The Final Formula

by Becca Andre

  I caught the faintest whiff of Knockout Gas and held my breath. My hands fell to my slim fanny pack, struggling to pull open the zipper.

  Rowan lunged to the side, but George and Henry caught him. The cloud thickened around us, spreading across the width of the aisle. I lost sight of Rowan, but the thumps and grunts made it clear that he still fought. Had the Huntsman boys been given the antidote?

  I hadn’t had a chance to draw a deep breath and already my lungs were burning. My fingers closed over a vial when arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind. Cool hands seized my wrists, preventing me from bringing the antidote to my lips.

  “You’re right, Amelia,” Emil said in my ear. “Necros can’t be trusted.”

  “He’s out cold,” I heard Henry say.

  Unable to hold my breath any longer, I sucked in a lung full of Knockout Gas, and fell into darkness.

  I came awake in an uncomfortable position, my hands bound behind my back. I curled my fingers, running them along the smooth plastic binding my wrists. A cable tie? It had been looped through the rungs of the straight-backed chair I sat on, and judging by the stiffness in my shoulders, I’d been here for a while. I blinked my eyes into focus and wasn’t surprised to find myself in Xander’s basement laboratory.

  A clink of glassware pulled my attention to the bench to my right. Emil didn’t look in my direction, busy transferring an orange-green solution to a vial. I half-expected to slip into déjà vu at the sight of the familiar older man in his white lab coat, but it didn’t happen.

  “So, you work for necros,” I said.

  He must have realized I was awake because I didn’t startle him at all.

  “I work for myself, Amelia. I always have.”

  I puzzled over that, wondering if there was some underlying meaning to the statement. Something from our joint past that I remembered nothing about.

  “I thought you’d been forcibly taken from you hospital room. I came looking for you.”

  He capped the vial and turned to face me. “I’d claim you’ve become quite the altruist in the past few months—if I didn’t know what you wanted.”

  “What I wanted?”

  “Your memories.”

  Oh, right. I looked around the room. “Where’s…my companion?” I’d almost said Rowan’s name, though it was probably a moot point to protect it now.

  “You mean the Flame Lord?”

  “We’ll meet him upstairs,” a new voice said.

  I turned my head and my jaw fell open. Neil stood on the threshold. Before he could say anything further, Clarissa pushed past him and hurried into the room.

  “You said I had to wait until the alchemist arrived,” she said over her shoulder. “She’s here now.”

  Neil sighed. “Yes, Mother.”

  I closed my gaping mouth. Neil was Clarissa’s son. The realization left me half sick. He’d been playing me all along.

  I glanced between the pair of them. There wasn’t a strong family resemblance. She was blonde with those white eyes, while he had dark hair and eyes. Still, there was something in the structure of the face that gave them a similar look.

  Clarissa walked past me, her heels clacking on the tile with her brisk pace. Unlike Neil’s casual jeans and sport coat, her low-backed red dress looked out of place. She walked to the back wall and stopped before a stainless-steel door I hadn’t noticed. A freezer? She pulled open the door and held it wide. “Come, my love.”

  I knew what I’d see, but I still wanted to sob when James stepped out of the freezer. He’d wrapped a lab coat around his waist, the sleeves knotted on one hip. Otherwise, he was naked. They’d used the steel box of the freezer to contain him while not under necromantic control. His gaze met mine and then dropped to the floor, his dark hair falling over his forehead when he bowed his head.

  “My poor baby,” Clarissa cooed, rubbing his shoulder. “You’re so cold.”

  “Amazing find.” Neil stopped beside me. “Even more amazing that he jumped right out of the ether and into my lab.” He chuckled. “Mother was delighted.”

  “What about the lich?” I asked. “How does he factor in?”

  “Ian Mallory is a family treasure. An old, forgotten family treasure.” He gave Clarissa a smile, watching her fuss over James. “We all have them.” He glanced at me on that last part, a knowing look in his eye.

