“Sydney, I’m so happy to see you again. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know. And you must be Neil.”
“Your majesty.” Neil swept her a bow so low that his forehead touched the ground. Above him, Adrian rolled his eyes.
“Easy there, Lancelot,” Adrian said. “I don’t think bowing is required when she’s in jeans and bunny slippers.”
Neil rose gracefully to his feet. “A queen’s regality is not diminished by her attire.”
Adrian glanced at the others for sympathy. “We’ve been together for almost ten hours today.”
Lissa’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Introductions were made to those who needed them. I knew most of the major players in the room. Dimitri and Sonya were there, full of smiles for me, and Rose went so far as to give me a hug. I’d met Lissa’s boyfriend, Christian Ozera, briefly before, and although I didn’t know him well, he gave me a nod of greeting. He and Adrian regarded each other warily, and I recalled something Adrian had once told me about him: “His aunt’s in prison for killing my aunt. I don’t blame him for it. He doesn’t blame me. We still like each other. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t weird, you know?”
Two girls sat together on a loveseat, keeping their distance and watching the reunion quietly. One was a dhampir with black hair and coppery skin. The other, a Moroi, had a multitude of dark curls and beautiful gray eyes. Judging from the way Neil couldn’t take his eyes off the dhampir, I could guess who the girls were. Adrian gave them one of his most charismatic grins.
“Well, well. Looks like you guys survived the trip, huh? I hope they’ve been showing you a good time. The royal treatment, if you will. Golden faucets. Velvet robes. Champagne for breakfast. And for lunch. And dinner. In fact, why isn’t there a bottle in here now?”
Olive and Nina Sinclair responded with smiles, especially Nina. “You didn’t bring it?” she asked, with a bit more warmth than I liked.
“I can send for some,” said Lissa. She started to turn toward one of the guards at the door, but Adrian waved her off.
“Nah, we’ve got to be all responsible and stuff to deal with the spirit problem, right? We can celebrate later. Besides, Belikov can’t hold his liquor.”
Dimitri looked startled at that, and I had to repress a laugh at Adrian’s deflection. When he was here, “Lord Ivashkov” could probably get anything he wanted, and I was proud of Adrian for holding true to his promise to steer clear of his vices. It was just as well he was facing away from me at the time because my face probably would’ve betrayed my affection.
Formal introductions were made between the Sinclair sisters and me. They murmured polite greetings and regarded me with curiosity before they dismissed me, turning their attention back to the others. An Alchemist was a novelty but nothing particularly exciting.
I assumed we’d all be reconvening in the morning, but as Sonya began discussing what she’d learned about Olive’s blood sample, I realized we were doing business here and now. I nearly groaned as the obvious hit me. It’s the middle of their day. They’re all bright-eyed and ready to get going. That was probably why Adrian had power napped. Neil, as a dhampir, would have extra stamina and be able to go longer without sleep. But me? I was merely human, and it was past my bedtime in Palm Springs. But, if they were ready to do this, then so was I. A yawn started to well up in me, and I staunchly put it down.
“There’s no question about it,” Sonya was saying. “That blood sample is brimming with a kind of spirit we’ve never seen. And that charm you put on the silver is ingenious, but—”
The door burst open, and a Moroi man came striding forward with a guardian on his heels. “The gang’s all here, I see. You must have forgotten to send for me.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “You weren’t invited, old man.”
Abe Mazur, her flamboyantly dressed father, clucked his tongue in disapproval. “Yes, because it makes perfect sense that one of the biggest breakthroughs in our world should be left in the hands of kids.”
“I’m almost thirty,” protested Sonya.
“Exactly my point.” Abe took in his surroundings and brightened when he saw me. “My favorite Alchemist. So nice of you to lend your expertise.”
I gave him a tight smile. “Happy to help.”
Through some unspoken command, a servant appeared with drinks and snacks—though no champagne. Once everyone had reconciled themselves to Abe’s uninvited presence, Sonya returned to her presentation and handed Adrian a small box. Curious, I walked over to study it, very conscious of the scant inches between us. The box held a small vial of blood with silver rings around it. After a few moments of scrutiny, I glanced up and saw Sonya watching Adrian and me with a frown. Her features smoothed when she noticed me looking at her.
“What do you think?” she asked. “Is there any way to reinforce the seals around it?”
Adrian looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Um, I don’t think so. I used up all my tricks doing this the first time.”
“But you can feel the way the spirit’s intertwined with the blood’s substance,” she pointed out. Again, he seemed troubled.
“Yeah, I noticed. That’s nothing I can replicate.”
“Me either,” Sonya said.
“Me either,” added Lissa.
Sonya sighed. “And that’s the key, I think. Even if we can’t sense it in Olive’s blood anymore, I’m certain it altered her in a way that now prevents Strigoi conversion. If we could do that for others . . .”
He nodded in agreement. “Yup. But I don’t know how. Unless . . .”
I noticed then how everyone in the room was watching him, faces expectant. They were deferring to his expertise. Adrian had been right about one thing when defending his use of spirit: He’d done what no one else could. I wondered if anyone—including him—had ever expected they’d reach a point where he would be a respected authority, not just a joke. That kind of responsibility and prestige suited him. Lord Ivashkov.
He looked at Lissa. “You’d mentioned making this into some kind of tattoo maybe, right? I wonder if it’s as easy as injecting it into someone else? I mean, isn’t that how a vaccine works? When someone fights off a disease, you get . . .” He groped for the word and looked to me for confirmation. “Antibodies?” I nodded. “Would this be the same? The magic spreads to someone else?”
