4 Terramezic Energy (8 page)

“This is a complex, chaotic, and deadly spell. I don’t think I can affect it.”

“You’re our only hope,” Josephine said.

Mark pointed the palm of his hand toward the vortex and a stream of light energy flowed from him. Josephine held her breath for several seconds as she watched. Alice paused in her attack to observe the white magic as well. As the stream of white luminescence approached its target, it began to bend away from it. A cold sense of despair settled in the pit of Josephine’s stomach as the stream of light energy split into two and both ends twisted away from the vortex and exploded harmlessly into thousands of bright sparks that showered the ocean. Mark continued directing light energy for several more seconds before giving up. Alice fired another burst of sickly red lightning at them. Josephine didn’t bother returning fire. Instead, she strengthened her protection to give herself more time. Not that it mattered. The enchantment from the vortex would kill everyone on the beach when it activated. She was certain of that. No shield could shelter anyone from its deadly wave of energy.

Josephine fixed her attention back to Alice. “I should have committed you to a nursing home. You couldn’t even control your own claro mentis spell. You let it take over your mind like an old, shriveled, bedridden, spinster.”

Alice’s visage contorted with rage and red lightning sparked from her entire body as she lifted her arms above her head in preparation of another attack. Massive streams of red lightning shot out form the vortex and into Alice’s hands. Josephine braced herself for the next attack because she wasn’t entirely certain her shields would hold this time. As Alice brought her arms down, she whirled to face Yvonne and Charlotte and struck at them instead of Josephine. A faint trickle of hope stirred within Josephine as she saw the massive bolts of lightning arc from Alice’s hands and slam against the protective fields of Yvonne and Charlotte. Soon, it became apparent that Alice wasn’t strong enough break through those barriers. Yvonne and Charlotte ignored the attack completely. The two women finished setting the enchantment. Yvonne raised her hand and issued a pulse of energy to activate the deadly spell. Josephine shot out a wave of energy that deflected it. Charlotte brought up her own hand and prepared to issue an activation pulse at the same time as her sister. Josephine issued a powerful wave of magic as the two young women attempted to ignite the spell with a more potent pulse of energy. Josephine’s wave of energy impacted with theirs. Yvonne’s and Charlotte’s pulse continued to flow towards the deadly construct of the spell but it missed impact by a couple of feet.

Yvonne and Charlotte were already preparing for another activation attempt. They gathered such an enormous quantity of power that Josephine knew she had no hope of stopping them this time. Yvonne and Charlotte raised their hands to unleash another volley. They crumpled to the ground in unconscious heaps just before they could release their activation spell. Alice remained standing a short distance away, facing the young women.

She slowly turned to direct a smirk at Josephine. “I managed to shut off the mind control spell. You were right. The claro mentis enchantment was still active and the three of us were tied together.”

“I was hoping I could stoke your temper. It looks like my plan worked,” Josephine said.

“Yes, indeed.” Alice scowled at her with grievous indignation. “I’m too old for this poppycock. You owe me big time.”

Josephine’s phone chirped to indicate that there was a new voice message stored. She frowned as she pulled her phone out of her pants pocket.

“It didn’t even ring. I guess the electrical interference from the enchantment interfered with reception.” She brought the phone up to her ear to listen to the message. She was dismayed to hear the automated computer advise her the caller had left the voice mail about twenty minutes ago. The chief-of-police’s booming voice emerged from the phone and made her wince. She pulled it back a few inches so the volume wouldn’t tear at her eardrums. It was almost like having it on speakerphone.

“Josephine, I regret to inform you that the FBI has decided to take over your case with Yvonne Boggs. Captain Arthur Gallagher has brought a team of enforcers to Sarasota. They’re on their way to your house now.”

Josephine stabbed the disconnect button on her cell phone and shoved it in her pocket. She could detect six powerful wizards approaching the beach. She was still tapped into the vortex so her psychometric and magical abilities were still enhanced. Power continued to course through her body. Josephine focused on the newcomers who were pulling into the parking lot in a large black SUV. Two of them were sixes while the rest were category fives. They all wore the standard black uniforms of federal enforcers. Josephine warned her companions of their approach.

“Those stupid feds,” Alice grumbled. “They always steal your cases.”

