Corruption (Grumpy Old Wizards Book 2) by John O'Riley

as possible. Maybe there’s an antidote. Obviously, Lorcan wouldn’t want us to know about it so we can’t take his word on anything,” Josephine said. “I’ll call the station and tell them I’m sick.”
    “You can’t do that,” Helen protested. “You’re still on probationary status. I think it’s important you keep your job. You have access to things that civilians don’t. Maybe you can do some digging while you’re on the job.”
    Josephine hesitated. “All right. I’ll go to work. You shouldn’t be alone though.”
    “Helen can stay with me,” Alice said.
    Helen was stroking her arm and staring at her youthful, flawless skin with fascination. She crossed the room and stood in front of the large mirror hanging on the wall so she could take a look at herself. She stared at her reflection in stupefied amazement and brushed her fingertips against her cheek.
    “Does it hurt?” Josephine watched her friend with sympathy.
    “Not at all. The process was painful but it’s all gone now. I’ve never felt so alive in years.”
    When Josephine made her way outside to her parked car, she had to pass through about a dozen picketers. Three of them held onto their walkers with one hand while holding their signs at awkward angles with the other as they couldn’t quite keep them straight with just one hand. One elderly woman marched over and planted herself directly in front of Josephine’s car. Josephine recognized the woman as one of the residents of the complex. Her name was Marjorie and she was in her late seventies. She’d never given Josephine any trouble before but had never been friendly either. She was always heavy-handed with her makeup which made her look like a clown. Today, her lipstick was cockeyed and smeared just a bit past her lips in spots. She wore a fashionable red wig with black highlights but it was lopsided and her natural gray hair poked out from the side by about three inches.
    Marjorie waived her sign in front of Josephine’s face which read: “Stop stealing from the elderly.” Josephine kept her expression bland as she didn’t want to incite this crowd and encourage them to continue.
    “Go back to where you belong!” Marjorie shouted.
    Josephine sidestepped the elderly woman and used her remote to unlock the car so she could make a clean, swift getaway. Marjorie tried to lunge in front of Josephine but wasn’t fast enough. The crowd of picketers were moving in their standard sluggish pace towards the car. Josephine estimated that most of them wouldn’t reach her for another few minutes or so. Marjorie shouted and waived her sign in front of the driver’s side window like a madwoman. Josephine pulled out of her parking spot without any further delay as she didn’t want to give any of these protesters a chance to try to block her car. She saw a glimpse of Dale stepping out of the building to join the crowd. He must have been on a coffee break or something, Josephine thought bitterly.
    Josephine tried to bury her grumpy feelings but the sight of the protesters kept popping up in her mind. Jake glanced up from his work as she approached her desk.
    “Hey, Grandma,” he said.
    “Hey, sweetheart.” Josephine flashed a smile at him as she sank into her seat.
    “You look stressed,” Alex remarked.
    “This morning has been brutal.” Josephine wished she could expose the Valituras to the public and land their sorry butts in jail.
    She started using some of her search tools for information on vampires. Josephine was surprised to find statements about them. She hadn’t thought it would be so easy. The first person explained that it was a side-effect of an immortality curse. Josephine’s breath quickened and she read through the entire account. The individual was young but claimed he was in his eighties and had been cursed. He had suffered a heart attack while being questioned. He had been arrested due to evidence at a crime scene for murder. His victims had died of severe blood