Текст книги "The Fiery Heart"

Автор книги: Richelle Mead

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

It was amazing how so many things flew through my mind in a millisecond. And it was amazing how the smallest things in life became monumental when you were about to lose them.

Suddenly, the Strigoi spun around, anticipating an advance from Eddie. I was momentarily forgotten as the two engaged in battle again, and I wasted no time scurrying toward Neil’s fallen form. I was trying to drag him away when two dark figures came tearing down the alley. At first, I thought partyers had stumbled on us. Then, I recognized them.

Angeline and Trey.

“No way,” I said.

She was unarmed, but Trey carried a sword, the favorite weapon of the Warriors of Light. Their presence momentarily startled the Strigoi, enough for Eddie to slam into him and finally land a solid offensive blow. Trey approached from the other side, swinging the sword remarkably close to the Strigoi’s neck. Angeline helped me pull Neil out of danger and then knelt beside him. His eyelids fluttered, and his hand moved toward his pocket, where I could see a gleam of silver. Angeline took the stake from him, gripping it in her hands and watching the combat unfold before us.

The Strigoi was trapped between Eddie and Trey but seemed undaunted. He sized them both up, and I could guess his deliberation. Even armed and trained, a human like Trey was the easier target. Was it better to take him out immediately or deal with the bigger threat? The Strigoi opted for the former, lunging for Trey and simultaneously dodging an attack from Eddie. The impact knocked Trey to the ground, but it took enough of the Strigoi’s attention that he left an opening for Eddie, who scored a swipe with his stake.

The Strigoi hissed in pain but didn’t slow down. He managed both offense and defense with seemingly no effort. No one gained any ground, and my frustration grew. I felt helpless and began racking my brain for other spells I might use. I had a vast repertoire at my fingertips, but with the erratic way everyone was moving, I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t hurt one of my friends.

Eddie made a desperate attack and actually knocked the Strigoi to the ground. Needing no communication, Trey advanced with the sword, going in for decapitation. But the Strigoi continued to thwart us. He sprang up, doing a spinning kick that knocked both guys away. Apparently deciding to change tactics, he went after Eddie this time, who even I could tell was getting up just a little too slowly.

That’s when the unthinkable happened. A thick white mist suddenly appeared and rose from the puddle‑covered ground, momentarily enveloping and blinding the Strigoi. That’s when Angeline acted. Everyone had forgotten about her. Even I had. She leapt up from beside me, charging forward unhesitatingly as she plunged the silver stake into the Strigoi’s back. He screamed. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it was enough for Eddie to recover and send his own stake through the creature’s chest and into the heart. The Strigoi flailed a little, one last attempt to save himself, and then he collapsed and went still. Silence fell as we all held a collective breath.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Eddie.

“Saving your ass,” said Angeline. “I knew there was something going on.”

“I’m not talking to you,” he snapped. He threw down the stake and strode past her, toward the entrance of the alley. I followed with my eyes and saw a tall, slim figure standing there, her hair glowing in the light of an overhead lamp. Jill. I remembered the water on the ground turning to mist, and it all made sense.

“You have no right being here!” exclaimed Eddie, coming to a halt in front of her. It was one of the few times I’d ever seen him angry. I’d certainly never seen him angry at her. He cast a glare back at Angeline before returning to Jill. “They shouldn’t have brought you.”

“I have every right to be here,” she retorted. “When Angeline finally convinced us, I knew we had to help. And we did.”

Eddie was undaunted. “I don’t care what they  do. If they want to endanger their lives, so be it. But a princess of her people has no business putting herself in danger.”

“A princess of her people has no business sitting off to the side while said people are in danger,” Jill returned.

“Do you have any idea what could have happened if–”

“Oh, shut up,” she said, reaching for him. He flinched in surprise, but once she started kissing him, the tension left his body. I shook my head and looked away.

“Oh, man,” I said to no one in particular. “This night is just full of surprises.”

With the immediate danger gone, I was able to examine Neil more closely. He was weak and groggy from the blood loss and Strigoi endorphins, but he’d survive. “Hey,” I said, gently touching his face. He looked up at me in a daze, not seeming to know me. “You did it. You proved that the tattoo worked. We have a way to keep Strigoi from drinking from us.” Even if Olive’s blood couldn’t technically stop turning, it seemed pretty unlikely a Strigoi could stomach draining anyone in order to complete the process.

