The Catalyst of Corruption (The Final Formula Series, Book 4) (2 page)

“It would—” Elysia gasped and whirled away from Ian.

I followed her gaze, trying to figure out what had drawn her attention, when a cloaked figure appeared a few yards in front of her. If it had come through a portal, I hadn't seen it.

“Rowan, don't.” Ian lifted a hand to stop him from ashing the lich, then he stepped around Elysia.

“She's the soul reaper,” Elysia whispered. “This is her… workshop.”

The lich took a step toward Ian.
Father?

My mouth fell open. Oh my God, could this be Mattie?

Ian stopped, and a frown darkened his expression. Not the reaction I expected at finding his long-lost daughter.

“Is that Matilda?” Rowan asked, echoing my suspicions.

I studied Ian's face, and suddenly I understood. “No.” Elysia claimed this girl was a soul reaper. Mattie hadn't possessed that gift.

You never come visit me anymore, Father
.

“Visit you?” Ian asked.

Here. In my workshop. Who is she?
The lich waved an arm at Elysia, revealing a glimpse of skeletal fingers beneath the frayed sleeve.
She's a soul reaper. Is she my sister?

“How could I be your sister?” Elysia demanded.

The hooded head turned toward Elysia, and I took that moment to move closer to Ian. “What's going on?” I whispered.

“A case of mistaken identity,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes on the lich.

“She thinks you're Alexander?” I asked. James had told me that Ian and his brother were identical twins.

“I'd say Lex fathered a fourth daughter.”

“There was no record of that.”

“And the records you found were so accurate?” He did have a point. Alexander had altered the birth certificates of Ian's three youngest sons making them appear to be his.

The lich faced him once more.

“Play along,” I muttered.

Ian frowned, but didn't refuse. “Can you prove who you are?” he asked her. “Who were your parents?”

You named me Psyche, Father.
She took a step toward Ian.
Did you find a suitable vessel? Shall I try again? She took my uncle's journal.
She waved a hand at Elysia.
But I have it memorized.

“What—”

Suddenly, a portal whispered open behind her. A clawed hand reached out and caught her shoulder.

“James, no!” Ian shouted.

James had left the portal open, and though the darkness masked him, I could tell by his height that he was in his true form—as he called it. A mesh of hellhound and human, he towered over the lich, his glowing green eyes now on Ian.

“Don't take her across,” Ian said.

James released her shoulder, then leapt from the portal, landing on four paws.

Hellhound! Look out, Father!
Psyche pulled a dagger from her belt and lunged at James.

“No!” Elysia sprang forward and caught her arm. The move did nothing to slow Psyche. Instead, Elysia was pulled off her feet.

“Stop!” Elysia shouted.

This time, Psyche stumbled. She recovered quickly and spun toward Elysia, lifting her dagger.

A shimmer of darkness, and James was human, yet he moved so fast, I barely followed it. He caught Psyche from behind, seizing her wrist before she could bring the dagger down.

Release me, dead man.

James snarled, but did as commanded.

Psyche still held the dagger aloft, but before she could continue the downward motion, Elysia shoved her bloodied hand into Psyche's hood. “Do not give him commands.” Elysia's eyes went white.

“Elysia, don't,” Ian said.

Elysia spared him a glare. “Back off, Ian.”

Ian?
Psyche's voice was little more than a whisper. She shoved Elysia away and with a single sidestep, vanished.

I blinked. “Where did she go?” She hadn't opened a portal.

“She's in the veil,” James said, then shifted into the hellhound.

Four portals simultaneously opened around the room. For an instant, I thought James was behind it, then four…things ran out, one from each opening. The first was canine, the limbs realigned so it ran on two legs. The other three were human—or had once been. Their bodies had been disassembled and reattached in bizarre ways that made my stomach turn. They were all little more than skeletons now. I didn't even want to think about what they must have looked like before they decayed.

“James, get Elysia out of here.” Ian's eyes flickered white. “Take her to the lab. Now.”

