The Keepers (The Alchemy Series)

by Donna Augustine

  “I think we should go our separate ways,” I said to his back, watching as he walked to the door and held it open, waiting for me.

  “No. I told you, I can’t take the chance of someone else getting their hands on you.”

  I walked forward and paused in the doorway, and turned to look up into his chilling blue eyes. “I’m done living by your rules. I’m leaving.”

  “Just try it.”

  “We’ll see.” This time, I gave him my back.

  Chapter Twenty

  “I demand to see her!”

  The screaming voice in the hallway woke me from a deep slumber. It was probably the best sleep I’d had since I’d gotten here and I was quite annoyed that I’d been startled from it. I pulled the spare pillow over my head and tried to dull the racket.

  “She’s not here,” I heard Cormac reply. He was lucky I was still too unmotivated to step into the foyer and prove him wrong.

  “She’s part Fae. I should have been informed the minute you knew that.”

  That sounded like Vitor’s voice. I’d never heard that tone from him before. The fog of sleep slowly started to pull back as what they were saying settled into my brain.

  “She’s not here.”

  “You have until tonight to produce her.”

  “You’re more than welcome to come back tonight.”

  The door slammed and I knew it had to have been Vitor. Cormac wasn’t the type of guy who would slam a door in Vitor’s face, he’d slam his face. My body didn’t want to get out of bed, but I had too many questions I wanted answered to stay here. As I swung my legs over the edge, and was about to make the final push upward, Cormac knocked at my door, effectively bringing the answers to me. Lucky me. I pulled my legs back under the covers, and told him to come in while I waited to hear what splendid news I was in store for.

  “Well?” I asked, not bothering to keep my eyes open.

  “He wants access to you. Actually, if we want to be more specific, he’s demanding access to you.”

  “God, I’m a popular girl these days.” I chuckled, finding myself funny.

  “He’s going to want to take you with him.”

  “What?” That got my attention. I jumped into an upright position in bed. “Tell him he can go screw. That goes for you, too. I’m tired of you macho men telling me whether I’m coming or going.” I started to feel around the covers of the bed.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to find my phone.”

  “Why don’t you put it on the night stand?”

  “I can’t. I keep it on vibrate. You ever hear how loud vibrate is on a hard surface? Ah, here it is. Give me his number. I want to call him.”

  “Remember when I told you that you were part Fae?”

  “Yes, you also told me it didn’t make a difference because the Alchemist genes were dominant. That it was a nonissue.”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t an issue. You know how humans aren’t technically adults until they are eighteen? In the case of Fae, it’s twenty-four. He’s got a right to you.”

  “That’s all fine and dandy, but we don’t live in the purple land with the freaks. We live here on Earth where he has no rights.”

  “But we are still bound to certain rules and…”

  “If you start bringing up contracts, I’m going to throw this phone at your head.” I even went as far as to raise my hand and aim it.

  “There is no reason to get all worked up. There’s an easy fix.”

  “What is it?”

  He came forward and sat at the edge of my bed. “You just need to sign a pledge of loyalty for me. That will void any right he has.”

  “Why is this just now coming up? Why didn’t he do this before?”

  “He didn’t know you were half Fae.”

  “How is that possible? Wouldn’t they somehow sense it?”

  “No, so someone leaked the info to him.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll handle it when I find out.”

  “I’m not signing my life over to you.”

  He stood slowly then turned to face me. “Then there isn’t much I can do. I’d pack up your stuff. He’s coming tonight.” He stood up and started toward the door.

  “Are you kidding? You freaked out, made me stay here and had men tailing me to avoid Vitor getting his hands on me. Now you’re just going to hand me over? Why didn’t you just do it when he was here then?”

  “I was trying to give you the courtesy of choosing. I can’t legally withhold you.” He walked out the door and shut it.

  He was bluffing. I threw on a pair of jeans. I’d give him the day to break. He wouldn’t just hand me over. No way. I was sure of it. It was true that he wanted to keep me away from the portal, more because he was a control freak than any other reason, in my opinion, but he wouldn’t want my abilities in Vitor’s hands. I’d play this out and he’d fold like a cheap suit.

  Ten hours later, I wasn’t so confident anymore. I’d spent the day dawdling around, staying in the penthouse, giving him plenty of opportunity. Nothing, not a peep. I’d even packed up my stuff in my new luggage, supplied by him, and rolled it into the hallway near the door. Still nothing. I was starting to sweat this one out a bit.

  Going with Vitor wasn’t an option. I didn’t even really want to stay here, let alone go there, but now I felt like I had a purpose. I haven’t always lived the most moral life. I’d never gone out of my way to be a do-gooder, and I didn’t know if I believed in god. If he did exist, I was pretty sure he either didn’t know who I was, or just didn’t cared. But, something had started to change. I was beginning to feel like I had a purpose that was bigger than me, and I was surprised by how much it was starting to effect my decisions.

  Then, there was the page. I couldn’t stop from wondering if it somehow was about me. If it was, then that meant Cormac stood for the right.

