Forbidden Alchemy (Elemental Book 7)

by Rain Oxford

  And then his hand gripped my wrist. I instantly saw a rabbit sticking his head out of a burrow in the forest. Just as quickly, his hand was gone and so was the image. I didn’t know what rabbits had to do with this, if anything, but Ahz was hard to read. “We need a rabbit.”

  “What for?”

  “I don’t know. Just get one.”

  “I’ll do it,” Darwin said. He left.

  I decided to take this to my office. Scott held out his hand, and Ahz let himself be led out. Ahz didn’t even fuss, although he did look strangely resigned. “Go get Rita. We don’t want to accidentally hurt him because we don’t know his culture.”

  Henry left and we reached my office.

  Scott and Ahz sat on the couch while I moved my chair to sit across from them. Henry arrived with Rita, and we explained that we didn’t know for sure what we were doing. Darwin returned holding a chubby brown rabbit with a white belly and white tail. Ahz stood and reached out for the rabbit, so Darwin gave it to him. Ahz took it to the corner of the room, sat on the floor, and stroked the rabbit’s ears.

  “Well, now that Ahz has a new pet, maybe we should focus on Veronica,” Darwin said.

  Ahz ignored him, took a deep breath, and said, “Matawsarh.”

  There was no actual sound, but I felt the energy so strongly that I could hear it. I could also see it. It was something like a faint, iridescent glow that started in the rabbit and moved up Ahz’s arms into his chest. In a matter of two or three seconds, I watched the life drain completely out of the rabbit. With it, the rabbit’s fur turned white and its black eyes turned dull gray. It made no sound or attempt to save itself.

  And then its eyes closed and the energy was gone. Rita made a strangled gasp and tried to go to Ahz, but Henry caught her and held her back. Tears dripped down Ahz’s cheek and he kissed the rabbit’s head.

  Darwin held out the paper again. “That’s what this is? A spell to kill Veronica?”

  Ahz nodded and pressed his face against the rabbit. I wished that I had gone about asking him any other way. To Ahz, killing a defenseless, trusting creature was abhorrent. I couldn’t even imagine the psychological damage it would do to him. I reached out to take it from him, but he shouted and clutched the rabbit tighter. My intuition insisted I give him room. “Everyone, back up,” I said.

  Darwin and Henry obeyed automatically, but Rita struggled harder to get to her son.

  Ahz ignored us all, settled the rabbit on its back in his lap, and put one hand on the rabbits head and the other on its chest. “Saqbahi.”

  This time, I definitely heard the magic in my head. It was a little like a shockwave that blew everything off my desk. The closest thing I could compare it to was a warm breeze that actually passed through me. It did nothing to us, though. The rabbit’s color flowed back into it, its eyes turned black, and it started breathing again.

  Ahz collapsed. Henry released Rita and she ran to her son. Henry picked up Scott. When Rita pulled Ahz into her lap and kissed his head, I couldn’t help but see the similarity between her and what he did when the rabbit was dead. It was disturbing.

  “Is he okay?” I asked.

  “He’s breathing. I think it just exhausted him.”

  “He brought the rabbit back…” Darwin said, shocked.

  “I’m more worried about the fact that he killed it,” I said.

  “No, you’re missing the point,” Darwin interrupted. “Taking a life has always been accomplishable by magic. Bringing someone back… that’s not as simple as it looks.”

  * * *

  It was in my nature to protect people. When I went after Veronica at first, it was because I thought I could stop her, so I was obligated to try. It was my job as an investigator, even when I wasn’t hired. Now it was my job because she was my sister. Veronica was my responsibility.

  Rita and I took Ahz to Dr. Martin, who confirmed Ahz was just tired.

  After Ahz’s spell, I spent a few hours alone in my office deciding what to do about it. I was willing to kill Veronica to protect my friends; I’d done it before. However, I didn’t have caster magic. Rita, on the other hand, could do it and was willing. “I will never win the favor of the gods, and because Ahz wasn’t born on Syndrial, neither will he. All I can be certain of is this life. Nobody will take Ahz from me, nor will they damage his soul.”