A portal opened behind Elysia as James sprang toward her. He bumped into her, and she stumbled back into the portal, then he followed.

“James—” The rest of Elysia's words were lost as the portal closed behind them.

The four creatures continued to close on us—or that's what I thought before the dog thing ran right past me. They were going after Ian.

“Stop!” he shouted.

The things slid to a halt. None of them breathed, or made a sound. They just watched him with eyeless faces.

Ian's white eyes glanced in our direction. “You two get out of here.” He spoke the words between clenched teeth, his attention immediately returning to the things around him.

One of the humanoid creatures dropped into a crouch, its legs folding backward like a grasshopper's.

“I said, stop,” Ian repeated.

The grasshopper thing froze, but the one on Ian's other side took a step toward him. I couldn't see where its head was. An arm was mounted where its neck should be.

“Why can't you stop them?” I reached in the front pocket of my jeans and pulled out a vial.

“They're soul-reaper Made. Go.”

“I've got some necromancy solvent.” I held up the vial.

Ian ignored me. “Rowan, get her out of here.”

The dog thing dropped to all fours, though it still didn't look right.

I pulled the cap from the vial. “I'm not leaving you.”

Rowan gripped my shoulder.

“We can't—” I didn't get to finish my plea before all four dead things erupted into roaring pillars of blue-white flame.

Ian threw up an arm, dropping into a crouch. The flames flared all the way to the ceiling, then abruptly vanished. Nothing remained of the four creatures. No ash, no bones, just silence.

Rowan released my shoulder, and the soft chime of metal against metal sounded behind me. I turned to find him braced against the autopsy table, the manacles gently swinging beneath the wooden surface where he had bumped into it.

Ian rose to his feet. “That wasn't necessary.”

Rowan's still glowing eyes shifted to him. “You couldn't hold them.”

“I could have held them long enough for the two of you to get out of here. Then I would have used the portal to leave.”

The orange glow in Rowan's eyes shrank to a slim band around his pupils. “You would have left those things to be found by the next curious person to venture down here?”

“She is still here.” Ian brushed his coat then tugged it straight.

“Does she have more of those things?” I asked.

“I assume not, or they'd be here now.”

“What were they?” Rowan asked.

“A soul reaper's pets,” Ian answered.

“She made them? Can she make more?”

“No. Without blood, she cannot use her blood gift, but she is still a soul reaper. I'd rather not test my skill against hers.” Ian's gaze shifted to me. “Give him his remedy. We need to go.”

Rowan released his grip on the table. “I'm not—”

“You are paler than a corpse and your nose is bleeding,” Ian said. “But if you prefer, I can carry you out of here.”

I reached down the front of my shirt and pulled out the vial I always kept tucked in my bra. “Your nose
is
bleeding.” I offered Rowan the vial.

He pulled a tissue from his pocket and dabbed his nose. “I'm fine.”

“Being less than whole puts Addie in danger,” Ian said. “Is your pride that important to you?”

Fire spread through Rowan's eyes once more. “
You
want to lecture me about putting her in danger?”

I stepped between them. “Would you two quit?” I gave Ian my back and held out the vial to Rowan. “Take the damn potion.”

Rowan frowned.

“Please, Rowan.”

He held my gaze for one long moment, and just when I thought he would refuse, he took the vial from my fingers.

A snarl echoed around the room, and suddenly, James was back. No sooner did his paws hit the ground then he was human. He caught Ian by the throat and pinned him to the wall before the portal could close behind him.

One look at James's face, and I knew he was beyond pissed.

“James!” I hurried toward them. “James, don't.”

Glowing green eyes flicked in my direction, but James didn't release him. “I took your journal,” he said to Ian, his voice a low snarl. “I read enough of it to know what you were studying.”

“Was that the journal Psyche mentioned?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.

“I assume,” James answered. “I found it here, in this room.”

Ian's eyes flickered white, and James released him with a snarl. “How much did you read?” Ian demanded. “Answer.”

“Damn it, Ian.” He was starting to really piss me off.

