The Alchemist's Flame

by Andre, Becca

  “Addie,” a familiar voice said.

  I looked up—right into Rowan’s glowing eyes. He stood near the rear of the first-class section, his silver-gray sweater streaked with soot and a bleeding gash over his left eye.

  “Off the plane. Now.” He jabbed a finger toward the cabin door. Great. He was pissed.

  I frowned, ready to reply when the curtain behind Rowan parted and Ian stepped through.

  “The fire’s spreading. Can you—” Ian stopped when he saw me.

  Another whoosh of flame and the decorative curtains lining the left side of the fuselage vaporized.

  “Damn,” Ian said, stepping to the side and throwing up a hand toward the few smoldering curtains that remained. “Can’t you do anything with him?”

  I frowned, not following that.

  “Addie, go.” Rowan knelt beside the nearest seat, and I realized it was occupied. The person sat doubled over, the seat in front of him obscuring my view.

  Rowan gripped his knee. “Come on, Colby. You can do this. Focus.”

  The hairs on my arms stood up. Colby. The young Fire Element Rowan had been flying out to see. I didn’t realize the young man had flown back with Rowan.

  I glanced around the damaged plane, suddenly understanding. Rowan had been working with Colby on his control. Apparently, his training wasn’t complete.

  “Ian, get her off the plane,” Rowan said.

  Ian squeezed past Rowan and walked toward me. James moved closer, blocking my forward progress down the aisle.

  “Hang on.” I pulled open my bag and began to sort through my vials. Cora had taken the last of my Extinguishing Dust, and as a gesture of good faith, I hadn’t made any more. So I didn’t have anything that could knock out Colby’s power. Sometimes, being ethical sucked.

  “Excuse me,” Ian said to James.

  James complied, stepping through the chairs before returning to the aisle behind Ian. I had expected a snarl, but apparently, James wanted me off the plane enough to cooperate.

  Ian lifted a brow, watching James’s maneuver before he turned back to me. “Let’s go.”

  I pulled out two vials from my bag. “I got it.”

  “Knockout Powder?” Ian asked, recognizing the white powder in one vial.

  “And the antidote.” I popped the cap on the lime green liquid and downed it. This way, the powder wouldn’t knock me out. I moved to step around Ian, but he held up a hand, stopping me. “You’re too close as it is.”

  “Rowan’s closer.” Rowan might be a Fire Element, but he could be incinerated as easily as anyone—or anything else. He was taking a huge risk staying so close to Colby. I met Ian’s eyes. “I’ve got this,” I repeated.

  “Let James do it.” Ian didn’t step aside.

  Rowan leaned closer to Colby and whispered something. I didn’t catch the words, but his tone was low, urgent. Suddenly, the seat behind Rowan went up in a fount of blue-white flame.

  “What if it was your wife; what if Isabelle was in danger?” I whispered to Ian. “Would you step aside and save yourself?”

  Ian frowned. “If you perish, who will help me find my daughter?”

  Leave it to Ian to be selfish about this. “Ian.”

  He turned his frown on Rowan and Colby. “I’m not sure how much I like this New Magic.” He moved out of my way.

  I gave him what I hoped was a confident smile and hurried down the aisle. I tapped some of the Knockout Powder into my palm as I walked.

  “I’ve got some Knockout Powder. Let me in there,” I said to Rowan.

  He rose to his feet, whirling to face me. “I told you to go.” He spoke the words in a low growl, his orange eyes on full glow.

  “Since when do I listen?” I squatted beside Colby. My heart hammered a nervous beat, belying my glib words. I gently touched Colby’s knee with my free hand. “Hi, Colby. I’m Addie.”

  He lifted his head, and for an instant, I was struck by how young he was. Orange eyes met mine, gold flickering though his irises like actual flame.

