The Blood Alchemist (The Final Formula Series, Book 2) (35 page)

Neil frowned. “What the hell did Emil do to you? How could you have forgotten everything we spent decades trying to accomplish? This was your dream, Amelia. You wanted to gain alchemy the respect it deserves.”

My heart thumped a dull beat in my ears. It seemed my dream hadn’t changed. “If I sanctioned your methods, then I was wrong. So very wrong.” I turned to the desk and upended the Erlenmeyer flask over the bullets.

“What are you doing?” Neil took a step toward the desk.

I met his white eyes. “You’re done.” With Ian’s help, I’d transport him to the PIA. I eyed the bullets. Maybe I should wait to destroy them. The PIA would need evidence.

No. I couldn’t risk them falling into the wrong hands, especially now that the world knew what they could do.

I picked up a letter opener. One more cut and I’d end this. “Ian, open the portal. As soon as I light this, grab—”

“No!” Neil shouted. He lunged for me, but didn’t try to grab me. Instead, he shattered a vial at my feet.

A sickly yellow gas rolled up from the floor so quickly that I couldn’t avoid it. The moment it brushed my exposed skin, my flesh felt like it had caught fire. I kept it together enough to hold my breath, but little more.

Squeezing my tearing eyes shut, I tried to run away. In my haste and confusion, I’d forgotten about my foot. When I took a step, the glass stabbed deeper and I stumbled. I caught myself on the edge of the desk with my left hand. The hand I’d nicked with the knife.

A flash of heat and the whoosh of flames registered on the senses I still had. My blood must have made contact with the potion I’d dumped over the bullets. I sucked in a breath to scream and the acrid fog seared my lungs.

I thought I heard Neil scream, but I wasn’t certain.

Arms encircled me. I tried to fight back. Blind and in pain, my efforts were nothing organized. I thrashed around, but the embrace didn’t loosen. My world dissolved into agony. Somehow, I ended up on my back, strong hands gripping my biceps.

“Hold. Still.”

Was that—

An explosion of air in my face…and the scent of Knockout Powder.

Chapter
28

I
woke on my side, the surface beneath me hard and unyielding. It took some effort to pry my eyes open. My lashes were matted together. It felt like someone had sand blasted the inside of my eyelids. I had to rub them before I could pull the lids apart enough to see my surroundings.

Blinking, I focused on a counter across from me. Lab equipment covered the surface, the setup familiar. It was Ian’s workbench. I was back in our lab.

I pushed myself upright, groaning as my cramped muscles were forced into service. How long had I lain here?

“Easy.” Ian appeared beside me and gripped my shoulder as I swayed. He wore the red brocade smoking jacket, his clothing immaculate as always. Gold cufflinks glinted at his wrists.

I stilled as everything came rushing back, then pulled away from his hand. “What are you doing?” My voice rasped and I had to clear my throat. “How did we get here?”

“I brought you here.”

“You hit me with Knockout Powder.”

“To allow you to heal without pain. I also dug the glass out of your foot while you were unconscious.”

I lifted my leg to stare at my bandage-wrapped foot. “I didn’t command you to help or heal me.” Unease crawled along my skin, raising goosebumps. “The potion wore off.”

“Actually, the effects only lasted about thirty seconds.”

I blinked.

“My actions were my own.”

For a moment, I could just stare at him. “Why?”

He turned away. Folding his hands behind his back, he studied the ceiling. “I decided that you’re the one most likely to help me free my daughter.”

“Bullshit.”

He turned to face me, one corner of his mouth twitching upward. “Are you doubting my words or your ability?”

“Your words, clearly. There’s nothing wrong with my ability. There never was.”

“True. But my words were also true. When you said you’d help her even if I wasn’t involved, I realized you weren’t lying.”

Perhaps, but… “There’s more to it. The blood oath?”

He leaned against the counter across from me, but maintained his silence. I had the distinct impression he was debating on how much to say.

“Spill, Ian. You owe me that much.” And so much more.

“It is the blood oath, but not for the reason you think.”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

“It’s your blood. I suspected it when you explained how you commanded the dead, but it wasn’t until you used it on me that I understood. You truly are Paracelsus’s descendant.”

“How does my blood prove that?”

“Paracelsus didn’t find the azoth. He
was
the azoth.”

“Come again?”

