pulled away. “It is not! It was a mistake. You were out of line doing that to me.”
His eyebrows rose. “Sage, I distinctly remember every part of that night. You didn’t seem that unwilling. You were practically on top of me.”
“I don’t really remember the details,” I lied.
He moved his hand from my neck and rested a fingertip on my lips. “But I’ll stick to just kissing these if it makes you feel better. No mark.” He started to lean toward me, and I jerked away.
“You will not! It’s wrong.”
“What, kissing you, or kissing you in Pies and Stuff?”
I glanced around, suddenly aware that we were creating a dinner show for the senior citizens, even if they couldn’t hear us. I backed up.
“Both,” I said, feeling my cheeks burn. “If you’re going to attempt something inappropriate—something you said you wouldn’t do anymore—then you could at least pick a better place.”
He laughed softly, and the look in his eyes confused me further. “Okay,” he said. “The next time I kiss you, I promise it’ll be in a more romantic place.”
“I—what? No! You shouldn’t try at all!” I began moving toward the door, and he fell in step with me. “What happened to loving me from a distance? What happened to not, um, bringing up any of this stuff?” For someone who was allegedly just going to watch from afar, he wasn’t doing a very good job. And I was doing an even worse job of being indifferent.
He moved in front of the door and blocked my way. “I said I wouldn’t—if you don’t want me to. But you’re kind of giving me mixed signals, Sage.”
“I am not,” I said, amazed that I could even say that with a straight face. Even I didn’t believe it. “You’re presumptuous and arrogant and a whole lot of other things if you think I’ve changed my mind.”
“You see, that’s just it.” There he was again, moving into my space. “I think you like the ‘other things.’”
I shook off my daze and pulled away. “I like
Another Alchemist lesson came to mind.
Adrian didn’t look like he believed this either, but he stepped away and headed outside. I followed a few moments later, thinking I’d played with fire more than once today.
CHAPTER 14
SUNDAY ROLLED AROUND, and the day started off quietly. We were nearing the point when Veronica might strike again, and my stomach was in knots over what her next step would be . . . and how stuck we were on how to stop her. Then I received help from an unexpected source when my phone rang with an unknown number on the display.
Normally, I wouldn’t answer something like that, but my life was hardly normal these days. Besides, it was a Los Angeles area code.
“Hello?”
“Hi! Is this Taylor?”
It took me a moment to remember my secret identity. I did not, however, recall giving my actual number to any of the girls we’d warned about Veronica.
“Yes,” I said warily.
“This is Alicia, from Old World Bed-and-Breakfast.”
“Hi,” I said, still puzzled as to why and how she’d be calling me.
Her voice was as cheery and bright as when we’d met her. “I wanted to know if you’d thought any more about getting a room for your anniversary.”
“Oh, well . . . that. We’re still deciding. But, uh, probably we’re going to go with something closer to the coast. You know, romantic beach walks and all that.”
“I can totally understand,” she said, though she sounded disappointed at the loss of a sale. “If you change your mind, just let me know. We’re running a special this month, so you could get the Bunny Suite at a really good price. I remember you saying it reminded you of your pet rabbit. What was his name?”
“Hopper,” I said flatly.
“Hopper! That’s right. Such a sweet name.”
“Yeah, awesome.” I tried to think of a polite way to phrase my next question but simply chose directness. “Look, Alicia, how did you get this number?”
“Oh, Jet gave it to me.”
“He did?”
“Yup.” She’d apparently gotten over her disappointment and now sounded bright and chirpy again. “He filled out an info card while you guys were here and put down your number.”
I nearly groaned. Typical.
“Good to know,” I said. I wondered how often Adrian gave my number out. “Thanks for following up.”
“Happy to. Oh!” She giggled. “I nearly forgot. Your friend is back.”
I froze. “What?”
“Veronica. She checked back in yesterday.”
My first reaction was excitement. My second one was panic. “Did you tell her we were asking about her?”
“Oh, no. I remembered you saying you wanted to surprise her.”
I nearly sank in relief. “Thank you. We, uh, wouldn’t to ruin that. We’ll have to stop by and visit—but don’t tell her.”
“You can count on me!”
We disconnected, and I stared at the phone. Veronica was back. Just when we thought we’d lost all leads on her. I immediately called Ms. Terwilliger but was sent to voice mail. I left a message and then followed up with a text, saying I had urgent news. My phone rang again, just as I was about to call Adrian. I almost hoped Alicia had more to tell me, but then I saw that it was Stanton’s number. After first taking a deep breath, I tried to answer in as calm a way as possible.
“Miss Sage,” she said. “I received your message yesterday.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for calling me back.”
I’d called her yesterday, just before meeting up with Adrian. Ms. Terwilliger’s magical training had taken priority at the time, but I hadn’t forgotten my deal with Marcus.
“I have a, um, favor to ask,” I continued.
Stanton, who was rarely surprised, was clearly surprised now. “You’re certainly entitled to ask . . . but you’re just not usually the type who does.”
“I know, and I feel bad. So, if you have to say no, I understand.” In truth, if she said no, I would have a number of problems on my hands, but it was best not to sound too eager. “Well, I’ve been thinking about how I have to spend Christmas here—with the Moroi. And I definitely understand that, ma’am. It’s part of the mission, but . . . well, I’d be lying if I said that didn’t bother me. So, I was wondering if there’s any way at all I’d be allowed to go to one of the big holiday services. It would make me feel . . . oh, I don’t know. More connected. Purified, even. I’m just always surrounded by them here, by that taint, you know? I feel like I can’t even breathe half the time. That probably sounds ridiculous.”
I cut my rambling off. When Marcus had first suggested taking advantage of knowing someone in St. Louis, I’d immediately thought of Ian. Then I realized that wasn’t enough. Alchemists on assignment couldn’t just ask for casual time off to visit friends. Time off for something more spiritual and group-oriented—say, the Alchemists’ annual holiday services—was a different matter. Lots of Alchemists were given clearance to travel and attend those services. They were tied to our faith and group unity. In fact, Ian had even brought it up at the wedding in the hopes of luring me to visit him. Little had he known his trick would pay off. Kind of.
