Recognition lit his eyes. “Right. The Alchemist.” He thought for a moment and then surprised me when he pulled up my name. With everything else that had been going on when I was at the Moroi Court, I hadn’t expected to make an impression. “Sydney Sage.”
I nodded, trying not to look flustered at the recognition. Then I realized Keith had frozen up beside me. He’d claimed he could “handle” being around Moroi, but apparently, that meant staring gape-mouthed and not saying a word. Keeping a pleasant smile on, I said, “Keith, this is Adrian Ivashkov. Adrian, this is my colleague, Keith Darnell.”
Adrian held out his hand, but Keith didn’t shake it. Whether that was because Keith was still shell-shocked or because he simply didn’t want to touch a vampire, I couldn’t say. Adrian didn’t seem to mind. He dropped his hand and took out a lighter, stepping past us as he did. He nodded toward the doorway.
“They’re waiting for you. Go on in.” Adrian leaned close to Keith’s ear and spoke in an ominous voice. “If. You. Dare.” He poked Keith’s shoulder and gave a “Muhahaha” kind of monster laugh.
Keith nearly leapt ten feet in the air. Adrian chuckled and strolled off down a garden path, lighting his cigarette as he walked. I glared after him—though it had been kind of funny—and nudged Keith toward the door. “Come on,” I said. The coolness of air conditioning brushed against me.
If nothing else, Keith seemed to have come alive. “What was that about?” he demanded as we stepped into the house. “He nearly attacked me!”
I shut the door. “It was about you looking like an idiot. And he didn’t do a thing to you. Could you have acted any more terrified? They know we don’t like them, and you looked like you were ready to bolt.”
Admittedly, I kind of liked seeing Keith caught off guard, but human solidarity left no question about which side I was on.
“I did not,” argued Keith, though he was obviously embarrassed. We walked down a long hallway with dark wood floors and trim that seemed to absorb all light. “God, what is wrong with these people? Oh, I know. They aren’t people.”
“Hush,” I said, a bit shocked at the vehemence in his voice. “They’re right in there. Can’t you hear them?”
Heavy French doors met us at the end of the hall. The glass was frosted and stained, obscuring what was inside, but a low murmur of voices could still be heard. I knocked on the door and waited until a voice called an entry. The anger on Keith’s face vanished as the two of us exchanged brief, commiserating looks. This was it. The beginning.
We stepped through.
When I saw who was inside, I had to stop my jaw from dropping like Keith’s had earlier.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I’d mocked Keith for being afraid around vampires and dhampirs, but now, face-to-face with a group of them, I suddenly felt trapped. The walls threatened to close in on me, and all I could think about were fangs and blood. My world reeled—and not just because of the group’s size.
Abe Mazur was here.
Breathe, Sydney. Breathe, I told myself. It wasn’t easy, though. Abe represented a thousand fears for me, a thousand entanglements I’d gotten myself into.
Slowly, my surroundings crystallized, and I regained control. Abe wasn’t the only one here, after all, and I made myself focus on the others and ignore him.
Three other people sat in the room with him, two of whom I recognized. The unknown, an elderly Moroi with thinning hair and a big white mustache, had to be our host, Clarence.
“Sydney!” That was Jill Mastrano, her eyes lighting up with delight. I liked Jill, but I hadn’t thought I’d made enough of an impression on the girl to warrant such a welcome. Jill almost looked like she would run up and hug me, and I prayed that she wouldn’t. I didn’t need Keith to see that. More importantly, I didn’t need Keith reporting about that.
Beside Jill was a dhampir, one I knew in the same way I knew Adrian—that is, I’d seen him but had never been introduced. Eddie Castile had also been present when I was questioned at the Royal Court and, if memory served, had been in some trouble of his own. For all intents and purposes, he looked human, with an athletic body and face that had spent a lot of time in the sun. His hair was a sandy brown, and his hazel eyes regarded me and Keith in a friendly—but wary—way. That’s how it was with guardians. They were always on alert, always watching for the next threat. In some ways, I found it reassuring.
