The Catalyst of Corruption (The Final Formula Series, Book 4) (21 page)

“Yes, but only for me. I don't think she's aware of it.”

“But you could use it.” Grams still looked suspicious. “You're no common necromancer.”

“I could, but I don't.”

Grams didn't look convinced, but Elysia returned before any more could be said.

“Okay, you can all stop talking about me.” She frowned.

“What makes you think we were talking about you?” I asked, wondering if she had found some way to eavesdrop through me—or Doug. “That's a bit egotistical.”

“I can tell by your expressions.”

“What's that? My enraptured stare of awe and wonder?”

She laughed, then gave me a wink. “Exactly.”

“You are Alexander's descendant.”

“Watch it, or I'll take you out for a manicure
and
a pedicure. Then we'll go shopping.”

“Now you're just being mean.”

She flashed me a grin and headed for the stairs.

“How is shopping mean?” Livie asked me as we followed.

“I'd rather be in the lab.”

Livie stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

“I suck at girl,” I admitted. “But I kick ass at alchemist.” I wiggled my eyebrows and she laughed.

 

Greenwood Cemetery was a small
rural cemetery on the outskirts of Cincinnati. Traffic hadn't been too bad, so it only took about forty minutes to drive out. It was times like these that I missed having someone with the ability to give us a lift through the land of the dead. Elysia had the ability, but since Ian refused to teach her, we had to take her car. Grams and Livie had followed in their car, intending to drive home from here.

We gathered around the black granite headstone with a white marble angel on top of the pedestal. The name engraved on the front read Isabelle Marie with an oblong hole where the last name should be. Ian's wife. Alexander had removed the Mallory name and switched it to Nelson, perhaps to cover the alterations he had made to her children's birth certificates. Or perhaps he really was delusional enough to think she was his. However it transpired, Ian had removed Alexander's addition, leaving a hole in its place.

“There's no one buried here,” Livie whispered. This was the first time she and Grams had seen the grave.

“Ian had her cremated,” Elysia said, her tone just as soft. “Or rather, did it himself. They didn't cremate back then. At least, not commercially.”

“Huh.” Livie frowned at the headstone. “I guess Ian didn't want Alexander to get her?”

“Exactly.”

“God, that's crazy.”

“Yes, Alexander is.”

Doug cleared his throat. “Shall we do this?” He hoisted the canvas bag he held. Inside was the Mason jar containing Ian's heart. His original heart. The one Alexander had taken from him when he was Made. When I gave him the Final Formula, Ian's heart had regenerated. But he was still oddly bonded to the original organ. I wasn't a necromancer, so I didn't fully understand it—and I wasn't sure I really wanted to.

“Hand it here,” Elysia said.

“I'll do it,” Doug said.

Elysia crossed her arms.

“This is the anchor for his soul,” Doug said. “Similar to what bound Steadham. You didn't do so well with that.”

“I could do it,” Livie cut in. “Ian taught me how—with his heart. I've actually done this before.”

I tried to keep my expression neutral. I was pretty sure a necromancer had to touch the organ to use it.

“It would keep you free to deal with Alexander.” Livie looked up at him, her expression uncertain. “I'd rather you do that than me.”

Doug nodded. “If you prefer. I'm guessing Ian didn't give you lessons on wrangling a super powerful undead ghoul master?”

“No. We haven't gotten to that, yet.”

I smiled at her spark of humor.

“Are you sure about this, Livie?” Grams asked.

“Yes, really. I can do it.”

Grams studied her a moment, a hint of a smile on her lips. Finally, she gave Doug a nod.

He pulled the Mason jar from the bag and began to unscrew the lid. Unfortunately, it looked like I was right. The necromancer using the heart did need to touch it.

I averted my eyes when Doug upended the jar over Livie's waiting hands. The organ was almost two hundred years old and probably well dried out, but I didn't look closer to verify. I had once held a lich's heart in my hands. It had been preserved in formaldehyde and much fresher. And I had been wearing gloves. But I had still freaked out when it twitched.

“Ready?” Livie asked.

“Just a second,” I said. I had been working so hard not watching that I had failed to prepare for my part. I pulled a foam-insulated box from the bag I had brought and opened it. Inside were two vials of my Fire Hazard potion. The potion would burn when exposed to air, so I didn't want to break a vial at an inopportune time—or place. Elemental Fire burned through anything.

I extracted one vial and closed the box. “Ready,” I told Livie.

She gave me a nod. “Don't confuse Ian for Alexander.”

