Corruption (Grumpy Old Wizards Book 2) (23 page)

“You’re right. That’s exactly what it’s for,” Mark said.

“I’d like you to have it. I wouldn’t be able to activate the spell because it’s created with pure source energy,” Josephine said.

“But it’s women’s jewelry and it’s valuable,” he protested.

“Please, Mark. I want to keep you safe.”

“Thanks.” His face reddened with embarrassment. Josephine pretended not to notice and turned to look at the other trinkets. The room was brimming with not only magic but valuable jewelry. It boggled the mind that so much treasure had remained ensconced in this house and that none of the former owners were able to access it. Information flowed into Josephine’s mind as her gaze swept over the myriads of tools and wands. There was so much power in here. Duncan was a seriously talented individual. He enjoyed tinkering and experimenting with new possibilities and consequently made some intriguing discoveries.

“Wow! It’s incredible,” Josephine murmured.

“What is it?” Jake asked.

Josephine turned to face both her grandson and Mark. “Duncan figured out how to mix his power with Arabella. He developed a technique where he would lay the foundation for an enchantment and allow it to set for a day. After that, the two of them worked together until it was finished. This made it more potent and gave the device much of the same benefits as using pure source energy but it could be activated by any wizard.”

“Wouldn’t they still be limited to the type of spells though?” Mark asked.

“Yes, but imagine being able to make exponentially stronger shielding and teleportation spells.” Josephine felt giddy with excitement as she strode over to the center island but her face fell as more memories and data trickled into her mind. “They only made three though. Arabella must have passed away before they could do more.”

The three pieces of jewelry in question were green, rectangular-shaped dichroic glass pendants dangling on long black cords. Josephine picked up one of them and felt the faint thrum of power. The element of source energy prevented her from sensing the full scope of power that waited to be activated. Duncan was right though. She could sense that it would be easy for her to use this enchantment. On impulse, she handed one of the pendants to Jake. She kept one for herself which she put around her neck.

“Thank you,” Jake said.

“I hope it will keep you safe.” Josephine smiled then crossed the room to the teleportation pendants that Arabella had created. She picked up a dolphin-shaped opal and handed it to Mark.

“This is too generous,” Mark protested.

“You opened the room for me,” Josephine pointed out.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Josephine felt her confidence returning now that she had her very own stash of enchantments. And she would create many more of her own. Her gaze rested on the bottom shelf of the center wood cases where she noticed a collection of advanced spell books. Things were definitely starting to look up for her.

Chapter 21

A clear glass of water and a mug of coffee were positioned in front of Josephine at the dining room table. Josephine eyed the water with doubt and trepidation as she took another sip of her coffee.  Mark and Jake were seated on either side of her and Helen was positioned at the other side of the table. Mark had cast the vampire sickness detection enchantment on the glass last night and assured them it was ready for use.

“I don’t feel anything at all from it,” Josephine said.

“It doesn’t use much power to operate and because it’s pure white magic, that’s probably why you can’t perceive the spell,” Mark advised.

“I didn’t realize that was even possible.”

“As soon as a vampire enters the room, it will read the energy in a passive scan. If the water turns blue, that means there’s no dark mind. If it turns red, she’s infected with it.”

“She hasn’t really been acting that much different than her usual self except that she’s been a little short-tempered,” Josephine fretted. “I hate to do something sneaky like this.”

“It’s okay, Josephine. She’ll understand that we’re trying to help her. If the water turns blue, then we don’t even have to talk about it,” Helen said.

Alice arrived shortly and joined them with a mug of coffee.  Jake started shuffling the cards. He passed them out to everyone and they started playing.

“I just wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday.” Alice directed a warm smile at Mark. “I’ve always been very opinionated about white magic but you’re a good person and the perfect match for Josephine. I’m very sorry for insulting you and being such an idiot.”

“I appreciate that. A lot of people share your beliefs so I’ll have to learn to shrug off those types of criticisms. And I accept your apology,” Mark said.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Alice beamed at him then fixed her attention on Helen who was still taking her turn.

Josephine relaxed and was relieved to see Alice behaving like her old self again. She won the first round and it was her turn to shuffle the cards. When Josephine finished handing out the cards and taking a look at what she’d dealt herself, she couldn’t believe her luck. She already had three aces and two kings. Hopefully, whoever had that remaining ace wouldn’t hoard it. As the game progressed, Josephine kept a vigilant eye out for it. Alice focused on Jake as he ended his turn.

“You’re going back to work tomorrow, right?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ve made a full recovery. I’ve enjoyed staying with Josephine though.”

“It’s a shame you can’t take another week off. It makes things more interesting when we have more players,” Alice observed.

