Alchemist's Kiss

by AR DeClerck

  “She's fine.” Icarus' hand was tender as he clutched mine. “The aether is drawn to her. It was trying to tell her something.”

  “She could have been killed.” Archie appeared worried as I looked up at him.

  “No, Icarus is right, Archie. The aether wasn't trying to hurt me.” I patted his hand as he finally moved back to his chair. Icarus remained kneeling on the floor at my feet.

  “What did you hear?”

  “I had a hard time making it out. It got so loud.” I winced at the memory of the increase in the sound. I rubbed the skin below my ear, expecting to feel blood. Icarus' hand tightened on mine. I was so unused to him being so solicitous of me that I had to fight the warmth that bloomed in my stomach.

  “Do you know what 'Bay-own-dello' means?”

  Icarus' eyebrows went up. “Baiandelio?”

  I nodded. “Yes. The voices repeated it, over and over, and Laghairt. Do you know what it means?”

  Icarus looked at Archie, who had a thunderous expression on his face. His eyes were narrowed as he pulled back his lips in a feral snarl. I shrank back from the violence in his voice. “Baiandelio, that bastard. I'm not surprised he's involved.”

  “Who is he?” I asked, grabbing Icarus' hands as he tried to pull away.

  He didn't take his eyes off of Archie as he answered. “He's the wizard who left Archimedes to die in that alley where I found him.”

  I knew some of Archie's story, but as he recounted the whole of it I was horrified by his ordeal.

  “I grew up poor and as the poor are wont to do I ended up in East End working for a few of the dark wizards.”

  He noticed my shock and smiled at me.

  “I was young and my knowledge of magic was little. I fetched and carried and as I grew I became the one who collected debts.”

  “I can't imagine why.” Icarus said wryly. He stood, but just as I expected him to move away he took a seat on the table next to me, keeping my hand in his.

  “Baiandelio was a wizard with a small territory near the river. His trade was mostly hexes and the like, but I'd known him to work a dark spell or two that required blood. Usually he'd pay a woman to bleed for him and send her on her way.”

  “How horrible!” I said, though we all knew that more terrible things than that had happened in London under the rule of the dark wizards before Icarus came to town.

  Archie ran his human hand through his hair, the ticking from beneath his coat agitated.

  “One night I was called to Indulgence, Baiandelio's club. I expected to find another poor bastard unable to pay his debt, but something had gone terribly wrong with the wizard's spell.”

  “I understand that the carnage was gruesome.” Icarus absently rubbed my fingers with his thumb, and my entire arm tingled from the contact. As much as I hungered for attention from the man I certainly wasn't going to complain and have him move away.

  “I'll not go into details,” Archie said.

  From the way his face had paled I knew the word gruesome was far too mild a word to describe what he'd found in the club.

  “I found Baiandelio there, alive and unharmed. His customers and several young women were not as lucky. One woman had survived, though she was grievously wounded.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Baiandelio ordered me to take her to the river and toss her in.”

  My heart stuttered. The terror the poor woman must have endured! Icarus' hand tightened over mine, but I kept my eyes on Archie.

  “I carried her to the pier, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.” Archie looked away, his cheeks going red. “She was so small, very petite. A beautiful girl. I took her to the apothecary and left him with the money to care for her.”

  “Archie you're a hero!” I exclaimed, though it wasn't news to me.

  He chuckled. “Hardly that, Cora. When Baiandelio learned what I'd done he followed me, and when he caught me alone in the alley he gutted me and left me for dead.”

  “Icarus found you and saved you.”

  Archie's grin grew fond as he looked at Icarus. “I told him to leave me to die, but he's a stubborn man.”

  “I needed someone to experiment on.” Icarus said crossly, but both Archie and I knew the truth. Icarus had been lonely, and he was forever saving those in need. It wasn't his nature to allow an injured man to die in the mud.

  Archie held up his gleaming metal hand. “A successful experiment, I daresay.”

  Icarus' eyebrows drew together. “What has Baiandelio got to do with the Lizard?”

