The Necromancer's Betrayal (The Final Formula Series, Book 2.5) Read online

  “There’s this cloaked woman. She protects you while you’re here.”

  “And tells me stories.”

  James remembered Elysia telling him about that. He started to say as much and realized he couldn’t speak. He towered over her now, and when he lifted a hand, he found it clawed and covered in fur. He sighed, the sound closer to a low snarl.

  “Scary.”

  Yes.

  She studied him a moment, then reached up to pull down his head. Rolling up on her toes, she kissed the underside of his jaw. “I’m so very afraid.”

  He bowed his head, touched by her acceptance. Even Addie, who accepted him in every way had been terrified of this form. Thank you.

  Elysia smiled.

  And speaking of Addie. I’ll take you to my friend. She’ll help you get your power back.

  “Your friend, the alchemist.”

  She’s a good person. You’ll like her.

  “How do you know she can fix me?”

  She’s brilliant. I know because I’m her apprentice.

  “You’re an alchemist?”

  Studying to be one.

  She released a breath. “Then I guess they’re not all evil.”

  Not all. He reached out to open a portal right into Addie’s shop and hesitated. Ian. He didn’t trust the guy, and if he really had cursed his own descendants, James wasn’t taking Elysia anywhere near him. I’ll call her. Let her get started on your antidote. My phone is at my apartment. Let’s stop there first.

  “You can take us to Athens?”

  Yes. Is that all right?

  “That would be great.”

  Good. Let me grab some clothes first. Your roommate’s attire doesn’t do anything for me.

  She laughed. “Okay.”

  He pulled open the portal into his living room in Athens. Elysia stepped through and he followed, his paws making a soft thump against the thick carpet.

  “This is so cool,” she said, no doubt referring to the speed of traveling this way.

  He shifted forms to tell her that she was able to do the same thing, but he didn’t get the words out. The dizziness hit him again, harder. He fell forward, bracing his hands against the floor while he waited for it to pass.

  “James?” Elysia knelt beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

  “Sorry, I forgot. Neil took a lot of blood. If I stay human, I’ll have to sleep.” He lifted his head, focusing on the phone on the end table. “Let me call Addie, then I can shift back and we can—”

  “If you need to sleep, then sleep. That can wait.”

  He turned to face her, meeting her white eyes. “But your power…”

  “I’ll be fine… as long as I’m around you.” She smiled, then rose to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you in bed.” She offered a hand.

  He took her hand, though he was still capable of standing on his own. He also let her loop his arm around her shoulders and help him upstairs. Unfortunately, he didn’t last long once she tucked him in bed. He cursed Neil thoroughly when she lay down beside him, and he could do nothing but drift into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter

  18

  Elysia sat up, awakened from a deep sleep she hadn’t expected to take. The sound that woke her still reverberated through the apartment. What it was, or what had caused it remained a mystery.

  She glanced over at James, but his breathing was still deep and even. The noise hadn’t disturbed his healing sleep. Checking the clock, she was surprised to see that almost five hours had passed. She must have been more tired than she realized.

  Pushing back the covers, she slid from the bed, tugging the T-shirt she had borrowed into place. She moved toward the bedroom door. No need to wake James. She could handle this.

  Grim, grim, grim, a voice whispered. The tone agitated.

  Elysia stopped. “Reggie?”

  James grumbled in his sleep. Was Reggie trying to wake him—or warn him?

  Gavin.

  Elysia’s heart surged, and the accompanying wave of adrenaline left her dizzy. In her powerless state, she could do nothing. The only one who had a chance of stopping Gavin was James. She hurried back to his bedside and gripped his shoulder.

  The bedroom door flew open, slamming against the wall with enough force to bounce back, almost closing again.

  Elysia turned to face the threat, James’s name on her lips, when a woman stepped into the room. Elysia sagged in relief. It was the girl James had been arguing with behind the bar. The one in the photo downstairs. Elysia straightened and turned to face her, just as the girl flicked on the overhead light.

  “Are you—” A violent gust of air lifted Elysia off her feet and slung her across the room—until the wall stopped her flight.

  “Necromancer.” The girl crossed the room, her long stride confident. The overhead light glinted off her odd metallic-amber eyes. “James?” she said over her shoulder.

  Elysia pushed off the wall, rubbing the back of her head. “He can’t answer you. He’s—”

  “What have you done to him?” A concerned glance at James, and the girl moved closer.

  “Nothing.”

  “Your eyes are white. That means you’re using your magic. Release him, or I swear I’ll rip the air from your lungs.”

  New Magic, definitely. Elysia should have realized it by the way she had said necromancer. Then she remembered who James worked for. Was this girl an Element?

