The Golden Lily (27 page)

“Alchemists aren’t resistant,” I said. “That tattoo isn’t protecting us, if that’s what you’re getting at. Do you think that in all our history, there haven’t been Alchemists who were turned Strigoi?”

“Wel, of course,” she said. Her words were hesitant, encouraging me.

“So, the magic you sensed in me is irrelevant. It’s just the tattoo. All Alchemists have it. Maybe ours tastes bad, but Alchemist blood has nothing to do with Strigoi turning. It still happens to us.” I was rambling but didn’t care.

Sonya grew perplexed, her mind running through the implications of this news. “But do all Alchemists have bad-tasting blood? If so, how would a Strigoi be able to drain them?”

“Maybe it varies by person,” I said. “Or maybe some Strigoi are tougher than others. I don’t know. Regardless, we aren’t the ones to focus on.”

“Unless there’s just something special about you,” mused Sonya.

No. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be scrutinized, locked behind glass like Keith. I couldn’t be. I prayed she wouldn’t see how scared I was.

“There’s plenty that’s special about her,” said Adrian dryly.

“But her blood’s not up for dispute. Why are you pushing this again after last time?” Sonya glared at Adrian. “I’m not doing this for selfish reasons, you know that! I want to save our people. I want to save all our people. I don’t want to see any new Strigoi added to the world.

Strigoi added to the world.

No one should live like that.” A haunted look shone in her eyes, as a memory seized her. “That kind of bloodlust and complete lack of empathy for any other living creature … no one can imagine what it’s like. You’re holow. A walking nightmare, and yet … you just don’t care …”

“Funny attitude,” said Adrian, “seeing as you purposely chose to become one.”

Sonya paled, and I felt torn. I appreciated Adrian’s defense but also pitied Sonya. She’d explained to me in the past about how spirit’s instability—the same instability Adrian feared—had driven her to turning Strigoi. Looking back at her decision, she regretted it more than anything else in her life. She would’ve regretted it more than anything else in her life. She would’ve submitted herself for punishment, but no court knew how to handle her situation.

“Doing that was a mistake,” she said coldly. “One I’ve learned from—which is why I’m so anxious to save others from that fate.”

“Wel, then find a way to do it without dragging Sydney into it!

You know how she feels about us …” Adrian faltered as he glanced at me, and I was surprised to almost detect bitterness in his voice. “You know how the Alchemists feel. Keep involving her, and you’ll get her in trouble with them. And if you’re so convinced they’ve got the answers, ask them for volunteers and do experiments that way.”

“I’d help with that,” I offered. “Getting authorized subjects for you. I’d talk to my superiors. They’d like to see an end to Strigoi as much as you.” When Sonya didn’t answer right away, Adrian guessed why.

“She knows they’d say no, Sage. That’s why she’s appealing to you directly and why they didn’t send your blood to an Alchemist lab.”

“Why can’t you both see how important this is?” asked Sonya, a desperate longing to do good in her eyes. It made me feel guilty and conflicted.

“I do,” said Adrian. “You think I don’t want to see every single one of those bastard Strigoi wiped from the face of the earth? I do! But not at the cost of forcing people to do things they don’t want to.”

Sonya gave him a long, level look. “I think you’re letting your Sonya gave him a long, level look. “I think you’re letting your personal feelings interfere with this.

Your emotions are going to ruin our research.”

He smiled. “Wel, then. Be glad you’ll be free of me in two days.”

Sonya glanced between the two of us, looked like she was about to protest, and then thought better of it. Without another word she left, her face defeated. Again, I felt torn. In theory, I knew she was right … but my gut just couldn’t agree.

“I didn’t mean to upset her,” I said at last.

Adrian’s face showed no sympathy. “She shouldn’t have upset you. She knows how you feel.” I still felt a little bad, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I gave this, I’d be asked to give more and more. I recaled the day Eddie and Dimitri had been coated in spirit magic. No way could I risk getting involved to that level. I was already pushing my limits too far. “I know … but it’s hard,” I said. “I like Sonya. I gave her the first vial, so I can see why she thought the second would be easy.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “No is no.”

“I realy will mention it to the Alchemists,” I said. “Maybe they’ll want to help.” I didn’t think I’d get in too much trouble for the first vial. The Alchemists endorsed the initial experiments after al, and I’d probably get points for standing up to vampire peer pressure for the other sample.

