The Golden Lily (19 page)

Embarrassment. Reassurance. “You’ve got a lot to say for a drunk guy.”

“Oh, Sage. I’ve got a lot to say, drunk or sober.” He released me and stepped away. I felt oddly vulnerable without him near.

“What most people don’t get is that I’m more coherent like this.

Less chance for spirit to make me crazy.” He tapped the side of his head and roled his eyes.

“Speaking of which … I’m not going to give you any lectures about that,” I said, glad to shift the topic from me. “Lunch with your dad sucked. I get it. If you want to drown that out, it’s fine.

But please, just keep Jill in mind. You know what this does to her—not now, maybe, but later.” The ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. “You’re always the voice of reason. Just try listening to yourself once in a while.” The words were familiar. Dimitri had said something similar, that I couldn’t take care of others without taking care of myself first. If two people as wildly different as Adrian and Dimitri had the same opinion, then maybe there was something to it. It gave me a lot to think about when I returned to Amberwood later.

One of the good things about Adrian’s intoxication was that Jill hadn’t been able to witness our talk. So the next day over lunch when I gave Jil, Eddie, and Angeline a recap of what had happened, I was able to edit the story and leave out my own breakdown. Jill and Angeline’s reactions were about what I expected. Jill was concerned and kept asking over and over if Sonya and I were okay. Angeline regaled us with tales of all the things she would’ve done to the attackers and how, was concerned and kept asking over and over if Sonya and I were okay. Angeline regaled us with tales of all the things she would’ve done to the attackers and how, unlike Dimitri, she would have chased them through the streets. Eddie was quiet and didn’t say much until the other two had left, Angeline back to her room and Jill to get ready for class.

“I thought something was wrong with you today,” he said.

“Especialy at breakfast, when Angeline caled a tomato a vegetable and you didn’t correct her.” vegetable and you didn’t correct her.”

I managed a half smile at his joke. “Yeah. Wel, it’s the kind of thing that sticks with you. I mean, maybe not for you guys.

Random sword attacks in dark aleys are normal for you, right?” He shook his head, face serious. “You can’t ever take any attack in stride. People who do get careless. You have nothing to feel bad about.”

I’d been stirring some sketchy looking mashed potatoes and finaly gave up. “I don’t like being unprepared. For anything.

Don’t get me wrong—I’ve been there when you and Rose fought Strigoi. I was helpless then too … but that’s different.

They’re larger than life … beyond a human’s scope. I don’t realy expect myself to be able to fight then. But what happened last night—even with the sword—was only one step away from a mugging. Mundane. And they were human, like me. I shouldn’t have been so ineffectual.”

“Do you want me to teach you some tricks?” he asked kindly.

That brought my smile back. “What you do is a little larger than life too. Maybe I’d be better doing something a little more suited to my level. Adrian said I should get a gun or take a self-defense class.”

“That’s good advice.”

“I know. Scary, huh? The Alchemists do gun-training, but I’m not a fan. I do pretty well at classes and theory, though.” He chuckled. “Very true. Wel, if you change your mind, let me know. After working with Angeline, I’m ready for anything.

Although … to be fair, she’s backed off a little.” I thought back to my last real conversation with her. Her fight I thought back to my last real conversation with her.

Her fight and suspension had only been yesterday but felt like years ago.

“Oh. I sort of had a talk with her.”

“What kind of talk?” he asked, surprised. “I told you not to worry about my personal life. It’s my problem.”

“I know, I know. But it just kind of happened. I told her that her behavior was out of line and that she needed to stop. She was pretty mad at me, though, so I wasn’t sure if it had gotten through.”

“Huh. I guess it did.” The next words obviously were a big concession. “Maybe she’s not as bad as I thought.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “And look at it this way. At least her suspension means you don’t have to worry about her at the dance.” From the way his face lit up, it was clear he hadn’t realized that yet. A few moments later, he toughened up again. “If there are attacks going on like this, I’m going to have to be extra cautious with Jil—especialy at the dance.” I hadn’t thought there was any way Eddie could be more cautious, but probably he’d prove me wrong. “I kind of wish Angeline was going.” Most of my classes were distracting enough to keep me from thinking too much about last night, but Ms. Terwiliger’s independent study was different. It was too quiet, too low-key.

