The Heir of Death - The Final Formula 3.5 (6 page)

James held Doug’s gaze, and though the glow was absent, the predator was on full display. Doug felt it, too. Elysia could tell by the way he kept shifting his position. Though to Doug’s credit, he didn’t look away.

“Okay,” Doug said. “How do we make him pay?”

This time, James’s smile was genuine and maybe a touch blood thirsty.

Elysia sighed. “How about we focus on doing what we came here to do?”

“You mean—” James began.

“Shh.” She lifted her right hand, intending to press a finger to his lips, but quickly lowered her hand. “Doug and I are compromised.”

“He can’t hear or see through you unless he’s actively controlling you,” Doug said. “I asked Father about it once.”

James gave him a frown before turning back to Elysia. “You were supposed to be immune.”

“I guess we were wrong.”

“What about the solvent Addie gave you?”

“Neil confiscated that.”

James ran a hand through his dark hair. “Addie can fix it later, but it will make the current situation more difficult.”

“Well, you are an alchemist in training, so impossible should be in your repertoire.”

“Hey, I’ve got to work up to impossible. I’m still at the grunt work stage.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he continued. “I smell fresh blood. Show me your hand.”

“It’s still bleeding?” Doug asked. “Let me see. I don’t have anything to work with here, but as you told our sadistic ancestor, I did go to medical school.”

“Were you going to be a doctor?” James asked.

“No, it was part of my training to become a forensic pathologist.”

“Intense.”

“Yes.” Doug slipped his hand beneath her forearm. “Relax,” he whispered to her.

It didn’t faze her to help Grams embalm bodies at the funeral home, but this was different. This was her. She didn’t want to look.

“What did you major in?” Doug asked James.

Elysia couldn’t imagine that he was all that interested. She suspected he kept the conversation going to distract her.

“Chemistry. And it’s present tense,” James said. “I started my first semester in January.”

Doug began unwrapping the strip of fabric he—or rather Alexander—had cut from his robe earlier and used as a makeshift bandage. “How old are you?” he asked James.

“Nineteen.”

Doug glanced up for a moment before turning his attention to her hand. “For some reason, I assumed you were older.”

Elysia didn’t say anything, but she knew it wasn’t his looks, but the way James acted. He was much more mature than most nineteen-year-olds.

The last of the bandage fell away, and she heard Doug take a quick breath. But she wasn’t watching him. It was James’s eyes she sought. It was stupid, but she feared she would see disgust on his features. His lips lifted away from his teeth, but it wasn’t disgust, it was fury.

“Here, let me,” James said, reaching for her arm.

“What are you going to do?” Doug asked.

“Heal her.”

“What?”

“Will it still work in that collar?” she asked.

“It should.”

“This is more than a scratch,” she whispered.

“We’re out nothing for trying.”

She held his gaze a moment, then nodded. This was going to hurt so much.

“How does this work?” Doug asked, letting James take her arm.

“Ever hear the old wives’ tale about wounds healing quicker if you let a dog lick them?”

“You’re going to lick it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not very sanitary.”

“Just do it,” Elysia said, unable to bare the anticipation.

James looked up, his eyes meeting hers as he brought her hand to his mouth.

She closed her eyes, then clamped her teeth together at the first brush of his tongue. Pain radiated up her hand into her wrist, traveling all the way up her arm to her shoulder. As with every time he did this, she wondered if his saliva was made of acid. She had kissed him enough to know that wasn’t true, but there was clearly some reaction when he licked her open wounds.

His tongue lightly brushed across the raw stump of her finger a second time, and she gasped.

“Ely?” Doug sounded concerned.

“It hurts,” she breathed. “Like cleaning an open wound with acid.”

James stilled.

“But only at first,” she continued. She said it to reassure James, but it occurred to her that the pain had stopped shooting up her arm. “It’s already fading.”

Another brush of his warm tongue, and this time, it didn’t burn, though it still hurt. This pain was more like bumping a freshly scabbed injury. It was sore and tender, but no longer the oozing well of pain it had been.

She opened her eyes and found James watching her, her damaged finger between his lips.

“What are you doing?” Doug asked.

She glanced over and realized he was talking to her.

“What do you mean?”

“Your eyes are completely white, though oddly, I don’t feel any necromancy in use.”

This time, James ran his tongue along the side of her finger down to the V between her pinky and ring finger. She pulled in a breath as the muscles deep in her body tightened in the most pleasing way.

One corner of James’s mouth curled upward.

“Is it something he’s doing?” Doug asked, not catching her reaction.

“I don’t know.” Her voice was a breathy whisper.

“Are you still in pain,” Doug asked.

“No.”