Neil gave me an addled smile and closed his eyes. “We need to get him fluids,” said Eddie. Jill was standing a couple feet from him now, but he had a dazed, starstruck quality to him. “Back to the car.”

As he and Trey helped Neil up, I took care of the Strigoi body, destroying it with Alchemist chemicals. As I watched that gruesome face dissolve into smoke, I had a surreal moment of clarity. I remembered those frantic seconds when I’d thought all I loved and knew, all that was Sydney Sage, would be lost from this world. My battered friends and I had just had a brush with death, dancing with this evil. We’d destroyed it, but it was terrifying how touch and go it all had been. At any moment, the Strigoi could have gained the advantage and killed one or all of us. Life and death were inextricably bound together, and we wavered between them. But we’d triumphed over death tonight. We were alive, and the world was beautiful. Life was beautiful, and I refused to waste mine.

As we returned to the cars, Angeline and Trey bragged how they’d been lying in wait to follow us. “I knew,” she said. She was holding Trey’s hand, which I didn’t have the mental energy to ponder right now. “I knew something was going down tonight.”

“You did good,” I told her. “Really good.” The widening of her eyes told me she’d been expecting a lecture. Maybe she deserved one, but I just didn’t feel it. We treated her like a joke, but she was a fighter against evil, every bit as tough as Eddie and Neil. Glancing over at Trey, who was trying to keep his sword obscured under a coat, I realized he was one of us too. Even Jill was.

“I actually didn’t believe it,” Jill said with a small smile. “When Angeline told me she was taking off, I went to your room to let you know. Zoe said you were out for the night, and that’s when I realized something might actually be happening, so I went and caught up.”

Angeline gaped. “You were going to tell on me?”

Jill shrugged. “It all worked out.”

“This time,” I said. I wasn’t up for any lectures, but one would be needed. Eddie was right. It was fine for the rest of us to do foolhardy things, but our sole purpose for being here in the first place was to protect Jill. If that Strigoi had broken loose . . .

At my car, we patched Neil’s wound and plied him with water and orange juice. He gradually shook off the endorphins and grinned as the impact of what we’d accomplished hit him. I don’t think he’d yet realized Jill was along, or he wouldn’t have been so giddy. “It really worked. We did it.” He gave a soft laugh, and I tried to remember if I’d ever heard him do it before. “We’re going to get yelled at when we report this.”

Eddie smiled back, and I saw genuine friendship between them. “I doubt it’ll last for long when they get the results.”

“What’s the plan now?” asked Trey. “We’re out way after curfew.”

“Did you sign out?” asked Eddie. They shook their heads. “Neither did we. The plan was to stay out all night and then slink back tomorrow when things are busy so that they hopefully won’t notice anything. None of our roommates is going to tell on us.”

“We could go to Clarence’s or Adrian’s,” said Angeline.

“I’m hungry,” muttered Neil.

“I know a great twenty‑four‑hour place,” said Trey. “We’ll have a victory meal of fried food.”

We made plans and headed back to Palm Springs in our respective cars. As soon as I was on the road with Eddie and Jill, I told them, “I need to see Adrian. Drop me off and take my car. He’ll give me a ride back.”

Eddie looked totally surprised by that. “Why do you need to see him?”

“I just do.” I didn’t feel like attempting an excuse, and Eddie wasn’t the type to badger me. The most I got was a curious look when we reached the apartment. His curiosity turned to panic when he realized I’d be leaving him alone with Jill.

“Good luck,” I said as I got out, not entirely sure who needed it the most. “Call me if anything goes wrong with Neil.” He’d ridden back with Trey and Angeline, and I didn’t expect him to have any issues. He’d been on his own two feet when we parted, and dhampirs were fast healers.

Eddie pulled away, and I strode up to Adrian’s building, my heart racing. I still hadn’t shaken that earlier exhilaration from having been so close to having my life snatched away.

I let myself into the apartment, which was dark and quiet. It was still amazing to me how well he slept. I crept to his bedroom and found him lying there in just boxers, the covers tangled up and one arm thrown over his head. A streetlight outside shone faintly on his face, illuminating a rare moment of peace. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous that I could almost buy into his earlier comments about us living in a dream.

But this was real. It was real, and we were alive. We were alive, and I desperately needed to be reminded of that. Without further hesitation, I stripped off my clothes and slid into bed with him.

CHAPTER 21

ADRIAN

“SYDNEY–”

The word came groggily to my lips as I felt her get into bed. My sleepy brain didn’t have a chance to come up with anything more because my voice was lost as she leaned over and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around her and had the extremely pleasant surprise of finding her naked.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s more of an intellectual curiosity.”