  But was I willing to do that to her?

  I headed to my room and decided to check in on Darwin, who was in his room, reading through Arthur’s books. I knocked on the door. “Go away!”

  I opened the door because he never bothered to lock it. His room was normally just like mine, except messy as hell because he refused to pick up after himself. However, this time it was spotless. That was the strange part.

  The disturbing part, on the other hand, was that everything was black, from the area rug to the curtains, as if the color had been sucked out of them… or Darwin was going through a goth phase. There were also weapons, candles, potion ingredients, and creepy antiquated medical equipment all over the room. Darwin was under the bed covers with a fake candle that he was using as a flashlight. Amelia was sitting at his desk reading a science fiction book under the dim light of a real candle.

  “What the hell is this?”

  “You can force yourself into someone’s head. I have to set the mood.”

  “You’re just supposed to be reading. You’re not watching horror movies.”

  “He’s an alchemist. They’re total gore whores. Alchemy involves tons of codes and misdirection, even in their private notes. This was written in a time when alchemy could get you killed, but alchemists were also famously stingy with their knowledge. They created codes for their work so that outsiders couldn’t copy their work, but they could teach it to an apprentice if they were so inclined.”

  “So it would be best for me to induce a vision.”

  “No.”

  “I understand there are risks, but it’s going to take some to stop Veronica.”

  “You don’t understand, Devon. I can’t pull you out of your visions anymore. If you keep doing this, it’s going to kill you. It’s just a matter of time, and Rocky won’t be able to save you. I know you won’t stop using your powers, but if I can extend your life by doing this, I’m gonna fuckin’ do it.”

  “Have you figured out anything helpful yet?”

  “As a matter of fact… I know why Astrid overpowered John.”

  “Why?”

  “Arthur used the eye of a newborn vampire, which was believed to be the essence of a vampire’s thrall. It’s not true, of course; strong enough vampires can thrall a victim without eye contact.”

  “Are you saying that she can’t control vampires?”

  “Of course not. I’m saying that your mind control was actually created from the thrall. It was altered by other creatures of magic.”

  “You said the eye wasn’t the source of the thrall.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Alchemy is part science, but it’s still magic, so it still follows the rules of magic. Eating the essence of creatures isn’t a new concept. What is the fastest creature you can think of?”

  “I guess a cheetah.”

  “And what gives a cheetah its speed?”

  “I think they have lighter bones or something, but I would say leg muscles.”

  “Then you would use the leg muscles of a cheetah in your potion to gain speed. There are libraries of philosophies on what body parts are good for alchemy… creepy cookbooks, if you will, but more often than not, alchemists keep their own recipes in the family. The most powerful alchemists, like Arthur, were perfectionists. He didn’t just run with the first thing that popped into his mind. He ran hundreds of tests, keeping amazing records, to determine what the best recipe was.”

  “Get back to where Astrid comes into this.”

  “Astrid’s mother was a vampire from Kaden, so her blood is extremely pure— much more pure than the vampire infant Arthur used to create your thrall.”

  �
�But we don’t have an army of pure vampires, and Heather has a key to Kaden’s door, so how does this help us?”

  “It doesn’t. Not at all. I just thought it was interesting.”

  “We don’t have time for that.”

  “Then let me get back to it.”

  I left him to it and went to my room. I sat in my chair for a few minutes. I knew what she looked like and where she was. I could use my visions to see what would happen ahead of time… except Vincent warned me repeatedly that not only were the visions sometimes deceptive; they could be changed. The foreseeing visions were based on choices. If I made a choice, this is what will happen. Probably. Honestly, being able to see into the past was much more useful.