  I brought my opposite hand to my mouth and blew the Knockout Powder in his face. The white dust glinted in the air, coating his cheeks and eye lashes. No sooner did it make contact, then his orange eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the side. Hopefully, he couldn’t ignite anything in his sleep.

  No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the world around me erupted in flames. I cried out and fell back, landing on my butt in the aisle.

  Rowan’s dark slacks appeared beside me. “That was me.”

  I frowned up at him. He had ashed the residual Knockout Powder from the air.

  “Next time, share the antidote.” He offered me a hand.

  I shoved myself off the floor and faced him. Before I could speak, he caught my face between his palms and leaned down until his orange eyes were on level with mine.

  “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “What’s that? Knock out one of your Element buddies?”

  “Put yourself at risk.” He released me and straightened, his gaze focused beyond my shoulder. “I asked you to remove her from this plane.”

  “She didn’t want to go.” Ian nudged me aside, then reached down to catch Colby’s arm and pulled him upright.

  “What are you doing?” Rowan demanded.

  “I assume you don’t want to leave him here.” Ian lifted Colby with ease and draped him over his shoulder. “And I’m better dressed for the task than your grim.”

  James growled softly.

  “I can get him.” Rowan took a step toward Ian. The muscle in his jaw tightened with the movement. Was he injured?

  I started to ask and stopped myself. Pointing out a weakness was the wrong approach with Rowan. “Let him make himself useful.” I rolled my eyes. “Goodness knows when it’ll happen again.”

  Ian gave me what was supposed to be a frown, but amusement glinted in his eyes. He was on to me.

  “Fine. Go.” Rowan waved Ian on.

  A thundering crash echoed through the plane, and the floor lurched to the right, throwing me against the nearest seat. A puff of smoke flowed through the open cabin door, hazing the air. What the hell?

  When no flames followed, I hurried toward the door and stopped on the threshold. It wasn’t smoke; it was dust. Half the concourse floor had collapsed.

  “Where is Elysia?” Ian demanded.

  “She’s on the other side of the concourse.” James stepped up behind us. He had pulled on a pair of gray slacks. Something from Rowan’s carry-on luggage? I didn’t ask, my attention drawn to the flames licking the wall behind the seat Colby had ashed. Odd. Rowan never caught things on fire; he vaporized them.

  “The fire’s spreading,” I said. “We can probably get across the concourse if we stay near the wall.”

  “I’ll cross first,” James said. “If the floor holds me, it’ll—”

  “Addie doesn’t need to cross,” Rowan said, then turned to Ian. “Take her through the portal.”

  “If the floor holds James, it’ll hold me,” I said.

  “Must you always argue with me?” Rowan demanded.

  “Who’s arguing?”

  James squeezed between us. “Save your argument. It may cave in on me, then no one’s getting across.” He stepped down to what remained of the carpeted floor that still ran up to the plane on one side.

  I wrapped a hand around his biceps. “What if there’s…something sharp? Remember what happened when we were exploring the ruins of the Alchemica?”

  “You needn’t speak in code,” Ian said. “I know the grim is weak to iron—which is undoubtedly what those bars poking out of the broken floor are made of.”

  “Rebar.” I gave him the word. He was right—about all of it.

&nbs
p; “How do you know about the iron?” Rowan took a step toward Ian, the fire still burning around his pupils.

  Ian shrugged the shoulder Colby wasn’t draped over. “He’s part hellhound. Do you think my father would let me play in the land of the dead without teaching me how to defend myself?”

  “This argument can also wait,” James said, and moved away from the plane.

  “Stay close to the wall,” Rowan called after him.

  I gripped the edge of the door, watching James’s progress. “Your dad let you play in the land of the dead?” I asked Ian, keeping my eyes on James.

  “Not so much let; he caught us.”

  “Us?”

  “My brother and me.”

  A loud pop was followed by a rain of debris below us. James moved faster, weaving his way through the overturned chairs scattered along his path. He reached the far side, then turned and waved us toward him.

