The Alchemist's Flame (3 page)

I brought my opposite hand to my mouth and blew the Knockout Powder in his face. The white dust glinted in the air, coating his cheeks and eye lashes. No sooner did it make contact, then his orange eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the side. Hopefully, he couldn’t ignite anything in his sleep.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the world around me erupted in flames. I cried out and fell back, landing on my butt in the aisle.

Rowan’s dark slacks appeared beside me. “That was me.”

I frowned up at him. He had ashed the residual Knockout Powder from the air.

“Next time, share the antidote.” He offered me a hand.

I shoved myself off the floor and faced him. Before I could speak, he caught my face between his palms and leaned down until his orange eyes were on level with mine.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“What’s that? Knock out one of your Element buddies?”

“Put yourself at risk.” He released me and straightened, his gaze focused beyond my shoulder. “I asked you to remove her from this plane.”

“She didn’t want to go.” Ian nudged me aside, then reached down to catch Colby’s arm and pulled him upright.

“What are you doing?” Rowan demanded.

“I assume you don’t want to leave him here.” Ian lifted Colby with ease and draped him over his shoulder. “And I’m better dressed for the task than your grim.”

James growled softly.

“I can get him.” Rowan took a step toward Ian. The muscle in his jaw tightened with the movement. Was he injured?

I started to ask and stopped myself. Pointing out a weakness was the wrong approach with Rowan. “Let him make himself useful.” I rolled my eyes. “Goodness knows when it’ll happen again.”

Ian gave me what was supposed to be a frown, but amusement glinted in his eyes. He was on to me.

“Fine. Go.” Rowan waved Ian on.

A thundering crash echoed through the plane, and the floor lurched to the right, throwing me against the nearest seat. A puff of smoke flowed through the open cabin door, hazing the air. What the hell?

When no flames followed, I hurried toward the door and stopped on the threshold. It wasn’t smoke; it was dust. Half the concourse floor had collapsed.

“Where is Elysia?” Ian demanded.

“She’s on the other side of the concourse.” James stepped up behind us. He had pulled on a pair of gray slacks. Something from Rowan’s carry-on luggage? I didn’t ask, my attention drawn to the flames licking the wall behind the seat Colby had ashed. Odd. Rowan never caught things on fire; he vaporized them.

“The fire’s spreading,” I said. “We can probably get across the concourse if we stay near the wall.”

“I’ll cross first,” James said. “If the floor holds me, it’ll—”

“Addie doesn’t need to cross,” Rowan said, then turned to Ian. “Take her through the portal.”

“If the floor holds James, it’ll hold me,” I said.

“Must you always argue with me?” Rowan demanded.

“Who’s arguing?”

James squeezed between us. “Save your argument. It may cave in on me, then no one’s getting across.” He stepped down to what remained of the carpeted floor that still ran up to the plane on one side.

I wrapped a hand around his biceps. “What if there’s…something sharp? Remember what happened when we were exploring the ruins of the Alchemica?”

“You needn’t speak in code,” Ian said. “I know the grim is weak to iron—which is undoubtedly what those bars poking out of the broken floor are made of.”

“Rebar.” I gave him the word. He was right—about all of it.

“How do you know about the iron?” Rowan took a step toward Ian, the fire still burning around his pupils.

Ian shrugged the shoulder Colby wasn’t draped over. “He’s part hellhound. Do you think my father would let me play in the land of the dead without teaching me how to defend myself?”

“This argument can also wait,” James said, and moved away from the plane.

“Stay close to the wall,” Rowan called after him.

I gripped the edge of the door, watching James’s progress. “Your dad let you
play
in the land of the dead?” I asked Ian, keeping my eyes on James.

“Not so much let; he caught us.”

“Us?”

“My brother and me.”

A loud pop was followed by a rain of debris below us. James moved faster, weaving his way through the overturned chairs scattered along his path. He reached the far side, then turned and waved us toward him.

“Give me Colby, and you take Addie through the portal,” Rowan said to Ian.

“No way,” I spoke up. “That will make you twice as heavy. Ian can bring him over last.”

