And if Lady Alice loved her as much as she said, she wouldn’t either. Making up my mind, I headed to Lady Alice’s house. Was it a suicide mission? Maybe. I knew she hated me. But she was also our only hope.
By the time I reached the mansion, my boots were soaked and my fingers felt raw from the cold. I tentatively pushed the iron gate, surprised when it swung open without force. She must not have sensed my presence, because walking down the path was Lady Alice herself, wearing a shapeless white robe that looked like a burial shroud.
“Stefan,” she said briefly. I could tel that behind her back she gripped a stake. She was ready for anything.
Silence hung in the air as we appraised each other. I knew she might attack at any second, and I felt my heart hammering in my chest. I wondered if she could hear it.
I imagined the stake coming toward my chest. I’d dodge, before trying to knock the stake out of her hand. I’d want to reason with her. But unbidden, another more terrifying image sprang to my mind. The wooden point would graze my chest and my fangs would appear. In an instant, I’d sink my teeth into Lady Alice’s neck and tear her throat out, stopping only when her body was drained. I mashed my lips together and avoided her gaze. When I was provoked, I was no longer Stefan. I was a monster.
“I’m not here to fight,” I said, profoundly hoping it was the truth. “I just want to talk. I’l agree to whatever terms make you feel comfortable.”
Lady Alice hesitated, and I could see that she was weighing her options.
“Al right.” Lady Alice nodded. “I’l give you a few minutes. Come with me.” She gestured for me to fol ow her down the winding walkway and to a gravel pathway behind the house. In its center was a single rosebush, bursting with red blossoms despite the weather. I fol owed her, matching her slow, careful steps.
“As good as gold,” she murmured as she neared the center. Once there, she turned to face me. The setting sun il uminated her face. “It’s funny—people say that al the time without real y knowing what it means. But in Mary Jane’s case, I saw it with my own eyes. She truly was as good as gold. And now, that good has been turned evil. You broke vinculum, and I do blame you for what has happened. But I won’t kil you. Stil , here’s what you need to know, Stefan,” Lady Alice said in a low voice, her eyes blazing. “I know you’l ask me to help you, and I know you’l say that you’re not asking for yourself. I know you’l say that you’re asking for the greater good, and that London is in grave danger.”
“Yes,” I began, nodding. “But…”
“I know you’re going to say that you’re doing this for Mary Jane. That if we don’t do something, her life was in vain.”
“Y-y-yes,” I said hesitantly.
“But I can’t help you,” she said final y. “I’m not like you. I can’t just drink blood and be good as new. I need time to grieve. And I can’t work with people I don’t trust. Because you betrayed me, Stefan. You may not have meant to, but you gave me your word, and your word was false. Words have power. And when that power is undermined…” She shook her head. “I suppose it’s like when one of your kind gets staked. Not in the heart, so it doesn’t kil you. But it drains your Power.”
“I understand,” I said. “But this isn’t just about us. Now that Samuel has the power to compel vampires, he can control the whole city. Innocent lives wil be lost. I won’t ask you to fight, but can’t you help us? Could you make more eleuthro?”
She sighed heavily. “No, Stefan. I can’t make eleuthro.” She reached toward the rose bush, touching one of the flowers. The petals fel to the earth like drops of blood on the thin white layer of snow. “Witches only have as much power as their coven. And right now, we’re al in mourning, al unsure how we’l handle this…situation. We wil band together again if we find one of our own in danger, but we wil not help the likes of you. That much is certain. And until I have the support of my coven, I don’t have any power at al .”
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Sorry doesn’t bring back Mary Jane. Now go. You’ve said enough. I can’t bear to hear any more.” I nodded mutely and turned my back, shuffling down the hil .
“Hel o, brother,” Damon said, startling me by bursting into my bedroom. He was wearing a suit with a black silk ascot tied around his neck. He dropped a similarly expensive-looking suit on the foot of my bed. It was later that evening, and I’d spent the last hour frowning into my notebook, desperately trying to come up with a plan. But I couldn’t. I could barely even write. Words have power, Lady Alice had said. Wel , the blank page in front of me certainly didn’t. I was out of ideas.
But while I was miserable, Damon seemed positively overjoyed. He held a crystal glass in his hands. “Would you like a drink?”
I shook my head. “I have nothing to celebrate.”
“Who said you need a reason to celebrate?” He pushed the glass closer to me.
“You want to celebrate while Samuel’s probably rounding up a vampire army?” I concentrated on the dimly glowing lapis lazuli stone set in the ring on my finger so I could avoid his gaze. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Why? Because a witch yel ed at you?” Damon asked pointedly. He sat in a chair in the corner and swirled his glass. “Cora told me you saw Lady Alice, and it didn’t go wel . What did you expect? A hero’s welcome and a six-course dinner? We tried to use magic, and it didn’t work.