  The worst case scenario is that I would see a way to win and run with it, only for Veronica to oversee it and ruin it for us. I needed to keep her out of my head. I was so focused on this conundrum that I didn’t notice Ghost’s arrival. His movement caused me to jump, but I jerked my hand away before he could bite me.

  “Damn it, Ghost!”

  Then I realized he hadn’t been about to bite me; his mouth was full of metal, which he had been trying to hand me. He glared at me.

  “Sorry. You just startled me is all.” He continued to scowl for a moment before gently setting the metal down. It was the amulet I had found at the council. I patted my pocket to find it empty. “Sneaky bastard. You’re a better thief than Henry.”

  As Vincent’s familiar, Ghost could see the future. He had a tendency to drop by to save the day at the last second with something strange like chalk, a metal pen, or crucial evidence.

  “What does it do?” I asked. I reached out for his mind, but he vanished. “That wasn’t actually helpful! I still don’t know what it does!”

  But Ghost had never steered me wrong before. I grabbed a thick string (something all wizards had) out of my desk since I hadn’t gotten the chain back from Henry yet. I didn’t know if Ghost wanted me to wear it or to give it to someone. If it put me into a life-draining coma, at least I knew someone would come along soon to help. Being alone in my room was just asking to be interrupted.

  I slipped it on and paused, waiting for foreign thoughts, sinister magic, or unconsciousness to come over me. Nothing happened for a minute, so I started to relax.

  Then I sensed movement behind me, jumped up, and spun around, bumping into my desk loudly. Rocky, on the other hand, was completely silent as she flapped her stone wings with agitation. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  She said nothing.

  “Is something wrong?” My intuition wasn’t warning me of danger, but Rocky didn’t drop in without reason. Because of our connection, she was always in my head, but for some reason, I didn’t feel her. I worried for a second that Veronica had cast another curse, but that didn’t make sense. Rocky was in front of me.

  Yet she still remained silent.

  I reached out for her presence and felt her easily. Our connection snapped right back into place like it had never disappeared.

  “You are alive,” she said, sounding surprised.

  “Yes, as are you. Why?”

  “You vanished from my perception. What did you do?”

  I considered the amulet for a moment. “I put this on. I’m going to take it off.” I withdrew my power carefully and felt more alone in my mind than I had been since I summoned her. I could reach into her mind, but was alone in mine. I slipped off the amulet and instantly felt her presence in my head.

  Rocky flapped her wings again with irritation. “You burden me too much. You should warn me before experimenting with magic such as this.”

  I couldn’t blame her for being upset. Normally, when a wizard was killed, his familiar would die with him. For us, it was the other way around, but it was her job to protect me as much as it was my job to protect her.

  “Can Veronica control your mind? You would be of great help in the fight against her, but not if she can make you turn against me.” John was able to turn Flagstone against Hunt, but Rocky was a little different.

  “I do not know.”

  “Well, I’m going to put this back on. Try to talk to me as soon as I do.” I slipped it back on… and her presence vanished from my head. She didn’t say anything to me. “You can’t? You can’t get into my mind?” I slipped it off and immediately felt her again. I refused to let myself get excited. I had a theory on what it did, but I had to find out for certain first. “I have to test this. Thank you.” I ran out my door.

  I stopped by Henry’s room first and he wasn’t there, but Rita let me in. The chain had been fixed and was left on his desk. I took it, asked Rita to thank him for me, and headed to my office.

  As I made my way across campus, I connected to the minds of all my siblings at the school except for Ahz and ordered them to meet me in my office. I felt their questions and confusion in my mind and ignored it.

  “Jason and I are in class,” Jamie responded.

  “Yeah, like you two have a problem with skipping class,” Emerson sassed.

  I hesitated. I hadn’t meant to create a link between them, but it was apparently natural and could be useful. I reached my office and they joined me within minutes. “What is this about?” Tristan asked.

