Forbidden Alchemy (Elemental Book 7)

by Rain Oxford

  We were all silent for a moment. The tension was palpable.

  “Oh, did you not realize how drastic the stakes were?”

  “What do we do?” I asked.

  “As you know, magic is energy. We control that energy, but elementals keep it balanced. We help by trying to balance our own magic.” He gestured to the glowing symbols. “These are emitting something… call it a frequency… that is driving the elementals nuts. It’s hurting them and causing them to lash out. That’s causing the magic to become unbalanced, which is preventing us from doing magic correctly. The unbalanced magic and crazed elementals are making each other worse.”

  “Like a cycle?”

  “Yes. We can’t get the magic under control until we help the elementals, and we can’t help them because we don’t have control of our magic.”

  “So we have to stop the signal.”

  “Exactly! The problem is that the elementals are so crazed right now that they’re attacking anything and everything, including each other. They can’t understand that when we fight the symbols, we’re not trying to hurt them. As far as they know, we’re trying to kill them.”

  “And they’ll attack us.”

  “Yes. That’s where this comes in.” He gestured to the metal contraption.

  “It’s a faraday cage!” Remy said.

  “Yes, it is a crudely-designed faraday cage,” he said, getting excited.

  “I’ve heard of those when I was a kid,” I said. “It protects people inside from electricity.”

  “By distributing the electrostatic charges along the outside, right,” Darwin said.

  “But magic often acts like electricity,” I said.

  Darwin bounced on the balls of his feet. “You’re not a moron! I knew you could learn! I’m so glad I kept you!”

  “Get back to explaining. Why did you put it here?”

  “These sigils are perfectly evenly distributed, so there’s no dead spot. However, if we can drain this one sigil of its power for just a couple of minutes, we can create a landing pad for Hunt to get in through the shadow pass.”

  “But the sigils aren’t controlling the ward,” I said.

  “No, but the ward isn’t what’s keeping him out; the sigils are. He can’t walk in because of the ward. He can’t shadow-pass-in because of the elementals. The shadow pass uses… demonic energy. It’s foreign magic. These sigils can’t stop it, but the elementals can. They’re attacking the foreign magic that gathers here, so the door can’t form.

  “I don’t know about drawing out their energy,” I said. “It didn’t go so well last time.

  “I have a better plan. We’ll use Dr. Martin, and he’ll only drain one. Without your siblings to sabotage us, he should be able to manage that fine.”

  “How would my father be of any help?” Remy asked. “He’s powerful, but his magic would be just as messed up as ours. In fact, it would be even more dangerous because he’s so powerful.”

  “But he has a key, so he can open the shadow pass,” Henry said.

  “We need Ahz,” I said. “He’s the only one who can stop the elementals.”

  “I agree,” Darwin said. “It would be awesome if we could get him here, but we can’t. Unless he could use the shadow pass. You can’t summon a mortal of Earth. At least, I don’t think you can. What we can do is get Hunt here, and then he can open the shadow pass inside the cage so that a few of us can get out.”

  “Then we can get Ahz and bring him here to stop the elementals,” I said. Darwin tapped his nose. “Why is Remy at more of a risk than us?”

  “Because she’s going to summon Hunt. Just creating a landing pad isn’t enough. We need a blood connection that he can find.”

  “Then we’ll summon Vincent instead. I’m his blood connection, so Remy won’t have to be in danger.”

  She glared at me. “Do you honestly think I would let you risk yourself like that?”

  If I insisted, she would get pissed, and then she was going to get her way. Rather than letting her think I didn’t trust her, I was much better off pretending to go along with it until the actual danger came up. Then I could get her to safety and summon Vincent. Once everyone was safe, she would forgive me.

  I hoped she would, anyway.

  I could have used my magic to make her agree with me because of her problem with her father. I could literally put that thought into her head and get away with it. However, deceiving her by changing the plan at the last moment felt less conniving than using my magic on her.

