Seers Stone (Hidden Alchemy Book 1)

by Holly Evans

  “How many places have you seen with a creative name?” Tyn asked.

  Silence.

  “Alright, fair point,” Logan conceded once the car had stopped moving.

  The silence stretched out around us. There was nothing but our breathing and small movements. I could handle a lot of things. Silence wasn’t one of them.

  43

  We had climbed out of the ruined car and fumbled around to collect our bags. I took my heels off and pulled on my trusty knee-high lace-up boots. They looked shit with the pretty dress, but I could run and climb in them, or I would be able to if I could see a damn thing.

  “So… why didn’t the bad guys follow us in here?” Logan asked.

  Something shuffled near me. I reached out and hoped to touch something familiar.

  “Kaitlyn?” Tyn asked.

  “Maybe?” I replied.

  A soft slender hand ran over the back of mine.

  “Is that your hand?”

  I smiled. “Yea. So, what is this place?”

  I heard Tyn take a deep breath.

  “They are terrified of what hides within the darkness,” he said softly.

  “Out of the fire, into the darkness,” Logan said.

  “It’s not that bad, right?” Erin asked.

  Silence.

  “People have disappeared in here,” Tyn said softly.

  “They were trespassing,” a strange new rasping voice said.

  Chills ran down my spine.

  “We don’t mean to trespass, we seek sanctuary,” Tyn said softly.

  Something brushed past me. I instinctively jerked away.

  “You will be guided to the light,” the rasping voice said.

  I desperately hoped that wasn’t a nice way of saying it was going to kill us.

  “Come,” it commanded.

  Something cool and silken wrapped around my arm and pulled me forward.

  “Tyn?” I asked.

  I had to trust the Cait Sidhe. He was the only one who had any sort of an idea what the fuck we’d gotten ourselves into here.

  “Thank you, we appreciate your help,” Tyn said.

  “We need to bring Wispy with us,” I said.

  “Your wisp is with you,” the raspy voice said.

  I allowed the thing to guide me through the darkness. Every muscle was tense as I strained to hear something other than our breathing and footsteps. The ground gradually rose, but it seemed to be smooth. I didn’t stumble or trip over anything, despite being made to walk at a quick pace.

  “The journeyman, your feline, guided you well, but we only allow one trip through our world. Do not return.”

  I swallowed down my fear and smiled. It was ridiculous, no one could see anything, but it made me feel better.

  To say I was glad to see the rose light of sunrise was an understatement. We walked out of the darkness in some unknown destination where the sun was rising over a thicket of trees. Wispy’s cage was placed in my hands, and I held it up to my cheek, where Wispy pressed himself to me.

  “We’re in Portugal,” Logan said.

  “I need to sit down,” Erin said.

  I allowed Wispy out of his cage, and he proceeded to fly to each person in turn where he checked on them. We walked over to a rocky outcrop and rested for a moment. We’d lost the stone, been in a car chase, and walked through a forest of darkness hundreds of miles to Portugal.

  I nudged Erin.

  “You wanted an adventure,” I said with a smile.

  She laughed.

  Tyn paced around, speaking to someone on the phone. After a long conversation punctuated with snarls and curses in multiple languages, he returned to us.

  “We’re going to walk a mile east, and then a private airship will take us to Aberdeen, where a Mr. Dawson has the stone. A contact will meet us when we land to give us everything our people can dig up about Dawson,” Tyn said.

  I was exhausted, filthy, and dying for a hot shower. Erin looked ready to collapse, and Logan had a look of grim determination on his face. I put my arm around Erin’s waist. It was a bold move, but she needed some comfort and reassurance.

  “Come on, a mile’s nothing,” I said brightly.

  She smiled and changed her pretty heels out for her sensible hiking boots.

  “Our dresses are ruined,” she said ruefully.

  I shrugged. “We wouldn’t have worn them again, anyway.”

  She shook her head. “We come from very different worlds.”