He shrugged. “If they do, great. If not, it’s not your responsibility.”

“Wel, thanks for galantly coming to my defense again,” I

“Wel, thanks for galantly coming to my defense again,” I teased. “Maybe you’d be more into Wolfe’s training if you got to protect someone else instead of yourself?” The earlier smile returned. “I just don’t like seeing people bulied, that’s al.”

“But you should come back to Wolfe with me,” I urged. “You need a chance to try to get at me.” Like that, he was serious again. He looked away. “I don’t know, Sage. We’ll see. For now, we’ll just focus on the driving

—when you can get away from your boyfriend, of course.” I left shortly after that, still confused about his weird behavior.

Was that some of spirit’s crazy effects on the mind? One minute, he was brave and defensive. The next, he was down and obstinate. Maybe there was a pattern or some type of reasoning behind it al, but it was beyond my analytical abilities.

Back at Amberwood, I immediately headed for the library to get a book for my English class. Ms. Terwiliger had lightened up on my usual work so that I could

“devote more time” to crafting her spels. Since her independent study—which was supposed to be my easy elective—took up more time than my other classes, it was refreshing to focus on something else for a change. As I was leaving the British Lit section, I caught sight of Jill and Eddie studying together at a table. That wasn’t weird, exactly. What was weird was that Micah wasn’t with them.

“Hey, guys,” I said, slipping into a seat. “Hard at work?”

“Do you know how weird it is to be repeating my senior year?” asked Eddie. “I can’t even blow it off either. I have to get year?” asked Eddie. “I can’t even blow it

“Do you know how weird it is to be repeating my senior year?” asked Eddie. “I can’t even blow it off either. I have to get year?” asked Eddie. “I can’t even blow it off either. I have to get decent grades to stay here.”

I grinned. “Hey, all knowledge is worth having.” He tapped the papers in front of him. “Yeah? You got any knowledge on the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction?”

“Edith Wharton,” I said automaticaly. He scrawled something onto his paper, and I turned to Jil. “How are things with you?

Where’s Micah?”

Jill had her chin propped in her hand and was gazing at me with the weirdest look. It was almost … dreamy. It took her a few moments to snap out of her daze and respond. The dreamy look became embarrassed and then dismayed. She glanced down at her book.

“Sorry. I was just thinking how good you look in taupe. What did you ask?”

“Micah?” I prompted.

“Oh. Right. He’s got … stuff to do.”

I was pretty sure that was the shortest explanation she’d ever given me. I tried to remember what I’d last heard on their status.

“You guys patched things up, right?”

“Yeah. I guess. He understood about Thanksgiving.” She brightened. “Hey, Eddie and I were talking about that. Do you think we could all have a big family-style Thanksgiving at Clarence’s? Do you think he’d mind? We could all help, and it’d be lots of fun. I mean, aside from the cover, we realy are like a family. Eddie says he can make the turkey.”

“I think Clarence would love that,” I said, happy to see her

“I think Clarence would love that,” I said, happy to see her cheery again. Then, I replayed her words. I turned to Eddie incredulously. “You know how to make a turkey? How would you have learned that?” From what I knew, most dhampirs stayed nearly year-round at their schools from an early age. Not a lot of culinary time.

“Hey,” he said, straight-faced. “All knowledge is worth having.”

Jill laughed. “He wouldn’t tell me either.”

“You know, Angeline claims she can cook,” said Eddie. “We were talking about it at breakfast. She says she knows about cooking turkey too, so if we tag-team, we can pull it off. Of course, she’ll probably want to hunt and kill her own.”

“Probably,” I said. It was amazing that he was talking about working with her on anything. It was even amazing that he could speak about her fondly, without a grimace. I was beginning to think more and more that her display at the assembly had been a good thing. We didn’t need animosity in this group. “Wel, I got what I came for, so I’m heading back. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you,” said Eddie.

Jill said nothing, and when I glanced over, I saw that she was watching me again with that weird, enraptured look. She sighed happily. “Adrian had a great time with you at your class tonight, you know.”

I nearly roled my eyes. “The bond leaves no secrets. He didn’t always seem to be having a good time.”

