“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.”
Marcus’s eyebrows knit together. “Yeah? Want to elaborate?”
Jackie scooped up a tabby cat. “I think this is my cue to go in my workshop. Come get me if you need anything, and make sure Sydney says hello before she leaves.”
I sat down in the living room with Marcus and his Merry Men. I strategically took over a whole love seat so that no one else could sit there until Sydney came. Well, no one human, at least. As soon as I sat down, three cats jumped up with me and made themselves comfortable.
“They recruited Sydney’s sister,” I explained to Marcus. “And made her part of the Amberwood act. She’s got a lot to prove and has been extra suspicious of Sydney’s activities—like if she’s gone too long or seems extra friendly with any Moroi.”
Marcus’s face darkened as I spoke. “I warned her. I told her this would happen. She should have come with me.”
I pointed to the pail of ink that Jackie must have brought out. “If she had, she wouldn’t have been able to do this. She may have changed the whole way you do business, Robin Hood. Ink that permanently breaks the Alchemist hold but that they can’t see? You can put double agents everywhere.”
“I know.” He glanced over at Jamie and Chad, who were watching their leader with rapt eyes. “And believe me, I’ve thought about it. But it’s so dangerous. The Alchemists are good at sniffing out traitors.”
“Sydney’s good too,” I said staunchly.
“I know she is. But like I told her before, you can’t be on your game all the time. Eventually, you slip up. Little things. Little bread crumbs.”
I kept my own game face on and pretended to be very interested in a calico purring on my lap, but inside me, unease stirred. Little things. Like sex in a car. Or staying the night. Or picking me up from a pawnshop. Any one thing that some spy for the Alchemists could find out about. We’d gone in with good intentions, but Marcus was right. We’d grown careless. When I looked up, I saw him studying me with his bright blue eyes. He might not know about the specifics of Sydney and me, but he knew what I was thinking: that she’d slipped up.
“Would you be able to get her out of here?” I asked. “If she would go?”
He nodded. “I should be able to.”
“Where would you take her?” West Virginia. Rome. New Orleans.
“I don’t know yet. Somewhere she can still be useful but safe.” Marcus grew silent for a few moments, and I could tell he really did care about her and all his other recruits. “Would she go?”
“She’ll go,” I said firmly, in no way letting on how difficult it would be to talk her into running away. And I’ll go with her.
Marcus fell into his own thoughts for a bit and then checked his cell phone. “Where is she? I’m dying to know about this ink.”
I looked at the time as well. She was fifteen minutes late. I couldn’t remember Sydney ever being late in her life. Taking out my own phone, I tried to think of a neutral message and texted: Everything right in the world? When no answer came right away, I took that as a good sign.
“She’s probably on her way,” I explained to Marcus. “She won’t text and drive.”