  Darwin ignored her. “Vincent doesn’t have as strong a blood bond… unless he really is your father. We have to drain the sigil, and we will only have the power to do it once. We don’t have time for mistakes.”

  There went my plan.

  “That also means we will have two minutes at the most to get him here and us out of the school before his shadow pass closes up.”

  * * *

  Vincent arrived at the perimeter of the school on schedule at sundown. Punctuality was important to my uncle. “We have another plan on how to get out,” I said as soon as he was in earshot.

  “Excellent. What can I do to help?”

  “We need Hunt.”

  His face fell. “Oh. Of course. He is very powerful.”

  “It’s not that you’re not powerful,” I said. “I wanted to use your help instead of his. However, he’s Remington’s father, and you’re my uncle, so his blood bond with her is stronger. I really want to tell you the plan, but it wouldn’t be safe. Someone was listening yesterday and there could be someone else now. Can you get Hunt here a few minutes before midnight?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Good. Do that. We have to be ready then.”

  “Logan is worried about Remington and is preparing to come as we speak. He would have been here already, but I convinced him to fortify his defenses over Quintessence first in case someone wants him to leave.”

  “Good thinking. I think the person who did this is after John’s kids. We’ll figure that out later. Right now, we need to get Hunt.”

  “Okay. I will inform him and meet you back here at least ten minutes before midnight.”

  * * *

  I packed my bag full of everything I could think of that could come in handy. I also got my gun, just in case. Remington put Murphy in charge of protecting the kids while Dr. Martin helped us.

  Hunt arrived twenty minutes before midnight, eager to see his daughter. Like Vincent, Hunt looked half his age, with dark brown hair and wise silver eyes. Remington got her looks from her mother.

  Darwin gave Dr. Martin an incantation written in German that was modified to focus on a single sigil. “Are you up for this?” I asked.

  “I will do what I can, but you mustn’t be surprised if a couple ghosts are destroyed in the process.”

  That sucked. I didn’t really understand the process of what made a person a ghost, but I knew he meant that they would be permanently gone. However, we had to break this curse.

  “Remy, focus your mind on your father,” Darwin said. Remy, who excelled in the most mentally challenging magic, had no problem focusing. When he handed her an iron bowl and said, “You know what to do,” I got a bad feeling. “Henry and Devon, be ready the instant Hunt appears. Dr. Martin, we go on your lead.” I picked up the blanket folded to the side.

  Remy was in the center of the cage while Darwin, Henry, and I stood on the far side, trying to give her as much room as possible. Dr. Martin was outside the cage. As he began chanting, I felt energy crackle along the metal of the cage and felt like I was next to an electric fence.

  Remy knelt, set the bowl down, and drew her knife. I knew better than to interrupt her; this kind of thing was normal in the paranormal world. Thus, I didn’t react when she cut her hand and bled into the bowl. She chanted something quietly in another language.

  The wind started picking up at the same time as a black cloud formed over us, although it wasn’t easily visible against the night sky. Dr. Martin
moved closer to the cage as he chanted louder.

  It only took a few minutes before the wind turned into a tornado around us and rain fell in thick sheets. Dr. Martin ignored it.

  Glowing red spots formed in the thick gray wall of the tornado, like red fireflies. Only they weren’t harmless fireflies; they were fire elementals. Seconds later, mud and rock filled the tornado. To no one’s surprise, lightning struck the cage, followed a moment later by fireballs and rocks. A couple of rocks flew through the bars of the cage, but we managed to avoid getting hit. The fireballs and lightning were repelled.

  Dr. Martin was avoided, fortunately. I didn’t know if he was invisible to them or if they were actually afraid to attack him. Either way, we had to stop this before that changed.

  “Stay focused!” Darwin warned. The bowl of blood was subtly glowing, but Remy was having a hard time reciting her words when everything that hit the cage was loud.