“That shouldn't be a problem unless Alexander took him out for a haircut—and some shopping.” Which, considering their conversation, was not outside the realm of possibility. I gripped the vial more tightly. I just hoped that wasn't the case. I wasn't sure how I would handle it if Ian reconciled with his brother. It would certainly put a crimp in our working relationship when I killed Alexander.

“Here goes.” Livie closed her eyes. She looked so calm and indifferent, standing in a cemetery at dusk, holding a human heart. A still beating—though only occasionally—human heart.

Necromancers.

“Livie?” a familiar male voice asked from directly behind me.

I turned with a gasp and found Ian stepping out of a portal. It winked closed behind him, but that didn't mean Alexander couldn't follow.

Livie dropped the heart into the jar Doug still held and ran to Ian with a cry. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. “I was so worried.”

He hugged her back. “I'm fine.” He looked at me over her head, his eyes holding mine for a moment before he turned back to her. “That was very well done. Though I'm surprised present company gave you the opportunity.”

“Well, I'm not allowed.” Elysia still stood with her arms crossed.

“And I thought it would be better if Doug weren't preoccupied with the summons if your brother followed you,” Livie said.

Doug didn't comment, but he was watching Ian closely. Maybe looking for a family resemblance? There definitely was one. Between him, Livie, and Elysia, it was Doug who resembled Ian the most.

“Are you okay?” Livie released Ian and stepped back.

“As I said, I'm fine.”

“So we can't expect your brother's charming company?” Elysia asked.

“No. We parted ways some time ago.”

“More like some centuries ago,” I said. “Where have you been?”

“I needed a moment.”

He had told me that after we'd met Psyche. We needed to have a long talk, but I knew he wouldn't be open with me in present company. I would wait.

“Next time, if it's not too much trouble, let us know you're okay before your moment?” I carefully returned my Fire Hazard potion to its case. “For all we knew, Alexander had finally finished what he started when he Made you—or the pair of you had decided to let bygones be bygones, and gone on your merry way.”

“That is not the case.” Ian held my gaze without flinching. I hoped he was telling me the truth, but Ian was a master of half-truths. “I was trying to learn more about what happened with Mattie, and where Psyche came from.”

“Were you successful?”

“Yes.” He glanced at the others, his gaze lingering on Livie.

“Anything you want to share?”

He sighed. I expected him to dodge the question, but he surprised me by answering.

“Lex never Made Mattie as I had assumed. He had told me he locked her away, and I had thought he meant in a crypt like my own, but I was wrong.” He stopped.

“Go on.”

Ian glanced over at Isabelle's headstone, and I had a sense that she was what was holding him back, not the prospect of telling horror stories in front of a child like Livie. Ian didn't want Isabelle to learn what had happened to their daughter. Then, too, Livie was fourteen; the same age Mattie had been when Alexander took her. I glanced at Livie, seeing that innocence in her eyes as she listened to Ian. God.

Ian cleared his throat. “Lex had her institutionalized.”

Locked up. “Oh.” Like so many necromancers, she must have lost her grip on reality—no surprise considering what had been done to her. Elysia's gift was guaranteed to drive her mad, but even the weakest necromancer seemed to frequently fall prey to it. Some, like Alexander, even continued to function.

“I'm sorry.” I reached out and took his hand, then smiled when Livie took the other. “I know you wanted to find her, but maybe this was for the best. She wasn't entombed for centuries. And maybe… maybe she didn't understand at the end.”

He released a breath. “You're probably right. It is selfish of me to be disappointed that she's gone.”

“It's not selfish to want to see your daughter again.”

“Yes, it is. The other option is to be Made and entombed—and you saw what that was like.”

Okay. He had a point.

“Still, I would have liked to apologize to her,” he said.

“Apologize for what? You were locked away. You couldn't
do
anything.”

“I could have done some things differently, before that.”

It was my turn to sigh. I was beginning to see why he needed a moment.

Grams cleared her throat. “Powerful you may be, but even you cannot change the past, Ian Mallory.”

He dipped his head in agreement. “You are right, Judith. Forgive me my melancholy.”

“You are mourning a child. I understand. I've buried one of my own and one that I considered my own.” She spoke of Livie's dad and Elysia's mom. “Mourning is a natural, healthy response. But blaming yourself for the evil of another isn't.”

Ian didn't respond, and I couldn't help but think of Alexander's words when he accused Ian of damning Mattie. Something had happened, but whether Ian was truly at fault was another matter.

“I know,” Ian said, his words soft. “Thank you.”

