Forbidden Alchemy (Elemental Book 7)

by Rain Oxford

  To stop Remington and Henry from revealing their identity, Mandy, Benny, Leesa, and Nancy would sneak in and try to stop them. As soon as they entered the library, they would be trapped, and Dr. Martin and I would force them to take sleeping potions. It wouldn’t hurt them, but it would stop them from interfering.

  “Holy crap,” Darwin said in my mind. “Your idiot plan might actually be working. Four kids are sneaking out.” He was outside the West, hiding in wolf form.

  “Who?”

  “Those weird kids. Nancy, Mandy, Benny, and Leesa.”

  I sighed. It was strange to me that four kids who caused so much damage could be caught so easily. Then again, they weren’t evil masterminds like John. John used other people to do his dirty deeds.

  “I really don’t feel like this is the answer,” I said out loud without meaning to.

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Remy asked.

  “That’s my point. If they were smart enough to pull this off, they should be better at covering their tracks.”

  “They might not be powerful enough,” Remy said. “They’re kids, after all.”

  “What is their motivation? They’re here with us. They’re not getting anything from us.”

  “They’re kids,” Remington repeated. “They’re probably doing this as a prank.”

  “That is a hell of a lot of work for a prank,” Henry said.

  “There might be a change in the plan,” Darwin said.

  “Why? What happened?”

  “My wolf nose and fae magic are working together to become an excellent Elemental shit-fan detector. We’re about to have trouble on the Noah’s Ark scale.”

  “Where are the kids?”

  “They’re trying to be sneaky, so they’re moving at a bloody snail’s pace. They’re not going to make it if they don’t run.”

  “Maybe they’re creating a storm to hide their tracks.”

  “Even if they are responsible for everything, the elementals are really out of control, which means they’re really in danger.”

  “You don’t think they could be controlling the elementals?”

  “Elementals are the most powerful magical creatures there are. If these four kids can control all the elementals around here, they’re more powerful than John and we should just hand over the keys to the city now. They would have to be the most powerful wizards to have ever lived, much stronger than Langril and Krechea.”

  Shit. “Get inside. I’m coming for them.” I stood from my hiding spot. “Doctor, drop the trap. I need out.”

  “It takes time to put it up. Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” I reached the door and felt a crackle in the air as the trap broke.

  “What’s happening?” Remy asked.

  “Change of plans. They’re outside and something is about to happen. Proving their guilt isn’t worth them getting killed.” I didn’t take the time to explain any more. I heard the storm start a few seconds before I reached the front door of the West. Outside, the sky was dark with storm clouds, three tornadoes were forming, and it was raining harder than I’d ever seen it rain before. The downpour was so heavy that I couldn’t see the students. I headed towards the West, hoping they hadn’t run off the path to escape the storm. Another tornado formed in seconds.

  Halfway there, I finally spotted the four teens huddled together in the grass. I reached them and risked an explosion by creating a ward around us. Instead of an energy ward, however, I created one made of water. That actually worked, so I drew heat out of it. Since it was barely above freezing already, it wasn’t that hard to do. This wasn’t a simple spell, but I didn’t have time to think or second-guess myself. I created an igloo around us to protect us from death.

  When the rain and wind stopped, they looked up, shocked to see the ice shell around us. They were even more shocked to see me. “This won’t hold for long. Are you causing this?”

  “No!” Nancy said.

  “I know you’re doing something. Tell me, or I will leave your fate to the storm.” I was lying, but I had a great poker face.

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benny said.

  “I don’t like being lied to. I also don’t like being spied on. Most importantly, I don’t like being messed with. I’m a forgiving person, but I will not let people get away with hurting my friends.”

  “We haven’t hurt anyone!” Mandy said.

  “You don’t think this is going to hurt someone?” I asked, pointing upwards towards the storm.

  “We’re not controlling the storm!” Leesa insisted. “We can’t control elementals!”

  “You four were responsible for that letter. You manipulated the lake. You sent Cy to get me from the library. You caused Remington to spy on me this morning.” I didn’t actually know that last one; it was just a last-second guess. Based on their expressions, I wasn’t wrong.

  “We don’t know---” Benny started.

  When the ice shell cracked, he shut up. They were frightened, but they really didn’t believe I would leave them to the storm. My temper snapped, and so did my control over my power. “Tell me the truth!” I demanded. My magic filled their minds and took control easily.

  “We did it!” Benny admitted.

  “We’ve been messing with people!” Leesa confessed.

  “We were told to distract you!” Nancy added.

  “We had to stop you from breaking the curse!” Mandy declared.

  “But we haven’t done anything to the elementals!” Benny promised.

  “Had to? Told to? Who made you do this?”

  A dead tree struck my shield and cracked it further. Mandy and Leesa screamed and covered their heads.

  “We can’t stop it! Please do something!” Benny begged.

  “Does this have anything to do with John?”

  “Who?”

  “John Cross!”

  “I don’t know who that is,” Nancy said, looking to Benny as if he had the answers.

  It was genuine confusion and fear on his face. He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “How can you control people?”

  “We’re just powerful wizards,” Nancy said.

