The Alchemist's Flame (4 page)

I stripped off my gloves and watched them wheel the girl away. That could have been Rowan on his way to the hospital. My throat tightened at the thought of how close he had come to dying today. I would have had to live with the fact that the last words I had with him had been exchanged in anger. Our argument before he left for California had been an impressive one.

“Miss Daulton?”

I turned to find Natalie and the camera crew still present.

“Do you mind if I do a follow-up interview? Just a few more questions?” she asked me.

I forced a smile. “Sure.” I would prefer not to, but I couldn’t waste this opportunity.

“Let me begin by expressing my own shock at how effective your salve is. When I heard that your salve accelerated healing, I still expected it to take a few days. But this was…instantaneous.”

“For minor burns, yes. When there is no skin to heal, it’s not so easy.” I had to brew each of those individually after requesting a blood sample from the patient.

“Easy.” Natalie shook her head. “I’ve heard that you’re going to start teaching alchemy.”

“The University of Cincinnati has approached me about developing a curriculum.” The prospect thrilled me. More alchemists meant more hands to brew salve, freeing me to develop other formulas.

“You don’t plan to reestablish the Alchemica?”

“I would prefer to work with an accredited university. Alchemy needs to be shared, not hoarded. That always bothered me about the Alchemica.”

Technically, that was a lie. I didn’t remember a thing about my time at the Alchemica. My Grand Master had wiped my memories when he stole the Final Formula. All he left me with was my knowledge of alchemy. I remembered nothing else about my life before that. And since my past was a dark one, that was fine by me.

“Addie?” James stood behind Natalie and the camera crew. He gestured with his phone, then mouthed one word.
Rowan
.

“I need to go, Natalie. Would you excuse me?”

“Yes, of course.” She gave me a bright smile. “Thanks for talking with me.”

“My pleasure.” A final smile, and I hurried over to where James stood. He wordlessly handed me his phone, then turned and led me away from the commotion and the camera crew. Elysia waited nearby and fell in beside us as we walked past.

“Rowan?” I said into the phone.

“What are you doing?” Rowan got right to the point. “James said the last of the injured had been taken away.”

“There was a reporter. You know how important it is that I—”

“Cora disposed of the Extinguishing Dust. I need you to make more.”

I sighed. “Her paranoia is a real pain in the ass.”

“Can you do it?”

“I think you mean
will
I. Of course I
can
.”

“Addie, don’t.” His tone made it clear that he wasn’t in the mood for word games. “What do you need?”

I gritted my teeth, but held back what I really wanted to say. “To work best, I need to key it to him.”

“His blood.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have him give you a sample. Have James bring you by the manor to get it.” The line went dead.

I handed James his phone. “I get that he’s under a huge strain at the moment, but he could try to be nicer.”

James grunted and tucked the phone back in his pocket. “Back to the lab?”

“The manor. I’ve been commanded to make some more X Dust, keyed to Colby.”

“Ah.” James understood exactly what I needed. “Let me find a place to change.”

I stood in the sunroom at the Elemental manor and watched the sparks fly. For once, I wasn’t the target of Cora’s impassioned outrage.

“You had no right to bring her here,” Cora said to James, waving a hand at Elysia.

“She doesn’t know where we are.” James’s tone was surprisingly calm in the face of Cora’s rage. “Besides, she has no desire to harm you. Ask Addie. She gave her a truth serum.”

I snorted. “I hardly think my testimony will carry much weight with Cora.”

Cora turned her glare on me, eyes of multi-hued blue narrowing. I met that stare, doing my best not to fidget. As a Water Element, Cora had the ability to manipulate any liquid in her environment. That included the liquids inside me. I had once seen her use that ability on another human being, well a lich. It wasn’t pretty.

“I trust James’s judgment,” Donovan spoke up.

I smiled at the big guy, pleased that he had joined us. He was often the voice of reason among his more volatile brethren. At a burly six-eight, he was a gentle giant. His quiet strength had pulled me through many dark moments in my recent past.

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Cora. “James’s judgment can’t be trusted if he belongs to her.”

Era crossed her arms. “Exactly. And she might have passed Addie’s truth serum test at that moment, but she can always change her mind.”

I sighed. This was going nowhere fast. “Where’s Rowan? Let me get what I need, and we’ll get out of your hair.”

“The den,” Era said, collecting a frown from Cora.

I didn’t wait around to see what that was all about. I gave James and Elysia a sympathetic glance and left the room.

It turned out that I didn’t need Era’s help finding Rowan. All I had to do was follow the raised voices. I stopped outside the doorway to the den, not so sure I wanted to step between a pair of angry Fire Elements.

