“What do you want?” was all she asked. That told me a couple of things, most importantly that she knew it was very possible there were traitors in her midst.
“Amnesty for everyone we released from re-education. And an end to re-education, period.”
There was a sharp intake of breath. “Impossible.”
“What’s the point of re-education, Stanton?” I demanded. “Half the time it doesn’t work. There were people who’d been in there for ages. And even if it seems to work, you never really trust those people anyway. Like Keith. You’re always watching. If you want to help protect humans from evil—the real evil, Strigoi—then there must be a better use of your resources.”
“We can discuss this after we rescue Jill Dragomir,” she said stiffly.
“No. We’re discussing it now. Amnesty for everyone—including Adrian and me. When this is over, I want to go off with him, wherever we want, and live a normal life. I don’t want to see Alchemists driving by or watching me in restaurants. I want to be left alone to pursue my own interests. In exchange, I will give you a copy of what I found on a very incriminating laptop owned by Master Angeletti of the Warriors. And I won’t give a copy of that information to the Moroi—unless you violate the terms of this agreement.”
Glancing up, I saw Eddie studying some posters on the door of Pies and Stuff, and I was glad he was out of earshot. He probably wouldn’t like the idea of me withholding something that might be of interest to his people, but right now, I was negotiating for my life—and the lives of the other ex-Alchemists. I couldn’t favor the Alchemists or the Moroi. I had to look out for everyone who’d simply been caught in the middle of their negotiations.
“I’ll be honest,” said Stanton at last. “Many questions have been raised internally about the usefulness of re-education—whether it’s truly doing what we want. But I can’t agree to your deal on my own. You should know that by now. I need to take it to the others. What I will promise you is amnesty for the rest of this endeavor in St. George. If you want to attend, you have my word you can without fear from the Alchemists. Then I’ll let you know what the others have to say.”
Something in Stanton’s voice—as well as what I knew of her character—made me believe her. “Fair enough,” I said. I tried to make my tone lofty, like I was doing her a great favor in making this concession, but in truth, I was anxious to get things under way.
It was time for us to bring Jill home.
Chapter 18
Adrian
“JUST LOOK AT HIM,” I insisted. “Please.”
“No,” said Neil, turning away from the phone I held toward him. “If I look at him . . .” His voice choked, and he was unable to continue.
We were still at Maude’s house, waiting for the next phase of action, and I was trying to get him to overcome the crazy idea that he needed to avoid Declan.
“Look,” I said. “No one’s going to think it’s suspicious if you raise him. We all know you loved Olive. They’ll think you’re helping because of that—not because through some crazy twist of spirit, you two managed to change the world as we know it!”
Neil shook his head. “Hardly anyone even knows Olive had a baby. That’s a good thing. You need to keep it that way—and keep me out of the picture.”
We’d been over this a hundred times, and it was driving me crazy. If Neil had wanted to stay away from Declan, say, because he didn’t like kids or was freaked out by fatherhood, I could’ve understood that more. But it was obvious Neil desperately wanted to see and be a part of Declan’s life. I could hear the longing in his voice.
“We’ll find a way,” I said. “I swear it.”
There was a haunted look on Neil’s face. “Declan is a miracle,” he murmured. “And he needs to be protected—and given a normal life. A happy, normal life.”
“I want that too,” I said wearily. “Believe me, I do.”
“Adrian?” Maude’s voice came through to where we were sitting on the back porch, enjoying the warm evening. “You have some guests.”
In a flash, Neil and I were back inside, my heart racing. Sure enough, there was Sydney, standing in the living room and back to her normal appearance. I swept her into my arms, spinning her around so much that she laughed and told me to set her down before she got dizzy. I cupped her face in my hands.
“You’re okay,” I said happily.
She gave me a teasing punch. “You knew I was.”
“A phone call is different from seeing,” I said. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I mean, I knew you were competent and brave and awesome, but, well . . . it’s still not easy having your wife off risking her life with a bunch of vampire-hating freaks.” I reached into my pocket. “Oh, and don’t forget this.” I got down on my knees and slipped on her diamond and ruby rings, which I’d been holding on to while she was away. “As promised. I mean, except for the naked part. But we can worry about that later.”
I expected a chastising “Adrian,” but she smiled, her face filled with love and happiness. She took my hands and helped me up, looking as though she might even kiss me, until she remembered we had an audience. Flustered, she stepped back and crossed her arms in an attempt to look professional. Eddie and Marcus looked amused by all of this. Neil, oddly, looked intrigued as he glanced back and forth between Sydney and me.
“Time to get back to business,” she said.
“It’s happening,” said Eddie eagerly. “We’re getting Jill back.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked. Once I’d called and told Rose and Dimitri the information about Jill and the Alchemists, I’d lost track of what was happening. I knew Sydney had been part of the strategizing, though.
“The Alchemists have confirmed that the place they knew about in St. George is the same as the one in the records we had on the laptop. So they and the guardians are analyzing all the schematics to make sure they’ve got a solid course of action,” Sydney explained.
I felt a bit of smugness at that. Alicia had been so cocky that we wouldn’t be prepared to go for Jill, but she hadn’t counted on Sydney’s sleuthing. I was proud of myself for holding back in truly turning on the spirit. In fact, I’d been very cautious of it the last couple of days, and amazingly, Aunt Tatiana had stayed mostly quiet.
“We also currently have amnesty, so we can move around freely and go join them in St. George,” Sydney said, nodding to me. “Not that you and I’ll do much as far as action, but we can at least monitor things and be there when Jill’s released. Neil, Eddie, and some of the others will be at the actual rescue.”
“I look forward to it,” said Neil, a dangerous edge in his voice. Eddie’s fierce expression answered for him.
“We’ll all get more details once we’re in St. George,” continued Sydney. “We can hit the road as soon as everyone’s ready. It’s about a six-hour drive, and we should end up there right about the time the raid is scheduled to happen.”
“I’m ready to go any time,” said Neil.
“Me too,” I said. “Just give me two minutes to gather my things.”
Sydney followed me to Maude’s guest room and watched as I shoved my spare clothes and laptop into the tote bag I’d been hauling around on this adventure. “Rose called me,” she said, shutting the door. “She and Dimitri wanted to see if it was okay for them to go to St. George—leaving your mom and Declan at Clarence’s. I told them it was. I hope that’s all right.”
I paused, momentarily alarmed, then gave a slow nod. “Yeah, I think so. The Alchemists will have given up watching your hangouts, now that they know where you’re headed. And really, as long as no one’s looking for Declan . . .”