"Well, they won't find me. I'm somewhere pretty remote.' Very remote.
"I wish I could have gone with you.'
He still looked concerned, and I pressed a finger to his lips. "No. Don't say that. You're better off where you are--and better not to be associated with me any more than you already are. Have you been questioned?'
"Yeah, they didn't get anything useful out of me. Too tight an alibi. They brought me in when I went to find Mikhail because we talked to--'
"I know. Joe.'
Adrian's surprise was brief. "Little dhampir, you've been spying.'
"It's hard not to.' "You know, as much as I like the idea of having someone always know when you're in trouble, I'm still kind of glad I don't have anyone bound to me. Not sure I'd want them looking in my head.'
"I don't think anyone would want to look in your head either. One person living Adrian Ivashkov's life is hard enough.' Amusement flickered in his eyes, but it faded when I switched back to business. "Anyway, yeah. I overheard Lissa's ... um, interrogation of Joe. That's serious stuff. What did Mikhail say? If Joe lied, that clears half the evidence against me.' It also theoretically killed Adrian's alibi.
"Well, not quite half. It would have been better if Joe said you were in your room during the murder instead of admitting he's a flake who doesn't remember anything. It also would have been better if he hadn't said all this under Lissa's compulsion. Mikhail can't report that.'
I sighed. Hanging out with spirit users, I'd started to take compulsion for granted. It was easy to forget that among Moroi, it was taboo, the kind of thing you'd get in serious trouble for. In fact, Lissa wouldn't just get in trouble for illicitly using it. She could also be accused of simply making Joe say whatever she wanted. Anything he said in my favor would be suspect. No one would believe it.
"Also,' added Adrian, looking dismayed, "if what Joe said gets out, the world would learn about my mother's misguided acts of love.'
"Im sorry,' I said, putting my arms around him. He complained about his parents all the time but really did care about his mother. Finding out about her bribery had to be tough for him, and I knew Tatiana's death still pained him. It seemed I was around a lot of men in anguish lately. "Although, I really am glad she cleared you of any connection.'
"It was stupid of her. If anyone finds out, she'll be in serious trouble.'
"What's Mikhail's advice then?'
"He's going to find Joe and question him privately. Go from there. For now, there's not much more we can do with the info. It's useful for us ... but not for the legal system.'
"Yeah,' I said, trying not to feel disheartened. "I guess it's better than nothing.'
Adrian nodded and then brushed away his dark mood in that easy way of his. Still keeping his arms around me, he pulled back slightly, smiling as he looked down at me. "Nice dress, by the way.'
The topic change caught me by surprise, though I should have been used to it with him by now. Following his gaze, I noticed I was wearing an old dress of mine, the sexy black dress I'd had on when Victor had unleashed a lust charm on Dimitri and me. Since Adrian hadn't dressed me for the dream, my subconscious had dictated my appearance. I was kind of astonished it had chosen this.
"Oh ...' I suddenly felt embarrassed but didn't know why. "My own clothes are kind of beat up. I guess I wanted something to counteract that.'
"Well, it looks good on you.' Adrian's fingers slid along the strap. "Really good.'
Even in a dream, the touch of his finger made my skin tingle. "Watch it, Ivashkov. We've got no time for this.'
"We're asleep. What else are we going to do?'
My protests were muffled in a kiss. I sank into it. One of his hands slid down the side of my thigh, near the dress's edge, and it took a lot of mental energy to convince myself that him pulling the dress up was probably not going to clear my name. I reluctantly moved back.
"We're going to figure out who killed Tatiana,' I said, trying to catch my breath.
"There's no "we,'' he said, echoing the line I'd just used on Victor. "There's me. And Lissa. And Christian. And the rest of our misfit friends.' He stroked my hair and then drew me close again, brushing a kiss against my cheek. "Don't worry, little dhampir. You take care of yourself. Just stay where you are.'
"I can't,' I said. "Don't you get it? I can't just do nothing.' The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. It was one thing to protest my inactivity with Dimitri, but with Adrian, I needed to make him and everyone else at Court think I was doing the "right thing.'
"You have to. We'll take care of you.' He didn't get it, I realized. He didn't understand how badly I needed to do something to help. To his credit, his intentions were good. He thought taking care of me was a big deal. He wanted to keep me safe. But he didn't truly get how agonizing inaction was for me. "We'll find this person and stop them from doing whatever it is ... they want to do. It might take a long time, but we'll fix it.'
"Time ...' I murmured against his chest, letting the argument go. I'd get nowhere convincing him I needed to help my friends, and anyway, I had my own quest now. So much to do, so little time. I stared off into the landscape he'd created. I'd noticed trees and flowers earlier but only now realized we were in the Church's courtyard--the way it had been before Abe's assault. The statue of Queen Alexandra stood intact, her long hair and kind eyes immortalized in stone. The murder investigation really was in my friends' hands for now, but Adrian had been right: it might take a while. I sighed. "Time. We need more time.'
Adrian pulled away slightly. "Hmm? What'd you say?'