by John O'Riley
Josephine narrowed her eyes at the colonel with disapproval but refrained from voicing her thoughts. She already detested the idea of working for this obnoxious bully and wondered if she was crazy for even considering the notion of joining his team.
“Josephine, I promise this won’t be forever and I do still have more direct supervision over my team than he does. I’m sure I can get my team back. It will just take a little bit of time,” Virginia thought.
Josephine flinched at the telepathic communication and received unwanted attention from everyone in the room, including Colonel Pill which was how she would refer to Eugene Mills behind his back unless she thought of a better nickname for him. Virginia outlined Josephine’s duties and when she told her what her new salary would be, Josephine gasped with surprise. She’d never dreamed she could make so much. The monetary compensation would be nice but her main motivation was Helen and the safety of Mark and her unborn child. She wanted to be sure with the vulnerabilities of white magic, that Helen would have a leader that understood her limitations and strengths. Josephine couldn’t take the chance that someone like Captain Gallagher would become her commanding officer.
Josephine fixed a decisive look on Virginia. “I accept the position.”
“Excellent!” Virginia exclaimed with delight.
Colonel Mills let his disappointment show for just an instant before hiding it behind a façade of stern approval. “We’ve got our full team assembled then.”
Chapter 34
Perry slept perched on the curtain rod above the window as Josephine marched in the kitchen. Her thoughts churned with turmoil and indecision as she poured herself a mug of coffee. Perry stretched his wings and shook himself, released a couple of fluffy feathers that drifted down towards the counter to vanish in small explosions of sparkling white mist. He cooed at her as she added cream and sugar to her warm beverage.
Josephine flashed a friendly smile at him. “Good morning, Perry.” His cooing changed over to a trilling similar to a canary. “You’re a sweet bird, this morning, Mr. White.”
She breezed out of the kitchen to find Maggie hunched over her notebook computer at the dining room table.
“Good morning.” Josephine slid into her usual chair and took a sip of her coffee.
“I think I may have figured out what went wrong with the first long-range scanner I made.” Maggie’s voice tinged with excitement and her eyes remained transfixed to the computer.
Josephine ignored the dark particles swarming inside Maggie. Now that she was tapped into her vortex at the house, she could tell that Maggie was practicing black magic. However, she didn’t want to deal with that issue at the moment.
“That’s good news,” Josephine said.
“I just need to iron out a few details and look through the schematics one more time before I finalize my design. Then we can get started on making the enchantment,” Maggie said.
“Have you started creating the defragmenting spell that Hermina gave you?” Josephine watched her with open curiosity.
“I don’t have the time for that now.”
Josephine took another sip of her beverage then set the mug down. “It might help you to understand terramezic energy better.”
“I understand it well enough for this particular enchantment. Once we’ve finished our current assignment, I look forward to discovering what hidden memories and information is stored in my subconscious.” Maggie’s brows furrowed with concentration as she leaned closer to her computer screen.
“You’re going to get a sore back if you keep sitting like that,” Josephine advised.
Maggie straightened and shot her a rueful smile. “You’re right, of course. I get so caught up in my work sometimes that I forget the demands of my body.”
Josephine heard Perry cooing in the other room and her body’s senses stirred with pleasure and anticipation as energy currents from Mark flowed to her chakras. A moment later, Mark ambled into the room with a white dove hopping back and forth on his shoulder.
“Watch the claws, Perry,” Mark said.
The dove immediately calmed down but kept cooing softly and kissed Mark’s earlobe.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Josephine leveled a warm smile at her lover.
“Morning.” Mark leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in a brief kiss. Perry tilted over to keep from falling off Mark’s shoulder. Mark took his seat beside her. Alice and Helen arrived and joined them at the dining room table.
“What’s the plan for today?” Alice asked.
“Once Maggie is finished tweaking her design, we’re going to start another long-range terramezic scanner.” Josephine cupped her hands around her mug of coffee resting on the table. “And I’ll have Perry help Helen create a claro mentis enchantment.”