“Maybe this time it’s a good thing.” Josephine gestured at the deadly enchantment that remained intact inside the massive vortex which still writhed with sickly green and angry red energy. Josephine reached out with her mind and searched it for weaknesses so she could start dismantling it. She stopped her assessment when the feds came into view. Arthur Gallagher led his team towards them. He was a tall, slender man with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes.

His expression was disapproving. “It looks like we have a problem.”

“It’s an enchantment that the mind control spell forced Yvonne and Charlotte to make,” Josephine explained. “We managed to stop them in time from activating it.”

“But not from finishing it,” Arthur said icily.

“By the way, I’m Josephine and this is—”

“I know who you are,” he interrupted her. “There’s no need to waste time with introductions. I expected this type of fiasco when I learned that Alice was going to attempt removal of the mind control spell. This type of work is best left for the experts in the field.”

Alice glared at him. “I’ve performed hundreds of successful claro mentis enchantments and healed patients from a wide variety of disorders caused by invasive magic.”

“That’s true. You were once an accomplished professional and did some amazing work. However, you are retired and have grown rusty.” Arthur swept his cool, disdainful gaze over Alice, Mark, Perry, and Josephine. “Our first order of business is to neutralize the enchantment in this vortex and then we’ll take Yvonne and Charlotte into protective custody. Your services are not required. All of you must leave this place immediately.”

Chapter 9

When Josephine stepped into Helen’s cramped condo, she noticed many of the houseplants were drooping or suffered from brown, dying leaves. This wasn’t a good sign for Helen’s attempts to grow a white magic power center. Mark and Perry had assisted her with setting it up but ironically Helen was one of those rare few who worked with light energy that didn’t possess the natural intuitive ability to make plant life flourish.

“Do you need Mark and Perry to come over?” Josephine asked as the two of them made their way to her kitchen.

“I don’t want to impose. Besides, Mark is so busy with his business I don’t think he’d be able to help much,” Helen said.

“I’m sure he would make the time. And you’re forgetting about Perry. He likes you a lot. You’re welcome to visit him anytime,” Josephine said.

“Thank you.” Helen’s lips curved in a relieved smile. “I think I’ll do that.”

Alice was already seated at the dining room scowling over her mug of coffee as the two women crossed the room towards the kitchen. Alice wore a pink satin blouse and her red hair was styled in pig tails. Garish pink lipstick was smeared on her lips.

“Good morning, Alice,” Josephine greeted her.

“Hey, Josie. What’s up?” Alice forced a breezy smile on her face.

“Josie?”

“That’s the nickname for Josephine. Come on, girlfriend! Get with the program!” Alice said.

Josephine and Helen exchanged grievous looks. Obviously, Alice was in one of those unpleasant moods where she didn’t want to face the fact that she was an elderly woman. This meant she would do everything in her power to give the appearance of being hip and cool. Josephine filled her green mug only a quarter of the way with coffee, cream, and sugar. She knew that her stomach would squawk at any food or drink this early in the morning. She must be catching the flu. It was the only logical explanation. Josephine frowned with annoyance as she gazed down at her mug. She was tired of waiting to eat breakfast and drink her coffee until she arrived at the police station. It would be so nice to recover completely from this cold. Josephine and Helen joined Alice at the dining room table.

“I’d like to punch Arthur in the face,” Alice grumbled.

“Me, too,” Helen chimed in. Alice and Josephine threw her looks of surprise. “What? I can’t be frustrated by bullies, too?”

“You’re so goody two-shoes. I can’t believe you just said that,” Alice remarked.

“I’ve been thinking long and hard about this.” Helen’s expression was determined. “Once I’ve finished creating a stable white magic power center here, I’m going to apply for work as an enforcer with the Sarasota PD. I’m a White Knight and I feel I have a responsibility to do my part to keep this world safe.”

Alice leveled a warning gaze at her. “You might want to think twice about that. Have you forgotten the restrictions of white magic and the burnout?”

“I think that my magical connection to Josephine and Mark will prevent that from ever happening. I’m certain that’s the answer to our problems. Just to be safe, we should include Perry in our network,” Helen said.