We stood in silence, everyone no doubt dwelling on their own losses. I had no particulars since I knew nothing of my past, but I had admired the Elements' friend Lydia and missed her still.

Elysia turned away, walking over to stop before Isabelle's grave. I wondered if she thought of her own mother.

“Do you ever wonder—” Doug started, then stopped. “We're supposed to be necromancers, but the people we care about still die.”

His openness was unexpected, as was the fact that he looked at Ian when he spoke.

“I've thought about it many times,” Ian answered. “I obsessed about it when Isabelle lay dying, but it's the great irony of our existence. When all is said and done, Death wins. Death always wins.” Ian released our hands and stepped forward to take Doug by the shoulders. “You must accept this one truth, Douglas Nelson, above all others. Pain and insanity are the only alternatives.”

“I know,” Doug whispered. “But still—”

“No,” Ian spoke with more force. “There are no exceptions.”

Doug nodded, and I thought that was the end of it, but then he continued in a voice so soft, I barely caught the words.

“Mother died of a brain aneurism when I was eleven. I found her. Father found me later, trying to remove her heart with a butcher knife I had taken from the kitchen. I didn't have the power to Make then, but I was determined to try.”

Dear God. The pain that he must have felt ripped through me. I even felt sorry for Xander, finding his wife and son in such a situation.

I pressed my hand to my chest, the image of Doug's tragedy overlaying the time I watched Lydia die in Rowan's arms. I choked on a sob, though the logical part of my mind knew that something wasn't right.

“Addie?” Livie laid a hand on my back.

“Elysia,” Ian said, a sternness in his tone. “Elysia, don't.” His tone turned to one of panic.

I looked up in time to watch a portal close near Isabelle's grave—where Elysia had been standing. A second later, a new portal opened and Ian jumped through.

I straightened. “Ian!”

If he heard me, he didn't heed me. The portal closed.

“Did Alexander take her?” I asked.

“No,” Grams whispered.

“That was Elysia,” Livie added, her words just as soft.

I suddenly noticed that the debilitating sorrow was gone. “What just happened? My God, I've never felt such sadness.”

“That was Elysia,” Doug echoed Livie's words, his eyes holding mine.

I didn't have a response for that.

Chapter 18

I
paced back and forth in
front of Isabelle's grave, my phone pressed to my ear. “Addie?” I closed my eyes as James's voice came over the line.

“Lose your phone?” I asked, annoyed with the delay.

“Sorry, I left it upstairs. What do you need?”

“We've got a problem. Elysia just opened a portal and went somewhere.”

“What? She opened a portal? Where?” His questions tumbled out, one on top of the other.

“Tell him to come here first,” Doug said.

“Why?” James asked before I could relay the question.

“He wants to know why,” I said to Doug.

“Just in case she wasn't the one behind it,” Doug answered.

“I'm on my way,” James said and the line went dead.

“Damn.” I pulled the phone from my ear.

“What is it?” Doug asked.

“I didn't get to tell him where we were.”

“He'll figure it out.” Doug picked up the bag containing the Mason jar. “I'll go put this is the car.”

“Lock it in the truck.” The last thing we needed was for a cop to stop to check out the cars parked in a cemetery after dark, and find a human heart on the front seat.

Doug had barely turned away when my phone rang. The lab's number showed up on the screen.

“We're not there,” I said by way of answering. “We're at Greenwood Cemetery.”

“Got it,” James said. “I know where that is.”

“Grams and Livie are with us, so mind the full moon.”

He huffed out a breath. “Did you drive?”

“Elysia did.”

“There's a duffle bag in the trunk with some sweats. Grab it for me.”

“I'm on it.” I hung up and called to Doug to grab the duffle bag. He managed two more steps when a portal opened and James leapt out a few feet from him. Remaining the hellhound, he followed Doug around the back of the car.

I turned to Grams and Livie. “The full moon: the bane of the shapeshifter.”

James's growl carried easily to where we stood.

 

We stood in the land
of the dead, silently waiting while James tried to find Elysia. He stood a few yards away in his true form, sniffing the air.

“It still amazes me every time I come here,” Grams said, her words little more than a whisper. “I never thought I'd see this.”

A howl sounded in the distance.

“Doug?” Livie took a step closer to him. “Was that a—”

“Hellhound, yes,” he answered. “A real one.”

“But don't worry,” I hurried to reassure her. “We have tall, dark, and creepy over there to keep his cousins away.”

I got her
, James said, ignoring my banter.
Here
.

A new portal opened, and he caught it with one clawed hand, to let us pass through.