“I get it,” Colby was saying. He tossed the TV remote onto the coffee table and rose to his feet. The image on the TV was paused, leaving the burning plane on the screen to bear witness.

“If you get it, then why don’t you show up for your workout sessions?” Rowan asked. “Your brother and sisters tell me that you haven’t even met with the meditation specialist I found you.”

“I’m not into all this spiritual mumbo jumbo.”

“A six-pack is not going to give you control over your Element.”

“Then maybe I should try a case—or find myself an alchemist.”

I had shifted my weight to take a step into the room, but hesitated.

“I’m still in control,” Rowan said.

“They say she makes potions for you, keeps you stable.”

“She’s improved the healing draft my apothecary always made for me.”

“So now you can vaporize rivers without consequence. Hell, Rowan, you’re in me right now. You realize that right?”

Within a certain range, Elements could
see
into the objects around them, and once inside an object, they could manipulate it. At least, that’s how it had been described to me. Rowan had once admitted that it wasn’t truly a visual image.

“We’re discussing you,” Rowan said. “Alcohol and alchemy are not solutions. It comes down to
our
control. It always has and it always will.”

“Next thing you know, you’ll be wanting me to emulate David, the ice man.” Colby turned away and pulled up short, seeing me in the doorway.

“We meet again.” I gave Colby a smile before turning to Rowan. “James brought Elysia. Cora isn’t happy.”

Rowan released a sigh. “And I guess you need me to stop Cora from killing the necromancer.”

“Since killing the necromancer exiles James from the mortal plane, yes, that would be nice. I would take care of it myself, but Cora always gets so touchy whenever I interfere.”

Rowan held my gaze. Maybe it was because he no longer made an effort to hide what he was from me, but his eyes did glow far more than they had when I first met him.

“I’ll take care of it.” He headed for the door. “Colby has agreed to give you a sample.”

“You’ll bleed for me?” I teased him.

“If you’ll brew me something to take away the Fire. I’ll gladly give you every drop.”

“It’s for emergencies only.” Rowan gave him a final frown and left the room.

Colby glared after him a moment, then dropped onto the couch. He braced his elbows on his knees and rubbed both hands over his face.

I sat down beside him. “Trouble in paradise?”

“I thought this was Cincinnati.”

I snorted. “Not the same thing?”

He looked up, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I’ve heard you can be a bit irreverent.”

“Among other things.” I laid a hand on his forearm. “You okay?”

“Not even remotely.” He turned his head to look at me. “Can you help?”

“I can try.”

“You can do more than try if it’s true that your potion can knock out my power.”

“Temporarily.”

“How about permanently?”

“Do you want it to be permanent?”

“I would give anything. And I mean
anything
.” His eyes met mine, his expression earnest and intense. Yes, he meant every word.

I held Colby’s gaze, my heart aching at the pain I saw reflected there. How could I convince him that he was needed, that his sacrifice did serve a purpose?

“I’m not sure what it’s like in your part of the world, but around here, we need the Elements. We need Rowan.”

“Rowan, yes. Me…” He snorted. “Well, I think I’m the data point that proves that something divine isn’t picking the Elements.”

“Colby.”

He shrugged. “At least I’m honest.” He pushed up his sleeve. “So, how much blood do you need?”

“A drop.”

“That’s all?”

“Element blood is potent stuff. I once blew up a car because I used too much of Rowan’s.”

“I blew up a plane.” Colby waved at the TV screen, his tone bitter.

“Let it go. Besides, you really don’t want to get into an explosion competition with me,” I teased. “No beaker—or flask—is safe. You can ask any of my lab partners.”

He chuckled. “You make me laugh, Addie.”

“It’s part of my charm—except with Cora.” I rose to my feet. “Come on. Let’s get that blood sample. There’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom down the hall—don’t ask me how I know.”

He laughed again and followed me from the room.

Neither my short absence nor Rowan’s presence had put an end to the argument in the sunroom.

“Doesn’t sound good,” Colby said as we approached.

“I’ll get James to take Elysia and me elsewhere. That should end the fireworks.”

“I still can’t believe Rowan hired the grim,” Colby muttered.

“He can soul track her,” James was saying as we entered the room. “I can’t—”

“That means he can soul track her
here
,” Cora said.

“I’m here.” A muscle ticked in James’s jaw. So much for calm and cool. But Cora could do that to a person.

“Who can soul track whom?” I asked.

“Gavin.” James’s green eyes met mine. “Gavin can soul track Elysia.”

“You
were
involved,” I whispered.

James frowned.