“Just a line or two, here and there.” James's tone made it clear that he was no happier with Ian than I was. “It was enough.”

“Where is it now?” I asked.

“We lost it,” James said.

“Any idea where?”

“Here, the Nelson Funeral Parlor, I don't know.”

“You took it to the funeral parlor?” Ian took a step toward him. “You'd better hope Neil didn't read it.”

“Why?” I asked, trying to insert myself between them—at least verbally.

Ian glanced in my direction, a frown wrinkling his forehead, but I didn't think it was anger. A portal whispered open beside him.

“Ian.”

His eyes met mine before he stepped into the portal.

“What's this about?” I demanded.

“Ash alchemy,” his voice echoed out of the portal.

I didn't see the portal close. I fell into a memory.

Chapter 2

N
eil smiled at me, his
face lightly sweated in the glow of the cremator. He lifted the jar, displaying the gray ashes inside, then dipped in a finger. As I watched, he brought it to his mouth.

I wrinkled my nose. “That's hardly hygienic.”

He smacked his lips. “Necromancer.”

I tried not to laugh. “Seriously, that's gross.”

“How do you know if you haven't tried it? Then, too, you wouldn't be able to sense the power.”

“Ha ha.” He loved to remind me that I wasn't magical, and that he was. “Is he strong enough to suit our purposes?”

“No blood gift, but he was moderately talented.”

“So that's a yes?”

His white eyes glinted. “That's a yes.” He offered me the jar. “I know it works on Old Magic.”

I took the jar, holding it up to examine the ashes inside. Ashes that contained a necromancer's power.

“The question is,” Neil continued, “does it work on New Magic?”

I looked up, aware of the Air Element he had imprisoned upstairs. “Only one way to find out.”

 

“Addie?”

I blinked my eyes, trying to focus on Rowan's face in the dim light. He knelt before me on the floor of the catacombs' autopsy room.

“Your nose is bleeding,” James said from behind me. It was he who I leaned against.

I brushed a finger beneath my nose, and it came away bloody.

“Déjà vu?” James asked, using the term I had chosen for the magical surges of memory I occasionally experienced.

“Yes.” I pushed myself to my feet, turning my back on them. It had been a long time since I'd had a memory surge strong enough to knock me down.

“Anything you want to share?” James asked.

“Not particularly.” I eyed the blood and couldn't help but wonder just how much blood I had on my hands.

Rowan stepped up beside me and wordlessly offered me a tissue.

“Thanks,” I muttered and dabbed my nose. James and Rowan maintained their silence, making my pounding heart sound loud in my ears. I knew they wouldn't pressure me, but we were way past the point where I could remain silent. They both knew that my past was a dark one, and they had forgiven me for it, trusting that I was a better person now.

I took a deep breath and plunged in. “I remembered working with Neil,” I said. “There was a cremator—where, I don't know. He handed me a jar of ashes, claiming they contained the power of a necromancer.”

“Did he kill him?” James asked, his voice now coming from the other side of the room. He had moved to the equipment table where his clothes still lay.

“I don't know.” I swallowed. “Nor do I know if I helped him.”

My response was met with silence. I could imagine them making eye contact, but I didn't turn to look.

“What was the purpose of the ashes?” Rowan asked.

I dabbed my nose again and examined the tissue instead of looking at him. “We were studying ash alchemy.”

“Ash alchemy? What exactly is that?”

Knowledge that I had forgotten suddenly filled my mind. Somehow Ian's mention of the term had unlocked knowledge I hadn't been aware I had. It wasn't the first time a powerful déjà vu surge had done that. Strangely, it gave me only the information and not specific memories about how I had acquired it.

I cleared my throat. “It's a branch of alchemy in which the primary, or quintessent ingredient, is the cremated remains of a person, typically someone who had a magical ability.”

“What purpose does that serve?” Rowan asked.

“Supposedly, the magical ability can be transferred to someone else.”

“It works?”

“You've seen it,” James said to Rowan. “Winters was an ash alchemist.”

