Secrets and Alchemy Read online

  Secrets and Alchemy

  Dragon’s Gift The Potion Master

  Linsey Hall

  For all of the nurses and doctors who are on the front lines fighting to keep us safe.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Thank You!

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

  About Linsey

  Copyright

  1

  Sora, Void Mage (Kinda)

  Guild City, Hidden within London

  Breaking into the lair of the most powerful crime lord in Guild City was easily the most dangerous thing I would ever do.

  Also, the coolest.

  Fortunately, I was the best magical thief in this city.

  Or at least, not the worst. Easily mediocre. I was a solid B and proud of it. Because there were a lot of thieves who were worse than me out there.

  In fairness, those other thieves were smart enough not to break into the Devil of Darkvale's secret storehouse of smuggled magical spells and potions. But not me. Nope—nothing would stop me. Not even good sense. Because I needed this payday.

  The wizard who wanted this potion had promised to give me a spell that would help me control my magic, and I’d spent years trying to get my hands on that.

  Now was my chance, and I wasn’t going to let a little thing like possible dismemberment stop me.

  I jimmied my lock picks in the keyhole, trying to ignore the cold sweat working its way down my neck. Dawn was creeping toward the horizon, making the air chill and silent. Not that a little thing like the sun would stop a vampire as powerful as the Devil.

  “Come on, hurry up,” I muttered, glancing down at the unconscious guard who lay at my feet.

  He’d been an easy target. Dudes like him never saw me coming. I’d put on my littlest dress, teased my hair, and messed up my makeup so that the mascara bled around my eyes and my lipstick was a smudge of hot pink.

  Drunk girl after the walk of shame—or victory, as far as I was concerned. Total non-threat. I stumbled up to him, flirted in a really awkward way, then dosed him with a knock-out potion.

  Now he lay at my feet, and I was almost into the Devil’s storehouse.

  Regardless of what it looked like, I wasn’t a total idiot. This wasn’t the Devil’s main lair that I was breaking into. Hell, no. I’d chosen a satellite storage location at the outskirts of Guild City, near some of the seedier bars. It was supposed to be secret, but I was good at learning secrets.

  Cold rain began to fall as I worked, but it was no match for the cold chill of fear that skated up my spine. The rain felt positively warm compared to that.

  “Witches’ tits,” I muttered. This was taking too long. No wonder that old bat Rodolfo the Red had tried to get me to do this job for him. Wizards were nothing if not clever.

  Finally, the lock snicked.

  I itched to shove the door open and race inside. This alley didn’t have nearly the cover I liked for a job like this. Someone could stroll down the alley any minute and see me—a girl in a minidress and leather jacket trying to break into the Devil of Darkvale’s storehouse. That would definitely trigger some alarm bells that would then trigger my immediate demise.

  Instead, I withdrew the picks and shoved them into my jacket pocket.

  The next step of this operation would be to ensure that I didn’t get zapped by any protective magic. Since my gifts started and stopped at creating voids, I’d need some help for that.

  Fortunately, my thief arsenal was pretty well stocked. I dug a curse breaker out of my pocket. The shiny silver stone felt cold and heavy in my hand as I ran it around the door frame, making sure not to touch the wood. Near the upper right corner of the door, the curse breaker began to vibrate.

  “Jackpot.” I tapped the silver stone three times against the wood, and magic popped from the curse breaker, vibrating as a light electric shock against my palm.

  I grinned.

  It had worked.

  I kissed the curse breaker. “You haven’t failed me yet, old friend.”

  If someone had called me out on referring to a rock as a friend, well, they wouldn’t have been wrong—it was weird. But I loved my curse breaker like a sister. It got me into—and out of—all kinds of trouble.

  With the protective enchantment on the door broken, I was able to open it without getting fried. Quickly, I slipped into the dark corridor and turned, snagging the unconscious guard by the collar and heaving him into the corridor behind me.

  I propped him against the wall and patted his cheek. “There now, you’ll be fine. Enjoy your nap.”

  Quickly, I shut the door and flicked on a light switch, illuminating a narrow hall punctuated by eight closed doors.

  “Damn. That’s a lot of freaking doors.” I had no idea which one led to the potions storeroom.

  Heart pounding, I hurried down the hall, peeking into each room as I ran. Rare books, check. Weapons, check. Strange plants, check. One room that was filled with scary pink mist, check.

  I didn’t know what the Devil got up to, exactly, but I knew it was dangerous, illegal shit. The stuff in these rooms was worth millions, and I couldn’t deny that just looking at it gave me itchy fingers.

  “Focus, dumbbell,” I muttered.

  Finally, I found the room full of potions. Shelves lined the walls, each stacked with tiny bottles of gleaming liquid. I scanned the different bottles, searching for the distinctive golden gleam of the potion that Rodolfo had requested. Apparently, the Expulsio potion was really valuable. Even the Devil might not know what he had stored in there.

