The Catalyst of Corruption (The Final Formula Series, Book 4) (35 page)

A powerful gust of wind exploded across the room. Neil's robes whipped back, but the blast of air didn't move him.

The wind died as quickly as it came.

Era frowned.

“That's not going to work.” Neil started toward her.

“How about if I blow you apart?” Era asked. Her eyes took on that metallic sheen.

“Era, don't!” I ran across the floor, gritting my teeth against the pain of my recent bruises. I stepped between her and Neil.

“You're defending him?” she demanded.

“He's soul bound to Ian. If you kill Neil…” I glanced over at Ian, but he wasn't watching the exchange. He had covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking. I stared at him. I never expected to see Ian cry.

Neil's hand settled on my shoulder, startling me. “Thank you for your concern, but Elemental magic can't touch me.” His grip tightened on my shoulder. “Ian, grab the ghoul master.”

Ian dropped his hands and got to his feet. There were no tears on his cheeks, of course, just a murderous fury in his eyes. I didn't think he would hesitate to kill Neil, even if it meant his own demise.

Livie still lay on the floor. By ending Alexander, Ian had enabled James to escape the compulsion to rip out Livie's soul, but her brush with death must have been closer than I realized.

“What are you doing?” I asked Neil.

“Plans change—and they seem to change a lot when you're involved. I no longer need Alexander. I'll make myself a ghoul master, and I don't even need Ian's journal. I have the man himself to show me how.”

“No,” Era said. “I won't let you do this.”

Suddenly, Ian was airborne. He flew across the room and slammed into the far wall. I flinched even though I knew it wouldn't hurt him.

“I've been wanting to do that for a while,” Era said.

Neil chuckled, but kept a tight grip on my shoulder.

Ian was on his feet immediately. “You need to do more than that.” Ian began moving toward Livie. “If it comes down to me or Livie, blow me apart, Era.”

Era watched him a moment, then her eyes took on that metallic sheen.

“Oh God,” I whispered.

Chapter 31

“E
ra—” I didn't get to
finish my plea.

A gust of wind whipped across the room, but she didn't tear Ian apart, she threw him against the wall once more. This time, he hit so hard that the tile busted and crumbled, falling to the floor with him. Even so, he rose to his feet an instant later without so much as a blink.

“You can't knock the dead insensate,” Ian told her. “You can't take my air, and you can't give me pain.” He started walking toward Livie. “Don't let him make me do this. End me, Era.”

She stared at him with wide, horrified eyes.

Neil laughed. “Give it up, Mallory. The Element doesn't have it in her. Now Amelia, on the other hand, she never shies away from what must be done.”

I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let me go. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, just below my throat and held me against him, my back to his chest.

Ian knelt beside Livie and scooped her up in his arms.

“Grandfather?” Livie muttered as her head came to rest on his shoulder. “I'm so… tired.”

“You'll be fine,” he told her, rising to his feet. “The life force just takes time to regenerate.”

She said something else, but the words were too soft for me to catch. She closed her eyes and looped an arm around Ian's neck.

“Tie her to the charger,” Neil commanded. I assumed he referred to the conveyor.

A growl sounded, but I couldn't pinpoint its origin. James must still be in the veil.

“Yes, grim, please join us,” Neil said.

“James, don't,” I shouted. The last thing we needed was for Neil to take him.

Neil's arm tightened. “Now, now.” He pressed his cheek to my temple.

I tried to pull away, but his other arm came around my waist.

“Well, look at that,” he continued to speak in my ear. “I can get my arms all the way around you now. I've got to admit, it's not nearly as revolting now that you're a hundred pounds lighter.”

I ignored him, watching Ian place Livie on the conveyor—charger, whatever. She mumbled something, but didn't wake. The furnace door was closed, and the conveyor was cool, so she wasn't in immediate danger, but that would change soon.

Ian picked up a coil of rope from the floor beside the cremator. I didn't need to speculate why it was there.

He glanced at Elysia's still form on the floor as he turned back. Was he grateful she wasn't forced to watch this, or was he hoping she could put a stop to it? After all, a soul reaper was supposed to trump a lich king. But Ely didn't know how to use her magic. I would prefer Doug, but he still lay at the base of the wall where Era had thrown him. Even if I got free, I couldn't revive either of them.

I looked back at Elysia, my eyes drawn to Mattie's finger bone. Would she help us? Livie was Joseph's descendant. Would that be enough to sway her?

“No comment?” Neil asked, his voice in my ear, startling me.

“I've got to admit,” I echoed his words, “I find it extremely revolting.”

“Era, please,” Ian said as he shook out the rope. “You're the only one who can stop this.”