“No, he realy did,” she assured me. A dopey smile crossed

“No, he realy did,” she assured me. A dopey smile crossed her features. “He loves that you love the car more than he does and thinks it’s awesome you’re getting so good in your defense class. Not that that’s a surprise. You’re always so good at everything, and you don’t even realize it. You don’t even realize half the things you do—like how you watch out for others and never even think about yourself.”

Even Eddie looked a little astonished by that. He and I exchanged puzzled looks. “Wel,” I said awkwardly, realy unsure how to handle this Sydney lovefest. I decided escape was my best option. “Thanks. I’ll see you later and—hey. Where’d you get that?”

“Huh?” she asked, blinking out of her enraptured haze.

Jill was wearing a silk scarf painted in rich jewel tones, almost reminding me of a peacock’s tail. It also reminded me of something else, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “The scarf. I’ve seen it before.”

“Oh.” She ran her fingers over the smooth material. “Lia gave it to me.”

“What? When did you see her?”

“She stopped by the dorm yesterday to give the dresses back again. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d want to return them.”

“I do,” I said adamantly.

Jill sighed. “Come on, let’s just keep them. They’re so pretty.

Jill sighed. “Come on, let’s just keep them. They’re so pretty.

And you know she’ll just bring them back anyway.”

“We’ll deal with that later. Tell me about the scarf.”

“We’ll deal with that later. Tell me about the scarf.”

“It’s no big deal. She was trying to pitch me on this scarf colection—”

“Yeah, yeah, she told me too. How she could make it so no one recognized you.” I shook my head, feeling a surprising amount of anger. Was nothing under my control anymore? “I can’t believe she went behind my back! Please tell me you didn’t sneak off with her to do a photo shoot.”

“No, no,” said Jill quickly. “Of course not. But you don’t think … I mean, you don’t think there’s any way she could pull it off? Hide me?” I tried to keep my tone gentle. After al, I was mad at Lia, not Jil. “Maybe. Maybe not. You know we can’t take the chance.” Jill nodded, face sad. “Yeah.” I left feeling annoyed and was so distracted that I nearly ran into Trey. When he didn’t respond to my greeting, I realized he was even more distracted than I was.

There was a haunted look in his eyes, and he seemed exhausted.

“You okay?” I asked.

He managed a weak smile. “Yeah, yeah. Just feeling the pressure of everything. Nothing I can’t handle. What about you?

Don’t they usualy have to throw you out of this place? Or did you finaly get tired of being here for eight hours?”

“I just needed one book,” I said. “And I was actualy only here ten minutes. I was out most of the night.” The smile fel, replaced by a frown. “Out with Brayden?”

“That’s tomorrow. I had, um, family stuff tonight.” The frown deepened. “You go out a lot, Melbourne. You The frown deepened. “You go out a lot, Melbourne.

You have a lot of friends outside school.”

“Not that many,” I said. “I’m not living a party lifestyle, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Yeah, wel. Be careful. I’ve heard about some scary stuff going on out there.”

I remembered him being concerned for Jill too. I usualy kept up on all the local news and had heard nothing alarming recently.

“What, is there a crime ring in Palm Springs I should know about?”

“Just be careful,” he said.

We started to part ways, and then I caled to him, “Trey? I know it’s your own business, but whatever’s going on … if you want to talk, I’m here.” It was a huge concession for me, seeing as I wasn’t always the most socialy adept person.

Trey gave me a wistful smile. “Noted.”

I was kind of reeling as I went back to my dorm. Adrian, Jil, Trey. I suppose if you counted Eddie and Angeline getting along, everyone in my life was behaving weirdly. All part of the job, I thought.

As soon as I was back in my room, I caled Donna Stanton with the Alchemists. I never could be sure what time zone she was in, so I wasn’t too concerned about the late hour. She answered right away and didn’t sound tired, which I took as a good sign. She hadn’t responded to my e-mail about the Warriors, and I was anxious for news. They posed too big a threat to us to be ignored.

“Miss Sage,” she said. “I was planning on caling you soon. I

“Miss Sage,” she said. “I was planning on caling you soon. I trust everything’s okay with the Dragomir girl?”

“Jil? Yeah, she’s fine. I wanted to check in on some other things. You got the info I sent you about the Warriors of Light?” Stanton sighed. “That’s what I was going to call you about.