Corruption (Grumpy Old Wizards Book 2) (22 page)

“Would you like something to drink?” Mark asked.

“Why don’t you just spit it out?” Josephine demanded.

Mark flinched then gestured at the couches and Josephine perched on one of them. Mark sat down so he faced her. Josephine took a deep breath and waited for the bad news.

“I’ve discovered something about myself recently. It took me completely off guard,” he began. Josephine wanted to say something rude but held herself in check. “I should have noticed it a long time ago but I was so passionate about working for the police and so busy with my business and school that it was easy to avoid.” He hesitated and took a deep breath. His comforting energy washed over Josephine like an embrace and her heart ached over the suspense of his seemingly endless breakup speech.

“I understand, Mark. You don’t need to say any more,” Josephine cut him off before he could continue.

“You already know?” Mark watched her with stunned amazement.

“Of course. Your note made it pretty clear. You don’t need to drag this out. You forget how old I am. I recognize a breakup when I see it.” Josephine rose to her feet.

“That’s not what this is about.” Mark stood up from his own seat and his brown eyes registered anxiety.

“It’s not?” Josephine wondered what in the world was going on. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on? You’re making me nervous.”

Neither of them sat down again and Mark took a step closer to her.

“Remember how I told you I’m good with restoration and memory enchantments?” he asked.

“Yes,” Josephine acknowledged.

“Those are the only two spells I’ve done for several years other than working on antidotes for Uncle Nathan’s condition. I just haven’t been interested in doing anything else with magic. Some classes require you to make certain enchantments in your major field of study. I have two assignments that are due in a few weeks. One of them is to make a knockout enchantment and I just can’t do it. I’ve been trying to get it started all week and I finally figured out what’s wrong. I’m tapping into source energy and I’ve been doing it for quite a while now. Some people have an affinity for working with white magic but as you know, the applications are extremely limited.” Mark’s brown eyes reflected his shame. “I’ve only been interested in those three types of enchantments for so long that I never noticed until now what I couldn’t do. Once my family finds out, there will be hell to pay. The only thing I could do in their eyes that would be worse is practicing dark magic.”

“Now that I know what’s happened to me, I can work on other antidotes for Nathan. Pure white magic is the best hope for getting rid of his curse and I won’t give it up. Even though I’m limiting my abilities and I can’t pursue law enforcement, the only spells I’ve ever really enjoyed are restoration and photographic memory enchantments. I’m certain now that I wasn’t any good at it until I started unconsciously working with the source energy,” Mark said.

“It’s okay. I understand.” Josephine leveled a reassuring look at him. “There’s absolutely no shame in this. And I don’t want to leave you.”

“You don’t?” Mark regarded her with utter disbelief.

“Just because I’m a six doesn’t mean you have to be a whiz with magic, too. Even if you weren’t a wizard, I’d still feel the same way about you.”

“I love you, Josephine.”

“I love you, too.”

Currents of power flared between them and Josephine’s body thrummed with pleasure. Mark stepped forward and kissed her with an intensity that took her breath away.

Chapter 20

Helen and Alice were surprised to find Mark at Josephine’s house Saturday morning. Jake joined them at the dining room table for coffee and to play rummy. Alice wore a green silk shirt and green shorts with a green visor perched on her head. She had a determined, no-nonsense expression on her face as she shuffled the cards. Helen’s beautiful green eyes studied Mark with keen interest.

“There’s something different about you,” she observed.

Mark’s face flushed a guilty shade of red. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It reminds me of the first time Josephine tapped into the vortex,” Helen said.

“I might as well tell all of you.” Mark hesitated and fear registered in his warm brown eyes. Josephine gave him a reassuring look and he smiled back at her before returning his attention to the group. “I’ve recently discovered I’m a white magic practitioner.”

“Are you serious?” Alice leveled a brief frown at him then began dealing cards.

“Yes.” Mark shifted in his seat with discomfort.

“That’s why you quit your internship?” Jake asked.

“I’m afraid so.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. White magic is just a different field of study. You can get a major in it if you wanted to,” Jake pointed out.

“I didn’t realize you were such a weenie.” Alice scrutinized Mark with disapproval. “You’re limiting yourself not just with spells but with your career. Any type of violence or negativity will cause you pain. You won’t be able to live in the real world with everyone else. I’m surprised Josephine hasn’t dumped you.”

“Alice! What’s gotten into you?” Josephine pinned her friend with a look of reprisal.

“I’m just stating the truth. Everyone knows it.”

“She’s right. Maybe you don’t really understand what my choice means,” Mark said.

“I fully comprehend the situation and I already told you that it doesn’t change anything between us. Many people will share Alice’s opinion but they’re small-minded fools and I don’t care what they think,” Josephine announced.

