The Apothecary (The Lost Keepers Book 3)

by AR Colbert

  “Oh…” I didn’t know what else to say to that.

  “Alright girls,” Millie entered then, her usual cheerful demeanor snapping me out of the uncomfortable silence that had just passed between Abby and me. “I’ve got to get back to the shop. Abby, why don’t you take the day off? With Everly and Sean both working today, I’ll have all the help I need.”

  Abby started to protest, but Millie raised a hand and kept going. “I won’t take no for an answer. Consider it a paid holiday.”

  Abby’s cheeks flushed as she gave a reluctant nod. “Thank you.”

  “But you,” Millie pointed to me, “are not so lucky. Come on now, you’ve got a lot to learn about the pharmaceutical sciences.”

  I stood, taking note of the bright blue and yellow folders on the kitchen counter as I left. A large amateurish looking logo was attached to front, reading D&N Investments, The Opportunity of a Lifetime. “Thank you for the tour, Abby. You’ve got a lovely apartment.” I shot one more glance at the folders. Why would Mr. Mason be seeking investment advice from his housekeeper? Eh, it wasn’t any of my business. “I’m sure I’ll see you around at the shop again soon. And it was nice to meet you, Mr. Mason!”

  “Come again,” he called out as we exited.

  Millie seemed on edge as soon as we got to the other side of the door. She moved quickly ahead, squeezing into the elevator next to an older woman with a giant handbag containing a gray-faced chihuahua. I waited until we were back on the sidewalk, safely inside a crowd of people surrounded by street noise before I finally asked, “So, were you able to figure out what’s wrong?”

  Millie frowned. “Dark magic. I’ve got to phone it in to the council immediately.”

  CHAPTER 3

  “Hold on. Dark magic?”

  Millie furrowed her brows. “Shhh. Keep your voice down. We’ll talk back at the shop.”

  My mind was blown. I spent the rest of our walk back to the apothecary shrewdly examining every person we passed on the streets. I had to look at the entire world differently. A blond in leather pants caught my attention. Was she mortal or a Keeper? Agarthian or Olympian? Good or evil?

  Dark magic. The words kept ringing in my mind. Was there dark magic at play in my mother’s disappearance? Surely Millie would have mentioned it at the time if she’d suspected anything. It seemed like the kind of thing that should have been brought up sooner rather than later.

  She brushed through the door of her shop and dashed straight past Sean, through the velvet curtain into the back of the building. Sean stopped what he was doing, looking from me to the curtain and back again.

  “Did I miss something?” His features darkened and his muscles tensed. “Is it Abby? Did something happen? What’s wrong?”

  “Abby’s fine.” Or at least I thought she was fine. Was dark magic contagious? I shook the thought from my mind. “Millie’s making a call to the council. She thinks she knows what’s wrong with Mr. Mason.”

  “Well,” Sean leaned against a bar stool in front of the old soda fountain counter. “Are you gonna tell me what it is?”

  “Dark magic?” I sounded so unsure of myself. And by the look on Sean’s face, he wasn’t sure if he should believe it either.

  He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. What kind of dark magic?”

  “I have no idea. I was kind of hoping you might tell me what it is, I mean, aside from the obvious connotation. What does that look like among you all?”

  Sean frowned. “Keepers don’t practice dark magic.”

  “Then who—”

  Millie shoved her way back through the curtain, wearing her black apron and smoothing the front of it nervously. She took a deep breath. “Okay, now where did we leave off? I suppose you should learn how to run a transaction, first. Then we can cover the basic sections of the store…”

  “Uh-uh. Nope. She’s talking about dark magic. What did you see, Millie?”

  My aunt shot me a dirty look then turned to Sean. “You know I can’t get into the details. It’s against protocol. There may be some dark magic at play, but it has been reported and the council will take care of things from here.”

  “But how is he?” Sean pressed. “How’s Abby? Do I need to go over there?”

  Millie sighed. “Abby is fine. Mr. Mason will be fine, too. We just need to let the council do its job, and everything will work out.” She dropped her chin and lowered her voice. “And I think you know it’s best for you to stay away from there.”