No, she wasn't. I rammed my elbow into Neil's ribs. It crunched on impact, sending a sharp pain into my arm. I had hit a vial. I just hoped I hadn't exposed myself to a potion that could stop me.

Neil gasped and his arms loosened.

I didn't give him a chance to recover. I jumped forward, escaping his hold.

“Ian, grab her.” Neil spoke between clenched teeth, a hand on his ribs. The vial must have cut him, but with my luck, he wouldn't bleed to death.

Ian left Livie's side to come after me. He managed one step before Era threw him. This time, he landed on the floor beside Doug.

I dropped to my knees beside Elysia. Trying not to think too deeply about it, I picked up the bone. “Mattie,” I whispered. “Help us save Joseph's descendant.” I pressed the bone into Elysia's palm. Would it work? Would she—

A hand gripped my shoulder. “What are you doing?” Neil jerked me back—just as Elysia's hand closed around the bone.

I landed on my butt at Neil's feet.

“Get up.” Neil nudged me with his foot.

I glared up at him, but pushed myself to my feet. I couldn't do much sitting on the floor.

Neil returned the glare, his hand still pressed to his ribs.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked.

“I'll live.”

“A shame.”

His eyes narrowed. “But that's more than I can say for you.” He smiled. “Mallory, finish tying the girl to the charger, then you're going to teach me to Make with my blood.”

“Can't you figure that out on your own?” Elysia asked.

Neil and I both turned. Elysia was on her feet, regarding us with cool, golden-brown eyes. Not Elysia, Mattie.

Her gaze settled on Alexander's remains. “So, you finally did it.” She looked up at Ian. “You finally stopped protecting him.”

Ian faced her. “Before you end me, I want you to know that it was never my intent to hurt you, Mattie. I didn't fully understand what the alchemy would do.”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But you could have stopped your brother from taking me.”

“If I had killed him.” Ian bent to pick up the rope once more.

She merely stared at him.

Okay, there was clearly more to their story than what I had been led to believe. Ian had told me that Alexander had taken Mattie, but it sounded like Ian had once had an opportunity to stop him, and failed to take it.

“Mattie,” I cut in. “Don't let him hurt Livie.”

“The girl is a ghoul master.”

Had she been listening when not in possession of Elysia, or could she tell in some other way? Not that it mattered.

“She's Joseph's descendant.”

“That doesn't change what she is.”

After belonging to Alexander in life, I guess I wasn't surprised by her attitude, but I had really expected more compassion for her brother's relation.

“Please, Mattie,” Ian spoke up. “Don't let your hatred of me blind you.”

“Brilliant,” Neil muttered, stepping up beside me. “Did you really think she would help you?”

“I won't let this happen,” Era said.

Mattie turned her cool stare on Era. “Then I shall take your soul along with the others.”

“That will kill Elysia, too” Ian said.

“Choose well,” Neil cut in. “I suspect that you'll only be able to reap one more soul before it kills that body you're possessing.”

“I don't need to personally reap you.” She smiled—the expression looking nothing like Elysia even though it was her face. “Grim, heel.”

James, the hellhound materialized by her side.

“Shit,” Neil whispered. “You're on your own,” he said to me, then opened a portal.

I shoved my hand into his pocket, hoping to grab the Stone before he stepped into the portal, but my hand closed around a vial. Wrong pocket.

Neil jumped for the portal, the fabric of his robe ripping as my hand caught in it. He stumbled, but still managed to leap into the land of the dead. The portal winked closed behind him.

“Grim, get him,” Mattie commanded.

James snarled. A new portal opened, and he vanished into it. I suspected he didn't mind that command.

I glanced down at the vial I held. It was the alchemical smelling salts Neil had used to wake me. A lot of good that would do. Unless…

A snarl preceded James's reappearance at Mattie's side.

“Did you get him?” I asked.

“No, he did not,” she answered for him.

“So much for that hope.”

“You wish for the demise of your friend?”

“Friend?” I snorted. “Try enemy. I was using him to get the information I needed to help people like Elysia, whose magic is killing them.”

“So you claim—yet you cremated a man alive to steal his power.” She waved at the cremator.

“To steal his power? No.” We hadn't used ash alchemy to take Xander's power. We had used it to create the Stone.

“It was still murder.”

“Mattie,” Ian interrupted. He was no longer attempting to tie Livie to the conveyor. Neil's leaving must have freed him from that. But now, we had to deal with Mattie.

“Do not speak for her, Father. Your past speaks for itself.”

Ian took a step toward her. “Will you not allow me to atone for my sins?”

“How could you ever atone for this?” She gestured at herself.

“By helping Addie heal Elysia.”

