Bloodlines

me through a few twists and turns of the dark halls, finally landing in a billiards room that looked like it could have been straight out of Clue. More dark wood lined the room, and stained glass windows let in filtered sunlight. Most of the room’s illumination came from a hanging light centered over a rich green pool table. Adrian was lining up a shot as I shut the door behind me.

“Oh,” he said, knocking a red ball into a hole. “It’s you.”

“You were expecting someone else?” I asked. “Am I interrupting your social calendar?” I made a big show of glancing around the empty room. “I don’t want to keep you from the mob of fans beating down your door.”

“Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it’s not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down outside and need my help.”

“That’s true,” I said. “Maybe I can put a sign out front that says, ‘ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: FREE HELP HERE.’”

“‘ATTENTION ALL HOT GIRLS,’” he corrected, straightening up.

“Right,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “That’s an important distinction.”

He pointed at me with the pool stick. “Speaking of hot, I like that uniform.”

This time, I did roll my eyes. After Adrian had teased me last time about my uniform looking like my normal clothes, I’d made sure to change out of it before coming today. Now I wore dark jeans and a black-and-white printed blouse with a ruffled collar. I should have known the outfit change wouldn’t save me from his snark.

“Are you the only one here?” I asked, noting his solo game.

“Nah. Clarence is around doing . . . I don’t know. Old man stuff. And I think Lee’s fixing that lock before he heads to LA. It’s kind of funny. He seems upset that he needs to use tools. He keeps thinking the strength of his own hands should be more than enough.”

I couldn’t help a smile. “I don’t suppose you offered to help?”

“Sage,” Adrian declared. “These hands don’t do manual labor.” He knocked another ball into a hole. “You want to play?”

“What? With you?”

“No, with Clarence.” He sighed at my dumbfounded look. “Yes, of course with me.”

“No. I need to talk to you about Jill.”

He was silent for a few moments and then returned to the game as though nothing had happened. “She wasn’t sick today.” He said that with certainty, though there was a funny, bitter tone to his words.

“No. Well, not in the same way. She got sick out in the sun during PE. I’m going to see Keith after this to see if we can get a medical excuse.” I’d actually tried calling him earlier, with no luck. “But that’s not why I’m here. There’s a guy who likes Jill—a human guy.”

“Have Castile rough him up.”

I leaned back against the wall and sighed. “That’s the thing. I asked him to. Well, not rough him up, exactly. It’s Eddie’s roommate. I asked Eddie to tell him to back off and make up some reason for staying away from Jill— like that she’s too young.” Fearing Adrian would be as lax as Eddie in this, I asked, “You understand why it’s important, right? No Moroi and human dating?”

He was watching the table, not me. “Yup, I’m with you there, Sage. But I still don’t see the problem.”

“Eddie won’t do it. He says he doesn’t think Jill should be denied the chance to date and go to dances. That it’s okay if she and Micah hang out, so long as it doesn’t get serious.”

Adrian was good at hiding his feelings, but this looked like it’d caught him by surprise. He straightened up and spun the base of the pool stick on the floor as he thought. “That is weird. I mean, I get the logic, and there’s something to it. She shouldn’t be forced into isolation while she’s here. I’m just surprised Castile came up with it.”

“Yeah, but that’s a hard concept to live by. Where do you draw the ‘casual’ line? Honestly, I get this feeling Eddie just didn’t want to confront Micah—the roommate. Which is crazy, because Eddie doesn’t seem like the type to be afraid of anything. What is there about Micah that would make Eddie so uneasy?”

“Is Micah some big, hulking guy?”

“No,” I said. “He’s built, I guess. Good at sports. Really friendly and easygoing—not the type you’d have to be afraid would turn on you if you warned him away from your sister.”

“Then you can talk to him. Or just talk to Jailbait and explain things to her.” Adrian seemed satisfied he’d solved the matter and knocked in the last ball.

“That was my plan. I just wanted to make sure you’d back me. Jill listens to you, and I thought it’d be easier if she knew you agreed with me. Not that I even know how she feels. For all I know, this is all overkill.”

“Can’t hurt to be too careful with her,” said Adrian. He stared off, lost in his own thoughts. “And I’ll let her know how I feel about it.”

“Thank you,” I said, kind of surprised at how easy this had been.

His green eyes danced mischievously. “Now will you play a round with me?”

“I don’t really—”

The door opened, and Lee walked in, dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. He was carrying a screwdriver. “Hey, Sydney. I thought I saw your car out there.” He glanced around. “Is, uh, Jill with you?”

“Not today,” I said. New insight struck me as I recalled that Lee attended school in Los Angeles. “Lee, have you ever dated a human girl at your school?”

Adrian arched an eyebrow. “Are you asking him out, Sage?”

I scowled. “No!”

Lee turned thoughtful. “No, not really. I have some human friends, and we go out as a group and hang out . . . but I’ve never done more than that. LA’s a big place, though. There are Moroi girls around, if you know where to look.”

Adrian perked up. “Oh?”

My hope that Lee might tell Jill he too had to avoid dating faded. “Well, that would make your dating situation much easier than Jill’s.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lee.

I recapped everything to him about Micah and Eddie. Lee nodded along thoughtfully.

“That is hard,” he admitted.

“Can we go back to the part about Moroi girls hanging out in LA?” asked Adrian hopefully. “Can you direct me to some of the . . . oh, let’s say, more open-minded ones?”

Lee’s attention was on me, however. His easy smile grew uncertain, and he glanced at his feet. “This might seem kind of weird . . . but I mean, I wouldn’t mind asking Jill out.”

Adrian was on that before I could even think of a response. “What, do you mean like on a date? You son of a bitch! She’s only fifteen.” You never would’ve guessed he’d been talking about easy Moroi girls only moments before.

“Adrian,” I said. “I’m guessing Lee’s definition of a date is a little different than yours.”

“Sorry, Sage. You’ve got to trust me when it comes to dating definitions. Last I checked, you aren’t an expert in social matters. I mean, when was the last time you were even on a date?” It was just another of the witty barbs he tossed around so easily, but it stung a little. Was my lack of social experience that obvious?

“But,” I added, ignoring Adrian’s question, “there is an age difference.” I honestly had no idea how old Lee was. His being in college gave me some clue, but Clarence seemed awfully old. Having a child late in life wasn’t that weird, though, for humans or Moroi.

“There is,” said Lee. “I’m nineteen. Not a huge gap—but big enough. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He looked embarrassed, and I felt both sorry for him and confused for myself. Matchmaking wasn’t in the Alchemist handbook.

“Why would you want to ask her out?” I asked. “I mean, she’s great. But are you just doing this to distract her from Micah and give her a safe dating alternative? Or do you, um, like her?”

“Of course he likes her,” said Adrian, quick to defend Jill’s honor.

I had a feeling that there was really no good way for Lee to answer at this point. If he expressed interest in her, Adrian’s bizarre chivalric instincts were going to kick in. If Lee wasn’t interested, Adrian would no doubt demand to know why Lee didn’t want to marry her then and there. It was one of those fascinating—but weird— quirks of Adrian’s personality.