  “Tell the truth!” I said.

  “I am!” she shouted. “Please!”

  I needed more answers from them, but the storm was tearing my ice shelter apart, and it was getting worse by the second. “We will continue this and I will get answers.”

  When I called my staff to me, it appeared in my hand. I opened my mind to the storm as if I was trying to read its mind, and I felt it.

  I felt the sylphs and undine at war with each other, trying to make the unbalance stop. They had the same goal, they were in just too much of a fit to work together towards it. Although I couldn’t help them find balance, I wanted to give them a brief moment of peace.

  Thus, I focused on peace with every fiber of my being. There had been so many times when I had to dig deep for peace so that I didn’t lose my shit, namely every day I was married to Regina. My classes at Quintessence, as well as my lessons with Hunt and Vincent, helped me master focusing my mind, which was far more critical than learning new spells.

  No amount of raw power could help me if I couldn’t control it.

  The elementals were not happy that I was interfering, or that I existed at all at the moment. Before they could act, however, I pushed the sense of peace out to them. Unexpectedly, my power flowed into the staff instead. The crystal glowed warmly as it did.

  My intuition told me that this was good, so I didn’t stop it. At the same moment my ice shell was shattered by the storm, I unleashed my power.

  The roaring wind died. It took a few seconds for the rain to stop, but then we were left with an ominous silence. It truly felt like the calm before the storm. I was exhausted and felt like I could sleep for a week. Unfortunately, it would be hours before I could rest.

  “Get up. We have to get inside, because this is temporary.” Nancy started running towards the
West, but I hadn’t retracted my control over her mind. “Stop.” She did with a whimper. “We’re going to the East.”

  “Why?” Benny asked.

  “Because we’re not done talking. You’re not going to get away with what you’ve done that easily.”

  Mandy and Benny lowered their heads, and all four of them fell in line behind me. They acted like I was leading them to their execution. Of course, since they now knew I could control their minds, they probably thought I was going to do unspeakable things to them. That was insulting.

  We were most of the way to the school building when six teachers caught up to us, including Ms. Holland, Mr. Grant, ‎Ms. Bounds, Mr. Whittaker, ‎Ms. Davis, and Mrs. Konwerski. “Thank you for saving them, Mr. Sanders, but we’re under instructions to keep all students in the West,” Ms. Davis said.

  “These four are---”

  “Devon’s controlling the storm!” Leesa interrupted.

  “We saw him do it!” Nancy agreed. “Didn’t we, Benny?” She glared at Benny when he kept his mouth shut.

  “What were you doing sneaking out of the West?” Ms. Bounds asked.

  “We were just afraid,” Nancy said. “We heard that Benny’s sister was in the East and we were trying to find her.”

  They weren’t using magic on me, but my intuition warned me they were lashing out. I unleashed my powers into the minds of the teachers and felt magic trying to influence them. It was unfocused and emotional, more like what Amy could do than me. One of the students was making the teachers confused and easily persuaded. My intuition should have been giving me some kind of warning about the students other than that they weren’t acting alone.

  “These students are responsible for what has been happening,” I said. “I’m going to---”

  “No, we’re not!” Leesa shouted.

  “Interrupting is rude.”

  “They’re just kids,” Mr. Grant said. “I’m sure they don’t have the power to do that.”

  “Of course we don’t. Mr. Sanders must have us confused with someone else,” Nancy said.

  “Let’s get the students inside, and we will figure out who’s really behind it with Ms. Hunt,” Mr. Whittaker said.

  Leesa tried and failed to hide her smirk.

  My magic was already in the minds of the teachers. It was immoral, but I didn’t have time to waste. I was also frustrated that the students had the nerve to mess with the teachers and other students. Although I could have subtly broken the teen’s influence, I wasn’t in the mood. The longer the students had to sway others, the more likely they were to get away.

  “Go back to the Center and stay there for the rest of the night,” I ordered.

  Without a word, the teachers all turned and walked back to the Center. I expected trouble to follow, but at the moment, I was glad they knew they couldn’t challenge me. I needed to calm down. I still had to worry about my heart.

  “You’re scary,” Benny said. We continued to the East. Once there, I took the students to the library.

  As soon as they saw Remington, Leesa and Nancy rushed towards her. “Ms. Hunt! Thank goodness! Mr. Sanders is the one controlling the storm!” Leesa accused.

  Remington scowled at her. “You’re digging yourself into deeper trouble.” She looked at me. “I take it these are the ones who have been messing with us.”

  “Yes.” In response to her absolute trust in me, I relaxed.

  “He’s lying!” Leesa said.

  “We don’t know what he’s talking about,” Nancy insisted.

  “Save it.”

  Dr. Martin came forth and held out the potions.

  “Doctor, help us!” Nancy begged.

  My intuition warned me that the students were about to pull something, so I took over their minds. “Take a potion, drink it, and keep your magic to yourself.”

  The students obeyed, but not without pleading expressions aimed at Remington. Once they all took one and drank it, I asked. “How did you do what you did to everyone?” This time, I didn’t use my magic to force them.

