by John O'Riley
“I haven’t actually sabotaged the batteries yet,” Josephine advised. “I was going to work on them again on Saturday and then finish them up the following week on Saturday.”
“But it’s as good as done. You’re going to break your agreement with him.”
Josephine’s eyes flashed with ire. “He never offered me any compensation so it’s not a real contract.”
“I can’t resist my compulsion. As soon as we reach my condo, I must call him and warn him of the danger.”
Josephine chewed on her lower lip as she churned over possible courses of action. Her plan to booby trap the batteries was too good to pass up.
“Listen to me carefully, Helen.” Josephine pinned her friend with a steady, unyielding gaze. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to make the best batteries for Lorcan than I can. I will follow the specifications he gave me precisely. There will be no sabotage.”
Helen blinked with surprise and stared at Josephine for a long moment. Helen’s eyes reverted to their normal vibrant green and she issued a sigh of relief.
“Thank you. That did the trick,” Helen said.
“So you won’t call Lorcan, right?” Josephine prodded.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have to anymore.”
“Great.” Josephine flashed a brief comforting smile then turned to face the front of the car and exchanged a knowing look with Alice.
Josephine could tell that Alice realized the truth. Josephine had just lied to Helen. She had every intention of following through with her original plan to render those magical batteries useless but had taken advantage of Helen’s naïve and trusting nature.
Chapter 9
The energy radiating from the vortex at Siesta Key beach was still discordant and stung Josephine’s body even as it filled her with power. She had started preparing the niveus imperium enchantment last night and used it on a large crystal quartz cluster. She’d parked her car a few blocks from the beach so she could connect with the power here and make the work go faster. Normally, it required several months of painstaking concentration and effort but Josephine took full advantage of her category six ability. She’d never tried making this kind of advanced magic before so she wasn’t sure of the result.
The wind caressed Josephine’s soft, smooth skin as she jogged at a leisurely pace. Her expanded awareness alerted her to Lorcan’s presence before he was even close enough to be seen. He knew her habits and was just standing at the beach waiting for her. Josephine slowed down so it would take longer for her to approach him. She began gathering surplus power so she could blast him at a moment’s notice. By the time Josephine reached him, it took all her concentration from keeping the unspent magic from slipping away. Lorcan’s thin lips formed a smirk and Josephine’s fingers twitched with the urge to slap him.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Josephine said in a frosty tone.
“I’ve decided to alter your deadline for the batteries.”
“Good. I need at least two more weeks to finish them. I have a busy schedule and they’re the most complicated magic I’ve ever done.”
“You are to finish them this week on Saturday no later than noon,” Lorcan said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Josephine shot him a grievous look. “I’m working full-time here.”
“You wake up at five every morning so on Saturday, you’ll have seven hours to finish this project.”
“Are you going to pay me?”
“Of course not.” Lorcan regarded her as though she had grown a second head.
“Look, you skanky toad, I need my morning jog to unwind and help my abilities sharpen so I can make your stupid batteries. Besides, you expect me to meet with you at noon? That’s when I have my lunch.”
Lorcan issued an impatient sigh. “All right. You have until three on Saturday. Is that better?”
“A little bit.”
“There better not be any delays or you’ll be sorry. I’d hate to make Helen kill your grandson for instance,” Lorcan said.
Josephine unleashed a telekinetic wave with the power she’d stored and it shattered Lorcan’s shields with enough leftover momentum to shove him off his feet. Lorcan lay on his back with Josephine towering over him.
“There’s no need for threats. Maybe I should just kill you now,” Josephine said.
Lorcan brought up another shield with his back up protection amulets. He slowly picked himself up off the ground.
“Don’t think I can’t get rid of all your lame shields just as fast as that first one.” Josephine glared at him with utter contempt.
“There are more Valituras agents nearby and they will make all your friends and loved ones pay dearly if you kill or betray me,” Lorcan said.
“Maybe they should introduce themselves so I know you’re not just a lone gunman here,” Josephine said.
Her expanded awareness probed farther past the beach and into the nearby neighborhoods but she couldn’t sense any of these individuals. Lorcan was either lying or they weren’t in the vicinity.
“Of course they’re not with me here but I’m wearing an enchantment that immediately sends out a signal if I’m dead,” Lorcan said.
Josephine knew it would be too risky to kill him now and she wasn’t sure she had the stomach for it. She’d never taken a life before. Perhaps she could get some valuable information though.
“I’m wondering about that immorality curse. Why would you take the chance of losing a category six to make things for you?” Josephine asked.
“It’s a calculated risk. You became a liability when you started working at the police station. We’ve kept our existence a secret for centuries and there’s too great a chance you’ll discover some of our secrets and blab to the authorities so we needed some leverage. Which brings me back to another reason I need to talk to you today. There’s a rogue vampire who’s killing high profile individuals on purpose to punish the Valituras. He’s tired of living forever and under our control and wants to expose us.”
