What happened in Elixir by Hilary Duff - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Elixir

Author: Hilary Duff

Series: Elixir #1

- Elixir (2010)
- Devoted (2011) - True (2013)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man—a man she has never seen before. When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives—and their futures.

Read a full summary of Elixir by Hilary Duff below. If you can’t remember what happened in Elixir and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Elixir?

• Clear is the daughter of a senator. She and her friend Rayna have gone to Paris to hide away and also to party.
• Rayna leaves the club with a guy, so Clea heads back to the hotel room alone. Clea is an amateur photographer, so she spends her free time taking photos.
• Clea falls asleep and dreams about her father dying in a fire at a hotel. She wakes up, and finds that the building that Rayna is in is on fire.
• Clea tries to call Rayna but she’s not answering her phone. Clea gets a taxi to the building and calls her advisor, Ben, to tell him what’s going on. Clea gets to the building and finds that Rayna is safe. Clea takes photos of the burning building.
• Clea heads back to Connecticut. She looks through the photos, but someone knocks on the door and interupts her. Clea goes to answer the door and finds her mother has sent her flowers as an apology for not being there when Clea arrived home.
• Clea goes to her dad’s office and feels as though something is missing.
• Ben shows up at the house and shocks Clea.
• Rayna also shows up and invites Clea and Ben to a party at her house.
• Clea heads home and looks through the photos again. She notices there’s a weird man floating in mid air in all of them. Clea gets a bit freaked out and takes some photos in her room. She checks them, and sees the man in her closet.
• Clea feels someone wrap their hand around her throat. She checks the closet and doesn’t find anything. She somehow goes to sleep.
• Clea dreams of being a country singer. She’s owned by someone called Ed and they’re in Chicago. The cops raid the place and Clea sneaks away to meet the piano player, who her dream self, Delia, is in love with. The piano player calls her Olivia, and says they should run away together.
• Clea wakes up and realises that the piano player is the man in the photos.
• Clea goes to meet Ben to discuss her potential assignments. Clea wants to go to Brazil, because that’s where her father was last seen. She calls her mother, who doesn’t want to discuss the decision right away and promises to talk about it later.
• Clea then dreams of being an actress called Anneline. The man from the photos is persuing her. He asks Anneline to marry him, and Anneline accepts.
• Clea wakes up from this dream, and goes on to dream about being various different women every night. All these women are in love with the same floating man. Clea also starts to fall for this dream guy.
• Clea tells Rayna and Ben about her dreams. Ben asks to see the photos.
• Ben takes Clea to her father’s studio and shows her some photos. The man is also in all of these photos that were taken when Clea was younger. Ben tells Clea that her dad thought this guy was her guardian angel, but Ben thinks it’s an evil spirit.
• That night, the man visits Clea in her dreams but it’s not romantic. Ben is also in the dreams.
• Clea and Ben travel to Brazel. They speak to Dr Pichard in Rio about Clea’s father and his disappearance. Pichard doesn’t share much, but he does say that on the day Clea’s father went missing he was acting differently – he was very serious.
• Clea takes various touristy photos.
• Clea and Ben dance on the beach. Ben tries to tell Clea something but they get separated. Clea looks for Ben, and instead sees the dream guy, who runs away from her.
• Clea chases after him and trips over in the forest and twists her ankle. The dream guy comes back to help out.
• Ben shows up and tells her how to banish an incubus. Ben sees the dream guy and sees that he’s wearing Clea’s father’s watch. The dream guy gives the watch to Clea and walks off.
• Ben tries to phone the police but they get attacked. The dream guy comes back to help and introduces himself as Sage.
• Sage explains that Clea’s father approached him because he wanted to combine their knowledge to retrieve the Elixir of Life. They were going to meet up again but Clea’s father never showed up. Sage thinks either the Saviours of Eternal Life or the Cursed Vengeance could have taken Clea’s father. Sage thinks he could still be alive.
• The trio decide to sleep in a cave in the forest until it gets dark, and then they plan to head back to Connecticut.
• Sage wakes Clea up when he draws a picture of a girl in the dirt. The portrait looks like Clea.
• Sage and Clea head to Sage’s treehouse so he can get his ID to travel tot he US. Clea goes to the bathroom and comes across a room full of paintings. They’re all of the women from Clea’s dreams. Some of them depict their deaths. There seems to be space for Clea’s own death portrait. Clea voms.
• They all head back to Connecticut. Clea calls Rayna for a lift from the airport. She tells Rayna what has been going on, and Rayna tells Clea that there are a bunch of secret service agents at her house because her mother is hosting a luncheon.
• They arrive back at the house and Rayna introduces Sage as her new boyfriend.
• Clea and Ben go to her father’s studio while Rayna and Sage distract Clea’s mother. They look through her father’s computer and find a protected file. They’re able to figure out the password.
• They then go to Clea’s room and find coordinates that will lead them to the Dark Lady’s last known descendent in Tokyo.
• The trio head back to the airport to go to Tokyo. Clea tells Rayna everything that has been going on. They all have dinner together, and Clea realises that while she loves Ben, she really wants Sage. Rayna, being a great friend, sends Clea and Sage out together to get snacks.
• Clea asks Sage how he keeps finding her, figuring that he is following her through her past lives. Sage says Clea’s soul calls to him. They have sex in the car.
• The next morning, Sage gives Clea the cold shoulder. They all head out to the mall and find a door leading to a tunnel. They head down it and come across a room full of antiques. Clea finds a dead body behind a beaded curtain. The body turns to look at her and she passes out.
• Clea wakes up. Magda, the Dark Lady’s descendent, shows them Sage and Ben’s pasts. Sage told Giovanni about the Society and the Elixir of Life. Ben’s real past-life name is Giovanni, and he told his friends about the Elixir. They all rob the Society and kill everyone, including Olivia.
• Ben and his fellow thieves realise Sage is still alive. They give him one of the bottles of Elixir and realise that it works. They torture Sage to test his strength. They argue over what to do about the rest of the batch.
• Sage is freed and he kills his captors. Three people escape, and their descendents form the cursed Vengeance. The Society’s descendants become the Saviours of Eternal Life.
• Sage tips the vials over, pouring the contents away.
• Magda shows Clea that Sage has been finding her in each past life. In one, Ben as Jamie accused her of being a witch because past!Clea left him for Sage. Something similar happens in every life – Ben turns Clea in and gets her killed.
• Magda reveals that Clea’s father visited her and she showed this to him as well. Clea’s father told Sage that he must die to break the cycle, and Sage agreed so his soul can be ripped apart when it can’t find a new body.
• The group hears people approaching. Sage steals a car and they get away. They head to a beach, where Sage plans to take his own life.
• Clea calls the Saviours and tells them where the group will be.
• Sage begins the ritual. The Saviours arrive and open fire at Clea and Sage. Sage protects Clea, but not before she gets shot in the leg. Ben runs over to help but he’s caught by the Saviours. Sage offers himself up in exchange for Ben’s freedom.
• Clea is annoyed with Ben for messing up.
• Clea gets her leg treated at hospital before she and Ben head back to the US.

This is a full plot summary of what happened in Elixir by Hilary Duff. Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!