  “I can make people forget stuff and remember things that didn’t happen,” Benny admitted.

  “That explains things. None of you was here before November, right?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  “I remember seeing you all for the entire school year,” Remington said.

  “I can make people believe me,” Nancy said. “I can also make them feel doubt.”

  “You were the one who made those teachers help you?” She nodded.

  “I can make people think I’m innocent and harmless… but it’s not working on you,” Mandy said. My intuition told me she was lying, at least in part. I figured she could do something else that she wasn’t ready to admit yet.

  I looked at Leesa, who scowled. “I can make people see things or people that aren’t real.”

  Henry growled. “You were the one who made me see Zoe.”

  “Yes. It was easy to get under your skin.”

  “We’ve only recently… learned that we can do this stuff,” Nancy said. She swayed slightly.

  “You should sit down,” Dr. Martin said. They did.

  “Why did you do this?” Remington asked. “What do you get out of messing with us?”

  “We had to distract you and stop you from breaking the curse,” Mandy said. Being the smallest of the teens, she barely got the words out before she passed out. I stopped her from toppling over and leaned her back in the chair.

  “Who are you working with?” I asked.

  Benny shook his head. “I don’t know.” He dropped his head and was out.

  “What are you going to do to us?” Nancy asked.

  “You’re going to sleep until we can break the curse. You’ll be safe.”

  “But you won’t be,” Leesa said.

  “She really hates you,” Nancy said as her eyes closed.

  “Who?” She and Leesa were out.

  I sighed with frustration.

  “Maybe we should have waited to give them the sleeping potion,” Henry said.

  “No,” Remington said. “They’re too dangerous. They’ve been messing with all of our minds and we can’t trust them. We’ll find out everything we need to on our own.”

  “It’ll be easier to understand the situation without them interfering,” I agreed. “I’m also going to have to do some damage control with the teachers who tried to stop me from bringing the kids in.”

  Chapter 10

  Sunday, November 27

  Remy woke me in the best way possible, and we spent a good twenty minutes together before she had to get to work. “We need to do something fun during winter break.”

  “Fun or relaxing?” I asked.

  She frowned and sat on the bed to put her boots on. “Both.” She kissed me and left.

  Breakfast was uncomfortable. Some of the teachers who would normally eat in the dining room took their food and left without looking at me. Others huddled together and whispered. Soon, however, Darwin, Henry, and Amelia joined me.

  “Would you consider it dirty if I asked you to lick my peach?” Darwin asked me before anyone said anything. Amelia blushed.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  Amelia blushed harder.

  “And what if Amy said it?”

  “No.” Amelia was far too innocent to take anything she said the wrong way.

  “That’s my point.”

  “I don’t see it.”

  “We made a bet and she lost, so for the entire day, every sentence out of her mouth has to be dirty.” Henry and I groaned. “Except in front of the kiddies, of course. Anyway, there isn’t much point, is there? If she said ‘Nimm mich von hinten,’ people would smile and pat her head.”

  Amelia hid her face in her hands. She probably wanted to tell him to shut up, but wasn’t willing to break her agreement or say something dirty.

  The ridiculousness of my friends improved my mood, but not the disposition of the dining room. After a few minutes, there was
an awkward silence. “What’s going on?” Darwin asked.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t heard. We captured the four kids who have been messing with us, but in an effort to stop me, they pulled in several teachers. I made the teachers return to the Center. Now they probably think I’m behind it all.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Darwin said.

  “I can deal with it myself. You focus on getting us out of here while I take care of the people behind the curse.” Henry and I updated him on what happened in the library.

  When I was done, he said, “I’m sorry I missed it. How are you holding up, Henry?” When Henry frowned at him, he rolled his eyes. “With Addison gone.”

  “Oh.” Henry paused to consider it. “I enjoy not arguing. I wish she could watch Scott, though.”

  “Damn, that’s cold. I knew she wasn’t right for you, but I thought you cared a bit more about her than as a free babysitter.”

  “I thought I did as well. It makes sense to be upset that she’s gone. After years of being with her, we should have at least been friends. Instead, I woke up this morning alone and liked how quiet it was. Then I rolled over and saw Scott in his bed, sleeping peacefully. He’s a quiet child. Addison is so loud in everything she does.”

  “Why didn’t you break it off earlier if you were so tired of her?” Darwin asked.

  Henry shrugged. “I didn’t know I was. It wasn’t until I saw Zoe yesterday that I realized this, though. I thought I had just shut down like I used to, but seeing her and feeling deep heartache and loss made me realize that Addison never made me feel the same as Zoe did. I’m glad Addison is finally moving on. I hope she finds a man who loves her like I loved Zoe.”

  “You realize that she’s going to expect you two to be closer than ever when she returns, right?”

  Henry paled slightly. He had trouble expressing himself around Addison under good circumstances, so we all knew this would end in a fight.

  Before Darwin could continue, Amy said, “Leck mein muschi.”

  Darwin dropped his fork and spit water across the table. Before I could ask him what she said, he jumped out of his seat. “Sorry! Got to go!” He grabbed her by the arm and bolted.