Page 31 of Adam, Mine

Elias put a hand on the crown of Henry’s head.

“I remember your face. From the moment our eyes met, you understood my terror.”

“I’m sorry!” Henry sobbed.

Elias scrunched his fingers in Henry’s hair and yanked his head back so their eyes met.

“The book,” he hissed.

Tears streamed down Henry’s face. “There are other alchemists in this city. Wealthy and established, maybe he stole it from one of them. T-there’s one on Lebzeltergasse, big black house. Another out on Goethstraße . . . I was to visit a man named Richard Sonne for an opportunity at an apprenticeship, but he’s a city over.”

Elias let Henry’s hair go.

“Would Victor also be seeking apprenticeship?”

“I don’t know!” Henry wailed. “But he was better than I was; he’d probably have gotten better placement.”

“Will he linger there for a while?”

“Probably?! We have to do it for at least a year before we’re properly employable. If you’re trying to catch up to him, that’s probably the best place to start—P-please don’t kill me. I promise I just—”

“How do I get there?” Elias asked, impatient.

Henry wiped his face. “I can write the addresses if you let me get—”

Elias crouched low and grabbed Henry by the jaw, the way his mother used to do to him when he teased his sister Magda.

“I don’t read. Imagine the way and tell me where to walk.”

Henry looked shocked for a moment, so surprised that he stopped crying. But eventually he complied. Elias allowed Henry’s words to take the shape of two mental maps before he let the man go.

“Y-you can’t read?” he asked, then flinched at the force of Elias’s glare.

“Thank you for your help,” Elias said stiffly. He pulled Franz’s blade from his coat.

“WAIT, WAIT!” Henry shouted, leaning back against the wall. “I can help!”

Elias paused and prayed that giving this man time was not a mistake.

Henry swallowed. “There is a family hospital to the east that provides good care and takes people without money. If I tell you the way, will you remember?”

Elias nodded.

“It is very far on foot. Are you sure you’ll remember?”

Elias scowled, even though he knew Henry couldn’t see it through the bandages. “I live hours away and came back here myself. Found you myself. Not everyone has the means to learn, but I’m not simple. I will remember.”

Henry put up his hands, even though they shook.

“My life for this: the way to the hospital and . . . one n-night’s care beneath my roof. P-penance with my own hands, to right your body of some of this wickedness.”

Elias stared at him.

“Y-your bandages . . . they need . . . they need . . .” Henry fell silent. His bravery failing, finally.

Elias gritted his teeth and stood.

“Tell me the way.”