  As he said the name I felt the aether tickle the hair on my neck. I shivered and Icarus looked at me in concern.

  “Whatever the connection, the aether is insistent.”

  Icarus raised his hand, his fingertips trailing lightly over my neck. It was an intimate touch, something he rarely gave or allowed. Goose flesh raised over my arms.

  “Your sensitivity is growing.” He pulled the chain that held The Hand and the amulet rose from between my breasts. I saw his eyes dip down, and a red stain spread across his neck. It wasn't the amulet that made him shiver, I knew. Whatever else we had between us, our attraction had always been mutual. “Your nearness to The Hand must amplify it.”

  “Say their names again.” I commanded him.

  “The Lizard and Baiandelio.”

  I closed my eyes as his voice ran over me. I could feel his hold on the amulet, letting it lie flat against my collarbone. I called out to the aether, asking it to come to me this time.

  Quietly. Quietly. I pleaded.

  It came in a rush, as if the window had just opened. It streamed around me, ribbons of light and color. I could hear the voices, but they were hushed. Heeding my plea.

  Tell me. I said.

  Death.

  I waited. I was scared, even though the light around me was comforting. Icarus had introduced me to the aether in America. The magical energy that most people could not see, could not tap into, was all around us. It was alive. Magic users were able to harness it to do their bidding, and for some reason it liked me. Sought me out and came when I called. According to Icarus it was a rare gift. Even he was not able to commune with the aether like I could.

  Tell me about the Lizard and Baiadelio. Tell me about Victor Kane.

  The aether was frightened. I felt it scramble away from me as I spoke Icarus' father's name.

  Death. It whispered to me.

  I must find Victor Kane. We cannot allow him to hurt innocent people.

  They are coming.

  The aether was gone as quickly as it had come to me. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the parlor. Icarus stared at me, and Archie was leaning toward me with narrowed eyes.

  “What did you see?” Archie asked.

  “Nothing.” I reached for my tea cup. I laughed as it sloshed with the shaking of my hand. As it steadied I took a deep drink.

  “What did it say?” Icarus said as I patted away the droplet of tea from my lap.

  “I asked it where we could find your father.” I held the napkin tightly in my hands as he let The Hand slip back down between my breasts.

  “And?” Archie flexed his metal fingers as if imagining Victor's neck in his grip.

  “We won't have to look. The aether says that the Lizard and Baiandelio are coming for us.”

  “They're working with my father.” Icarus stood, pacing in front of the fire. “I should have guessed.”

  “Who is the Lizard anyway, Ic? You never told us who he is.”

  “He's a slimy bastard. A dark wizard I knew by another name, many years ago.”

  “And, like many others you've chanced across, he has reason to hate you.”

  Icarus folded his arms and frowned. “Not everyone I meet wants to kill me, Archimedes.”

  “I've yet to find one who doesn't.” Archie winked at me. “Even Cora and I have dabbled in the idea on occasion.”

  “Funny.” Icarus' tone said it wasn't. “His name when I knew him was Georgio Gec
ko.”

  “Gecko. A type of lizard.”

  Two sets of eyes turned to me.

  “I grew up with a grandmother who practiced magic. She kept books on many topics, including reptiles.”

  “So Gecko is The Lizard.” Archie's mouth turned down in distaste. “And he hates you for some reason. And we know Baiandelio has reason to hate us both.”

  “You for leaving his victim alive, and me for casting him out of London.” Icarus agreed.

  “Why does he hate you for that, Archie?” I asked.

  “When she was well the girl returned to her family. A very influential Coven family, as it turns out. Her father had Baiandelio's club closed and he backed Icarus when he bid for the London territory.”

  “So if you'd have killed her, her family might not have backed Icarus, and he may have been able to retain his territory.” I surmised.

  “I'd have killed him, rather than let him continue to sell black magic in London.” Icarus shrugged when I shot him a disbelieving look. “What?”

  “Cold blooded murder is a bit much, even for you.”