“It was Neil,” Elysia said. “He forced me to do it—with your potion.”

“To do what?”

“Command James to soul rip his brother.”

Oh God. “Brian.”

“Yes,” James answered for her.

I wanted to go to him, comfort him, but he spoke before I could move.

“You know about this,” James said.

“That Neil has a grim of his own, yes.”

“
How
do you know?” Rowan asked. By the lack of astonishment from the others, I assumed James had already gotten this far in his story before I entered the room.

“I witnessed Neil showing off his prize to his uncle.”

“And what were you doing to witness this?” Rowan’s tone held the scary calm that always made me uneasy.

James stepped up beside me.

“You were spying on Xander,” Rowan said.

“He has the information I need.”

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose.

James still stood beside me, and I reached over and took his hand. He might not be close to his brothers, but I knew he still cared. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine in turn.

“Xander didn’t know we were there,” I said to Rowan.

“We? You’re lucky then, he can sense the dead.”

“We were in a cemetery. Xander has one in his back yard. Charming, huh?”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Well maybe you should. Xander didn’t see me, and I learned something valuable about Neil. Or it would have been valuable if James didn’t already know. We need to act on this. Now.”

“I don’t have time for this. Did you forget about the summit?” Rowan waved a hand at Colby. The Elemental Summit. Every Element in the world was coming to Cincinnati. “It starts in five days.”

The air stilled in my lungs. Five days. Xander had told Neil that he had a task for him…in five days.

Chapter
4

“T
he Elemental Summit,” I whispered. It was an event that had been planned for over a year. I had known it was coming up, but no one had ever mentioned the exact date.

Rowan’s frown settled on me. “I don’t need you stirring up the necromancers right now, especially if one of them has a grim.”

“That’s just it. Xander told Neil he had a job for him—in five days. A way for Neil to prove himself worthy of being named heir. You need to cancel the summit.”

“Out of the question.” Rowan glanced at Elysia. “End of discussion.”

It showed how far we had come that I didn’t go off on him. But he couldn’t talk about the inner workings of the Element world in front of a necromancer. Especially one we really didn’t know. And even though I understood why he was being an ass, it didn’t make me any less mad.

“You ready to go?” I asked James.

“I’ll change.”

I guess we weren’t taking the car.

He left the room and Rowan followed him. I suspected James was about to be quizzed about Elysia.

“Keep an eye on her,” Cora said to Donovan, then she and Era left the room. No doubt they would join Rowan to interrogate James.

“Which one of us does she want you to keep an eye on?” I asked Donovan.

He just smiled at me and settled into one of the chairs.

I glanced over at Elysia, but she had turned away, her attention on the framed photos lining most of one wall. I walked over to join her.

“These are nice,” she said. “They remind me of the ones James has in his apartment in Athens.”

“I haven’t been to his place, but I bet they’re by the same photographer. Those are Era’s.”

“Oh. Wow.”

Movement by my side, and I glanced over to find that Colby had joined us. “Do you have any artsy-fartsy leanings, Sparky?”

He snorted. “Sparky?”

“Hot Stuff was taken. Well?” I gestured at the photos.

Colby chuckled, then faced the wall, his expression sobering. “I used to be a musician.”

“Used to be?”

“I had to give it up.”

“What did you play?” Elysia looked up at him, and I noticed that her eyes had lightened even more.

“Guitar.”

She eyed him. “You any good?”

“I was in a band. We had an audition in LA, but…” He raised a hand and let it fall. “I vanished on them two weeks before the audition. I doubt they found a replacement in time.”

“You came into your power,” I concluded. With the exception of Rowan, most Fire Elements didn’t last long. When one died, another came into his power to take his place. Oddly, there weren’t any spare Elements. There were only four to a family, and only nine families the world over.

“Yeah,” Colby answered. “I hope they found someone else and got another shot. They were a talented bunch of guys, and driven. That audition was a huge break. They deserved to be more than a bar band.”

“What’s wrong with bar bands?” Elysia asked.

Colby raised a brow.

“That’s how I paid my way through college.”

He smiled. “What do you play?”

“Drums. We had this all-girl band. We did pretty well until the girls graduated and moved on with their lives. So, I tended bar after that.”

“No jobs in your field?” I asked.

“I never looked. It seemed wrong to take a job I would have to quit in a few years.” She turned her head, looking toward the door.

I followed her gaze, not sure what she was looking at, when James suddenly padded through the opening on four paws. He carried a backpack between his plentiful teeth, his glowing green eyes on us.

“Holy f—” Colby snapped his mouth closed. “The grim?”

“James,” Elysia said.

