We slowly walk down the street two blocks over from the safe house, and my powers are already buzzing like crazy. They must have some officers patrolling. I need to get one street over then I can go down the alley next to the abandoned building. I tug on Parker’s arm and cross over to the next street. Hearing his footsteps close behind me, I try to pick up the pace. Too bad the streets aren’t really crowded today. I might have been better off coming here without Parker since his buzzing is so loud. If I was by myself, I could blend in better because my powers are silent. I see the alley we need to get to, and so far no Alchemists have shown themselves. We go around a group of people walking and make it. I glance back out of the alley to make sure we aren’t being followed.
“Well isn’t this interesting,” a male voice calls from deeper in the alley. “What are two Alchemists doing hiding in an alleyway? Twenty feet away from a safe house, no less.” I freeze. Take a quick look over at Parker’s position and turn around. A tawny, beige-skinned man with a purple mohawk and a nose ring is leaning against the side of the building I wanted to get into, juggling five small, yellowish-red balls of fire in his hands. He moves his hands out and the balls of fire stay in a circle shape for a few seconds before he snaps his fingers on his left hand and they disappear. He motions with three fingers for us to come and walks further into the alley, disappearing into the shadows.
“This guy really thinks we are going to follow him?” Parker asks.
“Yes, Parker, I think he does,” I slowly move forward to follow and then I feel Parker's hand grip my arm.
“Let’s just figure out somewhere else to go,” he pleads with me.
I turn my body slightly and pull his hand off of me. “I think we should figure out what this guy is doing here; if he was a part of Horus I don’t think we would still be standing here without cuffs on. Maybe he can help us. Come on,” I demand and Parker gulps, taking in a deep breath of air before we descend further into the darkness. A door hinge squeaks and light bang echoes down the alley as the door hits a wall. Small balls of fire start to appear, one after the other, in the air like a trail leading us forward to an open door. We make our way into the building and the trail leads us to a steel staircase. As we ascend, high pitched laughter comes from the room above us, steadily growing louder. The laughter sends shivers down my spine. I hope I’m not about to voluntarily walk to my own death.
I try to relax. We’ve been standing here for thirty minutes and I still haven’t been able to open a portal. I can’t even form a tiny tear. My father still hasn’t shown back up. Maybe he decided to stay with them. I can only hope. My stomach feels like it’s tied in knots right now. I’m nervous about going forward. Are they really going to be happy to see me? Every damn time someone has said it was going to be great these past three weeks, nothing has turned out that way. Realistically something is going to go wrong.
“Do you need to take a break?” Emmanuel’s voice calls in a hushed voice over my shoulder but I don’t look back. He and Nolan are both standing right behind me and Mrs. Georgie is standing a few feet back watching us leave. Thank goodness no one else came out because this would look pathetic.
“Breathe. Adaline. Takes some deep breaths and just do it. You go this,” Nolan encourages me. I shake my head letting him know I’ve heard him and close my eyes.
In my mind’s eye, I imagine my shoulders being lighter, that all the baggage I feel falls off. I breathe in a really deep breath and bring my hands forward again. I envision a small tear forming and slowly the tear begins spreading and cracking. It grows bigger and opens to a street in Naples. I open my eyes and blink a few times making sure I really did it this time. The tear opens up to form an oval we can walk through easily. There are only a few cracks coming out on the sides. Now I’m ready.
I look back and wave to Mrs. Georgie who waves and shouts, “Good luck!” I nod at both the guys and make my way forward through the portal. After I make it through I turn back as I watch first Nolan, then Emmanuel make it through. I stand ready to close and grin when I spot Mrs. Georgie on the other side still waving. Giving her a wink, I imagine the portal slowly closing and run my hand in the air over the opening and close it off thinking of keeping us safe, as well as all of the people on Alt Earth.
Taking in my surroundings, I grin. From the cobbled streets to the old, charming buildings on top of each other this place looks so beautiful. I almost wish we were here on vacation. Since my dad has no idea where exactly the new safe house is for Osiris, it looks like we have to walk around till we can hear a buzz from another Alchemist.
“What’s the phrase we say to an Alchemist again?” I ask.
“Strive for a better life,” Nolan and Emmanuel answer in unison.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
We make it to the top of the stairs and find a heavy steel door that’s closed. When I touch the knob, the fireballs that lead us up here suddenly go out. Parker’s buzzing gets louder. Honestly, it’s creepy when everything is quiet and that’s all I can hear. I twist the doorknob slowly to open the door and try to brace myself for what’s on the other side.
