The Bonds of Blood (The Final Formula Series, Book 4.5) Read online

  Rowan frowned, but didn’t get to comment as a nurse walked down the hall toward them, pushing an empty wheelchair. She gave them a smile as she stopped at Elysia’s door. Lifting a hand to knock, her eyes settled on Rowan, then went wide. Great. She had recognized Rowan as the Flame Lord.

  “We need to go,” Rowan said to Addie before turning back to James. “You’re sure you can handle this? You don’t plan to confront them, do you?”

  “I plan to get Elysia home without their notice. Now that I’m aware of them, they won’t be able to stalk me without me knowing. I’ll Hunt them later.”

  “James.”

  He held Rowan’s gaze, refusing to back down.

  Rowan sighed. “Stay safe. Call me later?”

  “I will.”

  Rowan gave him a nod, then took Addie’s hand. “I guess I get to play chauffeur, after all.”

  “Looks that way.” She smiled, then turned to James. “After you get her settled, come to the lab. I’ll put your butt to work.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Rowan tugged up the hood on his jacket, then he and Addie walked away.

  James turned back to find the nurse staring after them. “I guess we’re ready to go?” James asked her.

  She blinked, then seemed to pull her attention back to him. “Oh. Yes.” She lifted a hand and knocked at Elysia’s door.

  “Come in,” Grams called.

  James followed the nurse into the room, but stopped just inside the door.

  Elysia was dressed and sitting on the side of her bed—a wonderful sight after the coma—but she still looked pale.

  “James?” Grams gave him a smile, but it was clear she hadn’t expected him. Rowan had probably told her that he and Addie had left.

  “I’ll be driving you home. I hope that’s okay.”

  “That’s wonderful. Thank you.”

  Elysia’s brow wrinkled, but if she had a comment, she kept it to herself.

  The bright spring sun was high overhead when James pulled Doug’s Mercedes to a stop behind Grams’s funeral home and residence and shut off the engine. He had kept watch the entire trip, but had seen no evidence of his brothers.

  “Elysia, we’re home.” Grams twisted a little in the passenger seat to look back at her. Elysia was stretched across the back seat, having fallen asleep shortly after leaving Cincinnati.

  She sat up and squinted through the windshield at what had to be a familiar sight to her.

  “Do you want to lie down while I make lunch?” Grams asked.

  “I’ve spent enough time lying around,” Elysia answered. “I’d like to go for a walk. In the cemetery.”

  “Of course,” Grams said, her cheerful tone sounding a little forced.

  “I’ll walk with you.” James didn’t wait for a response. He climbed from the car and opened the back door for her. He still wasn’t convinced that his brothers hadn’t followed. Maybe Addie and Rowan were right: he was a little paranoid.

  “You don’t need to babysit me.” She got to her feet, moving with an ease that was good to see.

  “You may not be as strong as you think,” Grams said from the other side of the car. “Let him go with you. For me?”

  “All right,” Elysia relented.

  Not waiting for him, she cut across Grams’s backyard to the gate in the hedge. James lengthened his stride and caught up in time to hold the gate open for her, then followed her into the large community cemetery on the other side.

  He glanced around as they walked, calling the hound to check for his brothers. There was a car on the far side of the cemetery, but the two souls nearby weren’t any he recognized.

  Elysia hurried along the crushed gravel road a short distance before leaving it to walk across the grass. He noticed that she was heading straight to the oldest section.

  She stopped among the worn headstones, and bracing her hand atop one of the sturdier ones, she bowed her head. James wasn’t able to sense when necromancy was in use—unless it was used on him—but he could tell by the slump of her shoulders that she had released her soul.

  “Better?” He stepped up beside her.

  “Yes,” she whispered, her voice quivering on that single word.

  “Ely?” He longed to brush back the golden hair that had fallen over her face, but he hesitated. “What’s wrong?”

  “What isn’t?”

  “The sun feels nice.”

  She lifted her head to look up at him, her eyes damp with unshed tears. “Why are you here?”

  “Where else would I be?”

  Her brow wrinkled. “Over the last month, you made it pretty clear that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

  “You know that isn’t true. I tried to stay away so our magical compatibility didn’t hurt you.”

  “And now that I’m damaged beyond all repair, it’s no longer a concern?”

  “You’re not that far gone.”

  “I am,” she whispered.

  “Ely.” He took a step toward her, longing to pull her into his arms.

  “We need to find a way to sever the bond.”

  That stopped him. “We tried that, remember? There isn’t a way.”

  “You’re not going to die with me.”

  He fisted his hands. “You’re not going to die, period.”

  “James.”

  He gritted his teeth as the bond tightened. “I’m not giving up.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “But what if—”

  He took her face between his palms. “Stop talking like this. Addie will heal you. I need you to hang on until then.”

  “Don’t put that kind of pressure on her.”

  “I’m not. She puts it on herself.”

  She gripped his wrists and tried to pull his hands away.

  “Tell me you’re not giving up,” he said.

  “Please let me go.”

  “Elysia.”

  She inhaled sharply as the bond tightened. Her white eyes met his. “Let me go.”

