The Fake Heart (Time Alchemist Series) (30 page)

His eyes widened and he looked as if I were crazy, “What does it matter?” he hissed, a
ll the warmth in his voice gone. Irritation flashed through his dark gray churning eyes, like a coming storm cloud.
“We need to get out of here!
Now!”

“I can’t! I—”

Dove’s scream sent my heart palpitating as I turned to see her being rammed into the trees behind us. The Headmistress had her neck in a vise
-like
grip as she held Dove’s body, cool blue light illuminating from her fingertips. Dove tried desperately to scratch at the hands as her skin started to cover in frost and ice. She feigned passing out, then
,
when the Headmistress released her grip just enough, Dove let out a choked growl and swung her leg, kicking the Headmistress in the ribs.

I screamed as the Headmistress punched Dove over and over, cackling like a witch—the same laughter I had heard in the woods on Thanksgiving—that made my skin crawl as Dove coughed up blood, her body too weak to fight anymore.

“W
e need to get out of here!
Now!”
Jack roared, pulling at my wrist and dragging me along the dirt path. I couldn’t think.
Couldn’t breath
e
.
I couldn’t respond to what Jack was telling me.

Dove was in pain. She was
bleeding and bruised
and I needed to help her! I dug my heels into the dirt, forcing us to stop. Jack opened his mouth to protest but I screamed before he could, “Let me go Jack! I have to help Dove! I have to help her!”

“
Em
—”

“Emery!
Get away from him!”

My head whipped up as Leon descended above us, landing with a
resounding
thump between me and Jack, who had released my hand to avoid being trampled over. Leon quickly got up, holding another black iron sword in his hands, aimed directly at Jack.

His brown hair was matted with dirt and blood, and his clothes—a white tee and a size too big brown jacket, along with mud caked boots and jeans—were tattered and frayed, covered in dirt, but he gave me a nervous grin anyway. Tears threatened to flood
again
when I saw those sea-
green eyes spin with relief,
anger
,
and fear. For some reason they made me feel safe.

“Leon!”

He gave me a smirk before facing Jack, sword at the ready, putting his body in front of mine. I rushed towards his side before he could attack, “Wait! Jack is with me! He’s not the bad guy, Leon!”

“Emery, listen to me, that guy isn’t who you think he is—!”

Suddenly the earth rumbling beneath our feet, and a loud crack like lightening pierced my ears. I shriek
ed
as a large jagged edge of the earth suddenly jutted out
from beneath us, sending
Leon flying clear across the pathway. He
slammed against
top a large gravestone
,
and there was a nauseating crack as his head collided with the stone base. He slumped o
nto the ground and didn’t move; h
is sword still lay in his open palm, forgotten.

I stifled another scr
eam at his lifeless form, “LEON
!”

Jack’s hands gripped my wrist again. But this time it wasn’t gentle or warm. It was crushing and cold. His eyes, normally a beautiful gray like the underside of a cloud or the
shadows of snow were
as black as the night sky.  A wicked grin formed on his beautiful lips—the same lips that
had offered me sweet and comforting words.
The lips that
I had kissed not hours earlier.

“Sorry about your
little
friend,
Em
,” he says, but his words were hollow and freezing as he stared at me like I was a piece of trash on the side of the road, “But if you want
them
to live, you’re going to take me to the Elixir.”

My eyes were frozen in Jack’s own wicked ones, my heart hammering like mad
, bruising the inside of my chest
. Finally
, my eyes moved slowly
over his face and down his neck, where the gleam of his silver chain that he always wore winked at me. This time I finally saw what was at the end of that necklace, the one Jack always said he kept close to his heart for good luck.

It was a smooth piece of stone in an oval-like shape, with black intricate swirls that zigzagged all around. They looked nearly identical to the shapes on Leon’s wrist band, and on Dove’s arms and my own tattoo.

They were alchemic Runes.

Jack was an alchemist.

CHAPTER 26

“J-Jack—why are you doing this?” I asked, hating how my voice trembled. But I couldn’t help
but be scared—the same kind, gentle,
funny Jack that I loved so much looked like a stranger in front of me, like somebody had peeled away his sweet mask to reveal a ghoul underneath.

This couldn’t be real—it couldn’t be happening!

He sighed, as if bored with my little tantrum, “This isn’t
a game of
twenty questions,
Em
.” I bristled at the way he said my
nick
name, “I just need one answer: where is the Elixir?”

“I—I don’t know,” I lied, staring him down with my own eyes, despite my bones shaking and my heart thumping in complete fear. “T-They wouldn’t tell me.”

His eyes turned even colder as the back of his hand collided against my jaw. It happene
d so fast
it didn’t even register. Pain exploded on my cheek and I tasted copper in my mouth. I pl
aced my free hand over my face;
a large red welt
was
already forming. I flinched at the touch.

Jack had just hit me. He had just
back handed
me like it was nothing! I was furious.
Furious and terrified and scared for my life, but his gaze grew even duller as he eyed me.
“Where is t
he Elixir, you lying little brat
?”

I glanced over, tears streaming down my cheeks at Leon, willing, praying he would leap up and save the day like usual, or to Dove, who hadn’t move
d
at all; her skin
was
as pale as the ice that coated the Headmistress’s fingertips.

