She nodded, just as businesslike as him. “Safe travels, and good luck.”
“We make our own luck, Sage.”
That nearly broke her act. It was an old joke between us, and I was glad Neil was too distracted to notice any interpersonal cues or body language. She and I were standing a healthy distance apart, but I was fully conscious of every inch between us and every detail of her body. To anyone else passing by, it was probably completely obvious that we were seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off.
She bid us farewell and left without a backward glance, but as I got in line to check in, my phone buzzed with a text: I love you.
On such short notice, we had to fly coach. Keeping me away from the temptation of complimentary liquor was probably just as well, since I’d need a clear head to tune in to spirit. Neil, mercifully, was a quiet companion, and I tried to distract myself by reading The Great Gatsby. Sydney had been horrified to discover my home library consisted of a bartending dictionary and an old copy of Esquire, and at her pleading, I’d promised to read something more substantial. I was trying to think deep thoughts as I read Gatsby, but mostly I wanted to throw some parties.
Nina and Olive were being kept at a safe house on the far outskirts of Dallas, with few neighbors to notice the odd sight of guardians patrolling the property. We parked our rental car in the driveway, and through the window, I recognized a familiar figure sitting on the porch’s chair swing, her feet up propped up on the railing. A prickle of anxiety ran through me.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered.
Rose stood up as we stepped onto the porch. For a moment, I was transported to our first meeting over a year ago, also on a porch. That one had been covered in snow, attached to a posh ski resort. Her beauty had taken my breath away then, and now, after all this time, I still wasn’t unaffected. Her long, dark hair spilled over her shoulders, and there was a fire in her brown eyes that was both dangerous and alluring. That same mix radiated from her body, even in a casual pose and wearing jeans.
And yet, though I admired her, I didn’t feel the old attraction or even pain. Sure, there was always going to be a sting from the insensitive way she’d botched up our brief relationship, but my heart no longer raced at the sight of her. I didn’t feel the devastation of having the love of my life ripped away. I didn’t even hate her anymore. Mostly, I found myself thinking of Sydney, with her lithe legs crossed underneath her as she studied books on my bed, the golden sunlight illuminating her face when she looked up to give me a knowing smile.
“You made good time,” I said by way of greeting. “Did Belikov bend the rules of time and space to get here so fast? He can do that, right?” The Moroi Royal Court was in Pennsylvania, making for a much longer trip than mine had been.
Rose smiled at that, though I could sense a little wariness in her as well. She wasn’t sure what to expect from me and was afraid I might do something that would cause a scene. I couldn’t blame her. It was probably why she was receiving me here before letting me into the volatile situation inside.
“No need to today. We got really, really lucky and got on a flight the instant we heard about this. And we only just got here about an hour ago.” She shook Neil’s hand. “I’m Rose.”
“Neil,” he said, with a formal bow of his head. “It’s a great honor to meet you. Your heroics with Dimitri Belikov are legendary.”
“Um, thanks,” she said. It was nice to see one woman finally immune to that accent. That wasn’t to say Rose wasn’t a sucker for accents. She just preferred hers from the other side of Europe. “He’s inside if you want to meet him.”
Neil lit up. “That’d be wonderful.” He cast an uncertain look at me, and I waved him off.
“Go, go. I’ll be fine. Besides, this is Rose’s not‑so‑subtle way of saying she wants to talk to me alone. Go do some hero worship.”
Neil didn’t need to be told twice. She watched him with amusement and then turned back to me, sobering a little. “I also figured you’d want a cigarette. Must have been rough going, what, three hours?” she teased.
“Three hours? Hell, Rose. I’m going on about six weeks.”
The complete shock on her face was one of the best things I’d seen all day. To be fair, her surprise wasn’t entirely unwarranted. I’d kind of quit while dating her, though I’d cracked a few times and then completely relapsed afterward. “You . . . quit?”
I put my hands in my coat pockets and leaned against the railing. “It’s a bad habit.”
“Wow . . . well, good for you.” She overcame her amazement and apparently decided to further assess my new respectability. “And I heard you’re in college too?”
“Yup. Taking some art classes. Just finished a project examining the symbolic evolution from the Australopithecus age to the one of superficial media obsession.” The words rolled easily off my tongue, and I wondered how many hot points that would’ve scored me if Sydney were here.
“Wow,” Rose said again, her eyes widening.
I played it cool. “Just a little something I threw together. But let’s focus on business. What am I going to find inside?”
She snapped instantly back to attention. “About what I saw in Lexington when Robert Doru saved Sonya. An exhausted spirit user and a confused patient. Dimitri’s been talking to Olive, which seems to have helped already, and I’m sure Nina will feel better having you around.”
It was a nice setup for making some joke about how all women loved having me around, but I decided to withhold my stunning wit until I’d seen things with my own eyes. “How’d you find out about this?”
“A guardian called us. I guess Nina had been looking for her sister for a long time and used a guardian friend to create this whole elaborate trap to restore Olive.” Rose’s face turned sympathetic. “But Nina wasn’t prepared for the physical and mental toll it took on both of them. That’s when the guardian called for help. It all happened less than twenty‑four hours ago.”
“Explaining the urgency,” I murmured. Everyone really had acted quickly. “Well, we’ll see what I can find. Spirit’s fickle.”
“Yeah, believe me, I know. I miss that connection with Lissa, but I don’t miss living with spirit.” She tilted her head to study me. “How are things with Jill?”
I gave her the same answer I had given Lissa. “The same. Not much of the nasty side effects getting to her, but we also haven’t learned to put barriers between us. So she still gets to experience the awesome adventures of Adrian Ivashkov firsthand.”
“I’m a little worried about how ‘awesome’ they are.” Her dubious look transformed to one of horror. “Oh, God, Adrian. You aren’t working your way through every Moroi girl in southern California, are you?”
“Of course not,” I said. “I’m much more discriminating.”
She groaned. “Even one is too much. You should be ashamed of yourself, exposing Jill to your sex life. Isn’t it possible for you to abstain from your cheap flings for just a little while? For Jill’s sake?”
Some part of me wanted to defend the magnitude of my relationship with Sydney. The rest of me knew that if the world thought I was rampantly having one‑night stands with Moroi girls, they’d never suspect I was devoted to a human one.
I gave Rose a cocky grin. “Hey, I’ve gotta live, don’t I?”
She shook her head in disgust and headed for the door. “I guess some things can’t change.”
It was an older house but still in good condition, and I wondered where they’d dug it up. According to Lissa, it didn’t belong to either of the sisters and had been set up by the guardians to provide a safe haven. As we stepped into the front room, a Moroi girl close to my age stood waiting for us. Her hair was a tangle of dark curls, and she had a blanket draped around her like a cloak.
Rose’s disposition immediately softened. “Nina, you should get back to bed.”