“Wow, that’s just…” Colby seemed at a loss for words as James crossed the room on silent feet.

“Going somewhere, Fido?” I asked.

He dropped the bag at Elysia’s feet and she bent to retrieve it.

“Irreverent?” Colby asked, referencing our conversation from earlier.

“Occasionally.”

The portal whispered open and James jumped through. A clawed hand reached back and caught the opening before it closed.
Occasionally? Try always,
James’s sinister tone carried out of the darkness.

“My God,” Colby whispered.

Donovan rose to his feet and walked over to join us. “Take care, all of you.” He placed a big hand on Elysia’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on our young man?”

Her expression made it clear that she hadn’t expected the request. “Of course,” she whispered. “I’ll keep him safe.”

I stepped into the portal and she followed me. James released the portal and it winked closed behind us.

“That was…interesting,” Elysia said.

“It usually is.” I watched her hitch the backpack higher onto her shoulder. “You want to bunk with me?”

“I have a place—and with James, it doesn’t matter that it’s four hours away.”

“It won’t matter to Gavin, either.”

I’ll be with her,
James said.

“You’re needed here,” I reminded him. I glanced between them. “It’s Ian, isn’t it?”

Yes.
James snarled the word, and goosebumps rose along my arms.
She doesn’t need to be around him. If I had known he was going to be there—

“Hey.” Elysia reached up and touched his jaw. “I’m fine.”

I watched the exchange, trying to keep my disbelief off my face. I loved James, but this form always made me uncomfortable. Yet it didn’t seem to bother Elysia. Necromancers were…different.

I should have told you,
James said.

“Yes, but that’s past.” She took her hand from his muzzle and pressed it against his furry chest. “But now I get to make him tell me why.”

“If you’re considering a truth serum,” I spoke up. “I’m not so sure how effective it’ll be on the dead.”

Elysia looked over at me. “Once you fix me, I won’t need truth serum to make him spill his guts.”

“Oh. Right.” She could command him to speak—and tell the truth.

“You’ll still help me?” she asked. “You seem to like him.”

“Of course I’ll help you. Ian and I have an agreement, a working relationship. But if it makes you feel better, I intend to get the truth from him, as well.”

She looked up at James. “I’ll be fine. I told you that I’m not going to take you from your life here.”

I’m enrolled at Ohio University. I’m
supposed
to be in Athens right now
.

“But it sounds like you’re needed here.”

James growled in frustration, and I shivered.

“Scary,” Elysia said, her tone teasing.

He snorted. Or that’s what I thought he intended. The sound was just as creepy as his growl.

I stood quietly, watching the exchange. Perhaps Elysia’s confrontation with Ian really had been for show. I certainly hoped so. Despite my doubts, I still liked her.

The portal winked open and I stepped out into my lab. My empty lab.

“Ian?” I called.

No answer.

“I guess he’s just as uncomfortable around you,” I said as Elysia stepped out beside me.

James followed, shifting into the hellhound as he crossed the threshold. Elysia wordlessly offered him the backpack, and he trotted off to the back room with it clamped in his jaws.

“It’s probably good that Ian isn’t here,” Elysia said. “I can’t do much like this, anyway.” She gestured at her face. Her eyes were completely white once more.

“I can’t fix you right now.” I forced myself to continue, hating to admit this. “Your problem has me puzzled. I need to bounce some ideas off him. Like him or not, he’s an incredibly talented alchemist, as well as a necromancer. And this is necromancy and alchemy at its finest.”

“Oh, I have no doubts about his alchemical talents,” she said.

I sighed. Why did Ian seem to collect so much ill will?

“Let me show you upstairs. James can join us when he’s decent.”

I led her up the stairs to my newly renovated apartment. Having a steady income made life a lot easier. Though it wasn’t the money so much as lack of interest that caused me to take so long to fix the place up. I would probably still be sleeping on a cot with a cardboard box for a nightstand if Era hadn’t gotten involved. Now, I had a guest room with a bed and everything.

“Make yourself at home,” I told Elysia after showing her the room. “And you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you.” She stopped a few feet into the room and looked around. “I’m not sure how long that will be.” She kept her back to me, running one finger along the edge of the dresser.

“At least until we stop Gavin,” I said.

“That’s part of it.” She pushed her thick blonde hair from her face. The girl had some seriously beautiful hair, but then, so did Ian. She glanced over as James stepped through the doorway. Stunted or not, she clearly sensed him.

He dropped the green backpack on the bed, then leaned against the footboard, watching us.

Elysia turned back to me. “I’m at a bit of a crossroads. I told my grandmother that I would return home and embrace my destiny.”