  I didn’t know if that was an insult. I chose to smile and take it as a comment and nothing more. We set off through the trees towards the rising sun. The game wasn’t over yet, and I was going to see another new city. It wasn’t all bad.

  Logan kept the conversation flowing with bright and breezy topics. He made everyone laugh where he could, which we all appreciated. The exhaustion hit me like a freight train. I was glad to see the airship when we emerged from the trees. It wasn’t a pirate ship this time, either. It was a sleek private ship with expensive tinker engines and polished wood with bronze-inlaid sigils. The crew even wore very smart uniforms, deep purple with silver trim and jaunty little hats. The best thing, though? It had beds and hot showers. Tyn vanished the moment he was sure we were all on board safely.

  “Cats,” Logan said with a laugh.

  “I’m going to pass out on the closest soft thing,” Erin said.

  “We will arrive in Aberdeen at 3pm. A hotel has been booked for you. Fresh clothing is available in your rooms. Enjoy,” a cheerful elemental said as he held his arm out, pointing us in the direction of our rooms.

  Logan picked me up and carried me to the shower, and a glorious shower it was, too. The shower head was larger than a dinner plate, it produced scalding hot water, and they’d even put in wonderful strawberry- and vanilla-scented shower gel. I clearly hadn’t made it through that forest after all. This was the afterlife, and what a wonderful afterlife it was.

  44

  It wasn’t the afterlife. I woke up to a rapping on the door, which made Wispy chitter and fly at the door.

  “We will be landing in forty-five minutes. Food has been set out for you,” a female voice said.

  “Sounds good,” Logan called back.

  I nuzzled against his neck and enjoyed the moment of waking up in his strong arms. It had been one hell of a 24 hours. I deserved my peaceful moment.

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for Tyn to join us in Aberdeen,” Logan said softly as he stroked my hair.

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “It’s a non-magical city,” he said gravely.

  I wrinkled my nose and climbed out of bed.

  “What about Wispy, then?” I asked.

  “We’ll speak to Tyn,” Logan said.

  The airship crew had provided brand new (and very nice) jeans, shirt, and leather jacket.

  Non-magical cities were something I avoided. When the planes had joined, some cities had remained exactly as they were; that is to say, without magic. They proudly and doggedly remained that way. Over time, they brought in laws that forbade anything magical from entering the city. It became more extreme. They created magical zoos where the city residents could experience magical beings from the safety of partitions. I had nothing against them in principle; there were many people around the world who had no magic, and I saw no harm in them wanting to live with each other. Still, I hadn’t stepped foot in one for fear of things like the zoos. They made my skin crawl.

  I pushed the thought out of my mind and went in search of food. Erin and Tyn both looked well-rested. Erin was in fresh clothing and chatted enthusiastically with a pretty air elemental. I filled my plate with a range of sweet pastries and dried fruits. I was absolutely ravenous.

  Wispy descended on a plate of greenery that I hoped was for him; it was too late if it wasn’t.

  “We should be able to complete our task tomorrow,” Tyn said.

  “You’ve spoken to your contact?” I asked.

  He nodded.
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  “He has the information we require.”

  “What about Wispy?” I asked.

  “He’ll be taken back to Fein’s.”

  We left the conversation at that. The airship had clearly been hired by Fein, but he hired pirates - the elf dealt with all sorts of people. We ate our fill without broaching the topic of Aberdeen’s status as a non-magical city. Tyn must have known. He was clearly well-travelled, and Fein wouldn’t have sent him somewhere like that without ample warning.

  Wispy had tried to glue himself to my shoulder when I’d explained he had to stay on the ship. He was coaxed back into his cage with some very rare and succulent leaves, but he still rumbled and whined when I left the room. He’d be safe. I told myself that Fein wouldn’t allow harm to come to him.

  Erin had regained the bounce in her step and the bright smile on her face. It fell the moment we stepped onto the ramp to step down onto the landing platform. The air felt dead and empty. I hadn’t realised just how used to the feeling of magic I was. I squeezed Erin’s hand and walked onto the broad grey platform to look at the city before us. We were close now. We weren’t going to give up.