James’s eyes glinted, and he ran his tongue along the same path. It was all she could do not to groan—and climb into his lap. She licked her dry lips, and he followed the movement with an intensity that made her squirm.

“May I?” Doug asked.

Elysia blinked, Doug’s voice a jarring reminder that he was still there. She thought he wanted to see her finger, then she became aware of his magic.

James growled around her finger, the sound soft and low in the back of his throat. Another tingle ran through her body, and she shivered.

“What the hell?” Doug withdrew, her sense of his magic vanishing. “I lost my grip on him. It was like trying to animate the…” Doug stared at James.

“The what?” Elysia prompted.

“The living.”

“What?” She pulled her finger from James’s mouth. The pain was completely gone, leaving only sensations she couldn’t act on with Doug present. She was also embarrassed to realize how much of her soul she had fed into James. Why hadn’t Doug sensed that?

“He feels, felt—” Doug frowned, and his eyes flickered white for an instant. “He’s dead again.”

James lifted a dark brow, but didn’t comment.

“You probably sensed me,” Elysia said, her cheeks heating. “I fed more of my soul into him than I realized.”

“You weren’t using necromancy.”

“Of course I was. You even pointed out that my eyes were white.”

“They were,” James agreed.

Doug glared at James. “Then it was you. What were you doing?” All of Doug’s earlier vulnerability was gone, and it seemed that he and James had reverted to their relationship of old.

“Licking her finger,” James answered. “Getting a little high on her blood, to be honest.” His eyes met hers, and he grinned.

Elysia’s cheeks heated even more.

“Her blood,” Doug repeated.

She glanced over at his solemn tone. “What is it?”

“Your blood gift.”

“Which one?” she asked, annoyed.

“The one that makes you a soul reaper.”

Chapter 7

“A
soul reaper? Seriously?” James snorted, then grinned at her. “No wonder our magic is so compatible.”

She got to her feet, and both men did the same. “It’s more like manipulator.” She waved a hand, dismissing the question. “Blood gifts tend to favor dramatic names.”

James grunted. “I see. Soul reaper sounds much cooler than soul manipulator.”

She smiled before turning to Doug. “And the whole concept is a joke. There’s no such thing.”

“He said he was getting high on your blood,” Doug said. “You know what the legends say.”

“The legends say a lot of things, most of them are total fabrications.”

“I’m aware of that, but I couldn’t ignore the similarities. The blood of a soul reaper is supposed to be like a drug. It addicts you, puts you in their power and gives them access to your soul. My father told me years ago, when he was still grooming me to be Deacon, that if a child is suspected to have inherited that ability, I must never taste her blood.”

Elysia crossed her arms. “And your father is such a reliable source of information.”

“Your eyes were white, but you weren’t using your active power.”

“If I’m a soul reaper—and I’m not convinced of that—I manipulate souls. He doesn’t have one.” She glanced at James, expecting easy agreement, but a frown had replaced his grin. Did he believe what Doug was saying?

“On the mortal plane,” Doug said.

She frowned. “And…?”

Doug ran a hand over his face. “And I don’t know. I’m in uncharted waters here. A little insight would be helpful.”

“Don’t look at me. As everyone points out, I don’t know the first thing about my magic.” She threw her hands in the air.

“Dear God,” Doug said. His response threw her until he captured her right hand, then ran the fingers of his opposite hand along her damaged digit.

She glanced down at her hand resting against his open palm. The pain was completely gone, and flesh now covered the end of her amputated finger, the skin a healthy healing pink. It looked like she had lost the finger weeks ago, not hours. Even so, her stomach rolled over at the sight.

Doug frowned at her hand a moment before turning to James. “Can you do that for anyone?”

“I’ve never tried.”

She pulled her hand from Doug’s. “We can solve these mysteries later. We need to accomplish our goal while Neil and our demented ancestor are out doing rain dances.”

“There’s a mental image,” James said. “Any suggestions?”

Elysia glanced around the doorless room. “I should have forced Ian to teach me to travel. All he told me was that I send my soul into the veil to open a portal.”

Doug’s brows rose. “How do you send your soul into something that isn’t dead?”

“That’s what I asked. He then went on a rant about my lack of training.” She rolled her eyes.

“Which he compounded by not training you,” James said.

“Can’t you teach her?” Doug asked.

“If she could shift into a hellhound, sure.”

Doug sighed. Elysia knew how he felt.

“There are dead in that direction.” Doug gestured to the walls on their left. “My guess is that we’re at the end of a catacomb.”

Elysia reached out. He was right. There were dozens of dead, and not that far away. “What if we called them to us?”

He frowned at the far wall, his eyes fading to white as he studied the situation. “That might work.”

“I’m assuming Alexander has held necromancers here before,” James said. “Why didn’t they try to get out that way?”

