by Becca Andre
“You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?” he asked, a smug smile on his face. “Next time I see my brother, I’ll have to thank him for refusing to teach you anything. Though I can certainly understand his reasoning.”
She wished she could. What had just happened? She hadn’t said or done anything. James had said her name, triggering the bond. The bond that, according to Bella, was technically a bit of his soul buried within hers. Not a soul bond, which was just necromancy working on the dead. This was a true link between them.
She couldn’t close her eyes, but she made an effort to stop seeing what was happening. Then she turned her attention inward. Her link to James was an instinctive thing. She had never tried to actively seek it within herself.
“What are you doing?” Alexander asked.
Okay, maybe she was doing something. But she didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she let her instincts guide her. James.
Alexander squeezed her wrist once more, and the pain shattered her concentration.
“Elysia?” James asked. Had he heard her mental voice?
The bond tightened and for a second time, Alexander’s influence weakened.
“Claim me.” The words were little more than a breathy whisper, but she knew his superior hearing would catch them. “Command me.”
“Enough!” Alexander gripped her throat with his opposite hand.
“Elysia Grace Mallory, you are mine!” James shouted. “Now shove that bastard out.”
The hold Alexander had on her power, her soul, fell away. She threw her soul outward, but not against him. She had no clue how to use it like that. Instead, she fed it into James. All of it.
“James Daniel Huntsman you are mine!” she screamed. “Rip out his soul!”
James’s snarl echoed around the tiled room, the sound raising goosebumps on her arms, because it now came from a hellhound’s throat. He had shifted forms.
Alexander released her and, without a word, pulled open a portal and jumped through. James leapt after him, disappearing through the opening before it closed.
Elysia released a breath, pain tightening her throat where Alexander had squeezed it, but she barely noticed. She ran to Doug’s side and began pulling loose the bindings on his wrists. It was more symbolic than anything. She hated to see him strapped down like that.
“Hang on,” she muttered to him.
“Ely.” Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
“Shh,” she whispered, pressing a hand to his forehead. His death was already beginning to call her. Without thought, she ran her finger along the edge of the blade protruding from his chest, then pushed the bleeding digit between his cool lips. “I’ve got you.”
She caught Doug’s soul with ease. A part of her mind noted how competent she was getting at this. When she Made Kari, that had been blind groping in the dark. With Addie, she began to understand, but there had been a lot of fumbling. Now, it was smooth and easy.
Doug pressed his tongue against her finger and tried to shove it from his mouth.
She obliged him. He had already taken her blood into himself, establishing the link she now used to hold him here.
“Don’t…Make me.” Dark blood bubbled from his lips with each word. “Let me…go.”
She tried to blink her blurry vision into focus. “Doug?”
Movement in her field of vision, and she realized that Neil had lifted his head from the sink. His dark hair was plastered to the side of his head, and one eye was still squeezed shut, but he was watching her.
She didn’t get a chance to question him, as he abruptly turned and ran from the room. A split second later, a hellhound appeared. James. She closed her eyes, sending warm tears down her cheeks.
“I lost him. Again,” James growled the words, even though he was human now. “He’s faster than hell.”
She might have made a quip about that in a better moment. “I’m losing him, too,” she whispered, nodding at Doug. “He doesn’t want me to Make him.”
James looked down at Doug, his forehead wrinkling. “You’re right. His soul is leaving.”
“I know. I’m holding it.”
James’s brow wrinkled even more. “We need to get him to Addie and Ian. Maybe…”
“Why?”
“He hasn’t stopped breathing. His body hasn’t died. The Final Formula.”
“It’ll heal him.” Hope surged in her heart. “We’ll take him through the portal.”
“How? He can’t touch me when I shape shift, and you’re not strong enough to carry him.”
She looked around them, mentally searching for inspiration rather than expecting a physical answer. Her gaze settled on the gurney near the mortuary drawers.
“The gurney! Quickly!”
James rushed off to obey while she circled the table to unbind Doug’s other wrist. “Hold on,” she told him. “We’re not done yet.”
She wasn’t sure if he heard her. James returned to her side, and carefully lifted Doug from the table.
Doug’s breath shuttered, and she was forced to tighten the grip on his soul. He was minutes from death.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” she whispered. It was more of a litany than a command, but James had him on the gurney, then he dropped to all fours, a portal opening before her. She didn’t hesitate to push the gurney through the opening.
An instant later, a second portal opened. This one into Addie’s lab. Trying to hold back her sobs, Elysia shoved the gurney toward the new opening. But the soft ground slowed the wheels. It didn’t help that Doug was a big man.
Here. James nudged her with his shoulder, and she let him take her place. His claws clanked against the metal handle as he gripped it, but he had no trouble pushing the gurney across the soft ground.
He shoved it through the opening, and it rolled into the lab. Elysia hurried after it.
“Addie?” she called out.
James landed with a thump behind her.
“She’s not here,” a female voice answered.