They were both down for the count, and if I didn’t act quickly they’d be done for. I shivered, not from the cold, but from the raw fear inside me as I squeezed my wet eyes shut.

The only way to save them was to do what he wanted. My heart seized up. Oh, it would hurt them so much to lose the shard of the Elixir, but….but—!

“I don’t have all day,” Jack glared; squeezing my wrist tighter until I literally heard something snap. I stifled a screech as a shot of pain jolte
d up my arm, glaring at him
. I had to do this.
For them.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to go down without some fight.

I narrowed my eyes, “I am not a little
brat,”
I said, praying my voice was calm, “And for your information, I do not know where the Elixir is
exactly
. But,” I said before he raised his hand again, “The only thing I can tell you whose grave it’s hidden in. I haven’t the foggiest idea where the actual location is.”

I mentally cursed myself for not studying the Bonaventure map I saw on the web earlier. It would help so much if I knew where I was, and I could lead them on a wild goose chase—at least long enough for Dove and Leon to (possibly) escape so they can live.

After a long agonizing moment he finally released his hand. I clutched it near my chest, rubbing the sore spot and sending a hateful glare in his direction.

“Very
well.
Tell me the name at once.
” It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed a
lump in my throat at
the grave mistake I was about to do, “It’s in a grave that belongs to a woman named Kathleen Hearst.”

He didn’t look convinced, so I tried again, “The name Hearst was mentioned in Guinevere’s journal. I did my research—something you oh so loved to praise me about before—and I know for a fact that there is a shard of Elixir buried with
Kathleen
Hearst. It’s
kept inside of a locket
.
If you don’t believe me, go look up her obituary.
”

“Master
!” the Headmistress rushed over, her voice sickening sweet a she called out. My blood ran cold. Jack’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, although his
lips twitched into a wan smile
as if he were about to greet his beloved pet dog at the doorstep.

Not even a hair was out of place as she came forward and kneeled on the frozen ground in front of us, taking Jack’s free hand in between her pale white ones and kissed it over and over. I saw shining blue swirls from the tips of her nails traveling down her hand.
No wonder she hid her hands behind those lacy gloves
I thought. It all made sense now. But—

“Marjorie,” he whispered, framing the older woman’s face in his own hands, “We’ve finally done it.”

“Yes, my Master, my love,” her words barely above a whisper as her eyes closed shut, “We have.”

I bristled, annoyed and terrified. Just hours ago, that was my face that Jack had cradled in his warm hands. Just hours ago, it was h
is eyes that bore into my own, i
t was his hands that held mine so tenderly, and it was his lips that whispered sweet and encouraging words in my ears.

And it was all a lie.

Everything.

I felt like somebody had stuck a
hot
knife in my heart and twisted it left and right as I watched the two in front
of me. Was it possible to
di
e of a broken heart, fake one
or not?

My eyes trailed over to where Dove and Leon were—limp and unconscious on the grounds. I wanted to just run, scream, do something—but I couldn’t. I knew there was no way I could get away from Jack and the Headmistress. They would kill me.

But I had to make sure they didn’t kill my friends. I wouldn’t let that happen.
Never.

I was shaking so hard my bones hurt. Jack had
used
me, since the first day we met. How much of this was a lie?! I needed to stall them from going to Kathleen Hearst’s site. “What did you do to Jack?” I demanded, pointing a finger at the Headmistress. Maybe if I tried finding some answers, this could work. I needed to act like Jack was still the good guy, even though everything about him—his eyes, his lips, his words—were complete lies. Even though my heart was screaming for me to trust him—I couldn’t.
I couldn’t, I couldn’t,
I
couldn’t.

Jack, or Ivan, didn’t take his eyes of the Headmistress—Marjorie. Instead, she looked my way, sending a stare so deadly I flinched. Pure and utter hatred swirled through her eyes. 
“
You
!
”

I took a step back
from the acid in her voice
, wishing I had something, anything, as a we
apon. I raised the clutch
in my hands as a sort of weapon but
it was easily knocked away as a powerful,
icy wind blew through. I nearly lost my balance, until Jack held my shoulder to keep me up. I wish he had let me fall.

“Marjorie,” Jack’s voice cut her short as she stood up, raising her hands toward me. The air instantly plummeted, sending my heart racing and large clouds of air puffing from my lips. “There’s no need to kill her.
Yet.
Just wait.”

“But why, Master?” she turned to him, “We already have the location, why shouldn’t we kill her?” God, she sounded like a hapless teenager. Did I sound like that when I was with him? Oh good Lord, somebody just shoot me already!

He smirked, black eyes gleaming like a cat’s as dark clouds shifted over the moon’s ray, shadowing his face in a hauntingly beautiful frame.
“Because I have plans for her.”

A chill ran down my spine. I so didn’t like the sound of that.

◊◊◊◊◊

We walked in a single file
line—like little kindergartener
s parading to get to their afternoon snack of juice and cookies. Marjorie led the front, her usual tight bun let loose, letting her long,
wavy brown hair billowing behind her like a princess. Jack was behind me, keeping a hold on my elbow as we walked.