The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy, #1)

  ***

  “I remember one time when I had to smuggle an important map from the Maquis leaders to our OSS friends in Spain. They booked a show for me in a nightclub in Madrid where someone was going to meet me. Anyhow, I’ve known people to memorize entire maps like this, but I told Renée that I didn’t have time to memorize the whole thing and I was too damned nervous to try. She said, ‘Jasmine, you are La Dame Rouge—use that to your advantage.’ So, I ended up at the airport with my luggage being checked by Nazis and I was awfully scared. I made it through and made it back again from the other side without a problem.

  “When I saw her again, she looked so proud and asked me, ‘How did you do it?’ She probably thought I had taken her advice and used my celebrity to walk right by the searches, but instead I told her I wasn’t into the whole smooth talk psychological games. Just give me a secret, and I’ll take it with me to the grave, but don’t have me playing spy. I told her that I took the map with me...and had sewn the thing into my undergarments! She looked at me like I was absolutely certifiable and she never let me forget it. I’ve come a long way, haven’t I?”

  I laughed so hard that I had to set my wineglass aside. “I can imagine the look on her face...I didn’t know you two were so close.”

  “Yeah, we had some wild times.” Jasmine sniffed, and her smile faded. “Now I know what she meant about being tired of all this shit. I’m tired of seeing people die. Anyhow, are you going to tell me why your sweetheart left so early?”

  “Ken isn’t my sweetheart.”

  With a sullen expression I took another sip of Château. Maybe he was right about us being doomed from the start. Maybe he didn’t know me as well as he thought he did. Ken knew little about this other world I belonged to. He only knew I was an alchemist and respected my training, but he had never seen or experienced everything I had, and, whether I liked it or not, I would always have ties to the Gray Tower. People like me tended to have enemies, secrets, and lousy luck when it came to holding together a marriage, especially with a non-wizard. Even my parents, as perfect and romantic as they were, at times argued about my father’s work with the Order. One day it had gotten so intense that all I remember was my mother screaming at my father. He had ushered me toward a car and driven me away.

  “Honey, save it for someone else.” Jasmine languidly stretched on her bed and threw me a glance. “I was so sure you were going to marry Blondie that I had already bought a dress to wear to the wedding.”

  I ignored her comment. I sat at her bedroom windowsill with the window half open, enjoying the fresh air and the view of the stars. We were waiting for Penn to return since he promised to find out anything he could about the research laboratories. I could only hope Dr. Heilwig was at one of them.

  I turned to face her. “Well, what about Penn? Why is he always around?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know!”

  Her expression elicited a small grin from me. I glanced out the window that overlooked the garden. I saw Brande down below, walking and talking with Father Gabriel. The two seemed engrossed in conversation, although he did look up once. I timidly waved at him and he stared at me for a moment before turning his gaze back to Gabriel.

  “What’s wrong, Emelie?”

  “I think Brande hates me.” I closed the window. I’d be lucky if anyone even wanted to be around me by the end of the week.

  “You know that’s not true, and I don’t want to see you moping around like this. Why don’t you go downstairs with Adelaide, or Lucien and his friend? Did you get a good look at his friend?”

  “I don’t feel like talking to anyone.”

  “You don’t have to talk. I just don’t want you to be alone.”

  “I think I’m sleepy.”

  “Tell Lucien I’m sorry about his father, and I’ll speak with him in the morning.”

  “Jasmine...”

  “Thanks! Close the door behind you.”

  “All right...one drink, and then I’m off to bed.”

  “Goodnight.”

  “Yeah...goodnight.”

  I went downstairs through the living room, and into the kitchen nook. Lucien and Ernest sat at the table downing drinks and viewing a solitary candle sitting at the center of the table. I decided not to flip on the light switch and walked toward them. Lucien stared at the candle’s flame, muttering something in French before kissing the tip of his extended fore and middle fingers. He touched the bottom of the candle.

  “Rest in Eternal Light, father.”

  Ernest imitated his friend’s gesture. “Rest in peace.”

  They looked up as I cleared my throat. “Hi.”

  “Hey,” Ernest gestured toward the empty seat next to him. Lucien just stared at me.

  “I’m sorry about your father,” I said, still standing. “Jasmine is as well. She said she’ll speak with you in the morning, if that’s okay.”

  Lucien bowed his head and peered into his empty glass. “Thank you.”

