Whoever he was, he didn’t seem to give a hoot about her instincts. “Oh, Georgia. I know it’s been two years, but don’t you recognize me.”
It took her longer than it should have. God help her, with the hunger riding her and the agony twisting her organs, it was a wonder she could make civilized conversation. Awareness clicked into place and her fury turned cold. “You!”
The one who started it all. The one who turned her. Made her. Cursed her.
He inclined his head, the distinguished old gentleman wearing a ripped t-shirt and loafers. Very much out of place yet very much in control. He enjoyed her realization. “There it is. Your face is so expressive. I can see the moment everything starts falling into place for you. Like dominoes falling down in a line.”
Georgia hesitated. “Y…you’re the one.”
“Oh, my beauty, yes. I made you. Let me take a look at you.” He stepped forward with arms outstretched. Cupping her cheeks with his hands. His eyes shone fiercely. “My god, you are exactly the same. You haven’t changed a bit.”
She jerked away, her skin crawling from his touch. Her hands clenched at her sides until her nails bit deep into her palm. “What the hell is this, buddy?” The ache in her stomach doubled. “You better start giving me answers, quick. What the hell are you…” she pointed. “And what the hell is that?”
“That, my sweet, is the reason for your existence. It’s a shade.” His expression was one of pride. “I captured it myself almost two hundred years ago. Immortal, you know.”
“What are you doing to her?”
“I think the more appropriate question is how I managed to keep her all this time.” He let out a roaring laugh. Like it was the funniest joke in the world.
She took a step in the opposite direction when the man reached out to stroke her skin a second time. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Her blood, you see, is the reason I’m here. The reason you’re here. Shades are not just spirits or sorcerers who have been twisted in an attempt to learn greater spells, use deeper magics. They are their own humanoid subspecies. Able to move between worlds. To capture the power of darkness and harness it. They feel no pain, no hunger. They live forever in the balance. And their blood is the key ingredient of the nullum fame.” He twisted his palm and the movement brought the shade into sharp view. Her neck twisted, shifted, until Georgia could see the lines on her throat. The scars of past harvests.
Georgia started. “You’re keeping her here for her blood.”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“She’s a prisoner here. For your twisted experiments. Oh my god, you’re the alchemist! The one Oriel told me about.” She started to struggle and found she was no longer able to move. Trapped. Her mind went back to the fire, the beams keeping her contained to a single area of the set.
The man executed a short bow. “Indeed, my dear. You can call me the Alchemist. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Why?” Tears filled her eyes. “Why would you do something like that?”
“How odd for you to ask. Don’t tell me you feel sorry for this creature.” The Alchemist pushed closer and leaned his full weight into her. Keeping her in place. “You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Her breath came out in a rush.
His laughter continued. “A thank you, perhaps. I saved you. Georgia, you would have died in that fire. You would have if I hadn’t found something about you, something wonderful, something in desperate need to be preserved. I know you wouldn’t have come willingly. I did what I had to do.”
“The fire—”
“Easy to produce.” He clapped his hands together. “I knew you would find your way here. I knew it. You did it, Georgia.”
“Was this whole thing a wild chase to get me here?” she had to know.
“How else would you learn to control your powers? It’s not something I can teach you. It’s something you have to learn, feel, do.”
“I never asked for this.”
He smiled, careful to keep his mouth closed, his cheeks pinching higher. “You didn’t have to. You were perfect. There is no one like you in the world. Sweetheart, you have to understand. You are something completely new. I experimented on myself, of course, but there are certain limitations. I cannot stand in the light anymore. Immortality for me came at a cost. But you…you are better. You are whole.”
“This hunger inside of me is perfect? This rage I feel. I’ve killed people.”
Suddenly he laughed. The sound shot right through her, burning her. “It’s your mind and body’s way of coming to terms with your new existence. The pain will lessen the longer you live.”
“Two years of pain is enough to drive anyone mad.” She fought against the hold, creating friction between their bodies. He was too damn close.
“You had enough of the potion to keep your sanity. Trust me. I made sure you had the tools you needed.”
“This isn’t right.” She struggled against her invisible chains and felt something give. A tiny crack in whatever enchantment was keeping her in place. Listening to this madman like a captive audience. Her lips curled in a snarl as her fear and disgust turned to irritation.
“It is what it is. Now, if you would please come—”
“Where is Oriel?” she lashed out.
“The human? An intriguing specimen. I’d love to know how he found out about the nullum and how he was able to procure such large amounts. He’s being held.”
“I want to know where he is. Immediately.”
“Oh, dear. You’re in no position to be making demands.” The alchemist turned away, snapping his fingers, and whatever magical illumination had kept the shade in view went out. “You’re here for one simple reason. To start testing your limits until we can better understand your potential. Leave the human to me.”
“No.” She shook her head, teeth gnashing. “Tell me where he is.” She had to get to him. She had to make sure he was okay. Why have this riding hunger if not to protect the people she cared for? Loved?
“Or else?” The Alchemist shot a glance over his shoulder. “Are you threatening me?”
