Undead Alchemist

by Kat Cotton

  He turned to Fern and nodded.

  “What? She’s dead?” Tarragon said.

  My legs became unsteady. I leaned on the table to right myself. Dead? No, that wasn’t possible. She’d get her strength back, and she’d fix these cuffs and explain all the shit I needed explained. I didn’t want to be selfish but… well, I was. I wanted Fleur alive for my own purposes. For other reasons, too. To stop Fern crying like that. Her sobs broke my heart. And because Fleur seemed like a nice person, and she hadn’t deserved to die.

  “You can bring her back, right?” Tarragon said.

  That was right. Maybe Philbert could.

  When Philbert’s fist slammed into Tarragon’s face, knocking him to the floor, I figured I had my answer.

  Chapter 48 Mayor

  “YOUR ONLY CHANCE IS to get out of the city before the tracking device on those cuffs starts working again. Go somewhere remote, off the grid. That’s the only way.”

  Philbert didn’t give me much hope, but he was right.

  Fern let out a little sob, but she stood up. She handed me a business card. “Fleur said to give you this.”

  I gave the card a glance, then tucked it in my pocket. Switzerland. Kisho would be happy about that. If he came with me.

  “You guys should head home,” I said to him and Nic. “You won’t be safe with me.”

  That was the right thing to do. The noble thing. But it ripped the heart of me to say it.

  “I’m going with you, Clem. I promised.” Kisho put his arms around me. “We stay together.”

  “Hell, I’m not missing out on the fun,” Nic said. “We can cope, no matter what.”

  It felt awful rushing off when Fleur had just died. It wasn’t like I could do anything, but I should be there for Fern.

  “There’s nothing you can do,” Fern said. “And staying here makes us all vulnerable. Without you, maybe the Council will ignore us.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. The Council were plenty interested in Philbert.

  Tarragon had his arm around Fern. His eye was already starting to bruise, but he’d shut up about bringing people back to life. Maybe he could help Fern more than anyone, since he was going through the same thing. As long as he didn’t put any fool ideas about reanimation in her head.

  We gathered up our stuff, and Philbert gave us directions to get out of the tunnel.

  “You’ll come out near the main station. It’ll be risky, but it’s the best way to get out of the country. The airports are a no-go zone, but they aren’t too vigilant about checking passports on the trains. If you’re fast enough, you might get out before the Council gets over the shock of that destruction. Hopefully, you’ll be long gone before the tracking device kicks in. Get off the grid for a while.”

  I grabbed my backpack, and the three of us rushed through the passageways.

  There’d be no way to disguise ourselves when we got to the station. I had to hope that we’d merge in with the crowds.

  “Okay, that’s the exit,” Nic said.

  I followed him up some narrow steps. We’d come out in an old house, then it was one block to the station. Too much risk for my liking, and I didn’t want to have to try tapping into those powers again. Not without knowing what they were.

  No one was home in the house. I felt bad invading their space, but it was a quick dash to the front door. From there, we hurried to the street.

  The station was massive, a modern building with people rushing like crazy. Before we could walk inside, Kisho stopped us.

  “Wait in that alley,” he said. “You two are easily recognized. I’ll go in and buy the tickets. Next train out of town, no matter where it’s going. I’ll come and get you, and we’ll rush aboard at the last minute. That’s the best way to dodge any Council troopers.”

  I nodded. That made sense.

  “I’d feel a million times better if I didn’t have these cuffs,” I said. “I’m going to have to wear the bloody things for the rest of my life, and that will make me a target. Even if they can’t track me, how do you disguise great dirty metal things on your arms?”

  “They do look hideous,” Nic said. “Maybe you could crochet something—”

  “I don’t crochet. I want them gone. Forever.”

  I sighed and leaned back against a dumpster, even though it reeked like fish.

  “You have that card Fleur gave you,” Nic said. “Maybe there are other ways, other people who can help.”

  I took a deep breath. That might be so. I wished Kisho would hurry. The sooner we got out of Prague, the better.

  “Well, hello,” said a voice from the shadows. “Nic, Clementine, fancy meeting you here.”

