“You okay there, Melbourne?” asked Trey. “You didn’t get hit in the head last night, did you?”
I smiled and gestured for them to sit down. “No, no. Just a little slaphappy, that’s all.”
Angeline yawned. “We had a good time staying out all night. You should’ve come with us. Eddie said you saw Adrian or something?”
“Yeah, I had to go over something with him about Jill.” Another beautiful lie, and from the way neither of them even blinked, I knew they didn’t doubt me for a minute.
“Is everything okay with her?” The sudden seriousness in Angeline almost made me smile again. She really was in this for the long haul.
“Fine, fine,” I said. “Aside from her running off on a dangerous Strigoi hunting trip last night.”
“Crazy stuff last night,” said Trey, a gleam in his eyes. “Crazy but awesome.”
“I had no idea you were so good with a sword. You work on that between chemistry homework and football practice?”
He grinned at me. “Just part of the way I grew up.”
“And how are you going to reconcile that with that?” I looked down meaningfully at where their hands were clasped together.
They both sobered, and Trey squeezed her hand. “This means more. I told you I needed time to figure out what I should do? Well, it turns out I already knew. I’ve known for a long time.”
“It goes against how you were raised,” I reminded him. “Against the beliefs of your group.”
He seemed unconcerned. “Things change. They’re not my beliefs anymore. They’re not even my group anymore. They’ve made that clear.”
I felt the need to keep playing devil’s advocate. “It’s that easy to break away?”
“Am I really breaking away thatmuch? The Warriors’ original purpose was to actively seek out and destroy Strigoi. The leaders just kind of went astray over the years.” That earlier delight returned. “What we did last night . . . I mean, it was terrifying as hell. I was scared, especially when that one had me on the ground. But at the same time, it felt so right. Like that’s what I was born to do, help smite evil from the world.”
“Did you seriously just say ‘smite’?” I asked.
He shook his head in amusement. “The way I see it, I’m not doing that much different from what I was taught. Strigoi are evil. We need to stop them. I can do that in my own way, without the Warriors. I can do it the way it should be done.”
“And I can help,” declared Angeline. They stared into each other’s eyes, and I thought they might start making out then and there. “We’ll start our own group.”
“The guardians have strict rules about what dhampirs do,” I warned.
“I’m not a guardian,” she said simply. “I don’t answer to them. And anyway, wasn’t there talk with the Moroi about going after those monsters?”
“Yes.”
The queen had so many problems right now that I think that one had slipped through. But there had indeed been growing interest in actually doing preemptive strikes against Strigoi–with both guardians and Moroi. For centuries, the Moroi had argued that it was immoral to use magic as a weapon. As time went on, it was becoming more apparent that magic might very well hold the key to their nation’s safety.
“Okay,” I continued, surprised to hear myself getting a little combative. “So the Warriors let you go all freelance. But what do you think they’re going to do when they find out you’re involved with a dhampir? You aren’t really keeping it secret.”
He shrugged. “No, but it’s not like they have spies here. Even if they find out, all I have to do is put up with the ranting. They won’t punish me or anything. Why are you so worked up about this? What’s with the twenty questions? Weren’t you helping us?”
“She’s an Alchemist,” said Angeline, looking uncharac‑teristically wise. “It’s just how they are.” Even more surprisingly, she suddenly grew hesitant and withdrew her hand from Trey. “Sorry. This is probably like . . . really gross to you. We should’ve been more considerate.”
It was hard to say which was more ludicrous: Angeline actually being conscious of something like this or the fact that it was completely untrue.
Because honestly, the reason I was giving them such a hard time was that I was jealous. That wasn’t an emotion I experienced very often, but here it was, alive and well in me. I was so, so envious that they could do this, be together so openly. No sneaking around. No fears of retribution. Trey had been so casual about being caught by the Warriors. A month ago, their rebuke would’ve been awful for him. Now, having come to terms with his feelings, he saw their wrath as a small thing. After all, it seemed they’d mostly berate and condemn him. For all their savagery, the Warriors weren’t like the Alchemists, who felt a need to eliminate and sanitize their problems. I wanted to cry and scream to the world that this was unfair, but I knew I had no right. Life was unfair to a lot of people. I wasn’t special, and this was the fate I’d been given.
“No,” I said, trying to smile. “I’m happy for you guys. Really.”
After a few moments, they decided to believe me and smile back. My phone buzzed with a text, and I saw it was from Adrian: Everything still a go? I wrote back: As far as I know. After Trey and Angeline left, I tried to use the knowledge that I’d see Adrian tonight as a way to bolster myself. Things could be worse, I supposed. Even if it wasn’t unrestricted, we still got to see each other every day.
And yet . . . I was reaching a point where that wasn’t enough. I wanted to go to bed with him each night, not just for sex, but so that I could wake up with him in the morning. I wanted to have pancakes together. I wanted to go out on double dates with his friends. I wanted a life with him. I wanted a life for myself.
When I returned to my room later, I saw that Zoe was gone. Things were still a mess between us, but I was at least relieved that she’d dragged herself up. I’d seen too much of that depressed behavior with Adrian and didn’t want anyone else to go through it. Zoe and I will fix this. We had to.
About an hour before I was supposed to go to Ms. Terwilliger’s, another text came in from Adrian: Change of plan. We’re meeting at that restaurant that went out of business on Indian Canyon.
The news came as a shock. Marcus got in touch?
Adrian’s answer was slow in coming. Yes.
Well. It wasn’t that out of character. When I’d dealt with Marcus the last time he was in town, he’d constantly switched meeting spots on us, often deciding at the last minute. He believed it was safer. Maybe there was something to this.
That’s a scary place at night, I wrote.
That’s part of the reasoning. Don’t worry. We’ll all be there.
Okay. I need to stop and get the stuff first.
I’ll get it for you.
A realization hit me. We were using the Love Phones. I’d picked mine up without even thinking about it. You found the phone!
Yup.
Happiness and relief flooded me. I should’ve known by now not to doubt Adrian.
I love you, I wrote. See you soon.
I waited for an answer, but when none came, I started getting ready to go. The restaurant was about twenty minutes away, in a pretty remote place off the main road. As I packed up, I began to think more and more about how sketchy the location was. As I’d thought earlier, it was ideal for Marcus, but it wasn’t the kind of place I’d normally go alone. I didn’t fear him, but I did worry about other less noble people. One of Wolfe’s lessons had been to avoid walking into uncertain situations, and although Adrian’s comment about how they’d all be there reassured me, I decided to take an extra precaution for my own peace of mind.