The Alchemist's Flame by Becca Andre

f—” Colby snapped his mouth closed. “The grim?”
    “James,” Elysia said.
    “Wow, that’s just…” Colby seemed at a loss for words as James crossed the room on silent feet.
    “Going somewhere, Fido?” I asked.
    He dropped the bag at Elysia’s feet and she bent to retrieve it.
    “Irreverent?” Colby asked, referencing our conversation from earlier.
    “Occasionally.”
    The portal whispered open and James jumped through. A clawed hand reached back and caught the opening before it closed. Occasionally? Try always, James’s sinister tone carried out of the darkness.
    “My God,” Colby whispered.
    Donovan rose to his feet and walked over to join us. “Take care, all of you.” He placed a big hand on Elysia’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on our young man?”
    Her expression made it clear that she hadn’t expected the request. “Of course,” she whispered. “I’ll keep him safe.”
    I stepped into the portal and she followed me. James released the portal and it winked closed behind us.
    “That was…interesting,” Elysia said.
    “It usually is.” I watched her hitch the backpack higher onto her shoulder. “You want to bunk with me?”
    “I have a place—and with James, it doesn’t matter that it’s four hours away.”
    “It won’t matter to Gavin, either.”
    I’ll be with her, James said.
    “You’re needed here,” I reminded him. I glanced between them. “It’s Ian, isn’t it?”
    Yes. James snarled the word, and goosebumps rose along my arms. She doesn’t need to be around him. If I had known he was going to be there—
    “Hey.” Elysia reached up and touched his jaw. “I’m fine.”
    I watched the exchange, trying to keep my disbelief off my face. I loved James, but this form always made me uncomfortable. Yet it didn’t seem to bother Elysia. Necromancers were…different.
    I should have told you, James said.
    “Yes, but that’s past.” She took her hand from his muzzle and pressed it against his furry chest. “But now I get to make him tell me why.”
    “If you’re considering a truth serum,” I spoke up. “I’m not so sure how effective it’ll be on the dead.”
    Elysia looked over at me. “Once you fix me, I won’t need truth serum to make him spill his guts.”
    “Oh. Right.” She could command him to speak—and tell the truth.
    “You’ll still help me?” she asked. “You seem to like him.”
    “Of course I’ll help you. Ian and I have an agreement, a working relationship. But if it makes you feel better, I intend to get the truth from him, as well.”
    She looked up at James. “I’ll be fine. I told you that I’m not going to take you from your life here.”
    I’m enrolled at Ohio University. I’m supposed to be in Athens right now .
    “But it sounds like you’re needed here.”
    James growled in frustration, and I shivered.
    “Scary,” Elysia said, her tone teasing.
    He snorted. Or that’s what I thought he intended. The sound was just as creepy as his growl.
    I stood quietly, watching the exchange. Perhaps Elysia’s confrontation with Ian really had been for show. I certainly hoped so. Despite my doubts, I still liked her.
    The portal winked open and I stepped out into my lab. My empty lab.
    “Ian?” I called.
    No answer.
    “I guess he’s just as uncomfortable around you,” I said as Elysia stepped out beside me.
    James followed, shifting into the hellhound as he crossed the threshold. Elysia wordlessly offered him the backpack, and he trotted off to the back room with it clamped in his jaws.
    “It’s probably good that Ian isn’t here,” Elysia said. “I can’t do much like this, anyway.” She gestured at her face. Her eyes were completely white once more.
    “I can’t fix you right now.” I forced myself to continue, hating to admit this. “Your problem has me puzzled. I need to bounce some ideas off him. Like him or not, he’s an incredibly talented alchemist, as well as a necromancer. And this is necromancy and alchemy at