Page 42 of Alchemy of Secrets

I loved your father’s films,” the Watch Man began. A tabby cat with gold-and-white fur came over and rubbed itself against his legs. He petted its head and said, “I even named my cat Red. Because of The Price of Magic .”

Holland smiled. She couldn’t count the number of times people had referenced her father’s films in front of her.

But this was the first time someone had ever done it knowing who Ben Tierney was to her.

It was something Holland had imagined but never experienced, and it made her feel like a happy puddle, as if part of her had melted in the sun.

Then she remembered Adam was sitting right next to her.

She nervously turned his way. His eyes were already on her. He looked unsurprised, but not unmoved. He already knew.

Adam’s eyes had lost their smile, and his mouth had tipped down at the corners in a way that seemed to say so much more than sorry .

Holland wondered when January had told him.

She wondered why January had told him. Although neither of those things mattered half as much as the fact that January had trusted Adam enough to tell him.

That one fact felt like everything Holland needed to know.

“Such a tragedy that Ben never finished the third film,” the Watch Man continued.

“He once told me he loved writing about characters like Red because he needed to believe that an ordinary man with nothing but mettle and grit could come up against the most extraordinary forces of our world—the unexplainable, the unbelievable, the grossly unfair—and prevail.”

He looked at Holland meaningfully, and she felt a bittersweet something twist inside of her. She wasn’t sure if this quote was a breadcrumb her father had intentionally left, or if it was just something he’d said because that’s who he was. Either way, she was glad to hear it.

“So, you actually knew my dad?”

“ Knew might be taking it a little far. I had the honor of a brief meeting with Ben before his tragic passing. He had a heart, and he was one of those rare people who only became better at using it throughout his life. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

” The Watch Man paused to take a sip of tea, and he must have been waiting for Holland and Adam to do the same because he didn’t continue until they did.

“Your father came from one of the old families.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that,” Holland said.

“There are two types of people in this world: those who are born into it, like your friend Mr. Bishop, and those who find it at some point during their lives and then spend the rest of their lives trying to fit into it.” The Watch Man took another slow sip of tea.

Again, he sat and smiled until Adam and Holland did the same.

Still, Holland couldn’t relax. Sitting in a garden sipping tea was a luxury she didn’t have time for.

She wished the Watch Man could go a little faster.

“Your father was the first type,” the Watch Man continued. “And not only was he born into a family with magic, but he was born into a family that has possessed magic for centuries.”

This was news to Holland, and yet somehow she wasn’t entirely shocked. Perhaps because she had always believed in magic. She wondered if her father had planned to tell her someday, or if he’d designed his treasure hunts so she would find out on her own.

“In your father’s family, it was tradition that the children would always call me on their eighteenth birthday. Given that the Tierneys were a practical, old-magic family, they believed there was no point in bequeathing an inheritance to a child who would die before the age of forty.”

“Couldn’t the children just lie about their time of death?” Holland asked.

Another pause for more drinking of tea, before the Watch Man said, “Not in the Tierney family. They were famed for their ability to tell truth from lies. Of course, when your father learned he would die so young, they decided not to share this ability with him.”

“So you’re saying his parents disowned him because he was going to die young?

” Holland had always known her father had been estranged from his family, she’d just never known why.

The aunt and uncle who raised her weren’t actually blood relatives—they’d been old friends of her parents, and they had left LA right after her parents had died.

She was tempted to ask if her grandparents were still alive, but she wasn’t sure she cared to know a family who had disowned her dad because he was going to die young.

“Before you judge your father’s family too harshly, you should know it’s quite common to consider age of death when deciding who will inherit power,” said the Watch Man.

“If your grandparents had passed on their abilities to your father, those abilities would have been taken by the Bank when he’d died, not passed on to you, since there are rules about receiving power before you come of age.

Your father’s family also knew he wasn’t going to complete the task I gave him to have a longer life.

It was an impossible task—quite like yours.

But unlike you, I cautioned your father not to do it. ”

“What was the task?” Holland asked.

“I told your father that if he wanted more time, he would need to find the Alchemical Heart and give it to one of the devils.”

“What do you mean one of the devils?” Holland asked, alarmed. This was not a story she’d heard before. In all the research she’d done, there was only ever one devil. She shot a look at Adam, to see if he had any thoughts on this, but he appeared relaxed as ever, lounging back casually in his seat.

She nudged him with her leg, but he didn’t move. Was he sound asleep?

“Finally,” the Watch Man said on an exhale. “I was afraid I had made the tea too weak.”

“You did this to him?” Holland looked at Adam’s teacup in horror.

“There is no time to explain.” The Watch Man shot a quick glance down at his watch. “We have only a few minutes before Mr. Bishop wakes.”

“But why did you put him to sleep?” Holland looked at the carefully orchestrated scene before her—Adam asleep, the Watch Man suddenly on high alert, three pots of tea laid out with a prescient level of precision. “How did you know I was coming today?”

“Your father told me,” he answered sharply.

“But you told me his family didn’t give him an ability.”

“They didn’t.”

