by Becca Andre
It was all Elysia could do not to pace while she waited for James to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. She glanced around the room while she waited. Her room in the apartment over Addie’s lab. It felt like forever since she had been here.
“Ready?” she asked James.
He straightened his shirt, then showed her a grin that was more hound than human.
“No soul ripping,” she told him as they left the room. “Ian and I have our differences, but he’s still my grandfather.” Her seven-times-over great grandfather, but close enough.
“You’re no fun.” James gave her a wink and headed down the stairs.
They found Addie and Ian in the lab, both still hard at work at their respective workbenches, even though it was well after eight in the evening.
Addie looked up and her dark brows rose when she saw Elysia.
Elysia touched a finger to her lips, requesting her silence.
“What news do you bring us, James?” Ian asked, keeping his attention on the test tube he was capping.
Elysia walked to his workbench. “We just stopped by to tell you that you were wrong.”
Ian spun to face her. “Elysia?”
“It turns out that not only was James not bad for me, he was the flippin’ solution.”
Ian took her face between his cold palms and stared into her eyes. “You’re…”
“I’m not sure cured is the right word, but I’m me again. Only me. No extra souls. No—”
She didn’t get to finish as Ian pulled her to him, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “Thank God,” he whispered, his voice raspy with emotion.
The broken whisper took away her desire to scream I told you so, and she hugged him back. He had been a constant thorn in her side, but deep down, she knew that he cared about her.
He released her. “How?” He looked from her to James and back again.
“In a nut shell, we went into the land of the dead, I fed him my entire soul, and he stripped out the extra bits.”
Ian’s brow wrinkled, his gaze moving to James. “With your claws?”
“Of course not,” James answered, sounding angry. Then too, that was his normal tone with Ian.
The corner of Ian’s mouth quirked upward. He frequently seemed more amused by James’s attitude than angry. Elysia wasn’t sure how to interpret that.
“So, I’m off the hook?” Addie cut in.
“Yes,” James answered her, his tone softening.
“Huh.” Addie looked down at her cluttered workbench, giving Elysia the impression that she was disappointed that she hadn’t found the solution first.
Elysia walked over to her. “Thank you for working so hard to save me.”
Addie looked up from her assorted beakers and other alchemical paraphernalia. “I never did figure it out.”
“Knowing you were trying gave me hope and helped me hang on.”
“You give me too much credit.”
Elysia gripped her shoulders. “I’m very serious. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I came really close to giving up.” She glanced at James, embarrassed to confess that his concerns had been legitimate. “Hope is an amazing thing.”
“Trust me, I know.” Addie’s dark eyes held Elysia’s own. It had been Addie’s hope to cure Rowan that had led her down a dark path. They really hadn’t had a chance to discuss Addie’s involvement in Xander’s death.
“I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you could manage your own morally reprehensible deeds,” Elysia said, referencing a conversation they once had. It had been a joke at the time.
“Yes.” Addie didn’t offer any excuses.
“I knew you could. You care too much not to.”
“Have you been talking to Rowan?”
“No.” It seemed Rowan must have used the same argument. “But he’s a smart guy. He can figure things out on his own.”
“Hmm.” Addie turned to her workbench. She clearly didn’t want to talk about this—or maybe she didn’t want to make excuses for her actions. Maintaining her silence, she removed a beaker from the stir plate. Setting it on the counter, she frowned at it. “It still bothers me that I didn’t figure it out.”
Elysia smiled. Addie didn’t like unanswered questions. “I’m sure, but now, you can turn your full attention to curing Rowan.”
She sighed. “I haven’t made any progress on that front, either.”
“You’ll get it,” Elysia reassured her. “Speaking of Rowan…” She turned to James. “I would love to go see Cora and let her know that I’m better. It’s probably too late to change anything, but…”
“We could go see her at the manor,” James said.
“Would you call? I hate to show up so late unannounced.”
He agreed and walked over to the phone.
“Do you want to come with us?” Elysia asked Addie.
“Well, I—” She gestured at the cluttered countertop.
“Go on,” Ian said. “I’ll clean up.”
“That isn’t fair,” Addie said.
He waved away her concern. “You’ve been going nonstop for weeks now. Maybe some time away, with those you care about, will give you a fresh outlook.”
“I care about you, too. Come with us.”
“No.”
“Ian.”
“I don’t belong there. This is my place.”
Elysia knew how Addie felt. It seemed sad to always leave him here to work while the rest of them had a night out. It also worried her that he would see his continued existence as dull and pointless.
She walked over to him. “Would it start another argument if I asked you to teach me more about my magic? Maybe how to travel?”
Ian studied her, his gaze moving to James who was speaking into the phone. “I see no reason not to teach you now,” he told her.
“Yes!” She grinned. “Tomorrow?”
Ian returned the smile. “If you like.”
