The Invincible Mystic Master

Chapter 004

“What the hell are you talking about?” Joel Morton exploded.

Will gave him an amused look.

“You know exactly what I'm talking about. Haven't you noticed things aren't going so well with your mistress lately? Having a little trouble keeping up?”

Joel's face went purple. Of all the things Will could have exposed, he'd chosen the one humiliation Joel could least bear to hear discussed in public.

“Security!” he roared. “Get this lunatic out of here!”

“Nobody touches him!” Summer stepped forward, furious. “Master Hartnett is here to help my father. You don't get to throw him out.”

“Summer, I'm trying to protect you,” Joel protested.

“Save it. I'm sick of listening to you pretend you care.”

She clenched her fists.

“You've made it clear you don't intend to behave like family, so don't expect me to treat you like family. Joel, if you interfere with my father's treatment, I'll bring Morton Group down myself before I let any of you get your hands on his money.”

The relatives exchanged uneasy glances. No one seemed willing to test whether she meant it.

Will went to the bed and studied Matthew Morton.

*This isn't an illness.*

A dark cast hung over Matthew's face, and an unnatural current moved beneath his skin. Will recognized the signs immediately: the dark energy had taken hold of him.

No wonder the doctors had failed. Ordinary medicine couldn't remove a curse like this, no matter how advanced the treatment. Another few days, and Matthew would almost certainly be dead.

“Master Hartnett?” Summer asked quietly. “Is there any chance my father can...?”

“I can save him.”

Her eyes widened with sudden hope.

“Ridiculous,” one of her other uncles scoffed. “The man's been unconscious for months. What could a kid possibly do?”

Will spared him a glance.

“If you're going to act like an animal, you might as well keep your mouth shut.”

The man sputtered in outrage, but Will had already turned away.

He took a slim case of silver needles from his pocket. Removing dark energy was almost impossible for most healers. For a member of the Order of the Veil, however, it was a different story.

Will had mastered the Veil Needles.

He rolled one slender needle between his fingers. In his hands it seemed almost alive. Then his movements blurred as he placed five needles at precise points along Matthew's back, guiding each with a controlled thread of arcane energy.

Before anyone could object, Matthew jerked and coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

“Oh my God!”

The room went silent.

Then Matthew's eyelids fluttered. Slowly, impossibly, he opened his eyes.

“That can't be real,” someone whispered.

Summer had brought in so many renowned specialists that she'd lost count. Even a famous physician who'd come out of retirement at her request had declared there was nothing more to be done. Yet Will had done what all of them couldn't in less than a minute.

Matthew blinked at the faces surrounding him.

“What's going on? Why is everyone here?”

“Dad!”

Summer rushed to the bed and broke into tears. Months of fear and exhaustion finally overwhelmed her.

“Summer? What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?”

Matthew tried to sit up, only to grow dizzy and fall back against his pillows.

“What happened to me?”

Summer looked to Will, suddenly terrified that the recovery wouldn't last.

“He's fine,” Will reassured her. “He's been unconscious for months. Of course he's weak. Give him a few days of rest and he'll recover.”

As he spoke, Will glanced at Joel and seemed about to add something.

Joel felt a cold knot form in his stomach. The young man was watching him as though he knew a great deal more than he was saying.

Joel forced an emotional smile and hurried to his brother's bedside.

“Matthew! You have no idea how worried we've all been. Thank God you're awake. Morton Group finally has its leader back!”

He wiped at an imaginary tear.

“Well, the healer says you're going to be fine. We'll leave you to rest and head back to the office.”

He ushered the others out before anyone could ask questions.

Once they were safely away from the bedroom, his smile vanished.

“Damn it! We were so close. Where the hell did that kid come from?”

They had chosen today because Matthew was expected to die within days. Instead, the man had woken up in front of everyone.

“What do we do now, Joel?” one of the relatives asked. “Maybe we should just stop.”

“Stop?” Joel rounded on him. “How long do you think it'll take Matthew to figure out who put him in that bed? We've gone too far to turn back.”

His eyes hardened.

“Contact our specialist. Tell him we need something stronger this time. And that Hartnett kid? He has to go.”

Back in the bedroom, Will shut the door, leaving only himself, Summer, and Matthew inside.

“Master Hartnett, I owe you my life,” Matthew said. He had pieced together enough from the conversation to understand what had happened.

“Don't mention it.”

Matthew studied him. Years in business had made him an excellent judge of people's expressions.

“There's something you haven't told me, isn't there? Something about what happened to me?”

Will nodded.

“You weren't suffering from an ordinary disease. Someone used dark energy against you. In plain English, Mr. Morton, you were cursed.”

Both father and daughter stared at him.

They'd heard stories about curses, of course, but neither had imagined encountering one firsthand.

“Think carefully,” Will continued. “Have you made any enemies who might want you dead?”

Matthew gave a tired laugh.

“I've made more enemies than I can count.”

Morton Group hadn't become one of Tearhaven City's largest businesses without crushing a fair number of competitors. He could think of dozens of people who might want revenge, and no obvious way to narrow the list.

“We can come back to that,” Will said. “First, tell me something else. Has anything strange been happening around this estate lately?”