My survey of the room soon returned me to Abe, who had been watching and seemed amused by my obvious avoidance of him. A sly smile spread over his features.
“Why, Miss Sage,” he said slowly. “Aren’t you going to say hello to me?”
CHAPTER 4
ABE HAD THE KIND OF APPEARANCE that could leave many people speechless, even if they knew nothing about him.
Oblivious to the heat outside, the Moroi man was dressed in a full suit and tie. The suit was white, at least, but it still looked like it would be warm. His shirt and tie were purple, as was the rose tucked into his pocket. Gold glittered in his ears and at his throat. He was originally from Turkey and had more color to him than most Moroi but was still paler than humans like me and Keith. Abe’s complexion actually reminded me of a tanned person who’d been sick for a while.
“Hello,” I said stiffly.
His smile split into a full grin. “So nice to see you again.”
“Always a pleasure.” My lie sounded robotic, but hopefully it was better than sounding afraid.
“No, no,” he said. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
“If you say so,” I said. This amused him further.
Keith had frozen up again, so I strode over to the old Moroi man and extended my hand so that at least one of us would look like we had manners. “Are you Mr. Donahue? I’m Sydney Sage.”
Clarence smiled and clasped my hand in his wrinkled one. I didn’t flinch, even though the urge was there. Unlike most Moroi I’d met, he didn’t conceal his fangs when he smiled, which almost made my facade crack. Another reminder that no matter how human they seemed at times, these were still vampires.
“I am so pleased to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
“Oh?” I asked, arching an eyebrow and wondering who’d been talking about me.
Clarence nodded emphatically. “You are welcome in my home. It’s delightful to have so much company.”
Introductions were made for everyone else. Eddie and Jill were a little reserved, but both friendly. Keith didn’t shake any hands, but he at least stopped acting like a drooling fool. He took a chair when offered and put on an arrogant expression, which was probably supposed to look like confidence. I hoped he wouldn’t embarrass us.
“I’m sorry,” said Abe, leaning forward. His dark eyes glittered. “Did you say your name was Keith Darnell?”
“Yes,” said Keith. He studied Abe curiously, no doubt recalling the Alchemists’ conversation back in Salt Lake City. Even through the bravado Keith was attempting to put on, I could see a sliver of unease. Abe had that effect. “Why?”
“No reason,” said Abe. His eyes flicked to me and then to Keith. “It just sounds familiar, that’s all.”
“My father’s a very important man among the Alchemists,” said Keith loftily. He’d relaxed a little, probably thinking the stories about Abe were overrated. Fool. “You’ve undoubtedly heard of him.”
“Undoubtedly,” said Abe. “I’m sure that’s what it is.” He spoke so casually that no one would suspect he wasn’t telling the truth. Only I knew the real reason Abe knew who Keith was, but I certainly didn’t want that revealed. I also didn’t want Abe dropping any more hints, which I suspected he was doing just to irk me.
I tried to steer the subject away—and get some answers for myself. “I wasn’t aware you were joining us, Mr. Mazur.” The sweetness in my voice matched his.
“Please,” he said. “You know you can call me Abe. And I won’t be staying, unfortunately. I simply came along to make sure this group arrived safely—and
to meet Clarence in person.”
“That’s very nice of you,” I said dryly, sincerely doubting Abe’s motives were as simple as that. If I’d learned anything, it was that things were never simple when Abe Mazur was involved. He was a puppet master of sorts. He not only wanted to observe things, he also wanted to control them.
He smiled winningly. “Well, I always aim to help others in need.”
“Yeah,” a new voice suddenly said. “That’s exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man.”
I hadn’t thought anyone could shock me more than Abe, but I was wrong. “Rose?” The name came out as a question from my lips, even though there could be no doubt about who this newcomer was. There was only one Rose Hathaway, after all.
“Hey, Sydney,” she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were also assessing everything in the room, much as Eddie’s gaze was. It was a guardian thing. Rose was about my height and dressed very casually in jeans and a red tank top. But, as always, there was something exotic and dangerous about her beauty that made her stand out from everyone else. She was like a tropical flower in this dark, stuffy room. One that could kill you. I’d never seen her mother, but it was easy to tell that some of her looks came from Abe’s Turkish influence, like her long, dark brown hair. In the dim lighting, that hair looked nearly black. Her eyes rested on Keith, and she nodded politely. “Hey, other Alchemist.”