Alice watched the white dove continue to coo and gently kiss Mark’s earlobe. “What’s up with Perry?”
“He’s excited to be on his first job and that he gets to work with Helen,” Mark explained.
Perry stretched his wings and extended his height. He lifted into the air and dove towards his seat at the other side of the table, exploding into a sparkling white mist as he transformed into a human.
Perry’s curly brown hair was disheveled and his brown eyes sparkled with exhilaration. “This is going to be a lot of fun. My first professional spell.”
“I know you’ll do well, kid.” Alice grinned at him with good humor.
Josephine forced herself not to stare at her friend with astonishment.
Maggie looked up from her computer. “Try not to get your hopes up. A claro mentis is a very specialized spell. It takes years of work to learn how to create them and to use them well.”
“I know.” Perry’s mood failed to dampen over this reminder.
“White magic is different.” Alice leveled a contemplative gaze at him. “I think you may surprise us.”
Josephine couldn’t help herself any longer. “Are you changing your mind about white magic?”
“Not at all,” Alice said. “I’m just recognizing that there are a few things White Knights excel at such as healing spells.”
“I’m glad you can see that,” Helen said.
Alice took a drink from her mug then set it down with care. “I’m also looking forward to the day that you guys stop making me do claro mentis spells. Just because all of you are crazy enough to quit retirement doesn’t mean I want to jump into the fray.”
“You’re too kind.” Josephine cocked a sardonic brow at her friend.
“Don’t mention it.”
“I wonder if APU 81 knows that you’re back yet,” Helen said.
“I’m sure it’s had one or more of its hosts spying on this house and the Interplanetary Transit Center in Venice ever since we left,” Josephine remarked.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Maggie’s expression was grave. “Now that it knows we’re back, it’s going to feel compelled to take more risks to prevent us from carrying out our plans to detect terramezic energy. It knows that as soon as we have a working prototype, its days are numbered. It will no longer be able to hide its skull from us.”
“Excuse me a moment. I want to check on the Venice facility to make sure it’s still powered down.” Josephine pulled out her cell phone as she left the room.
As she entered the kitchen, she dialed one of her guards at Venice and confirmed everything was all right. She breathed a sigh of relief and disconnected the call. Mark came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She turned and they kissed. Frissons of pleasurable heat spread through her body.
She pulled back but joined hands with him. “I’m so glad we’re together and back on Earth. I don’t think APU 81 will attack us at the house.”
“I love you, Josephine,” Mark said with fervent passion.
“I love you, too.”
“Hey, Dad.” Perry breezed into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around both Josephine and Mark. “I have the coolest parents in the world.” He cro
ssed the room to pull a mug from the cupboard so he could pour himself some coffee.
“He never drinks or eats unless we twist his arm,” Josephine murmured.
“Why is he having coffee now?” Mark watched Perry with puzzlement.
“I think he’s doing this to impress Helen. He’s got a crush on her.” Josephine regarded the light being with affection as he continued to work over his coffee by adding plenty of cream and sugar.
“Do you really think so?” Mark asked quietly.
“I think you need to have a talk with him,” Josephine whispered.
“We talk all the time.”
“What I mean is you need to tell him about the birds and the bees,” Josephine whispered.
Mark blinked with surprise. “Surely he has to know all about that. He came with all kinds of knowledge and talent.”
“He’s extremely wise when it comes to white magic but he’s very naïve and ignorant of a lot of things dealing with physical matters. You really need to have a frank discussion with him.”
“I’m sure he knows where babies come from. It’s very basic stuff,” Mark spoke in a hushed tone.
From across the room, Perry turned with his mug of coffee and scrutinized Mark with an inquisitive gleam in his eye. “Since you brought it up, how are babies made? Why does Josephine have one inside her?”