It gave me a lot of time in my own head, bringing back all the fear and self-doubt I’d been trying to ignore. For once, I copied and notated the spels without realy memorizing them. Usualy, I couldn’t help myself. Today, my mind wasn’t there.

We were almost halfway through the period when I finaly We were almost halfway through the period when I finaly tuned in enough to realy process what I was working on. It was a spell from Late Antiquity that alegedly made the victim think scorpions were crawling on him or her. Like so many of Ms.

Terwiliger’s spell books, the formula was convoluted and time consuming.

“Ms. Terwiliger?” I hated to ask anything of her, but recent events weighed too heavily on me.

She looked up in surprise from her paperwork. After the cold war we’d entered into, she’d grown used to me never speaking unless spoken to. “Yes?” I tapped the book. “What good are these so-caled offensive spels? How would you ever use them in a fight when they require concoctions that take days to prepare? If you’re attacked, there’s no time for anything like that. There’s hardly any time to think.”

“Which one are you looking at?” she asked.

“The scorpion one.”

She nodded. “Ah, yes. Wel, that’s more of a premeditated one. If you’ve got someone you don’t like, you work on this and cast it. Quite effective for ex-boyfriends, I might add.” Her face grew distracted, and then she focused back on me. “There are certainly ones that would be more useful in the kind of situation you’re describing. Your fire charm, if you recall, had a lot of prep work but could be used quite quickly. There are others that can be cast on extremely short notice with few components—but as I’ve said in the past, those types require considerable skil.

as I’ve said in the past, those types require considerable skil.

The more advanced you are, the less you need ingredients. You need a lot more experience before you’re at a level to learn anything like that.”

“I never said I wanted to learn anything like that,” I snapped.

“I’m just … making an inquiry.”

“Oh? My mistake. It almost sounded like you were, dare I say, interested.”

“No!” I was grateful that the healing magic in my tattoo had cleared up most of the bruising on my face from last night. I didn’t want her to suspect that I might have serious motivation for protection. “See, this is why I never say anything in here. You read too much into it and just use it to further your agenda to torment me.”

“Torment? You read books and drink coffee in here—exactly what you’d be doing if you weren’t here.”

“Except that I’m miserable,” I told her. “I hate every minute of this. I’m almost ready to stop coming and risk the academic falout. This is all sick and twisted and—” The last bell of the day cut me off before I said something I’d regret. Almost immediately, Trey appeared in the doorway. Ms.

Terwiliger began packing up and looked over at him with a smile, as though everything in here was perfectly normal.

“Why, Mr. Juarez. How nice of you to show up now, seeing as you couldn’t make it to my class this morning.” Looking back, I realized she was right. Trey hadn’t been in her history class or our chemistry class. “Sorry,” he said. “I had some family stuff to take care of.” some family stuff to take care of.”

“Family stuff” was an excuse I used all the time, though I doubted Trey’s had involved taking vampires on a blood feeding run.

“Can you, uh, tell me what I missed?” he asked.

Ms. Terwiliger slung her bag over her shoulder. “I have an appointment. Ask Miss Melbourne—she’ll probably explain it more thoroughly than I can. The door will lock behind you when you two leave.”

Trey sat down in a nearby desk and puled it up to face mine while I produced our history and chemistry assignments, since I assumed he’d need the latter as wel. I nodded toward the duffle bag he had on the floor beside him.

“Off to practice?”

He leaned over to copy the assignments, his dark hair faling around the sides of his face. “Wouldn’t miss it,” he said, not looking up as he wrote.

“Right. You only miss classes.”

“Don’t judge,” he said. “I would’ve been there if I could.” I let it go. I’d certainly had my fair share of weird personal complications come up before. While he wrote, I turned on my cell phone and found I had a text message from Brayden. It was one word, a record for him: Dinner?