“I for one am proud of you, young man,” Helen said. “It’s a tough and brave choice. And just because the spells you can do are limited, there’s no magic greater or more potent than source energy. Few people have the gift to generate that power without years of training.”

“You can always change your mind if you decide to become normal like everyone else so you can cast real spells,” Alice advised.

“There are too few healers in the world as it is,” Helen argued.

Alice finished handing out the cards and peered down at her hand. Josephine was shocked that her lifelong friend harbored such disillusionment and jaded beliefs. White magic wasn’t a topic that came up very often as it was something very few were interested in learning for obvious reasons.

“Let me ask you something, Mark,” Alice said when she’d finished taking her turn. “You make your living by selling restoration enchantments, right?”

“Yes.”

“Enchantments created by pure white magic can only be used by others who share this ability. Pretty soon, you’ll discover that YOU are the only one who can activate it so you’ll end up with a worthless product.”

“I realize that. Restorations are tricky and my clients usually come to me so I can cast the spells anyway,” Mark explained.

“But you’ll find you lose a lot of customers if you have to do it all yourself,” Alice argued.

“To tell you the truth, more and more people are returning my enchantments because they can’t use them. I’m going to have to rely on local business.”

“Vickie owned her own business with restorations,” Josephine interjected. “She developed a reputation and had people fly in from all over the country. She did quite well for herself.”

“It took her many years to develop her client base,” Alice pointed out.

“I have to admit that I’ve been losing a lot of sales over the last six months or so but I’m still doing all right,” Mark said.

Josephine gazed at him with concern over this new revelation. She hadn’t realized he’d lost sales because of his ability but it made sense knowing the limits of white magic.

“Don’t you see that this is a huge mistake? You’ll lose everything if you limit yourself,” Alice said.

“White magic creates the strongest shields and wards,” Helen interjected.

“What good is that if he’s the only one who can use them? He can’t sell them or give them to anyone for protection,” Alice argued.

Josephine glared at her with reprisal. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you but you’d better stop harassing my boyfriend.”

Alice blinked with surprise then crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive posture.

“I won’t say anymore except that this is a bad move.” She tilted her chin up with defiance.

“I think I’ve had enough cards for today,” Helen announced.

“Me, too.” Alice abruptly left the room.

Josephine followed her and tried to catch up but Alice walked with supernatural speed and slammed the door shut as she exited the house.

“I wonder why she’s so stirred up about this,” Jake said with bemusement.

“Maybe it’s vampire sickness,” Helen suggested.

“That could be,” Mark acknowledged.

“What do you mean?” Josephine asked.

“Nathan was telling me about it the other day,” Helen said. “Sometimes when a vampire is made, it comes with an additional side-effect. What happens on occasion is that when the curse takes effect, it creates a dark mind so it can retain its sentience and traps the victim’s consciousness so that it has complete control. The dark mind’s personality is shaped by the victim’s memories and habits but it’s only concern is its own survival and quenching its bloodlust. Over time, the dark mind loses its ability to blend in and imitate its victim.”

“I’ve been concerned over her casual attitude towards drinking blood,” Josephine admitted. “I didn’t realize something like this was possible.”

“With the volatile behavior that Alice is displaying, I’m afraid it’s almost a sure thing that she’s suffering from this condition,” Mark announced. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner. It’s just that I’m not used to dealing with dark magic so it didn’t occur to me that this was a possibility.”

“How do we fix it?” Josephine asked.

“The only cure is to dispel the curse.”

“That’s almost impossible. Is there anything else we can do?” Josephine fervently hoped that she could so something to help her friend.

“I’m afraid not,” Mark said. “The only way is to get rid of the…”

“What is it?” Josephine asked.

“I was just thinking that you still have your praesentia infinitus enchantment. That would definitely eradicate the curse.”

“But then she would be mortal again and her days would be numbered,” Josephine fretted. “She would die unexpectedly and I’m sure it wouldn’t take long.”

“Death is the natural order of things,” Mark said.

“I don’t care! I want her to live!” Josephine exclaimed.

“Grandma, she’ll be normal again. Kind of,” Jake said. “And if Alice suffers from this condition, she’s dead to us anyway.”

“What if she doesn’t have this dark mind?” Josephine asked. “It would be a death sentence.”

“The praesentia infinitus is the white magic equivalent to immortality. She’d stick around for a long time. I’m certain of it,” Jake said.

“Alice has never been a goody two-shoes. I think she’d get bored of life very quickly. Besides, if I use that spell on her and I’m wrong, she’ll never forgive me,” Josephine said. She directed an anxious look at Mark. “Is there any way to know for sure?”

