Keepers & Killers (The Alchemy Series)

by Augustine, Donna

  I quickly scanned the spines of the closest books to me.

  "Cormac, nothing is in English. How are we supposed to know which ones we need?"

  "It'll say Keepers or Alchemists on it in English, at least that's what Vitor told me." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "And this is how Book of Omens is written."

  I took the slip from his hand and looked at the strangle symbols. "It's here?"

  "It's rumored to have been taken by the wolves. It could be." We split up them as we both started at a different end of the room.

  I'd always had a soft spot for Vitor but it was quickly hardening as we stood in the middle of an enemy camp on his planet while he frolicked, all safe and sound, on mine. I was going to have to remember this next time he whined about his people. Yeah, yeah, whatever. My people are blowing holes in their heads. Where the hell is he?

  I scanned book after book, searching for some sign and was starting to completely doubt Vitor. Had he ever even seen these books? I looked at the top shelves I couldn't reach and that's when I noticed Cormac was floating along the top perimeter. I closed my eyes and tried to float but nothing. It sucked. If I had a mental block as a normal human, I could just go see a therapist but how the hell would I explain it to one? Hi Doc. I'm frustrated about not floating.

  I wandered over to him, having perused the lower shelves to no use.

  "Here," he said, pausing his light on one book. "I think this is something." He lifted his hand to pull the book out but I grabbed his ankle that was nearest my shoulder.

  "What?" he asked looking down at me.

  "Doesn't this seem a little too easy to you?"

  He hung there for a moment, not moving. "Yes, but I'm not leaving empty handed."

  "I'm just getting this weird foreboding feeling." I thought I was probably being paranoid. Things didn't have a tendency to work out smoothly in my experience. "Forget it. Let me see what you found."

  He grabbed the book and no sooner did he pull it from the shelf did he jerk back his hand in pain. If it had only been that, we still might have been okay but the shelf he pulled it from let out a high pitched squealing noise, a type I'd never heard, high, loud and piercing. The gig was up. We had minutes, perhaps just seconds before the entire village came for us and we were stuck in a building with only one entrance.

  Cormac dropped to the ground as I went to pick up the book. I wasn't prepared to leave empty handed either. The minute I touched it, a piercing pain shot through my hand and down my arm. It felt like someone was simultaneously breaking my bones while setting fire to me all at once.

  Cormac grabbed it next, and I don't know how he managed, but he held onto it long enough to get it into the bag he carried. He held the bag outstretched in one hand while he grabbed mine in the other and we raced toward the door.

  The second he pulled back the flap, I knew we were in trouble. Men and women in different phases of mutating were already outside and starting to run in our direction. I didn't stop to count as we took off back toward where we opened the wormhole before, but my guess was about twenty chased us and another ten were in front of us.

  "What are we going to do?" I screamed as Cormac kept running toward the ten in front of us pulling me along with him.

  "Just stay close to me and don't let go."

  Having no other good idea or option myself, I ran beside him. He had a death grip on my hand that felt like it was a hair away from breaking my fingers, but I wasn't going to complain. I'd take a handful of broken fingers if he could get us the hell out of this mess. The men heading straight at us didn't look curious, they looked pissed. They also didn't look even an iota human anymore. Several feet taller, their elongated jaws held sharp teeth with lips curled up in growls. They knew where we had been and they wanted us dead. I didn't even want to look at the angry mob behind us. If those things got a hold of us, we'd be torn to pieces in minutes.

  I felt a shimmer of energy pulse for less than a second before the group in front of us was upon us and as we plowed through them, I realized it for what it was: Cormac had put up some sort of shield. They tried to grab at him but they couldn't seem to. They were just shoved out of the way as if he were in some sort of invisible balloon suit.

  I wasn't so lucky as I felt hands grab at me. The parts closest to Cormac fared the best, but as I trailed behind him, my sleeve was ripped off as they tried to grab me. Cormac yanked me through their ranks at a speed that would've done a track star proud.