I hesitated. I was still worked up over last night, and although Brayden was fun, he wasn’t the comfort I needed right now. I texted back: Not sure. I’ve got some work to do tonight. I wanted to look up some self-defense options. That was the reassurance I needed. Facts. Options. Brayden’s quick response reassurance I needed. Facts. Options. Brayden’s quick response folowed: Late dinner? Stone Grill at 8? I considered it and then texted back that I’d be there.

I had just set down my phone when another text message buzzed. Unexpectedly, it was from Adrian. How r u feeling after last night? Been worried about u. Adrian was articulate in e-mail but often resorted to abbreviations in texts—something I could never bring myself to do. Even reading it was like listening to nails on a chalkboard for me, yet something touched me about his concern, that he was worried about my wel-being.

It was soothing.

I wrote back: Better. I’m going to find a self-defense class.

His response time was nearly as fast as Brayden’s: Let me know what u find. Maybe I’ll take one 2. I blinked in surprise. I certainly hadn’t seen that coming. There was only one thing I could send back: Why?

“Geez,” said Trey, closing up his notebook. “Miss Popularity.”

“Family stuff,” I said.

He scoffed and shoved the notebook into his backpack.

“Thanks for these. And speaking of family stuff … your cousin.

Is it true she was expeled?”

“Suspended for two weeks.”

“Realy?” He stood up. “That’s it? I thought it’d be a lot worse.”

“Yeah. It nearly was. I persuaded them to go easy on her.” Trey laughed outright at that. “I can only imagine. Wel, I Trey laughed outright at that. “I can only

“Yeah. It nearly was. I persuaded them to go easy on her.” Trey laughed outright at that. “I can only imagine. Wel, I Trey laughed outright at that. “I can only imagine. Wel, I guess I can wait two weeks then.”

I frowned. “For what?”

“To ask her out.”

I was speechless for a few seconds. “Angeline?” I asked, just in case he thought I had another cousin. “You want to ask out … Angeline?”

“Sure,” he said. “She’s cute. And taking out three guys and a speaker? Well … I’m not going to lie. That was pretty hot.”

“I can think of a lot of words to describe what she did. ‘Hot’

isn’t one of them.”

He shrugged and moved toward the door. “Hey, you’ve got your turn-ons, I’ve got mine. Windmils for you, brawling for me.”

“Unbelievable,” I said. Yet, I wondered if it realy was. I supposed we did all have our own “turn-ons.” Trey’s lifestyle was certainly different from mine. He was devoted to his sport and always had bruises on him from practice, even now. They were more severe than usual. I couldn’t understand his passions any more than he could understand my love of knowledge. My phone buzzed again.

“Better get back to your fan club,” said Trey. He left, and a strange thought occurred to me. Were all of Trey’s recent bruises realy from sports? He kept making a lot of references to his family, and I suddenly wondered if something far more insidious than I’d suspected was keeping him away. It was a troubling idea, one I didn’t have a lot of experience with.

Another buzz from the phone puled me out of my worries.

Another buzz from the phone puled me out of my worries.

I checked the phone and found another text from Adrian—a long one that spanned two messages. It was a response to my question about him taking a self-defense class.

It’ll give me a reason to avoid S&D. Besides, u aren’t the only one who might need protection. Those guys were human and knew S was a vampire. Maybe vampire hunters r real. Ever think Clarence might be telling the truth?

I stared at the phone in disbelief, processing Adrian’s words and the implications of last night’s attack.

Ever think Clarence might be telling the truth?

No. Until that moment, I hadn’t.

WHEN I SHOWED UP for my dinner date, Brayden was sitting at a booth with a laptop. “I got here early,” he explained. “Figured I should get in some work. Did you get yours done?”

“I did, actualy. I was researching self-defense classes. You won’t believe what I found.” I sat down on his side of the booth so that I could use his laptop. Like usual, he smeled like coffee. I’d never get tired of that, I decided. I directed him to a website I’d found just before coming here. The site looked like one I could have made about ten years ago and had a lot of over-the-top animated images on it. Wolfe School of Defense – Malachi Wolfe, instructor.