  “The man is a beast and a savager of women. I've no sympathy for a wizard like him. He and the Lizard are two of a kind in that respect. Both work blood magic, and can do harm if they get the chance.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself. Blood magic was the biggest taboo of the magical community. Though I was newer to it than Icarus, who'd been born to it, and Archie who'd been introduced as a child, I knew the cost a wizard paid for blood magic. Usually their souls were warped, their minds lost to the darkness blood magic wrought. Simple blood magic spells could be done using donated blood, but the more complicated spells required sacrifice. Some dark magic was tolerated and overlooked by the Grand High Coven, but blood magic was an offense punishable by death.

  Icarus raised his head, as if only noticing that the room had grown darker. He waved his hand and the sconces on the wall lit, casting a warm glow about the room.

  “We have electricity, Icarus.” I reminded him.

  He glowered. “Gah. Science! This insane argument that man can overcome his need for magic by using metal and wire is ridiculous.”

  I looked at Archie and we shook our heads. Magic was accepted and used all over the world now, but non-magic users grew weary of relying on practitioners provide them with power, healing and protection. A movement was underway to forge ahead in scientific fields, hoping to reduce the non-users reliance on magic. Men like Icarus, who'd never had to pay for magic, didn't understand the non-user's resistance. It was an argument we bandied about between us at many a dinner meal. We both knew Icarus would never understand the masses and their need for independence from the magical community.

  “If the aether is correct, Gecko and Baiandelio will make a move against us soon.” Icarus crossed his arms over his chest, a small smile twisting his lips. “We'd best prepare.”

  “The wards are set.” Archimedes was exceptionally adept at protection spells. He lifted his hand and the normally invisible runes began to glow. They were difficult and complex to weave, but Archie had an affinity for them that I could not match. Icarus was stronger than us both in all areas of magic, but even he deferred to Archie for wards and shielding spells.

  “I've no concern over your wards.” Icarus cut his eyes to me. “The Hand will lead them to us. No amount of magical shielding can block its power.”

  I let my hand settle over the chain around my neck. “I can run. I'll take The Hand and return to America.”

  “No.” Icarus was quick, shaking his head. He clenched his hands in his lap, and I had the impression he wanted to physically hold me, as if I might attempt to run at that very moment. “We stay together. I can't protect you if you leave me.”

  “The Hand will protect me.”

  “The Hand is fickle,” he argued, “It will align itself with the strongest so that it may use its magic without stricture.”

  “It hasn't left me for you.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. Color suffused his face and mottled the skin of his cheeks. “I will not allow you to leave me, Cora.”

  “I don't want to leave you, you stubborn, silly man. I'm trying to save your life!”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “As can I!”

  The room was silent as my words echoed off the walls. I sighed. This was how it always was between us. We could not agree, even if we both wanted the same outcome.

  “Perhaps we'd best agree to stick together.” Archie looked between us with a barely concealed smile. I sometimes wondered if the man was mentally ill. Whenever Icarus and I would argue he would watch and smile. Once I'd asked him what amused him so, and he'd only murmured, “The fires of passion, dear Cora.”

  Icarus calmed, his color returning to normal as he relaxed back into his chair. To say I wasn't a bit pleased by his ardent demands that I remain at his side would be a lie, despite how much I may argue for the opposite.

  “We stay together.” he agreed firmly, looking at me.

  I nodded. “Together.”

  “Now that we've settled that, how do we prepare ourselves for the dark wizards who herald our demise?”

  Icarus glared at Archie. “We bolster our defenses. Call up our debts, and work a bit of offensive magic.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Isn't that for emergencies only?”

  “I daresay fighting for our lives, and the lives of every living thing in London, is an emergency.” Icarus said dryly.

  “One thing we know for sure, the Gecko and Baiandelio won't attack us when we expect them to. They'll wait until we've relaxed our guard.”