Josephine flashed a grim smile. “Maybe I should help him.”
“You don’t have that option anymore. But you’re still a pretty big threat. I may have to use my other curse on you or Jake to make sure you keep quiet.”
“There’s no need for that. I won’t report anything I discover about the Valituras or vampires or anything that I find at a crime scene. If you curse me or anyone else I care about, all bets are off.” Josephine pinned him with a hard look.
“I only have one left and it belongs to my group so I don’t want to use it anyway,” Lorcan said.
“Why did Helen become a succubus instead of a vampire?” Josephine asked.
Even though power continued to flood through her from the vortex, her legs felt shaky and adrenaline surged through her body. She knew Lorcan would someday betray her but she had no idea when. He wanted to curse her with immortality so he could control her. She could sense it in spite of his privacy screen.
“It depends on how much darkness you have at the time you’re cursed.”
“So if you’re a bad person, you become a vampire?”
“Not at all. Everyone has some darkness in them. It doesn’t take much at all to become a vampire. Only those with an almost pure heart become a succubus or incubus,” Lorcan explained. “Helen is obviously a saint.”
“She’s an exceptional and dear friend,” Josephine said.
She stepped past him and resumed her jogging without uttering another word. It was the only way she could think of to insult him without hurling more threats which may just goad him into cursing her. Josephine was determined to figure out a way to expose the Valituras. There had to be a way. The first step was to identify the moles at the police station and that would take more time. When Josephine returned to her condo and seated herself at the table with her mug of coffee along with Alice and Helen, she still felt uneasy and shaken from her encounter with Lorcan. She rehashed what had happened to her friends.
“I’m so sorr
y. What a burden you carry now,” Helen said.
“I know. It’s terrible,” Alice sympathized.
“I’m so stressed right now. It seems like every time I turn around there’s a new problem. Maybe we should all move to Canada or something and give ourselves new identities.” Josephine swirled the coffee in her mug and stared down at it for several seconds.
“Running away isn’t the solution. They’d find us in no time and do horrible things,” Alice advised.
“Even if we had false identities and wore glamours?” Josephine asked.
“Do you really think you could concentrate on maintaining your disguise almost every single moment when you’re away from your place?” Alice regarded her with skepticism.
“You’re right. It takes a sick and obsessed person to do that.”
“Besides, Lorcan can track me because of our bond. There’s nowhere I can hide from him.” Helen’s beautiful face reflected her despair. “We should just endure this part of our lives and know that it can’t last. Things will get better.”
This reminded Josephine that she could no longer talk about her plans against the Valituras. Otherwise, Helen would be compelled to warn Lorcan.
“Do you have Lorcan’s phone number?” Josephine asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“How did you get it?” Josephine leveled a curious look at Helen.
“It’s just there in my head somehow. Like a memory.”
“Interesting.”
Josephine opened her second sight and scanned Helen to see if there were any telltale signatures that would identify her as an immortal. When she failed to find anything, she opened all of her magical senses to their fullest. She could detect the curse after several moments of deep probing but it was very subtle. No wonder Emerson said that studying the structure of the spell would take dedication. It would take countless hours to make a comprehensive examination.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Helen asked.
“I was just trying to see if there’s a quick way of identifying immortals. Sorry.” Josephine flashed an apologetic smile.
“That’s okay. You’re just trying to help.”
Josephine hated to leave her friends but it was time to go to work. She wished she was retired again. The picketers were still hanging out at the front and their numbers had grown. Josephine felt tense and frustrated when she reached the station. The work itself made the day fly by. She solved every case in no time and flew through the paperwork. She ruled out three more police station employees from her suspect list by the end of the day. Mark asked her out on another date but Josephine asked for a rain check. She had too much to do. She was working on the niveus imperium every night and experimenting with new enhanced protection for additional backup. Part of what made a powerful wizard was the quantity and effectiveness of the shielding they wielded.
Josephine hated to pass up an opportunity to spend more time with Mark as she really liked him. It actually made her feel even worse than before which she didn’t think was possible. When Saturday came, Josephine finished the niveus imperium for Helen and the batteries for the Valituras. Josephine sabotaged the batteries but in a very specific way. She programmed the wild magic hidden within the framework to turn on the user if the enchantment was used in any way against Josephine or her friends or family. Hopefully, there was enough wild magic to make her plan work but since wild magic was unpredictable and she’d never tried anything like this before, there were no assurances of success. Alice and Helen kept her company as she waited for Lorcan to show up. Josephine was irritated that the greedy little toad ended up arriving about twenty minutes late. She kept the condo wards up as she opened the door to reveal his loathsome presence.
“I’ve got the batteries. Just a second,” Josephine snarled.
Lorcan’s thin lips curved in a smug grin of satisfaction. Josephine slammed the door in his face and retrieved the batteries from the desk which was tucked away in the corner of the room. The quartz clusters were contained in a green cloth bag. Josephine crossed the room and threw open the door. She held the bag out so her hands stayed within her ward. If Lorcan planned on cursing her today, she wouldn’t make it easy for him. His grin widened as he reached out and took the bag.
