Read Magic Born for Free Online

Hmm, who will I bring?”
    “Don’t even joke about that. I’ve been helping you out since you were a level one collecting magic beans on your first quest.”
    Oh the memories of those first exciting days in-game. “Of course I’m going to bring you along. Who else would I bring?”
    GA Casper: Congratulations on beating Hades!
    “Hold on, a game admin is messaging me.”
    GA Casper: This is Casper Rothian, the creator of Wizards and Fae. May I join you in a private chat?
    An invite to a private audio chat appeared on my screen. I almost knocked over the soda sitting on my desk in my haste to click “accept.”
    “That’s better. Congratulations! I’m the creator of the game.”
    “Of course I know who you are, Casper. I mean, Mr. Rothian.”
    A soft chuckle sounded in my ear. “No, Casper’s fine. According to our records, your name is Kat Thomas?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You’re the first one to beat Hades in quite a while.” His voice sounded exactly the same as it did in the interviews I’d seen with him.
    “I didn’t realize you actually spent any time in-game.”
    “Not as much as I’d like. Unfortunately, a lot of business stuff comes up once you move out of your garage. But I got a notification that someone had beaten the quest line, so I thought I’d jump in-game and congratulate you personally.”
    Fans, myself included, loved Casper for precisely this reason. “Thank you so much. I’ve been a fan of the game for a really long time.”
    “I can see that. As you know, you’ve won the prize to come visit us at our headquarters here in Canada. I actually wanted to chat with you to see if you could come this weekend.”
    “This weekend? That’s a little soon, isn’t it?” Did no one plan things in advance anymore?
    “Do you have any plans that can’t be changed? The thing is, I really like to be the one to meet the winners myself, give you a nice tour of the campus, show you some exclusive work we’ve been doing on the new expansion pack. The weekends tend to work out well for these things because I’m able to pull some people in to give you a nice show without taking them away from their work.”
    “That sounds amazing. I don’t know if I can. I have a lot of work for school. I’m already really far behind.” True, but I had also just spent all day on a quest, so the excuse didn’t hold much weight.
    “That’s a shame. I’m traveling a lot and my schedule won’t work for several months. I was really hoping to meet you before I left.”
    “A few months from now may actually work better for me, after graduation.”
    The silence thickened in my headphones. Another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I was bailing on because I was just that lame. I had no plans for the weekend. Maybe it was time to start seeing a counselor.
    “Kat, I didn’t want to have to tell you this way, but I know who you are. I knew your mother.”
    My entire body froze. How could he possibly have that information when I didn’t even have it twenty-four hours ago? Did Alex tell him somehow? Weakness seeped into my entire body. The entire situation was surreal. Nothing in my life made sense anymore. Maybe he meant my mom. “My mother?”
    “Yes, I knew Meglana. I think it’s important that we meet.”
    I tried to brush off the strangeness. “I don’t know why. I never knew her.”
    “I think you may be in danger.”
    My mind reeled. How had my life gotten so crazy in the space of just a couple of days? “I really can’t meet you this weekend.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sending you an in-game message now. If you change your mind, reply to it. I really do hope to meet you soon. And congratulations again on winning the quest.”
    Casper disconnected from the chat, leaving me hollow and confused. His message appeared in my mail.
    Congratulations on beating the quest. I hope to see you this weekend. I promise the tour of game headquarters alone will be worth it.
    “So what did he have to say?”