“Maybe I’ll have to make a point of coming over on the weekends more often,” Jake said.

Josephine took another sip of her coffee. When she set the mug down, she noticed the water in the glass was swirling gently as though being stirred. She stared at the water and waited for the blue color to take effect. After several seconds, a small red blob appeared near the center. The red cloud slowly grew until it colored all of the water so it resembled blood. Josephine blinked with surprise and a cold dread shivered down her spine. She couldn’t believe her eyes. How was this possible? Alice was behaving like her old self and had even apologized for being rude.

“That makes me thirsty,” Alice announced.

Josephine’s gaze rose to meet Alice’s whose amiable smile was the same as always. After several seconds, Alice’s smile widened and her vibrant green eyes darkened with pleasure.

“That feels so good,” she murmured.

“What does?” Josephine asked.

“The fear that you’re all pumping in the air right now. I think it has something to do with that delicious-looking, blood-colored water,” Alice said.

“You’re right.” Josephine’s body tensed as terror assailed her senses. Alice had pretended to be normal so easily. This morning cup of coffee and playing cards with her two best friends was such a long-standing tradition, it very well might be the only thing that had kept her in line so far. “I was worried about you because of the outburst yesterday so I decided to have this detection spell made.”

“I see.” Alice grinned with amusement. “And what does this little device test me for?”

“There’s a darkness in you. It sometimes happens to people when they transition into a vampire. Something doesn’t take quite right. It’s kind of an additional side-effect of the immortality curse.”

“How interesting.” Alice paused to take a casual sip of her coffee. She placed the mug down with care as her gaze remained locked with Josephine’s. “What’s the antidote for this unfortunate side-effect?”

“We need to cure you of vampirism.”

Alice chuckled with amusement. “But I don’t want to lose my immortality. It’s such a wonderful gift you’ve given me.”

“I didn’t curse you. It was Lorcan.”

“I’m not blaming you for my condition. I let it happen. I wanted it.” Alice leaned back a bit in her chair. “I still do.”

“But you’ll lose all your humanity! You’ll no longer be Alice!” Josephine cried out in alarm.

“Humanity is highly overrated. I’m sure it’s already gone. It feels so liberating. There’s only one thing left that bothers me and that’s the anger that sometimes comes out of nowhere and just takes over.”

“What about the need to drink blood?” Helen demanded.

“I don’t mind that at all. In fact, I enjoy it. It feels better than anything I’ve ever experienced in my entire life!”

“Even better than sex?” Mark asked.

“Much better,” Alice confirmed. “And I get a thrill out of knowing my victim can do nothing to stop me from stealing part of his life-sustaining blood. I’ve drank from Dale so much that he was hospitalized for anemia.”

“That’s awful! How could you do that?” Helen regarded her with outraged disbelief.

“He deserves it. He’s been hounding poor Josephine for years just because she’s a category six and he doesn’t feel she has the right to live in a retirement community. I kind of feel like the hand of justice.”

“I don’t think anyone deserves to be treated that way – not even Dale,” Josephine interjected.

Alice’s expression turned glacial. “I’m sorry you don’t agree. The point is that I finally have the perfect life and I’m not going to let you take it away from me.”

“I still have the praesentia infinitus enchantment.” Josephine rose to her feet and withdrew the wand from her inner belt.

“You’re forgetting one very small but important detail, sweetie.” Alice leveled a malevolent smile at her. “You can’t force that spell on ANYONE. If I don’t accept it, it will have absolutely no effect on me.”

Josephine couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about that. Jake, Mark and Helen wore stunned expressions on their faces so this hadn’t occurred to them either. Josephine still held the wand so it was pointed at Alice as her thoughts churned wildly. Surely, there was something she could do.

“Put that thing away before someone gets hurt,” Alice said in a threatening tone.

“Do you hear yourself? You would hurt your own friend? Does that sound like someone you want to be?” Josephine cast a pleading look at her, hoping she would finally see reason.

“I would never hurt you or any of my other dear friends here.” Alice’s luscious, red lips curved in a malevolent smile as she slowly rose to her feet. Josephine’s heart hammered wildly in her chest and everyone froze as they watched the vampire with undisguised terror. With supernatural speed, Alice circled the table and grabbed Mark by the throat, hauling him up into the air and pinning him to the wall on the other side of the room. Mark could barely breathe as Alice continued to restrain him easily with just one hand. Alice turned her head to the side so she could watch both him and the other occupants of the room.

“Mark is more of an acquaintance,” Alice said in a husky tone. “We hardly know each other.”

“Please let him go!” Josephine pleaded.