“You’re in no danger from me as long as you created a quality product,” Lorcan said.
“I don’t think you realize how difficult those things were to make. And next time, I expect you to buy the empty vessels that I will need for the next enchantment.” Josephine glared at him.
“I agree to your terms.”
Josephine slammed the door in his face and locked it. Of course, the locks were a bit redundant as anyone who broke into her residence would need to take care of her wards first which would be very tricky. Josephine flinched and her two friends gasped in alarm when her cell phone rang. Josephine peered down at the screen to see who was calling then frowned with irritation. It was Robert, one of her ex-husbands who happened to be a next-door neighbor.
“What do you want?” Josephine snapped.
“I just called to see if you’re all right. I heard shouting and slamming doors,” Robert said.
For decades, Josephine had viewed him as one of her mortal enemies and had jinxed him like crazy at every opportunity. Helen had advised her to make a truce with him and she had reluctantly done so. At times like this, Josephine regretted her decision and wanted nothing more than to jinx his cheating ass. Josephine took a deep, calming breath before she could say something she’d regret.
“Thank you for your concern, Robert, but I’m okay,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“A salesman was pestering me.”
“That’s not allowed! I’ll call the office and report this for you.” Robert sounded outraged.
Josephine smiled with amusement. “I appreciate your concern but it’s okay. He’s gone now.”
“All right but let me know if I can help.”
“Thanks, Robert.”
Josephine ended the call and noticed her two friends smiling at her.
“I’m still amazed that the two of you are getting along,” Alice remarked.
“I think it’s wonderful. Doesn’t it feel liberating to be at peace with him?” Helen asked.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Josephine said.
She checked the peephole and didn’t see any sign of Lorcan so she opened the door a crack. Josephine heaved a sigh of relief when she could see he’d really left. She closed and locked the door again. Helen stood up and a panicked expression dominated her face.
“I think something’s happening to me!” she exclaimed.
Josephine scanned her friend and saw that the curse was shifting and sending out some kind of energy.
“This is your fourth day as an immortal. Your magical abilities must be stabilizing,” Josephine guessed.
“You’re right. I can feel what’s happening.” Helen cocked her head to the side. “It’s almost finished.”
The three women waited in silent anticipation. Josephine continued to scan Helen until the process finished.
“It’s done,” Josephine announced.
“I’m definitely stronger now,” Helen said.
“Yes, you are.” Josephine changed her scan to test her friend’s magical strength. Only a sixth could accurately gauge what category of strength for a wizard without special enchantments made in advance. When Josephine finished, she could scarcely believe what she’d discovered.
“What’s wrong?” Helen asked.
“You’re a six now,” Josephine said.
“That’s great news! We can join the Phoenix Community now,” Alice said.
“They will ignore our ad if we put it in the paper,” Josephine reminded her. “Brad made that very clear to us.”
“We should do it anyway. And put an extra line that there is a new change that makes things different,” Alice instructed.
“I’ll place the ad but I don’t expect he’ll approac
h us again.”
“I want to know how there are two huge organizations that manage to keep their identities secret from the general public.” Alice was clearly peeved.
“The Valituras must have agents in all levels of the government,” Josephine remarked.
“The Phoenix Community uses subtle magic to hide their cities so there isn’t any proof that they exist. I’ll bet there are some people that know about them and the Valituras.”
“You’re probably right.” Josephine turned her attention to Helen. “Are you still wanting to be cured? We can’t be sure you’ll still be a level six once you’re back to normal.”
“That’s okay,” Helen said.
Josephine crossed the room and took out the quartz cluster containing the niveus imperium.
“Wait a minute. We need to think about this very carefully. If Helen goes back to the way she was, this ruins our chances of joining a safe community away from all this madness,” Alice said.
“Are you suggesting that Helen remain cursed?” Josephine was taken aback by her friend’s argument.
“I guess not,” Alice said in a sulky voice.
Helen stood up from the couch. “I’m ready.”
Josephine nodded and activated the enchantment. The quartz crystal sparkled with a silvery white luminescence. After several seconds, a white mist-like energy streamed from the crystal and flowed into Helen through her chest. Hope and excitement flared inside Josephine as the potent energy rushed through her friend’s body. A silvery white light radiated from Helen’s skin as the enchantment progressed. When it petered out, the crystal went dark and several seconds later, Helen stopped glowing. Now that the enchantment had run its course, Josephine scanned her friend.
“The curse is still there,” Josephine said.
“I was afraid of that.” Helen offered a grateful smile. “I do appreciate the help though.”
“We won’t give up. Emerson will contact you soon with more antidotes.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t heard from him yet.”
Someone knocked at the door and Josephine found Mark standing on her doorstep. She ushered him inside her home and they gathered in the living room where Helen and Alice were waiting.