Bloodlines

“I like her,” said Lee bluntly. “I’ve only talked to her a couple of times, but . . . well, I’d really like to get to know her better.”

Adrian scoffed, and I shot him a glare. “Once again,” I said. “I think you guys have different definitions for the same words.”

“Not true,” said Adrian. “All guys mean the same thing when they want to ‘get to know a girl better.’ You’re a well-bred young lady, so I understand why you’d be too innocent to understand. Good thing you’ve got me here to interpret.”

I turned back to Lee, not even bothering to respond to Adrian. “I think it’s fine if you go out with her.”

“Assuming she’d even be interested,” said Lee, looking uncertain.

I remembered her smile when he’d stopped to talk to her yesterday. That had seemed pretty promising. But then, so had her enthusiasm over Micah. “I bet she would.”

“So you’re just going to let her go off alone?” asked Adrian, giving me a look that told me not to question him. This time, his concern was legitimate. I shared it. Jill was in Palm Springs to be safe. She was enrolled at Amberwood because it was also safe. Suddenly going out with a guy we hardly knew would not meet either Alchemist or guardian protocols for safety.

“Well, she can’t even leave campus,” I said, thinking aloud. “Not without me.”

“Whoa,” said Adrian, “if you get to come along as a chaperone, so do I.”

“If we both do, then Eddie will want to as well,” I pointed out. “Doesn’t sound like much of a date.”

“So?” Adrian’s brief moment of seriousness and concern had vanished in the face of what he saw as social fun. How could anyone’s mood flip so quickly? “Think of it as less of a date than a faux-family outing. One that will entertain me while protecting her virtue.”

I put my hands on my hips and turned toward him. This seemed to amuse him more. “Adrian, we’re focusing on Jill here. This isn’t about your personal entertainment.”

“Not true,” he said, green eyes sparkling. “Everything’s about my personal entertainment. The world is my stage. Keep it up—you’re becoming a star performer in the show.”

Lee glanced between us with a comically helpless look. “Do you guys want to be alone?”

I flushed. “Sorry.” Adrian made no apologies, of course.

“Look,” said Lee, who kind of seemed like he was beginning to regret bringing this up at all. “I like her. If it means bringing your whole group so I can be with her, then that’s fine.”

“Maybe it’s better this way,” I mused. “Maybe if we do more things as a group—aside from her feedings—she won’t be in danger of wanting to go out with a human guy.” Who we didn’t even know for sure that she was interested in. We didn’t even know if she was interested in Lee either. We were being awfully heavy-handed with her love life, I realized.

“This is kind of what I wanted before,” Adrian said to me. “Just more of a social life.”

I thought back to yesterday’s conversation, in which he’d demanded I find him lodging. “That’s not quite what you asked for.”

“If you want to get out more,” said Lee, “you should come back to LA with me tonight. I’ll be back here after class tomorrow anyway, so it’d just be a quick trip.”

Adrian brightened so much that I wondered if Lee had suggested it to try to smooth over any tension remaining about his interest in Jill. “Will you introduce me to those girls?” asked Adrian.

“Unbelievable,” I said. Adrian’s double standard was ridiculous.

I didn’t notice the door opening until Keith was completely in the room. I was never exactly happy to see him, but it was good luck that he was suddenly here, right when I needed to talk to him about Jill and her problems with PE. My best plan had been to show up at his apartment and hope to catch him there. He’d saved me the trouble.

Keith looked at all three of us—but he didn’t share our smiles. No winks or pretty boy charm from him today. “I saw your car out there, Sydney,” he said sternly, turning to me. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to talk to Adrian,” I said. “Did you get my message? I tried calling earlier.”

“I’ve been busy,” he said crisply. His expression was hard, his tone chilling the room. Adrian and Lee had lost their smiles, and both now looked confused as they tried to figure out why Keith was so annoyed. I shared their curiosity. “Let’s talk. In private.”

I suddenly felt like a naughty child without knowing why. “Sure,” I said. “I . . . I was just leaving anyway.” I moved to join Keith at the door.

“Wait,” said Lee. “What about—” Adrian nudged him and shook his head, murmuring something I couldn’t hear. Lee stayed quiet.

“See you around,” said Adrian cheerfully. “Don’t worry—I’ll remember what we talked about.”

“Thanks,” I said. “See you guys later.”

Keith left without a word, and I followed him out of the house and into the late-afternoon heat. The temperature had gone down since the ill-fated PE class but not by much. Keith trudged through the gravel driveway, coming to a halt beside Latte. His car was parked nearby.

“That was rude,” I told him. “You didn’t even say goodbye to them.”

“Sorry if I don’t bring out my best manners for vampires,” snapped Keith. “I’m not as close to them as you are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, crossing my arms. Staring him down, I felt all my old animosity bubble up. It was hard to believe that I’d been laughing just a minute ago.

Keith sneered. “Just that you seemed awfully cozy with them in there—hanging out, having a good time. I didn’t know this was where you spent your free time after school.”

“How dare you! I came here on business,” I growled.

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“I did. I had to talk to Adrian about Jill.”

“I don’t recall him being her guardian.”

“He cares about her,” I argued. “Just like any of us would for a friend.”

“Friend? They’re not like us at all,” said Keith. “They’re godless and unnatural, and you have no business being friends with any of them.”

I wanted to shout back that from what I’d observed, Lee was a hundred times more decent of a person than Keith would ever be. Even Adrian was. It was only at the last second that my training kicked in. Don’t raise a fuss. Don’t contradict your superiors. No matter how much I hated it, Keith was in charge here. I took a deep breath.

“It was hardly fraternizing. I simply came by to talk to Adrian, and Lee happened to be here. It wasn’t like we’d all been planning some big party.” Best not to mention the group date plan.

“Why didn’t you just call Adrian if you had a question? You called me.”

Because being face-to-face with him is less sickening than being around you.

“It was important. And when I couldn’t get ahold of you, I figured I’d have to drive over to your place anyway.”

Hoping to shift away from my “bad behavior,” I jumped in and recapped everything that had happened today, including Jill’s sun exposure and Micah’s attentions.

“Of course she can’t date him,” he exclaimed, after I’d explained about Micah. “You have to put a stop to that.”

“I’m trying. And Adrian and Lee said they’d help.”

“Oh, well, I feel a lot better now.” Keith shook his head. “Don’t be naive, Sydney. I told you. They don’t care about this stuff as much as we do.”

“I think they do,” I argued. “Adrian seemed to get it, and he has a lot of influence over Jill.”

“Well, he’s not the one the Alchemists are going to come after and send off to re-education for playing around with vampires when she should be disciplining them.”

I could only stare. I wasn’t sure which part of what he’d just said was more offensive: the well-worn insinuation that I was a “vamp lover” or that I was capable of “disciplining” any of them. I should’ve known his false friendliness wouldn’t last.

“I’m doing my job here,” I said, still keeping my voice level. “And from what I can see, I’m doing more work than you, since I’m the one who’s been putting out fires all week.”