Free Alchemist Academy: Book 1 by Matt Ryan Page B

will come in quick bursts and then leave. But those burst will increase in frequency and it won’t be too much longer after that when we have no hope.” Tears held in her eyes. “I’m afraid there isn’t anything I can do to stop it this time. What used to work doesn’t have the same lasting effect now because he’s grown resistant to it.” She glanced back at the doorway. “The life stone is the only thing that can cure him completely. You have to get it.” She shook me.
    My heart lumped up in my throat as her words soaked in.
    “And you can’t tell Mark. He has no idea how bad it is. If he knew….” She looked panicked and pleading with me. “I can’t believe he has the gift.”
    “It’s been more than a minute,” Darius called from the dining room.
    “Get the stone and get out of there.” She must have seen the total panic on my face. “Listen, I’ve met many young men and women around the world, so I can say with total certainty, you’re something special and they’ll notice you very quickly.” She chuckled. “You’re going to move up very fast and get access to the president.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    Darius stood at the doorway. “We need to get going.”
    Ms. Duval pulled me closer to her and whispered in my ear, “Please help me with this. Help him .”
    I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded in agreement. If I could find something to save Mark, I’d find it. Ms. Duval let go of my shirt and motioned for me to go.
    Darius waved me over and I followed him back to the dining room. Mark looked at the floor before looking up and locking eyes with his mom.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to become an experiment to you. I wanted to be your son,” he said.
    Ms. Duval took in a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say.”
    I stared at Mark, looking at his body and trying to figure out the illness his mom had mentioned. He glanced at me a couple of times. My blank stare did little to keep his gaze on me, but it gave me a chance to look him over, to study this new person standing in front of me. He had the same gift I did, but he’d kept it hidden from all of us until now. Why come out now?
    “I want to go with her,” Mark demanded.
    “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Darius said.
    This couldn’t get any better. Not only was I getting away from this hell, I had Mark coming with me. I bounced next to him with excitement.
    “So, do you have a bus? Oh, are we flying? I need to pack.” I blurted the words out and realized how much I hated traveling. I hadn’t been on a plane since I was a little girl.
    “Where we’re going, you can only reach by portal stone.”
    Ms. Duval jerked from her stupor and rounded the table. “Why a portal stone? When I was there, it was a simple trip by car.”
    “Things have changed greatly over the last few years, Ms. Duval. We take great precautions now with our locations.”
    “Dark alchemists?”
    He nodded.
    She turned to Mark with tears in her eyes, studying him with a quivering chin. She moved forward and hugged him. “I forgive you, my boy. I’m so proud of you.”
    I watched the exchange and thought of my dad. He might not be so understanding about me going to a mysterious academy almost no one knew even existed, but I hoped I could be back by the time he got home in a few months. I’d have to get a note to him or call him after I got to the Academy. I thought of Spencer and Janet for a second, and it was a second more than they deserved. The only reason they would ever know I was missing was that they wouldn’t be able to fill their daily quota of hatred. I wouldn’t miss them at all, but someone might notice I was gone.
    “Darius, what about my stepfamily?”
    “We will notify them that you have been accepted to a private academy for the rest of the year.”
    I laughed. “Well, that will piss them off real good. If they think I’m enjoying myself, they’ll do everything they can to stop it.”
    Darius rubbed his