“I don’t think we can do it. Remember when Perry was dying and we channeled light energy to save him in my enchanted garden? It caused us to form a link with you but it didn’t happen with Perry. I’m sure the white magic from the power center would have brought him into our network automatically if it was possible,” Josephine said.

“I have a theory about that.” Helen’s lips curved in a pleasant smile as she paused to organize her thoughts. “One of the components to successfully linking with white magic is love. You and Mark formed a connection first. When Perry was dying, we’d only known him for a week. We were fond of him but hadn’t formed a strong emotional bond to him. You and I have been friends since childhood, Josephine. When you used the light energy from the enchanted garden to activate my power, the garden acted on an instinctive level to connect us because it recognized our bond.”

“What about me?” Alice demanded.

Helen gazed at her with puzzlement. “What about you?”

“I’ve been friends with you and Josephine since forever. Why wasn’t I pulled into the connection?”

“Because you aren’t a white magic practitioner. If you ever decided to become one, I’m sure you would have no trouble joining the network.”

“But Josephine isn’t a White Knight,” Alice pointed out.

“She’s always shared a special connection with Mark. I think it was love at first sight.” Helen’s green eyes reflected a wistful quality.

“Balderdash,” Alice grumbled.

“Perry is like family now. We all love him. I’m certain we can bring him into our magical network,” Helen said.

Her words resonated inside Josephine’s mind. Josephine found herself nodding in silent agreement as she mulled it over.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Alice said with slow deliberation. “I have to admit it sort of makes sense.”

“Mark stopped having his problems with burnout when the three of us formed a white magic network,” Helen pointed out.

“That’s true,” Alice agreed. “But you also need to keep in mind that he’s been sleeping in a white magic power center every day. And so have YOU. If you decide to work for the government, especially in law enforcement, you’ll find yourself in hostile situations. Plus, you may not be able to sleep in your condo every night. Federal enforcers and state enforcers are stationed in centers away from their homes.”

“They would have to make an exception for me. I would insist on a limit of three days away from my home. I would explain the reason why this is necessary and they would either hire me or not,” Helen said.

“You’ve always been so determined to remain in retirement. What’s changed your mind?” Josephine fixed a curious gaze at her friend.

“Seeing you save the world and seeing so many category six wizards become enforcers. Now that I’m a White Knight, I feel a sense of responsibility.”

“But we don’t even know what that means. APU 4093 mentioned White Knights but it refused to give us any details. For all we know, they weren’t very common before the Great Wizard Wars either,” Josephine said.

“They must have been a force to be reckoned with or the computer never would have agreed to even talk to Mark. To give him any access at all to the computer systems was a sign of respect that doesn’t happen unless there’s a very good reason.” Helen’s green eyes reflected the passion she felt about this subject. Obviously, the idea of the White Knights was extremely important to her.

“All right. You, Mark, and I should meet at my house with Perry to bring him into our network.” Josephine glanced down at her watch. “We’ll have to wait until this evening though. I need to go to work.”

“Aha!” Alice pointed at Josephine’s mug. “You haven’t even touched your coffee! You’ve got morning sickness!”

“What are you talking about?” Josephine tilted the cup so Alice could see. “I’ve drank it all except for what’s left here.”

“Don’t try to fool me.” Alice frowned at her with disgust. “You only filled it a quarter of the way.”

Josephine didn’t bother to respond. She should have realized Alice would watch her like a hawk. She breezed out of the room and dumped the contents of her mug in the sink. As she washed and rinsed the dish, Alice and Helen emerged in the room.

“I think we should have a baby shower.” Alice’s vibrant green eyes danced with excitement and a bit of smugness. “What do you think?”

Josephine dried her mug and placed it back in the cupboard. “That would be an excellent idea if one of us was pregnant. I’m not going to hold my breath though.” She threw Alice a pointed look. “And neither should you. None of us are spring chickens anymore.”

“You can’t deny the truth.” Alice jutted her chin out in an obstinate manner.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a little OCD?” Josephine asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alice leveled a moody frown at her.

“Several months ago, you were determined to think I was a vampire. With practically every conversation, you were comparing everything I did to vampires. Ironically, you ended up becoming one.”

“Whatever.” Alice’s eyes flashed with annoyance.

