by Becca Andre
“Help me find a robe,” I said. “Then let’s go see Emil.” Perhaps he was healed by now as well.
Dressed in my stylish robe and slippers, I walked with James through the hospital corridors. The stark white walls were broken up by a dark blue handrail and the occasional landscape picture. I guess they made up for the lack of windows.
We passed a little old lady shuffling in the opposite direction. She didn’t glance up; too busy trying to coordinate her small steps with the movement of her walker. I watched her as we passed, noting the concentration on her lined face and the white-knuckled grip of her claw-like hands. Would that ever be me?
I glanced over at James, his youth such a contrast to the old woman.
“Will you age?” I kept my voice low.
He looked over, dark brows raised in question. “That came out of the blue.”
“Not really. I’m wondering about immortality.” I hooked a thumb in the direction of the old lady.
James glanced over his shoulder. “Ah.” Green eyes shifted back to me. “But why ask about me?”
“I know the Elements don’t age. I wondered if you were the same.”
“I should be about done. Once we come into our full powers, Gavin says we stop aging.”
“Gavin? The other grim?” I suppressed a shiver at the thought of the red-eyed fiend. “Do you converse with him often?” I didn’t like the sound of that.
“From time to time. More when I was younger. It was nice to have someone who understood, though ole Gav is quite mad.” He sighed. “Centuries of entombment, you know?”
“So, you could…visit that place when you were younger?”
“I’ve always been able to. I’m told that before I could walk, I used to shift forms and go around on all fours.” He chuckled at that. “That’s why I was home schooled.”
I smiled, imagining James as a puppy, but my amusement faded as I considered the rest of it. “By full powers, you mean rip souls. At the gun shop, that was the first time, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. That’s why it wiped me out afterward.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
We walked in silence for a few strides. “You were going to soul-rip Lawson.”
“Yes.” He didn’t seem remotely troubled by the admission.
I remember the way James had gone after Gerald. “I don’t think I could have called you off.”
“No.”
I stopped and he turned to face me.
“He had a gun to your head.”
“Yes, but—”
A faint glow backlit his eyes and a growl crept into his words. “I protect what is mine.”
I smiled in spite of my misgivings. “I think Rowan is a bad influence.”
James returned a hesitant smile. “If you think I’m hell on earth, you should see him when he gets pissed.”
“What happened?”
“I smelled Emil’s blood from the alley and then Rowan found your compass.” James shook his head. “You saw what happened as soon as he saw Lawson.”
“Is he all right?” I touched the front of my robe, wondering what had become of my bra. “I had another vial of his headache relief.”
“He’s fine.” James gave me a tight-lipped smile.
“What?”
“You. You’re such a good person.”
I arched a brow. “Who’s addled now?”
“I’m serious.” He tried not to smile and failed. “Look at Rowan. You obviously can’t stand the guy, yet you try to help him.”
“You think I hate him?”
“Not even George can piss you off as fast as Rowan does.”
I grunted. Lumping Rowan and George into the same category wasn’t something I cared for.
“I bet you’d even help George if the situation warranted.”
“Not to shatter your illusions, but if I found George lying in the street bleeding, I’d back up and run over him again.”
James laughed and I started walking.
“So, what’s this about Emil?” I asked.
“Ironically, it returns to your questions about immortality.” He gestured at the next room. “We’re here.”
I walked in ahead of him, uneasy about what I might find. How badly had Emil been injured? And why hadn’t the Final Formula healed him as it had me? I stepped into the room and almost collided with someone walking out. He caught me by the shoulders to avoid a collision and I looked up.
“Neil?” My old Alchemica colleague gave me a surprised smile. He was the last person I expected here.
“Amelia.” His eyes flicked to James and back to me, skimming downward to take in my hospital attire. “I heard you were injured. Are you okay?”
“Yes.” I walked passed him, circling around the curtain. “I wouldn’t expect you to visit the man who kicked you out of the Alchemica.”
I turned toward the bed and got my first look at the man lying there. An incredibly familiar man: my white-haired mentor from the Alchemica. Before I could puzzle out why Emil appeared in his sixties again, a wave of déjà vu washed over me, and I fell into a memory.
Emil sat on the side of my bed, his white robes a soft glow in the dim light of my bedside lamp. He brushed back my hair, running a hand down my cheek.
“Ah, Amelia,” he sighed my name. “I wish you could accompany me. I also wish he’d remove that damn hood so I could see his expression. What do you think he’ll say when I show him this?” He pushed aside the sleeve of his robe, revealing the five bands encircling his right biceps. Even in the dim light, the angry flush around the newest band was clear.
“Of course, the real visual will be when I take the Formula before his eyes.” He flashed me a grin and rose to his feet. “He’ll have to declare me magical now.” He leaned over and retrieved something from my nightstand: a syringe. He rolled it between his fingers, and I realized it was blood.
