The Golden Lily (33 page)

“Our two groups used to be united. Those guys who stopped me on the street even said they thought we should all be working on the street even said they thought we should all be working together. The Warriors want Alchemist resources.”

“So, what … you want a trade?” asked Trey, frowning.

“No. I just want to talk to this council of yours. I want to explain why Sonya isn’t … er, why she doesn’t look the way she used to. There’s a Moroi who uses a certain kind of magic who could even show you—”

“No,” said Trey immediately. “None of them would be alowed inside. They’re tolerated, but that’s it. You hybrids wouldn’t be alowed either.” Again, he spoke to Eddie and Angeline. I’d never heard the term hybrids used, but the meaning was clear.

“Okay,” I said. “Only humans. I’m human. Your group wants to work with my group. Let me go with you. Unarmed. I’ll talk to your leaders and—”

“Sydney, no,” protested Eddie. “You can’t go there alone!

They tried to decapitate Sonya, for God’s sake. And remember what Clarence said about radicals stalking him?”

“We won’t hurt humans,” said Trey adamantly. “She’d be safe.”

“I believe you,” I told him. “And I know you wouldn’t ever let anything happen to me either. Look, aren’t you curious about why Sonya is the way she is? Can you take the chance your people are making a mistake? You said you tolerate Moroi.

She’s one of them. Let me explain. I’m not asking for anything else except a chance to speak.”

“And a guarantee of safety,” added Angeline, who looked

“And a guarantee of safety,” added Angeline, who looked almost as outraged as Eddie. He nodded at her words. “You guys are big on the honor stuff, right?

You’d have to promise she’d be safe.”

“Honor’s what makes us do what we do,” said Trey. “If we promise she’ll be safe, she will be.”

“Then ask them,” I urged. “Please? Won’t you do this for me?

As my friend?”

A pained look crossed Trey’s features at that. He’d hinted before that he owed me for helping end the ilicit tattoo ring last month. That would obligate any friend, let alone one instiled with a rigid sense of honor. I knew then, too, that more than honor was on the line here. Trey and I were friends—with more in common than I’d ever realized. We both were part of groups that wanted to control our lives, often in ways we didn’t like. We also had domineering fathers. If Trey and I didn’t have such opposing goals, we might have laughed about all this.

“I’ll ask,” Trey said. Something told me he too was thinking of our similarities. “Because it’s you. But I can’t make any promises.”

“Then ask now,” growled Eddie. “We don’t have time to waste. And I’m guessing Sonya doesn’t either.” Trey didn’t deny it. I hesitated, suddenly wondering if this was a smart choice. What would happen if we let Trey out of our sight? Would it be better if we realy did drag him to Dimitri?

And Sonya … how much time did she have left?

“Now,” I reiterated to Trey. “You have to get in touch with them now. Don’t go to class.” It was probably the first and only them now. Don’t go to class.” It was probably the first and only time I’d say those words.

“I swear,” said Trey. “I’ll call them now.” The bell rang, ending our meeting. Although, if we’d had the chance to save Sonya at that moment, I knew each of my friends would have walked off campus then and there. We let Trey go, and he headed back toward his dorm, not toward our classes.

Angeline—newly free from suspension—departed with Jill while Eddie and I walked to history.

“That was a mistake,” he said, face grim as he stared at where Trey had gone. “For all we know, he’s going to disappear, and we’ll have lost any chance we had at getting Sonya back.”

“I don’t think he wil,” I said. “I know Trey. He’s a good person, and I could tell that even if he thinks Strigoi need to be exterminated, he’s not 100 percent sure of Sonya. He’ll do what he can. I think he’s feeling torn right now, caught between what they’ve told him his whole life and what he’s starting to see with his own eyes.”

Sound like anyone else you know? an inner voice asked.

I’d sort of hoped that Trey would give me an answer right away—say, by chemistry. But he wasn’t there either or anywhere else at school the day. I supposed these things took time, and my patience and faith were rewarded at the end of the day with a text from him: Still checking. Some are willing to talk. Others need convincing.

Eddie didn’t take Trey’s message as concrete proof when I showed it to him, but I didn’t think Trey would’ve said anything if he’d skipped town. Eddie wanted to get together with Dimitri if he’d skipped town. Eddie wanted to get together with Dimitri and discuss strategy on this new development. So, we decided to take a group trip downtown. I sent the summons to our family to meet outside the East dorm in a half hour. Jill was the first one to arrive, and she came to a halt when she saw me.

