Authors: John O'Riley
Chapter 18
Josephine took another sip of her coffee as Alice scowled at her with exasperation. Unfortunately, Alice seemed to be the first to awaken in the morning now that Helen was practicing white magic and she wasn’t in a good mood. This was the first opportunity that had presented itself for the two wizards to speak alone since last night when Josephine had arrived with Lucius.
“I’m concerned about Lucius,” Alice said. “He sensed the mini vortex in your house right away and we don’t know him very well. He’s liable to spill the beans and you’ll be caught by the authorities.”
“Actually, I reported that to Ben a couple of mornings ago. I decided it was too big a secret to keep.”
“How much trouble are you in?” Alice asked.
“None at all. I made it sound like it was a recent discovery and that I learned there are mini vortexes scattered throughout the world. I explained only category six wizards can sense them.”
“And he bought it?”
“Yes, he did.”
“The Feds may want to investigate this phenomenon,” Alice warned. “You’ll probably have enforcers coming here to study it.”
“I know.” Josephine’s brown-eyed gaze conveyed reluctant acceptance. “I had to do it. If the authorities had discovered the mini vortexes on their own somehow, I would have been in big trouble. I just got tired of waiting for disaster to strike.”
“There’s always something hanging over our heads.” Alice sneezed then took another sip of her coffee.
“Have you been to the doctor? I’m concerned about your sneezes and the strange fainting spell you had yesterday.” Josephine regarded her friend with concern.
“I don’t plan on going to a doctor about my allergies and I didn’t faint. It was just a bit of lightheadedness.”
“I feel so bad for Lucius. He was kidnapped and taken from his family and friends then forced to relocate and work for the Valituras. That’s what could have happened to me,” Josephine said.
“Thank heavens you were able to kick their sorry butts instead.”
Josephine made Belgian waffles with scrambled eggs and sausage crumbles on the side for breakfast. When everyone had settled at the dining room table with their breakfast, she served herself and joined them.
“These are excellent,” Mark complimented her.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Josephine said. She turned to focus on Lucius. “How did you sleep, last night?”
“Pretty good.” He offered a polite but tired smile. “A lot of nightmares though.”
“You poor dear. Was it the Valituras?” Helen asked.
“Yes, I kept reliving the moments when they captured me. I wonder why I can’t remember anything after that.”
“Your subconscious might be protecting you from painful memories,” Alice advised. “On the other hand, it could be damage from the amnesia spell. It’s hard to say at this point.”
Josephine hadn’t yet asked her to perform the claro mentis on Lucius. She was reluctant to do so because she knew how much Alice hated these spells and circumstances kept coming up that required it. Josephine hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. Ben had warned her that the Feds would likely take over Lucius’s protective custody detail in a few days. For now, they accepted Josephine’s decision but had voiced reservations.
Alice turned to address Mark. “What about your dreams? Did you write them down in your journal this morning?”
“I couldn’t remember any of them,” he said.
“Oh, well. Keep trying, young man. If you keep that book beside you with the intention of recording your dreams, you’ll start to remember.”
“Do you really think I have unresolved issues with my sister?” Mark asked.
Alice fixed a shrewd gaze at him. “Yes, I do.”
“Family is important,” Lucius interjected. “I’d like my phone returned to me.”
“I’ll get you a new phone. They won’t return your old one because you’re in protective custody,” Josephine explained.
“I want to let people know I’m okay.”
“You’ll want to be careful. The Valituras has spies everywhere. Your family and friends are probably being watched,” Josephine warned.
Lucius heaved a dismal sigh. “I know. I can’t tell them where I am or anything like that but I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“We need to decode your journal. As long as it’s a potential threat to the Valituras, you’ll be in danger.” Josephine pulled out a copy of the book which was stapled together and set it down on the table in front of Lucius. The original journal wouldn’t leave the station.
“I’ll definitely work on it,” Lucius promised.
Josephine turned to address Mark. “I was wondering if you could do a claro mentis with white magic?”
Mark was taken aback by the request and quickly chewed his mouthful of waffle so he could respond.
“I’m not sure. I’ll definitely give it a shot though. Helen, Perry and I can use a general healing spell to try and help Lucius get his memories back,” he offered.
“That would be great. Thank you.” Josephine reached across the table and held her lover’s hand for several seconds as she smiled fondly at him.
“For heavens sakes!” Alice threw her a disgusted look. “Not just anyone can do a claro mentis. It’s a complicated spell that takes years of training. Not only do you need to make the enchantment right but you have to execute it properly as well. I still have some left, of course. I’ll do it.”
“Thank you, Alice.”
“You’re not welcome.”
Josephine’s lips twitched in an amused smile and she turned away so her friend wouldn’t see it. Helen’s and Mark’s eyes danced with hilarity as they knew Alice hated doing this type of magic. Jake arrived shortly to take his watch of Lucius. The regulations for protective custody were quite clear and a law enforcement official must be on the premises at all times. Josephine went to the station to work with Alex. The two of them checked out Lucius’s journal from the evidence locker and took it to Josephine’s desk. Alex took a seat beside her and they looked over the words, wishing that it would somehow just make sense.
“I don’t see any patterns,” Josephine said. “It’s like gibberish. I’ve never been gifted with foreign languages.”
“Me, neither.”
“Time for me to try a reading.” Josephine closed the book and gripped the edges of it lightly as she opened her senses fully to the subtle energies swirling around her.
The book contained mere fragments of its original psychometric energy. It was obvious Lucius had wanted to leave evidence to expose the Valituras but the servitude bond had prevented him from making it easy. Josephine’s head throbbed as she spent over an hour scanning the book.