“I did something potentially dangerous,” she said nervously. “No, there’s no ‘potentially’ about it. It was dangerous and actually pretty stupid.”

She then proceeded to tell me an unbelievable story about how she and Eddie had thrust Neil into the path of a Strigoi. It was all I could do not to leap up and rage at her for risking herself like that. A terrible memory flashed through my mind of the time she and I had been trapped by two Strigoi, and one had bitten her. I couldn’t even comprehend a repeat of that.

“Hold on.” I sat straight up as I did a mental enumeration of the cast she’d described. “ Everyone  was there? Jill  was there?”

“That wasn’t part of the plan,” she said quickly, sitting up beside me. “That was improvisation from her and Angeline. And Trey too, I suppose.”

Imagining Sydney dying was beyond terrible. And in some ways, imagining Jill dying was even worse because I’d already seen it happen.

“Jill could’ve been killed,” I said. “We’re supposed to be keeping her safe!”

“I know, I know.” Sydney leaned against my shoulder. “I really didn’t want her to be there. Eddie was pretty upset too, though I’m not sure how he’s feeling now after she kissed him.”

“After she–what? Okay, we’ll come back to that. God, Sydney. Why didn’t you tell me any of this was going down?”

“Because you would’ve tried to stop me. Or tried to go yourself. Believe me . . . I’m sorry. I don’t want to keep things from you. Ever. I want complete honesty between us. I just want . . . well, I wanted you to be safe even more.” She snuggled closer. “Don’t tell me you don’t understand that logic.”

“Of course I understand it! And yes, I would’ve tried to stop you. Damn it, Sydney!” I caught hold of her hands and was surprised to find I was shaking. Again, terrible, bloody images of her flashed through my mind. “This isn’t the same as you running off to a witch’s tea party! This is life and death. If you’d been killed–if you’d left me–”

“I know,” she breathed. “I know.”

And suddenly, her arms were around me, her mouth crushing mine in a demanding kiss that chased away all other thoughts as she pushed me down on the bed. There was an urgency and intensity burning between us that I’d never felt before, and that was saying something, in light of our recent active sex life. Maybe it was this brush with death that was driving us to furiously prove we were alive. All I really knew for sure was that I needed her, that I needed to lose myself in passion and get as close to her as possible . . . so that I’d never lose her again.

She continued kissing me with that ferocity, so much so that her lips lightly scraped my teeth. It was only a few drops, but as the sweet, metallic taste of her blood touched my tongue, a blinding ecstasy flooded my body. She pulled back with a small gasp, and looking up at her in the fickle light, I could see an answering rapture on her features as the barest flush of Moroi endorphins seized hold of her. Her lips parted; her eyes were wide with desire. I knew then, without a doubt, that I could’ve brought her throat back to my fangs and that she would’ve let me sink them into her. I could have her blood and her body tonight, if I wanted. And I did  want it. The tease of her blood had me high and hungry, not just because it was blood–but because it was hers. Her essence. I yearned for that type of all‑consuming union with her, to have no boundaries left between us, to see her lost in the pleasures of an endorphin wave. She would’ve let me do it all. She might even want me to–or at least, the Sydney who’d accidentally gotten a brief rush of endorphins might want me to. The thing was, I couldn’t be sure that normal Sydney, no matter how much she loved me, wanted that. And until I was, it was a line we wouldn’t cross, despite how frenzied the thought made me.

She hovered over me for several more tense seconds, as we each fought our own inner battles. Then, the moment of temptation passed, and we were suddenly back on each other as though nothing had happened, with a fierceness that shattered the memory of her blood. I was awash on a sea of desire, drowning in everything about her. Her passion answered mine as she murmured my name and clung to me so tightly that her nails dug into my skin, as though she feared she might lose me if she let go.

Afterward, she collapsed at my side, still clinging to me as her ragged breathing slowed to normal. I draped an arm over her, my own heart beating frantically from what had just passed. I was no longer angry. Mostly I still felt scared at how close she’d come to death. But she was alive. I told myself that over and over as I tightened my arms around her. She was alive and safe. She wasn’t going anywhere.

And, to be honest, I had to admit I understood her reasoning for keeping me in the dark. I didn’t like it, but I understood it. If our roles were reversed, I would’ve done the same thing to protect her. It was also hard to judge when I’d done my own share of withholding secrets upon starting the mood stabilizer.

