The Alchemist in the Attic (18 page)

“Hmm. It was fortuitous, wasn’t it?”

“Very,” Madame Valli agreed. “And at first I thought they might have been following us, but no, that’s not it at all. It was you, darling. You told them about Valencourt.”

“I did, though I made sure we arrived a little early.”

“You lied to me.”

“I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”

“And now?”

Atwood shrugged and Madame Valli gave him an appreciative grin. “You arranged the whole thing. You would get your story, the inspector would get his arrest, and I…”

“Would get your notebook,” Atwood finished. “Unless you betrayed me, in which case you would be arrested as well.”

“Very neat. And everything seems to have worked out for you in the end.”

“Not everything,” Atwood muttered darkly.

Madame Valli sighed. “I’m sorry, darling.”

“No,” Atwood said quietly. “It’s not your fault. And as you said, I got my story and a job.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you, but now it’s my turn.” Atwood turned to her. “I have a few questions, more than a few actually.”

Madame Valli smirked. “I’m sure you do, darling, but that doesn’t mean I’ll answer them.”

“No,” Atwood agreed. “But this does.” He produced Valencourt’s notebook from his pocket with a tired, triumphant smile.

Madame Valli gaped at him. “How did you…?”

“I removed it during the confusion. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“You quick-fingered son of a bitch.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Let me buy you a drink,” she said. “And I’ll answer all your many questions.”

“I’d love to,” he said. “But you can’t. All your earthly possessions just went up in smoke.”

“True,” she said. “So how about you buy me one.”

“I can’t afford it either.” He nodded to the smoldering wreck. “All my belongings just burned too.”

“Well, we’ll think of something.” She held out her arm. “Shall we, darling?”

“We shall,” he said, taking her arm. “And please, call me Teddy.”

“Then you can call me Madame,” she said with a weary twinkle. There was nothing teasing in her eyes, only companionship and sympathy.

They turned and made their way half-stumbling down the street, away from the madness and into the dawn.

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Chronicles of Talis Book 1: 
Irons in the Fire

The City of Talis is a fragile beacon of civilization on the edge of the Faërie Lands. Beyond lies a wilder world of dark enchantments and terrible wonders, but behind the city walls humans and faëries live together in uneasy peace—until an explosion rocks the city and long-smoldering tensions threaten to ignite.

As the Commandant of Police, Baron Hessing has maintained stability for decades. But with a murderer on the loose, an anarchist bombing the city, and rumors of a faërie uprising, he is starting to lose control. Hessing finds himself caught in a web of interlocking conspiracies and he may need to choose between saving his city and saving his family.

Into this maelstrom appears the Countess. Trained from birth for a single purpose—vengeance—suddenly she appears everywhere from secret catacombs to the halls of power. Beset by enemies on all sides, it will take all her training to succeed in a city on the brink of revolution. Plans are in motion, centuries in the making, that will change the fate of Talis forever.

Irons in the Fire is the first novel in the Chronicles of Talis.

Click here to preview or purchase on Amazon
.

A New Yorker born and bred, Antonio Urias is a speculative fiction writer and a lifelong storyteller with a history of rooting for the villains and a love of the dark, the weird, and the cursed. When he was nine years old, he planned out an epic twelve book series about knights and dragons, before deciding that was too ambitious and downscaling to eight. This may explain a lot. He is also the author of
Irons in the Fire
, 
The Nightmare Man
, and
The Painletter
.