Keith stared at her wide-eyed, but whether that was a reaction to us being further outnumbered or simply a response to Rose’s extraordinary nature, I couldn’t say. “I-I’m Keith,” he stammered at last.
“Rose Hathaway,” she told him. His eyes bugged even more as he recognized the name. She strode across the room, toward Clarence, and I noted that half of her allure was simply in the way she dominated her surroundings. Her expression softened as she regarded the elderly man. “I checked the house’s perimeter like you asked. It’s about as safe as you can make it, though your back door’s lock should probably be replaced.”
“Are you sure?” asked Clarence in disbelief. “It’s brand new.”
“Maybe when this house was built,” came yet another new voice. Looking over to the doorway, I realized now that someone else had been with Rose when she arrived, but I’d been too startled by her to notice. Again, that was a Rose thing. She always drew the attention. “It’s been rusted since we moved here.”
This newcomer was a Moroi, which set me on edge again. That brought the count up to four Moroi and two dhampirs. I was trying very hard not to adopt Keith’s attitude—especially since I already knew some of the people here—but it was hard to shake that overwhelming sense of Us and Them. Moroi aged like humans, and at a guess, I thought this new guy was close to my age, maybe Keith’s at most. He had nice features, I supposed, with black curling hair and gray eyes. The smile he offered seemed sincere, though there was a slight sense of uneasiness in the way he stood. His gaze was fixed on Keith and me, intrigued, and I wondered if maybe he didn’t spend a lot of time with humans. Most Moroi didn’t, though they didn’t share the same fears about our race as we did about theirs. But then, ours didn’t use theirs as food.
“I’m Lee Donahue,” he said, extending his hand. Once again, Keith didn’t take it, but I did and introduced us.
Lee looked back and forth between me and Keith, face full of wonder. “Alchemists, right? I’ve never met one of you. The tattoos you guys have are beautiful,” he said, eyeing the gold lily on my cheek. “I’ve heard about what they can do.”
“Donahue?” asked Keith. He glanced between Lee and Clarence. “Are you related?”
Lee gave Clarence an indulgent look. “Father and son.”
Keith frowned. “But you don’t live here, do you?” I was surprised that this, of all things, would draw him out. Maybe he didn’t like the idea that his intel was faulty. He was Palm Springs’ Alchemist, after all, and he’d believed Clarence was the only Moroi in the area.
“Not regularly, no,” said Lee. “I go to college in LA, but my schedule’s just part-time this semester. So, I want to try to spend more time with Dad.”
Abe glanced at Rose. “You see that?” he said. “Now that’s devotion.” She rolled her eyes at him.
Keith looked like he had more questions about this, but Clarence’s mind was still back in the conversation. “I could’ve sworn I had that lock replaced.”
“Well, I can replace it soon for you if you want,” said Lee. “Can’t be that hard.”
“I think it’s fine.” Clarence rose unsteadily to his feet. “I’m going to take a look.”
Lee hurried to his side and shot us an apologetic look. “Does it have to be right now?” When it appeared that it did, Lee said, “I’ll go with you.” I got the impression that Clarence frequently followed his whims, and Lee was used to it.
I used the Donahues’ absence to get some answers I’d been dying to know. I turned to Jill. “You didn’t have any problems getting here, did you? No more, um, incidents?”
“We ran into a couple dissidents before we left Court,” said Rose, a dangerous note in her voice. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. The rest was uneventful.”
“And it’s going to stay that way,” said Eddie matter-of-factly. He crossed his arms over his chest. “At least if I have anything to do with it.”
I glanced between them, puzzled. “I was told there’d be a dhampir along . . . did they decide to send two?”
“Rose invited herself along,” said Abe. “Just to make sure the rest of us didn’t miss anything. Eddie’s the one who will be joining you at Amberwood.”