  Clarissa planted a kiss on James’s cheek.

  I fisted my hands. “And the phone registered to the lich?”

  Neil reached in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He chuckled. “Funny how well it worked. Ian wouldn’t even know how to turn the thing on, yet none of them doubted that it was him calling.”

  “Because it was registered with his name and address. So if Lawson had checked…”

  Neil gave me a wink before he turned to walk to Emil’s side.

  I glared at his back. He really had been behind it all.

  “You have it?” he asked Emil.

  Emil offered him the vial he’d just filled.

  Neil took it and held it up to the light before tucking it in his coat pocket. “Bring our colleague,” he said to Emil, starting back toward the door. “It’s time we finish this.” He left the room.

  “Go on,” Clarissa said, her tone cheerful. “Do as my boy asks. He’s a brilliant alchemist, you know.”

  Emil snorted, but didn’t comment. He pulled out a pocketknife and walked over to sever my bonds.

  “Such a shame my Neil was stunted,” Clarissa rattled on, seeming to need no input from us.

  Emil closed the blade against his pant leg before returning it to this pocket. So much for hoping he’d leave something sharp within my reach.

  “Stunted?” I asked Clarissa.

  “He can’t touch his power.” She shook her head. “Dear Ethan was so disappointed. And then there was Xander.” She released a loud sigh.

  Emil rolled his eyes and started for the door.

  “By power, you mean necromantic power?” I asked. I eyed the bottle of nitric acid on the bench where Emil had been working. If I could reach it…

  “Story hour can wait,” Emil said from the doorway. “Neil is waiting.”

  “Oh, yes.” Clarissa stared up at James. “Collect her for me and let’s go upstairs.”

  I lunged for the bench, but James caught my wrist, pulling me away with ease. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “It’s okay.” I looked up, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I’ll fix this.”

  He just sighed and escorted me toward the door.

  Neil waited for us on the second floor in an office I suspected belonged to his uncle. The decor was certainly macabre enough for the city’s most powerful necromancer. Heavy burgundy drapes covered the windows and pooled on the glossy black tile. Neil sat behind a large cherry desk, feet propped on one polished corner, while he read from a worn book. Across the room, George lounged on a black leather couch, his combat boots crossed at the ankles and resting on the burgundy area rug.

  Neil snapped the book closed and rose to his feet. “Grand Master, Amelia, if you would both please join me.” He gestured at the nearby table crafted from the same cherry wood as the desk. He gave George a nod, and to my surprise, George wordlessly left the room.

  “When did you and the Huntsman boys hook up?”

  “I recognized their potential the night we tried to abduct you from the clinic.” Neil stopped behind one of the chairs around the table.

  “You drove the getaway car.” I watched Clarissa walk over to the couch George had vacated, James trailing in her wake. She sat down and he settled at her feet. I turned to glare at Neil, but Emil caught my arm and propelled me toward the table.

  “Take a seat, Amelia,” Emil said.

  I jerked my arm free and glared at my former Grand Master. He’d been lying to me since I s
tumbled across him at the club, maybe from long before that. “We were never lovers,” I whispered.

  Emil just smirked and took a seat at the table, as Neil did the same. Each had a notepad and a pen while my place remained empty.

  Neil removed the vial of orange-green liquid he’d taken from Emil earlier and set it before my chair. “You’re going to drink that.”

  “I am? And what exactly is that?”

  “You don’t remember it, but you were given it once before.” Emil leaned over to uncap the vial. “But you’ll be pleased to know I’ve made some refinements. There should be fewer nasty side-effects this time.”

  “What—”

  “It still lacks any compulsive elements,” Neil said, ignoring me.

  “It takes a certain degree of finesse to brew as it is,” Emil said. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

  “Give me the formula,” I offered. “I’ll tweak it for you.”

  Emil glared, but Neil laughed.

  “Ah, Amelia.” Neil shook his head. “You always were too confident for your own good.” He waved a hand toward the couch. “But I’ve provided the compulsion. Mother?”