  Elysia opened her mouth to ask, but nothing entered her lungs when she tried to pull in a breath.

  “Release him,” the girl repeated.

  Elysia lifted a hand to her throat. She couldn’t draw any air to speak. How could she explain that she wasn’t using her magic, that James was in a healing sleep?

  “That’s right,” the girl answered. “I can do this all day.”

  Elysia took a step toward her, and suddenly she was airborne again. She smacked into the wall once more, but the gust of air that had thrown her was gone. Elysia’s chest tightened, and her heart hammered out of control.

  James! she screamed in her mind, not even sure it would work. Help me!

  He sat up with a gasp, and she wanted to sob with relief. He glanced from her to the other woman, then vaulted from the bed to land behind Elysia’s attacker. Staying at her back, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “James!” She tried to turn, but he didn’t let her.

  “Let her go,” he said.

  “She’s a necromancer. What if—”

  “She’s my friend. Let her go, Era.”

  Elysia could suddenly breathe again. She bent over and gripped her knees, drawing a deep breath into her quivering lungs.

  “Jesus, James. You’re naked,” the woman, Era said.

  “Well, don’t look. You are in my bedroom.” He squatted down beside Elysia. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She took another breath and straightened.

  He rose beside her, his gaze sliding down over the T-shirt she wore. His T-shirt. After he had passed out, she had taken the liberty of using his shower and washing machine. She hadn’t been comfortable leaving him alone, or walking to her place by herself.

  Elysia glanced at Era and was surprised that the girl turned her back. “My clothes are in your dryer. I’ll go get dressed.” She started to move away, but his hand on her waist stopped her.

  He leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. “Are you wearing anything under my shirt?”

  “No.”

  His growl was soft. “I’m going to strangle her.”

  Elysia smiled, knowing his temperament too well to believe him. “Thank her,” she whispered. “I had planned to be dressed before you woke.” She squeezed his arm and stepped past him. Giving Era a wide berth, she hea
ded for the door.

  Dressed in her slightly wrinkled, but clean clothes, Elysia lifted the phone from its charging cradle. James and Era were still in his room, their raised voices carrying down the stairs on occasion. The distance and the closed door muffled the words, so Elysia didn’t catch any of it. She could guess the topic though.

  But she would worry about the opinion of James’s magical friend later. She took a deep breath and dialed Grams’s number.

  “Elysia, where have you been?” Grams started in as soon as Elysia identified herself. “I tried to call you at Doug’s all day yesterday. The last I heard, you had let some alchemist give you a potion. Did it work?”

  All too well, but she didn’t want to worry Grams with those details. “I’m no longer with Doug. He betrayed me, Grams.”

  “The bastard took the grim from you, didn’t he?”

  It took Elysia a moment to find her voice. “Did you call Doug a bastard?”

  “All the Nelson line is, but he seemed nicer than most.” Grams sighed. “I guess I was wrong—or I deluded myself. Did he give the grim to his father?”

  “No. There isn’t a necromancer alive who’s powerful enough to take James from me. And that includes the bastard’s father.”

  “What happened, Ely?”

  She opened her mouth, ready to tell it all, and stopped. No, she wouldn’t draw Grams or the rest of the Family into this. This was her fight. “The details aren’t important, but I’m not going to let them destroy the Family. We’re not going down without a fight.”

  Grams was silent a moment. “We?”

  “Yes.” Elysia turned to pace across the room and pulled up short. James stood inside the opening to the foyer. He had pulled on a pair of dark jeans and another pair of his favorite boots, but his chest was still bare. His eyes locked with hers. “The Nelson family has lorded over us long enough,” Elysia answered her grandmother. “It’s time we stopped letting them.”

  “What are you going to do?” Grams asked.

  Elysia remembered Neil’s words, how he claimed the Deacon would fear her. Could she use that to her advantage? “Leave it to me.”

  “Ely, listen. The grim was just a status symbol. I never intended for you to actually use him.”

  “I don’t use James, and I never will,” Elysia said with heat. “Hang on to the house, Grams. I’ll talk to you soon.” She ended the call and looked up to meet James’s eyes once more, but before either of them could speak, Era joined them.

  “His flight doesn’t land until ten,” she said to James, her attention on her phone. “If we leave now, we’ll beat him in.”

  James turned to face her. “I can’t believe he took the red eye.”

  “He was worried about you.” Era tucked her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. “We all were.” She took a step into the room and stopped, her frown on Elysia. “I’ll get my things.” Era turned on her heel and left the apartment.

  “She’s not happy about me,” Elysia said.

  “She’ll be fine once she gets to know you.”

  Elysia sighed. “She’s an Element, isn’t she?”

