The Alchemist's Flame (6 page)

“He preys on your compassionate nature and he’s damn good at it.” He reached over and took my hand, surprising me. “We will never agree on this. You need to fulfill your oath and send him on his way before he really hurts you.”

“Then help me. Find out where Xander’s ancestor is buried.”

“You want me to damage my working relationship with the city’s most powerful necromancer on the word of a two-hundred-year-old lich who holds a grudge against his ancestor. The whole thing could be made up. It sounds made up.”

“He exists. Neil and Xander were talking about him.”

Rowan looked over at me. “You personally heard them?”

“Yes, and they called him by name. Alexander Nelson, the original Deacon.”

Rowan frowned, his gaze shifting to the scenery flashing past the window. “Even if he does exist, that doesn’t mean he did what Ian claims.”

I groaned and slumped against the seat. And Rowan wondered why I took these risks. I had to. He didn’t believe me—and I had taken a blood oath to learn the truth.

He leaned against the seat beside me, and neither of us spoke for the duration of the ride, though he continued to hold my hand. The whole situation left me miserable.

We pulled into the airport fifteen minutes later. Rowan removed his robes and requested I remain in the car since my face was so recognizable. I agreed, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been excluded. It was silly, but after watching Waylon express the same, it made me wonder.

Rowan returned almost half an hour later. I’d found a pen and a few napkins, and had spent the time scribbling down a potential finder’s potion that incorporated both Hunter’s blood and the azoth. I hurried to gather my napkins from the seat beside me so Rowan could sit down. His companions took the seat across from us.

“Gentlemen,” Rowan said once Marlowe had closed the door. “Allow me to introduce my alchemist, Addie Daulton. Addie, this is David and Sebastien.”

I internalized the teeth grinding over the
my
alchemist comment. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Sebastien said, giving me a big smile. His blond hair wasn’t as light as Era’s, but he had the same amber eyes. “It is a pleasure to meet the little lady who has so shook up the magical community here in the States.”

I grinned, amused as much by the words as the way he spoke them. “You’re French.”

“Indeed, mademoiselle.” He rattled off something in his native tongue.

I glanced over at Rowan who was watching us with cool amusement. “What did he say?”

“He said your charms haven’t been exaggerated.” The other man, David, answered for him. He spoke the words with a proper British accent that I wanted to think conveyed disdain. But I was probably reading too much into it.

“You speak French, as well?” I asked him.

“Enough to get by.” His expression didn’t change; he simply regarded me with cool, gray-blue eyes. The eyes surprised me. Both Rowan’s and Colby’s eyes were gray and charcoal. David didn’t fit the mold, though his short blond hair might shade toward red-blond. I would have to see it in the sunlight to be sure.

“I’ve always wanted to learn another language.” I glanced over at Rowan. “I assume I don’t know any other languages.”

He gave me a small smile before turning to the other men. “Addie suffers from amnesia.”

“That is terrible,” Sebastien said. “An injury?”

“No, potion. My Grand Master wiped my memory to steal a formula.” It was strange that Rowan hadn’t shared that.

“Such a thing is possible?” David looked to Rowan when he spoke.

“When you get a chance, I would like you to sit down with Addie and let her tell you about the things she is capable of. Your part of the world has a strong alchemic history. It’s not something you should ignore.”

“But the alchemist is untalented,” Sebastien said, glancing between the two men. “This is true?”

“Yes,” Rowan agreed. “But that is not a reason to ignore them.”

“After all,” David spoke up, “it was alchemy that created the grim.”

I glanced at Rowan, but he made no comment. Had he told them about James or not? Then it occurred to me that the European Elements were very aware of what the grim was. Gavin had killed the original Elemental family.

“Of course,” Sebastien said. “It is easy to remember only the monster and not the creator.”

“Can you create a grim, Miss Daulton?” David asked. He didn’t sneer or smirk, but there was an arrogance to him, an aloofness that rubbed me the wrong way.

“Absolutely, but I would need the blood of a hellhound, and I’m currently out.”

Sebastien’s brows rose. “You normally have this?”

“She’s teasing you,” Rowan said. “And don’t challenge her, David. Goodness knows, I don’t need to worry about her chasing down hellhounds.”

I turned to face him, ready to reprimand him on his overprotectiveness, and noticed the glint of amusement in his gray eyes. He was teasing me.