“Realy?” Brayden asked. “Malachi Wolfe?”

“He can’t help his name,” I said. “And look—he’s actualy got a number of awards and commendations.” Some of the awards were even recent. Most were from at least a few years ago.

“Here’s the best part.”

I clicked on a link entitled “Upcoming Classes.” Malachi Wolfe had a pretty busy schedule, but there was one promising part. He was holding a four-week class, starting tomorrow, that met once a week.

met once a week.

“This isn’t exactly the kind of instructor I’d had in mind,” I admitted, “but it starts right away.”

“Not a very long course,” added Brayden. “But it’d give you a good intro. Why the interest?” An image of the aley flashed back into my mind, the figures in the dark and the helpless feeling as I was shoved against the wal. My breath started to catch, and I had to remind myself that I was no longer in the aley. I was in a wel-lit restaurant, with a boy who liked me. I was safe.

“Just, uh, something I feel it’s important for a woman to learn,” I said. “Although … it’s open to men and women both.”

“Trying to sign me up?” At first I thought he was being serious, but when I looked up, he was smiling.

I grinned. “If you want. I was thinking of—my brother. He wants to do this too.”

“Probably best if I don’t. Although, I was going to take martial arts as a colege elective.” Brayden shut off his laptop, and I moved back over to the other side of the booth. “Anyway, you’ve got a pretty tight-knit family. Not sure if I should force myself into that.”

“Probably a smart idea,” I agreed, thinking that he didn’t know the half of it.

Dinner was good, as was our subsequent conversation about thermodynamics. Despite the compeling topic, however, I found my mind was wandering a lot. I had to keep tuning back into what Brayden was saying. The attack and Adrian’s offhand comment about vampire hunters had given me a lot to think comment about vampire hunters had given me a lot to think about.

still, we stayed at the restaurant for a long time. So much so that when we left, I saw it was completely dark. I wasn’t parked that far away—and not even in a remote spot—but suddenly, the anticipation of a walk alone in the dark made me freeze up.

Brayden was saying something about seeing me at the dance and then noticed my reaction.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I …” I stared off down the street. Two blocks. That’s how close my car was. There were people out. And yet, I was choking up. “Would you walk me to my car?”

“Sure,” he said. He didn’t even think twice about it, but I was mortified the entire way. As I’d told Eddie and Adrian, I didn’t usualy need help from others.

Needing it for something like this was especialy humiliating. Rose wouldn’t need an escort, I thought. Even Angeline wouldn’t. She’d probably beat up a few pedestrians on the way, just to stay in practice.

“Here we are,” said Brayden, once we reached Latte. I wondered if he thought less of me for needing an escort.

“Thanks. I’ll see you Saturday?”

He nodded. “You sure you want to meet there? I can pick you up.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t mind going in your car. No offense, Latte.” I gave the car’s side a comforting pat. “But I’ll have to drive my brother and sister. Easier this way.”

“Okay,” he said. The smile he gave me was almost shy, contrasting with his earlier confidence in academic topics. “Can’t contrasting with his earlier confidence in academic topics. “Can’t wait to see your costume. I got mine from a theatrical company.

Not an ideal reproduction of Athenian garb, of course, but the best I could find.”

I’d nearly forgotten that I’d left my costume in the hands of Lia. Brayden wasn’t the only one interested in seeing what I’d be wearing.

“Looking forward to it,” I said.

After a few moments, I wondered why he wasn’t leaving. He still wore that shyness and uncertainty, as though he were trying to work up the nerve to say something. Only, as it turned out, speaking wasn’t what he wanted to do. With a great show of courage, he stepped forward and kissed me. It was nice, though once again a little underwhelming.

From the look on Brayden’s face, however, he might have been sent to new heights. Why didn’t I have the same reaction?

Maybe I’d done something wrong after al. Or maybe I was deficient?

“See you Saturday,” he said.

I made a mental note to add kissing to my list of research topics.