  Aberdeen was quite striking with the ocean on the horizon. Spires bristled like short spines between the smooth slate rooves. I couldn’t help but feel the similarity with a cemetery, the grey tones and the awful, cool, empty air. I rubbed my arms, frowning. Something deep within me was searching for the magic that was supposed to wrap around me. Logan wrapped his hand around my waist and kissed my temple.

  “We won’t be here long, Kit,” he whispered.

  I stroked Erin’s hair without thinking, my desire to calm and comfort her overrunning decorum. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand before she put on a brave face. Tyn had gone pale. His breathing was shallower than it had been. We clustered around him and offered unspoken support. It must have been absolutely awful for him.

  “The contact is there.” The airship captain helpfully pointed at a sullen-looking older man in a bright green coat, the only colour in sight.

  We walked down the spiral staircase to a street level that was even worse than the air above had been. I swallowed down my rising panic and tucked it away in a quiet corner of my mind. It was just another thing to face down and conquer. Tyn stepped forward and nodded to his contact.

  “Sean?” Tyn asked.

  The man nodded his weak chin and handed Tyn a folder full of dog-eared papers before he shoved his hands in his coat pockets and walked off without a word.

  “Manners haven’t made it to this part of the world, I see,” Erin said dryly.

  Tyn gave her a weak smile and pulled out the map that had been in the front of the folder. He frowned at it and turned it around twice before Logan took it from him. I peered at the map and looked around me for landmarks.

  “There’s the airship platform, and there’s that big spire,” I said, pointing at the map.

  The hotel was marked with a big red circle.

  “So, we’re about three blocks away,” Logan said.

  We turned around and started down the street. The rain started almost immediately, a torrential downpour that turned the roads into rivers and soaked us to the bone.

  “This is going well,” Tyn grumbled.

  We ran the last half a block to the hotel and stood in the luxurious marble foyer dripping wet. A trio of employees in black uniforms rushed over with large soft towels to dry us (and the floor) off. We left small puddles in our wake as we went to check in. The woman behind the desk gave us a false smile and spoke in a thick accent which turned into a group effort to translate what she was saying. We laughed about it. We had to.

  Finally, we made it to our suite, which was large, airy, and had three very comfortable and generously sized beds in it. I stripped down and changed into fresh, dry clothes before I began looking through the folder we’d been given. It seemed that our Mr. Dawson had pulled a few similar stunts over the years. There were notes on a number of magical artifacts he’d acquired over the years, including fairy water, which was also known as eternal water.

  “He’s very interested in magic for someone in a non-magic city,” Logan said while leafing through the papers.

  “It’s a power trip, as it so often is with rich people in his position,” Tyn said bitterly.

  “It’s going to be another long night, isn’t it,” Erin said with a small smile.

  “Afraid so,” I said.

  She grinned and made herself comfortable in the armchair with a collection of papers. I had to admire her. The lack of magic was weighing on us, but she was absolutely in her element. We were having an adventure, and she was thoroughly enjoying the ride.

  45

  We were up until the early hours of the morning piecing together the whole picture of this Dawson. After some digging, we discovered that he owned the zoo. The magical being zoo. Tyn’s face crumpled when he read that fact.

  “He lives on site at the zoo, in a grand house,” Erin said.

  “We’ll have to go to the zoo. He’ll have the stone in his home,” Tyn said quietly.

  “You can stay here if you need to,” I said gently.

  Tyn stared me down. “No. I am not weak.”

  I held up my hands. “I just didn’t want you to have to suffer unnecessarily.”

  He nodded and sighed.

  “I’m heading to bed, I’ll see you in the morning,” he said quietly.

  “That sounds amazing,” Erin said, stretching and yawning.

  They had claimed the two smaller rooms. I got the impression that Tyn was glad to have his own space again. I leaned over and nibbled down Logan’s ear.

  “Coming to bed?” I asked.