  “Vitor is on his way up,” Cormac said as he walked into the living room and disturbed my thoughts.

  “Okay.” I remained reclined on the couch. He was faking.

  A few minutes later, when a knock sounded at the door, I figured it would be Dodd or Buzz joining in the charade.

  “Do you want to answer it?” Cormac asked me.

  “Sure, it is for me, after all.” I walked into the foyer and looked into the peephole to see Vitor standing there. A list of curses ran off in my head.

  I walked back into the living room to see that Cormac had taken my spot, reclining upon the couch.

  “Fine. What happens if I sign the paper? What exactly does it entail?”

  “It means you are with me. You owe me your loyalty.”

  “Until when? Forever?”

  “No, only until we mutually dissolve it. If you don’t, he’s going to stalk your every move.”

  Something about this was bothering me deeply. I was missing something obvious, but Vitor was now pounding on the door in the background and it muddled my thoughts.

  “Give it to me.”

  “You sure?”

  “Cormac!” Vitor screamed from the hallway.

  “Give it to me.”

  He walked into his office and I followed him.

  He handed me a paper as I grabbed a random pen from the table.

  “No, use this.”

  I took the preferred pen and signed my name in scrolling red. A static charge shocked me when I laid the pen down on the paper.

  “I’ll go break the news to Vitor. You might want to wait here.”

  I stood and followed him.

  “Or not.” He laughed as he paused at the door and waited for me. “So what made you finally decide to choose sides?”

  “Did I have another choice?”

  “You could’ve taken your chances with Vitor.”

  “You mean the alien that is currently banging on the door like a mad man? I figured I’d be better off with a native Earth being.” I didn’t tell him about eternally blooming lilies or any nonsense of
him standing for the “right”. I felt like a nut even thinking it, so I certainly wasn’t going to say it out loud.

  He laid his hand on my shoulder as we approached the foyer and stepped in front of me.

  The door swung open and a visibly relieved Vitor stood there staring at me. “Josephine.”

  “Hi, Vitor.”

  “We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

  Cormac took that time to clear his throat and draw attention to him. “Not as much as you think.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Check it out for yourself.”

  I looked from Cormac to Vitor, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Check out what? A strange look appeared on Vitor’s face.

  “You had no right!” Vitor suddenly exploded.

  I’d never believed Vitor could have been capable of this kind of rage unless I’d seen it.

  “Yes, I did. She was willing. I had every right.” Cormac leaned against the wall looking bored.

  Two things happened then, so fast I could barely keep track. Vitor lunged toward me and Cormac was in front of me blocking his path.

  “Try it,” Cormac said, and he meant it. He wanted to rip Vitor to shreds.

  I stepped to the side. Cormac stepped with me so I had to settle for the limited view of only seeing half of Vitor’s face.

  “I think it’s time for you to leave now.”

  Vitor looked close to exploding but he said nothing, just left. As he exited, Cormac signaled outside the door and men I’d never have noticed appeared.

  “Vitor is no longer welcome on this level. From now on, if he needs me, he can wait in the downstairs lounge until I’m available.” Cormac’s men silently nodded and he shut the door.

  “Can I see that? I thought it might be a good idea to look at what I signed now that I can’t do anything about it.”

  He handed me the paper that was still in his hand.

  “What is this made out of?” I fingered the page for a moment. It felt the same weird way the page I’d gotten from the priest felt.

  “It’s vellum, calf skin.”

  “You keep this stuff around for all your letters?”

  “Only the contracts and important documents.”

  “Is that an Alchemist thing?”

  “No, it’s commonly used by the Fae as well. I’m not sure if it’s calf skin in that instance, as I’m not familiar with their livestock, but it’s something similar.”

  I nodded, storing that little tidbit away. I looked over the document, now, for the first real time and realized it wasn’t in English. It wasn’t in Spanish or French either for that matter. The whole document in numbers.

  “This is gibberish.”

  “Only if you don’t know how to read it. It’s an ancient Alchemist language.”

  “Which you know how to write?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what exactly does this say?”

  “It just says you’re with me.”

  I looked over the long contract. “There’s an awful lot of writing here to say ‘you’re with me’.”

  “It’s nothing unusual. These documents are very common.” He reached over and took the vellum paper from my hand, and I couldn’t help but breathe him in. Why did he always smell so damn good? I was relieved when he stepped away and walked back to his office. He took the paper over to a safe hidden behind a wall panel.

  “Really? It’s worthy of the safe?”

  “Just habit,” he said, but I wasn’t sure I believed him.

  “I didn’t sign over my first born did I?”

  “No. How are you feeling, by the way?”

  I turned, watching the Vegas skyline through the windows, and heard the click of the safe tumblers behind me. He came and perched on the edge of his desk, partially blocking my view of the skyline. I wished it annoyed me but it didn’t. He was a gloriously masculine looking man, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the fabric stretched tight over his arms as he leaned forward slightly.

  “I’m fine. I slept better than I have in ages.”

  “Yes, that’s one of the perks. You sleep like a babe after a nice dose.”

  “Why aren’t you yelling, anymore?”

