The Keepers (The Alchemy Series) (13 page)

“And give them the impression that we are concerned? Absolutely not.” Dodd said.

I turned to Cormac to see if he had a better explanation.

Reading the question on my face, he responded, “Yes, that about sums it up.”

I just shook my head in disbelief as w
e headed down toward the lair beneath Lacard. It was truly startling that this entire operation was happening underneath a casino.

“Why a casino? Why not in the desert where there is nobody?” I asked them as we rode the elevator
down.

“We need the people,” Cormac explained. “We need to hide the high energy levels that the portals throw off.”

“Portals? You said more than one right?”

“Yes. There are more than one, but nothing nearby.”

“So, the other portals, are they in casinos as well?” I mentally started to calculate all of the areas known for large casinos.

“No. There are other options. This was just the most convenient for this area.”

“You don’t want to tell me the other locations? Really Cormac, haven’t you ever heard in for a penny, in for a pound?”

“Maybe you should think on that yourself?
Or as they say in poker, you are already pot committed.”

“
What?”

“When you play p
oker, and you have a significant amount of your money in the pot, it gets very hard to walk away. You, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, are pot committed.”

“Maybe so, but I’m also skilled at getting out of a bad situation and simply disappearing
, as my records have already proven.”

I looked at him now as he leaned against the elevator wall
, and it was hard not to admire his presence. It was beyond the grace of his movements. He owned the space. People instinctively looked to him to lead, and not because he was the boss. He had an air about him that made others follow. I’d noticed it in the casino, the deference he commanded. All eyes were always on him the moment he stepped into a room.

I
started to follow Dodd out of the elevator but Cormac’s arm around my waist stopped me.

“Maybe you can d
isappear from some people, but they aren’t me.” He removed his arm and walked out the elevator. “Sometimes we use amusement parks as well,” he said as if that little moment hadn’t even happened.

I watched his graceful movements as we entered the hallways that were now empty again, and I wondered where all the people went when the portal wasn’t up and running.

We passed the door that I knew led to the portal and he opened up a room a few doors down. There was a step down when we entered and it was bare except for a line of work boots along one side. The walls, ceiling, and floor were a dull grey lead like the portal room. Other than that, it was completely bare.

“So what do we do?”

“This is where we train. What size shoe do you wear?” Cormac asked.

“Seven.”

Dodd’s phone started buzzing. “I gotta go handle that thing we were talking about.”

Cormac nodded and Dodd headed out.

“Here, put these on. Make sure you lace them up tightly.”

“Why do I have to switch shoes?” I asked as I slipped out of my own sneakers.

“These are special. When you start messing around with gravitational pulls, these will hold you to the ground if you can’t handle it.”

“Oh. Aren’t you putting on a pair?”

“I don’t need them.” He reached down, took my sneakers and put them into a cabinet built into the wall.

“Are they comfortable?”

I looked down and cringed at the ugly brown utilitarian boots. “Yes.”

“Stand in a comfortable position.”

“I am.”

He flipped a switch on the wall and a slight humming sound started.

“What is that?”

“Try to move your feet.”

I went to lift a foot, and realized I was glued to the floor.

“Cormac, I don’t like this.”

The cloying feeling of claustrophobia was starting to suffocate me. I bent down, and started to take the boots off and he knelt next to me.

“You’re not stuck. You can undo the laces at any point. But, once we start practicing, you might want them on so you don’t end up on the ceiling.”

I stopped what I was doing, and realized he was right. It wasn’t like I couldn’t take them off at any point. I nodded and stood up again.

Once I had calmed down, he walked to another built in cabinet and tossed four plastic children’s balls into the room, the type that I always saw
, but never got, in bins at the grocery stores growing up.

“Okay, I know you can convert single small items at a time. I need you to try to do these balls all at once, without touching them.”

“But I can’t reach them?”

“I know. You have to do it without touching.”

“I don’t know how.”

“It’s the same way you did the stone. You don’t need to touch them. Just let the energy flow through your hands. You can convert anything in your immediate area.”

I held out my hands and tried to focus on letting some unseen energy flow through my fingers. Nothing happened.

“Remember when you attacked Tracker in the bar?”

“Of course I do.”

“You did something extra, didn’t you?”

I just smiled.

“Try pulling from the same place. It’s all related.”

I held out my hands again, and pulled from that place. I could feel the familiar tingle, but the balls didn’t budge.

“I don’t get it. I can feel it. Why doesn’t it do what it’s supposed to.”

“I’m not sure. Usually we just do some fine tuning with control. I’ve never had to start from scratch. It’s just something that happens. With you, I think you’ve trained your body to hold back for so long, that you have a hard time releasing beyond your immediate touch. Just keep trying, you’ll get it.”

Two hours later, Cormac was sitting on the floor, holding up the wall and playing with his cell phone. I was
squatted down on the floor, very uncomfortably I might add, with my boots frozen to the floor.

I gave up and completely
lay down on the floor, knees still bent to accommodate the funny boots, and banged my head against the lead floor, staring at the ceiling.

“This isn’t working. I think it’s time to throw in the towel.”

“You’re holding back. Keep trying.”

“I’m. Not. Holding. Back.”

“You don’t think you are holding back, but you’ve been burying this ability for years. So, you’re holding back. You just don’t know it.”

“You don’t know
, either.”

“That’s true, but we still have to do it.”