  “Give me Colby, and you take Addie through the portal,” Rowan said to Ian.

  “No way,” I spoke up. “That will make you twice as heavy. Ian can bring him over last.”

  “After you walk across?” Rowan shook his head. “No. You—”

  Something clattered behind us. I looked over my shoulder in time to watch the flaming curtain divider between first class and coach fall to the ground. Through the open doorway, I could see flames dancing along one side of the cabin. But that wasn’t my main concern. The flames were spreading up along our side, as well.

  “How about this,” Ian said. “His Grace can go now. I will follow with the boy, then use the portal to bring Addie across.”

  We both frowned at him.

  “It’s called compromise,” Ian said.

  Rowan turned to face him. “I expect you to get her off this plane in the same condition you brought her on.”

  “He didn’t—”

  Ian nudged me, cutting me off. “It will be done as you say,” he said to Rowan.

  Rowan gave him a final frown, then stepped off the plane.

  “Why did you let him blame you?” I asked once Rowan was yards away.

  “He would blame me, regardless, and this got him moving.”

  Rowan made his way around an overturned chair, bracing his hand on it as he passed. He continued to limp. Considering how rapidly he healed, he must have been hurt pretty badly for it to still be bothering him.

  Another loud pop, and this time, the floor gave way not ten feet from Rowan.

  I fisted my hands, helpless to do anything but watch.

  James ran to the edge, but couldn’t get closer as more chairs fell into the growing hole. Intermittent flickers of light from broken electrical wires illuminated the darkness below. I couldn’t see the bottom from where I stood, but it wasn’t only the height that concerned me. The rebar-spiked rubble and live power lines would not make it a safe place to land.

  Rowan turned toward us, but the ground buckled and he dropped to a knee.

  I took a step in Rowan’s direction, but Ian gripped my shoulder. “Stay here.” He lowered Colby to the floor of the plane, then jumped out the cabin door and ran toward Rowan.

  I had never seen Ian get in a hurry about anything. Watching him run across the room, vaulting chairs that blocked his path, was a surreal experience.

  Jumping a final chair, Ian slid to a stop and dropped to his stomach. He caught Rowan’s arm as the floor gave beneath him.

  I screamed as the ground and Rowan fell away, but somehow, the section Ian lay on remained.

  Ian grunted, and his shirt tightened across the back of his shoulders. He lay on his stomach, one arm over the edge of the hole. He must have hung on to Rowan.

  A deafening crack and the section Ian lay on dropped several inches.

  “James,” Ian called across the ten-yard gap that separated them. “Come closer.”

  James imitated Ian, crawling out to lie on his stomach at the hole’s edge. He lowered his arm, holding out a hand toward Ian. Twisted pieces of rebar poked out of the floor to either side of his biceps.

  “Ready!” James shouted.

  I gripped my hands as I realized what they intended to do.

  A pop, and the floor beneath Ian settled further. “Now!” His shoulders flexed and he slung Rowan across the gap. A flicker of light from below illuminated Rowan’s flight, but winked out before he was halfway across. Would the changing light cause them to miss?

  I covered my mouth with both hands, not wanting to watch, but unable to look away.

  Rowan’s hand smacked against James’s forearm.

  James grunted as his chest slammed against the lip of the hole, his arm stretching back under the jagged edge with Rowan’s momentum. James’s grunt became a snarl of pain.

  “Oh God,” I whispered.

  “I’m cut!” James voiced my fear.

  I was too far away to see how badly James was injured, but it took only a single drop of his impossibly toxic blood to kill—and Rowan hung directly below him.

  Chapter

  3

  “Rowan!” I shouted, wishing I was over there to wrap something around James’s bleeding arm. For some reason, his blood wasn’t toxic to me.

  Reaching up, Rowan grabbed James’s forearm and, using that little bit of momentum, sprang upward to catch the rebar above him.

