A Forbidden Alchemy (The Artisan Trilogy)

by Stacey McEwan

“If the idium doesn’t work, you could come back to Kenton Hill with me instead,” Patrick heard himself say. Didn’t know why he’d said it, except that his chest was surging and Nina hadn’t blinked.

“God, have mercy—” “Did you ever think of leaving?” he asked. I sighed. “No.” “And did you ever think of me?” The coin lay forgotten. Catastrophe waited between us, something that ought not be touched or turned over. The grass whispered, my chest ached, and Patrick’s eyes were more all-encompassing than the redolent sky. I bit my bottom lip, and his eyes traced the movement.

EVERY. DAY.

“Come on, Scurry girl,” Patrick said, offering his hand. Confidently. Expectantly. We were twelve in a courtyard again, only this time, the name was a caress, the rumble of his voice cradling the words.

crying. they both love each other as 12 yr olds but now that theyve seen so much, they're on opposute sides

All of it reminded Patrick of that courtyard girl—the one whose hand he’d held in Belavere City. The one whose cheek he’d kissed. The one he’d thought of every day since.

A different woman might have given in then, their stomach shriveling as mine did. “You planning to carry me up there?” I asked. “Throw me over your shoulder?” His eyes flashed. “You say that like it isn’t exactly what I’d like to do.” I swallowed. “It’s a lot of stairs, Patrick. You wouldn’t manage.” “Careful.” He crouched until his nose was level with mine, his lips a hairsbreadth away. “That sounded an awful lot like a challenge.”

“It isn’t your business to know who I love.” But I said it to the ground, where there was no brilliant blue. Beneath my skin, blood raced. Silence. Sounds suffocated on the hot air. Patrick waited an interminable moment, until it was impossible not to look at him again. “If it’s all the same to you,” he said, low and exact, “I’m inclined to make it my business.”

A ways ahead, Nina looked back toward him, her face streaked in mud. If he’d had a talent for art, he’d have wished to freeze time to paint her, just the way she was.

His chest rose, swelling with that final missile. I wondered how long he’d kept it loaded and aimed. “Nina, we’re only eighteen. I think it best we part ways.” There was more. More about the nature of change, and how it creeps up on a person. He apologized and apologized until I was riddled with his reasons. I stared at the earth beneath his feet as he spoke and wondered why I could so easily move it, but I couldn’t move him.

“I intend to put the rest of these boys to shame and spoil you for anyone else.”

“You’re too beautiful to be real,” he said suddenly, softly. With my ear pressed to his chest, I could feel the words, too. “There’s your compliment.” His fingers traced a very careful line then, slowly up my spine and back down, and in their wake, they left a trail of fire.

crying and sobbing i need them

“I drew pictures of you,” I told him, giving him this one small piece of myself. “In school.” He didn’t speak. Just pulled me round and round in a small orbit. I swallowed. “I was scared to forget you.” The sound of his heart beating made me think of caves under leagues of sea. “I never had a hope in the world of forgetting you, Scurry girl.”

And I wondered what had made me so unforgettable. Was it the secret we’d unraveled together, or was it the inner workings of fate? How to stop a rising tide, the rapidly expanding cell of a storm?

“Do you want to pretend last night never happened, Nina? Is that it?” He’d give her that, if it was what she wanted.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you,” he said gruffly. “So you’d better fuckin’ come out, Nina. Promise me. Now.”

SCREAMINGGGGG i thought this was too soon but then realized im 70 percent of the way through.

After he dug up those bodies. Delivered them to their families. A sob escaped. He was nothing but blue eyes, a strong grip. “No fallin’ apart until I get back. You hear me?” “Y-yes,” I answered, mind still awash, the ache in my throat dulling. “You go and rest. Wait for me.” Yes, I thought as he faded into shadow. Of course I’ll wait.

“And I have the House threatening my execution if I don’t give them what they want,” I spat, my temper getting the better of me. “You came here voluntarily, Theo. And you’ll return to your esteemed position when this is all done.”

PERIOD

When Patrick was a boy, he and his brothers had stolen flares and lit them all at once. The gunpowder combusted into a million bolts of hot light. He saw it all again in Nina Harrow’s eyes when he told her he loved her. “There might be things I can’t tell you,” he said. “There might be secrets. But I’ll never lie to you, Nina. And I promise I’ll love you as well as I can.”