“You can hear what we’re saying?” Mark’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“I have exceptional hearing. This body is just a vessel for my etheric being,” Perry advised.
Josephine retreated a step from her boyfriend. “You and Mark need to have a talk.” She escaped the room before Mark could try to rope her into the discussion. As far as she was concerned, this was a father-son conversation. Josephine slipped into her chair and Alice began shuffling a deck of cards so they could play Rummy. Josephine could hear Mark’s voice drifting from the kitchen but she couldn’t make out the words. He definitely sounded uncomfortable though. Josephine picked up each card she was dealt as they came but she couldn’t help but try to listen in on Mark’s talk with Perry. She could only pick up snatches of conversation.
Alice cleared her throat in a sign of impatience. “Your turn, Josephine.”
“Of course.” She didn’t have a decent hand anyway so she just picked a card and discarded as fast as possible without giving much attention to her actions. She heard Perry’s shocked exclamation and then Mark continued to converse more quickly and frantically.
“Did you do that to Josephine?” Perry’s astonished voice carried into the dining room.
Alice, Maggie, and Helen lifted their gazes and focused their attention on Josephine.
“What’s going on in there, anyway?” Alice asked.
“Nothing important.” Josephine lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug.
She reached out to pick a card since it was her turn again. This diverted Alice’s attention as her competitive streak kicked in.
“You’re stockpiling aces, aren’t you?” Alice frowned at her with suspicion.
“Of course not.” Josephine adopted an innocent look. In point of fact, she didn’t have a single ace. This was one of her worse hands but she knew her expression of forced innocence would goad her friend like nothing else could.
“Poppycock! You’ve probably got three of those damned things in your hand! I can feel it!” Alice exclaimed.
Obviously, Alice didn’t share the intuitive ability that Josephine possessed as part of the magical White Knight network.
“Is that why I feel this way about Helen?” Perry’s astonished voice carried into the room.
“What on earth are those two doing in there?” Alice demanded.
Maggie’s frantic typing paused and Helen’s gaze swiveled to Josephine.
“How should I know?” Josephine’s face flushed with self-consciousness. She should have made Mark and Perry go to her room to have their discussion. “It’s probably just guy talk or something to do with White Knights.”
Helen nodded with agreement. “That makes perfect sense.”
“How so?” Alice leveled an inquiring look at her.
“Mark, Perry, and I share a special connection because we’re White Knights. Naturally, I would come up in discussions about white magic,” Helen said.
“I guess so.” Alice paused in thought. “It’s your turn, Helen.”
“All right.” Helen stared at the cards in her hand with careful consideration.
Perry emerged in the room with a stunned expression on his face akin to someone who’d been slapped with a dead fish. He took his seat beside Helen and peered straight ahead in a clearly distracted train of thought. Mark joined them a moment later. Josephine patted his knee and shot him a commiserating look. Helen continued to ogle her cards.
“Helen?” Alice said in a sharp tone.
“Yes?” Helen fixed a puzzled look at her friend. “What is it?”
“Take you turn, please,” Alice reminded her.
“Of course.” Helen made her decision and discarded.
They were in the middle of their third game when Arthur arrived at the house with Charlotte. He hardly said two words to Josephine before leaving and his disapproval of handing over Charlotte was almost palpable.
Charlotte joined the group at the dining room table with a dejected air about her. “The mind control spell is so strong. I don’t think anyone can help us. Not even you, Alice.”
“We’ll see about that.” Alice’s chin jutted out at a stubborn angle.
“Captain Gallagher said Clarence is the best there is and I don’t think he’s helped at all,” Charlotte said.
“Clarence is still wet behind the ears as far as I’m concerned,” Alice said. “I have plenty of claro mentis enchantments to treat your condition and I’ll help your sister, too.” She narrowed her eyes at Helen and cleared her throat loudly. “Helen?”
“Sorry.” Helen took her turn with haste.
Josephine had been waiting for this moment. She took almost the entire discard pile so she could make her move.