Livie stared up at him. “It's really you?”

Yes
.

“Wow.” She gave him a tentative smile. “You look amazing.” She stepped out of the portal after Grams.

See?
James turned his glowing green eyes on me.

“Necromancers are different,” I said. “Haven't you noticed?”

Doug chuckled. “I find alchemists odd.” He followed me through the portal.

“Yes, but you're a necromancer, so that kind of negates your opinion.”

“I think this conversation could go in circles.”

James jumped out beside us, landing on four paws. The portal vanished, plunging us into total darkness. It smelled of damp earth and stone, reminding me of the catacombs.

“Uh, James?”

“Hang on,” Doug said. A moment later, he switched on his cell phone's flashlight app.

“I really need to download that app,” I said.

James trotted off into the darkness. I guess he wanted me to just carry his clothes for him.

I noted the dirt floor and various indentations where it looked like someone had been digging. “We're back under Music Hall.”

“Yes.” Doug frowned at our surroundings. “I bet that ghost took her again. So much for Era's little medium friend's solution.” He started walking behind James.

“You're very critical of mediums,” I said, trailing after him.

“I don't have a lot of faith in someone who willingly puts himself at the mercy of the spirit world. Especially those who should know better.”

I let the argument go, concentrating on my foot placement and making sure Livie and Grams had no problem following. We found Elysia where we'd found her before: digging for bones in the dirt. James knelt beside her, human now.

Doug aimed his flashlight at the floor.

“Addie?” James's voice carried to me out of the darkness.

“One pair of pants coming up.” I cautiously walked over to hand them to him, then I knelt beside Elysia. “Ely?”

She didn't answer.

“Do you want me to help you?”

She looked up, and I noticed how much her eyes had darkened. They were much closer to her natural shade. Was she not possessed?

“You would help me?” she asked.

“Sure. Then maybe she'll leave you alone.”

Her brow wrinkled. Did she realize she had been possessed or not?

“Don't encourage her, Addie.” Doug stood over us. “You'll only make it worse.”

“How? Maybe the solution is to help this ghost. She wants her bones freed from this potter's field. I'm wondering if the other holes around here are attempts at other possessions. How long has she been trying to free herself?”

Doug squatted beside me. “Rule number one is to never give a ghost what it wants.”

“We've tried that; it didn't work.”

Doug frowned, watching Elysia brush the dirt away from what appeared to be a pelvis. It was then that I noticed that she wasn't removing the bones from the hole, but aligning them in their original positions.

“Maybe she just wants a proper burial,” I said.

“You keep saying
she.
”

“It feels right.”

Doug sighed. “I don't condone this, but I'm to the point that I'm willing to try anything.”

“Good, because I'll need your help. If this spirit wants a proper burial, you're already in the funeral business. You can make it happen.”

“I'm a little out of the loop right now.”

“But I'm not,” Grams said.

Doug rose to his feet. “You think this is a good idea?” He didn't say it with any animosity, but I had the sense he wasn't thrilled that Grams had more or less agreed with me.

“If this has become an ongoing problem, it seems like we need to try to do something.” She held up a hand when he started to speak. “You are correct that it is best to avoid interacting with the spirit world, but sometimes they really are just asking for help.”

Doug sighed, but didn't argue.

“If James would be so kind as to take me home, I can gather some supplies.”

“I'll help you,” Doug offered.

“What about Elysia?” James asked.

“Addie and I will stay with her,” Livie said. “Do you care to leave us your phone, Doug?”

He handed it to her. “No out of country calls.”

She smiled. “Do you even get reception down here?”

“Good point.”

James had moved off into the shadows, but now stepped into the light as the hellhound.

“We'll be right back,” Grams told us, then followed James into the portal. A final frown from Doug, and he did the same.

“Ely?” Livie reached out and gripped her cousin's shoulder. “Are you with us?”

Elysia abruptly looked up, her golden-brown eyes catching the light.

I pulled in a breath. It was the first time in weeks that I had seen her natural eye color.

“He's gone,” she said and pushed herself to her feet.

“Elysia?” I asked as Livie and I hurried to our feet.

Elysia didn't answer. Instead, she spread her arms, and her eyes went completely white.

“What are you—” Livie didn't get to finish her question as the bones at our feet began to move.

I watched in fascinated horror as they seemed to draw together, then the skeleton sat up. Dirt fell from its bones as it gradually rose to its feet. It took one step to the side, then abruptly clattered to the ground, falling to pieces.

“Hades' blood,” Livie whispered. “How did you do that?”