The last critical piece in all this was that their risk had paid off. I couldn’t deny the results. Olive’s blood had worked. Somehow, through our fumbling and guesswork, we’d actually created a magical vaccine against Strigoi. If only there were a way to replicate it.

“You know,” I mused, mulling over the story in my mind, “Angeline and Neil really put it all on the line tonight. I’ll never make fun of them again.”

“Never?” Sydney teased.

“Well, maybe not as much.”

“Eddie ‘put it all on the line’ too,” she reminded me.

“Yeah, I know, but that’s normal for him.” I then recalled her earlier words. “Wait. Did you say Jill kissed him?”

“Yup. It was actually very romantic, in a why‑did‑you‑just‑risk‑yourself‑you‑fool kind of way.” She paused. “Actually, it was kind of like what just happened with you and me.”

“It better not’ve been,” I growled.

“Okay. Let’s just say the motivations were sort of the same,” she corrected.

I sighed, making a mental note to have a talk with Jill tomorrow. “Seeing as everyone’s alive, I can acknowledge what a big deal this fiasco was. It’s going to blow their minds back at Court.”

“And tomorrow night we see Marcus and get to deliver the other  big deal,” she said. “Maybe this is all crazy enough to work.”

“It always is,” I said. I trailed my fingers along on her shoulder, which was damp with perspiration. As I moved upward to her neck, my fingers touched a fine metal chain and I discovered she hadn’t taken off everything. She still wore the wooden morning glory cross I’d made her, and somehow, that was sexier than if she’d been completely naked.

“Escape plan number forty‑five,” I said. “Join nudist colony in Fiji.”

“Do they have those in Fiji?”

“Well, they’ve got to be somewhere warm, right?”

The panic of losing her still burned within me, almost enough to urge me toward sex again. But as we lay there, talking throughout the night, it was our minds and spirits that ended up connecting. There was peace and joy in each other’s embrace, and the balance we brought to each other’s lives allowed me to drift into a deeper sleep than I’d had in a long time.

I didn’t know what questions she’d face the next day. The Ms. Terwilliger excuse went a long way, but surely Zoe would wonder what had kept Sydney out all night. Maybe Sydney could say they’d been up so late that she just stayed over on Jackie’s couch. Whatever it was, I could see from Sydney’s resolve the next morning that she would handle it. This was her battle, not mine.

She scoured the ingredients that Cassie had left behind and found enough to make us pancakes. I didn’t actually have any syrup, but I did have raspberry jam. We slathered it on the pancakes, and it was the best thing I’d ever tasted. And as we sat there at the kitchen table with our pancakes and coffee, Sydney reading news on her phone while I leafed through the poetry book, I knew without a doubt that I could do this for the rest of my life.

“Escape plan number seventy‑three,” I said. “Open a pancake restaurant in Sweden.”

“Why Sweden?”

“Because they don’t have pancakes there.”

“They do, actually.”

“Well, then, it looks like we’ve got our market already in place.”

Dropping her off at Amberwood was bittersweet, mostly because it ended the spell we’d been in since last night. We both had things to do, though, and I was going to see her later anyway.

“You know I love you, right?” The urge to kiss her goodbye was so strong that I almost broke our rules.

She smiled, beautiful and golden in the late morning light. “Not as much as I love you.”

“Oh, man. This is my dream come true: having an ‘I love you more’ debate. Here, I’ll start. I love you more. Your turn.”

Sydney laughed and opened the door. “I’ve taken debate classes. You’d lose to my logic. See you tonight.”

I watched her walk away and didn’t leave until she disappeared inside the building.

A text chimed for me when I walked in the door of my apartment. For a moment, I thought it was the Love Phone, and then I remembered I was an idiot and had lost it. When I’d called the coffee shop I’d been to, they told me they had a couple phones in their lost and found, and I intended to go there later today. Meanwhile, on my regular phone, the message was from Lissa: Get on your laptop. We need to talk face‑to‑face.

I had a good idea what this was about, and when we connected, her radiant face confirmed it. “You heard?” she asked excitedly.

“About the dangerous and completely unauthorized field trip the kids went on last night? Yeah, I heard.”

Lissa ignored my snark. “Adrian! This is monumental. It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true. I know they shouldn’t have done it, but it’s over, they’re safe, and now we have a real answer.”

“I know.”

She gave me a puzzled look. “You’re awfully calm about this.”

