2 Corruption

by John O'Riley

  Josephine slowed her pace as she emerged in the kitchen area. Large workstations occupied most of the room with counters approximately five feet tall surrounding her in rows. She ducked behind one of them so she wouldn’t be visible from the doorway. She didn’t see an exit back here but saw another hallway at the far side of the room. She moved down the aisle to the next and made her way toward the hall. She wanted to shout with frustration when Lorcan’s breathing reached her ears and his sneakers squeaked on the tiled floor. She was glad she had the foresight to stay out of sight so at least he couldn’t be sure if she’d reached the kitchen or slipped out of the restaurant completely.

  “I know you’re here,” Lorcan said as if reading her mind.

  Josephine bit her lower lip to keep from issuing a sharp retort. There was absolutely no way he could possibly realize where she was. Lorcan drew closer and occasionally his shoes squeaked on the kitchen floor. Josephine tracked his movements and came to the conclusion he was crossing over toward the hallway. She realized that logically, the only places she could have escaped to was the kitchen or one of the restrooms. Lorcan hadn’t had time to check them so he must have determined she’d try to slip out rather than hide. Josephine swiftly crept over to the space between the two counters and pressed herself tight against the edge. She was hidden from view but her shield would make her stand out like a beacon if he passed her by on either side of the counters. Several seconds later, the squeak of his sneaker indicated he was about a dozen feet away. She couldn’t tell if he was on this aisle or the next but it was definitely to her right so she slipped out from her spot and moved to the left of the long counter.

  A long silence ensued and Josephine waited for another squeak of Lorcan’s shoes. After a long moment, she knew something must have happened. She remained still and unmoving as she wondered what on earth he was doing. A frying pan slid off the counter just to her left and crashed into the floor with a reverberating bang that made her flinch. Green lightning bolts danced across her shield and she looked up to see Lorcan kneeling on the counter above her. She rolled to the side and the energy smashed into the floor where she’d been a second ago. Josephine stood up and dashed across the room towards the doorway. She reached out toward a pan resting nearby but her shield knocked it off the counter. She sighed with frustration. It would have been nice if she could at least grab something so she could throw it over her shoulder at Lorcan and maybe slow him down a little. Green bursts of energy struck her shield again.

  Josephine ran past the door and down the hall. Her gaze rested on the restroom doors for just an instant as she briefly considered hiding out in one of them. She shrugged that thought aside because she would trap herself with nowhere to move if she did that. Josephine emerged in the dining area and wondered how Lorcan had found her. As she left the restaurant, she realized he must have heard the faint hum of her shield. There was no way to elude him unless she could become absolutely silent. The door crashed open behind her as Lorcan dashed outside. Josephine wondered if she should run into another store and take off the pendant. Without it, she might have a shot at hiding. Josephine suddenly realized it had been a long time since the daggers had struck which meant they were drained of power. At least that was one threat she could scratch off her list. Green sparks flared around her as Lorcan hit her shield again.

  Josephine continued to change direction but there was only so much she could do to make herself a difficult target. She made an abrupt turn into Econo G Rentals. When she was halfway across the room, she realized the protective shield had allowed her to grasp the doorknob. She was unaccustomed to the restrictions of this protective enchantment so she’d failed to notice the inconsistent behavior. Josephine didn’t break her stride to think about it though. She burst into the hallway at the back knowing there was an exit because she’d seen it here before. She paused at the exit when she realized she hadn’t heard a peep from Lorcan. He didn’t bother to open doors quietly. She turned to gaze down the hallway and frowned as the quiet continued. Josephine reached out with her mind to sense his location. His privacy screen made it difficult and she couldn’t get a fix on him right away. After a moment, she sensed him just behind the exit door waiting for her. The impression lasted for only an instant and then it was gone. Josephine backed away from it until she was on the other end of the hallway.

  She kept her awareness stretched out to find him again. Another couple moments passed before she caught just a wisp of his energy. He was no longer at the exit but he was outside nearby. She couldn’t tell where he was positioned anymore. Maybe he’d found a spot where he could cover both exits. Josephine slipped into one of the two offices. It had a small window and she peered outside. She could see a portion of the parking lot at the side of the building but nothing up front or in the back. Josephine kept her mind alert and tuned to the psychic energy around the vicinity as she slipped the cell phone from her pants pocket. She tried remembering who she’d seen at the station but everything had happened so fast she had no inkling who’d been knocked out. Josephine had five emergency contacts in case something major occurred and she believed her current situation qualified. The first three individuals didn’t pick up to her dismay. She tried the fourth which was Howie but he didn’t answer it. She flinched when she picked up Lorcan’s presence. He circling the building but the impression had been so brief she had no idea where he was.