“Addie? Hey, you with me?” James’s voice broke into my consciousness and the image of Emil floated away.
I blinked and focused on the face before me.
“Here.” James touched a tissue to my upper lip. “Your nose is bleeding.”
“Oh.” I took the tissue from him and dabbed away the smear of blood.
“What happened?” Neil stood a few feet away, watching me with concerned eyes.
“Déjà vu,” James said.
“That’s what I call it. Sometimes I get these little flashes of memory.” I sat in one of those oversized hospital chairs, though I didn’t remember sitting down. Unable to see Emil from my position, I pushed myself to my feet. James moved closer, ready to catch me, but the déjà vu didn’t return.
Sixty-six-year-old Emil lay sleeping beneath the sheets. An IV and several monitors flashed and beeped softly at his bedside.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked. “Did the bullet puncture something?”
“He got lucky with the gun shot. The surgery was uneventful, but he hasn’t regained consciousness. And then there’s his appearance.” James looked at me. “Can you explain it?”
I glanced over at Neil who’d moved to the opposite side of Emil’s bed.
“He didn’t take the Final Formula,” Neil said.
“So it would seem.” I pushed up the right sleeve of Emil’s hospital gown, revealing the five bands. The newest a little darker than the others, but long-since healed. “He must have tested the formula on me first.”
“Why?” James asked. “He’s a master alchemist. Self-doubt is not part of that equation.”
Wishing I could ask Emil, I sat down on the side of his bed and laid my hand on his forehead. His temperature felt good—neither feverish nor chilled. I touched the deep lines at the corner of one eye. I felt so much closer to him. This was the man I remembered. My mentor and teacher.
“Emil,” I whispered, letti
ng my hand slide down to his wrinkled cheek. “Grand Master, can you hear me? It’s Ad—” I stumbled on my name. “It’s Amelia.”
The curtain between us and the open door rattled open. I jerked my fingers from Emil’s cheek and I looked up with a gasp—right into Rowan’s angry gray eyes.
“Why aren’t you in your bed?” he demanded.
“Because I don’t want to be?”
His frown deepened and I sighed. No wonder James thought I hated the guy.
Rowan’s frown shifted to Neil.
“I should go,” Neil said, stepping back from the bed. His brown eyes met mine. “Call me if you learn something?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
Neil nodded. “Gentlemen,” he said to Rowan and James, and then left the room.
“What was he doing here?” Rowan asked.
“He heard I’d been injured.”
“How?”
I realized I hadn’t asked. Who had told Neil? Someone at the PIA?
“You shouldn’t be walking around.” Rowan’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“She heals like an Element,” James said. “Nothing but a pink line where the incision was.”
“The Formula?” Rowan asked.
I shrugged, uncomfortable with the way he watched me. I hoped my cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt.
“So, what happened to him?” Rowan moved to the other side of the bed.
“He never took the Final Formula. I’m guessing his youth was the product of an age potion.” An extremely powerful one, which was an accomplishment almost as impressive. “I suspect that’s why he didn’t answer his phone. He was in the middle of metamorphosis. Age potions take time to manifest.”
Rowan grunted. He studied Emil in silence while I stole a glance at him. Like James, he wore the same clothes from the night before, his face shadowed with his morning beard. I remembered how he’d carried me away from the garage, and my cheeks warmed again.
His eyes rose to mine and I quickly looked away.
“If he found the Final Formula, then why didn’t he take it?” Rowan asked.
I told him about my newest memory. “He planned to take it before an audience. You. That was the purpose of the invitations he sent out.”
“And then the Alchemica blew.”
“We won’t know until he wakes, but that’s what I think, yes.”
Rowan studied Emil, but whatever he was thinking, he kept to himself.
I stepped away from the bed. “I’m going to go see if I have anything to wear.”
“I had some things sent over.” Rowan glanced at his watch and turned to James. “Would you care to go down to the lobby and see if Donovan is here?”
“Sure,” James said. “I’ll get your things, Ad.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I turned to follow him from the room.
“Addie?” Rowan stopped me, but before he could say anything else, his phone rang.
“Who is it?”
“Waylon.”
I stepped forward and gripped his wrist. “Don’t answer it.”
“Why not?”
“Have you told him anything?”
“I called earlier, but he was out of the office.”
“Don’t give him any information.”
“You’re still angry at him for taking you in for questioning.” Rowan’s phone stopped ringing.
“And when he claims to know nothing about Lawson’s terrorism sideline, we’re going to take him at his word?”
“Do we have reason to believe he’s lying?”
I glanced over, gauging the seriousness of Rowan’s expression. He raised his brows in question. He seemed to want to know what I thought.
I rubbed my forehead. “Maybe. I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter.”