“Winters,” Rowan repeated. “The crazy doctor haunting the old crematorium on Buffalo Ridge. How do you know?”

“While we were there, I was shown what he did, but I didn't have a term for it until I read Ian's journal.”

I looked over my shoulder. “What did his journal say?”

“He was studying soul transference.”

“What exactly does that mean?” I asked.

“Just what you'd think. Transferring a soul from one body to another,” James said.

Rowan snorted. “A necromancer myth.”

“It's supposed to be the core ability of the soul reaper blood gift.” James's voice dropped to a whisper. “And I can tell you that Elysia really does take a little of each soul she binds.” His faintly glowing eyes met mine. “You know she's now connected to you.”

“You mean the way she's able to share mental images with Addie?” Rowan asked.

“She's getting to the point where she can speak to me,” I admitted.

“What does that mean?” Rowan turned to James. “What did she do to Addie?”

“She saved her life—at the cost of her own.”

“I won't let it come to that,” I said.

“This is her blood gift, her inborn magic. You can't change that.”

“Yeah? Watch me.”

A smile curled James's lips, but he didn't look convinced.

“What does all this have to do with Ian's journal?” Rowan asked.

“I didn't get to read much,” James said. “But I came across a formula. One of the quint ingredients was the ashes of a soul reaper.”

A twinge of déjà vu darkened the edges of my vision.

“Addie?” Rowan's hand settled on my back.

“Do you remember the other ingredients?” I asked James.

“That one kind of floored me.” James shook his head. “I didn't read on. Why would he want a soul reaper's ability?”

I snapped my fingers. “The potion he hit his brother with. All Alexander's daughters were soul reapers.”

“I considered that, but the journal was written before Ian was Made.”

I frowned.

“And you don't know where this journal ended up?” Rowan asked James.

“I put it in the pocket of Elysia's robe, but when everything was over, it was no longer there. Neil held her captive for a time.”

Rowan sighed, his gaze moving to me. “Does he need the journal, or is the information it contains redundant to him?”

I couldn't hold his gaze and frowned at the far wall instead. “I got the sense that we were just starting down that road.”

“Any idea when that was?”

“Last summer. The end of June.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rowan straighten. Era had been missing for four days around the end of June. I steeled my courage and made myself continue. “In my memory, Neil asked me if it would work on New Magic.”

Something clanked behind me, and I spun toward the sound. In the beam of my flashlight, I could see one of the shackles swinging on its chain.

“We should go,” James said. “I'll lead you out of here, then I'm going back to the lab.”

“Okay,” Rowan agreed. “I think we've learned all we can.”

I hoped that was true, but I had a feeling this was just the beginning.

 

“Are you going to spend
the whole drive studying the landscape?” Rowan asked after we'd been on the road for a few minutes.

I pulled my eyes from the forested hills along the winding two-lane road we were following. “I was considering it.”

He glanced over before the road forced his attention back on his driving. “I thought we had moved beyond this.”

“This?”

“Your past.”

“I don't think I can ever move beyond that.”

“Then take the Final Formula, and we'll face it together.”

His suggestion both pleased and horrified me. The fact that he was willing to accept the bad that I might have done was wonderful, but I couldn't bear the thought of him knowing what evil I might have committed.

“Addie?”

“I won't take the Formula.” With its powerful regenerative properties, the Final Formula would repair the damage Emil had done when he stole the Formula from me. It would return my memories.

“It's not going to make you someone you're not.”

But it might make me someone I once was, and after the glimpses I had gotten of my past, that terrified me. “I won't take it.”

Rowan sighed. “Well, you and Elysia have that in common.”

“Yeah.” Elysia also refused to take the Final Formula, but not because she feared her past. Her fears lay in the future. Her gift was destined to drive her insane. It wasn't a future she wanted to prolong—even though the Formula would regrow the partially amputated finger Alexander had severed.

“Do you really think you can save her?” Rowan asked.

“There's a solution, I know there is. It's just not something I would ever consider.”

“Hmm.” He didn't look over, but his lips curled upward.