  I summoned my staff to me, earning a few angry lightning bolts to the cage for my efforts, but it appeared in my hand. Just like when I was in the igloo, I opened myself to them. They were desperate, in pain, and angry. They would do anything to end the attack on them.

  I focused on peace. My energy filled the staff and I put my hand over the crystal to tell it to wait. I let it build as I recalled every peaceful moment of my life, until the elemental attacks threatened to break my concentration. Finally, I unleashed my magic.

  For a moment, all was quiet, as if they were stunned. Then, slowly, the storm broke apart and settled. I was exhausted, but I pushed through. The calm would only last a few minutes.

  Finally, shadows crept across the floor of the cage. A moment later, they rose from the ground like a wave, only to retreat a second later when Hunt stepped out of them. Instead of disappearing, they pooled around him.

  “Are you sure you’re not going with us?” I asked Remy.

  She kissed me. “I’m going to protect the school.” She turned to her father. “You should go with them to help them.”

  Hunt shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone here.”

  “I’m not alone.”

  “Don’t argue with me. Whether you like it or not, I am your father. I have more experience than you and I want what’s best for you.” He gently pushed her out of the cage. I wrapped Darwin in the blanket and Henry picked him up.

  A moment later, the shadows enveloped us and cut us off from all light. The shadow pass was a cold place with absolutely no light, too much gravity, and a soft, uneven ground. It was also full of monsters that would eat Darwin because he’d never killed anyone.

  Suddenly, light returned and we were standing outside the school’s perimeter with Vincent. Henry unwrapped Darwin and made sure that he was okay as Rocky appeared. Her stony face was scowling, but the ever-present pain in my chest faded and I felt like I could breathe easy for the first time in a week.

  “I should lock you in a tower so that you cannot continue to endanger yourself,” she threatened.

  “I’m sure danger would find me.”

  She made a disgusted sound. Her presence was freshly in the back of my mind, though. It was a pleasant reminder after her long absence.

  Remington and Hunt met us at the parameter. “It worked,” Remy acknowledged. I knew she wanted to go with us, but she was needed at the school.

  I nodded. “We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  “I know you will be. If we don’t…” She trailed off, unable to finish.

  If we didn’t make it back in time, we wouldn’t see each other again. But I wouldn’t let that happen. “Stay here and keep watch over the school,” I said to Rocky. “I will check in regularly to make sure we stay ahead of this.”

  Remy nodded. “It’s almost as good as talking. Good luck.”

  “You, too.”

  She left. Hunt didn’t. “I see that you two are getting closer every day.” Hunt had already basically given me his blessing, because he preferred for Remington to be with me over Flagstone. Furthermore, he trusted Remington to follow her heart.

  “I will be back with help before it’s too late.”

  “I believe you.”

  “It’s a good opportunity for you to reconcile with her.”

  “That is not the reason I chose to stay behind.”

  “Then why?”

  “John figured out you cared about her before you started dating her. I am not going to let John’s children get the same opportunity.”

  Chapter 12

  Vincent wanted to go with us, but Hunt’s words wouldn’t get out of my head. “No. Protect my mother. If Veronica is after my siblings, she might be after me as well and try to use my mother against me. Henry, Darwin, and I can handle this.”

  He hesitated, clearly wanting to argue, but he knew I was right. Henry opened the shadow pass while I wrapped Darwin in the blanket again.

  “Does it feel normal?” I asked Henry, picking up my bag.

  “As normal as it ever does.”

  Shadows engulfed us and Henry took my arm. I guided Darwin along. My intuition prickled as we were surrounded by danger. I mentally sent Henry everything I remembered about Ahz. The better he could envision the boy, the better he could find him.

  “It feels like he’s further away than normal,” Henry said in my mind.

  “Can you find him?”

  “I think so.”

  We walked for a while. I had no sense of time in the shadow pass. When I suddenly felt like everything was about to go wrong, I tensed and prepared myself to be attacked. Instead, it was Darwin who shouted.

  “What?” Henry asked.

  “It touched me!”