“UUUrrgghhh. I’m done.” I sat up and started undoing the funny boots. I’d walk back to the penthouse barefoot if I had to.

I looked up when Cormac stood. “We’ll take a break for today and try again tomorrow night.”

“No can do. I’ve got a shift tomorrow night.”

He flipped the switch off, and my still tied boots were suddenly free. “I’ll get Arnold to cover your shift. This is more important.”

“I understand that money might not be a concern to you, but it is to me. I’m working tomorrow.”

“I’ll pay you whatever you make a shift.” He stood in front of me.

“No. I’d rather work. This sucks. I’m not good at it and neither of us have any idea if we can even make it work.” I went to step around him, since he wouldn’t move.

“I’ll pay you twice what you make on a busy night,” he countered, as he moved in step with me, continuing to block my
way as effectively as a large brick wall.

I thought about it for a minute. That was a hard offer to turn down. Even though school was a cakewalk with the strings Cormac had pulled, I still had to pay for it, and then there was still the rent on the trailer. When I finally got away from these people, I’d need a home.

But, as tempting as the money was, a large part of me was relieved that it hadn’t worked today and didn’t want to keep at it. I didn’t want to be involved in this, and I didn’t want to help other creatures into the world, that could, possibly, one day turn on humans and destroy us. Even if Cormac said a worse alternative could happen if he didn’t, I wasn’t sure I should believe him. I only had his word for it. I had to keep remembering that.

“No. I can’t do it. We’ve sat here for hours waiting for nothing. I’m going to work tomorrow night.”

“Fine, I’ll give you tomorrow night off, but the night after we need to try again.”

It bought me time
, so I agreed. Maybe I’d make an exit before then. I decided that this wasn’t worth the information I was maybe going to get. It didn’t look like I was going to be any help to the situation so why hang around and get killed?

“Help! Cormac!” I’d woken up with something hard pressed firmly against me. It had felt like a wooden board until I opened my eyes and realized I was pressed up against the ceiling. That’s when I had started screaming.

“Jo?” Cormac said as he ran to my room. “Open the door!”

I locked it every night. “I can’t, I’m…” before I could finish
, the door lay splintered half on the frame and half on the floor. Cormac stood there, in loose sleep pants and nothing else, looking like a warrior, with a physique to match, ready to do battle.

He looked up and immediately relaxed.
“You scared the shit out of me” he said. “Why the hell did you scream like that?”

“Really? You need me to explain?”

“For someone who wears the most banged up sneakers I’ve ever seen, you sure like expensive lingerie.”

I was so distressed about being stuck to the ceiling, I didn’t care I was wearing a silk black teddy that was cut very high and very low.

“You have to help me. I can’t get down.” I was trying not to sound whiney, but I was pretty sure I failed.

“You just need to relax. Onc
e you do, you’ll drop back down,” his voice had an odd tone as he said this.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” I said trying to sound fierce but I missed by a mile.

I closed my eyes, did yoga breathing and imagined myself on a sunny beach. All while I remained glued to the ceiling. I opened my eyes and looked pathetically to Cormac.

I watched him, as he stepped onto the bed. “I know you get agitated when people touch you.”

“No, I don’t.” His touch did agitate me, just for a different reason than he thought.

“Yes
, you do. I’m going to leech off some of the energy you’re producing.”

“Just do it.”

He reached up and ran his hand along the length of my leg, and I felt a strange sensation, like the bubbles of champagne popping against my skin. Then before I had any warning, I wasn’t stuck to the ceiling anymore.

Cormac caught me on my way down, not that he needed to with the bed beneath us. He let my legs swing down, and my body was flush to his.
Sensations bombarded me. The heady feeling of being pressed to him immediately replaced the relief over not being stuck to the ceiling. I looked at him and he was staring at my lips.

“You can let me go
, now,” I said. I needed to stop this before it began. If he kissed me, it was game over.

He dropped his arms that had been encircling my back, and I slowly moved away from him. Probably a little too slowly
, but hey, nobody’s perfect. The way I was feeling right now, I was happy I had been able to pull away at all.

Once I got a comfortable distance away from him, I looked back to see him smirk. The bastard knew he was hot.

“Don’t be so happy with yourself. I’m young and single and it’s been a while is all,” I tried saying it as if it was no big deal.

“Really? How long is that exactly?”

“None of your business.” There was no way he knew I’d never had sex. He was definitely bluffing.

“
I don’t think you’ve ever had sex. I think you’re scared.”

“Do you really think you can goad me into sleeping with you?”

“No? Not working?”

“No.”

“And here comes the attitude. You were much cuter when you were stuck to the ceiling saying ‘help me, Cormac’.”

“Maybe I am a bit rough around the edges, but
whose fault is that? Your people abandoned me. I would think you wouldn’t be so condescending, considering that.”

“Jo,
you need to lighten up a little. Not everything is an attack. I understand what it must have been like. I wasn’t passing judgment.”

“Really? It sure sounded like you were.”

“You don’t have to fight me at every turn. I could help you.” The sincerity in his voice made my senses reel. He meant what he said. But he was still the guy who ordered me shot. Every day I was here, the memory of it seemed to fade a little bit more. But I couldn’t forget that I’d be road kill, complete with tire tracks across my back, if I got in the way of what he thought his responsibilities were. He might mean well now, but that could change in a heartbeat. He couldn’t be trusted.