Alchemist's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

other wizard's presence had become more and more pronounced. Every time he used the power of the rune on his palm it took his body longer and longer to recover.
    “But you've discovered something.” Cora drank deeply of the coffee, and he could feel her eyes on him. “We've not been out at night in months, but last night you insisted that Belch Alley was the place to be.”
    “Tell us what has you worried, Ic.” Archimedes' hand was warm on his forearm. He raised his head to look at his friend.
    “I believe I have discovered the identity of the wizard we've referred to as the Master.”
    Cora put her cup on the table and patted her lips with her lacy napkin. “Well spill it then, Icarus. We haven't all day.”
    He sat forward, and from their worried glances he knew he was as pale as he felt. He trembled with the effort it took to appear nonchalant.
    “The wizard in London is my father.”
     
    ***
     
    I couldn't bring myself to speak. The pain in Icarus' gaze was all consuming.
    “Your father?” Archimedes took the words from my tongue. “The bastard who branded you?”
    Icarus downed his tea with the singular intensity only he could manage. “The same.”
    He turned his face to the fire, but I could see the lines of worry and pain around his eyes. That was my Icarus. Filled with sorrow hot enough to burn, but oh so cold on the surface.
    I turned my cup on my plate. I longed to go to him and wrap him tight in my arms and offer him the comfort he needed. Needed, I reminded myself, but did not want. Icarus cared nothing for the niceties and softness of pity or grief. He would turn from me, scoffing if I offered. The great Icarus Kane needed no coddling.
    I felt bitterness twist my lips. I loved the man, Heavens help me, but he vexed me to no end.
    Thankfully, Archimedes continued on with the questioning of our resident wizard and alchemist extraordinaire.
    “I thought the bastard was dead?”
    “As did I.' Icarus rubbed his hand and I knew the burn of the rune must be excruciating for him. It always awoke fiercely when he was in emotional turmoil.
    “And yet you believe him to be the man we seek.”
    I turned my eyes to Archie. The first time I'd seen the man I'd swallowed a cry of fear. He was a beast, at least in appearance. His face leaned toward cruel, saved by the gentleness in his wide eyes. Nothing to rival the angelic beauty of Icarus, but handsome nonetheless. He encompassed the settee, his girth comical on the small piece of furniture. His legs were long and muscular, encased in enough tweed to clothe several smaller men. His eyes were narrowed on Icarus, a frown twisting his full lips. The telltale tick of his clockwork matched the tick of anger in his jaw.
    “I recognized the signs almost at once.”
    “But you didn't want it to be true.” I guessed.
    Icarus raised his eyes to me. Gods, the pain. Searing and roiling in his cobalt eyes I felt it in my own heart.
    “No, Cora. I did not.”
    Our eyes were locked. It was a dance, this thing between him and I. We sparked fire, could burn the room to cinders between us, but something kept us apart. A wall between us that I could not knock down, and one he refused to dismantle. He, true to our history, looked away first.
    “I had hoped I was wrong. Imagining things that existed only in my nightmares. But last night proved me wrong. Victor Kane is very much alive, and he's come to London.”
    “What does he want, Icarus?” I put my cup on the table and rubbed my hands together, suddenly feeling a chill sweep over us all. The fire in the hearth crackled, sparks shooting up into the chimney as the curtains fluttered in the breeze.
    Blue eyes narrowed, and Icarus shot to his feet. He breathed in deeply, and it was only then that I recognized the smell of roses on the air.
    “Speak the message.” Icarus commanded.
    Archie had moved more quickly than a man of his size should be able to do. He placed his hands on the back of my chair, his stance