  We cleared the group ahead but they simply joined the mob behind us and there was nothing but a cliff wall in front of us as we ran.

  "You need to open a portal. I can't float us up quick enough."

  "Here?" I was in a complete state of panic.

  "Yes, now. Before they start shooting at us."

  "I don't know…"

  "NOW."

  I didn't know where it would lead but I prayed it would be somewhere on Earth. I used my free hand to try to direct the energy I was building from the surrounding area, having no idea how the hell I was going to pull it off, when I realized the entire cliff wall was ebony. Duh. I concentrated as hard as I could and it sprung open. We ran through it less than a second later.

  We didn't stop once we were in it, either. We needed to get it shut down before they could follow us through. Not even paying attention to where we landed, I tumbled onto carpet, getting a nice case of rug burn before I finally collapsed. I took a deep breath and was relieved that I could. So grateful that the place we ended up had breathable air, it took me a second to realize I wasn't resting my head on just any red and gold carpet. I looked at the ground and knew I recognized the pattern. I raised my head to see the entire gaming floor of The Lacard Casino gaping at us, open mouthed. I scanned the perimeter and saw that we hadn't done too much damage. A couple of overturned gaming tables but no one was on the floor except for me.

  "Thank you ladies and gentleman for partaking in the demo of our new and upcoming show - Magic." I turned to see Cormac already on his feet speaking to the crowd. "It will be premiering next month." He walked over and offered me a hand up, then turned back to the crowd. "Don't mind my assistant, she's a little wet behind the ears." The crowd let out a laugh as the tension broke.

  I bent down, grabbed the bag with the book and left him on the floor to finish up since he was doing so well.

  "My place," he said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him to his elevator.

  "Why not my place?"

  "I don't have the time or patience for this game right now. You can come with me or stay behind."

  "I've got the book," I said as I dangled it in front of me.

  "And I could take it from you in less than a second." He stepped into his private elevator and held the door open.

  I knew he'd put up a fight if I took off to my place, which technically was still in his place. I was also pretty sure he'd win. It was so freaking annoying. I ground my teeth together as I stepped in after him.

  "I thought we were supposed to be partners?" Both of us watched the floors and tick by while I waited for an answer.

  "We are," he finally said.

  "Then why do you keep getting to make all the calls?"

  He looked down at me with a smirk. "Because, I'm the senior partner."

  I looked back at him. "One of these days, I'm going to be strong enough to kick your ass."

  "You'll get strong, but I wouldn't hold your breath for the day you'll be able to take me. Baby, I've got skills you can't even imagine," he said and the look in his eyes sent a chill through me.

  And just like that, I couldn't look at him. It seemed like lately everything sounded sexual. Part of me wanted to call him out on it, but what if it was just in my head? Nope, the idea of him not having any clue on what I was even calling him out on was way too humiliating. It wasn't like he was trying to come on to me at all. What if my subconscious had some weird crush on him and it was all in my head? No. Not saying a word.

  "How
did you do that back there? Like you were wearing a shield or something," I asked diverting the subject.

  "Everything has an electromagnetic field that repels or attracts, just like magnets do. I just amped mine up for a couple of minutes. I can extend it further when I'm attached to someone but only a certain distance."

  I stared down at my hand, wondering if I could do it too.

  The elevator doors slid open and we found Buzz, Ben and Dodd already waiting inside the penthouse. All playfulness left Cormac's expression the moment we stepped into the room.

  "Get Vitor. Tell him he needs to get over here ASAP," he told Buzz and then turned to Ben. "Go down to Kever. Tell him to put all portals on lock down. No transporting until further notice."

  Only Cormac, Dodd and I were left in the room when he dropped the bag, that held the single book we had managed to get from the wolves, on the table. "I hope it's worth it."

  "What is it?" Dodd asked Cormac.

  "I have no idea but we just pissed off a whole lot of wolves."

  "Scary looking wolves," I added.