I got back to Amberwood and texted Adrian as I was walking into my dorm. There’s a defense class that starts tomorrow night. $75. Despite his interest last night, I was a little skeptical of whether he’d snapped out of his depression enough to be up for something like this. I wasn’t even sure if he was going to his art classes anymore. A minute later, I got his answer: going to his art classes anymore. A minute later, I got his answer: I’ll be there. This was folowed by another text: Can u spot me the cash?

Jill was walking into the dorm, just as I was, both of us barely getting in before curfew. She didn’t even notice me and instead looked troubled and pensive. “Hey,” I caled. “Jil?” She stopped halfway through the lobby and blinked in surprise upon seeing me. “Oh, hey. Were you out with your boyfriend?” I winced. “Not sure I’d call him that yet.”

“How many times have you gone out?”

“Four.”

“He’s taking you to the dance?”

“I’m meeting him there.”

She shrugged. “Sounds like a boyfriend to me.”

“Sounds like you’re quoting something from Kristin and Julia’s dating guidebook.”

That brought a fleeting smile, but it didn’t last. “I think it’s just common sense.” I studied her, still trying to get a feel for her mood. “Are you okay? You looked like something was bothering you. Is it … is it Adrian? Is he still upset?” For a moment, I was actualy more worried about Adrian than her.

“No,” she said. “I mean, wel, yes. But he’s a little better.

He’s excited about learning self-defense with you.” The bond would never cease to amaze me. I’d only communicated with Adrian a minute ago.

“‘Excited?’” I asked. That seemed like an astonishingly strong reaction.

reaction.

“It’s a distraction. And a distraction’s the best thing for him in these moods,” she explained. “He is still upset, though. He’s still depressed over his dad.”

“I shouldn’t have taken him to San Diego,” I murmured, more to myself than her. “If I’d refused, he wouldn’t have been able to get there.” Jill looked skeptical. “I don’t know. I think he would’ve found a way, with or without you. What happened between them was going to happen eventualy.” She sounded remarkably wise.

“I just feel terrible seeing Adrian like this,” I said.

“These moods come and go for him. Always have.” Jill got a faraway look in her eyes. “He’s laid off the drinking a little bit—

for my sake. But then that just opens him up for … wel, it’s hard to explain. You know how spirit drives people insane? When he’s down like this and sober, it makes him more vulnerable.”

“Are you saying Adrian’s going crazy?” That was not a complication I was ready for.

“No, not exactly.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “He just gets a little scattered … weird. You’ll know it when you see it.

He kind of makes sense but kind of not. Gets dreamy and rambles. But not in the way I do. It’s got like a—I don’t know

—mystical feel. But it’s not actualy magical. It’s just him kind of … losing it temporarily. It never lasts and, like I said, you’ll know it when you see it.”

“I think I might have …” An unexpected memory flashed back to me, of just before Sonya and Dimitri had arrived. I’d been at Adrian’s, and he’d looked at me strangely, like he was been at Adrian’s, and he’d looked at me strangely, like he was just noticing me for the first time. Thinking about it still sent chils through me.

strangely, like he was been at Adrian’s, and he’d looked at me strangely, like he was just noticing me for the first time. Thinking about it still sent chils through me.

My God, Sage. Your eyes. How have I never noticed them? The color … like molten gold. I could paint those …

“Girls?” Mrs. Weathers was at her desk, shutting things down for the night. “You need to get to your rooms.” We nodded obediently and moved toward the stairs.

When we reached Jil’s floor, I stopped her before she could leave.

“Hey—if Adrian’s not the problem, then what was bothering you when you came in? Is everything okay?”

“Huh? Oh, that.” She flushed in a cute kind of way. “Yeah. I guess. I don’t know. Micah … um, wel, he kissed me tonight.

For the first time. And I guess I was just kind of surprised at how I felt about it.” I was surprised they hadn’t kissed before and supposed I should be grateful. Her words resonated with me. “What do you mean? Did it feel a lot less exciting than you expected? Like you were just touching someone’s lips? Like you were kissing a relative?” She gave me a puzzled look. “No. That’s crazy. Why would you think that?”