  I did.

  Well, at least, I kind of did. I knew it was valuable, anyway. And that it was my ticket to fixing my wonky magic.

  There!

  My gaze snagged on the gleaming golden vial sitting at head height on the other side of the room. I ran toward it, doing pretty well in my heels, if I did say so myself. Part of successful thievery was really committing to the disguise, you know? So I was in stilettos for this job. Even my hair was messy, as if I’d had a long, hard night hanging on to the bar at the Drunken Pixie. The guard had totally fallen for it, and then I’d felled him.

  I stopped in front of the shelf and peered hard at the golden vial. Within, tiny flecks of silver gleamed.

  “Bingo.” I grinned. “You’re just what I was looking for.”

  From down the hall, a shuffling sounded.

  My skin iced.

  Guards.

  Not the one I’d knocked out—he’d be unconscious for another hour, at least. Other guards.

  More than one.

  Oh, witches’ tits.

  I couldn’t be caught down here.

  Heart thundering so loud it nearly deafened me, I grabbed the vial of gold potion from the shelf. It sparked against my hand, a protective charm stinging wildly. Tears smarted as I fought not to drop the vial.

  Should have taken the time to use the curse breaker.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?” a deep voice demanded from behind me.

  Jig’s up.

  I spun fast, mind racing. There were at least three guards, each of them armed with a bat that sparked with magic. Panic flared, so sharp and fierce that I felt a kinship with all the rats who’d ever been caught in traps. My gaze zeroed in on their bats. Blue magic flickered like neon ice. />
  I couldn’t fight that.

  I couldn’t fight much of anything, in fact.

  I was sneaky, not tough. And I was wearing stilettos.

  Fear made my magic pulse inside me, rising up from the pit of my soul. I used it rarely—only when the alternative was basically death.

  The lead guard growled and stepped forward. He raised the bat, and my gaze followed the sparking wood.

  Oh, gargoyle balls. That would hurt.

  Fear added gasoline to my magic, igniting it within me. An overwhelming desire to protect myself roared to life, and I raised my hand, my magic surging through me.

  I had to take the risk.

  The magic blasted out of me, and I tried to direct it toward the guards, praying that the void would devour their weapons and knock them out. My gift was a weird one, capable of making things disappear when I wanted it to. If it hit a living being, the shock usually knocked them unconscious, which was exactly what I needed right now.

  As soon as the magic left my fingertips, I could feel it—something was wrong.

  The power exploded all around me, the sucking sensation of the void pulling at my skin. I screamed, panic flaring, and gripped the potion tight.

  But the void pulled hard, yanking the potion from my grip. As I collapsed, I felt my clothes tear away. Chill air rushed over me as I hit the ground hard.

  Fear chilled me, the only thing tethering me to awareness. Barely conscious, I spotted the three guards through bleary eyes.

  They stood, staring down at me with shock on their faces.

  I tried to sit up, but my muscles felt like water. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my empty hand. The hand that had once held the potion.

  It was gone.

  Along with my minidress, jacket, and shoes. I hoped the void hadn’t gotten my underwear, but it was impossible to say.

  The guards strode up to me, and fear fought within my chest, scratching at my ribs like a trapped animal.

  A grimace twisted the biggest guard’s face. “Joey, put your coat on her.”

  “Come on, Clyde,” the man to his right moaned. Had to be Joey. “This is a new coat. My old lady got it for me.”

  “Boss won’t like it if we bring her in like this.” He nudged my hip with his foot, and I had the terrible feeling that I was totally naked.

  The terrified animal inside my chest turned into an elephant, nearly stomping my organs. I was so weak I couldn’t even move—even now, I fought for consciousness. The things they could do to me…

  Joey groaned again and stripped off his jacket, bending down to force me into it.

  Was he keeping his eyes averted?

  It was hard to say, given how woozy I was. My vision was really fading out, and it was making me nauseous.

  Oh, dragon dick.

  I lurched forward and puked all over Joey’s shoes.

  His vicious curse was the last thing I heard.

  “Wake up.” The sharp voice was so cold that I swore it turned my tits into a witch’s.

  Blearily, I blinked my eyes open.

  At first, the room swam hazily in my vision. I swallowed hard, trying not to puke again, and realized that I was tied to a chair. I tilted my head down to inspect myself, my head pounding.

  I wore a man’s jacket zipped up all the way to my neck. It was long enough to cover the important bits, but the cold chair under my ass confirmed my fear.

  I had been naked.

  My wonky freaking void magic had sucked away the Expulsio potion and my clothes.

  But the big thing right now was my former nakedness. And the fact that I’d been unconscious with three goons.

  My heart began to thunder, and a cold sweat broke out over my skin. The guards. Had they, had they…

  I couldn’t even process the words, it was so terrible to think about what could have happened.

  “They didn’t touch you.” The cold voice was soft but certain. As if the owner could read my thoughts and wanted to reassure me, but wasn’t going to waste any extra breath on being nice about it. As if it were a point of pride that his goons didn’t rape girls.