  “I think I found a powerful tool to use against Veronica.” I held out the amulet. “I’m going to put this on, and then I want each of you to use your powers on me in order from oldest to youngest. Induce a vision me, order me to do something, or read my mind. Give me your best. Everyone understand?”

  They all nodded and Jamie grinned evilly. “This is going to be fun.”

  * * *

  The amulet blocked my mind completely. We finally had something to help even the playing field. That didn’t mean I should face her without a plan. Fortunately, with my mind protected, I could come up with a plan without Veronica overhearing me.

  Not to anyone’s surprise, Darwin and Henry wanted to come with me, but I couldn’t risk Veronica possessing or controlling them. “You were able to break Henry out of it,” Darwin said.

  “I don’t know how.”

  “I do,” Henry said.

  Darwin gaped at him. “Stop trying to take my job. I’m the smart one, you’re the muscle. If you start having ideas, then I’m just the pretty one and the pretty one always gets screwed.”

  “Darwin, shut up.”

  “Every time you are in my mind, you open a connection between us,” Henry said. “For you, that might disappear when you stop. For us, it remains. I can’t hear you in my mind, but I can sense you near and when you need help. This gets stronger every time you contact me psychically.”

  Darwin nodded. “Yep. Like scar tissue.”

  “When Veronica controlled me, I couldn’t push her out, but you were already there.”

  “Oh!” Darwin said, suddenly catching on. “It’s like the ward she made around the school. It’s easier to defend than it is to attack a defense. You can’t fight her from the outside, but if you’re already in someone’s head, she can’t push you out either.”

  “I will consider that. Something else came to my attention. We kept talking about her possessing people, and then you said how it could be an evolution of the spell. Well, that would make sense because I couldn’t… for example, control a back and forth conversation between you and Henry. I can control someone, but it takes a lot of my focus.”

  “We knew that,” Henry said.

  “Right. When Veronica controlled you, your eyes weren’t white, so it’s safe to assume she was using some of her focus to control you, just like I would or John would. Then I think about the mother, who crashed into an empty car. Maybe she was trying to keep us there, maybe she was trying to kill Ahz and not me. But then I think about Nadia. Why would Veronica send her there, wipe her memories, and then send hunters after her? With her real name?”

  “For… fun?” Henry asked.

  “Yeah, but I mean what her actual plan was. Let’s say I hadn’t interfered. Nadia is close and p
ersonal with Stephen and Clara. The hunters attack over and over and then finally, they realize they can win, but not like this. They demand the surrender of…?”

  “Nadia?” Henry asked.

  “And who hears the name?”

  “Nadia will,” Darwin said.

  “And what happened the instant we said her name in front of her for the first time?”

  “She flipped and started killing. Or, trying to kill,” Darwin said.

  “Exactly. I think Nadia was a landmine, and her real name was the trigger. She was supposed to hear the name and start killing everyone, preferably in front of the humans to show them vampires were as crazy blood-thirsty as they thought.”

  “So it’s not possession…” Darwin said.

  “No. It’s worse than that. I think she can give someone a command with a trigger, such as a word or the sight of a truck, and then completely push them aside. She can make people do her bidding without having to devote any of her focus on them. However, that means they can’t be complex or adaptive orders, which is why she had to control Henry the regular way.”

  “But that also means she’s no closer to possessing her siblings,” Darwin said.

  “There’s that.”

  * * *

  They left me alone to use my visions. However, I didn’t plan to do it alone. I learned from John’s lesson that Arthur could be defeated. Although I was the oldest of my siblings and had all three abilities, some of them had better-developed aspects of the power. Furthermore, their unique experiences could prove helpful.

  I summoned my staff, turned the lights low, and slipped on my ring. Fortunately, I wasn’t immediately thrown into a foreseeing vision, because I was focused. I had something in mind already. I envisioned my old bedroom in the brownstone I lived at when I met Astrid. Terrible things happened to me there, but there were also good times. It had nothing to do with Veronica, so it felt more private. More importantly, my other siblings had never seen it.