Last Sacrifice

you have more questions.'

'Unacceptable,' said Hans. 'She stays here.'

Ian, the other Alchemist, joined the argument, moving protectively in front of Sydney. 'We're not leaving one of our own here!' Again, I had that funny feeling about him. A crush, that was it. He had a crush on her and was treating this as more than just business. Stanton gave him a look that said she would handle this matter. He fell silent.

'You can all stay here, then,' said Hans. 'Makes no difference to me. We'll get you rooms.'

'That is unacceptable.' From there, she and Hans got into a raging argument. I didn't think it would come to blows, but the other guardians had closed in slightly as a precaution.

Ian's eyes darted between Stanton and Sydney, but he didn't get into the fray. Once, his gaze passed over the table Hans leaned against, and Ian suddenly did a double take at the photograph. It was only a brief pause, a slight widening of the eyes . . . but Lissa caught it.

She took a step toward Ian and Sydney. One of the guardians glanced at the movement, deemed Lissa safe, and returned to watching Stanton. 'You know him,' Lissa murmured, keeping her voice below the shouts. In fact, it was a little too low because she got blank looks from Sydney and Ian. Their ears couldn't hear what a Moroi or dhampir could have.

Lissa glanced uneasily around, not wanting to attract attention. She raised her volume slightly. 'You know him. The guy in the picture.'

Ian stared at Lissa, a bit of wonder and wariness on his face. He undoubtedly bore that same standoffish attitude toward vampires, but her words had caught him off guard. And, even if she was an evil creature of the night, she was a very pretty one.

'Ian,' said Sydney softly. 'What is it?' There was a note of urging in her voice, one that inadvertently played upon his crush, I think. He opened his mouth to speak, but then, the 'conversation' among the others wrapped up. Sydney again became the center of attention, and Ian turned away from Lissa.

The compromise Stanton and Hans had reached was exactly that—a compromise. Neither was happy with it. There was a small town less than forty-five minutes away from Court, and the Alchemists would stay there— with several guardians on hand. It sounded like a house arrest to me, and Stanton's expression seemed to agree. I think she only consented because it was a human town. Before he'd let everyone go, Hans questioned my friends a final time, his eyes studying every face carefully.

'And none of you—none of you—know this Alchemist girl or have been in contact with her? Or know about her involvement with Hathaway?'

Again, Lissa and the others denied it, and again, Hans had no choice but to grudgingly accept the responses. Everyone moved toward the door, but Hans wouldn't let Eddie leave. 'Not you, Castile. You're staying here until other matters are settled.'

Lissa gasped. 'What? But he—'

'Don't worry about it,' said Eddie with a small smile. 'Everything'll be okay. Just look after yourself.'

Lissa hesitated, despite Christian tugging her arm to go. Although all accounts said Eddie had defended Lissa's life, he'd still killed a Moroi. That wouldn't be taken lightly. The guardians had to be 100 percent convinced he'd had no other choice before they'd release him. Seeing the strong, calm look on his face, Lissa knew he was prepared to handle whatever came.

'Thank you,' she said, walking past him. 'Thank you for saving me.'

His answer was a slight nod, and Lissa stepped into the hallway—to find herself in more chaos.

'Where are they? I insist on—ah.'

My friends and the Alchemists had been heading toward the exit while a group of guardians escorted them. Meanwhile, someone had entered the hall and was now being stopped and challenged by the guardians. It was Abe.

He took in every piece of the bizarre scenario in less than a heartbeat, his eyes passing over Sydney and the Alchemists as though he'd never seen them before. Through Lissa's eyes, I saw Sydney blanch, but nobody else noticed. Abe smiled at Lissa and sidled up to walk out with her.

'There you are. They want you for the last monarch test.'

'And they sent you?' asked Christian skeptically.

'Well, I volunteered,' replied Abe. 'I'd heard there was some, er, excitement. Murder, fanatical religious humans, interrogations. All things I'm interested in, you know.'

Lissa rolled her eyes but said nothing until the whole group emerged from the building. The Alchemists and their unwelcome escort went one way while Lissa and our friends went the other. Lissa longed to glance at Sydney and Ian—I did too—but knew it was best to keep moving forward and follow Abe's lead, particularly since some of those guardians were watching more than just the Alchemists.

As soon as Lissa's group was far enough away from the authorities, Abe's amiable smile vanished, and he turned on my friends. 'What the hell happened? I've heard all sorts of crazy stories. Someone said you were dead.'

'Nearly,' said Lissa. She told him about the attack, expressing her fear over Eddie.

'He'll be fine,' said Abe dismissively. 'They have nothing to hold him on. The worst he'll get is a mark on his record.'

Lissa was relieved by Abe's easy assurance, but I still felt guilty. Thanks to me, Eddie's record was already marred. His sterling reputation was declining on a daily basis.

'That was Sydney Sage,' said Lissa. 'I thought they were all in West Virginia. Why isn't she with Rose?'

'That,' said Abe darkly, 'is an excellent question.'

'Because they were apparently kidnapping Jill Mastrano in Detroit,' said Christian. 'Which is weird. But not the craziest thing I can think of Rose doing.' I appreciated the support.

Abe got a recap of this new development too, at least as much as my friends knew of it—which was only a fraction of the whole story. Abe picked up immediately that he'd been played, and it was obvious from his angry expression that he didn't like being kept in the dark. Welcome to the club, old man, I thought with small satisfaction. I hadn't forgotten how no one had filled me in on the escape plan. My smugness was short-lived because I was worried about what would happen to Sydney, now that Abe was on to her.

'That girl was lying to me,' he growled. 'Every day, all these reports about how quiet and boring it was in West Virginia. I wonder if they even made it to that town. I have to go talk to her.'

'Good luck,' said Adrian, pulling a cigarette out and lighting it. Apparently, in my absence, the dating contract he'd jokingly made up that said he would 'cut back' on his vices didn't apply. 'I don't think her cronies or the guardians are going to let you near her.'

'Oh, I'll get to her,' said Abe. 'She's got a lot of answers. If she hid them from those other idiots, then good for her. But she's going to tell me.'

A sudden thought sparked into Lissa's mind. 'You have to talk to Ian. That guy with the Alchemists. He knows the man in the picture—er, I mean, the guy Eddie killed.'

'You're certain?' asked Abe.

'Yes,' said Adrian, surprising them all. 'Ian definitely had a reaction. He's also got a crush on that Sydney girl.'

'I saw that too,' said Lissa.

'She seems kind of uptight.' Adrian frowned. 'But maybe their kind go for that.'

'That crush might actually be useful,' mused Abe. 'You women don't know the power you wield. Have you seen that guardian your aunt's dating? Ethan Moore?'

'Yes,' groaned Christian. 'Don't remind me.'

'Tasha is pretty hot, though,' noted Adrian.

'That is not cool,' said Christian.

'Don't get so huffy,' said Abe. 'Ethan's a palace guard. He was there the night of the murder—which could be very useful to us if she can keep him interested.'

Christian shook his head. 'Those guards already testified. It won't matter. Ethan's told what he knows.'

'I'm not so sure,' said Abe. 'There are always things that occur off the official record, and I'm positive the guards were all debriefed with strict orders on what to reveal and not to reveal. Your aunt might be charming enough to find out something for us.' Abe sighed, still looking very unhappy at the sudden upsetting of his orderly