“He possessed the ability to imbue his own blood with the properties of his choosing.”

“Anyone can do that. Starve yourself, bottle hunger. Hurt yourself, capture pain. Though it does take a certain masochistic flare. Of course, you can also have it done
to
you.”

If Ian felt guilty about that, it didn’t show. “That takes weeks.” Ian pushed off the counter and walked toward me. “I’m talking seconds and with no more than a thought. You commanded the dead.”

“I had that necro essence.”

“For the animation.” He stopped in front of me. “I felt it when you touched your blood to my tongue. Your blood bound me. As you did that zombie.
That’s
how you commanded the dead.”

Cool fingers of dread gripped my stomach. Only a necro could blood bind the dead.

“I’m not a necromancer.” Why did I have to keep repeating that?

“You are no more a necromancer than you are an Element, yet I just watched you command elemental fire through your own blood.”

“I just keyed the potion to my blood, so I wouldn’t have any accidental explosions.”

Ian snorted. “Just.” He shook his head. “That isn’t something
just
any alchemist can do. You’re a blood alchemist of the highest order.”

I flinched.

“Stop that!” Ian’s sharp tone made me look up.

“What?”

“This, this…” he waved a hand at me as he searched for a word. “This reaction you exhibit every time someone mentions blood alchemy. A talent, whether mundane or magical, is not evil. It is what is done with that talent that determines good or bad. Even necromancy is not inherently evil.”

“I might have done evil.” If Neil was to be believed, there was no
might
about it.

He caught my chin in his cold fingers. “Let it go. You are no longer that person—if you ever were.”

I wanted to pull away from his dead touch, but I held my ground. “You’re saying people can change. The bad become good. Is that what you’re telling me?” Did he see the irony? He didn’t have to save me and heal me. He could have just as easily Made me and forced me to tell him what I knew about those canopic jars.

He released my chin. “I am beyond redemption.”

“You can’t have it both ways.”

Another hint of a smile. “You are impossible to argue with.”

“Yeah.” I rubbed my breastbone. The numbness was beginning to wear off. “Rowan once mentioned that.”

“He’s alive.”

I looked up.

“Rowan’s alive,” he clarified.

“But…you sabotaged all my formulas.”

“Not the ones you created when you weren’t here.”

The original auto-injectors. I stared at him.

“I know death,” Ian said.

“That’s what you told Neil.”

“I lied.” Ian’s cheek dimpled. “I told you I am beyond redemption.”

“Oh God.” I slid off the counter. My injured foot ached, but it held me. “I need a phone.” I started for the front of the shop.

“And shoes.”

I glanced down at my bare feet. Good point. Shoes, then a pay phone.

James answered on the second ring, and it was all I could do not to burst into tears.

“Thank God,” I whispered.

“Addie! Where are you? I’ll—”

“The convenience store down the street from my shop.”

“What?”

“I’ll give you a recap later.” I took a breath. “Where’s Rowan?”

“University Hospital.”

I closed my eyes. Ian hadn’t lied. Wait. The liches were headed to University Hospital.

“The liches,” I said. “Did they—”

“Storm the front lobby armed to the teeth, yes. Then they burst into flame.”

I released a breath. I’d gotten them in time.

“Do you know something about that?” James asked. “I know it wasn’t Rowan…”

“Yes, it was me. I—” Then it hit me. “A hospital? What’s Rowan doing in a hospital?” He healed too fast to ever need much medical care.

“He’s in a coma.”

“What?”

“A coma. They’ve done tests.” He shuffled the phone, changing ears or moving away to ensure privacy? “What was the antidote supposed to do?”

“I designed it to suppress the magic in the bullet.”

“Addie, he’s so magical it’s scary. I know, I’ve tasted his blood.”

I fell silent.

“It was at the crematorium. I had lost him and had to hunt him via—”

“I’m not judging you. I’m thinking.”

It was James’s turn to remain silent.

I remembered another time Rowan had been drained. “Okay. I got it.”

“Already?” A smile colored his words.

“Does he have any more of his remedy?”

“No, we used the last of it trying to wake him.”

“Then I’ll be over as soon as I make more.”

“Won’t you need a blood sample?”

I thought about what Ian had told me. I could deny it if I wanted, but deep down I knew he was right. “I don’t need it,” I said to James. “I’ve got another approach.”