  Suddenly, the front door crashed and Josephine rushed over to the door. She hesitated briefly with indecision before she closed the office door very quietly and locked it. Josephine crossed the room and unlocked the window. When she tried to push it open, it stuck. She pushed harder but it wouldn’t budge. She leaned over so she would be able to push with more of her weight but her shield was no longer permeable with the edge of the window and she couldn’t press past the threshold to even touch it anymore. Josephine wanted to shout with frustration and wondered if perhaps there was a price to pay with both white magic and black magic. The office door broke in half and splintered wood shot into the room to reveal Lorcan. He emerged with both wands and unleashed a sustained blast against Josephine. He positioned himself in front of the doorway so she wouldn’t be able to slip past him.

  Josephine was amazed that the white sparkling sphere of energy still shone strong around her. She turned to the window and tried to open it but the shield pressed against the threshold so that her hand was blocked from accessing it. She sat down and leaned her back against the wall. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t see Lorcan’s furious assaults. She forced herself to relax and allow her mind to wander. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t alert since there was no chance of escape at the moment. Her only choice was to regain her composure so she could think clearly and hope for an epiphany. For some reason, this course of action enraged Lorcan.

  “I’m going to kill you,” Lorcan vowed.

  “Whatever, Toadstool,” Josephine taunted.

  “There’s no way your shield can protect you for much longer.”

  More flashes of green light flickered behind Josephine’s closed eyelids. She wondered if white magic was so potent that no matter what Lorcan threw at her, it would remain active for days. She opened her eyes and laughed with amusement in spite of her dire circumstances. Lorcan shouted and in a fit of rage blasted both of the desks which collapsed. Loose papers scattered across the floor and the computers toppled over. He shot the desks repeatedly until all that remained were piles of broken wood.

  “This is a lot of fun, Toadstool. What would you like to do later?” Josephine asked.

  Lorcan shoved his wands into his satchel and glared at her for a long moment.

  “What’s going through that walnut-sized brain of yours?” Josephine smirked.

  Lorcan’s face broke out into a nasty smile that sent a shiver of apprehension down Josephine’s spine. He took his smaller satchel and dumped the remaining four stones into his hand.

  “You can’t destroy these rocks while your inside that stupid li
ttle bubble,” Lorcan said.

  Josephine’s gaze fixed on the rocks as he tossed them in the air towards her and activated the knockout cloud. She froze with indecision as the rocks settled on the carpeting in front of her. There was a chance she could remove the pendant from her neck and use telekinesis to break the rocks. An instant later, she knew it was too late. A red mist gushed out of the rocks and raced across the floor towards her. Lorcan retreated from the room and Josephine stepped onto the window sill to avoid the knockout spell. A moment later she heard the front door crash as he vacated the building. The window sill was so tiny that only the heels of her feet could fit. Josephine tried not to move as the crimson smoke slowly inched higher. As she stared at the swirling red vapor, she realized it was foolish to stand here. It was inevitable that the knockout cloud would reach her and she’d lose consciousness. It would be a bad fall and she’d be lucky if she didn’t sprain or break an arm or a leg.

  Josephine willed herself to step down while she could but that would be giving up. She lifted her left foot and tried to smash it against the window but her shield wouldn’t move and blocked her from it. Josephine slipped and fell. She managed to keep her footing and stood in stunned silence as the crimson vapor swirled around her but couldn’t reach past the protective sphere. She heaved a sigh of relief and left the room. She slowed her pace as she traversed the hallway as she couldn’t see beyond the red mist. When Josephine exited the building, red vapor billowed outside and formed an expanding layer on the ground. Lorcan stood nearby and he gaped at her with astonishment.

  “Hello again, Toadstool.” Josephine flashed a triumphant smile at him as she held the door open and stepped to the side.

  Without warning, her shield shrank back to the edge of her hand so that she could no longer grasp the handle. But she’d anticipated this type of behavior from her temperamental protection and had positioned herself so she was standing directly in front of the door. It rested against her shield and she leaned back until it was wide open again. The red roiling mist that had formed a layer over the ground continued to expand but not as quickly as it did inside the building since there was a lot more space out here. This gave Lorcan time to run away in a panic. Josephine wished she could run after him but then the door would close and she’d be back to square one with no protection again.

  Chapter 23

  Josephine, Mark, and Jake were seated at the dining room table with the large glistening chandelier lending a cheery light to the room. They had plates of steaming lasagna situated in front of them. After her encounter with Lorcan earlier today, Josephine was immensely relieved to be safe at her house. Her desire to catch Lorcan was so strong, she could barely think about anything else. Baking this meal had been a welcome distraction but thoughts of the dark wizard kept coming back to her. Earlier this evening, Josephine had supplied Mark with a couple dozen of Arabella’s protection amulets and several teleportation enchantments. He had protested but in the end she’d talked him into accepting the gifts. After all, he was the only one who could actually use them.

  “This is delicious,” Jake complimented her after he’d taken his first bite of the lasagna.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” Josephine said in a distracted tone. She still hadn’t touched her own piece yet. “Do you think Lorcan has very many more weapons that he hasn’t used yet?”

  “I think he has a lot more,” Mark surmised.