  It might have been misplaced nervous energy but laughter that I couldn't seem to stop startled to bubble up in me. Cormac soon started to laugh as well as we stared at the book we'd just stolen, that we couldn't touch, read, and had no idea if it would even help.

  I laughed even harder when Dodd let out a scream as he tried to touch it.

  "What's wrong with you two? You couldn't give me a heads up on that one?" he said as he shook his hand trying to alleviate the pain.

  I pulled out a chair, stared at the book and thought about what Cormac had just said. I hoped this book was worth it. My eyes fixated on it, I barely registered the sound of two chairs sliding against the floor as Dodd and Cormac joined me.

  The three of us just sat there, trying to figure out a good way to approach it. Cormac stood and grabbed a pair of tongs from the wet bar, but when he tried to open the cover with them, he dropped them quickly and shook his hand.

  I tried next with a long spoon I found, but barely even lifted the cover before the pain became overwhelming. We could touch it with other instruments, but opening it was turning out to be impossible.

  "This is stupid." Dodd said after a few more minutes passed. "I'm just going to open the freaking thing. If I get stuck on it, just push me off like they do with people getting electrocuted." He reached over again and put his hand on it. He got it open all of an eighth of an inch before he crumpled to the ground.

  "That bad?" I asked as I saw the cold sweat on his brow.

  "Worse than when you shot me in the knee." His breathing was labored and he still gripped his arm.

  "It's got to be something worth reading if they went through all of this to protect it," I said.

  "Not necessarily," Cormac replied, as Dodd still lay on the ground.

  Cormac and I turned as we heard Buzz and Vitor walk in the room. Vitor strolled in and walked directly to the book, giving me a small smile in greeting and pretty much ignoring everyone else.

  "So what exactly happened?" he asked no one in particular. Cormac relayed the details of how we got the book.

  "This is getting quite sticky," Vitor replied after hearing the entire story.

  "Really, I'm so glad you came over here to offer us such wisdom," Cormac said.

  A look passed between them and all I could think was oh God, not this again.

  "I'm shutting down the portal for now," Cormac threw out at him in a what are you going to do about it tone.

  "You can't shut it down. We've got a contract."

  That might have worked with Cormac a few months ago, but something had been changing in him lately. I didn't know what was bringing on the transformation but I'd sensed his disregard for the agreements he used to spend his life protecting and upholding. This confirmed what I'd suspected. I just didn't know what had caused the change.

  "Which you and I are going to break," Cormac replied as he stepped into Vitor's personal space.

  I looked to Dodd and Buzz, hoping they would try to calm the situation down, to see that all they were doing was moving in to position to watch Cormac's back. Goddamn men for you.

  "And what about the wolves? It's their contract too. You just going to shut them out?"

  Shit. Vitor, why can't you just stand down, I thought to myself. I swear, once you pick up that cape you just can't seem to get rid of the thing. It's like a bad holiday sweater and everyone wants to know why you aren't wearing the hideous thing. Because it's ugly, that's why! That's how I felt about my new 'good person' role. I was sick of wearing it. Why? Because it sucked. I longed for the days when I didn't care about anyone or anything. I would have just gone and sat out of range of the blows and maybe even gotten a snack for the show.

  "Don't act like the wolves have any say in this. I've felt the magic that binds that contract. There isn't a single iota of wolf signature on that. Now, we are ending this contract tonight."

  I watched as the vein in Cormac's neck pulsed and the quicker it throbbed, the more I lost hope that this would be resolved peacefully.

  "That might be, but they still have a say," Vitor replied, standing nose to nose with Cormac.

  You dumb, stupid Fae. Yep, that was my cue. I wasn't sure why, but the idea of Vitor getting pounded into submission still made me feel bad, even if he was a bit of a selfish jerk.

  I stepped up to them and placed a hand on each of their chests, trying to nudge them apart.

  "Stay out of this, Jo. I don't want you to get hurt," Vitor said.

  "She can get as involved as she wants to. She's not the one that's going to get hurt."

  I looked up into Cormac's eyes and saw something had snapped. We had now hit def con five.