  “Then we don't relax our guard.” Icarus grinned. It wasn't humorous, but reminded me of the lion I'd seen at the zoo. Hungry and feral. “We will need to speak to the Grand High Coven and the wizards in neighboring cities. We'll draw to us all those who owe us a debt, and we'll set about ridding London of these scoundrels forever.”

  “And your father?” The words tasted foul in my mouth. From what I knew of Victor Kane I could not imagine how he'd fathered a man as noble and brave as Icarus.

  “My father will be left to me. He's in London to kill me and I plan to let him try.”

  “Icarus, he's strong, and from what we've seen he's only growing stronger!” I bit my lip and shuddered at the thought of him engaging his father.

  “My father created me.” Icarus said simply, and he rubbed the palm of his hand where the scar of that creation remained. “Now he will have to pay for that.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Hyde Park, London

  “Why, exactly, are we here?”

  Icarus squinted through the driving rain at Cora. “The Grand High Master is about. This was his requested meeting place.”

  The park was empty as the cold spring rain fell all over the city. Here and there a dapper butler walked a dog under a wide umbrella, a sour look on his face. Icarus pulled up the collar of his herringbone duster as the rain dripped down his neck and ran willy-nilly down his spine. Had he mentioned that he hated the rain? And the cold? And Hyde Park?

  Cora looked up at him through her lashes as the rain cascaded off her umbrella to pool at his feet. “You could share the umbrella, Icarus.”

  “I'll be fine. I don't want to take the chance that you take cold.”

  He swore he saw a blush on her cheeks as she turned her face away. She pulled her warmer fur-lined cape closer about her shoulders.

  He stiffened as the sound of boots met his ears. He reached for Cora's elbow, drawing her closer to his side. She came willingly enough, molding her softer body against his longer frame, as her full skirts swirled around his legs.

  “Lovely day, Adept Kane.”

  Icarus bowed low as the figure of the Grand High Master, the most powerful wizard in the world, came into view. He jostled Cora's elbow as a distinct snort of disbelief from her wafted in his direction. She blinked up at him innocently, and for a moment he was lost in the Gwydir green of her eye
s. The curve of her cheek and the welcoming landscape of her mouth called to his like no other aphrodisiac ever had. It was by sheer will alone that he raised his head to greet the Grand High Master.

  “Indeed, Grand Master Orrin.”

  Lucan Orrin was a nondescript man of medium height and build. Nothing about him would alert you to his position except for the heavy press of the magic that clung to him like a shroud. He pushed back the hood to his cloak and shook the rain from his hair like a dog. He turned his wide, innocent smile on them. “I do enjoy a good rain shower.” He studied them for a moment before his smile drifted into a frown. “But you're uncomfortable.” Before Icarus could speak the wizard raised his hand and muttered under his breath. In a few moments the rain stopped completely.

  Cora looked at Icarus with wide eyes. He shook his head, though he was no less amazed at the power the man wielded.

  “There!” The man grinned at them with a wicked sparkle in his eye. “That's better!” He bowed low to Cora. “Lovely to meet you at last Ms. Jenkins.”

  “And you, Grand Master.” she murmured demurely, exactly as Icarus had instructed.

  The man turned his sharp eyes to Icarus. “Now tell me what's on your mind, Adept Kane.”

  “My father, Grand Master.”

  The friendly brown eyes narrowed and hardened. He spit onto the ground.

  “Tell me how you really feel.” Cora said, and the Grand Master's lips twitched a bit before he turned his gaze back to Icarus.

  “Explain.”

  Icarus made quick work of the story of his father's return. When he mentioned Baiandelio and Gecko the Grand Master's face became suffused with an angry red tint. When Icarus was done the Grand High Master crossed his arms and tapped his foot like an angry schoolmarm.

  “How dare they return to this city. London is yours by right of bid!”

  Icarus bowed in acknowledgment of the man's backing, but then shook his head. “My father doesn't care about right. He'll raze the city and destroy the peace we've worked hard to attain.”

  Orrin tapped his chin. “Indeed. The man is a threat to us all. Especially with the tensions between magic and non-magic wielders at the moment.”