Last Sacrifice

'Still . . .' Mikhail looked down at Sonya who was smiling at him through her tears. 'You've given me my world back.'

'I'm so happy for you . . . and I want you to have this, to just enjoy this right now. But I have a favor. One more favor.'

Sonya and Mikhail exchanged glances in a knowing way. You never would have guessed they'd been apart for three years. She nodded, and he returned his gaze to me. 'I figured that's why he brought me here.' He inclined his head toward Adrian.

'I need you to get me into the hotel where the Alchemists are staying.'

The small smile on Mikhail's face dropped. 'Rose . . . I can't get you into any place. You being this close to Court is dangerous enough.'

I pulled the bracelet from my pocket. 'I'll have a disguise. They won't know it's me. Is there a reason you'd have to see the Alchemists?'

Sonya stayed in his arms, but his eyes were dark with thought. 'They'll have guardians near their rooms. We could probably pass ourselves off as relief.'

Dimitri nodded in agreement. 'If it's too different from their scheduled shift change, it'll raise eyebrows . . . but hopefully you'll have long enough to get in and find out what you need. The guardians are probably more worried about the Alchemists getting out than other guardians getting in.'

'Absolutely,' said Mikhail. 'So it's you and me, Rose?'

'Yup,' I said. 'The fewer, the better. Just enough to question Sydney and Ian. I guess everyone else waits here.'

Sonya kissed his cheek. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

Adrian had strolled over by now and given Jill a light, brotherly punch in the arm. 'And I'm going to stay and hear how on earth you got involved with this, Jailbait.'

Jill mustered a smile for him. She had a pretty hardcore crush on him, and it was a sign of her stress that she didn't blush and go all weak-kneed. They started a conversation, and Dimitri gestured for me to follow him around the car, out of sight.

'This is dangerous,' he said quietly. 'If that charm fails, you probably aren't going to get out of that hotel.' There was an unspoken alive at the end of his words.

'It won't fail. Sonya's good. Besides, if we're caught, maybe they'll bring me back to Court instead of killing me. Imagine how much that will slow the elections.'

'Rose, I'm serious.'

I caught hold of his hand. 'I know, I know. This'll be easy. We should be in and out in under an hour, but if we aren't . . .' Man, I hated grim contingencies. 'If we aren't, then send Adrian to Court with Jill, and you and Sonya hide out somewhere until . . . I don't know.'

'Don't worry about us,' he said. 'You just be careful.' He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

'Little dhampir, are you—'

Adrian came strolling around the car, just in time to see that small kiss. I dropped my hand from Dimitri's. None of us said anything, but in that moment, Adrian's eyes . . . well, I saw his whole world come crashing apart. I felt sicker than if a fleet of Strigoi were around. I felt worse than a Strigoi. Honor, I thought. For real: the guardians should have taught it. Because I hadn't learned it.

'Let's hurry,' said Mikhail, walking over, oblivious to the drama that had just exploded beside him. 'Sonya says you guys have a ticking clock at Court too.'

I swallowed, dragging my eyes from Adrian. My heart twisted within my chest. 'Yeah . . .'

'Go,' said Dimitri.

'Remember,' I murmured to him. 'Talking to him is my responsibility. Not yours.'

I followed Mikhail to his car, slipping on the charmed bracelet. Before getting inside, I cast a quick glance back. Jill and Sonya were speaking together, Dimitri stood alone, and Adrian was taking out a cigarette, his back to them all.

'I suck,' I said dismally, as Mikhail started the car. It was ineloquent but pretty much summed up my feelings.

He didn't respond, probably because it wasn't relevant to our task. Either that, or he was still too wrapped up in the renewal of his own love life. Lucky bastard.

It didn't take long to reach the hotel. There were guardians around, covertly placed so as not to draw human attention. None of them stopped us as we walked inside. One even gave Mikhail a nod of recognition. They all looked at me like . . . well, like they didn't recognize me. Which was good. With so many guardians helping at Court, new faces were to be expected, and mine didn't look like Rose Hathaway's. No one was concerned.

'Which rooms are they in?' Mikhail asked a guardian who was standing in the lobby. 'We're supposed to relieve that shift.' Mikhail's manner was perfectly self-assured, enough that the guardian—while a little surprised —seemed to think this must be okay.

'Only two of you? There are four up there.'

I saved us on that one. 'They want more back at Court. Things are getting out of hand, so just two are being assigned here now.'

'Probably all we need up there,' agreed the guardian. 'Third floor.'

'Quick thinking,' Mikhail told me in the elevator.

'That was nothing. I've talked myself out of much worse.'

The rooms were easy to spot because a guardian stood outside them. The rest are inside, I realized, wondering if that would be a problem. But, with that same authoritative attitude, Mikhail told the guy that he and the others had been recalled to Court. The guardian summoned his colleagues— one from each Alchemist's rooms, though we couldn't tell whose was whose—and they gave us a brief status report before leaving, including who was in which room.

When they were gone, Mikhail looked to me. 'Sydney,' I said.

We'd been given key cards and walked right into Sydney's room. She sat cross-legged on her bed, reading a book and looking miserable. She sighed when she saw us.

'Well, what is it now?'

I took off the bracelet, letting my illusion vanish.

There was no jaw dropping or raised eyebrows from Sydney. Just a knowing look. 'I should have guessed. Are you here to free me?' There was a hopeful note in her voice.

'Um, not exactly.' I hated that Sydney was going to get punished, but smuggling her out wasn't part of the plan now. 'We need to talk to Ian, and it's probably best if you're there. He knows something important. Something we need.'

That got the raised eyebrow. She pointed at the door. 'They won't let us talk to each other.'

'They aren't out there,' I said smugly.

Sydney shook her head ruefully. 'Rose, you really do scare me sometimes. Just not for the reasons I originally thought you would. Come on. He's next door, but you'll have a hard time getting him to talk.'

'That's where you'll help,' I said, as we walked into the hall. I slipped the bracelet back on. 'He's totally into you. He'll help if you ask.'

As I'd guessed, Sydney was completely oblivious to Ian's crush. 'What! He does not—'

She shut her mouth as we entered Ian's room. He was watching TV but jumped up when he saw us. 'Sydney! Are you okay?'

I shot her a meaningful look.

She gave me a pained one in return and then turned her attention back to Ian. 'They need your help with something. Some information.'

He turned his gaze on us, and it immediately went colder. 'We answered your questions a hundred times.'

'Not all of them,' I said. 'When you were at Court, you saw a picture on the table. Of a dead man. Who was it?'

Ian's lips went into a straight line. 'I don't know.'

'I saw—er, that is, we know you recognized him,' I argued. 'You reacted.'