“After you walk across?” Rowan shook his head. “No. You—”

Something clattered behind us. I looked over my shoulder in time to watch the flaming curtain divider between first class and coach fall to the ground. Through the open doorway, I could see flames dancing along one side of the cabin. But that wasn’t my main concern. The flames were spreading up along our side, as well.

“How about this,” Ian said. “His Grace can go now. I will follow with the boy, then use the portal to bring Addie across.”

We both frowned at him.

“It’s called compromise,” Ian said.

Rowan turned to face him. “I expect you to get her off this plane in the same condition you brought her on.”

“He didn’t—”

Ian nudged me, cutting me off. “It will be done as you say,” he said to Rowan.

Rowan gave him a final frown, then stepped off the plane.

“Why did you let him blame you?” I asked once Rowan was yards away.

“He would blame me, regardless, and this got him moving.”

Rowan made his way around an overturned chair, bracing his hand on it as he passed. He continued to limp. Considering how rapidly he healed, he must have been hurt pretty badly for it to still be bothering him.

Another loud pop, and this time, the floor gave way not ten feet from Rowan.

I fisted my hands, helpless to do anything but watch.

James ran to the edge, but couldn’t get closer as more chairs fell into the growing hole. Intermittent flickers of light from broken electrical wires illuminated the darkness below. I couldn’t see the bottom from where I stood, but it wasn’t only the height that concerned me. The rebar-spiked rubble and live power lines would not make it a safe place to land.

Rowan turned toward us, but the ground buckled and he dropped to a knee.

I took a step in Rowan’s direction, but Ian gripped my shoulder. “Stay here.” He lowered Colby to the floor of the plane, then jumped out the cabin door and ran toward Rowan.

I had never seen Ian get in a hurry about anything. Watching him run across the room, vaulting chairs that blocked his path, was a surreal experience.

Jumping a final chair, Ian slid to a stop and dropped to his stomach. He caught Rowan’s arm as the floor gave beneath him.

I screamed as the ground and Rowan fell away, but somehow, the section Ian lay on remained.

Ian grunted, and his shirt tightened across the back of his shoulders. He lay on his stomach, one arm over the edge of the hole. He must have hung on to Rowan.

A deafening crack and the section Ian lay on dropped several inches.

“James,” Ian called across the ten-yard gap that separated them. “Come closer.”

James imitated Ian, crawling out to lie on his stomach at the hole’s edge. He lowered his arm, holding out a hand toward Ian. Twisted pieces of rebar poked out of the floor to either side of his biceps.

“Ready!” James shouted.

I gripped my hands as I realized what they intended to do.

A pop, and the floor beneath Ian settled further. “Now!” His shoulders flexed and he slung Rowan across the gap. A flicker of light from below illuminated Rowan’s flight, but winked out before he was halfway across. Would the changing light cause them to miss?

I covered my mouth with both hands, not wanting to watch, but unable to look away.

Rowan’s hand smacked against James’s forearm.

James grunted as his chest slammed against the lip of the hole, his arm stretching back under the jagged edge with Rowan’s momentum. James’s grunt became a snarl of pain.

“Oh God,” I whispered.

“I’m cut!” James voiced my fear.

I was too far away to see how badly James was injured, but it took only a single drop of his impossibly toxic blood to kill—and Rowan hung directly below him.

Chapter
3

“R
owan!” I shouted, wishing I was over there to wrap something around James’s bleeding arm. For some reason, his blood wasn’t toxic to me.

Reaching up, Rowan grabbed James’s forearm and, using that little bit of momentum, sprang upward to catch the rebar above him.

I held my breath, terrified the slender piece of metal would give. Rowan let go of James, all his weight now supported by the bar as he hung by one arm. Light flickered below, the blue-white electric flash reminding me of the fire Rowan used.

Another surge of movement, and Rowan lunged upward, catching a nearby section of rebar with his free hand. A chunk of cement broke free, clattering on the debris below, and Rowan’s new handhold dropped several inches. He released it and caught the crumbling edge of the cement floor.

James settled on his haunches, watching Rowan’s progress with one hand wrapped around the opposite biceps.

“James?” Elysia set down the box of salve she still carried, and took a step toward him.