“Without blood alchemy?” Was it my imagination or did he sound pleased?

I sighed. “I’ll give you the details when Rowan’s awake.”

A slight hesitation. “Okay. See you soon.”

Ian and I stepped out of a portal into the polished white hallway. Yep. Hospital. I recognized the smell.

A woman a few yards away gave a cry of alarm at our sudden appearance. The man with her wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the nearest room. The door slammed behind them.

“Perhaps you should have tried to be more discreet,” I said.

“Why?”

I shook my head. Ian might pretend to be ignorant of the world around him, but I suspected he just liked to mess with people.

Someone stepped into the hall a few doors down and I looked up, meeting James’s green eyes. He took a step toward me, then stopped, his gaze on Ian.

I glanced over at my companion. “Ian.”

“I’m not going to do anything, but if it makes you feel better…” He pulled open the portal. “Call if you need me.” He stepped back and vanished.

I hurried to James.

“Still consorting with necromancers?” His eyes dropped to my clothing and he frowned. “Why are you wearing that?”

“It was Neil’s idea.”

“Neil?”

“I might have killed him. I need to go back and look for a body to be sure.”

James’s brows climbed his forehead, but I was too anxious about Rowan to stand and chat. I walked into his room.

Rowan lay in the bed. The sight of him in a hospital gown, skin pale and an assortment of monitors hooked to him, stopped me more than Cora stepping into my path.

“I don’t want you here,” she said.

“Cora.” Donovan stepped up beside her.

“What are you doing, Cor?” Era left Rowan’s bedside. “Addie can fix him, just like she fixed me.”

Cora never took her eyes from mine. She pressed her lips together, and I knew she wanted to tell Era the truth, that she
would
tell Era the truth one day. I’d have to beat her to it, but not today.

“My antidote was designed to suppress the magic in the bullet, but I didn’t understand just how magical he, or any of you, are.” I pulled a vial from one of the tiny pockets worked into the scrunched fabric along my ribs. “This is Emil’s, though I’ve blended it into a paste. I used it on Rowan once before. It ramps up his power. I speculate that bringing back his power will bring him back.”

“That’s too dangerous.”

I pulled out a second vial. “A refined version of his remedy. The original formula worked well to bring his power under control last time.”

“Don’t you need his blood for that?”

“It’s a refined formula.” I slipped out a third vial filled with a fine white powder. “If that doesn’t work to bring his power back under control, I have Extinguishing Dust.”

“Why do you still have that?”

“It was left over from the original batch. I hung onto it. Just in case.”

“In case what?”

“In case you decided to kill me?” Or in case Rowan ever got so bad off that I’d need to remove his power completely, but I didn’t say that.

Cora turned to Donovan. “We can’t do this here. It’s too public. If he loses it…”

“He didn’t lose it last time,” I said. At least, not in a significant manner. “This time, I’ll give him the remedy immediately.”

“And we’re all here,” Era said. “We’ll balance him.”

While they continued to debate, I moved to Rowan’s bedside. It really, really bothered me seeing him like this. Though it was far better than seeing him in a casket.

I sat down on the side of the bed.

“Addie.” Cora moved over beside me. Did she think I’d start without her consent?

“Have you decided?”

She glanced at the others, then nodded. “Do it.”

“Let me,” James said, sitting down on his other side. “I’m not flammable.”

“I did this, I’ll fix it; but you can help. Once this paste takes effect, lift him up so I can get the remedy in him.”

James pulled him up with ease, holding Rowan so his head leaned back against James’s shoulder.

I lifted Rowan’s sleeve and rubbed a pea-sized dollop of paste into the warm skin of his upper arm. Then we waited.

“How long?” James asked.

“It was instantaneous last time, but he’d been semi-conscious and I gave him more. I’m not sure—”

Rowan gasped, his eyes opening to reveal irises of rolling flame. He immediately squeezed them shut and doubled over. The IV stand beside the bed went up in a flash of light.

“Rowan, don’t!” Cora shouted. They all moved closer to the bed.

“Easy.” James wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “We’re in a crowded hospital.”

I pulled the lid off his remedy. “Here.”

Rowan didn’t look up.

“Addie has a potion for you,” James said. “It’s your remedy.”

A pause and Rowan straightened. Once again, I stared into eyes of flame.