  He gave me a sinful smile and collected me up in his arms before he carried me to bed. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep for a couple of hours.

  The first thing I noticed when I woke up wasn’t the comforting scent of sandalwood and amber, it was the emptiness due to the lack of magic. My dreams had been dark and haunting. They lingered in the back of my mind as I cuddled closer to Logan. I revelled in the feeling of his magic against my skin. He stroked along my ribs and kissed from my temple along my jawline, each gentle fluttering kiss bringing me further from the dream and closer to the waking world.

  “You’re too strong to accept my protection, but I will watch out for you, Kit,” he whispered.

  I kissed him and dug my fingers into his thick hair, grounding myself in the physical sensations of him. He grinned back at me and rubbed his thumb over my hip in slow lazy circles.

  “Ready for breakfast?” he practically purred.

  “What are you offering?”

  The sound of Tyn on the phone came from the main living area and broke the moment. I slumped back into the bed and sighed. We needed to get the stone. We didn’t have the time to be screwing, but he was such a delicious distraction. He got out of bed, giving me a fantastic view of his well-muscled back and tight pert ass. It was a view I’d missed and very much enjoyed. We dressed in practical jeans and shirts and headed out into the main living area. Tyn had been busy. The main oval table in the centre of the space was covered in silver platters of foods ranging from sausage, bacon, and eggs through to European pastries and cereals. Erin had already filled her plate and a bowl.

  “Do we have a plan?” I asked.

  “We’re working on the layout of the zoo and finding out if he definitely lives on site,” Tyn said before spearing a sausage.

  I can’t say the idea of going to this ‘zoo’ appealed to me on any level. The very fact that it existed horrified me. I focused on my sweet pastries and wonderful sausages. With things going the way they had been for the past few days, it was a good idea to get a good meal in us, as there was a chance we’d end up in a time- and distance-bending shadow forest or running from fire elementals.

  Logan’s hands brushed over mine and over my hips, small reminders that he was close at hand and had my back, should I need it. He’d never suffocated me. T
hrough all the years we’d known each other, he’d never tried to protect me or step in and control me. I smiled as I saw him making Tyn laugh and putting him at ease again. He really was an incredible guy. I was lucky to have him as I did.

  “How’re you doing?” I asked Erin.

  She smiled and stretched. My eye was drawn to the small scrap of bare skin on her lower stomach. I looked away. That was inappropriate. She’d made her feelings on our being intimate very clear.

  “I’m not looking forward to visiting this zoo, but I’m good. This has been a wild ride. I’m really glad you guys brought me along,” she said brightly.

  I grinned at her.

  “You’ve been fantastic, I’m happy that you took that assistant job,” I said.

  Tyn strolled over.

  “We’ve had confirmation that he lives on site in the big house there. We’re taking today to look over maps of the zoo and the area to try and plan this out as best as we can. I’ve got someone on call to get us out if things go wrong,” he said.

  Logan had mouthed ‘when’ as Tyn had said ‘if.’ I smirked, having no doubt that he was right. If something looked simple and straightforward, then it was almost guaranteed to go horribly wrong in a spectacular fashion.

  46

  The entire city was in greyscale. The architecture was primarily made from granite with a healthy dose of slate for the rooves. Even the sky was a series of greys. The people matched what you’d expect of such a place. They kept their eyes down and their focus on their internal selves. We stood out with our smiles and daring to wear a splash of colour, not that anyone paid us any attention. We made our way through the streets, and I allowed my gaze to wander. It tended to rise upwards to the roof-line and sky above. I desperately wanted to be in the skies and feel the freedom again. If I stayed in Aberdeen for more than a few days, I’d go mad.

  The upper edges of the buildings were tipped with small spikes and spires that stretched skyward. It looked as though the city were defending itself from any magic that might try and creep in from the skies above it. The city had shut down and fiercely protected itself from any hint of colour or change. Logan held me close and Tyn walked at my side, whereas he usually led us. I wanted to comfort him through touch, but that would only add to his distress.