“Stay away from him!” Ian shoved himself to his feet. A crack and the ground gave beneath him. He vanished from sight.

“Ian!” Even as I reacted, I chided myself. He was dead. What could possibly hurt him?

I looked across the room to check the others’ expressions. They could see what had become of Ian more easily than I could, but none of them was watching the hole where he had disappeared. Rowan had his chest up to the edge of the hole, and James was getting to his feet. Suddenly, James twisted around, and a portal opened behind him. Ian stepped out, and I slumped against the doorframe in relief.

Ian leaned down to offer Rowan a hand, but Rowan ignored him, climbing up on his own.

“What’s going on?” a voice asked.

I turned with a gasp and found Colby staring up at me, a frown shadowing his orange eyes. So much for the Knockout Powder keeping him out of commission. That was the problem with the magical. Potions didn’t always work on them the way I expected.

“Hey.” I squatted beside him.

“You blew a powder in my face.” He didn’t look angry. “Was it Extinguishing Dust?”

“No, Knockout Powder. Apparently, it doesn’t work so well on an Element.”

“Oh.” His eyes left mine to take in our surroundings. “What happened?”

I didn’t want to tell him
he
happened. “A mishap on landing.”

“I hate flying,” he whispered. His eyes widened as he looked down the aisle. “The plane’s on fire!”

“Everyone’s been evacuated.”

“Where’s Rowan?”

I turned my head to look out into the terminal. Rowan was on his feet, and even from across the room, his eyes locked with mine.

“There.” I nodded toward him.

Colby turned his head. “Oh God.” He stared at the demolished concourse.

“Yes. We’re stuck for the moment.”

He looked back into the burning plane, and I followed his gaze. The wall between first class and the rest of the plane was on fire, as were the remnants of the curtains he hadn’t completely ashed earlier. Fortunately, the open roof let the smoke escape, but it had grown thicker where it lingered beneath what remained of the luggage compartments.

“You’re right. We’re trapped,” Colby whispered, his orange eyes wide. “How will we get out of here?” One of the seats in the front row went up in a flash of blue-orange flame.

The blast of heat hit me, and I threw myself away from the inferno. “Colby!”

“Oh God.” He laced his fingers through his shaggy, strawberry-blond hair and gripped two handfuls as if he intended to pull them. He squeezed his eyes closed and doubled over. The headrest on the next chair burst into flame.

I glanced over my shoulder at the open cabin door. I might have to take my chances with the unstable concourse. The section closest to the wall hadn’t fallen in yet.

“Enough!” a familiar voice said from right beside me.

I turned in time to watch Ian seize Colby by the front of his hoodie and bodily lift him from the floor, then turn and slam him against the fuselage. Colby’s head connected with a sickening thump.

“Ian!” I cried.

Colby’s orange eyes rolled back and he groaned. A smear of blood colored his upper lip. Our surroundings weren’t the only thing being torn up by his gift.

“What are you doing?” I asked Ian.

“The Knockout Powder wore off, so I’m using the more traditional method.” A portal opened behind Ian. “Step through, I’ll—”

Footsteps thumped on the carpeted section of floor outside the plane. An instant later, James sprang through the door. He took one look at Ian holding Colby against the wall and snarled, the sound menacing even when made with his human throat.

“Don’t,” Ian said, his blue eyes flickering white.

Alarmed, I stepped up beside James, but I had done little more than grip his arm when Rowan climbed into the plane.

“How—” My question was answered when Donovan, Rowan’s brother Element, stepped up to the open door. As an Earth Element, Donovan could manipulate any solid object—including an unstable floor.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rowan asked Ian.

“Knockout Powder doesn’t work,” Ian said. “And apparently, whatever you’re doing isn’t working, either if he’s knocking planes out of the sky.”

“What?” Colby whispered. All the color had drained from his face.

“Release him,” Rowan said.

Ian did as told.

Colby slumped against the wall, but remained upright. Orange still colored his irises, but it was the pain in his eyes that I found the most distressing. The poor kid couldn’t be much older than James.

“Sugarcoating it isn’t going to help him learn control,” Ian said.

