The Catalyst of Corruption (The Final Formula Series, Book 4) (34 page)

Chapter 30

I
stared into Elysia's eyes, truly
seeing who had possessed her. I now knew why this ghost had chosen Elysia and why it had led us to Ian's journal. We had found his daughter.

“Mattie,” Ian whispered, the pain in his voice like a razor to my soul. I remembered the first time he had met Elysia. He had mistaken her for his daughter. I knew they possessed the same hair and eye color, but I wondered now, as I had wondered then, just how much deeper the resemblance went.

She regarded him with a cool stare. “Hello, Father.”

“Please, Mattie.” Ian held out a hand to her. “Don't hurt Elysia. She's an innocent in this.”

“And I wasn't?”

“I never said that.” His voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. “I know I can never make it up to you, but give me a chance to save her.”

“Are you willing to do what you should have done?” she asked.

“I can't change the past.”

She regarded him in silence for one long moment. “No, but I can change the future.” She turned and faced Alexander.

“Now, Mattie.” Alexander started to take a step to the side and stopped with a gasp.

“You can't vanish into the veil. Not when you're dead and this body is alive.”

He frowned. “Then I guess I need to change that.” His eyes went white, and in the next instant, Elysia was airborne. She slammed into the far wall. Hard.

“Lex, don't,” Ian said.

I glanced at Era. She was watching Elysia with those metallic amber eyes. Great. It seemed Alexander and Mattie were going to use their avatars to do battle. I was fine with Alexander and Mattie duking it out, but not Elysia and Era.

Elysia shoved herself to her feet, her white eyes shifting to Era.

“No, don't.” I stepped in front of Era. “She's not the one doing this. You know that.” I didn't know what a soul reaper could do to the living from a distance, but I wasn't willing to find out.

Elysia doubled over, gasping. Oh shit, Era must have cut off her oxygen.

Alexander laughed. “Move aside, alchemist. Let me show you my power over New Magic, though once I possess the Fire Element, this will go much quicker. Right, Dunstan?”

“Absolutely.” Neil stood watching with a smile on his face. It looked like Alexander intended to go along with his plan.

Elysia dropped to her knees.

“Lex, stop,” Ian demanded. “She is the last of your line. The Family must remain strong.” I had no doubt Ian was playing Alexander now.

Alexander shrugged. “It will be, forever. It has us.”

“But—”

Alexander faced him. “Once our mortal bodies are returned to us, we will have no need of our offspring. Most are only sad reflections of the originals, anyway.”

Elysia lifted her head, her white eyes narrowing.

“What are you suggesting?” Ian walked over to him.

“We will cull them. Then it will be just you and me, taking the Family into the future, taking the entire magical community into the future.”

“We still need the Family, Lex.” Ian spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child—or the insane. I had a sense it wasn't the first time he'd used that tone with Alexander.

Elysia collapsed to the floor. Her hand opened, and the finger bone clattered against the tile.

“Ely!” I started toward her, then stopped. I couldn't help Elysia that way. I spun to face Era. “Let her go!” I shoved my hand in my pocket and pulled out the vial of alchemical mustard gas. But how was I going to gas an Air Element?

Ian glanced at me at that moment, and I dipped my head toward Alexander. If he could distract his brother, I might be able to make this work.

“Lex, listen to me.” Ian stepped forward and, much as he had at their first meeting, wrapped his hand around the back of Alexander's neck and pulled him closer.

Alexander went willingly, copying the gesture until their foreheads touched.

Now was my chance.

Vial in hand, I ran at Era.

“Alexander!” Neil shouted. “Stop her.”

I lifted my arm to throw the vial and slammed into a wall of nothing. I hit so hard that it knocked me back several feet, and I landed on my butt. The vial flew from my hand, shattering just a foot away. Brown gas billowed up, rising quickly to fill the air around the broken vial.

Holding my breath, I shoved myself to my feet. My eyes burned and watered, but the gas didn't get a chance to debilitate me before I was thrown the length of the room. The wall beside the door stopped my flight. My shoulder hit first, followed by my head.