“He’s so young and handsome. I’ll bet he tastes delicious.”

“If you hurt him, our friendship is over,” Josephine warned.

Alice turned her head a bit more so she could meet her friend’s gaze. Josephine flinched when she saw that her eyes had gone completely black. A tense silence plunged in the room as everyone waited for Alice to make a decision. Alice opened her mouth to reveal her fangs then swiveled to face Mark with inhuman speed. Before anyone could react, she sank her teeth into his neck and drank. Mark’s brown eyes widened with panic and he tried to shove her away but she was too strong. Helen and Jake leapt to their feet and moved toward Alice and Mark to help. Josephine activated the praesentia infinitus. A bright white stream of energy spilled from the end of the wand and rushed over to Alice. Instead of sinking into her body, the sparkling white light circled around her. Alice lifted her head from Mark to reveal the puncture wounds. She dropped his body to the floor and turned to fix her black-eyed gaze on Josephine.

“That was very foolish,” Alice chided her. “You wasted your praesentia infinitus on me for nothing. I told you I would reject it.”

“If there’s any trace of my real Alice left in there, I’m hoping that’s all it takes to accept the spell,” Josephine said heatedly.

The sparkling white light continued to swirl around Alice. Josephine let her arm fall to the side as the power in the wand was all used up. Alice centered her attention on Jake and swept her tongue over the two drops of Mark’s blood that had spilled on her lower lip.

“You’re such a stud, Jake,” Alice said in a husky voice. Jake and Helen both activated their protection enchantments. Alice took a languid step closer to the two of them. “Vampires have abilities you may not know about.”

“Even YOU can’t step through shields,” Helen said.

Without warning, the sparkling white luminescence swirling over Alice began to seep into her body. Alice’s black-eyed gaze widened with surprise and she shrieked as the praesentia infinitus continued to sink into her flesh. After several seconds, it was gone and Alice’s eyes reverted to their normal shade of green but her body remained tense. Her gaze was distant as she stood very still as if frozen to the spot. Her body began to radiate with a soft white luminescence that slowly intensified until the bright glow of the spell was all that remained visible. The energy from the spell permeated every cell of her body and set to work transforming her and reshaping every strand of DNA from the ground up. Josephine’s attention snapped back to Mark who was lying unconscious or dead on the floor nearby.

The puncture holes in his neck had closed up to leave smooth skin and a smear of blood. Josephine knelt beside him and checked for a pulse. Relief washed over her when she discovered he was alive and well. The intense white light was fading now. Josephine turned to look and saw Alice standing in the exact same spot as before. Soon, all traces of the radiant luminescence was gone. Alice took a deep breath and fixed a joyful smile at Helen and Jake who she was still facing.

“It worked.” Alice’s smile dropped away and was replaced with an expression of pained regret. She turned to gaze at Josephine. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t me. You were right about the darkness. It was like being trapped inside my own mind. I could see and feel everything happening to me but I had no control.”

“I’m glad you’re back.” Josephine offered a weak smile but she couldn’t brush away the horrifying images of her friend’s recent actions. The horror and the desperation still clung to her even though she knew it hadn’t really been Alice.

“I don’t know if I can live with myself after what I’ve done,” Alice whispered.

“Alice, you have to be careful or you could die,” Helen warned her.

“I know.” Alice’s vivid green eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“You’re not responsible for what happened. The dark mind had complete control of you,” Josephine said.

“It seems to me that I should have been able to do something to warn you. I don’t deserve to live.”

Jake and Helen deactivated their shields and approached Alice. Her body began to glow with a sparkling white luminescence once again as the praesentia infinitus initiated the process of ending her corporeal existence so she would pass on.

“Don’t leave us,” Helen pleaded.

Josephine continued to hold Mark against her as she watched Alice. The thought of losing her friend again filled her with a sudden desperation. She was afraid to let go of Mark though and planned on getting him to the hospital.

“Alice, you’ve been my friend forever. I don’t want to lose you,” Josephine said.

Alice turned and peered at her with sadness.

“I should have found a way to get rid of that darkness,” she said.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Josephine said.

“I can’t do it,” Alice said in a grievous tone. “I can’t live with myself after what’s happened.”

“Mark isn’t dead,” Josephine argued.

Alice’s body was obscured by the brilliant, white glow.

“It’s so beautiful on the other side. Don’t grieve for me.” Alice’s voice sounded faraway and echoed slightly.

“Alice, don’t go!” Josephine shouted.

Mark’s eyes fluttered open and his attention swung towards the blazing luminescence nearby. Several seconds later, the intense white light was gone but Alice remained standing there. Josephine gasped with surprise and regarded her friend with puzzlement.