  “I understand why you did it. I’m not mad. I’m just concerned.”

  I saw a shadow cross his face and he got up quickly, hiding whatever emotion was there. He walked over to the window and watched the same view I’d been admiring. I stood and walked over to stand next to him.

  He looked at me and then back out the window. “It never gets dull. You would think, after all this time, I’d be sick of looking at it, but I don’t. It’s the life and energy. It saturates the air.”

  “Are you going to let me help again?”

  “No.”

  “Why? It went off perfectly.”

  “No.”

  “You make no sense. You wanted me here to help. You wanted me here to keep me from Vitor. Now you almost let Vitor drag me away and you won’t let me help. What is your angle?”

  He looked down at me and I met his eyes, the lights of the strip reflected upon their icy surface. “I don’t need your help at the moment. If it comes to it, I’ll reassess then.” Then he smirked. “And I was never going to let Vitor have you.”

  “You were bluffing.” I just shook my head annoyed. “God damn it.”

  “Of course I was bluffing. I own a casino. If I couldn’t bluff out a green girl like you, I’d have to sell and walk out with my tail between my legs.”

  “There’s nothing green about me.” It wasn’t a confessional, just the truth.

  “Compared to me, you’re as green as spring grass after a week of rain.”

  “Festiva is in a few days,” he said after a long pause. “Did you have any interest in going? We hold it out in the middle of the desert. It’s quite an event.”

  “I didn’t know I was invited.”

  “Because of what you are, you have an automatic invite. It might be a good idea to go, meet all the players on the scene.”

  “Is it out in the middle of the wide open desert?” Wide open sky above? Uh oh.

  “We set up huge tents, but in essence, yes.”

  Tents, that was good. I couldn’t fly off with a tent. “I’ll go.”

  “It’s formal. I’ll have a driver take us in.”

  Did I just agree to a date? I wasn’t quite sure what I just said yes to, but that last part sounded like a date. He left the room before I could ask. Right, like I would’ve asked.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I’d shopped for days. The way I figured, whatever this was, I needed to look spectacular. It was no secret, most men were easier to manipulate when you looked your best. It went way beyond Cormac tonight. This was my opportunity to get information, and I had a whole lot of questions that still needed answering.

  I’d told no one about the bloody scene with my mother twenty years ago, or the crazy page left behind, and I still wasn’t going to tell anyone. I also had my own personal stake in what was messing up the portal. I’d tried to broach the subject again with Cormac about getting more involved, but he was putting up a brick wall ever since I’d brought all the people over behind his back. Pleasant, he’d been. Helpful? Not at all. Tonight was going to be all about reconnaissance.

  Someone was messing with the portal, and maybe, just maybe, there was a connection between my mother’s attack and what was happening now. If that page was about me, there definitely was. I understood the motives for messing with the portal. Now I needed to figure out what had motivated the attack all those years ago. I was becoming increasingly worried. I didn’t want to be “the last hope of the bereft” but it was looking like that was exactly who I might be. This just sucked. Who in their right mind would want to be the savior of the bereft? Why couldn’t I have turned out to be some long lost Princess of the Rich and Beautiful?

  I looked at my reflection one last time. Even with all the hours I’d spent inside lately, my skin stil
l retained its golden glow. My long, naturally blond hair hung almost to my waist in soft platinum waves. The black dress I wore fell quite a bit short of my knees, but not quite high enough to look trashy. It hugged my curves just enough to emphasize my curvy figure without showing every detail. It was the perfect balance of enough, but not too much. I knew I looked my best, and I planned on using it for whatever it was worth tonight.

  I guessed there would be alcohol. It was hard to imagine this group having a dry party. In my experience, nothing loosened the lips as much as a few too many drinks. My game plan was to stake out the bar for the drinkers. They were soft targets.

  “Are you ready?” I heard Cormac shout from the foyer. A scream from the foyer was not exactly romantic date material. I guess this was business.

  “Coming!” I screamed back just as unromantically and put some extra gloss on my lips. Guys loved full glossy lips. I grabbed my dress purse and headed out.

  Cormac was standing and looking at his watch when I walked into the foyer, and I was grateful for the few seconds that bought me to hide my reaction. He was in a full tuxedo. I’d never seen a man look sexier in my life. He was primal sex incarnate. It made me resent that this wasn’t a date. I had to remember why I’d turned him down in the first place. I couldn’t go there. No matter how kind he could be, he was dangerous. I couldn’t forget that, but sometimes it was so hard to remember.

  He turned his gorgeous pale blue eyes on me. I watched as they ran the length of my body, from my toes to my hair. His eyes stopped on my own with a piercing gaze. It made me remember what his hands felt like, how hot it had been when he’d pressed against me in the elevator.

  “Let’s go,” he said and abruptly broke the eye contact.

  There was a stretch limo waiting for us outside. I found it empty when I climbed into the back.

  “Where are the guys?”

  “They had things to handle over there, so they left before us.”

  We settled in and rode through the desert in silence. I was used to the silence with him, but the tension was unusually high for a reason I couldn’t quite understand.