 

My next conscious thought was
to wonder why Livie had such a worried look on her face as she knelt over me. She turned her head before I could ask. Then a growl filled the silence.

I rolled onto my side, gasping at the pain in my shoulder and head.

“Easy,” Livie whispered to me.

I didn't have time to indulge her. Using my left arm, I pushed myself into a seated position. The room spun around me, and a warm droplet rolled down from my hairline. I touched my fingers to it, and they came away bloody. I would have some impressive bruises later—if I survived.

James stood a few yards away, in hellhound form, Doug at his side. Somehow, they had escaped their drawers.

Alexander glared at them.

“You won't be able to take him from me,” Doug said to him. “I have sheathed the bond.” He gave Elysia a worried glance. “What have you done to her?”

If the bond Doug referenced was the one between James and Elysia, then she must still be breathing. Of course, James wouldn't be standing there so calmly if she wasn't.

Alexander turned to Ian. “The boy is amazingly talented for one without a blood gift.”

“Of course he is. Why would you expect less?”

Doug glanced between them before addressing Alexander once more. “What have you done to Elysia?”

“This.” Alexander waved a hand at Era, and suddenly Doug was airborne. He flew over the cremator and slammed into the far wall. I cringed as he hit, knowing just what that felt like.

“What was that?” Livie whispered to me.

“Alexander has taken Era.”

“Oh, I see.”

I glanced over at her, catching the flicker of white in her normally blue irises. “See what?”

“The connection between them.”

“James, go,” Ian said.

James vanished, leaving only a snarl to echo around the room.

“What did you just do?” Alexander demanded.

“I took the grim out of the equation before the boy could use him against us,” Ian waved a hand at where Doug had landed.

“I will take care of him.” Alexander turned to Era, and she started walking toward where Doug was attempting to return to his feet.

Doug gasped and reached up to grab his throat.

“Stop this.” Livie stepped forward, her white eyes on Alexander.

He pursed his lips, studying her. “Who is this?” he asked Ian.

“Joseph's descendant.” Ian watched Livie with obvious concern. I suspected that he wished he could send her away as he had James.

Alexander frowned. “Did you know about this?”

“Her power has only manifested in the last few days.”

“Yesterday, actually,” Livie said.

“The gift runs in the Family, you know,” Ian said to his brother.

Alexander frowned.

“Is she the first since you?” Ian asked.

My breath caught.

Livie stared at him. “What?”

Ian keep his attention on his brother. “Or have you been culling the line?”

“Are you saying the girl is a ghoul master?” Neil turned to Alexander. “She could mess up everything, Deacon.”

“Mess up what?” Doug had regained his feet. A trickle of blood ran from a split on his chin, but he seemed okay. I was more concerned about the frown he was giving Livie.

“World domination.” I stepped forward and gripped Livie's shoulder, pulling her back out of Alexander's reach. “There's just one small detail he's forgetting.”

“And what is that, alchemist?” Alexander asked, his expression smug. He truly saw me as no threat. His loss.

“I hold all the keys.”

“It's a bluff,” Neil said. “I have captured the prima materia, and with a few adjustments, I will be able to genetically alter New Magic to make them susceptible to Old. It worked as I promised you: she has given me everything I need.”

“Not everything.” I ran my finger through the smear of blood on my forehead, then held up my finger. “There is one little detail I never gave you.”

Ian watched me, his lips pressed together in a small smile. He knew I spoke of the azoth, that I hadn't given Neil everything.

Neil's eyes narrowed and he glanced at Ian. Then his eyes went white. “What's she talking about, Ian.”

Oh shit. With everyone's attention focused on Ian, I leaned down and whispered in Livie's ear. “Take Era.”

“What?” she gasped.

Doug was watching me, and I dipped my head toward Ian.
Take him
, I mouthed.

Doug gave me a small nod, and his eyes went white. “Don't answer him, Ian.”

Neil whirled to face him. “Deacon, please remove my cousin,” he spoke between clenched teeth.

