches purer, but Elron didn’t subscribe to those beliefs.
“Attention, everyone,” he bellowed. Only a few people glanced up before returning to their work. “I’m here from the Department of Government Efficiency- Supernatural Division.”
A middle-aged man with short, dark hair lifted a leg from his chair and let out a long and loud fart that sounded absolutely disgusting. How rude! Everyone else studiously ignored him as if he ranked even less than a homeless person walking in from the streets. They were not taking him seriously. He’d visited many facilities that didn’t exactly welcome him with open arms, but none had pretended he and his team didn’t exist.
“Cover your ears and close your eyes,” he murmured to his assistants. As they obeyed his command, he erected a protection spell around himself.
Still, none of the witches paid any attention to him. Fine, so be it.
Elron lifted his arms and twisted his hands, sending a flash bomb to strike the middle of the chalk circle. It exploded in a bright flash of light, cracking with a boom that rocked the building. He hadn’t pushed too much magic into it, so there was only a small fissure on the tile floor, singed black at the edges. It was more for show than damage.
Hazy smoke filled the air, but through it, Elron could see he finally had everyone’s stunned attention. The door on the opposite end of the room opened. A woman who appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties, wearing black leather pants and a halter top with silver buckles at the front, strode toward him. She had light blonde hair pulled tightly back in a bun and dark makeup that gave her a fierce appearance. If not for the power pulsing from her as she strode toward him, he wouldn’t have guessed her for a witch. He half expected her to pull a sword from thin air and start slashing at anything that got in her way.