“I'm going to have to think outside the box.”

“Don't you always?”

“Way outside the box. And I'll have to learn more about necromancy.”

“That shouldn't be a problem, considering who your roommates are.”

“True.”

James and Elysia hadn't returned from the catacombs alone; they'd brought Doug Nelson with them. When I learned that Xander, his father, had attempted to Make him, I had insisted Doug stay with me.

“He offered to pay me rent, but as I told him, what's one more necromancer?”

Rowan chuckled. “How did you end up starting a home for wayward necromancers?”

“If I'm housing the wayward ones, I'm going to need a bigger building.”

“Good point.” Rowan merged onto the interstate, deftly weaving between two cars. “With so many of your roommates on the opposition's Most Wanted list, I'm beginning to wonder if you're safe at your apartment.”

Where was he going with that? After Gavin had nearly killed me, Rowan had spent the first two weeks of my convalescence with me. But once I began to recover, he had returned home. He claimed that being away from his brother and sister Elements was hard on him—and them. In some strange magical way, they balanced each other. I knew that was true, but I still wondered about his timing. Rowan had returned home as soon as the doctor released me from all restrictions. Restrictions that had included no sex. Was Rowan afraid he would lose control of his magic again? He had done a nice job of destroying my shower the last time we were together. I couldn't help but wonder just how close he had come to hurting me.

“I'll be fine,” I said. “You don't need to find me another building.”

“I wasn't thinking about moving the lab.”

The hesitant quality of his tone made me look over. Rowan wasn't the hesitant type. “I get the sense that you're going somewhere with this.”

He met my eyes for a moment. “I was going to ask you to move in with me, with us. Cora even agreed to it.”

I stared at him. “You asked her?”

“Yes.” He spared me another glance. “There goes your favorite excuse.”

I frowned. Was that really what he thought? “I don't use it as an excuse. She dislikes me.”

He tapped his finger against the wheel, but didn't disagree. “So, what's your answer?”

“Technically, you didn't ask a question.”

“Addie.”

“You want me to move into my old room at the manor?”

“No. I want you to move in with
me
. I think you understand the distinction. You're just putting off answering.” He changed lanes a little more quickly than he usually would. “It's pretty simple. Yes or no.”

He was starting to anger me, and I was really tempted to say
no,
out of spite, but that would be childish. I knew that he was being snippy because he thought I was turning him down.

“It's not that simple. I love you, Rowan, you know that. I would love to move in with you, but there's so much going on right now. I can't leave Elysia, and as insane as it sounds, Doug is going to bear watching to keep him from doing something stupid.”

“And Ian?”

“And Ian.” I didn't elaborate.

Rowan gave me a frown, but said nothing. He tolerated Ian more than he used to, but I didn't think he would ever truly like, let alone trust, the guy. Though at this point, I was beginning to wonder if Rowan had judged him accurately.

 

I didn't get to quiz
Ian about his journal; he wasn't in the lab. But there was still a necromancer at the workbench—not that he was doing any work.

Doug Nelson gave Rowan and me a sheepish look as we emerged from the back hall.

“That looks impressive,” Rowan said.

Doug had made something that looked like the Eiffel Tower from a collection of rubber stoppers, magnetic stir bars, and a few glass rods.

“You know you're welcome to go upstairs and watch TV,” I said.

“A man can only watch so much daytime television.” Doug dropped the last few stir bars on the counter and faced us. “Besides, James and Elysia are up there.”

“Hogging the remote?” I teased.

“Arguing whether the cut on her hand requires healing. When I asked what happened, I got my head bit off.”

I sighed.

“So what did happen?” he asked.

We gave him a quick recap of what we found in the catacombs.

Doug shook his head when we finished. “I wish you had invited me to go. I could have helped. I could have done something purposeful. Something that might let me get back to my life.”

Rowan sighed. “Your father isn't returning my calls.”

“He may not be among the living.”

“Since when does that stop your kind from answering the phone?” I asked.

Doug gave me a frown.

“What? You said he expected to be Made.”