“Um, just guessing.” I suddenly felt sily. Why had it felt that way for me?

“It was great, actualy.” A faraway look came over her. “Wel, almost. I couldn’t quite get into it as much as I wanted because I was worried about my fangs. It’s easy to hide them talking and was worried about my fangs. It’s easy to hide them talking and smiling. But not while kissing. And all I kept thinking was, ‘What am I going to say if he notices?’ And then I started thinking about what you and everyone else said. About how this thing with Micah isn’t a good idea and how I can’t keep things hands-off forever. I like him. I like him a lot. But not enough to risk exposing the Moroi … or endanger Lissa.”

“That’s a noble attitude.”

“I guess. I don’t want to end things yet, though. Micah’s so nice … and I love all the friends I’ve made by being with him. I guess I’ll just see what happens … but it’s hard. It’s a wake-up cal.” She looked so sad as she went into her room.

Continuing on to mine, I felt bad for Jill … but at the same time, I was relieved. I’d stressed over her casual dating of Micah, worried we’d be facing some dramatic, romantic situation where she refused to give him up because their love was too great and transcended their races. Instead, I should have had more faith in her. She wasn’t as immature as I sometimes thought. Jill was going to realize the truth and resolve this on her own.

Her words about Adrian also stuck with me, particularly when I picked him up the next evening for our first self-defense class.

He got into my car with a cheery attitude, seeming neither depressed nor crazy. He was, I noticed, dressed very nicely, in clothes that would have been an excelent choice for the visit to his father. He noticed my attire as wel.

“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything so … casual.” I had on olive green yoga pants and an so … casual.” I had on olive green yoga pants and an Amberwood T-shirt.

“The class description said to dress in comfortable workout clothes—like I texted you earlier.” I gave his raw silk shirt a meaningful look.

“This is very comfortable,” he assured me. “Besides, I don’t own any workout clothes.” As I shifted the car into drive, I caught sight of Adrian’s left hand. At first, I thought he was bleeding. Then, I realized it was red paint.

“You’re painting again,” I said in delight. “I thought you’d stopped.”

“Yeah, wel. You can’t take painting classes and not paint, Sage.”

“I thought you’d stopped those too.”

He gave me a sidelong glance. “Nearly did. But then I remembered I’d convinced some girl that if she gave me a chance and got me into those classes, I’d folow through on them. That’ll teach me.”

I smiled and puled into traffic.

I’d left a little early so that Adrian and I had time to take care of our registration. When I’d caled the Wolfe School of Defense earlier today, an agitated man had told me to just show up with the money since we were down to the last minute. The address was outside of downtown, in a residence set on sprawling grounds that had made no attempts to go green and thwart the climate. The desert still held claim here, giving the house a dismal, forlorn look. If not for WOLFE printed on the mailbox, I dismal, forlorn look. If not for WOLFE printed on the mailbox, I would’ve thought we had the wrong place. We puled up into the gravel drive—no other cars were there—and stared.

“This is the kind of place you see in movies,” said Adrian.

“Where careless people run into serial kilers.”

“At least it’s still light out,” I said. Ever since the aley, darkness had taken on a whole new menace for me. “Can’t be that bad.” Adrian opened the car door. “Let’s find out.” We rang the doorbel and were immediately met with the sounds of barking and scampering feet. I stepped back uneasily.

“I hate poorly trained dogs,” I muttered to Adrian. “They need to behave and be kept in line.”

“I hate poorly trained dogs,” I muttered to Adrian. “They need to behave and be kept in line.”

“Just like the people in your life, huh?” asked Adrian.

The door opened, and we were met by a fifty-something man with a grizzled blond beard. He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt. Also, he had an eye patch.

“This is incredible,” I heard Adrian murmur. “Beyond my wildest dreams.”

I was taken aback. The eye patch made me think of Keith’s glass eye, which in turn made me think of my role in him acquiring it. It wasn’t a memory I liked being reminded of, and I wondered at the odds of running into another one-eyed man.