  James studied her a moment, then nodded. “Air—in case you didn’t pick up on that. We’re going to have to drive to Cincinnati. She’s going with us.”

  “All right.” This should be fun.

  He continued to study her. “So what are you going to do about Doug, and his father?”

  Elysia shook her head, her bravado gone. “I don’t know, but I can’t do much while stunted.” She gestured at her eyes.

  “I called Addie. She’ll have something prepared for you when we arrive.”

  “So soon? Neil said we would need his blood.”

  “A lesser alchemist might.” James smiled.

  “Your friend is that good?”

  “Wait until you meet her.” His smile grew, the light glinting in his eyes. “She’s amazing.”

  Elysia frowned. “If you say so.”

  “We discussed this, remember? Not all alchemists are evil.”

  “Neither are all necromancers.”

  “I’ve noticed.” He watched her.

  Uncomfortable with the scrutiny, she cleared her throat. “Are you going out dressed like that?”

  “You took my favorite shirt.” He twitched a dark brow.

  She bit her lip. “It’s on the washer.”

  “Ah.” He left the room and returned a few minutes later pulling the black T-shirt down over his chest.

  Elysia met him in the foyer. “That was really your favorite shirt?” What was the chance of that? She had grabbed one at random. It wasn’t like she had chosen by color. They were all black.

  A final tug, and he gave her a wink. “It is now.” He lifted another leather jacket from the rack by the door and shrugged it on. “I’ll drive you to your place. You can throw a few things together while Era packs.”

  Elysia eyed him, taking in the dark clothing and the haphazardly combed black hair. Anyone meeting him in a dark alley would give him a wide berth. He looked up at that moment, his eyes meeting hers, his gaze intent. A predator in human skin. Goosebumps rose beneath the sleeves of her shirt. Grams was right; he was dangerous. He was also sexy as sin.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  “What is this?” She gestured between them.

  His brow furrowed, but he didn’t ask for an explanation. “Magical compatibility?”

  She frowned. “That sounds more like an excuse than a reason.”

  “Yeah.” He raked a hand through his hair, messing the dark strands. “But what else can it be?”

  “I’m not denying that it exists. It’s just—” God, how did she phrase this?

  “You don’t know where the magic ends and where your true feelings begin?”

  She looked up. “Yes, exactly.”

  “Trust me, I get it.” He dropped his eyes, the predator gone—an uncertain young man in its place.

  Elysia smiled. This was the real James—and the reason she wanted to see what was beyond the magic. “What if we got to know each other better?”

  He lifted his head. “What do you mean?”

  “My favorite color is green,” she said.

  He raised a brow. “Green?”

  “Seriously. I can show you my room.”

  His lips curled, hinting at a smile. “My favorite color is black.”

  She snorted. “I never would have guessed that.”

  He grinned, then abruptly offered his hand. “Hi, I’m James. James Huntsman.”

  She laughed and took his hand. “I’m Elysia Mallory.”

  “Nice to meet you.” He released her hand, then pulled open the front door and held it for her. “So. You come here often?”

  She laughed and stepped out into the morning light.

  Afterword

  Thank you for reading The Necromancer’s Betrayal. I hope you enjoyed it. If you liked it well enough to leave a review, that would be awesome! There’s more to come in The Final Formula Series. If you want me to notify you when I have a new release, all you need to do is subscribe to my newsletter at http://beccaandre.com. As an added bonus, you’ll also receive an alternate POV scene from one of my novels when you sign up.

  Acknowledgements

  It’s time again to thank all the folks who help me make my stories better.

  My editor: Shelley Holloway. Thanks for making that final edit so much fun. I actually look forward to it.

  My critique partners: Kendra Highley and Lindsay Buroker. Thanks for wading through another rough draft. Maybe one of these days it won’t be so rough.

  My beta readers: Scott Andre, Kelly Crawley, Maria McConnaughy, Deanna Stanley, and Cindy Wilkinson. Thanks for taking time out of your bus
y schedules to find my typos.

  Glendon Haddix and the team at Streetlight Graphics for the gorgeous cover art and formatting. (Have you seen my website? They did that, too!)

  And you, kind reader, for letting me entertain you. I really appreciate the reviews, comments, and emails. Thank you!

  About the Author

  Becca Andre lives in southern Ohio with her husband, two children, and an elderly Jack Russell Terrier. A love of science and math (yes, she’s weird like that), led to a career as a chemist where she blows things up far more infrequently than you’d expect. Other interests include: chocolate, hard rock, and slaying things on the Xbox. She also finds writing about herself in third person a bit strange.

  For more on the world of the Final Formula, upcoming releases, and random ramblings, stop by http://beccaandre.com

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