“Your destiny?” That sounded like a line from a fantasy novel.

“I told her I would fight for the Family, stand up to the Deacon.”

“Xander?” I smiled, an idea surfacing. This could be the break I needed.

“Addie, what are you planning?” James asked, his tone suspicious.

“What makes you think I’m planning something?”

“You’re breathing.”

I arched a brow and turned to the hall. “I need to get busy on Colby’s potion. You’re welcome to anything in the fridge, but you’ll probably want to order a pizza.”

“Thank you,” Elysia called after me.

I waved a hand and left them there, walking downstairs to the lab. Ian still wasn’t in attendance, so I began to gather the equipment.

“Seriously, what are you planning?” James said from directly behind me.

I jumped, as always, and whirled to face him. “I swear, between you and Ian always…appearing out of nowhere, I’m going to die of a heart attack.” I pressed a hand to my chest.

James lifted his dark brows.

“I was thinking that if Elysia is going to confront the Deacon, then our goals might align. There might an opportunity.”

James sighed. “That’s what I figured.”

“Then why ask?”

He frowned. “Maybe I’ll go soul rip the bastard and be done with it.”

“What I need is what he knows, so that wouldn’t be helpful.”

He crossed his arms, but he looked more frustrated than angry.

“Besides, you’re not an assassin.” I glanced toward the stairs. Elysia hadn’t followed him down. “So, talk to me. Are you as happy with this arrangement as you appear?”

“This arrangement?”

“Being bound to Elysia.”

“She’s a good person, and she was willing to stunt herself to try to free me.”

“I got that, but the two of you seem…close.” I twitched an eyebrow. “Era said she caught you and her in bed together.”

He frowned. “I was unconscious. Neil took a lot of blood when he resurrected Gavin.”

After he forced James to kill his own brother. I reached out and gripped James’s forearm. “I’m so sorry.”

He uncrossed his arms and took my hand in both of his. “I’m okay.”

“Brian was your brother.”

“Maybe it says something about me, but I feel no remorse.”

I wasn’t sure what to say.

“He wasn’t a good person, none of my brothers are, but I did discover that Gavin was right. I felt Brian’s death. And I felt the power redistribute. I suspect George and Henry felt it, too.”

“And if they die?”

“I cease to be.”

I stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. His arms came around me, his embrace tight. I pressed my cheek to his chest, aware as always of his silent heart beneath my ear. “I won’t let that happen.”

“Ad.” He squeezed me.

“Alchemy created this, there’s got to be a way to fix it.”

Footsteps echoed from the hall, preceding Elysia’s entrance. “Fix what?” She glanced between us, a frown creasing her brow.

I lifted my head, feeling oddly guilty about hugging James. “His link to his brothers.”

“What do you mean?” She looked up at James. I guess he hadn’t told her about that.

“If they die, so does he.” I stepped out of his arms.

“What? That sounds like a soul bond.” Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “But your brother…”

“I have three brothers,” he said. “Had.”

Elysia turned her frown on me. “And you think you can sever this link—with alchemy?”

“It stands to reason that there should be such a solution.”

“There must be necromancy involved, as well.”

I shrugged. “Then I’ll incorporate that, too. If I only knew how it was done originally…” My mind ran over that familiar problem, but nothing new came to light. God, this was so frustrating.

“
You
plan to incorporate necromancy,” Elysia said. “I didn’t think you were magical.”

“I’m not. I’m an alchemist.”

James cleared his throat. “I haven’t seen her do it, but apparently she can raise and command the dead.”

“With necromancer blood,” I clarified. It wasn’t like I could create that kind of magic out of thin air.

Elysia’s brows rose. “Necromancer blood?”

Right. She didn’t know me. “I’m a blood alchemist. I know we get a bad rap, but it can also be used for good.”

“Um, necromancer.” She raised her hand. “I get bad reputations.”

I smiled. Yeah, I liked her.

“So, are we going to order some pizza?” James asked.

“We? You’re staying?” He hadn’t yet told me what his relationship was with Elysia.

“I’ll help you with this potion. And if you don’t mind, I would like to sleep on the couch,” he said.

Okay, maybe they weren’t as close as they seemed.

“You can stay for pizza,” Elysia said, “but you don’t need to sleep here. I can call you, remember?”

“But—”

She reached up and pressed a finger to his lips. “I’ll call you if I need you. Now, what do you like on your pizza?”

“Order him a large meat lover’s,” I said, opening a cabinet to grab a couple of flasks.

“A large?” she asked.

“Apparently, you haven’t seen him eat.”