  My gaze snapped up to the figure sitting behind the massive desk. I could make out two huge guards standing in the shadows behind him. Shifters, probably. They usually provided security detail in Guild City. All that shit about being strong, brave, and dutiful, or whatever. They had a Latin motto for it, but I didn’t know what it was.

  But the man himself was a blur. It took a moment for my hazy vision to clear, but when it did…hoo boy.

  If he weren’t so terrifying, the Devil would be a major hottie. He looked like he’d been born from an artist’s chisel and a block of marble. Just as cold looking, too, with his dark hair, eerie silver eyes, and perfect features.

  He was cold, though, like ice that chilled the air around him, and it disturbed me.

  He sprawled elegantly in a chair behind the desk, his posture relaxed but his gaze intense. He had the air of someone who could spring into action at a moment’s notice—and when he did, you’d be dead.

  Though it was impossible to see all of him behind the desk, it was clear that he was tall and leanly muscled, his entire being screaming deadly. Every inch of him looked like he could find a creative way to kill you with it. Like he wanted to hold the Guinness World Record for Most Murders by Pinky and Other Seemingly Nonthreatening Body Parts.

  The guards behind him were just to do the dirty work. The Devil himself was the deadly one.

  Except he was all self-control. I could see it like an aura around him. This man never lost his temper, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t the most dangerous person in this city.

  “You’ve got the wrong girl.” I hoped he couldn’t hear my heartbeat.

  “You knocked yourself out on my secure property while trying to steal from me.” He raised a perfect brow, and something about it made me uncomfortable.

  I could see the damage on this guy. I’d heard the stories—he’d made himself up from nothing and had the dark and terrible past to prove it.

  “There are consequences for stealing from me.” He toyed with a pen on his desk, and my gaze followed the movements, cold fear running through me.

  I could imagine him strangling me with those hands and not even breaking a sweat.

  My gaze flicked up to his, finding his cold silver eyes staring into me. Was he putting that vision in my head to scare me?

  I jerked my gaze away from him. “I didn’t steal.”

  “Not for lack of trying. And the result is the same…the Expulsio potion is gone. Where did you send it?”

  “Ah…” Witches’ tits. I hadn’t sent it anywhere. I had no idea where things went when the void took them. I’d freaking lost it.

  “You lost it.”

  Gargoyle balls, I’m bad at this.

  “No. Not lost.” I grinned. “I swear, it’s not lost. I sent it away.”

  “And you can get it back?” His too-sharp eyes watched me.

  “Yep. If you let me go, I will get it back.”

  “Lies.”

  “No, not lies.” I shook my head, mind racing. “I can totally get it back. I swear.”

  He tilted his head, expression considering. “I think you’re willing to try.”

  “Does this mean you won’t kill me?” I asked, my heartbeat thundering so loud it nearly deafened me.

  “I’m not sure.” He sighed. “I want my property returned more than I want your head.”

  “I think that’s great.” I nodded, sending him a blinding smile. “And I can do that for you.” All I had to do was get out of there and run for it.

  “Running for it isn’t an option, you know.”

  My jaw tightened. Could he read minds?

  “If you don’t bring me that potion, you’ll never be allowed back in Guild City.” He leaned forward. “I control the gates. There’s no in or out without my knowledge.”

  I swallowed hard, the truth of his words sinking in. I could run, but not far en
ough to escape him. I lived in Guild City, the most amazing place in the world. The ancient walled city was hidden deep in the historic heart of London—a place that blended the Old World and New. Some said it had been founded by the Devil of Darkvale hundreds of years ago. They even said he was Vlad the Impaler, but I didn’t know if any of that was true.

  What I did know was that it was my home, and I couldn’t live anywhere but here. The wild, crazy place full of magic and mystery flowed in my veins, and if I somehow managed to escape, never being able to return would kill me.

  And the Devil owned it all.

  Not literally, but enough of it that he could destroy my life here.

  And from the ice in his eyes, it was clear that he would be willing to.

  “I don’t want to leave.” My words rang with truth. I really didn’t. “But I’ll need to, in order to get your potion back.”

  “And how do I know that you will return?”

  “Put a tracker on me.” I couldn’t believe I was saying that. If I allowed that, he could find me anywhere and kill me.

  But if I didn’t succeed and could never again return to Guild City—that would kill me as well. Just more slowly and painfully.

  He frowned, clearly interested. “All right. And where will you go from there?”

  “To the Alchemist. I’ll get you your potion back, I swear.”

  2

  Connor

  Magic’s Bend, Oregon

  In the cauldron, the potion sizzled. Pale blue smoke wafted up, reeking of brimstone and death. I turned my head to the side, breathing shallowly through my mouth.

  This wasn’t the first time I’d brewed a potion that made me want to hurl, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  For one, the price was right.