  “I wish I could find out where he’s staying.”

  “Practically the entire department is working on this case. We’ll track him down,” Jake said confidently.

  “We can’t be so sure of that. He’s very good at hiding,” Josephine said.

  “Every time he leaves the house, he has to use a glamour to keep from being recognized. Glamours are notoriously unreliable. His face is plastered all over and his picture is shown repeatedly on every major television network. He’ll definitely be spotted,” Jake said.

  Her grandson’s argument didn’t reassure her. Lorcan was like a cornered animal so he was beyond rational thought and would strike again soon. She wished Alice and Helen would stay with her but Helen refused to sleep in a cursed house and Alice didn’t want to leave her alone. Josephine had only just taken her first bite of her meal when someone knocked at the door. Her mood became stormy when she left the room to answer it knowing that the uninvited guest was probably a solicitor. Josephine was tempted to prepare a jinx. She could whip up a simple one on the fly since she was connected to the vortex in her home. She discarded this impulse and was surprised to find a handsome, dark-haired man in his forties wearing expensive but casual clothes. The woman standing beside him had coal-black hair secured in a pony tail and she also wore expensive attire without being flashy. Josephine almost immediately realized they must be relatives of Mark.

  “I’m Josephine O’Connor. It’s good to finally meet you, Mr. Freeman,” she said just as the man opened his mouth to speak.

  He froze for an instant with startlement which gave him a funny look as his mouth remained open.

  He recovered swiftly and adopted a polite expression on his face. “I’m Cyril, Mark’s father, and this is Maggie, his sister. We need to talk.”

  “You wish to discuss something important with me?” Josephine asked.

  “Not with you – with Mark.” A hint of impatience crept in Cyril’s voice.

  “I suppose it’s safe to let you inside but I’ll need Mark’s permission first,” Josephine said.

  Mark emerged in the foyer and a resigned expression dominated his face when he saw the visitors.

  “I need to speak with you, young man,” Cyril said in a disapproving tone.

  “You came all the way from Seattle just to have a discussion with him?” Josephine asked.

  “That’s correct,” Cyril bit out.

  Josephine threw a questioning look at Mark and he expelled a sharp breath of dismay.

  “We might as well get this over with,” Mark said.

  Josephine had already scanned his family members to make sure they didn’t carry dark magic or glamours. All she needed was to invite a couple of Valituras agents inside her home. They gathered in the living room and settled on two of the couches there. Jake joined them and sat beside Josephine with Mark situated on her other side. Cyril and Maggie perched on the couch facing them.

  “This is a private matter,” Cyril advised.

  “That’s all right. This is my new family.” Mark cast a defiant look at his father.

  “Very well then.” Cyril’s restrained façade gave way to annoyance and reprisal. “I’m very disappointed in you. Maggie discovered that you’ve chosen to become a white magic practitioner. How could you do such a thing?”

  “It happened by accident. I wasn’t aware of it until just recently.”

  “Now that you know, it’s time to reject it,” Cyril ordered.

  “I’ve decided that white magic suits my lifestyle better than mainstream magic.”

  “I’ve never been happy about your choice to waste time and energy with all those restoration enchantments and now I see I was too lenient with you growing up. I should have put my foot down a long time ago.”

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference and it’s too late now. I have my own life to live.” Mark leveled an obstinate look at his father.

  “You’re barely an adult and you have the Freeman legacy to uphold.”

  “I have plenty of cousins who will carry on the family name. And there’s also my perfect sister here.”

  Cyril’s jaw clenched with frustration. “You can’t do anything with white magic!”

  “It saved my life,” Josephine interjected. “You wouldn’t believe how much force Mark’s pendant withstood and it never fizzled out. I’ve never seen any protection so strong.”

  “You couldn’t fire back though. It made you a sitting duck.”

  “I’d run out of my own protection. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for white magic,” Josephine said.

  Cyril’s
hostile expression turned thoughtful. “Is it true that the two of you are dating?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  Cyril turned to address Mark again and pinned him with an annoyed gaze.

  “At least you’ve done one thing right. If you ever marry her, we’ll have another six in the family. I suppose I’ll have to reconsider my decision to revoke your privileges to the family estates.”

  “You were going to deny me the right to access the library and the vault?” Mark eyed his father with incredulous disbelief.

  “Of course. Surely you must have known,” Cyril said. “But as long as you’re dating Josephine, I’ll allow you to continue your inferior choice in magic.”

  “What’s so special about your family library anyway?” Josephine couldn’t restrain her curiosity.

  “We can’t discuss it with you now. We’re bound by a potent enchantment that ensures secrecy,” Cyril advised.

  “It sounds like you plan on telling me later. What’s going to change?” Josephine asked.

  “When you marry my son, you will become part of the family.”

  Josephine was struck speechless at this shocking statement.

  “All of the Freeman’s undergo a life-long spell that prevents us from revealing any of our family secrets,” Mark explained.