  Sean groaned and began pacing, running a hand through his auburn hair. “I can’t just sit here when I know they could be in danger.”

  “They’re not in danger, Sean.” She touched his arm, stilling him again as she continued. “You need to stay here. I spoke with your father and he agreed to give it high priority.”

  Sean was still scowling, but he didn’t argue. Some quiet understanding passed between the two of them before Millie finally turned back to face me. “Come to the back with me. I’m sure you have some questions. Sean can manage the front a little longer while we chat.” She shot a look in his direction that let him know the conversation was finished.

  Well, that was one way to prevent him from leaving. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me as I passed him on my way to the back with Millie. There was definitely more to this story. Hopefully I could get some details from my aunt.

  At first glance, the area behind the curtain resembled any other employee storeroom. More glass bottles lined the walls here, and a table with two chairs sat in the middle of the room. Three lockers lined the back wall for purses and other personal items. But upon closer examination, it was clear that this was no ordinary break room.

  A book shelf was packed to the brim with ancient looking tomes. Tattered spines boasted titles such as, “Bloodletting,” “Materia Medica,” and “Brewing with Belladonna.” In the corner sat a four foot tall copper still that steadily dripped oil into a curved glass bottle.

  Millie pulled out one of the chairs at the table and motioned for me to sit down while she scanned the bookshelf. “It is unlikely that you will take on powers like mine, but unfortunately, healing is all I know. Ah, there it is.”

  She pulled an especially thick textbook off of the shelf and blew dust from the top of its pages, then laid it on the table in front of me with a thud. “So while I can’t teach you to diagnose illnesses at a glance or identify and erase certain sources of pain like I have the ability to do, I can give you some basics on herbal remedies.”

  “Wolfsbane, Mandrake, and Liverwort.” I slid my fingers across the title as I read the words aloud. “101 Effective Remedies from the Middle Ages. I’m going to guess this wasn’t one of your textbooks from college.”

  Millie laughed. “No, it wasn’t. But the great thing about healing is that anyone can do it to some extent. You just need the right ingredients and a little know-how. So even if… even if healing is not your power, you’ll at least have some understanding of our ancient knowledge as you enter the world as an adult.”

  What she’d wanted to say was that it would be helpful even if I never got any powers of my own, but neither of us wanted to discuss that now. Or ever. It wasn’t exactly a favorite topic of mine.

  “Thank you. I will definitely have a look.”

  “It’s not very light reading, but I think you may find some parts interesting. And it’s useful, nonetheless.”

  “I appreciate it. But what I’d really like to know is more about the dark magic you mentioned. I know you said you can’t get into the details. I understand. But Sean said Keepers can’t practice dark magic. So who, then, is making Mr. Mason ill?”

  Millie steepled her fingers and her lips tensed, pursed and relaxed, opened and closed. But I wasn’t in any hurry. I knew from one-too-many cop dramas on TV that I should let the quiet continue until it was uncomfortable. She’d talk eventually. And she did, after a minute or two of awkward silence.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “That’s
not a real answer. Who practices dark magic? Mortals? Or are there other supernaturals I haven’t learned about yet?”

  “Neither. It’s… it’s the fractured.”

  Oh. That’s why she didn’t want to say anything. She still thought I might be defective.

  “Well, surely not all the fractured turn to dark magic, right? Is there like some secret coven or something?”

  “They’re not witches, Everly. Well, I take that back. They’re not all witches. But by definition, any exertion of supernatural powers done outside of the council’s knowledge is classified as dark magic. And the fractured are not governed by the council.”

  “Who are they governed by?”

  Millie frowned. “No one. The fractured are supposed to be eradicated, and their souls preserved. That’s what the hunters are for.”

  “But if one slips through the cracks, and they happen to ‘exert a supernatural power,’ they’re automatically assumed to be practicing dark magic? Even if said exertion is just, like, conjuring up some chocolate chip cookies or butterflies or something?”