  "Vitor, if we open up that portal, there is going to be a swarm of angry wolves headed right for us." I waited a second then added, "Coming for me," just to make sure it was beyond question. I wasn't sure Cormac's death would weigh on his conscience much.

  When he took a step back, I knew I was starting to make some headway.

  "What of my people?" he asked Cormac. "You shut the portal, but I still have family there."

  "Well? Is there something we can do about that?" I asked Cormac. In my head, I was wondering when I had become the most mature person in the room. Things really were spiraling out of control now. "Cormac, there must be some compromise here. I mean, Vitor is the one that got us the information on where to look."

  "Yes. And he also almost got us killed," he replied. The accusation was there, but it lacked heat; I wasn't too concerned.

  "I want my sister brought over and permanent residency for fifty more when it's reopened." Vitor, seeing his opportunity to gain now, slipped into business negotiator mode and tried to seize the opportunity.

  I watched Cormac ponder over the terms. "You agree to destroy the current contract and it's a deal."

  Vitor nodded.

  Cormac nodded.

  I sighed in relief. I had enough going on with a crazy Senator that was killing people and wolves now wanting us dead. I didn't need another battle to fight.

  "Tomorrow, at midnight. My place," Vitor said, and Cormac nodded.

  "Why then?" I asked, as no one else seemed to be finding the timing unusual.

  Cormac turned to me to explain, "There are certain times during the day when magic is weaker. It depends on what type of magic it is exactly, but midnight is usually the best bet. It's the time between two days that allows for a weakness in the contract. Certain days of the year make it easier but we don't have that kind of time."

  Vitor left pretty quickly after it was arranged, not wanting to stay in Cormac's domain.

  Cormac followed him out to go down and confirm that everyone that could run the portal knew it was shut down, but I stopped him before he left. "What if you can't break the contract?"

  "We have to. This is much bigger than the wolves. We don't know where the senator comes from or where he gets his strength. We've got to keep this co
ntained as much as we can. He's not human, which means he might come from there. We can't let in anyone that might aid him."

  I thought back to how he was helping Tracker set up other wormholes. "And he wants them open, which means we don't," I added.

  "Exactly."

  I watched him go and I headed toward the guest suite, my old rooms. wanting a shower but also not wanting to be far from the book.

  My hands shook as I turned on the water and let it flow over me, but I couldn't even enjoy that. Finishing up quickly, I asked Ben to get me a pair of Cormac's sweats and t-shirt. I was swimming in them but at least they were clean. Then I went and sat with the guys as everyone took their turn trying to get the book open.

  When I got there, I found the doctor, Sabrina, there as well as Kever and another petite brunette Keeper named Lucy, who I'd seen operate the portal.

  There were others but I also knew the amount of people that Cormac really trusted was small, even among The Keepers.

  Dodd had control of the remote as usual, but it didn't matter since I couldn't pay attention to the TV anyway. I just sat there, half in a trance, replaying Rick's image in my head, only occasionally startled as someone would try to open the book again and inevitably screamed out in pain.

  At that moment, I didn't think things could get much worse. It felt much later than it was, since it had been the middle of the night on their planet, but here the eleven o'clock news was just coming on.

  When I looked at the screen, I was shocked. They were older but I would have recognized them anywhere. After all, I'd thought that they were going to be my parents. How could I forget them? And now their pictures were on the TV.

  The news reporter explained the chilling details of how Charles shot Maxine in the middle of a park. Then shot himself.

  I thought I heard Dodd in the background, saying something about all the crazies out there now, but I was hypnotized by the TV.

  It couldn't be. He'd just gone crazy. He hadn't seemed crazy when I was a child, because I was too young to notice. And what kind of judge was I anyway? I had a couple screws loose myself.

  I would have been able to rationalize it away. I'd almost been there, if they had just not interviewed someone in the park. It was a woman in her early thirties describing her eyewitness account. Nothing more shocking than you would expect, considering what had just happened, until she told the reporter that he had spoken right before he blew his head off.