  “What did?”

  “Don’t talk!” I insisted. It was too late, though. A hand wrapped firmly around my boot and a slimy tongue licked my hand.

  Darwin was pulled away from me and screamed.

  “Shift!” I demanded.

  “He’s vulnerable between forms,” Henry argued.

  I reached for my penlight, but the hand on my ankle jerked and I dropped it. The creature pulled me harder and caused me to fall. Fortunately, the ground wasn’t firm, so I didn’t hurt my head. Before I could do anything to defend myself, blinding red lightning struck the creature dragging me. In the split second of light, I saw the creatures for the second time.

  They were much more horrifying than the first time.

  The creature that had attacked me made a haunting rasping sound and curled up on the ground, twitching with pain. I grabbed my penlight, clicked it on, and aimed it at Darwin. He was in the fetal position with his hands over his eyes, his blanket was nowhere to be found, and he was surrounded by ten of the creatures.

  They had greenish-tan, slimy skin, no eyes, slit nostrils, and circular, gaping mouths full of rings of sharp teeth. They had four thin, long fingers on their hands with sharp claws on the tips. Three of them were licking Darwin’s skin and two more were biting him.

  My light frightened five of them away, but two attacked and one of them that was biting Darwin stayed latched to him. Henry shot lightning at the two that attacked, which was enough to scare two others away. The biter wasn’t giving up so easily.

  Henry raised his hand to attack. “Wait!” I shouted, reaching for my gun. Fortunately, he did. The creature was too close to Darwin, so instead, I shot it.

  It released Darwin, dropped to the ground, and twitched. Its legs and arms curled against its body like a dead spider’s. Darwin had a nasty circular bite on his upper arm and the side of his abdomen.

  I picked him up, careful not to touch his skin, but he wouldn’t relax. “We have to get out of here.”

  “We’re close.”

  Although I didn’t really understand how the shadow pass worked, I knew how it felt from when I had a key. I clicked off the light because we couldn’t travel with it, let alone get out. Instantly, hands tried to pull Darwin away. “Damn it! Now!”

  “We’re not there yet.”

  “They’re after
Darwin. He’s not going to make it there if we don’t get out.”

  The world appeared around us and the shadows crept away, breaking the holds of the creatures. I had never been so happy to be lost in a dark forest before. I set Darwin down and pulled up his sleeve to check his wound.

  “That looks horrible,” Henry said.

  “The one on his stomach is worse. Darwin, are you okay?”

  He didn’t respond, and when Henry tried to see his face, Darwin whimpered. “I don’t think he is,” Henry said. “Darwin, shift.” Darwin didn’t respond.

  “Is it imperative?” I asked.

  “It’s the only way to help his healing without a potion. His wolf brain taking over also gives his human brain time to process and recover from trauma. Yes, it is necessary.”

  I pushed my power into his mind forcefully, surprised by the resistance I encountered. Darwin was usually completely open to me. “Shift into a wolf,” I ordered.

  He did, slowly. Henry took the knife from my bag and cut Darwin’s clothes off. Darwin’s favorite hoodie was ruined, but there were more pressing matters. Darwin made no attempt to communicate or move. After a few minutes, he fell asleep, exhausted from shifting after the ordeal.

  “I’m going to shift and find the closest town. We need to know where we are and he will need food and water as soon as he wakes.”

  “Good. Stay safe.” Henry removed his clothes, shifted, and took off. I sat with Darwin in silence for a while. “We shouldn’t have brought you; you were safer at the school. We were warned that you shouldn’t go through the shadow pass if you haven’t killed someone. They must have smelled your innocence or something.” At the same time, I didn’t think Darwin would have let us go without him.

  I spent the rest of the time thinking up how we were going to get back to the school with Ahz without the shadow pass. For all I knew, we were in Russia. Of course, it was a lot warmer than our place, so I suspected it wasn’t Russia. I pulled out my phone and turned it on. To my shock, it worked.