“No.” She twined her fingers in James's fur. “Everything ends. Today.”

“Era.” I held up the vial. “Smelling salts. Wake Doug.” I underhanded the vial to her. It would have fallen a little short, but at the last moment, it rose to land in her hand.

I didn't wait to see what she would do next. I ran at Mattie.

Stop!
The word slammed into my brain and dropped me to the floor. It wasn't the command, but the sheer volume that took me down.

I gripped my temples, waiting for the ricocheting echoes to stop.

Had enough?
These words were softer, but they still needled my throbbing head.

“I just want to help,” I whispered. “To heal.”

“Grandfather?” Livie's voice seemed loud in the silent room.

“I'm here,” Ian answered her.

“What's going on?” Doug demanded.

I sat up, flinching at the pain in my head. Era had Doug on his feet. A trickle of blood ran from one nostril, but his vibrant blue eyes were alert.

“Mattie has taken Elysia and plans to use James against us,” Era explained.

He took a step forward, and Era gripped his arm when he swayed.

“I won't let you hurt anyone,” Doug told Mattie. “And I won't let you use James like that.” His eyes went white.

Mattie gasped. “You took the bond. How—”

“No, I sheathed it.”

She frowned.

“His skills remind me a lot of your mother's,” Ian told her.

“Perhaps that's where I inherited it,” Doug said.

Mattie's brow wrinkled.

Ian gave Doug a small smile before he faced Mattie once more. “He's descended from your youngest brother.” Ian gave Livie's shoulder a squeeze then stepped forward to face his daughter. “They are all your family. Please spare them. They have done you no wrong.”

She watched Ian walk toward her. “Can you really save Elysia?”

“I believe Addie can—if you let her try.”

I caught the frown Doug gave him. I suspected Doug was thinking of his father and my
methods
of saving people. It didn't help that the cremator stood a few yards away, the conveyor still dusted with his father's ashes.

“But how can she save her?” Mattie asked Ian. “This is a blood gift.”

“Addie is the azoth.”

Her mouth dropped open, and I remembered that Ian had taught his children alchemy. Mattie understood. “She cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.”

“My brother is gone.”

Mattie glanced at Alexander's remains before turning back to Ian. “You're not going to beg for your life?”

“What life?” Ian asked. “My life ended when I lost your mother, and you, and the boys. This is an illusion.” He gestured at himself. “That is what I truly am.” He nodded at Alexander's bones.

I crossed my arms, hugging myself. I knew all of this was true, but it still hurt to hear him say it.

“You are all that is left,” Ian whispered.

“That's not true.” Livie got to her feet and walked over to join them. “You still have us.”

Ian gave her a fond, but sad smile.

She faced Mattie. “Please spare him as well.”

“You're a ghoul master,” Mattie said.

“And my cousin is a soul reaper. Just because we have the potential to do harm doesn't mean we will.” Livie lifted her chin. “We need him.”

“Livie.” He ran a hand over her hair. “Sometimes, you have to let go.”

My heart was lodged in my throat, and I tried to swallow it back down.

Livie turned and wrapped Ian in a hug, pressing her face to his chest. “Don't leave me, Grandfather. I need you so much.”

“We all need you,” Doug said. He limped over to them, Era watching his progress with a mixture of guilt and concern. “The Family needs you.”

“I was kicked out of the Family centuries ago,” Ian said.

“And I was kicked out a few weeks ago.” Doug shrugged his wide shoulders. “I don't intend for that to stand in my way.”

Ian gave him a smile. “You are more than capable of taking the Family into the future, Douglas.”

Livie sobbed, but offered no further argument.

I took a breath. “What about me?” I kept my eyes on the floor, too ashamed to look at any of them. “Who will keep me out of trouble?” I whispered. “Who will stop me from being Amelia again?”

Ian didn't answer.

I kept my head down, not wanting to see his—or anyone's reaction. I was certain Doug and Era must hate me. So it took me by surprise when arms came around me.

“Addie,” Ian whispered.

Much like Livie, I collapsed against him. “It was wrong of me to run you off, and I regret it. Please don't leave me. Don't leave us.”

“You knew this day would come. I don't belong in this world.”

“But our work isn't done. Neil took the Stone.”

“This is your fight.” His cold lips brushed my forehead. “Your blood oath is fulfilled.” A final squeeze, and he released me.

I bit my lip to hold in a sob as he turned away from me.

Ian reached out to cup Mattie's cheek. “I'll go if you want, but please, give James the honor. I promise you, Addie will see to it that the curse will end with Elysia.”

Her brow wrinkled even more, then to my amazement, she wrapped her arms around him. Ian hugged her back, dipping his head so that his cheek pressed against her temple.