  Clarissa leaned forward and whispered in James’s ear. A flicker of darkness and an enormous hellhound lay at her feet. She clasped her hands and grinned before leaning down to ruffle his fur. After a brief rub of his ears, she rose to her feet and walked over to open the door.

  “Bring him in,” she said.

  Dread and relief warred within me when Rowan stepped into the room, closely followed by George with his crossbow. The quarrel was no longer embedded in Rowan’s thigh, and he didn’t appear to be limping. Elemental healing at work or had I been out longer than I realized?

  “That’s far enough,” George said.

  Rowan stopped, his hands folded before him, a cable tie cutting into his wrists. His gray eyes settled on Neil. “Let her go.”

  “Completely at my mercy and he still makes demands.” Neil gave me a smile followed by a tsk. “Really, must you make such powerful friends?”

  At his mercy? “What was on that quarrel?” I asked, though I suspected I knew. “What did you do?”

  “It’s what you’ve done. Brilliant work as always, though I decided to convert it to a paste. What did you call it? Extinguishing Dust?” Neil smirked. “Such quaint names.”

  I gritted my teeth, realizing that he must have lifted the formula from my journal the day he’d visited me at the clinic.

  Neil turned to George. “Thank you, Mr. Huntsman.”

  “You better keep your word, alchemist.” George glared at Neil.

  “I believe you’ll agree that the reward is worth the price.”

  George glanced at James, but made no further comment. With a huff, he stepped out into the hall and slammed the door behind him.

  I stared at the closed door. George had once stepped in front of Lawson’s gun to save James, now he let a necro have him?

  Neil picked up Emil’s vial and offered it to me. “The grim has been commanded to rip out the Flame Lord’s soul if he tries anything—or if you fail to drink this.”

  Rowan stood near the couch, and as I watched, James rose to his feet. Without hesitation, I took the vial from Neil’s fingers and downed it.

  “What was that?” Rowan demanded.

  “One of Emil’s mind fucks,” Neil said.

  “Quaint names?” Emil frowned at Neil and got a smirk in return.

  “How long?” Neil asked him.

  “A minute. Probably less since she had it before.”

  “Ah.” Neil turned his attention to me. “Here’s the deal. You’re going to speak when asked, otherwise His Grace will pay with his soul.” He held out a hand to Clarissa, and she walked over to take it.

  “And when you’re done, the grim is mine?” she asked, ruffling Neil’s brown hair.

  “To do with as you please.”

  My stomach twisted at the adoring look Clarissa gave James before she turned and walked back to him.

  I opened my mouth to demand that they leave him alone, but all that came out was a couple of ingredients. I snapped my mouth closed. Oh God, not again.

  “Hold up!” Neil picked up his pen. “Is she ready?” he asked Emil.

  My former Grand Master smiled. “Tell us the Final Formula, Amelia.”

  Chapter

  30

  I couldn’t think of a way out of it, so I spoke. I wanted to ask questions, make demands, but what came out of my mouth wasn’t what I meant to say. It was alchemy. For the next twenty minutes, I recited a formula I’d never heard before. A formula that grew more familiar with each word. I stopped to swallow.

  “Finish,” Neil said, “and I’ll get you some water.”

  “The quint ingredients,” Emil said. “This is where she held out on me before. I’d increased the dose and was waiting for it to take effect when she destroyed the Alchemica.”

  I sat up straighter and gave him a frown. He blamed that on me? Emil glared right back.

  “What are you talking about?” Rowan demanded. The sound of his voice after such a lengthy silence surprised me.

  Neil chuckled and our attention shifted to him. “She doesn’t remember,” Neil told Emil. “I suspect she was trying to frame you for the death of the Elements.” He glanced at Rowan before his attention shifted back to Emil. “Good thing you were in her lab trying to brew her formula.”

  I stared at Neil. Close to forty people had died in that explosion. Neil had to be lying. I wouldn’t have done that.

  Would I?