  I held my breath, terrified the slender piece of metal would give. Rowan let go of James, all his weight now supported by the bar as he hung by one arm. Light flickered below, the blue-white electric flash reminding me of the fire Rowan used.

  Another surge of movement, and Rowan lunged upward, catching a nearby section of rebar with his free hand. A chunk of cement broke free, clattering on the debris below, and Rowan’s new handhold dropped several inches. He released it and caught the crumbling edge of the cement floor.

  James settled on his haunches, watching Rowan’s progress with one hand wrapped around the opposite biceps.

  “James?” Elysia set down the box of salve she still carried, and took a step toward him.

  “Stay away from him!” Ian shoved himself to his feet. A crack and the ground gave beneath him. He vanished from sight.

  “Ian!” Even as I reacted, I chided myself. He was dead. What could possibly hurt him?

  I looked across the room to check the others’ expressions. They could see what had become of Ian more easily than I could, but none of them was watching the hole where he had disappeared. Rowan had his chest up to the edge of the hole, and James was getting to his feet. Suddenly, James twisted around, and a portal opened behind him. Ian stepped out, and I slumped against the doorframe in relief.

  Ian leaned down to offer Rowan a hand, but Rowan ignored him, climbing up on his own.

  “What’s going on?” a voice asked.

  I turned with a gasp and found Colby staring up at me, a frown shadowing his orange eyes. So much for the Knockout Powder keeping him out of commission. That was the problem with the magical. Potions didn’t always work on them the way I expected.

  “Hey.” I squatted beside him.

  “You blew a powder in my face.” He didn’t look angry. “Was it Extinguishing Dust?”

  “No, Knockout Powder. Apparently, it doesn’t work so well on an Element.”

  “Oh.” His eyes left mine to take in our surroundings. “What happened?”

  I didn’t want to tell him he happened. “A mishap on landing.”

  “I hate flying,” he whispered. His eyes widened as he looked down the aisle. “The plane’s on fire!”

  “Everyone’s been evacuated.”

  “Where’s Rowan?”

  I turned my head to look out into the terminal. Rowan was on his feet, and even from across the room, his eyes locked with mine.

  “There.�
� I nodded toward him.

  Colby turned his head. “Oh God.” He stared at the demolished concourse.

  “Yes. We’re stuck for the moment.”

  He looked back into the burning plane, and I followed his gaze. The wall between first class and the rest of the plane was on fire, as were the remnants of the curtains he hadn’t completely ashed earlier. Fortunately, the open roof let the smoke escape, but it had grown thicker where it lingered beneath what remained of the luggage compartments.

  “You’re right. We’re trapped,” Colby whispered, his orange eyes wide. “How will we get out of here?” One of the seats in the front row went up in a flash of blue-orange flame.

  The blast of heat hit me, and I threw myself away from the inferno. “Colby!”

  “Oh God.” He laced his fingers through his shaggy, strawberry-blond hair and gripped two handfuls as if he intended to pull them. He squeezed his eyes closed and doubled over. The headrest on the next chair burst into flame.

  I glanced over my shoulder at the open cabin door. I might have to take my chances with the unstable concourse. The section closest to the wall hadn’t fallen in yet.

  “Enough!” a familiar voice said from right beside me.

  I turned in time to watch Ian seize Colby by the front of his hoodie and bodily lift him from the floor, then turn and slam him against the fuselage. Colby’s head connected with a sickening thump.

  “Ian!” I cried.

  Colby’s orange eyes rolled back and he groaned. A smear of blood colored his upper lip. Our surroundings weren’t the only thing being torn up by his gift.

  “What are you doing?” I asked Ian.

  “The Knockout Powder wore off, so I’m using the more traditional method.” A portal opened behind Ian. “Step through, I’ll—”

  Footsteps thumped on the carpeted section of floor outside the plane. An instant later, James sprang through the door. He took one look at Ian holding Colby against the wall and snarled, the sound menacing even when made with his human throat.