“Don’t give me a reason, Mallory.” Rowan moved over and took Colby’s arm. “Everyone, off the plane.”

The two chairs Colby had ignited were burning in earnest now. I didn’t need any more encouragement and hurried to the cabin door.

“Hey, little alchemist.” Donovan smiled—a flash of teeth through his beard. His expression always reminded me of a grinning bear.

“Hey, dirt boy.” I took the hand he offered me and let him help me step down from the plane. “You here to hold up the red carpet for us?”

He gave me a wink, then reached up to help Rowan with Colby. As soon as Colby was safely off the plane, something over his shoulder drew Donovan’s attention. I followed his gaze to where Elysia was weaving her way around the last of the overturned chairs.

“Elysia?” James exited the plane and stepped forward to meet her.

She laid a hand on his arm, but stepped past him without a word. She walked between the rest of us, intimidated by neither Donovan’s size nor the orange light still faintly glowing around Rowan’s pupils. Ian stepped off the plane and stopped.

“Did you think I wouldn’t feel that?” she demanded of him.

“You shouldn’t be out here.”

“Do not tell me what to do. And if you
ever
touch him again, I will put you back in your tomb.”

Ian’s brows ticked upward, but he didn’t speak.

“He’s mine, understand?” Elysia added.

I pulled in a breath, ready to deny that claim, but Ian looked up at that moment, his eyes meeting mine before returning to Elysia.

“Understood,” he said.

“Then go.” Elysia’s pale eyes went completely white.

Ian grunted and a portal whispered open behind him. I expected anger, but the corners of his mouth twisted upward, revealing those dimples. He stepped back into the darkness. “As strong as me.” The portal vanished and he was gone.

“No shit,” Elysia muttered. “You made me this way.” Hers eyes had only darkened a little when she released her magic.

I should be upset that my antidote had failed to cure her, but at the moment, I wasn’t terribly torn up over it. I glanced at James to see how he had taken her claim, but he was watching Rowan, a concerned wrinkle on his brow.

“I assume this is the necromancer who bound my grim,” Rowan said.

Elysia turned to face him. “His name is James.” She lifted her chin, boldly meeting Rowan’s faintly glowing eyes. “And he belongs to no one.”

“That wasn’t the impression you just gave Ian.”

“He’s a necromancer. Give someone like him an inch, and he will take everything.”

“You’re a necromancer,” Rowan pointed out.

Elysia crossed her arms and frowned at him.

“Addie used a truth serum on her,” James cut in. “She’s cool. Right, Ad?”

“She claimed, under truth serum, that she bound him by accident, then tried to release him
after
she learned what he is,” I said.

“Good.” Rowan’s gaze remained on her. “But she had me when she humanized him.” He gripped Colby’s elbow and turned him toward the narrow strip of floor that still remained along one wall. “Come. We can talk where Donovan doesn’t have to hold up the floor beneath us.”

I glanced up at the big guy. “Are you really?”

He grinned, but I picked out the metallic sheen in his hazel eyes. All the Elements had unique eyes, but it was more apparent when they were actively using their magic.

“Sorry,” Elysia muttered, and hurried back the way she’d come.

“Seriously, she’s cool,” James whispered to Rowan, then hurried after her.

Rowan glanced at me.

“She did pass my test,” I admitted, “but that little display with Ian made me uncomfortable.”

“Perhaps, but as she pointed out, Ian follows his own agenda.” Rowan directed Colby away from the plane and nodded toward the far side of the concourse. The young man shuffled along beside him, his head hanging.

We fell in behind them, and I frowned at Rowan’s back. I wanted to talk to him and try to smooth over the problem that was Ian, but if I had learned anything these past few weeks, I knew that was pointless.

With Donovan’s help, we made it across the remaining section of floor without incident and walked into the wide corridor that led away from the demolished gate. The area was still empty of onlookers, leaving only the firefighters and a few men in airport security vests.

The fireman who had tried to run us off earlier stepped forward to greet Donovan. “You were able to get across.”

“Yes.” Donovan didn’t elaborate. I wondered what he had told the guy to get past the barricade.