  Ernest stood and offered me his hand. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Ernest Wilson.”

  I shook his hand. “I’m...Noelle.”

  “American?”

  I smiled in response and took my seat. “And, so are you. Are you with OSS?”

  “Somewhat, and I don’t mean anything by it, but I didn’t know they were sending out lady agents now.”

  I shook my head. “They’re not, I’m an SOE agent.”

  Ernest glanced at Lucien and asked in French, “How about that, Luce? Ever been to London?”

  “Ah,” I switched over to French, “so you speak the language of love?”

  “Don’t encourage him,” Lucien said.

  “Blame it on my Creole grandmother.” Ernest chuckled.

  “How long will you two be in France?”

  “Long enough to go hunt some Nazis.” Ernest sat back with a sour expression. I supposed they weren’t the only ones with retribution on their minds.

  Otto said they had been on special assignment in Spain. Perhaps they’d be willing to help me out on this one. “If that’s the case, then why don’t you join me? I’m going after one of their labs. This could be a big win for our side.”

  Ernest poured another drink. “We’ve raided one of those before, headed by that Dr. Meier. Those Nazi sons of bitches were experimenting on people.”

  “The lab I want to break into develops weapons,” I said, trying to block out nightmarish images that flashed in my mind. “I don’t know what your plans are, but—”

  “It won’t work,” Lucien said as he pushed his empty glass aside. “We went in with a band of highly trained military men. Who would come with us?”

  “Me, for starters, and a few other people.”

  Lucien sighed. “I don’t doubt that you’re good at what you do...Noelle...but I’m not sure you know what you’d be getting into. Why don’t you go sabotage a factory?”

  “I’ve done that,” I said, crossing my arms. I didn’t like his tone at all, but I reminded myself to be a little more patient with him, for Otto’s sake.

  “What kind of weapons are we talking about?” Ernest asked. Lucien glared at him as if telling him not to give me false hope.

  “The same ones that took out Ally soldiers on the Western Front. This is the place where they created The Plague.” I hoped I could at least get Ernest on my side, though I doubted one friend would go without the other.

  Ernest frowned and shook his head. “And where exactly is this lab supposed to be?”

  “Penn’s never failed me. He’s out there getting the information for us as we speak. Once he gets back with what we need, we can pinpoint the lab’s location and then head out.”

  “We’ll think about it,” Lucien said without looking up.

  I wondered if he was just moody or a jerk all the time. “It won’t break my heart if you don’t come.”

  Lucien leaned forward. “The lab we raided last year was in Catalonia. It ran underground beneath the Spanish
and French borders. Twenty of us went in and only three came out. A Black Wolf killed half of us within ten minutes. And you want to walk into one of these places?”

  “Brande and I trained with the Gray Tower, and Father Gabriel...has abilities too. I think the three of us could take on a Black Wolf.”

  Ernest blew a low whistle. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but we had a wizard leading the group, and it turned out he was more worried about saving his own skin than looking out for the men.”

  “I’m not that type of wizard—or that type of person.”

  “But one of your type was the one to lead seventeen men to their deaths.” Lucien gazed at me. “He could care less about those of us without powers.”

  Ernest finished his drink. “The only reason Luce and I survived was because we stuck with each other, and knew when to get out. The wizard survived because he magicked himself away.”

  I really didn’t like the direction this conversation was going in. “Listen, I just lost two people who were important to me, who were willing to sacrifice themselves. I’d do the same in a heartbeat; so don’t lump me in with whatever you think all wizards are like.”

  Ernest lowered his gaze and looked embarrassed. His expression told me that he was at least considering my words. Lucien just fell back into his angry stare.

  “Like I said, Ernest and I will think about it.”

  At this point I was done for the night. “Okay then, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I went back upstairs to my guestroom, wondering if I had made the right move in inviting Lucien along. We could certainly use his firepower and expertise, but if he couldn’t trust me or even tolerate me, then maybe it would be better for him to stay here and give himself time to grieve over his father.

  I thought of Otto and Renée once more, and a numb feeling came over me. I crawled into bed, replaying in my mind how I didn’t arrive soon enough to save them. After lying in bed for an hour, the tension in my shoulders finally eased and, with a little body magic, I warded off an oncoming headache. All I wanted was sleep, to at least escape this hell for just a while. Every waking second, all I could think of were the friends I lost...and those I felt responsible for losing.