“But then—”

“Your questions will have to wait, Miss St. James.” The Watch Man reached under his cushion and pulled out a long brown document envelope.

“Your father gave me this before he died. He had decided to take my advice: He said the power of the Alchemical Heart was too much for anyone to possess, and he couldn’t give it to either of the devils. ”

“Wait,” Holland interrupted again, “please—what do you mean by either of the devils ?”

Quietly, he said, “There are two men who make up the devil. Two brothers.” The Watch Man’s eyes went back toward Adam, and this time, Holland had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t making sure Adam was asleep.

“Are you saying—”

“No—” the Watch Man cut in. “I’ve not said anything.” But once again, his gaze rested on Adam, and Holland knew exactly what he wasn’t saying.

Lying beside her, eyes gently closed, golden hair strewn across his forehead, Adam definitely didn’t look like a devil.

Maybe she’d thought so when she first met him, but now he just seemed like a reckless young man with a beautiful face.

“Are you certain?” Holland asked the Watch Man. “I saw him get shot. I saw him bleed.”

“I did not say he was God.” The Watch Man pressed his lips into a frustrated line. “Now, would you like to waste more time debating this or shall I tell you what your father said?”

Holland quieted, although her thoughts about Adam still felt extremely loud. How well did January actually know her partner?

But January had told Adam about their parents.

Holland had never trusted anyone enough to share that secret.

The only reason she’d told Gabe was because her life literally depended on him.

Now she felt her life depended on whether she could trust Adam, and whatever the Watch Man was about to tell her next.

“After saying the Alchemical Heart was too powerful for any man to possess, your father asked me to hold on to the envelope I just gave you, until a day came when one of his daughters paid me a visit.”

Holland glanced at the envelope in her hand.

It was similar in weight and size to the folder that had been in the safety deposit box.

She had been so excited about the start of this treasure hunt, but now she felt a different sort of gravity that brought her down to earth as she imagined her father bringing this to the Watch Man before he died.

This wasn’t just his last treasure hunt; this was his dying wish for her. She couldn’t let him down.

And yet, she still didn’t understand how her father had known the exact minute when she and Adam would come.

Unless her father had been in possession of the Alchemical Heart.

And the Alchemical Heart had given him the ability to see into the future—just like it had given abilities to the people who had come across it in the Chained Library.

Holland’s fingers tightened protectively around the envelope. “My father had the ability to see the future, didn’t he?”

The Watch Man sighed. “Visions of the future can be deceptive. I don’t know what your father saw, but I know that whenever someone asks me the time, I always see multiple outcomes.

The future’s course does not become fixed until it turns into the past. And, for what it’s worth—” The tabby cat purred.

The Watch Man checked his watch. “We’re almost out of time.

Hurry, Miss St. James, put that envelope in your bag and do not show it to anyone.

Hurry,” he repeated. “Miss St. James, put that envelope in your bag and do not show it to anyone.”

Holland looked at him, confused. Beads of sweat had formed a damp line across his brow. Or was it blood? Several of the drops looked darker than the others. “Are you all right?”

“Hurry, Miss St. James, put that envelope in your bag and do not show it to anyone.” A bead of the unnervingly red sweat fell from his face and then he froze.

His mouth, his eyes, his hands hovering above the table—nothing moved.

Even the bead of red sweat didn’t drop to the table. It remained suspended in the air.

Holland’s chest went so tight, for a second it felt hard to breathe, and she thought perhaps she might freeze, too.

She frantically grabbed the Watch Man’s hand and tried to shake it, but nothing happened.

This felt terrifyingly similar to what had happened at the Bank with the Professor, but this was lasting even longer.

Then the cat purred, and finally time seemed to start again. The drop of sweat fell onto the table.

“Hurry, put that envelope in your bag and do not show it to anyone,” the Watch Man said again, as if he’d never said it before.

Holland quickly shoved the envelope in her satchel, next to the pages of her father’s screenplay. “Sir, I think you’re bleeding.” She pointed toward his forehead.

The Watch Man dabbed it with a napkin, just as Adam blinked his eyes open with a slightly bewildered expression.

“I’m afraid that’s all I have for you,” said the Watch Man, as if he’d just finished answering a question.

The blood on his forehead was already wiped away.

Holland really wanted to ask about it, but she wasn’t sure how she could without mentioning the words he’d just repeated.

If she mentioned those words, Adam would know there was something in her bag.

And yet, for a second, she debated it. Something was broken or breaking, and Holland had a terrible feeling it was somehow her fault.

Beside her, Adam wiped the sleep from his eyes. “How long was I out?”

“Not long,” Holland said. “But I’m afraid we need to go.

” She turned to the Watch Man. “Thank you so much for your time and for the tea.” She rose to her feet on legs that were suddenly shaking.

She knew she couldn’t stay; she just hadn’t yet figured out where to go.

Back to the Regal seemed like the obvious choice, but if she went there, she would have to stay with Adam, and Holland was feeling less certain that trusting him was a good idea.

She thought about asking Adam if she could call her sister, but that had only given Holland a false sense of security with Gabe. Perhaps it was just better to leave Adam and go it alone from here, even if that idea scared her.