“I found out last night. I’ve had a lot of time to process it.” That, and the thought of how Sydney had endangered herself took away some of the awesomeness of the escapade for me.

“You realize how big a role you had in this, right?” Those jade green eyes were piercing. “You figured out what none of us could. What happened is because of you.”

I shrugged. “Nah, one of you smart girls would’ve figured it out.”

“But you were the one who did. Now we’ve just got to find a more efficient way to do this that doesn’t involve restoring a Strigoi each time.” Her enthusiasm faltered. “I wish . . .”

“I know,” I said. I’d guessed this was coming. “But I can’t, Lissa. I’m staying on the pills.”

She nodded, resigned. “I figured. And it’s wrong of me to ask. You look good, you know–and no jokes about how you always do. There’s something different. A light. A happiness. I don’t know.”

“Hey, it’s not all sunshine around here. I was listening to The Wall  the other day. Man, let me tell you my opinions on that.”

“Maybe some other time,” she said with a grin. “And for now, maybe you can just help advise the rest of us. Nina and I have brought back Strigoi. Sonya was restored. You and I have brought back the dead.”

“Impressive resume, Your Highness.”

“You know what I’m saying. Between all of us, we’ve done enough and seen enough to figure out how to make this work. We won’t let spirit beat us.” Her earlier rapture returned. “I don’t want glory and fame, Adrian, but I’d like to leave behind some kind of legacy. This could be it. I don’t want to be one of those monarchs who ‘just ruled.’ I want to do something for my people.”

“You’re going to do a lot of things for us, cousin. You’re going to get that age law fixed, right? And the family quorum?”

“Ah.” She grew serious. “That’s the thing . . . I was going to tell you later. The council’s on the verge of voting about the two‑person family rule, and from what we can tell, we’ve got all the votes we need.”

“Holy shit,” I said, unable to help myself. “If that passes . . . Jill’s safe. She can leave Palm Springs.”

Which meant Sydney would also have to leave.

“I know. And it will pass. I’m certain.”

The world as I knew it was suddenly altered. “What happens to her then?”

“She can come back to Court, go to school here, learn royal stuff. I know she’ll want to see her mom too.” Lissa hesitated. “And I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better. I know you think I’ve treated her badly.”

“You did what you had to do,” I said, which was neither a confirmation nor a denial. Circumstances had put both sisters in very, very bad positions.

“Well, you can tell her the news, but otherwise, try to keep it quiet until the vote happens. Once it’s secure, we can tell the world.”

I saluted. “As you command.” I could tell she was getting ready to end the call. “Hey, is your worse half around? I need to ask him something.”

A flicker of surprise showed in her eyes. Christian and I hadn’t been the best of friends lately. “Sure. He’s actually right over here.” I saw her get up and leave, and a moment later, Christian appeared with his trademark sarcastic smile.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Need some hairstyling tips?”

I choked up for half a second. Maybe Aunt Tatiana didn’t haunt my waking days anymore, but she lived forever in my memories. The Ozeras all had a strong resemblance, and looking at him, with his black hair and icy blue eyes, suddenly made me see his aunt, Tasha Ozera. The old panic and depression started to rear up in me, and I slowly, carefully urged it back down. What had happened wasn’t Christian’s fault. We were friends. I could handle this.

“Tips you stole from me? No thanks. But I hear you’ve got a really good bacon meatloaf recipe.”

It was worth it then and there to see his complete and total surprise.

“Since when do you cook?” he finally managed to stammer.

“Oh, you know. I’m a Renaissance man. I do it all. Send it if you’ve got it, and I’ll give it a try. I’ll let you know if I make any improvements.”

His smirk returned. “Are you trying to impress a girl?”

“With cooking?” I pointed at my face. “This is all it takes, Ozera.”

Once I finished with royal shenanigans, I got in touch with Jill. I wanted to be the one to tell her the news about the law. I would’ve really liked to have taken her out somewhere, but one of the dhampirs would’ve insisted on going. I wasn’t up for that, so she and I made arrangements to meet at her school for a “brother and sister” picnic. It was a nice day, and I still had two leftover cupcakes. Hopper had eaten most of them this morning before Sydney returned him to his inert form to bring him along with her for some togetherness time.

“I can’t believe you made these,” Jill said between bites, when we met up later. Another perk of the bond fading was that I could embellish my role in the baking.

“I can’t believe you joined an impromptu Strigoi hunt without telling me,” I said sharply.

She sighed. “I would have, but there wasn’t time. It all happened so fast. One minute it’s a chase, the next, we’re in the middle of the action.”

