Bloodlines

Jill sat bolt upright. “No, don’t tell Eddie. He’ll freak out.”

“Okay, okay. But tell me what happened. They said you got sent here?”

“Yeah.” Jill made a face. “Because I was kicked out of my first class.”

I was speechless. I couldn’t imagine what sweet, shy Jill could have possibly done to warrant that. Oh, God. I hope she didn’t bite someone. I was the one everyone expected to have trouble fitting into a school schedule. Jill should have been a pro.

“What were you kicked out for?”

Jill sighed. “For having a hangover.”

More speechlessness. “What?”

“I was sick. Ms. Chang—my teacher—took one look at me and said she could spot a hangover a mile away. She sent me to the office for breaking school rules. I told them I was just sick, but she kept saying she knew. The principal finally said there was no way to prove that’s why I was sick, so I didn’t get punished, but I wasn’t allowed to go to the rest of my classes. I had to stay here for the rest of the school day.”

“That’s . . . that’s idiotic!” I shot to my feet and began pacing. Now that I’d recovered from my initial disbelief, I was simply outraged. “I was with you last night. You slept here. I should know. I woke up once, and you were out cold. How can Ms. Chang even make an accusation like that? She had no proof! The school didn’t either. They had no right to send you out of class. I should go to the office right now! No, I’m going to talk to Keith and the Alchemists and have our ‘parents’ file a complaint.”

“No, wait, Sydney.” Jill jumped up and caught ahold of my arm, as though afraid I would march out then and there. “Please. Don’t. Just let it go. I don’t want to cause any more trouble. I didn’t get any bad marks. I wasn’t really punished.”

“You’re behind in your classes,” I said. “That’s punishment enough.”

Jill shook her head, eyes wide. She was afraid, I realized, but I had no idea why she wouldn’t want me to tell. She was the victim here. “No, it’s fine. I’ll catch up. There are no long-term consequences. Please don’t make a big deal out of this. The other teachers probably just thought I was sick. They probably don’t even know about the accusations.”

“It’s not right, though,” I growled. “I can do something about it. It’s what I’m here for, to help you.”

“No,” said Jill adamantly. “Please. Let it go. If you really want to help . . .” She averted her eyes.

“What?” I asked, still filled with righteous fury. “What do you need? Name it.”

Jill looked back up. “I need you . . . I need you to take me to Adrian.”

CHAPTER 7

“ADRIAN?” I SAID IN SURPRISE. “What’s he have to do with any of this?”

Jill simply shook her head and looked at me beseechingly. “Please. Just take me to him.”

“But we’ll be back there in a couple days for your feeding.”

“I know,” said Jill. “But I need to see him now. He’s the only one who will understand.”

I found that hard to believe. “You’re saying I wouldn’t? Or that even Eddie wouldn’t?”

She groaned. “No. You can’t tell Eddie. He’ll flip out.”

I tried not to frown as I mulled everything over. Why would Jill need to see Adrian after this mishap at school? Adrian couldn’t do anything to help that I couldn’t. As an Alchemist, I was in the best position to file a complaint. Did Jill just want moral support? I remembered how Jill had hugged Adrian goodbye and suddenly wondered if she had a crush on him. Because surely, if Jill needed to feel protected by someone, Eddie would be a better source to turn to. Or would he? Eddie was likely to go throwing office desks around in his outrage. Keeping this from him might not be a bad idea.

“Okay,” I said at last. “Let’s go.”

I signed us out for off-campus travel, which took a little finagling. Mrs. Weathers was quick to point out that Jill had been banished to her dorm for the rest of the school day. I was equally quick to point out that classes were almost done, technically meaning the school day was almost finished. Mrs. Weathers couldn’t fault the logic but still made us wait the full ten minutes until the last bell rang. Jill sat there, tapping her foot anxiously against the chair.

We drove the half hour to Clarence’s estate in the hills, saying little. I didn’t really know what kind of small talk to make. “How was your first day of school?” was hardly an appropriate topic. And anyway, each time I thought about it, I just grew angrier. I couldn’t believe any teacher would have the audacity to accuse Jill of drinking and having a hangover. There was really no way to prove something like that, and besides, you could tell after spending five minutes with her that it was impossible.

A middle-aged human woman greeted us at the door. Her name was Dorothy, and she was Clarence’s housekeeper and feeder. Dorothy was pleasant enough, if a little distracted, and wore a stiff gray dress with a high collar to hide the bite marks on her neck. I smiled back at her and maintained my professional mode but couldn’t help a shudder when I thought about what she was. How could anyone do that? How could anyone offer their blood up willingly like that? My stomach lurched, and I found myself keeping my distance from her. I didn’t even want to accidentally brush her arm when I walked past.

Dorothy escorted us back to the room we’d all been sitting in the day before. There was no sign of Clarence, but Adrian was lying on a plush green couch, watching a TV that had been cleverly concealed inside an ornate wooden cabinet last time. When he saw us, he turned the TV off with a remote control and sat up. Dorothy excused herself and shut the French doors behind her.

“Well, this is a nice surprise,” he said. He looked us over. Jill had changed into her normal clothes during her isolation today, but I still had on the Amberwood blouse and skirt. “Sage, aren’t you guys supposed to have uniforms? This looks like what you usually wear.”

“Cute,” I said, suppressing an eye roll.

Adrian gave me a mock bow. “Careful. You almost smiled.” He reached for a bottle of brandy sitting on a nearby table. Small glasses were arranged around it, and he poured himself a generous amount. “You guys want one?”

“It’s the middle of the afternoon,” I said incredulously. Not that it’d really matter for me what time of day it was.

“I’ve got a wicked hangover,” he declared, giving us a mock toast. “This is just the thing to cure it.”

“Adrian, I need to talk to you,” said Jill earnestly.

He looked over at her, the smirk fading from his face. “What’s up, Jailbait?”

Jill glanced uneasily at me. “Would you mind . . .”

I took the hint and tried not to let on how irritated I was by all the secrets. “Sure. I’ll just . . . I’ll just go outside again.” I didn’t like the idea of being exiled, but no way was I going to wander the halls of the old house. I’d face the heat.

I hadn’t gotten very far down the hall when someone stepped out in front of me. I let out a small scream and nearly jumped three feet in the air. A heartbeat later, I realized it was Lee—not that it reassured me much. No matter how ostensibly friendly I was with this group, old defenses inside me kicked up at being alone with a new vampire. Running into him didn’t help matters either because my brain processed it as an attack! Lee just stood there, staring at me. From the expression on his face, he was just as startled to find me in his house—though perhaps not quite as alarmed about it as I was.

“Sydney?” asked Lee. “What are you doing here?”

Within moments, my fear became embarrassment, like I’d been caught prowling. “Oh . . . I’m here with Jill. She had kind of a rough day and needed to talk to Adrian. I wanted to give them some privacy and was going to just . . . uh, go outside.”

Lee’s confusion transformed into a smile. “You don’t have to do that. No need for exile. Come on, I was going to get a snack in the kitchen.” My face must have shown abject horror because he laughed. “Not the human kind.”