James ended his call and walked over to join them. If he’d been listening, he didn’t comment on Ian’s agreement to teach her more about her magic. “I spoke to Rowan,” James told them. “He said it’s fine if we come over.”
“I’ll go change,” Addie announced, then headed for the stairs.
Put on something sexy, Elysia thought at her.
Addie glanced back. “Does a T-shirt with no stains qualify?”
“No,” Elysia answered, stunned that Addie had heard her.
“Best I can do.” A smile, and Addie left the room.
Elysia turned and found James staring at her.
“You spoke to her,” he said. “Telepathically. The bond is still there.”
“Yeah,” Elysia said. “How is that possible? My soul doesn’t feel swollen at all. Certainly not like it did after I helped save her.”
“Maybe the bond is independent of reaping,” James said. “Other necromancers can form bonds.”
“With the dead.”
“What if it’s a merging of two souls? Its own thing.”
“Can’t you tell?” Elysia asked. “You can see souls.”
“Souls, not bonds.”
“You saw the connection between Ian and me when Alexander tried to force me to reap him.”
“That was still his soul. You hadn’t completed the reaping.”
“You said you could see the bits of the souls I had reaped in mine.” She suppressed a shiver, remembering the light and dark patches swirling beneath his skin when she feed him her soul in the land of the dead.
“Again, those were souls, not bonds.”
“He might be on to something here,” Ian said. “I can’t say as I ever considered the true nature of bonds. They just… were.”
“And some people can use them once formed,” James continued. “Doug can.”
“He seems to have a particular talent in that regard,” Ian said.
“You can use them, too,” Elysia told James. “You can certainly use the one between us.”
“Not well enough. I couldn’t speak to you while you were in that coma. Doug had to help.”
“Do you think it’s a limitation or a lack of knowledge? Maybe he could teach you how.”
James rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
“Teach you how to what?” Addie asked, rejoining them. It looked like all she had done was change her T-shirt and comb her ponytail.
“Use the bond between us,” Elysia explained. “We were discussing the nature of bonds. James speculated that they’re not so much souls, but something else. A link created between two souls.”
“Well, there’s clearly a magical component to souls. How much deeper it goes with regard to consciousness and identity and all that, I can’t say, but as the source of a necromancer’s power, I theorize that it’s made from prima materia.”
“First Matter,” James said.
“What’s that?” Elysia asked.
“The name is misleading,” Addie said. “It’s actually the energy of creation that is released again at death. The energy of the primordial chaos.”
Elysia didn’t find that explanation all that enlightening.
“In the case of souls, it’s the manifested First Matter found in the mortal world. Which is the opposite of New Magic’s power source. They are able to draw in the energy of unmanifested prima materia. Why or how, I have no clue.”
“But you think they’re both this prima stuff,” Elysia said. “That’s why you thought Rowan’s magical troubles and mine were related.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as I got.”
“Well, it sounds like you’re on to something. Though I have to admit I’m not following all this manifested, unmanifested stuff.”
“I can explain.” Addie picked up a dog-eared book from her workbench and thumbed through the pages, turning it to show Elysia a drawing of a pair of dragons. One was black and the other was white. They appeared to be eating each other’s tails. “This is the ouroboros.”
“It’s getting late,” James cut in. “Should we head to the manor?”
Addie sighed, disappointed to have her lecture cut short. She closed the book and gave Elysia an apologetic look. “I’ll explain my theories later. Being a uniquely talented necromancer, you might have some insights to offer.”
“You forget that I’m clueless about my magic.”
“But you have instincts, and I guarantee you they’re dead on.”
“Was that a pun?”
“I’m good with puns.”
“Let’s just say they’re not your magical talent.”
Addie stuck out her tongue and Elysia laughed.
“Voila!” Era lifted her arms to gesture at the room around them. She had finished the nursery. The curtains were hung, and the bedding now finished the crib, coordinating with the quilt draped over the end. Elysia smiled when she saw the mobile. Era had gotten the one with the cute Scottish Terriers.
“Wow,” Addie responded, though Elysia had to wonder how interested she really was. Addie didn’t seem the type to get excited over nursery decorations.
“And Donovan painted the murals? Free hand?” Addie asked.
“Yes,” Era answered.
“Geez, Rowan told me he had hidden depths, but how deep do they go?”
“Donovan and Era can lose themselves in an art museum for days,” Cora said, giving Era a fond smile. “Rowan and I have gone hunting for them more than once.”
The word hunting pulled Elysia’s attention to the other person in the room. James stood in the doorway, one shoulder leaning against the jamb as he watched them. He caught Elysia’s eye and smiled. God, she wanted to go to him and let him kiss her as he had this afternoon.
“I’m still debating on whether to have Donovan install a swing in the corner,” Era continued, drawing Elysia’s attention back to her. “I had one, but this is a boy.”
“Don’t look at me,” Addie said.