  Her power hit him with the force of a punch, and he jerked his hands away.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, then turned and hurried toward her grandmother’s house.

  He considered going after her—he could catch her easily—but decided to let her go. She was just upset after all she’d been through. Now that she was home and out of the hospital, her outlook was bound to change. Elysia wasn’t a quitter. She would join him in this fight.

  And they would win.

  Chapter 4

  Elysia woke to darkness and silence. She rolled onto her side to turn on her bedside light and checked the time. It was only four in the morning.

  Flopping onto her back, she rubbed her hands over her face and groaned. Her skin felt too tight, and a familiar ache had settled in her joints. She needed to visit the cemetery, even though she had taken a walk there just before bedtime. That had been what? Seven hours ago? She remembered when she had released her soul into James at the hospital; she had slept through the night and lasted well into the next morning. Was she getting worse that quickly?

  Staring at the familiar plaster ceiling, her thoughts drifted back to her argument with him in the cemetery. He wasn’t giving up, and worse, he was expecting Addie to cure her. Hell, the last time Addie tried to cure such a thing, she had ended up killing a man. Well, maybe she hadn’t done the deed, but she had considered it. Addie had been willing to damn herself to save Elysia and Rowan. Elysia couldn’t live at the expense of another’s soul.

  She pushed back the covers and sat up. If only she could remove the bond that tied James’s existence to hers. Everyone said that such a bond was unbreakable, but now she wondered if that were true. She remembered the messed-up lich she had encountered in the catacombs where Alexander had been entombed. His daughter Psyche had Made it. Before she h
ad stopped her, Elysia had seen how to break the bond that held it to its master. Couldn’t another powerful necromancer do the same for her and James? Maybe Ian?

  No, not Ian. James couldn’t stand the guy. She didn’t want to chance James ending up bound to him.

  Doug. His name popped her in head. He had once told her that he could take the bond. James wouldn’t like that much more, but at least he would still be…alive. And she knew Doug wouldn’t abuse the bond. Plus, with James bound to the man soon to be named Deacon, it would be the safest place for him. No one would try to take the grim from the Deacon. Good guy or not, the title came with a certain reputation. Doug would be respected, if not feared.

  She could return Doug’s car today and talk to him then. This was a conversation she wanted to have in person.

  Her mind made up, she got to her feet and almost tripped over something lying on the floor beside the bed. It was the diaper bag she had picked up several weeks ago. The cute one with the little black dogs all over it.

  She bent to pick it up, then sat down on the side of the bed. The little black dogs wavered in and out of focus as she struggled to keep the tears in check. Adopting the baby was completely hopeless now—not that she would pursue it any longer. Even so, she couldn’t just let him go. She had to make certain he went to a home that could address any potential magical problems that might arise. Perhaps it was time for her to come clean and ask the judge to attach some kind of stipulation to the adoption, making the baby only adoptable by someone who understood his unique situation. She needed to speak to Cora. As an Element and a lawyer, Cora could certainly advise her.

  Rubbing a hand across her eyes, she set the bag aside and got to her feet. Yes, she would take care of these loose ends, now, before her sanity began to slip as her mother’s had. But contrary to what James thought, she wasn’t giving up. She was being practical.

  She smiled. It felt good to have a plan. Maybe she couldn’t beat this thing, but it wouldn’t beat her, either.

  Elysia gripped the Mercedes’s steering wheel, staring at the large Victorian building that held the Elemental Offices. Should she go in now, or should she seek out a graveyard to relieve the pressure on her soul? Her morning visit to the cemetery behind Grams’s house might as well have never happened—for all the good it did. She was definitely getting worse.

  “Better get this over with.” She pulled the keys from the ignition. There was no need to hunt down a cemetery if the effects were of such a short duration. Maybe she just needed to toughen up and deal with it. It would take time to adjust to the needs of her swollen soul.

  She left the car and hurried up the walk to the wide front porch. Hopefully, Cora was in. Elysia chided herself for not calling first, but there was nothing to be done about that now. She pushed open the door and walked inside.

  The receptionist looked up with a smile when Elysia stopped before her desk. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, is…” Elysia hesitated. Two other people sat in chairs along the far wall. She shouldn’t use Cora’s name. “Is the Lady of the Waves in?” It was such a cheesy title it was hard not to laugh.

  “She is. Do you have an appointment?”

  “No, but she is expecting me,” Elysia lied.

  “Your name?”

  “Elysia Mallory.”

  The receptionist nodded, then picked up the phone.

  “Ely?” a female voice called out to her, and a moment later, Era emerged from the hall. She wasn’t wearing her robes, but then, Era rarely appeared in her official capacity even when she was at the Offices. But no one suspected who she really was. The public was used to hearing little from the Element of Air.

  “What are you doing here?” Era crossed to her. “Are you on your own?” She glanced around.

  “Yes. I came to see…” She couldn’t say your sister.

  “The Lady,” the receptionist finished for her.

  “Right.” Era’s expression turned a bit uncertain, then she abruptly smiled. “I got this, Liz,” she said to the receptionist.