  “First of all, there is no power that allows for conjuring up cookies. And secondly, the power of a fractured soul is unpredictable at best, and often fatal. They can’t control it, and with occasional surges that are beyond their natural abilities, it’s not uncommon for a fractured soul to inadvertently kill themselves and every mortal around them.”

  “So you kill them instead?” I crossed my arms in front of me.

  “I am a healer. I don’t kill anyone. But the hunters—the Agarthians—they specialize in extracting fractured souls. They save them.”

  “Sounds like murder to me.”

  “I told you, it’s complicated. But without the pureness of a Keeper’s soul, the powers will usually… sour.”

  “Like spoiled milk?”

  “It’s not a great analogy, I know. But I’m not sure how else to explain it. I’ll cut to the chase. Even if a fractured soul learns to wield their powers appropriately, the fact that their soul is incomplete is reason enough to remove them from the population. They turn, Everly. There is no goodness in a fractured soul, only greed and envy and joy from the pain of others. Fractured souls become evil.”

  She was pale, but she’d done it. She’d finally admitted the truth about me. It was why I was being guarded—she thought I might sour. It was why she was unconcerned about my mother. And it was exactly why I needed to get her back. My mother wouldn’t do this to me. She just wouldn’t. But without any powers to prove myself otherwise, I needed her to tell them the truth.

  Millie might have thought my mother ran away from her problems when she became pregnant with me. And she probably thought my mother had done it again by disappearing again now. But I knew better. My mother didn’t run away when things got hard. She was too careful, too caring, too full of love to risk having a fractured child. She wouldn’t do that to the world, and she wouldn’t do that to me.

  My mother was still out there, somewhere. And I was going to find her.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Millie!” Sean’s voice called out from the other side of the curtain. “We’ve got a visitor.”

  She didn’t get up right away, but instead stared at me for a long moment, as though she wanted to say more. But I was finished. I didn’t care to hear Millie’s theories on how I would soon turn evil and kill people with my broken powers and my fractured soul. I refused to believe it.

  “Millie?” His voice was closer this time.

  She stood abruptly. “Read the book,” she said, tapping the dusty cover on the table. “When you’re done, I have many more you can look through. And Everly…” The tension broke in her expression, and I saw the aunt I knew and loved, wrought with concern. “Hang in there. We don’t know what the future holds.”

  She rushed out then, away from the unspoken words. The future we didn’t want to face.

  I followed her and felt the tingle across my skin before I made it to the other side of the curtain. And sure enough, as soon as the velvety green fabric brushed past my arms I saw him, grinning at the counter.

  “Tate.” I nodded and moved ahead, avoiding eye contact and pretending not to notice the way he made me lightheaded. I was uncertain if my reaction was one of fear or excitement.

  “Everly.” His voice was warm, and despite my best efforts, it drew my attention right back to his beautiful face. “Meet my friend, Osborne.” And then I noticed his equally dangerous looking golden eyed friend.

  I don’t know if I was still recovering from the conversation I’d just had with Millie, or if the sight of Tate had me a little off-kilter, but something about the look of his friend Osborne took my breath away. Not in a love at first sight “he’s so dreamy,” kind of way, but in an “oh my stars I think he wants me dead,” kind of way. I was terrified.

  I grabbed the edge of the counter, trying not to panic as I scanned the shelves for a paper bag to breathe into. I was losing it and everyone was watching me spiral.

  “Are you okay?” Sean whispered. He turned his body so that he was blocking my view of the others.

  I nodded, but it still took me a few seconds before I could think clearly enough again to speak. I was vaguely aware of Millie’s voice behind him, describing Mr. Mason’s symptoms. They weren’t here for me.

  “Hunters,” I whispered to Sean.

  He nodded. “Yeah, they were sent by the council. They’re here to investigate the dark magic Millie reported.”

  “She just called like twenty minutes ago.”

  “Keepers act quickly.”

  I peeked around the side of Sean’s head and locked eyes with Osborne. It was brief, but it was enough to feel like I got the wind knocked out of me again. I felt like I was going to be sick. “I need some air.”