Elysia turned to find Era standing by the sink. She shut off the water and hurried to them. “Dear God,” she breathed.
“Have you heard from her?” James asked. He had moved across the room to pull on a pair of sweatpants.
Era didn’t answer him. She was staring at Doug. “He’s not breathing.”
“Oh no,” Elysia whispered. “We needed to keep him alive for the Final Formula.”
Doug’s chest suddenly expanded.
Elysia looked up, meeting Era’s amber eyes. They glinted with an odd metallic sheen. “I can move the air in and out of his lungs. I can even up the oxygen content. But I can’t keep him alive if his heart isn’t beating. Is it?”
“I don’t know,” Elysia whispered.
“Do we dare do chest compressions with that knife where it is?” Era asked. “If it hasn’t penetrated his heart, it might if we start compressions. Do we remove the knife?”
“I don’t know,” Elysia repeated.
“Aren’t you a mortician? You know how all the body parts fit together.”
“I’ve helped with a few embalmings. I majored in history.”
“I majored in interior design.”
Elysia wanted to laugh. They were so screwed.
“Who is he?” Era asked.
The question surprised her. Maybe Doug had always worn his robes while around her. “Doug Nelson.”
“Xander’s son?”
“Yes.”
“Come on,” James said. He stood by the shelves in the corner. “I know you made it; where did you put it?” He muttered to himself, but she knew he was really talking to Addie. “I have got to taste her blood,” he continued his monologue. “If I could soul track her, it wouldn’t matter if she forgot her phone
.”
Elysia could picture Addie’s phone lying on the kitchen counter. That’s where she usually charged it. She had seen it that day they made sandwiches. Before the weirdness with the mustard.
“Oh.” The word escaped before Elysia realized. Both James and Era were now looking at her.
“What?” Era asked.
James frowned and moved closer. “Elysia?”
The bond tightened, and she gave him a frown. “I might be able to…summon her.”
“What are you talking about?” Era asked.
“Do it,” James said.
Elysia swallowed and looked down at Doug. He would be dead in minutes without the Final Formula. Time to see if Bella was right, and prove that she really was a soul reaper. If she really had taken a small piece of Addie’s soul.
Elysia closed her eyes. Addie, come to me.
Chapter 16
A portal opened and James tensed, ready to shift forms and rip out his soul if Alexander stepped out of the dark doorway. He came really close to doing just that when a familiar figure stepped into the lab, his golden hair glinting in the light. It was the old-fashioned clothes that stopped him.
“Really, Ian,” Addie’s voice carried out of the portal. “I think you’re a little paranoid.” She stepped out beside him. Her dark eyes settled on the gurney. “Oh, no.”
“We need the Final Formula,” James said. “Have you brewed some?”
“Yes,” Addie whispered. “One vial to make Ian quit limping around and one for Elysia.”
“Give him mine,” Elysia said. “Quickly.”
Addie pulled a vial of the golden liquid from one of the pockets lining her black robe.
“Here.” Ian took the vial from her and hurried to the gurney. James followed.
“You’ve tethered him,” Ian said to Elysia, more statement than question.
Elysia answered, anyway. “Yes. Era is breathing for him.”
“Okay.” Ian pulled the cap off the vial. “How close to consciousness is he?” he asked Elysia.
She frowned. “I don’t…”
“You do.”
She took a breath that shook, and James resisted the urge to backhand Ian, hard. What was it about the guy that always put her on edge?
Elysia closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed more. “He’s just below the surface.”
“He’ll be able to swallow,” Ian concluded. “James, hold him. He’s not going to like this.”
“Beats the alternative,” Era muttered.
James was gripping Doug’s shoulders before he could even consider Ian’s request. “I really wish you would quit giving me commands.”
“Sorry.” Ian placed the fingers of his empty hand on Doug’s chin. “Once he swallows, I’m going to pull out the knife. I don’t think he would like his body regenerating around that.”
“Would it really?” Era asked. Apparently, her curiosity had overcome her dislike of Ian.
“Yes. I want you two ladies to step aside once we begin. He’ll probably flail around a bit.” Ian’s blue eyes rose to Elysia’s. “Let go of his soul once the Formula kicks in…if you can.”
She held his gaze, her brown eyes several shades lighter than they normally were. “You lied to me,” she whispered. “You knew what I was.”
Ian studied her for one long moment before looking down at Doug. “Here we go.” He pulled open Doug’s mouth, and a trickle of blood ran from one corner. Then he slipped a hand beneath Doug’s head and lifted it slightly.
Doug’s features constricted in pain, and he closed his mouth. Elysia was right. He wasn’t truly unconscious.
“Era, would you help me get the potion in him?” Ian asked.
“Of course.” She pulled open Doug’s mouth once more, not a bit bothered by the blood. “Here.” She held out her hand for the vial.
Ian hesitated. “That’s all we have. He’ll die before we can brew more.”