Rose scowled. “I should be the one staying. I should be Jill’s roommate. No offense, Sydney. We need you for the paperwork, but I’m the one who’s gotta kick anyone’s ass who gives Jill trouble.”
I certainly wasn’t going to argue against that.
“No,” said Jill, with surprising intensity. She’d been quiet and hesitant the last time I’d seen her, but her eyes grew fierce at the thought of being a burden to Rose. “You need to stay with Lissa and keep her safe. I’ve got Eddie, and besides, no one even knows I’m here. Nothing else is going to happen.”
The look in Rose’s eyes said she was skeptical. I also suspected she didn’t truly believe anyone could protect either Vasilisa or Jill as well as she could. That was saying something, considering the young queen was surrounded in bodyguards. But even Rose couldn’t be everywhere at once, and she must have had to choose. Her words made me turn my attention back to Jill.
“What did happen?” I asked. “Were you hurt? We heard stories about an attack but no confirmation.”
There was a heavy pause in the room. Everyone except Keith and me seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Well, we were uncomfortable—but for other reasons.
“I’m fine,” said Jill at last, after a sharp look from Rose. “There was an attack, yeah, but none of us were hurt. I mean, not seriously. We were in the middle of a royal dinner when we were attacked by Moroi—like, Moroi assassins. They made it look like they were going for Lis—for the queen, but instead came for me.” She hesitated and dropped her eyes, letting her long, curly brown hair fall forward. “I was saved, though, and the guardians rounded them up.” There was a nervous energy to Jill that I remembered from before. It was cute and made her seem very much like the shy teenager she was.
“But we don’t think they’re all gone, which is why we have to stay away from Court,” explained Eddie. Even as he directed his words to Keith and me, he radiated a protectiveness toward Jill, daring anyone to challenge the girl he was in charge of keeping safe. “And we don’t know where the traitors in our own ranks are. So, until then, here we all are.”
“Hopefully not for long,” said Keith. I gave him a warning look, and he seemed to realize his comment could be perceived as rude. “I mean, this place can’t be all that fun for you guys, with the sun and everything.”
“It’s safe,”
said Eddie. “That’s what counts.”
Clarence and Lee returned, and there was no more mention of Jill’s background or the attack. As far as father and son knew, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian had simply fallen out of favor with important royal Moroi and were in exile here. The two Moroi men didn’t know who Jill really was and believed that the Alchemists were helping her due to Abe’s influence. It was a web of lies but a necessary one. Even if Clarence was in self-imposed exile, we couldn’t risk him (or Lee now) accidentally letting outsiders know the queen’s sister was holed up here.
Eddie glanced over at the older Moroi. “You said you’ve never heard of any Strigoi being around here, right?”
Clarence’s eyes went unfocused for a moment as his thoughts turned inward. “No . . . but there are worse things than Strigoi . . .”
Lee groaned. “Dad, please. Not that.”
Rose and Eddie were on their feet in an instant, and it was a wonder they didn’t pull out weapons. “What are you talking about?” demanded Rose.
“What other dangers are there?” asked Eddie, his voice like steel.
Lee was actually blushing. “Nothing . . . please. It’s a delusion of his, that’s all.”
‘“Delusion?’” asked Clarence, narrowing his eyes at his son. “Was your cousin’s death a delusion? Is the fact that those high-ups at Court let Tamara go unavenged a delusion?”
My mind spun back to a conversation I’d had with Keith in the car. I gave Clarence what I hoped was a reassuring look. “Tamara was your niece, right? What happened to her, sir?”
“She was killed,” he said. There was a dramatic pause. “By vampire hunters.”
“I’m sorry, by what?” I asked, certain I’d misheard.
“Vampire hunters,” repeated Clarence. Everyone in the room looked as surprised as I felt, which was a small relief. Even some of Rose and Eddie’s fierceness wavered. “Oh, you won’t find that anywhere—not even in your records. We were living in Los Angeles when they got her. I reported it to the guardians, demanded they hunt the culprits down. Do you know what they said?” He peered at each person in turn. “Do you?”
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