  Sean looked over his shoulder. “Hey Millie, you good here?”

  A look of irritation flitted across her petite features. Sean had interrupted her. “Yeah, sure.” She waved him off and got back to the conversation.

  Sean untied his apron and tossed it on the counter. “Let’s go.”

  I wouldn’t argue with that. I grabbed the giant textbook Millie had given me and followed Sean out of the shop, careful to keep him between me and Osborne. I turned around to get one more quick glance as we slipped through the front door, but Osborne was engaged with Millie, listening intently to her recount of the afternoon. It was Tate who watched us leave, his expression indiscernible.

  I smoothed the hairs on my arms and turned my back on them, anxious to get out into the open air.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Sean asked once we were out on the sidewalk.

  “I think so, it’s just… the hunters. Something in my subconscious knows they’re after me I think. It’s instant fight-or-flight syndrome when I see them, you know? And that buzzy-tingle they give me?” I shuddered. “I just don’t like it.”

  “Buzzy tingle?” Sean looked perplexed.

  “Yeah, that feeling of being hunted.”

  “Hmmm,” Sean twisted his mouth to one side. “I’m not familiar. I’ve never felt any kind of ‘buzzy-tingle.’ Then again, I’ve never been hunted.”

  Interesting. So the feeling was definitely not associated with my powers coming in. I hadn’t wanted to admit it out loud, but I sort of hoped it was the beginning of my transition—like maybe my body was saying, “Nope, can’t hunt me. See? Powers…”

  “So this hunter—Osborne, he was sent by the council to investigate the dark magic Millie reported?”

  “Yep. This is one area where the different races work together. No matter who reports the dark magic, an Agarthian hunter is assigned to the case. Did Millie, uh, give you any specifics on how dark magic works?”

  “Yes. She told me it’s done by fractured souls.”

  “Right.” Sean shrugged, uncomfortable and uncertain of what to say. I guess my tense shoulders were a dead giveaway that I didn’t like this topic very much.

  “And you’re positive that
Osborne is only here for the case Millie reported? He can’t hunt anyone else?”

  “I don’t think so. That’s not how it works. One hunter per soul—otherwise things get messy.”

  I didn’t want to ask what messy looked like. “So why is Tate with him then? If only Osborne can hunt the suspect performing the magic on Mr. Mason, Tate shouldn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Thaddeus is assigned to you. Like I said, things can get messy when multiple hunters are involved. He’ll have to accompany Osborne in this case to ensure lines aren’t being crossed.”

  That wasn’t all. I knew there had to be more to it. The pained expression on Sean’s face was enough for me to know he wasn’t telling me everything he knew.

  Suddenly I understood. I stopped on the sidewalk and narrowed my eyes at Sean. “You know I have nothing to do with this, right?”

  He grimaced. “Of course I know that. But the Agarthians— well they don’t leave anything to chance. Thaddeus has to tag along with Osborne just in case they narrow the suspect down to you. In that case, the job will be handed back to Thaddeus.”

  No wonder Osborne was looking at me like that. I was a suspect in his case. I shivered again, recalling the feeling I got from Osborne’s death stare and continued walking.

  “There just aren’t many fractured souls around here. They’re usually caught early on,” Sean muttered. He wasn’t helping.

  But there was another question bouncing around deep in the recesses of my mind, as well. A loophole of sorts, and one that would make me appear even more guilty if anyone found out. Millie mentioned that any powers or magic practiced outside of the council’s knowledge were considered dark. But I also happened to remember that hunters could only hunt fractured souls. So what happened if a mortal soul practiced magic? Was it even possible?

  The weight of Millie’s book under my arm was suddenly much heavier. If I could learn to heal, would it be possible for me to learn other spells as well? Because if there were some sort of tracking spell or truth serum or anything I could use to find my mom, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. The question was whether these things were real or if my imagination was simply getting away from me. I’d read about too many other imaginary witches and wizards growing up.