Era’s amber eyes rose to meet his. “Not a drop will spill.”
“That seems more of a boast for your sister.”
“My element encompasses all things. I can demonstrate after we save this man.” She wiggled her fingers.
A faint smile curled Ian’s mouth, but he passed her the vial without comment.
Era brought the small glass bottle to Doug’s lips then slowly poured its golden contents into his mouth.
“Swallow, Doug,” Elysia whispered.
Doug’s Adam’s apple bobbed once, then twice.
James didn’t get to question whether he had obeyed her when Ian reached out and gripped the knife handle.
Doug tipped his head back, gritting his teeth so hard that the cords stood out in his throat.
“Now,” Ian said. He pulled the knife straight up and out of Doug’s chest.
Doug shouted, and his back arched off the gurney.
James sprang up on the gurney and straddled Doug’s body as he held his arms against the steel surface. The strength of Doug’s thrashing surprised him, but James’s own strength far exceeded his, and he had no trouble holding him.
Golden light began to glow within the open wound, and James watched in wonder as the flesh began to knit itself back together. Ian placed his hands on either side of the wound, pressing it closed.
Doug cried out again and again as his flesh continued to mend. Bones reformed, then muscle crawled along the unbroken pieces, only to be covered by unblemished skin. James couldn’t say how long the process took—perhaps only minutes—but Doug’s thrashing gradually subsided, and his cries of pain became only grunts of discomfort. Finally, he stilled completely.
Concerned, James leaned closer, listening to the soft thump of his heart.
“Did it work?” Addie asked in the silence. She stood a few yards away, her skin pale. Addie never did well around blood.
“Yes.” Doug’s voice was little more than a harsh croak. He opened his eyes and looked up at James. “You’re not going to kiss me, are you?”
James lifted a brow. “You sound so hopeful.”
Doug smiled, then his expression sobered. “Thank you.”
“It was a group effort.” James released him and hopped off the gurney.
Doug looked up, his gaze stopping on Ian who still stood beside him.
“Welcome to immortality,” Ian said.
A frown creased Doug’s brow. “You—”
“Not me. Addie.” Ian nodded toward her. “You will notice that your heart still beats in your chest.”
“Oh.” Doug didn’t seem to have more of a response.
“I guess this means I’ll have to put up with you a while longer,” Addie said, joining them.
“I guess.” Doug still looked a little shell shocked. He rolled onto his side and struggled to sit up.
Era stepped forward to help him. “Should you be doing that?” she asked.
“We’ll find out when I end up face-first in the floor.” Doug looked up and lifted his brows, apparently not realizing who had helped him. “Do I know you?”
“In name only—thanks to my over-protective brother.”
Doug frowned, his expression puzzled.
“I’m Era. Rowan’s my brother.”
“Oh.” Doug looked her over. “Era, Element of Air.”
“That’s me.”
Doug smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Era.”
James smiled, as well, feeling better about Doug’s recovery than he thought he ever would. A thump pulled James’s attention away from the exchange. He turned in time to watch Elysia back into the counter behind her, then her knees seemed to give out and she slid down the cabinet to sit on the floor.
“Elysia?” Concern colored Ian’s tone as he hurried to her.
&nb
sp; James followed, all but vaulting the gurney to get there quickly.
She pulled up her knees and pressed the backs of her bloodied hands to her forehead. Her shoulders shook, and James realized she was crying.
He knelt beside her and gripped her shoulders. “Ely?” He intentionally shortened her name to avoid the bond tightening. She didn’t look like she needed anymore magic today.
“Talk to us, Elysia,” Ian said.
“Talk to you?” she whispered. “How about I strangle you?” To James’s complete surprise, she tried to do just that, catching him by the front of the shirt and shoving him back.
Ian didn’t resist. He did little more than blink when she pushed him against the cabinet across from them, his head thumping against the door with a hollow echo.
“I know what I am,” she whispered, her voice low and broken. “Bella told me everything.”
“Bella?”
“Your eldest granddaughter. Didn’t you even know her name?”
“I held her in my hands when she was a month old.”
Elysia frowned then leaned back. Her shoulders slumped and the fire seemed to go out of her.
“You spoke to her?” Ian asked, an intensity in him that put James on edge. “Where is she?”
“Dead. Alexander killed her.”
“He Made her?”
“No.” Elysia’s voice gained strength. “She traded her soul to a hellhound to get her sisters away from him, to Joseph. Then she watched over us for the next two centuries.” Elysia’s voice dropped to a whisper, a single tear sliding down her cheek when she blinked. “Your psychopath of a brother ripped off her head when he caught her. He killed her with no more consideration than you’d give a, a…” She pushed off him. “I don’t even know how to finish that sentence.”
“Elysia.”
“Don’t. Just don’t.” She scrubbed a hand across her face, leaving a smear of red across her cheekbone. “Your refusal to teach me anything about my magic left me vulnerable. Your selfishness nearly cost us everything.”