A final glance at Emil, and I headed back to my room. Rowan walked beside me, but to my surprise, didn’t say anything the entire length of the hall.
“What’s wrong?” Rowan asked when we reached my room.
I circled the curtain divider, disappointed that James hadn’t returned with my things. “I had a lead; you ashed him.”
“He’d shoved a gun under your jaw.” A hint of anger laced his tone.
“So?” I turned to face him. “I’ve seen you ash guns before.”
He crossed his arms, pulling his sweater tight across his shoulders. “It’s not that simple.”
“You were close enough. Hell, you were able to distinguish between him and me.” I still remembered that terrifying instant the heat enveloped me.
“Drop it. I did what I had to. What the hell were you doing outside the bar anyway? You were supposed to check the loft.”
“I saw one of Emil’s customers from the club and followed him.”
“You followed a drug addict into a dark alley.”
“He took potions, not drugs. I caught him meeting with one of the SWAT guys from the raid on the Alchemica.”
Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut in obvious frustration. “Give me strength,” he muttered. He dropped his hand and frowned at me. “Why didn’t you get James or me?”
“I didn’t have time. He called for back up. I had to warn Emil.”
“And you were taken as well.”
“If I had my potions—”
“Enough!”
I jumped at his outburst.
He closed the distance between us and clamped a hand on the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my loose hair. “You drive me crazy, you know that?” His voice dropped, and he continued in a harsh whisper. “Half the time I can’t decide if I want to strangle you or kiss you.”
I blinked.
A knock sounded on the door beyond the curtain. “Addie?” James called.
Rowan held my gaze for one long moment before he released me and stepped back. Did he say things like that to keep me unbalanced or was he truly attracted to me?
“Yeah. Come in,” I called.
Donovan followed James into the room. He carried a small suitcase that looked even tinier in his large hands, and placed it on the bed.
“Thanks for bringing that over.”
“No problem.” He abruptly wrapped me in a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, little alchemist.”
His concern and clear relief left me blinking. I hugged him back, surprised by my own reaction.
“Donovan will give you and James a ride back to the manor,” Rowan said.
I stepped out of Donovan’s embrace and turned to face Rowan. “Where are you going?”
“I have things to do at the Offices.”
Right. The Flame Lord was a busy man. My escapades must be seriously cutting into his limited time.
“Don’t work too hard.”
Rowan held my gaze. “You stay out of trouble.” He turned and left the room.
A knock pulled me from the nap I hadn’t intended to take. I sat up and looked around, reassuring myself that I was back in my room at the manor. The trip home from the hospital made me realize that I wasn’t as recovered as I thought. I’d decided to lie down for a bit; I hadn’t meant to fall asleep.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Yeah, come in.”
I suppressed a groan when Cora stepped in the room. “Good, you’re up.” She crossed to the foot of my bed.
“Sort of.” I rubbed a hand over my face.
“Rowan would like to see you in his office.”
I dropped my hand. “He’s already back?”
“You’ve been asleep most of the day.”
“Oh.”
She lifted a strap from her shoulder and set a familiar pack on the foot of my bed.
“My vials!” I sprang to my feet and reached for the pack. I started to open it and hesitated. Rowan h
adn’t seemed too keen on returning my vials earlier. “Does Rowan know about this?”
“It was his idea.”
I stared at my pack.
“Is something wrong?” Cora asked.
“I didn’t think he’d ever return my vials—at least, not while I was staying with all of you.”
“It’s not a choice I supported.”
I looked up. Surprised and yet not surprised by her bluntness.
“Betray his trust and you’ll deal with me.”
I held her gaze, refusing to let her see how much she intimidated me. “I won’t betray him—or you.”
She studied me one long moment. “This is no small matter. Rowan doesn’t trust easily. To trust is to relinquish control, and that’s not who he is. Or perhaps I should say, what he is.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Being an Element is more than being able to wield a certain type of magic; it is who we are. It defines us.”
“Okay.” I still didn’t get what she was telling me.
“Fire is the most volatile of the Elements. Rowan lost control once, not long after the magic returned. His family paid the price.”
“What—”
“It’s not my place to say, but he vowed to never lose control again. And he hasn’t.”
I thought about that, remembering his reaction with Lawson. Was that what had him so upset? Had he overreacted and ashed the man when he could have ashed the gun? How close had he come to hurting me?
“I believe that is why he has lived as long as he has,” Cora added.
I forced my attention back to the conversation. “And because being an Element defines more than his magic, he has to control everything.”
“You are indeed a bright girl.”
“Thanks for the condescension.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder, an oddly warm gesture from the woman who’d so casually threatened me. “You confound Rowan’s attempts to control you.”
“So, he threw in the towel and returned my vials.”
“I’m not sure what he was thinking there.” Without another word, she turned for the door.