  The mayor stepped out from behind the dumpster. Bloody hell. If I had to kill him to escape, I would. But what about Nic? I still wasn’t sure where his loyalties lay.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “Half the Council are trying to recover what they can from the wreckage you left behind. The other half are working out how to get those cuffs back online, but I know you guys. It didn’t take much to figure out your plans. You can be quite predictable.”

  Yeah, we probably could, if you called running away from immense danger predictable. I’d call it smart.

  That “swell guy” smile of the mayor’s seemed pretty damned ominous right now. But at least he worked alone, without Council backup.

  “What do you want with us?” I asked.

  “Clementine, you know what I want. The alchemist.”

  I shook my head. I wouldn’t hand Philbert over. No way.

  The mayor got out his phone. “You don’t really have much choice. Give me the alchemist, and you go free. I can say you slipped away from me. Used some of that weird juju you have. Otherwise, it’s not going to end well for you.”

  “I could use that weird juju on you.”

  With my heart beating like hell, my eyes darting around for an escape, I wasn’t sure I could actually do anything, but the mayor didn’t know that. He didn’t seem too concerned, though.

  “Clementine, think of the children. You can’t abandon your own city so easily. We need to rebuild. You’d be helping a lot of lives by giving up one man.”

  I put my hand on my hip. “See, Mayor, shows how much you know about economic theory. It’s not so simple, not in the long run. Have you heard of this thing called supply and demand?”

  “The long run can look after itself.”

  Typical politician.

  Nic moved closer to the mayor. That guy. Surely, he wasn’t going to rat me out. He stroked the mayor’s arm.

  “I know how to find the alchemist,” he said. “Just let Kisho and Clem go, and we can go get him together.”

  I wanted to vomit.

  The mayor smiled at Nic. I knew Nic wasn’t exactly BFF with Philbert, but that seemed so mercenary.

  The two of them locked eyes. It was all love-love. Blerk. Nic. I knew he was doing it partly to save Kisho and me, but still, there had to be another way. The mayor would use him, then ditch him like a used condom. It’d be horrible. I had to do something to save Nic.

  Faster than my eyes could make out, they’d gone from staring and barely touching to something more intimate. Gross.

  No, wait, they weren’t making out.

  Nic had grabbed the mayor and held him in a headlock, his arm firmly pressing on the mayor’s throat.

  “What are you going to do, Nic? Fast move, but you need a game plan.” The mayor had a bitter edge to his voice.

  “Remove the cuffs,” Nic growled.

  Huh? Shit, I’d totally forgotten. The mayor knew how to remove them.

  “I don’t know how,” the mayor said.

  Nic’s hold on the mayor was no joke. The mayor’s eyes were bulging a little, and his face had gone a strange color.

  “Bullshit,” Nic said. “You told me you had to know. The Council thought she’d kill herself trying to escape, so you needed to know how to release them.”

  What th
e hell? They’d thought that? It made me feel a bit pathetic that I hadn’t tried. My escape attempts had been half-assed at best.

  “You won’t kill me,” the mayor said. “You aren’t capable. And if I’m dead, you’re back to square one.”

  Nic laughed. That laugh scared me. He wasn’t snarky Nic anymore, but a cold bastard. Even his eyes had gone dead black.

  “I’m not going to kill you, Mayor. I’d miss you too much.” He ran a finger down the mayor’s cheek. “I want you to join me. Forever.”

  The mayor gulped. He gulped so loud, it echoed in that alleyway.

  He was screwed, and he had to know that. Unless he wanted to be the Vampire Mayor. Any fool could tell Nic wasn’t joking.

  I held up my hands, wrist up, to the mayor. I had no idea how he’d get the cuffs off me, but there had to be some release mechanism.

  “Nic. I can’t believe you’d betray me like this.” His voice sounded strangled, and not just from Nic’s grip. “I thought we had something.”

  Again, Nic gave that chilling laugh.

  The mayor unlocked his phone. A phone app! No freakin’ way. I could’ve stolen that phone at any time. He put in a complicated code, then used his thumbprint. Okay, maybe I couldn’t have done it that easily.