“I trust your sisters are well?” Rowan said, changing the topic. “Do they still plan to join us tomorrow?”

“Yes, they are both excited to see Era again.” Sebastien turned his attention to me. “And this is the one we have to thank for returning her to us?”

“Yes,” Rowan answered. “Addie healed her.”

I didn’t look over this time, and tried not to read too much into his neutral tone. I wished people would quit bringing up the fact that I was the one who healed Era. It felt so wrong to take credit for fixing what I had broken.

“Is Era still away at university?” David asked.

“She’s home at the moment,” Rowan answered. “We’ll see her shortly—after I drop Addie at the lab.”

“Thank you,” I said, relieved to avoid another meeting with Cora.

“It’s no problem. I want a word with your associate, anyway.”

My relief vanished. Rowan wanted to talk to Ian. This couldn’t be good.

Chapter
6

“N
ever again,” Rowan said the moment we walked into the lab.

Ian looked up from the notes he was taking. In an unhurried motion, he set aside his pen and rose to his feet, but didn’t speak.

“You do not take her anywhere, or let her talk you into any scheme, without consulting me first.” Rowan crossed his arms, the fire already glowing in his eyes.

I fisted my hands, but Ian spoke first.

“As you wish, but she is not the type of woman to be cowed in this manner. You will lose her.”

“And I do not take romantic advice from a dead man.”

Ian shrugged. “It wasn’t advice, merely a statement of fact.”

Movement near the hall to the stairs, and I looked over to find that Elysia had joined us. She lifted a questioning brow when I met her eyes, then took an unhurried sip from the mug she held. It looked like she had found my coffee pot.

“Rowan,” I said. “You need to leave.”

He turned his frown on me. “I’m not finished.”

“Yes, you are.”

He cupped my chin in his hand. “Do I have to beg?” he whispered, the gold making an appearance within his orange eyes. “I have far too much on my plate to be worrying about what danger you may be getting yourself into. Don’t go looking for Gavin. Let me get through the next week, then we’ll address this.”

I frowned, holding his glowing gaze. “You might not have a week.”

The bell on the front door chimed. “Rowan?” I recognized David’s accent.

Rowan closed his eyes, his forehead bunching in frustration. “Back here,” he called out. He opened his eyes and the orange glow was gone.

David stepped through the curtain and hesitated, his gray-blue eyes sweeping over all of us before settling on Rowan. “Was there an altercation?”

“No, all is well.” Rowan turned to face him. “We’ll go now.”

David gave the room another frown, but let Rowan steer him toward the door.

Rowan glanced over his shoulder, his eyes meeting mine. “We’ll talk later?”

I nodded, then watched as he followed David through the curtain. A moment later, the bell on the front door chimed again. They were gone.

Ian returned to his stool and picked up his pen. “I tried.”

“Thank you?” I gave him a frown, but he missed it. “Did you really have to call him?”

Ian didn’t look up from his notes. “You said those men were his.”

“What I meant was…” I shook my head, then sighed. “What’s the use?”

“There’s more coffee upstairs,” Elysia said from the doorway.

Ian came to his feet so quickly, he almost overturned his stool. Apparently, he hadn’t seen her.

“I’m not a big coffee fan,” I admitted.

“How about an omelet?”

It suddenly occurred to me that I was starving. “That would be incredible.”

She smiled and dipped her head toward the hall. “Then come on.” She turned toward the stairs, ignoring Ian completely.

I patted him on the shoulder as I walked past. The poor guy was getting it from every direction this morning.

“It’s not much,” Elysia said after I thanked her again for breakfast. “Your refrigerator is a culinary wasteland.”

I made a sound of agreement before swallowing another mouthful of egg, cheese, and ham. “I don’t cook much.”

“Yet the crisper drawer is full of fresh herbs.”

“Oh, those are for my potions.”

“Ah.” She leaned back in her chair, watching me with an uncertain expression.

“The alchemist thing is still freaking you out, isn’t it?”

“You? Not so much. What’s sitting downstairs? Oh hell yes.”

I laid down my fork to give her my full attention. “How much do you know about your family history, specifically him?”

“The trouble started when he got himself ousted from the Family.”

“Really? He never mentioned that.”

“It probably shames him, even now. Getting kicked out of the Family is a really big deal in the necromancer world. You lose everything, everyone, every connection to the Family. And being alone…” Her voice softened as she continued. “It’s not a good thing.”