“Did you see that demon dog?” the fireman asked.

I remembered James chasing everyone off the plane and glanced over at him. Elysia had retrieved the box of salve, and James was pulling on his T-shirt. Neither appeared to be paying much attention to the conversation.

“No dog,” Donovan said. “And no one left on the plane.” He started forward, gripping one of Colby’s elbows as Rowan held the other.

The man in the security vest moved closer. His brow wrinkled as he watched Colby shuffle along. “There’s first aid up the concourse, and those needing transport to the hospital are being gathered in—”

“Thank you,” Rowan said without looking up. “But we aren’t injured, just a little shook up.”

“What about the salve?” Elysia gestured with the box.

“Salve?” the man asked, perhaps thinking she had spoken to him.

“I brought some of my burn salve,” I explained.

“Oh.” He pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt. “I’ll radio ahead and let them know you’re here.”

Rowan glanced over, his eyes meeting mine.

“Shall we go help?” James asked me, taking the box from Elysia.

Rowan gave me a nod, then he and Donovan led Colby away.

“Addie?” James asked.

I pulled my attention from Rowan’s back. “Okay.”

“Let me show you,” the guy in the security vest offered.

He led us to another waiting area a short distance down the concourse, then took a set of stairs behind an
Employees Only
door to the lower level. He showed us to a large room that held a surprising number of people. I realized these were people who’d been evacuated from the plane and were currently awaited transport to the nearest hospital. My new security friend introduced us to the medical personnel who were determining who left on the next ambulance, and who waited. Soon, James, Elysia, and I were working right along side them.

I had never been this close to the actual healing. Usually, I delivered the salve to the hospital, and the nurses administered it. Now, for the first time, I realized how rewarding the experience was.

I knelt on the floor, gently dabbing salve on an older man’s blistered lower leg. He flinched when my gloved fingers touched the tender flesh, but within half a minute, he was slouched in his chair, sighing in relief.

“That is truly amazing, Miss Daulton,” a female voice said from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder and squinted in the bright light shining in my eyes. A camera was pointed at my face, and a woman in a fitted pink blazer and skirt gave me a big smile. It was Natalie Gomez, Megan Field’s replacement.

“So you make, um, house calls?” Natalie asked. Admiration lit her eyes. She had interviewed me on several occasions over the past few weeks. Unlike Megan, Natalie actually liked me.

“Not exactly. I was at the airport, dropping off a friend,” I lied.

“And you had some salve with you?”

“I had some brought over.”

“That’s nice.”

I turned to the man I had been treating. “Better?” I asked.

He had straightened in his seat when he noticed the camera crew. “Completely.” He turned his leg, displaying the healed flesh. “I had read about what you were doing at the hospital, but experiencing it…”

I rose to my feet. “Glad to help.” I stepped aside as Natalie moved in to ask the man a few questions. This was excellent. If the man allowed his story to be aired—and he seemed very pleased to be on camera—it could go a long way toward opening more minds to the positive things alchemy could do.

Glancing around, I searched for any others in need of healing. The medical staff still worked on the injured, but there had been relatively few burns. Most of the passengers had been evacuated before the plane had truly begun to burn. More prevalent were broken bones, contusions, and lacerations. I left those to the medical personnel. I couldn’t do anything to help, and I didn’t do well around blood.

Elysia didn’t suffer the same concerns. At the moment, she was holding a compress to a bleeding gash on a young woman’s shoulder. Earlier, I had seen her help a paramedic stabilize a middle-aged man’s lower arm. I had to look away when I noticed the bone poking through the taut skin. No, blood and gore didn’t faze Elysia at all, but then, she was probably a mortician. Most necromancers were. I suspected she had been pulling organs out of bodies for years.

James was just as blasé, and I couldn’t help but notice that he never strayed far from her side. At some point, I needed to get him alone for a talk. Did he know about Gavin?

My thoughts were interrupted as another burn victim was brought to my attention. This one a teenage girl with burns along her cheek and neck. Her injury responded as expected, and the girl threw her arms around my neck in a fierce hug. A few words of thanks from her parents, and she was loaded on a gurney bound for the last ambulance.