Her growl was low in her throat and she dropped her head, keeping eye contact. Another push and she’d be free. She tested her movement, wiggling her fingers, digging her heels into the ground. If ever she needed to go invisible, it was now. “It’s not a threat if I fully intend to follow through. I can make you sorry.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
There. She streaked through the darkness without feeling her legs. Toward the shade held in chains. Toward the only distraction she could find. Relying on instinct to draw her in the right direction. When she materialized in front of the shade, she was startled to see The Alchemist already standing there. His brows a hard line.
“You might have come this far, but you have a lot to learn.”
A sharp pain exploded in her neck. Seconds later the world swam before her eyes. The last thing she saw before she was drawn under was The Alchemist’s glower.
“Yes, a lot to learn.”
11
Oriel tested the strength of the chains holding him to the wall. It wasn’t like he thought he was physically strong enough to break them. Not this time. Quite the opposite. For all his muscles, he realized he didn’t have the ability to break through metal. He was testing for weaknesses. Any kind of give that would allow him to extort it.
“This is ridiculous,” he burst out to no one in particular. “Georgia, wake up.” She hung across the room with her arms above her head. Figure limp. Looking like a broken doll. He wanted to remain hard, unmoved. “Georgia, dammit, I can’t do this without you. You need to wake up right now. Do you hear me?”
It was no use. He’d tried for the last however long to get her to move. He would have thought her dead had he not seen her chest rising and falling. At least she was breathing. Whatever else was wrong with her he couldn’t say.
The s
hifters had overwhelmed him. Hanging off of him like monkeys on a tree until they took him down.
Time passed in the darkness. Finally, after an eternity, a groan sounded.
“Georgia?” he asked.
The groan sounded again, louder this time. “My god, my fucking head.”
“Language.”
Her chuckle was forced. “Glad to see they didn’t hit you hard enough to knock that moral compass askew.”
At least she was making jokes. It had to count for something. “Are you okay?”
“…Don’t tell me you actually care,” she replied bitterly.
He sighed, craning his head to get a better look at her. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear what I have to say. Just like I’m sure you don’t want to hear how dire our situation appears to be.”
“Give it to me straight. I’d rather hear it from you,” she murmured. “Because the night I’ve had, let me tell you, you’re the only bright spot in it.”
“The only way we’re getting out of here is if you disappear and develop superman powers to break through iron.”
“No can do. It seems I am stuck in my meat suit.”
“Come again?”
“Whatever the alchemist did to me, it’s stopped me from changing my form. And did I mention your famed alchemist, the maker of the nullum, is also the man who turned me?”
That was a new aspect to this. One he hadn’t expected. Then again, he’d never had what one might call a fertile imagination. “Well. Shit.” It was the best he could do.
“You said a mouthful.”
“I…I’m not sure what to do,” he admitted. Which stung worse than his arms being cramped overhead. He always knew what to do. Could at least form a plan and follow it through. His brain searched and searched for something and came up blank.
“Then I guess we’re stuck here,” Georgia said, echoing his unspoken thoughts. “Aren’t we?”
“Please don’t be negative.”
“You know what, Oriel? I can only be what I am. I’m tired. I’m beaten down, worn out, and trying not to lose whatever is left of my mind under the crushing weight of this pain and hunger.” Her chains rattled. “All of which is derived from the maniac whose brew you’ve been selling to your customers. So you’ll excuse me if I shut my mouth. Because I’ve got nothing nice to say.”
Silence fell between them. There was nothing for him to say. Nothing to do.
For once in his life, the future looked bleak. There was no way he could spin this into something positive. He tugged again at the chains and found them immovable.
He’d survived some pretty awful situations. From his mother’s cancer to her un-death. To spending his formative years in foster home after foster home trying desperately to keep Jasmine out of harm’s way. He survived working two jobs trying to earn enough money to open up his coffee shop and being told no more times than he could count on all of his fingers and toes.
He’d survived Georgia lying to him. The fruits of his labor stolen.
And through it all, he’d kept moving one foot in front of the other. Except this time, he couldn’t move. He was dead in the water.
Pretty soon he might just be dead. Period.
He let his head hang and felt the weight of it.
Time passed them by. How long, he couldn’t tell. And in the span of it Georgia said nothing. It was for the better, he thought, trying to figure out a way to get them both out of there. Nothing came to him and soon he stopped trying.
Hours later, there was a slight tapping on the door. Oriel blinked in the darkness and opened his mouth with a fully loaded threat prepared when the wood burst off its shingles.
Jasmine stood in the doorway, a wicked grin lighting her face. Both hands held a carved bone-white athame with a sharp blade.
“Am I late to the party?”
* * *
“No.” Oriel shook his head until it hurt. “Absolutely not. I forbid it. I absolutely forbid you to rescue me.”
Jasmine swung the athames in a circle and nearly took off an ear. “Too bad. I’m the only one you got.”
“And where did you get those weapons? I want you to put them down immediately.” It was hard to look and sound imposing while manacled to a wall. Oriel did the best he could.