Josephine felt just a tad guilty for being so cross with her friend after she’d helped her with the claro mentis enchantment. She slipped behind the wheel of her car and sat there for several seconds as she mulled over Alice’s irritating behavior. Even though Alice was a bit ornery at times, she always came through for her friends. Josephine drove away from the senior citizen condo association parking lot and made her way North on Tamiami Trail. Without warning, scorching heat bore down on Josephine. She cried out in pain and activated her protection enchantments. She had managed to protect herself from injury but waves of heat from inside her car continued to brush against her skin. She couldn’t sense any magic at all but felt the impact of an attack against her shield which meant this was terramezic energy. Josephine kept her car moving so she’d make a more challenging target. She activated the wards attached to her car to shove the destructive energy farther away.

Josephine stomped down on the accelerator and her car lunged forward. She swerved into the next lane to pass the sedan ahead of her. She wished her car was equipped with a police siren. Josephine clenched her jaw and gripped the steering wheel tight as she weaved through the traffic. She was less than five minutes away from the Sarasota PD. Josephine sensed the impact on her wards grow more intense. She was slowing down the attack but not preventing it. Flames burst into existence around the shield of her car, swirling madly and growing thicker until she could barely see through them. Josephine focused on her second sight to view past the obstruction. She didn’t dare slow down or the attack may intensify. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she sensed her car’s wards weakening. Panic threatened to consume her mind but she forced herself to take several deep breaths and reminded herself that she’d been in tight situations before.

Josephine concentrated on driving and using her third eye chakra to see the road since the swirling flames obscured her view. When she pulled into the parking lot of the police station, there were several people who turned to gape at the sight of the writhing fire engulfing the car. The flames started to die down as she pulled towards the employee section. Josephine stopped the car when she realized the fires were swiftly gathering in front of her vehicle to form the shape of a man. Within several seconds, all of the flames had gathered to the individual who now strode towards the driver’s side door. Josephine assessed her vehicle’s wards and could see she still had some protection left. She also had her personal shield up so she should be safe. Josephine prepared to drive away from this new threat if it attacked. The fire man took up a position about four feet from her and opened its mouth to speak.

“You may have guessed who I am but in case your small, limited human brain can’t connect the dots –”

“You’re APU 81,” Josephine interrupted since she didn’t want to give this smug artificial intelligence the satisfaction of gloating over humanity’s stupidity.

“You’re such a rude, obnoxious creature.”

“I could say the same thing about you.”

“I just want you to know that the only reason you’re alive is because I choose to allow it. I want to see you suffer. I want you to worry about when I’m going to return and snuff your insignificant life. You are going to pay for ruining my plans. I’m going to kill you then Helen, then Mark and there’s nothing you can do to save yourselves.”

Josephine blanched as terror tore through her.

The fire man took a couple of steps back. “I’ll be back soon, human.”

The fires scattered onto the pavement and fizzled out. Josephine scanned the perimeter to check the people nearby. She tuned her psychic receptors to detect life-forms and then verified that they radiated psychometric energy. Even if they were a category six or latent six, she could still detect faint traces which allowed her to confirm they were not possessed by APU 81. APU 81 was not without limits so it had to be in the vicinity. Unfortunately, she wasn’t tapped into a vortex so her ability to scan was limited and gave the artificial intelligence ample opportunity to escape. Josephine parked her car and stepped outside with her shields still up. She kept a wary eye out for any lurking dangers as she continued to scan her surroundings. Because she couldn’t detect terramezic energy, APU 81 could launch surprise attacks with ease. Josephine wasn’t used to that. Because of her psychometric ability, she almost always had some warning before a spell or curse hurtled towards her.

Josephine wondered if APU 81 had really chosen to allow her to live or if it had run out of energy. Fear continued to make her tense as she approached the entrance to the police station. Jake, Alex, and several police officers emerged from the building with their wands poised and ready to strike. Josephine relaxed just a little and some of the terror looming over her dissipated. For the moment, she was probably safe. Just so she wouldn’t drain her protection but at the same time not leave herself completely defenseless, Josephine left one of her fourteen shield amulets active.

“Hey, guys.” She threw the group a tight smile. “APU 81 paid me a visit.”

“We heard,” Alex said.

Jake regarded his grandmother with concern. “Are you all right? Is it gone?”