Elysia bent over and gripped her knees, breathing deeply.

“
Should
you be doing that?” I asked.

Elysia straightened and once more her golden-brown eyes met mine. The hairs on my arms rose. The person looking back at me was not Elysia.

“Who are you?” I whispered.

She didn't answer. Instead, she squatted beside the bones and began gathering the ones that had rolled away, placing them back into the main pile.

“Elysia isn't well,” I said to whoever was possessing her, “and using her magic might harm her.”

She didn't look up from the bones she was gathering. “It was a basic animation.” She spoke with Elysia's voice, but there was something different about the way she pronounced the words. It was almost as if she had an accent.

“There was nothing basic about
that
animation,” Livie muttered, then turned to me. “This spirit must have been an incredibly powerful necromancer.”

“I've been told that spirits cannot give someone magic. Whatever just happened, it was Elysia doing it.”

“Elysia can animate something
that
dead?” Livie asked.

“She
is
a soul reaper,” Elysia, or Elysia's guest answered.

“Were you one, too?” I asked. “Is that how you know how to use her magic?”

She didn't answer me.

“What do you want us to do with your bones?”

“Bury them in their rightful place.”

“Where's that?”

“You saw.”

I glanced at Livie, but she just shrugged. “Can you be more specific?” I asked the ghost. “I'm a little new to all of this.”

“Return me to the Family.”

I looked at Livie again. “Is there a necromancer grave yard?”

“There are family plots in dozens of graveyards around the area.”

“Can you tell us which one?” I asked Elysia's guest.

She stopped messing with the bones and rose to face me. “Alchemist.”

I resisted the urge to step back. “Yes.”

“Your hands are stained with the ashes of the dead.”

My blood ran cold. “What?”

“They die for you, to do your bidding. The paths open before you, only to close again. Find the right one, or you will be lost.”

I flashed back to the prophecy that Marian, Rowan's eight-year-old seeress, had once given me. She had implied that I had the ability to alter not only my path through life, but the paths of others', as well. It had sounded profound, but the more I thought on it, the less I found it so extraordinary. Hell, run a red light and you could alter the path of the person coming from the other direction. You might just
end
their life path.

“The past holds us tight in its fist. I will finish this and escape mine, but you cannot see the past. How will you know when it has you?”

“I'm starting to think this spirit was a seer,” I told Livie, trying to make light of it. “Or she's pretending to be.”

Elysia gasped and stumbled to the side. I caught her elbow, then I saw the open portal. I gripped her arm, tensing for what might come through.

Doug stepped out and I release a breath.

“You three okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered. “Just a little jumpy when a portal opens.”

“I understand.” He carried a medium-sized, white cardboard box. He started to set it down beside the hole and hesitated. “You extracted all the bones that fast?”

Grams joined him, a tote bag in one hand bulged with an assortment of supplies. She frowned at the bones.

“We had help,” Livie said.

Doug's eyes narrowed. “What kind of help?”

“Ely—or Ely's friend—animated the body, and it climbed right out of the ground.”

“That's not a body. It's a pile of bones.”

“I know,” Livie whispered. “I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.”

“That's what happened,” I said, backing Livie up.

Elysia stood a few feet away, arms crossed and frowning at the ground.

James stepped up beside her, having donned his pants, and touched her shoulder. She turned without a word and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him—or maybe, huddling against him.

“You're shaking,” he said, the words so soft I just caught them.

“Are you okay, Elysia?” Grams asked.

“Not even remotely,” she muttered, her cheek pressed to James's bare chest.

His eyes met mine, worry etched on his face. My heart clenched, and I silently vowed to make this right—no matter what it took.

Grams watched Elysia a moment longer, sadness in her eyes. Was she seeing Elysia's mother all over again? Grams seemed to gather herself then opened the bag she held.

“Here.” She offered Doug, then Livie a pair of gloves, and soon, they were loading the bones into the box. Gathered in such a neat pile, it didn't take long to finish the task. Before I knew it, we were heading back to my apartment.

Elysia stepped out into the living room, and without a word, walked down the hall to the bathroom. A moment later, the shower kicked on.

Grams stood on the threshold of the portal, but didn't step into the room with me. “Will you call me, Addie? Let me know how she's doing?”

“Sure.”

She gave me a nod, her expression worried, then stepped back into the portal James held open.

I'll take Grams and Livie to their car
, James said.

“Stay with Ely,” Doug said to me. “I'll drive her car back.” He shifted the box he held, and the bones rattled inside. “I hope this works.”