Clarence smiled and clasped my hand in his wrinkled one. I didn’t flinch, even though the urge was there. Unlike most Moroi I’d met, he didn’t conceal his fangs when he smiled, which almost made my facade crack. Another reminder that no matter how human they seemed at times, these were still vampires.
“I am so pleased to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
“Oh?” I asked, arching an eyebrow and wondering who’d been talking about me.
Clarence nodded emphatically. “You are welcome in my home. It’s delightful to have so much company.”
Introductions were made for everyone else. Eddie and Jill were a little reserved, but both friendly. Keith didn’t shake any hands, but he at least stopped acting like a drooling fool. He took a chair when offered and put on an arrogant expression, which was probably supposed to look like confidence. I hoped he wouldn’t embarrass us.
“I’m sorry,” said Abe, leaning forward. His dark eyes glittered. “Did you say your name was Keith Darnell?”
“Yes,” said Keith. He studied Abe curiously, no doubt recalling the Alchemists’ conversation back in Salt Lake City. Even through the bravado Keith was attempting to put on, I could see a sliver of unease. Abe had that effect. “Why?”
“No reason,” said Abe. His eyes flicked to me and then to Keith. “It just sounds familiar, that’s all.”
“My father’s a very important man among the Alchemists,” said Keith loftily. He’d relaxed a little, probably thinking the stories about Abe were overrated. Fool. “You’ve undoubtedly heard of him.”
“Undoubtedly,” said Abe. “I’m sure that’s what it is.” He spoke so casually that no one would suspect he wasn’t telling the truth. Only I knew the real reason Abe knew who Keith was, but I certainly didn’t want that revealed. I also didn’t want Abe dropping any more hints, which I suspected he was doing just to irk me.
I tried to steer the subject away—and get some answers for myself. “I wasn’t aware you were joining us, Mr. Mazur.” The sweetness in my voice matched his.
“Please,” he said. “You know you can call me Abe. And I won’t be staying, unfortunately. I simply came along to make sure this group arrived safely—and to meet Clarence in person.”
“That’s very nice of you,” I said dryly, sincerely doubting Abe’s motives were as simple as that. If I’d learned anything, it was that things were never simple when Abe Mazur was involved. He was a puppet master of sorts. He not only wanted to observe things, he also wanted to control them.
He smiled winningly. “Well, I always aim to help others in need.”
“Yeah,” a new voice suddenly said. “That’s exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man.”
I hadn’t thought anyone could shock me more than Abe, but I was wrong. “Rose?” The name came out as a question from my lips, even though there could be no doubt about who this newcomer was. There was only one Rose Hathaway, after all.
“Hey, Sydney,” she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were also assessing everything in the room, much as Eddie’s gaze was. It was a guardian thing. Rose was about my height and dressed very casually in jeans and a red tank top. But, as always, there was something exotic and dangerous about her beauty that made her stand out from everyone else. She was like a tropical flower in this dark, stuffy room. One that could kill you. I’d never seen her mother, but it was easy to tell that some of her looks came from Abe’s Turkish influence, like her long, dark brown hair. In the dim lighting, that hair looked nearly black. Her eyes rested on Keith, and she nodded politely. “Hey, other Alchemist.”
Keith stared at her wide-eyed, but whether that was a reaction to us being further outnumbered or simply a response to Rose’s extraordinary nature, I couldn’t say. “I-I’m Keith,” he stammered at last.
“Rose Hathaway,” she told him. His eyes bugged even more as he recognized the name. She strode across the room, toward Clarence, and I noted that half of her allure was simply in the way she dominated her surroundings. Her expression softened as she regarded the elderly man. “I checked the house’s perimeter like you asked. It’s about as safe as you can make it, though your back door’s lock should probably be replaced.”
“Are you sure?” asked Clarence in disbelief. “It’s brand new.”