“Yeah. I heard about that too–how you got some action.”

Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s not like that. It was just a kiss. And we talked about it later. Kind of. He says he ‘has to think.’ Whatever that means.” She sighed again, this time in a lovelorn way. “He probably wasn’t really into the kiss and is just trying to find a way to let me down gently.”

“Did he kiss you back?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I think I caught him off guard.”

“Jailbait, he’s a guardian. They’re never caught off guard.” I watched with amusement as a smile slowly blossomed on her face. “It’s about time you get your own romance,” I added. “Instead of always looking in on mine.”

Her smile turned into an outright grin. “I kind of miss not being part of that,” she said. “That sounds creepy. I didn’t like the voyeur part, but feeling all that love . . . it was amazing.”

“Be patient. Your time will come.” The sun was going strong, but we were in the shade, and I sprawled out on the blanket I’d brought. “Just try not to let it be in the midst of any more deadly Strigoi battles, okay?”

“Doing that was dangerous,” she admitted. “Not just to my own life but also to Lissa’s rule–and all the consequences that would follow if I died.”

I sat back up. “Funny you mention that . . .”

I told Jill the news, about how she might no longer be on Lissa’s enemies’ most‑wanted list. I told her how she might be able to live a normal life–as much as a princess whose half sister was queen of a nation could. Jill’s eyes grew so wide, I thought her face would run out of room.

“I could see Mom . . .” She blinked back tears. “I’ve gotten used to being here . . . but I’ve missed her so much. I want to see her again.”

I gave her a comforting pat on the hand, refusing to let her know she wasn’t the only one wishing for a mother.

She brushed her emotions aside. “What’ll happen to everyone if I leave? Everyone else will leave too, right? New assignments?”

“I suppose so. No reason to stay.”

“Sydney will leave too,” Jill realized.

I nodded.

“What will you do?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I came here for you. I still want to support you, you know that. But do we need to stay together so long as the bond is inactive? And how can I follow Sydney to her next assignment? We have the excuse of her job now for seeing each other. If I followed her halfway around the world . . . well, there’d be no explaining that.”

“She could leave them. Marcus did.” The sympathy in Jill’s face almost made me want to cry. “You could go somewhere. Are you still making up escape plans?”

West Virginia. Rome. New Orleans. Fiji. Sweden.

“Those are just jokes,” I said, feeling sad for reasons I couldn’t understand. “I need to talk to her about it. She doesn’t even know the news, and there’s been no vote yet.”

But first we had to get through Marcus and the ink delivery. I texted Sydney when I got home, careful in my wording since it wasn’t the Love Phone. Everything still a go?  Her answer came back swiftly: As far as I know.

The day dragged after that, mostly because I missed her and wanted to see her. I took care of some assignments and went to the coffee shop, which had disappointing results when my phone didn’t turn up. My only hope was that someone had found it in a classroom and turned it in to Carlton’s security office. Otherwise, Sydney and I would have to get new Love Phones.

When I went to Jackie’s later, Marcus actually answered the door with two guys behind him I didn’t know. They both had golden lilies on their cheeks with no indigo seal. I wondered if these were his guinea pigs.

“Adrian,” Marcus said, striding forward to shake my hand.

“Marcus,” I returned. It was hard to believe we’d reached this point, since I’d tried to punch him sixty seconds after the first time we met.

“This is Jamie and Chad; just picked them up in New Mexico.”

I shook their hands too, and Jackie strolled into the living room. I grinned, genuinely happy to see her. “Always a delight.” She set down a tray of tea and lemonade and kissed me on the cheek.

“No hot date tonight?” I asked.

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Well, I could hardly go out when I was hosting some sort of clandestine meeting, could I? Rest easy, you’ll have your privacy, and if you’re worried about my relationship with Malachi, be assured that we’re going out later and that things are still going wonderfully.”

“Worried? No. Puzzled, slightly disturbed? Yes. But I’m not surprised things are going well. I’m sure you have him eating out of your hand, heartbreaker.”

She chuckled. “Oh, Adrian, I’m glad Sydney keeps you around for entertainment.”

“I supposed it’d have to be that,” said Marcus, nodding in thanks as he took some lemonade. “And speaking of her . . . I’m surprised she wasn’t here an hour beforehand.”

I glanced at a clock. It was actually five minutes before the designated time. “A month ago she would’ve been. But now her sister’s been assigned here, and life’s a little more . . . difficult.”