Boston Guardians: An Original Urban Fantasy Short Story Collection

By Johanna Rothman

Do you believe in magic? Even if you don't, do you ever wonder what—or who—causes some of the problems in our world? 

You might want the equivalent of magical cops to keep you safe.
That's the role of the Boston Guardians, a magical force. They ensure the safety of every citizen.
Each Guardian patrols their specific Boston neighborhood. They right wrongs and keep just enough order. 
Using knives, swords, and their unique magic, each Guardian fights rogue magical beings. 
And, if they avoid the despised paperwork before or after they finish the fighting? A bonus.
This collection covers just five Boston neighborhoods. The Guardians meet several supernatural beings, from a centaur to an out-of-control magical being.
Read this brand-new collection of five urban fantasy short stories featuring women who yield magic.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: QSW Publishing
• Release date: Sep 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201658243

Johanna Rothman

Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” provides frank advice for your tough problems. She helps leaders and teams see problems and resolve risks and manage their product development. Johanna is the author of more than ten books and hundreds of articles. Find her two blogs at jrothman.com and createadaptablelife.com.

Book preview

Rule 303

Chapter 1

The hot weather hadn’t yet broken in Boston this mid-July evening. Six in the evening and still in the upper 70s, humid enough that Elise Richards swore she could feel her short, light blonde hair curl even more. Which wasn’t the end of the world, but still.

Her hair wasn’t the problem. With the humidity, her magic was on the fritz. And in her beat, the North End of Boston, the people were fighting in small groups. Something was stirring them up and Elise had no idea what it was.

Which is why headquarters invoked Rule 303. It was her responsibility to learn why.

Which was why she was walking her beat—her neighborhood—in her summer Guardian clothing. A wicking, sleeveless, light blue, scoop-neck shirt over light brown leg-hugging, wicking cargo pants, and light brown ankle boots. Her long and short knives were hidden in special pockets on the side of each leg. No sword for normal daytime work. People would see and wonder.

If someone didn’t look closely, they’d think she was a hiker who’d lost her way.

Elise hadn’t. She’d only temporarily lost her magic, but she was still strong and capable without it. She was a Guardian. She had the means to manage almost any problem. Even with her magic on the fritz.

Guardians kept the peace, especially from supernatural outbreaks.

She’d first felt the clawing at her skin, trying to reach into her bones, just twenty minutes ago. She’d bought a water and drank it down from one of the convenience stores that seemed to dot every corner in this part of town.

The tourists never quite prepared for their walking. What did that say about her? Same as the tourists. Tired, thirsty, ready for a summer storm to wash away the humidity and bring back the ocean breezes. At first, she hadn’t believed the clawing feeling was supernatural. She thought it was the triple-h weather, hazy, hot, and humid.

Typical Boston summer weather.

She’d activated her personal shield then to get a little relief on her rounds. Her shields had stopped the clawing feeling. Then, her shield went on the fritz. Which turned out to be a good thing.

Shields worked two ways. Because the shield protected her, she missed valuable information. She didn’t hear the low hum of a supernatural being. As a result, it took her several minutes to realize her feelings weren’t from the weather. A supernatural being was causing this.

Elise felt stupid for not recognizing the problem earlier. She started scanning, opening up all her senses.

There. She heard the hum, in time with her heartbeat.

Now, twenty minutes later, Prince Street was coming apart.

She stood at the entrance to the playground where a half a dozen middle-aged men were beating each other up. Their wives—probably not girlfriends in this neighborhood—were right there, yelling at them, egging them on.

The neighbors leaned out the windows, yelling, too. The four-story brick buildings had new windows, but otherwise, Elise suspected they looked pretty much the same as they had when they were built, maybe a century or two ago. She wasn’t much on architectural history.

The cacophony was enough to drive people—and maybe even Guardians—insane. Elise was tempted to raise her shields again, but if she did, she couldn’t call for help.

The men fought in a triangle between the swings, the jungle gym, and the gate exit, grunting as they moved.

It was a strange dance, up towards the gate, down towards the swings, over to the jungle gym. A half-dozen children huddled together in the corner of the playground near the lone, scraggly tree inside the black chain link fence. The children couldn’t leave—the adults’ fighting always blocking the children from reaching the gate.

Worse, she suspected the children could see what she saw on the far side of the playground. Something that looked like a centaur—four horse legs and the torso of a man—stinking of sulfur.

That was a question for the ages—why did supernatural beings need to stink of sulfur? Just once, Elise would love the answer to that question.

She didn’t dare sigh—she’d inhale sulfur and then where would she be? Coughing and hacking while this being caused more chaos. No thank you.

She raised her wrist to call into headquarters. Ever since the advent of smart watches, no one thought anything of using your wrist to call anywhere. But instead of a watch Guardians had the equivalent of a phone embedded in their wrists. It was part of the job—you wanted the power, you accepted the device. As part of her ‘casual’ disguise, Elise masked her own embedded device with a leather bracelet, made to look like it held a normal phone.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

Elise’s stomach started to grumble. Not just because she was ready for supper, but because Headquarters always answered in one or two rings. Not tonight.

Finally, she heard an out-of-breath, Hello?

Elise Richards here, she said. I have a situation on Prince Street—

Can you handle it?

Elise didn’t recognize the voice. I think so.

Do, then. We have a situation almost everywhere. The city is going nuts. Headquarters hung up.

Well then. It was up to her.

The centaur looked at her and laughed, a maniacal sound that scraped at Elise’s head and turned her already unsettled stomach. He strode into the playground, the chipped gravel crunching beneath his hooves.

That’s when Elise heard the sirens from the traditional cops.

Way too many people were involved now.

Chapter 2

As the centaur got closer, Elise’s eyes watered from the sulfur. She blinked and took shallow breaths to calm her stomach.

She inched past the gate, making her way towards the children. They were