“True.” Era laughed. “I’ve seen your idea of decorating.”
“Milk crates and a cot?” James spoke up.
“Exactly.” Era grinned. “Hey, since we’re all here, how about a movie? We haven’t had movie night in forever.”
Elysia glanced at James and he smiled, no doubt remembering watching TV with Livie last night.
“I’ve got a deposition in the morning,” Cora said to Era.
“Come on, Cor. Live a little.” Era gave her sister Element a wink. “Elysia’s back. It’s too late to go out and celebrate.”
Elysia watched the exchange, touched by the sentiment. She hadn’t realized how close she had grown to all of them—and they her—until this moment.
Era took Addie’s hand and tugged her toward the door. “Let’s go see what we can pull together for snacks.”
“Keep Addie out of the kitchen,” Cora called after them. “I’m sure there’s still cookie dough on the ceiling.”
Addie flashed Cora a grin over her shoulder, then she and Era were gone.
“Has Addie blown up things in your kitchen, too?” Elysia asked.
“She once put alchemy in Christmas cookies.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. The crazy thing was, it worked.”
Elysia shook her head.
Cora walked over to her, the amused expression she wore turning serious. Elysia had always found her a bit intimidating. Maybe it was the lawyer thing. She didn’t think it was the magic. Then too, after Era’s display, maybe it was.
“Do you want to restart the adoption process?” Cora asked.
“I don’t know. Do I?”
“I thought you did. You do understand that I wasn’t taking him from you, only keeping him until you were well—and employed or married.” She smiled as she listed a couple of obstacles that had stood in Elysia’s way.
“What I meant was I couldn’t have done this.” She gestured at the room.
“Ah. I see. You know that all this isn’t necessary. It’s a little over the top to be honest. But after what she went through, I gave Era free rein. Decorating cheers her up.”
Elysia pulled her gaze from the elaborately decorated nursery. “You mean when Alexander had her.” She gave Cora her full attention. “Did that psychotic asshole do more than possess her?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Elysia saw James straighten, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’ve tried to ask,” Cora said, “but Era brushes me off. I know a lich like him can’t have sex, but that doesn’t mean he still couldn’t… abuse her.”
“He was a twisted bastard. He once stuck his tongue in my mouth, but I’m fairly certain it was just to shock me.”
Cora frowned. “Era has been having nightmares.”
“It could be from the possession. That can be just as violating, in my opinion. I could talk to her if you like. God knows, I’m an expert on the topic.” She made a face.
“I would appreciate that.”
Elysia nodded.
“So would you like to come by the law office tomorrow and get the paperwork started again?”
“On the adoption.”
“Yes,” Cora answered, though Elysia hadn’t phrased it as a question.
Elysia frowned, her eyes drawn to the closet full of clothes.
“All of this is his, wherever he ends up.” Cora gestured at the room. “But these are just material things. What he needs most is love, and you’ve given him that from the beginning.”
Elysia didn’t know how to respond.
Cora gripped her shoulder. “Come by the office tomorrow, and we’ll get things rolling again.” A final
squeeze, and she walked to the door. She patted James on the arm as she passed, then she was gone.
“She’s right.” James walked over to her.
“Is she?” Elysia asked. “Wouldn’t he be better off here? He would be loved. You know what the Elements are like.”
“But you’re the one with the passion to fight for him. That’s why we’re here tonight. You wanted back in the fight.”
That was true.
“And speaking of fights,” James continued, “he’s had an uphill battle. You were the one who was there for him, even when things didn’t look so good.”
She remembered well the feeding tube problems when he lost several ounces—which was huge on a baby who only weighed two pounds at the time. Then there were the troubles with his oxygen levels and the ongoing battle to wean him off the respirator. She remembered well one long night sitting by the nurses’ station, holding James’s hand and waiting for news.
“You were there, too,” she reminded him. James had never shied away from the unpleasantries. Nor had he been afraid to hold a baby connected to a multitude of tubes, who could just about fit in the palm of his hand.
“Where else would I be?” He echoed the words he had said not long after she had awoken from the coma.
“Not many people would allow themselves to become attached to a life that vulnerable.” And she had no doubt that he cared. She had seen him go off on a lazy nurse who had left the baby in a dirty diaper too long. And she knew he called the NICU to check on him often.
James shrugged. “He needs us.”
Us. The simple statement made her look up. “You know, I’ve never asked you how you felt about all this. I told you I wanted to adopt this baby, and you said okay and never complained about any of the craziness since.”
“I felt responsible for him, too. I was the one who asked you to Make his mother.”
“Oh. Right.”
“It did surprise me that you wanted to go so far as to adopt him, but after I thought about it, I liked the idea.”
She frowned. “You did?”
“Yes.” This time, he looked away. “You know, we should get downstairs if we want any say in the movie selection. If left to Era, it’ll be a horror movie.”