“Because they wanted to be here?” Elysia suggested.

“And they didn’t have their psychotic cousin distracting the guy in charge,” Doug added.

“Good points.” James stopped beside Doug. “Before you begin, can I have your belt?” James nodded at the braided leather cord round Doug’s waist.

“Why?”

James shrugged. “I was going to bind your hands—in case he returns.”

“What if he takes me?” Elysia asked.

“I don’t think you can beat the shit out of me. Unless you have some training I’m unaware of.”

“Um, no.”

“Watch her knees,” Doug warned James. “If my ability to reproduce wasn’t already suspect, she may have made it so.”

Elysia grimaced. “Sorry about that.”

“Your ability to reproduce?” James lifted a brow.

“He doesn’t have any kids,” Elysia clarified. “You know how much emphasis Alexander puts on that.” She glanced at Doug. “Is that why it’s taken Xander so long to make the heir selection official? Because you don’t have any kids?”

“Yes.” Doug turned to James. “Alexander won’t use me to physically control you; he’ll use my magic. Binding me won’t help you.”

“But I would enjoy it.” James smiled.

“Your dead man is a funny guy,” Doug said to her.

“Yes, he is.” Elysia met James’s eyes, and he grinned in response. She turned to Doug. “At some point, you need to show me how you sheathed the bond between James and me. I couldn’t get around that.”

“You’ll have all my secrets.”

She gave him a half-hearted chuckle, not sure what he meant by that.

“Shall we?” Doug nodded toward the wall.

“Ironically, Ian’s lessons
are
going to serve a purpose. Who knew I’d actually have to wrangle a horde of zombies?”

It was Doug’s turn to chuckle, then she felt him reach out. She closed her eyes and released her magic, seeking the dead beyond the walls. She exhaled as the pressure on her confined soul relaxed, to be replaced by the pleasure that only freeing her soul could bring.

Doug chuckled again, the sound soft and filled with understanding. When they had been dating, they had frequently snuck into the local cemetery to make out among the graves. He had picked up on how much she physically enjoyed using her magic, and though he enjoyed himself, he never seemed to get as lost in it as she did. She had always assumed it was just their difference in strength. Now she wondered.

She reached out for the next body and found it occupied.

“That one’s mine,” Doug said, a smile in his voice.

“Shall I take it from you?”

“You could try, but you would fail.” He was right. She could never take what he had claimed. Just as he could hide the bond from her. Magically, he might be weaker, but he was the most skilled necromancer she had ever met. Well, living necromancer. Ian and his brother were off the charts—in every way.

She moved on and found an unoccupied body, but Doug followed and an instant later, took it from her.

“Hey,” she complained.

Doug laughed.

“Are you two going to use those corpses to dig us out?” James asked. “Or are you just going to play with them?”

“We’re gathering them up,” Elysia explained, realizing how her and Doug’s conversation must sound to someone who couldn’t see what they were doing. “And Doug keeps taking mine.”

“Are you tattling on me?” Doug asked. He still sounded highly amused.

She wanted to roll her eyes, but settled for ignoring the question. Comfortable with the dozen she now controlled, she reached out to them.

“Come,” she whispered.

“I’ll need to animate a few more to get to that point,” Doug said.

She bit back a laugh. “Doug!”

“Unlike some people,” he added in an undertone.

“I heard that.”

“You do realize that was the purpose for Ian’s training session in that graveyard today. He wasn’t trying to teach you how to control a herd of zombies. He was trying to get you to stop letting them control you.”

She struggled to keep her focus on what they were doing. “What are you saying?”

“He said it perfectly. You let the dead seduce you.”

“Please.”

“What? It’s true. I’ve been around a lot of necromancers, and you’re the only one I’ve ever met who can orgasm after animating one corpse.”

Her cheeks heated. “That is not true.”

“Oh really?” His tone was far too knowing, and she was far too aware of how silent James had become.

“Just concentrate on your zombies,” she said. “Unlike
some
people, it was never my life’s ambition to end up here.”

That seemed to silence him, and they worked without speaking after that. In the quiet, the sound of movement behind the wall grew louder, interspersed with the groans of the dead. She could feel that these bodies had been dead a long time. She needed to channel more of herself into each, to keep them…together.

“Finally,” James said, and she opened her eyes.

The first stone, about halfway up the wall, wiggled free and fell inward exposing a black rectangle of darkness beyond the wall. A skeletal hand reached through the opening and pulled the next stone inward, increasing the gap.

James stepped up to the wall and began to pull stones free from this side. Collared in iron, he lacked his usual strength, but the old mortar didn’t put up much resistance now that the opening had been made.

In a surprisingly short time, there was an opening big enough to step through, and James did just that. Not seeming to care that the zombies continued to widen the hole around him, he disappeared into the darkness.