“Josephine, I’ve got a case for you.” Ben’s booming voice startled her.
She’d tuned into the book so completely that she had lost track of what was happening around her. Not a good idea with the Valituras trying to assassinate her.
Josephine opened her eyes and focused on her boss. “What is it, Ben?”
“We’ve got a dumpster full of corpses.”
“Excuse me?” Josephine regarded him with disgust and shock.
“An employee of Yellow Tale’s Fish and Chips noticed a strong odor over the last couple of days and decided to check it out. It turned out their dumpster was filled with dead bodies,” Ben explained.
Alex wrinkled his nose with revulsion. “I’m not going to eat THERE anymore.”
“We’re on our way.” Josephine jumped to her feet.
“Excellent. Keep me apprised.” Ben turned abruptly to walk away.
“Will do, Chief,” Alex said to his retreating back.
Josephine put the journal back into the evidence locker and left with Alex. When they arrived at Yellow Tale’s Fish and Chips, the far corner of the parking lot containing the gated dumpster was secured with crime scene tape and a couple of police officers. Howie was one of the two assigned and his friendly, brown eyes lit up when he saw Josephine approaching. His brown hair was chopped in a crew cut and he had a muscular, solid frame. Josephine sometimes made him peanut butter kiss cookies as she knew that was one of his favorites. Seeing him reminded her she hadn’t baked a batch in awhile and she made a mental note to do so. There were several people in the department who loved them.
“Hi, Josephine. How are you?” Howie greeted her.
“I’m great.” Josephine centered a warm smile on him before gesturing at the dumpster. “Except for the pile of bodies.”
“CSI hasn’t arrived yet.”
“That’s great news. No one has mucked up the readings then,” Josephine said. “Thanks, Howie.”
Howie grinned and nodded in acknowledgement. She and Alex stepped past him to view the dumpster which reeked. Josephine couldn’t see the dead bodies but the odor was more than enough evidence. Josephine began her scans and immediately recognized a severe lack of psychometric energy.
“There isn’t much left for me to see,” Josephine announced.
“Somebody wiped it clean,” Alex commented.
Josephine’s brows furrowed with concentration. “Not exactly.”
Alex threw her a questioning look but refrained from further discussion. He knew she had work to do. After several long moments of silence, Josephine turned to center a grave look at him.
“The reason there wasn’t much to see is because their energy was drained. It was the two construo letalis curses that did this. They’re feeding to gather their strength.”
“That’s not good. Do you know when they might attack you again?” he asked.
“I couldn’t pick up much at all on the curses. The reason they chose these guys is because they generate dark energy. All of these victims are men and they’ve all been in prison at some point in their lives for assault and/or murder. Some people have a mental state that makes them a dark energy generator,” Josephine explained. “The curses engaged each individual in a fight so they would produce maximum levels then drained them.”
“I didn’t think it was possible to kill someone that way.” Alex regarded her with horror.
“It normally isn’t possible but the curses have mutated to develop this ability.”
“Do you know where they are now?”
“I’m afraid not. We’ll need to think of a way to lure them out of hiding.”
Josephine’s eyes widened with astonishment and dismay when she picked up traces of dark energy all around her. She opened her psychic receptors and tried to locate the source but this just made her dizzy as she picked up hundreds of them. Josephine squeezed her eyes shut and strained to focus ahead of her on just one piece. Alex sneezed and she flinched at the sound and sensed more particles of dark energy exploding near her. She opened her eyes and took stock of her surroundings.
“Bless you,” Josephine said in a distracted tone.
“Thanks.”
She stepped away from the dumpster and tried to find anything out of place. She was only five feet from Howie. He turned and grinned at her.
“Did you solve the case?” he asked.
“This is one of my challenges, I’m afraid.”
“Darn.” Howie peered more closely at her and his expression became sympathetic. “You look tired. Are you all right?”
“I think she was reading something but it wasn’t coming from the dumpster,” Alex surmised.
“You’re right.” Josephine glanced at him then swept her gaze across the parking lot. Surprisingly, many people were bustling in and out of the fast food restaurant. “I can’t figure out what I picked up. It was so strange.”
“Tell me,” Alex said.
Howie listened in with rapt attention as well.
“It was very disturbing. There were dark energy particles all around,” Josephine explained. “It was like there were hundreds of them. I couldn’t find the source and then I just lost them. I think they’re so small I can only detect them sometimes.”
Howie turned to sneeze.
“Bless you,” Josephine said.
“Thanks.”
Josephine gasped with dismay as a terrifying idea formed in her mind. “No, it can’t be.”
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“We need to take a trip to the hospital,” Josephine said. “The construo letalis curses are the least of our problems.”
“Before we go, I need to get a latte at Yellow Tale Fish and Chips,” Alex said.
Josephine eyed him with incredulous disbelief. “We just discovered a major crisis and you’re wanting a coffee?”
“You won’t want to be around me if I get a caffeine withdrawal headache.”
“I thought you weren’t going to eat there ever again,” Josephine said.
Alex hesitated. “It’s a drink so it doesn’t count.”
“Detective Riley, could you get me a caramel latte?” Howie called out as he dug out his wallet to get some money.
“Sure thing.” Alex turned and waited for the officer to hand him a ten-dollar bill.
“I’d like a large.”
“No problem.”
As Alex and Josephine walked towards the entrance to the fast food restaurant, Alex threw her a questioning look.
“What would you like to drink? My treat.”
Josephine cocked a bemused brow at him. “I don’t think so. A dumpster full of corpses killed my appetite.”