Era, who had been standing with her head bowed, lifted her amber eyes to Doug. He flew back, thumping against the wall once more, but this time, he didn't fall to the floor. Era held him pinned to the wall.

“Now,” I whispered to Livie. I didn't wait for her response. I ran forward—right at Alexander. It was suicidal, but I had to distract him long enough for Livie to act.

“Addie, no!” Ian stepped into my path and caught me.

“Damn it, Ian, move!” I tried to push past him.

Alexander laughed. “Thank you, Lory. I rather like this suit. I would hate to get blood on it.”

“Deacon, the girl!” Neil shouted.

Alexander spun away from us.

Era released Doug who, once again, fell to the floor. She started to turn, but Livie reached her first. She jumped onto Era's back and wrapping an arm around her, shoved a finger into her mouth. In the next instant, Livie was airborne and flying toward the far wall with incredible speed.

Suddenly, James was there. He must have been watching from the veil. A shimmer of darkness, and he shifted human an instant before he caught her, but even then, her momentum carried him backward, and he slammed into the wall with a grunt.

“Perfect,” Alexander whispered. “Grim, rip out her soul.”

“No!” I screamed.

James released Livie, and she stumbled away from him. A shimmer of darkness, and he was the hellhound.

“Lex, don't.” Ian took a step toward his brother.

“Silence, Mallory,” Neil said. “And don't give the grim a command. Deacon, please continue.”

Alexander regarded Ian. “It must be done, Lory. You know that ghoul masters must not be permitted to live.” He gave Ian a knowing look before his attention shifted back to James. “Grim, I gave you a command.”

“No,” I whispered. Doug was still on the floor, Elysia was out of it, and Ian belonged to Neil. There was no one to countermand Alexander's command.

James dropped into a crouch, his glowing eyes on Livie.

“James, don't,” she said, her eyes went white.

Alexander chuckled. “It'll require someone as talented as Doug to take him from me, girl. And it'll take a ghoul master far more skilled than you to take the Element from me.”

“James?” Livie took a step back, her hands lifted as if to ward him off.

I ran for James, hoping to delay him.

James lifted his lips, exposing those wicked-sharp teeth. But it was a grimace and not a snarl.

I reached out, trying to catch his tail as he sprang forward. A brush of fur, and he was beyond me.

A portal opened behind Livie. She threw her arms up, covering her face as he sprang at her. He didn't knock her into the portal, but jumped through her, no doubt taking her soul with him.

She fell to the floor.

I pressed both hands to my mouth. Oh God, Livie.

A clatter sounded behind me, and I spun toward the sound.

Ian stood facing us, a skull in his hands.

I frowned, not understanding what I was seeing.

“Wh—?” Livie whispered. She had pushed herself up on one elbow, but didn't seem to have the strength to sit up. Her eyes rolled back, and she slumped against the ground once more.

I looked back in time to see Ian drop the skull. It fell to the floor, landing with another clatter atop a pile bones scattered around an expensive suit.

Alexander.

Oh God. Ian had ripped off his head much as he had that deformed lich in Psyche's workshop. And once the necromancy and the magic of the Final Formula were released, Alexander had taken his true form. Ian had ended his brother to save Livie.

Ian stumbled back until he bumped up against the wall. Without a word, he slid to the floor as if his knees had given out. He never took his eyes from his brother's bones.

“Hell's blood.” Neil frowned at Alexander's remains. “That's inconvenient, not to mention, he let the grim escape.”

“Doug? Elysia?” Era glanced between the two of them as if undecided which one to go to. With Alexander truly dead, she was no longer his puppet. She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “What have I done?”

I glanced at Elysia. She still lay on the floor beside Bart's bones. I assumed that she had initially passed out from lack of oxygen. Did she remain unconscious because of what Mattie had forced her to do? The bone still lay beside her open hand.

“You're very powerful, Era,” Neil said. “Who knew air could be such an effective weapon.”

Era faced him. “I'd be glad to give you a demonstration.”

Neil spread his arms, seeming to welcome her attempt.

I frowned. What was he up to?