“Wow, Sydney … your hair.”

I glanced up from where I’d been answering a text from Brayden, teling him I couldn’t hang out this weekend. “What about it?” I glanced up from where I’d been answering a text from Brayden, teling him I couldn’t hang out this weekend. “What about it?”

“The way those layers are styled. They perfectly complement your face.”

She was looking at me in that weird way again. “Wel, yeah,” I said, hoping to change the subject. “It’s a, um, good haircut.

Sorry we had to get rid of Micah earlier.” It took her a few seconds, but my distraction snapped her out of the hair-induced trance. “Oh, no. It’s okay. I mean, things are getting weirder between us anyway.”

“Oh?” Micah had seemed as chipper as ever, the last time I saw him. “You guys are still having problems?”

“Well … I guess I am. I realy like him. I love hanging out with him and his friends. But I just keep getting reminded of how nothing can happen with us. Like, this morning. There’s a whole other world we have going that he can’t be a part of. And I can’t stand the thought of lying to him or keeping him out of my life. I might have to do it … for real. End things. I know I’ve kind of said that before, but now I mean it.”

“We’re here for you if you do,” I said. I technicaly meant it, but if Jill came sobbing to me afterward, I wasn’t entirely sure what I should say. Maybe I could find a book on appropriate breakup counseling techniques before she did the deed.

A wry smile crossed her face. “You know what’s sily? I mean, I don’t want to go jumping from one guy to another—and I do still care about Micah—but I’m starting to notice what a realy good guy Eddie is.”

“He’s a great guy,” I confirmed.

“Moroi and dhampirs being together are discouraged when they’re older, but now … I mean, I knew some who got together at St. Vladimir’s.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “I know, I know … I shouldn’t even be thinking like that. One guy at a time. But still … the more I see Eddie—he’s just so brave and so confident. He’d do anything for us, you know? He’s like some storybook hero in real life. But he’s so dedicated, he’d probably never be interested in someone like me. No time for dating.”

“Actualy,” I said, “I think he’d be very interested in you.” Her eyes widened. “Realy?” I wanted to tell her everything. Instead, I chose my words carefuly, unwiling to give away his secrets after he’d spoken to me before about letting him handle his own personal affairs. “He talks all the time about how smart and competent you are. I think he’d definitely be open to something.” He also talked about how he wasn’t worthy of her love, but that resolve might fade if Jill actively went after him.

She grew lost in thought, and no more was said on the topic She grew lost in thought, and no more was said on the topic when Eddie and Angeline came walking up. We drove into town, and I dropped Jill and the two dhampirs off at Adrian’s while I ran a few errands. Waiting for Trey was agonizing, and I needed distraction.

Plus, I was low on some Alchemist supplies and wanted to make sure I was up to full strength before any venture into the Warriors’ camp.

My phone rang as we were wrapping up. It was Trey, and I stepped outside an herbal store to take the cal.

“Okay,” he said. “You’re good to go. They’ll meet with you tonight—just you.”

Anxiety and excitement raced through me. Tonight. It seemed surprisingly soon, yet that was exactly what I wanted. We needed to get Sonya out of there.

“I’ll take you there at seven,” Trey continued. “And … wel, I’m sorry … but you’ll have to go blindfolded. And I’ll be checking to make sure no one folows us. If they do, everything’s off.”

“I understand,” I said, though a blindfold certainly made the venture scarier. “I’ll be ready. Thank you, Trey.”

“Also,” he added, “we want the sword back.” I made arrangements for him to pick me up at Adrian’s, since I had a feeling Dimitri and Eddie would have a lot to say to me beforehand. In fact, I caled them as soon as I was off the phone with Trey, to give them a heads-up. I also caled Stanton to give her an update. It occurred to me I should have checked with her sooner, but I’d wanted a definitive answer from Trey first.

“I don’t like the idea of you going alone,” she said. “But it

“I don’t like the idea of you going alone,” she said. “But it does seem unlikely they’d hurt you. They realy do seem to stay away from humans—us in particular.

And if there’s a chance to get Karp out of there … wel. That would save us a lot of falout with the Moroi.” Stanton’s tone told me, however, that even if she thought I’d be safe, she wasn’t so optimistic about Sonya.