Alice groaned with grievous exasperation. “I knew you were stockpiling my kings and aces.”
“You’ve said that with every game this morning,” Josephine pointed out.
“This time it’s true.”
It didn’t take long for Josephine to end this game and come out the clear victor. Alice and Charlotte headed to the living room to work on their first claro mentis spell of the day. Mark, Helen and Perry went to the upstairs living room to work on a claro mentis enchantment while Josephine and Maggie set to work on creating a long-range scanner. Josephine and Maggie held their hands over the first quartz cluster and began shaping the energy matrix for the terramezic scanner. It didn’t take long for Josephine to notice her partner lacked the precision and finesse she’d demonstrated in their previous work together.
When they stopped for a break, Josephine met Maggie’s gaze with a gentle smile. “You’re having trouble with this, aren’t you?”
“I’m fine.” Maggie’s tone was brusque.
“Practicing black magic temporarily diminishes your ability to work with mainstream magic,” Josephine advised.
“I was wondering if you would ever get around to saying anything.” A moody frown spread across Maggie’s face. “There’s nothing wrong with using dark energy. My intentions are honorable.”
“What exactly do you plan to do?” Josephine asked.
Maggie’s eyes gleamed with resolve. “I’m going to destroy APU 81 so it can never harm anyone else.”
“It’s revenge.”
“That’s part of it,” Maggie acknowledged. “But it doesn’t change the fact that APU 81 has murdered thousands of innocent people.”
“Thousands?” Josephine regarded her with a growing sense of horror.
“During the war and while it waited for human civilization to develop technology that would allow it to create and restore terramezic generators,” Maggie explained. “Don’t y
ou think it deserves to die after everything it’s done?”
“Of course but black magic isn’t the answer,” Josephine said.
“You’re wrong. It’s exactly what I need to finally put an end to APU 81.”
Fear slithered through Josephine as she became aware of the presence of dark energy. At first she thought it was coming from Maggie but she soon realized it was surrounding the house and yard.
Josephine jumped to her feet. “We’re under attack!”
Maggie’s eyes widened with surprise and she stood up with eager anticipation. Josephine ventured in the living room where Alice and Charlotte were reclined on two of the couches, deep in a claro mentis spell. The light from the morning sun dimmed as swirling black smoke circled the house and thickened. Josephine reached out with her mind and detected ten individuals harboring dark energy containment vessels.
“Alice, if you can hear me. You need to end the claro mentis,” Josephine murmured so she wouldn’t startle her friend as it could be dangerous to interrupt this spell.
She didn’t stick around to wait for Alice’s reaction. There simply wasn’t any time. Perry, Mark, and Helen joined them in the room.
“Maggie and I will go outside to confront APU 81,” Josephine said.
“We’re going with you,” Mark said.
“It’s too dangerous. You’re staying inside.”
Maggie and Josephine made their way down the stairs with Mark, Perry, and Helen following them.
Josephine reached the entryway and whirled around to confront them. “This is too dangerous for White Knights. Your magic falls apart in the face of dark energy.”
“The three of us together can help you,” Mark said.
“At least turn your damned shields on then,” Josephine snapped with frustration.
A white sphere of energy blazed into existence around the three white magic practitioners. Josephine exchanged a worried look with Maggie before heading out to the front yard. The black smoke was incredibly thick and completely obscured their view beyond the yard. APU 81 kept its host bodies within the dark energy it had released. The light energy wards protecting the property threatened to buckle. Josephine knew they didn’t have much time. She and Maggie activated their protection spells and held their wands ready. They couldn’t fire through the wards without damaging them. Josephine and Maggie could tell exactly where their attackers hid as they continually scanned the area. When the wards failed, they unleashed powerful volleys of telekinetic energy at their first target, a man in his thirties. Thick flames materialized around Josephine and Maggie, squeezing tight against their shields. For now, APU 81 ignored the White Knights.