“Maybe when this house was built,” came yet another new voice. Looking over to the doorway, I realized now that someone else had been with Rose when she arrived, but I’d been too startled by her to notice. Again, that was a Rose thing. She always drew the attention. “It’s been rusted since we moved here.”
This newcomer was a Moroi, which set me on edge again. That brought the count up to four Moroi and two dhampirs. I was trying very hard not to adopt Keith’s attitude—especially since I already knew some of the people here—but it was hard to shake that overwhelming sense of Us and Them. Moroi aged like humans, and at a guess, I thought this new guy was close to my age, maybe Keith’s at most. He had nice features, I supposed, with black curling hair and gray eyes. The smile he offered seemed sincere, though there was a slight sense of uneasiness in the way he stood. His gaze was fixed on Keith and me, intrigued, and I wondered if maybe he didn’t spend a lot of time with humans. Most Moroi didn’t, though they didn’t share the same fears about our race as we did about theirs. But then, ours didn’t use theirs as food.
“I’m Lee Donahue,” he said, extending his hand. Once again, Keith didn’t take it, but I did and introduced us.
Lee looked back and forth between me and Keith, face full of wonder. “Alchemists, right? I’ve never met one of you. The tattoos you guys have are beautiful,” he said, eyeing the gold lily on my cheek. “I’ve heard about what they can do.”
“Donahue?” asked Keith. He glanced between Lee and Clarence. “Are you related?”
Lee gave Clarence an indulgent look. “Father and son.”
Keith frowned. “But you don’t live here, do you?” I was surprised that this, of all things, would draw him out. Maybe he didn’t like the idea that his intel was faulty. He was Palm Springs’ Alchemist, after all, and he’d believed Clarence was the only Moroi in the area.
“Not regularly, no,” said Lee. “I go to college in LA, but my schedule’s just part-time this semester. So, I want to try to spend more time with Dad.”
Abe glanced at Rose. “You see that?” he said. “Now that’s devotion.” She rolled her eyes at him.
Keith looked like he had more questions about this, but Clarence’s mind was still back in the conversation. “I could’ve sworn I had that lock replaced.”
“Well, I can replace it soon for you if you want,” said Lee. “Can’t be that hard.”
“I think it’s fine.” Clarence rose unsteadily to his feet. “I’m going to take a look.”
Lee hurried to his side and shot us an apologetic look. “Does it have to be right now?” When it appeared that it did, Lee said, “I’ll go with you.” I got the impression that Clarence frequently followed his whims, and Lee was used to it.
I used the Donahues’ absence to get some answers I’d been dying to know. I turned to Jill. “You didn’t have any problems getting here, did you? No more, um, incidents?”
“We ran into a couple dissidents before we left Court,” said Rose, a dangerous note in her voice. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. The rest was uneventful.”
“And it’s going to stay that way,” said Eddie matter-of-factly. He crossed his arms over his chest. “At least if I have anything to do with it.”
I glanced between them, puzzled. “I was told there’d be
“Rose invited herself along,” said Abe. “Just to make sure the rest of us didn’t miss anything. Eddie’s the one who will be joining you at Amberwood.”
Rose scowled. “I should be the one staying. I should be Jill’s roommate. No offense, Sydney. We need you for the paperwork, but I’m the one who’s gotta kick anyone’s ass who gives Jill trouble.”
I certainly wasn’t going to argue against that.
“No,” said Jill, with surprising intensity. She’d been quiet and hesitant the last time I’d seen her, but her eyes grew fierce at the thought of being a burden to Rose. “You need to stay with Lissa and keep her safe. I’ve got Eddie, and besides, no one even knows I’m here. Nothing else is going to happen.”
The look in Rose’s eyes said she was skeptical. I also suspected she didn’t truly believe anyone could protect either Vasilisa or Jill as well as she could. That was saying something, considering the young queen was surrounded in bodyguards. But even Rose couldn’t be everywhere at once, and she must have had to choose. Her words made me turn my attention back to Jill.
“What