  “Or could it have been you?” Rowan asked Neil.

  “Hmm, yes, I did have a motive,” Neil agreed. “But the liches I sent to retrieve her hadn’t returned. They might survive an explosion, but I didn’t know how well the Formula would protect her.”

  “How did you know she was the one who found it?” Rowan asked.

  “She came to me seeking one of the ingredients, promising me the grim if I got it for her.” Neil turned his smile on me. “Remember, Amelia?”

  I stared at him, remembering my search of James’s family tree. Was that what I’d been searching for? A bargaining chip for Neil’s cooperation? And what ingredient did I need a necromancer’s help in securing?

  “Is that true?” James asked.

  I gasped at the sound of his voice and turned my head. The shaggy black hellhound no longer lay at Clarissa’s feet. Human now, he knelt beside her, his eyes on me. I took a breath to answer and stopped. If I spoke, it wouldn’t be the answer to his question that came out.

  “Of course, it’s true,” Neil answered for me. He rose to his feet and crossed to the desk to retrieve a worn leather-bound journal.

  “George was right,” James said to me, “you were the one who called to invite me to the Alchemica.” He flinched as Clarissa stroked his hair, but it wasn’t anger that wrinkled his brow.

  Neil chuckled before answering him. “Did you think your alchemical skills warranted the call? The Alchemica doesn’t let just anyone in.”

  “I let you in,” Emil said to Neil. “I never did figure out how you made master. Some necromantic trick, most likely.”

  Neil glared at our Grand Master, but didn’t try to defend himself.

  “I bet you’re quite brilliant,” Clarissa said to James, still stroking his hair like he was nothing more than a pet.

  Neil returned to the table and placed the journal beside his notepad. He smiled at me and patted it with one hand. “This is your journal. The one you kept while researching the Formula. Perhaps you’d like to read it. Later.”

  I stared at the worn journal. Would reading my own notes return any memories to me?

  “Do I need to add a threat to get you to finish?” Neil asked, then looked at Clarissa.

  “Baby’s breath,” I s
aid.

  “The flower?”

  No, dipshit. A handful of actual baby’s breath. “The first blooms, dried and ground,” was what I actually said.

  Neil and Emil went back to scratching on their notepads. I looked down at the journal beneath Neil’s hand.

  “Go on,” Emil said.

  “Spring rain. Three drops.”

  “Of course,” Emil said, chuckling.

  Neil looked up, meeting my eyes. “You suspect, but you’re not certain.” His smile was smug. He opened the journal and thumbed through the pages before turning it to me. I leaned forward and looked down at the words, recognizing my own handwriting. A twinge of déjà vu crept through me.

  June 27th

  The blood sample resists everything I throw at it, which is more than I can say for the girl. Perhaps I shouldn’t have left her in Neil’s tender care, but I couldn’t chance her being found at the Alchemica. Relations between the magical community and us are strained enough. It’s best to let the magical hold her captive for me. He promised to return her when our experiments are finished and tomorrow may be the day. The quintessent ingredients have been added. Tomorrow I will take the Final Formula, and he can return the Air Element to her people.

  I gasped and sprang to my feet, overturning my chair in the process. I stared at Neil in wide-eyed horror, but he just laughed. “Now do you remember?”

  I shook my head. I really didn’t.

  “Addie?”

  The sound of Rowan’s voice froze me where I stood. Oh God, no. If he found out that I was responsible for what had happened to Era…

  “Enough games,” Emil cut in. “What’s the last ingredient?”

  “Amelia?” Neil’s dark brows rose.

  I could feel the tears on my cheeks. I couldn’t say it. Not in front of Rowan. I didn’t fear the fire. In truth, I’d prefer it to his disapproval, his disgust, his hatred of me.

  “This is tiresome,” Emil complained.

  My attention shifted to my Grand Master. The man who’d been like a father to me for so long. The man who destroyed my mind to achieve his ambition. Destroying lives in the name of alchemy. I must have learned my lesson well.