“I can’t even begin to guess if there’s an equivalency between those two,” I admitted. “But when vampire blood is suspended in an Alchemist tattoo, some of that Moroi quick healing and resistance to sickness spreads to us.” If magic use really had negated my tattoo, I wondered if I’d lost my immunity too. I hated colds.
Adrian lit up. “Could you make a similar tattoo with this blood?”
I hesitated. “Theoretically. We don’t know that it’d work. And I’ve never made that kind of ink before.”
“That’d be remedial work for you,” he said confidently. “And there are always guardian tattooists around here. What else do you need?”“I can get you whatever it is,” Abe assured me.
“I’d need—”
I stopped, and the world reeled. I can get you whatever it is. Yes, he probably could. Abe Mazur was a man who could get all sorts of things, even the ingredients to a potential Strigoi-protection tattoo.
Ingredients that would be nearly identical to the ones used in a regular Alchemist tattoo.
They were out of my reach but not Abe’s. He probably wouldn’t even need to use any illicit channels. He’d once smuggled C4 into Court, after all. I knew he had Alchemist contacts and could make a good case for why the Moroi needed to do this experiment. The Alchemists would certainly support it. Really, though, it didn’t matter if Abe got the ingredients through legitimate or shady means. What mattered was that he could get what I needed without it actually being linked to me and a personal project to crack Alchemist compulsion.
“I can get you a list of things,” I said as casually as I could. “We should double it, though. In case I make a mistake.” Adrian met my eyes, and I could tell he’d picked up on what I was thinking.
Rose scoffed. “Have you ever made a mistake in your life?”
“Remains to be seen,” I murmured. I stifled a yawn. “Get me some paper, and I’ll write you a list.” I couldn’t hide my next yawn.
Sonya looked at me in sympathy. “Let poor Sydney go to bed. She’s not on our schedule. We can’t expect her to do this on no sleep, and we don’t even have what we need yet.”
Lissa looked mortified. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Sydney. I wasn’t thinking.”
I logged into an Alchemist database on my phone in order to find the ingredient list. Lissa called for another servant while I wrote out what I’d need. As we waited, Christian asked, “Who are you going to give the tattoo to?”
Silence fell. “Me,” said Rose at last. “It should be a dhampir. We’ve got the strongest bodies to handle something like that, and besides, if it works, we’re more likely to run into Strigoi.”
“You’re too valuable to the queen,” said Neil. “I’ll do it, in case something goes wrong.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” said Adrian hotly.
Rose ignored him and glared at Neil. “I’ll do it. No one else is going to risk themselves for this.”
“What’s your blood type?” I asked, looking between them. I turned to Olive. “And yours?”
“Don’t get her involved,” warned Neil.
“O positive,” said Olive defiantly.
“B negative,” said Rose.
Neil shot frustrated glances to both of them. “A positive.”
“You win,” I told Neil. I honestly thought a Moroi receiver would be best, but I had a feeling none of them would budge on that. Standard blood-typing rules seemed like a safe bet, though.
Rose’s hurt expression implied I’d purposely betrayed her. Olive, excited for Neil, hurried over to his side. He puffed up with pride at her attention, and the scientist in Sonya decided she had no more patience for drama. “Fine. Neil gets it. Now for God’s sake, get Sydney over to guest housing.”
“I’ll go too,” said Adrian. He yawned, and I was pretty sure it was faked. “I’ve been around humans too long.”
“You aren’t staying at your parents’ place?” asked Lissa.
Adrian scoffed. “Not if my dad’s there. I actually want peace and quiet.”
Lissa’s servant arrived, and Rose decided to accompany us, thinking she was the only one I was truly comfortable with. As we were walking out, Nina hurried up and caught Adrian’s sleeve. I was close enough that I could hear her, despite her lowered voice.
“I was hoping we could talk some more,” she told him. “Do you think you’ll have time tomorrow?”
Adrian put on the gallant smile most women received. “Sounds great, but I don’t know if I’ll have a chance. I think they expect me to work. It’s such a pain being responsible.”
Rose overheard. “Oh, yeah. So inconvenient, helping with a major breakthrough in Moroi life. Poor, poor Adrian.”
Adrian winked at Nina. “I’ll let you know.”
We left, but not before I saw the longing in Nina’s eyes. Even I could guess her intentions.
Guest housing was in one of the other venerable buildings, and we cut through a courtyard to get there. Light snow was falling, and I tugged my coat around me tightly. Adrian didn’t complain, but he looked a little blue when we reached the building’s lobby. It was run like a hotel, and Rose took it upon herself to arrange our rooms. I lingered on the far side of the lobby, and Adrian strolled over.
“You have no idea how cute you look with all those snowflakes in your hair,” he murmured.
“And you look cute with hypothermia. I hope to God you can get a real coat while you’re here.”
He grinned. “You’ll have to warm me up later. You know I was just playing it up for Nina, right? There’s only one girl for me, but around here, I have to act like there’s a dozen.”
“Only one dozen?” I asked.
“Hey,” Rose called to us. “You’ve got a room with a view on the second floor, Adrian. Sydney—what’s going to make you feel better about creatures of the night? Easy escape on the first floor or distance on the second?”
“Second,” I said, face neutral. “I’ll climb out the window if I need to.”