“I don’t think solitude is a good thing for anyone.”

“Perhaps not, but for a necromancer, the Family is something more. They understand. They help. They take care of you when…you lose it.” She reached up and pulled out the elastic band binding her pony tail. “I tried to live alone, but it was too hard. I wouldn’t admit it before the whole Gavin thing, but I wanted to go home.”

“So, Ian was alone.”

“He had his wife and kids. Sadly, the wife married into the Family and the kids were underage. So they all paid for his crimes.”

“How does the curse tie in?”

“Ian didn’t approve of the necromancer his daughter chose to marry, so he slipped her a potion. She could only have girls, and they were so powerful that they were unlikely to live past puberty. His goal was to wipe out that branch of the family tree. He failed.” She lifted her chin. “His granddaughters defied the odds and survived—though only long enough to pass on the curse to their daughters.”

“How is it that you still have Ian’s last name?”

“In my case, no one knew who my father was. My mother was already too far gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “As for the Mallory name, we kept it as a reminder of what he did to us.”

“Your story is similar to his, except in his version, the necromancer who married his daughter took her by force—she was only fourteen. The sicko wanted to father an heir with her, so Ian cursed
him
. He would father children with their combined strength, but they’d always be girls.”

“If that’s true, it makes Ian’s actions a little more noble, but he still cursed us.”

Movement near the couch drew my attention. A portal stood open, and an instant later, a green-eyed hellhound jumped through the opening.

Elysia gasped and came to her feet.

“Hey, Fido.” I picked up my fork and speared another chunk of omelet. The eggs had grown cold, but the flavor was still good.

A shimmer of darkness, and James became human. He pulled the afghan from the back of the couch and wrapped it around his waist. A frown creased his brow and he hurried to Elysia.

“Hey.” He gripped her shoulder.

“I’m okay.” She gave him a tentative smile. “You startled me. I didn’t feel the portal open.”

He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb beneath one white eye.

“Addie?” Ian’s voice carried up the stairs. “Was that James?”

“Yes,” I called around a mouthful of omelet.

Ian didn’t ask anything else, so I guess he was okay with that. Elysia frowned at the doorway, then returned to her seat.

“I guess he’s concerned about Gavin, too,” I said.

“Or he thought I opened the portal,” she said.

“You can travel?”

“I have the strength, but I don’t know how.”

“Can James show you?” I waved a hand at James as he took a seat at the table.

“It seems to work differently for him.” She returned to her chair.

I glanced toward the stairs.

“No,” Elysia said. “I’m not going to ask
him
to teach me how to travel.”

“Of course not,” James agreed. He turned his frown on me. “Did you speak to him about curing Elysia?”

“I’ve got something new to try.”

“Do you want me to stay and help brew it? We can—”

“James,” Elysia cut in. “Don’t pressure her.”

He snapped his mouth closed, his gaze moving to her.

“I mean, please don’t pressure her.”

Her apologetic tone puzzled me until I realized why. “You gave him a command. How does that work if you can’t touch your power?”

“It still works with him.” She shrugged. “Maybe because of the bond.” She turned to James. “I’m fine, for now. Gavin needs to be dealt with first. Addie’s working on that.”

James’s green eyes returned to me. “I heard.”

“So, what’s up?” I asked, not wanting to go into that. “I assume you didn’t come all this way to model afghans for us.”

“I’m not complaining,” Elysia said.

I snorted at her candor. “If you suggest he model hand towels next, I’m out of here.”

It was Elysia’s turn to laugh.

A little color bloomed in James’s cheeks, but the banter seemed to do the trick. He stopped frowning. “You two seem to be getting along.”

“We didn’t
not
get along, and she made me breakfast.” I gestured at my plate.

“I see.” He reached over to pluck a chunk of omelet from my plate.

“Hey. I’m wielding a fork here. You’re going to lose a finger, Fido.”

He grinned and popped the bite into his mouth. “Rowan has me running errands today, and I wanted to make sure you two didn’t need anything.”

“I’m good,” I said.

“Same here,” Elysia said. “Though I’ll need to go back to Athens at some point to pack. I hope Ernie can find a new roommate in two weeks.”

Elysia had used James’s phone last night to call her roommate and let him know she was moving out. It had been a lengthy conversation, and I was pretty sure her roommate cried at one point.

“What about you?” I asked James. “Don’t you need to go back to Athens? You still have classes.”