“Hilary loaned them to me. Some kind of selki thing carved from walrus tusks. Aren’t they the coolest?” Jasmine tried to twirl one of them, lost her grip, bent to pick it up with a saucy smile.
I’m still getting the hang of them,” she drawled.
“Put them down,” he insisted.
“I can’t. Not if you want me to get you out of these chains.”
“Try not to look insulted,” Georgia said from the corner.
Jasmine started. Stared into the darkness. Saw nothing. “Wait a minute. They have you, too?”
Oriel spoke through gritted teeth. “They found a way to hold her. Can you please put those things down before you hurt yourself? And who is watching the shop?”
“Arturo and Kim the Crack Whore have it covered. Plus one of those nice vamps who’s taking online classes and uses our internet for free.”
“Oh my god. You left the place in the hands of Benjamin. We’re going to come back and find the place burned to the ground. And please don’t call Kim a crack whore. I’ve warned you about it before.”
“Would you rather I have stayed and left you here to torture and ruin and god knows what else?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Near sexual assault,” Georgia replied.
Jasmine set her brother with a look. “Near sexual assault. There you have it. Come on, Oriel. I’ve gotten pretty good with the athames. I can even slice through those chains without harming a hair on your precious head.”
“Try it. What do I have to lose?” Georgia supplied, a hint of sarcasm seeping into her voice. At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.
“A vein,” Oriel supplied in return.
He watched Jasmine warily, watched her approach and take aim. The bone slid neatly through the chains.
“Lucky shot.”
“You’re next, big boy.”
He kept eye contact with Georgia because it was easier than waiting for Jasmine to decapitate him. Could he feel phantom limb pains with his arms still attached? Despite his trepidation, a sliver of hope worked its way into his heart. Maybe they really could get out of here.
“Breathe,” Georgia murmured. “And hurry. You made quite a racket when you came through. We don’t want those baboons to attack us.”
“Don’t rush me,” Jasmine admonished. She bit her lip and concentrated on finding the perfect angle.
Oriel lost a year of his life when the athame swung. His chains cluttered to the ground.
Wincing, he rubbed his wrist and willed the feeling back. Maybe his heartbeat could finally get back to normal. “We need to get out of here. Immediately. I’m not even going to ask how you found us.”
Jasmine tapped the side of her head. “My feminine intuition.”
“All right, well, thank your feminine intuition for me.” Without thought, he reached out and grabbed Georgia by the hand. “Let’s go.”
The three of them stepped over the broken door. Faced with the same endless hallway, they were left to trust Jasmine when she stated she thought she came from the right. Perfect.
He kept eyes and ears out for the shifter pack. The last thing they needed was a bunch of were-bears beating them down again.
The sooner they got to the surface, the sooner they could get the hell out of here and run. Run as far and as fast as they could. Forget the potion. If they escaped with their lives, he’d take it.
“This way,” Jasmine said, gesturing.
“You’re sure?”
She scoffed. “Sure I’m sure. I think I should know.”
The pushed through a door and plunged into darkness. Oriel was about to turn around when the lights snapped on.
The pack was there with varying degrees of sm
iles slashing across their faces, and for the first time in his life, he felt like cursing. Fuck. In the distance was a woman with glistening black skin. Black like the darkest night. At least, he thought it was a woman. He made out the vague curves of hips and breasts before the image in front of him shifted.
“What the hell?” Yup, he indulged.
“Oh no, no.” Georgia tugged at him. “We need to get out.”
“A little too late, my sweet.”
Oriel swiveled around in a circle, taking in the growing number of shifters, recognizing the one who bit him outside and the one who’d shot up his coffee shop. The old dude in the ratty t-shirt he didn’t know, but he recognized power when he saw it. And this was raw power.
“It’s never too late,” Oriel replied through clenched teeth. “I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but—”
“What?” The Alchemist interrupted. “You’re going to do something terrible to me? End my life? Boy, do you not understand, there is nothing left for you. You’ve come all this way just to die. My potion you’ve been selling? You’re done. And who is this?” He stepped toward Jasmine and the athames in her hands dropped with a plink.
“You leave her alone!” Oriel strode forward, invisible hands wrapping around his throat and stopping him in his tracks.
The Alchemist clucked his tongue. “I could use someone like you, Mr. Justice. Strong, fast, determined. Wily like an animal. Such a shame your talents are wasted on a human. Do you really think I didn’t know what you were doing with my potion? Saving the world one creature at a time.”
Black spots swam in front of his eyes and he struggled to free himself. Again. His thoughts turned to Jasmine. To Georgia. What would happen to them if he were gone? They were alone here, outnumbered. Surrounded by animals with lust in their eyes and saliva dripping from sharp white teeth.
No, he wouldn’t allow it.
“What you never considered, Mr. Justice, is that survival of the fittest is how we survive. How the earth keeps the status quo,” The Alchemist continued, scuffing his feet along the worn cement floor and staring at the marks. Unconcerned. “Why would we change our nature? Ah, no you don’t.” His fingers snapped and in a second Georgia was visible, creeping toward the outer edges of the circle, closer to the woman in chains. “I warned you.”
Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 70