  Then, bam. The cuffs clattered to the ground.

  I stared at my arms. Red marks circled my wrists, and bits of crusty dried blood clung to my skin where I’d smashed those troopers. The grossness of that didn’t mar my complete and utter relief.

  “Woo-hoo, those symbols of misogyny are gone forever.” I wanted to do a dance, but this wasn’t the time or place.

  Nic picked up the cuffs and was about to throw them in the dumpster.

  “Wait,” I said.

  It might be a very temporary solution, but I’d put them on one of the other trains. Give the Council a false lead.

  “Guys, the train leaves in five minutes,” Kisho called out.

  I grabbed the mayor’s phone and threw it to the ground. I ground it with the heel of my boot. I didn’t want him giving us away to the Council. If we got on that train, we wouldn’t be safe, but we’d be making a start. I didn’t want the mayor getting straight on the phone to the Council.

  Nic kissed the mayor’s cheek. “It was fun,” he said. “But nothing lasts forever.”

  “So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodnight…” Kisho sang out as the three of us ran for the train.

  Chapter 49 Switzerland

  THE TRAIN POWERED THROUGH the mountains. It’d taken us a few days. Even if I was no longer wearing the cuffs, we didn’t want the Council tracking us too easily. We’d crisscrossed through several countries, constantly travelling.

  I had no idea what was waiting for us. Finishing School, the card said.

  “Clem’s going to a Swiss Finishing School,” Nic had scoffed. “They’ll have their work cut out trying to make a lady out of her.”

  I didn’t want to be made into a lady. For now, I was happy traveling through the darkness with Kisho’s arm around me and his sleeping head resting on my shoulder.

  Hopefully, we’d be safe at this place. We could regroup. I might’ve gotten away from the Council, but this wasn’t the last of it. I wanted to know what these powers were. I wanted to know how to use them.

  I had a plan. A vague plan, for now. The Council might be after me, but I was after them, too. I’d go back, and I’d get revenge. Not on Baldy or any of those guys; they were just players in this game. The offices in Prague were part of the Council, but the main headquarters were in Bucharest. That’s where the leader of the Council was.

  Kisho gave a tiny snore. I looked at Nic and smiled.

  “We did it,” I said. “We got away.”

  “For now,” Nic said. “Man, Kisho can sleep through anything.”

  “Ha, the look on the mayor’s face when you threatened to turn him into a vampire. You didn’t see it because you were behind him, but it was priceless. I wish I’d had my phone out. He almost pooped himself.”

  Nic laughed. “Speaking of your phone, there are some photos you need to delete.”

  “No way, vampire. Those photos are secured in multiple locations. You’ll never erase the evidence of your ill-conceived love affair.”

  Nic screwed up his face and looked out the window.

  “Would you have done it?” I asked him.

  He turned back to me. “Of course. I’d have done whatever it took to save you. You told me in the cake shop that killing the mayor was always an option. I’m not the kind of guy to lose my head because of some lousy fling, you know. Love will never make a fool out of me.”

  Nic smiled at me, but there was something about that smile. While it was still dazzling, it didn’t have the same radiance as before. That scared me.

  Nic’s smile had dulled. -k-12

  THE END

  Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed Clem and the gang. Want to find out first about new releases, get special subscriber only bonuses and other awesome stuff: get on the VIP team now.

  If you want to read more in the Clem Starr: Demon Fighter series, you sure can.

  The full Clem Starr series:

  #1 Demon Child

  #2 Moonlight Virgin

  #3 Vampire Prince

  #4 Undead Alchemist

  #5 Mystery Widow

  #6 Super Starr

  Extras:

  Merry Clem-Mas – join Clem and the gang in this fun Christmas short,

  About me:

  Kat Cotton writes character-driven Urban Fantasy with kick ass chicks and pretty boy vampires.

  She travels the world, visiting weird and macabre places. You can connect on facebook or by email admin@katcotton.com.

  See more at https://www.katcotton.com/.