“Not today. But on the days I do, I just need to get there early enough to pull on some clothes and walk over.”

“You’re not moving back?”

“I need to stay close to keep you out of trouble.” It seemed he wasn’t going to let it go.

“We had the situation under control until George set off the alarm.”

“It would make Rowan and me feel better if you let me tag along.”

I gave him a frown and took another bite of my omelet.

“What happened?” Elysia asked.

James looked at me and lifted a brow, so I gave her a quick recap. After all, she was concerned about Gavin, too.

“Dead spiders?” James asked when I finished.

I made a face. “I don’t know why necromancers feel the need to animate dead bugs around me.” I pointed my fork at Elysia. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Her grin reminded me of Ian’s—minus the dimples.

“So, you see,” I said to James, “Rowan’s overreacting.”

“Give the guy a break. He has to put up with David this week.”

“That just makes him more short-tempered. He’s not happy unless he’s bossing me around.”

“He’s in love with you, Ad.”

My cheeks warmed. “Yeah, well, I still want to kick his ass most of the time.”

“I think you feel that way about most people.”

“Not about you.” I reached over and squeezed his forearm. It was such a relief to have him back, unharmed.

“So.” Elysia cleared her throat, her white eyes meeting mine. “You and the Flame Lord?”

“Yes,” I admitted aware that my cheeks were still warm.

“Nice.” She smiled. “He’s attractive.”

“Addie calls him Hot Stuff for a reason,” James said.

Elysia snorted and I swatted James’s shoulder—or tried to. He caught my wrist, his quick reflexes throwing me off balance. I would have fallen to the floor, but he tugged me to him. I ended up wrapped in a hug.

“You two seem close,” Elysia said. An oblique reference to the relationship between James and me? I didn’t know her well enough to be sure, but there was a tension about her that suggested she wasn’t as indifferent as she seemed.

I couldn’t resist messing with her, and patted James’s cheek. “He’s my boy toy.”

“Addie!” James laughed.

Elysia glanced between us, a slight smile on her face, but also uncertainty.

“He’s my best friend,” I told her. “My partner in crime, usually.”

“So, you’ve known each other a long time?”

“He rescued me when the Alchemica burned last summer. He gave me a place to live and helped me learn what had happened.” I got to my feet. “I like you, Elysia, but just so we’re clear, I will do anything to see that he remains safe. And I mean
anything
.”

“Addie,” James complained.

“It’s okay,” she said to him, before looking up at me once more. “I feel the same.”

“Good.” I smiled. “We’re on the same page.” I gathered the dirty dishes and carried them to the sink.

A knock sounded from the stairwell, and I turned to find Ian standing in the doorway. “The salve’s ready and it’s nearly noon.”

I checked the clock on the oven. Crap, he was right. “I’ll be right down.”

Ian nodded and started to leave when his gaze settled on James. “Your attire is a bit informal, considering there are ladies present.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth to stop the laughter—until James rose from his chair.

“Thanks for the observation, Mr. Manners, but this isn’t the eighteen hundreds.” I stepped in front of James. “Besides, he’s a shapeshifter. This is decent for him.”

“Magic is not an excuse for lack of decency—in any century.” Ian tucked the cuff of his linen shirt straight, and left the room.

James frowned after him.

“I think you just got slammed.”

“What does he know?” Elysia muttered.

“I need to get moving.” James gripped the edge of the afghan. “I’ll catch up with you two this evening?”

We agreed and he dropped the afghan, becoming the hound an instant later. The portal opened and he was gone.

“I think that bothered him,” Elysia said.

“It did. James is a decent guy. He would never behave in a manner he thought offensive.”

“I’ve seen him in less.”

“Me, too, but that doesn’t mean he’s cool with it.”

Elysia frowned at the spot where he had been.

“Well, I had better get moving. I’ve got a twelve-thirty appointment at the hospital.”

“Which hospital?”

“University.”

“Really? Can I come with you?”

I frowned. “I don’t mind, but why do you want to come with me?”

“There’s someone I need to visit.”

“Oh, okay, but I should mention, Ian takes me. It saves on cab fare.”

“My car is still at my grandmother’s house, so it’s that or walk.” She didn’t look happy about it. “And at some point, I need to pick up some colored contacts.”

“There’s a pharmacy in the next block. We can stop there first.”

“Thanks, Addie. Maybe James is right; alchemists aren’t all bad.”