“Be careful, Miss Sage.”

Adrian’s apartment was filed with tension when I arrived.

Dimitri, Eddie, and Angeline were clearly agitated, probably because they were being left out of the action. Adrian, surprisingly, looked upset too, though I couldn’t figure out why.

Jill watched him with concern, and they kept staring at each other, unseen messages undoubtedly passing to her through the bond. At last, he averted his gaze, like he was ending a conversation. Jill sighed and walked toward the others in the kitchen.

I started to speak to Adrian, but Eddie beckoned me forward. “We’re debating on whether to give you a weapon or not,” he said.

“Wel, the answer is ‘not,’” I said immediately. “Come on, they’re blindfolding me. Do you think they won’t search me for weapons too?”

“There must be a way,” said Dimitri. Since we were in air conditioning, he wore the duster. “I can’t let you go in there defenseless.”

“There must be a way,” said Dimitri. Since we were in air conditioning, he wore the duster. “I can’t let you go in there defenseless.”

“I’m not in danger,” I said, feeling like I’d been repeating the same thing all day. “They might be crazy, but Trey says if they give their word, they’ll stick to it.” give their word, they’ll stick to it.”

“Sonya doesn’t have those guarantees,” Dimitri pointed out.

“No weapon is going to help me save her,” I said. “Except for my reasoning. And I’m armed with that about as well as I can be.” The dhampirs still didn’t seem happy. They went back to arguing amongst themselves, and I left them to find some water.

Adrian caled to me from the living room. “There’s diet pop in there.”

I opened the refrigerator. Sure enough, it was stocked with all kinds of pop. And, in fact, it had more food than I’d ever seen.

Another benefit of Nathan Ivashkov’s generosity. I grabbed a can of Diet Coke and joined Adrian on the couch.

“Thanks,” I said, opening the can. “This is the next best thing you could have to gelato.” He raised an eyebrow. “Gelato? Sounds like dessert to me, Sage.”

“It is,” I admitted. The mundane topic was comforting amidst all the tension. “It’s kind of your fault for bringing it up yesterday.

Now I can’t stop thinking about it. I wanted some at dinner last night, and Brayden talked me out of it—which is probably why I’m even more obsessed with it.

Ever had that happen? Once you can’t have something, you want it that much more.”

“Yes,” he said bitterly. “It happens all the time.”

“Why are you so down? You think I should have a weapon, too?” With Adrian, it was realy hard to guess where his moods would go.

would go.

“No, I get your point, and I think you’re right,” he said. “Not that I like the idea of you going there at al.”

“I have to help Sonya,” I said.

He studied me and smiled. “I know you do. I wish I could come with you.”

“Oh yeah? You going to protect me and carry me out of there like you threatened to do last night?” I teased.

“Hey, if that’s what it takes. You and Sonya. I’ll toss one of you ever each shoulder. Pretty manly, huh?”

“Very,” I said, happy to see him joking again.

His amusement faded, and he became serious again. “Let me ask you something. Which is scarier: walking into a den of crazy, murdering humans or being with safe—though kind of wacky—

vampires and half vampires? I know the hang-up you Alchemists have with us, but is the loyalty to your own race so strong that … I don’t know … that the people themselves don’t matter?”

It was a surprisingly deep question for Adrian. It also echoed my trip to the Alchemist bunker to see Keith. I was reminded of how Keith’s father hadn’t cared about his son’s moral character so long as it meant Keith wasn’t on good terms with vampires. I also thought back to the aley and how obstinate the Warriors were about hearing any truth but their own. And finaly, I looked over at the dhampirs arguing in the kitchen, continuing to brainstorm covert ways of keeping Sonya and me safe, no matter the risk.

I turned back to Adrian. “I’d take the vampires. Loyalty to I turned back to Adrian. “I’d take the vampires. Loyalty to one’s kind can only go so far.” Something in Adrian’s face transformed, but I hardly paid it any attention. I was too struck by the realization that the words I’d just uttered were akin to high treason in the Alchemists.

Eddie and Angeline left later to get us dinner, and I let them take my car, so long as Eddie drove. While they were gone, Dimitri tried to drill in some more self-defense techniques, but it was hard to learn very much in so short a time. I kept thinking of Wolfe warning us to avoid dangerous places. What would he say about me walking into a den of armed vampire hunters?