“Right at home with the dark and the dead, isn’t he?” Doug asked.

Elysia released the dead she still held, and they slumped to the floor. Some were so old that the impact broke them apart.

“Would you quit?” She rounded on Doug. “I know what you’re doing.”

He released his own zombies, his eyes instantly reverting to blue. “And what am I doing?”

She lowered her voice. “You’re trying to make me doubt my decision to be with James.”

“I’m attempting to make you question it, yes. You were never truly comfortable with your magic. On some level, you always feared it. So when you took up with the—with him, I figured you had fallen for him. But the more I watch the two of you together, the more I wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“Are you with him because you love him, or because you can use your magic when you’re with him. No need to sneak off to some mausoleum.”

Her cheeks warmed. “That’s not—”

“What? It’s a legitimate question.”

“I haven’t even slept with him,” she whispered. “So your concerns are groundless.”

“But you plan to.”

“I don’t see where that’s any of your business.”

“Despite what you think, I care about you, Ely. I want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me.” He moved closer. “I know you. You can’t separate your magical self from the physical. You never could. A relationship with the dead is the last thing you need.”

“Or maybe it’s exactly what I need.” She turned and headed for the dark opening in the wall. “James?”

A rattle of stone sounded from the darkness. “Ow,” James complained. “I forgot how crappy my night vision is like this.”

She wondered if his hearing was affected similarly. He hadn’t been that far away.

“Bring me a couple of those oil lamps,” he called.

She and Doug wordlessly did as told, taking two of the four oil lamps from the hooks on the walls. They were more convenient than candles, but with the glass reservoir on the bottom, she wouldn’t want to drop it.

Doug let her go first, and she stepped carefully among the stones and bodies lining the new opening into their room. The zombies had needed to do little more than tear down a couple of walls. A corridor had once led to their room, but it had been sealed on either end a long time ago.

Her foot nudged a fleshless skull, and it rolled free. “We won’t be reanimating that one,” she muttered.

“Impressive that you could animate it at all,” Doug said.

She wanted to glance back and check his expression, but she didn’t want to take her eyes from the obstacle course she was navigating. At least he was still speaking to her.

They met up with James at the opposite end of the short corridor among another clutter of stone where the zombies had pulled down the first wall.

James lifted a hand, shielding his eyes from their lights. “I’ll go first. Keep the light behind me so it doesn’t screw with my night vision.”

“You can see in the dark?” Doug sounded skeptical.

“Like this, not a whole lot better than most animals. Without the collar, I put night vision goggles to shame. The hound can see in total darkness.”

Doug grunted, but made no further comment.

James stepped across the threshold into a wider space.

Elysia lifted her light and followed, trying to better see their surroundings. This room appeared to be no bigger than the one they had left. The walls were lined with wide shelves to hold the dead. Most were empty, their former occupants now lying in the corridor behind them.

“I’m surprised the zombie animation didn’t draw attention,” she said. “Unless this place is a lot bigger than I realize, he should have felt that.”

“Perhaps the rain has started, and he has no further need of us,” Doug said. In other words, Neil’s potion had made Alexander whole, and he had left them here.

“It hasn’t rained,” James said.

“It might have started since you arrived,” Doug said.

“I would smell it. It hasn’t rained.”

“You can smell it. Down here?” Doug didn’t sound like he believed that anymore than he believed James’s superhuman vision.

“Yes. That’s why we’re going this way. The air is freshest in this direction.”

“There are other ways to go?” Elysia asked. So far, she had seen only the new corridor and this room.

“Three doorways open off this chamber,” James said without stopping. “Well, four counting our former prison. One on each wall.”

Elysia moved closer to the wall on their right until her light reached it, illuminating the dark doorway among the body shelves. Doug had imitated her, moving to the opposite wall to reveal the doorway there. They hurried after James, catching him as he reached the fourth doorway.

“Okay, you can see in the dark,” Doug said.

James didn’t answer, he just walked into the dark corridor without breaking stride.

“Just like any animal.” Doug muttered the words under his breath, but Elysia was standing close enough to hear.

She swatted his shoulder, then hurried after James. If she had to spend much time with these two, she was going to go crazy long before Ian’s curse kicked in.

The new corridor ended in a four-way intersection.

“This place is a maze,” she whispered.

“A deterrent to keep rival families out,” Doug said.

“Like keeping a crypt under your dad’s house?” James asked.

“Exactly.”

James grunted. “The corridor straight ahead leads up. The corridors to either side both slope downward.”

“Up sounds better,” she said, eyeing the three openings. Without James, which one would she have chosen?

“What—” Doug started to ask, but James cut him off.

“Listen,” James whispered.