Seriously? I’m a tad bit disappointed with what I see. The dude is just lounging on an old sofa that’s stained and has a few holes in it. He has a barrel a few feet in front of him lit up with a fire going. There are two of those old steel chairs that have green cushions around the fire as well. There’s a couple boxes here and there and some more old, broken pieces of furniture. The darkened windows barely let in any light to the room except the one that has a pane broken. Where he’s laying, I’m able to see a tattoo on the right side of his neck. There are two triangles placed together almost like a star with different Asian characters. Two of the characters are centered with three surrounding them. I wish I knew how to translate their meanings. Along with the nose piercing, he also has both ears pierced with steel horseshoe barbells. He really is a sight to see.
He looks over to us and speaks. “Do you know Horus has a substantial reward out if anyone brings you in? Not only compensation but quite a number of perks. Why the hell would you show up here? You're supposed to make it hard for them to catch you.” While he speaks I also see some more metal in his mouth. How many places does this guy have piercings?
“We will leave once we get my sister and her partners out of there,” I inform him. He seems like he knows what’s going on, so this shouldn’t be a total shock to him.
“At least tell me you brought your Aether with you.” Yep, he’s well informed.
“No. She chose not to come without backup.”
The dude busts out laughing. His voice sounds normal when he talks but when he laughs it sounds high and fucking crazy. “It is amazing how little anyone knows about the Aether element, even the ones who have the power still don’t know anything. Thomas and that Jones guy don’t even use it correctly.” he just continues on with his annoying cackles.
“Will you freaking stop laughing?” Parker gets out through clenched teeth.
“What do you know about Aether?” I question him, getting annoyed.
He sits up and, with his palms out, he produces another ball of fire. This one’s hues are bright blue. “The Aether element is of the whole universe. It’s something you can’t actually see because it’s infinite.” He closes his fingers into a fist and the ball of fire disappears. “An Aether can mask themselves and become invisible to everyone around them. They can even mask others.”
Stunned, I flop into one of the green cushioned chairs, trying to grasp everything. “She can actually become invisible?” What have I done? Nobody has any idea what she can do, but what happens to her if they find out? I’m not there to help protect her now. What the hell have I done? I groan into my hands and look back over at the freaking annoying fire guy.
He juggles balls of fire in his hands like this whole situation isn’t any concern of his instead of answering my question. I didn't mean it rhetorically. His uppity, bullshit personality is really starting to
get to me. I point my fingers in his direction and imagine a bucket full of water above his head being tipped over. Water pours all over him, falling from above. He laughs again and shakes the water off his body.
He gives me a wicked grin. He finally decides to answer my question. “That’s one of the infinite number of things she can do. You won’t be able to get in and out without her help. You messed up coming here without her,” he slouches back against the chair as Parker sits down in the chair beside me. “You need to get your Aether back.”
After I dropped Kevin and Parker off, I portal to the top of the Canyon at Yellowstone Park. This is the perfect place to pop into near the Upper Falls. It’s where I can think without any hikers disturbing me. I sit down near the edge of the cliff so I can watch the water cascading down the rock. I was able to get one partner away from Adaline, now all I have to do is separate them while they are in Naples. If I can get her away from them, her powers will be more restrained and she can be less of a target. They are all on a fool’s errand. Thomas is just a figurehead.
No, the real person behind this is more conniving and vindictive. She has had me in her pocket for years, and I can’t find the strength to end our relationship. Not even when I formed my quint could I bring myself to break away from her. I have no love for her, not like the kind my group gave me. It’s more twisted and lustful when she shows me what she’s capable of and I can’t step away without a knife getting shoved in my back. It feels like one’s always there and any action I take gets me closer or further away from that sharp sting of pain.
I left my partners so that their lives wouldn’t be threatened anymore. Every day, I wish I had the courage to go back and tell them the trouble I found myself in but by doing so they would find out how much I betrayed them. What kind of person have I become? I took their child away and now I’m going to do it again. I can’t see another way. Adaline is still the same sweet girl I raised. I can probably convince her to come with me without it even being a struggle.
I messed up a month ago. I was going to leave brochures of different midwest states in the mail. I wanted to get her away from any major cities in America so she wouldn’t have many chances of bumping into other Alchemists. But I was spotted in New York, after meeting with someone I hoped could help me. So I had to disappear for a bit. I stayed on Alt Earth too long checking in and hiding. when I got back she had already run into Nolan and Kevin in Philadelphia. I got lucky when she found out one of her other partners was Emmanuel, his inability to choose her over everything else will help push her away.
I stand up and look out over the cliff again. I pick a spot on the falls and start to open a tear. The ruins of Pompeii stretch out twenty feet below. Taking in one last deep breath of the clean air of Yellowstone, I jump.
The Elemental Alchemy Series
Discovering Aether
Breathing Air
Inciting Fire (Coming Soon)
A Sprinkling of Fae
The Winter Court
The Spring Court (Coming Soon)
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