  “Of course.” The woman returned her smile, no doubt, fully aware of who Era was.

  Era clutched Elysia’s hand and pulled her away from the lobby and into the hall. “You’re here to see Cora,” Era said as they walked. “About the adoption?”

  “Yes.”

  Era stopped at the base of the stairs that led to the second floor. Elysia had never been in that part of the building.

  “Are you upset?” Era asked. “She wanted to consult with you, but you were in that coma.”

  “Consult me about what?”

  “The baby’s adoption. Cora didn’t want to leave him in the system, not with his potential magical issues.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Era smiled. “Great. Come on. She’s in her office.”

  Elysia wasn’t sure what to make of Era’s exuberance, but she followed her upstairs to an open door partway down the hall.

  “Hey, Cor, look who’s here,” Era said, stepping into the room without knocking.

  Elysia walked in after her, noting the book-lined walls and the uncluttered desk. Cora rose to her feet from behind it. “Elysia.” She stepped around the desk “It’s so good to see you. I hope this means you’re doing better.”

  “Better than a few days ago.” Elysia tried to smile, but failed. She took a breath and plunged on. “I know there’s no way I can adopt the baby now, and in all honesty, I shouldn’t, but I wanted to talk to you about what we can do to make sure he ends up in a home that understands his magical potential. Era said you were also concerned about that.”

  Cora glanced at Era, a frown shadowing her eyes. Had Era spoken out of turn?

  Era wasn’t looking at Cora; she was staring at Elysia. “You don’t know.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Know what?” Elysia asked.

  “I adopted the baby,” Cora said.

  Elysia stared at her. “You did?”

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Cora said, “but with you not available to ask, I took matters into my own hands. It was the only way I could think of to keep him with us.”

  Elysia didn’t know what to say. She was grateful and yet, a little angry, too.

  “I’m sorry, Elysia, but with your declining health and other issues, there was no way to get the adoption through in your name.”

  “I know.” Elysia pushed down the unreasonable swell of emotion. Cora hadn’t betrayed her; she had helped her. “You’re right. He needs a stable home.” And God knew she was the furthest thing from stable—or soon would be.

  “Which I’m sure you could have given him if…”

  “If I wasn’t a soul reaper. Trust me, I get it. I was raised by one.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Elysia took a breath and forced down the hurt. “No, you didn’t. I’m sorry I sound bitter. It wasn’t directed at you. I really appreciate you doing this.”

  “Once Addie cures you, we can try again.”

  Elysia smiled at the way she phrased it. Cora and Addie didn’t always get along, yet Cora still had that kind of faith in her. Elysia decided not to argue about the impossible task Addie had taken on.

  “Have you brought him home yet?” she asked Cora.

  “No. His oxygen began to drop, and they had to put him back on the respirator.”

  “What?” Why had no one mentioned that. Certainly James or Grams had—

  “He’s okay now,” Cora reassured her. “It worried me that it was the same day you went into the coma, but he was able to breathe on his own again a few days later.”

  “I’m glad he’s doing better, but there should be no connection between us. I Made his mother; I never touched him.” She heard the defensive note in her voice and hurried on. “When will he be released? Do you have a date?”

  “It’s dep
endent on a lot of factors, of course, but the doctor thinks he’ll be able to leave as soon as he weighs four pounds.”

  “Oh, wow. He should be getting close.”

  “Yes. It has sent Era into a decorating frenzy.”

  Elysia glanced over at Era and smiled. “I can imagine.”

  Era stepped forward. “Will you help me?”

  “Help you?”

  “Finish the nursery. Donovan is painting the walls as we speak, and I was going to pick up the window treatments and bedding this morning.” She pulled open her purse. “I’ve got the color swatches right here.” She extracted a couple of paint test strips.

  “I…”

  “Please? We all know how important he is to you, and we want you to continue to be part of his life.” She blinked a few times, and Elysia was surprised to see the dampness in her eyes. “I feel like we took him from you.”

  “No,” Elysia whispered. “It wasn’t you, it was my magic. It takes everything from me.”

  Era hugged her, and a moment later, Cora joined in. This was so surreal. Elysia didn’t want to break down, but finding compassion here, in the very heart of New Magic, was more than she could stand.

  “Addie will help you,” Era said after a few minutes.

  Elysia stepped out of their embrace and rubbed a hand across her eyes. “Like I told James, please don’t put that kind of pressure on her. She thinks she can do the impossible, and when you give her an impossible task, she will do anything to try to accomplish it.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Era’s brow wrinkled. “So…what? Are you giving up?”

  “Era.” Cora frowned, apparently not caring for her bluntness.

  “It’s okay,” Elysia reassured Cora, then addressed Era. “I’m not giving up; I’m being practical. My magic is going to kill me. Ignoring the fact, or placing unreasonable expectations on others, is not going to change that.”

  Cora leaned against the front of her desk, her frown still in place. Elysia wondered if she was thinking of Rowan.

  “You say that so easily,” Era said.

  “Only because I’m hiding the bitterness and resentment inside.”