“There’s a detection spell I can make,” Mark said.

“Even though you can only do white magic?” Jake asked.

Mark’s lips formed a sardonic grin. “Yes, that’s one I can definitely prepare.”

“Your abilities aren’t going to be so limited after all,” Jake teased.

Mark grinned at his friend with mirth.

“What if Alice doesn’t come back tomorrow to play cards? She may have already decided she hates my guts,” Josephine said.

Helen’s vibrant green eyes danced with amusement. “This isn’t the first time she’s left in a huff.”

“That’s true.”

“If she’s really trapped by the dark mind, we don’t have much time before it loses its grip on humanity,” Mark warned. “I’ll be sure to have the detection spell ready first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Why don’t you spend the night here? I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe while Lorcan’s out plotting revenge,” Josephine said.

“All right,” he agreed.

“You’re invited, too, Helen.” Josephine leveled an expectant look at her friend.

“I’m sorry but I have my limits. I can’t spend the night in a cursed house.”

“If you change your mind, the offer stands.”

After Helen left, Josephine was reluctant to ask for more assistance but she wanted access to the secret room.

“Mark, I was wondering if there was one more thing you could help with,” Josephine said.

“Sure, what is it?”

Josephine made her request and Mark didn’t hesitate in agreeing to the task.

“That is so cool! I wish I had a secret treasure trove,” Jake said.

“It might not be treasure,” Mark warned them. “Sometimes white magic can be used to contain curses or other dangerous things.”

“I know I can handle it,” Josephine said confidently.

The three of them went upstairs to her office. Mark approached the invisible doorway and she felt him flow energy at the powerful ward. A sparkling white light shimmered in front of him, outlining the doorway. Mark raised his hands as he channeled the currents of energy and experimented with different resonance pulses. Josephine hadn’t seen this type of technique used before and tried to sense exactly what he was doing. Unfortunately, her scans were distorted by the source energy so she couldn’t perceive it. This had never happened to her before and it unnerved her. Josephine’s gaze flitted over to her grandson who stared at Mark with amazement. Without warning, Mark dropped his hands and the currents of energy dissipated. The sparkling luminescence over the invisible doorway winked out of existence. Josephine cocked a bemused brow at Mark’s back as he stared at the wall.

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to get it on the first try,” Josephine said. “I spent hours with that stupid thing.”

Mark turned to grin at her with triumph. “It worked! The ward is deactivated.”

“But the doorway isn’t there.”

“It’s still invisible but you can walk inside the room whenever you like,” Mark explained.

To illustrate his point, he stepped forward and vanished inside the wall. Josephine gasped with surprise then followed him into the room. Jake emerged several seconds later. The room was spacious and well lit. Half a dozen cobalt-blue witch balls hung suspended from the ceiling by long silver chains and they radiated a pleasant glow which was the source of the illumination. Josephine took a moment to admire the beauty of the glass orbs before her gaze swept over the wooden shelves lining the walls and the long shelves at the center of the room. A variety of enchantments filled each of the shelves. The room probably boasted hundreds of magical tools and they were either neutral or white magic because the energy waves that skimmed across Josephine’s body and mind were pleasant and light.

“This must be the Fleming’s family collection,” Mark said.

“I can’t believe it! This is so cool!” Jake exclaimed.

“Mark, do you think you could program the ward to my energy signature so I can control it?” Josephine asked.

“I already did. The only problem is that you have to generate enough source energy to turn the wards off and on,” Mark explained.

“That must have been what happened to Duncan Fleming. His wife probably created these wards and so she was the only one who could use them. When she died, he was cut off from this room,” Josephine said.

“I wonder if he tried to break in here,” Jake said.

“Yes, he did. I picked up on the psychometric energy in the office,” she replied. “He never gave up trying to take down these wards. There are still fragments of his frustration left hanging around.” Her lips curved in a warm smile as she stepped farther into the room. “This room has very pleasant memories. Arabella and Duncan loved each other very much. Most of the enchantments were crafted by Duncan but those two shelves over there are ones that she made.”

Josephine gestured across the room where a large display of opal, ruby, emerald and crystal pendants lined the shelves. There were also several dozen white, blue and green wands beside the pedants. Josephine picked up one of the large opal pendants shaped like the infinity sign which was suspended on a gold chain. A quiet thrum of power pulsed from the jewel and she knew it was much stronger than it appeared. She gently probed the energy matrix of the enchantment in her hand but there was a distortion that prevented her from perceiving the details.

“I think this is a protection amulet,” Josephine murmured.

Mark stepped over to her and she handed the jewelry to him. His gaze became distant as he studied the magical composition.