The Fiery Heart

CHAPTER 7 ADRIAN

I WAS WORKING ON THAT STUPID SELF-PORTRAIT AGAIN.

My latest attempt was about to be discarded, not because of any spirit-induced pessimism, but because it just wasn’t any good. I mean, it was passable, and I probably could’ve come up with some plausible crap story about symbolism for my teacher. She would’ve bought it, and I could’ve gotten a decent grade. But I’d know the truth. This one was no good.

My mood was a little touchy today, mostly because I hadn’t slept well. I’d tossed and turned, unable to find deep sleep. Things had been made worse because Sydney wasn’t coming over today. She’d decided to stick around so that she and Zoe could do something immediately after classes ended. I understood the logic of keeping Sage Junior pacified, but that didn’t ease the ache of missing Sydney. At least we were scheduled for Friday dinner at Clarence’s tonight, but it was never the same when others were around.

The phone rang, jolting me out of my maudlin moment. I had to go on a mad search to find where it had slipped between the couch cushions and just barely managed to catch it before voice mail picked up. The caller was a total surprise.

“Your Majesty,” I said grandly.

“Hello, Adrian.” I could tell Lissa was already smiling. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, you know. The glam life of southern California. Palm trees and movie stars.” I slipped into my flippant mask easily, concealing what was really going on. Lissa wouldn’t have bought it if she were here in person, but over the phone, I was protected.

“Well, I hope you can drag yourself away from it because I have a . . . task for you.”

“Task?” Her word choice and change in tone tipped me off that something big was coming.

“There was another Strigoi restoration.”

Wow, the surprises just kept rolling in. “Who was it? And who the hell did it? You?”

“No—a different spirit user. One we didn’t know about. Her name is Nina Sinclair, and she just restored her sister. Olive.”

“Nina. Olive. Got it. Go on.”

Even I knew this was serious. The only thing even remotely as incredible as bringing someone back from the dead with spirit was restoring them from being a Strigoi. It was pretty difficult to do because it wasn’t just a matter of wielding a lot of spirit. You actually had to make sure the Strigoi was subdued. Then, the spirit user had to stake the Strigoi while working the magic. We directly knew of only three people this had happened to. We also didn’t know very many spirit users, so the discovery of a new one was a big deal.

“I need you to drop everything and go to them,” Lissa said. It wasn’t exactly her throne-room voice, but it was definitely the kind that didn’t expect an argument. “We need to find out if we can see anything in a newly saved person that might help us understand why they can’t be turned again. Sonya’s in Europe, and I can’t leave Court. You’re the only spirit user who can go and investigate on short notice.”

Now I understood the importance. Strigoi were made by two methods. One was if a Strigoi drained a victim and then gave blood back to him or her. Moroi could also turn by choice if they drained the person they were feeding from. We’d recently discovered that Strigoi who had been restored couldn’t be turned again. No one knew for sure if it was unique to them or if there was some way to use spirit to spread that ability to others. We couldn’t stop a Strigoi from killing someone through other means, but if there was a way to create magical protection to save others from being forced into that undead state, it could revolutionize our world. Sonya and I had worked for almost two months, running all sorts of tests and examinations to see if we could manipulate spirit into whatever it had done for the restored. No luck.

“Drop everything, huh?” I couldn’t help a little bitterness. Even though she knew I was in college, it could apparently be sidelined at a moment’s notice.

She sighed. “I know you’ve got things going on. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t crucial. She’s very recently restored—very recently. Less than twenty-four hours. If there’s some residual sign of what exactly happened in the process, we can’t waste a moment. We can get you on a flight to Dallas in a few hours. Rose and Dimitri are on their way there now.”

“Really?” At this point, there was really nothing I shouldn’t expect. Spending the weekend with my ex and her Russian warlord was probably just the warm-up for more shenanigans. “Well, at least he’ll have a chance to stock up on his Western wear.”

I could hear a hint of laughter in her voice. “You know why he has to go.”

I did. Dimitri Belikov was one of the lucky three—well, four now—who’d been restored. He didn’t have the ability to see spirit, but he did have the inside track on what it was like to suddenly “wake up” and realize you’d been a bloodthirsty monster who’d subsisted on the lives of innocents. Even I could appreciate how messed up that would make you. A little counseling from someone who’d gone through it would be useful, to say the least.

“I understand. And of course I’ll go, Your Majesty.”

“Don’t call me that. And don’t tell me you’re doing this just because you’re my subject. I hope you’ll do it because you’re my friend—and because it’s the right thing to do.” There was a plaintive note in her voice. It must be hard, I thought, when people saw you more as a queen than an actual person.

My next words were true. “I’m doing it for all of those reasons, cousin.”

“You haven’t called me that in a while,” she said fondly. We weren’t actually cousins, but it was a term of endearment the royal families often used with one another.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah.” Her voice grew wistful, and I again spared a thought for what it must be like to be a controversial eighteen-year-old queen with the weight of a nation thrust on your shoulders. “There wasn’t much time to talk at the wedding. How are you, Adrian? I mean, how are you really? With Jill . . . and everything . . .”

“You know how it is.” No flippancy. “Some days are better than others. What about you?”

There was a long silence. “The same. I didn’t realize how much Rose was helping me until our bond went away. She was shouldering so much of that darkness. Now it’s all on me. Which is for the best,” she added quickly. “But it’s still hard.”

“I know.” I fully understood the burden of spirit and could only imagine how that would compound the stress of her position. “At least Jill and I haven’t reached that point. She’s safe.”

“For now,” said Lissa. “It took a little while before the darkness started seeping into Rose. If you guys can work on blocking each other, that’ll help out a lot.”

In more ways than one, I thought.

“Yeah, we’re working on that. Not much luck.”

We fell into another moment of silence, but it was comfortable. Even through the phone, there was a warmth and understanding between the two of us about spirit that no one—except Sonya and this Nina girl—could truly ever grasp. Spirit’s price was powerful.

“Queen or not, I’m always here,” Lissa said, her voice soft. “If you ever need to talk about anything, I’ll understand.”

I was glad once again that we were on the phone because I was pretty sure all the strife and emotional turmoil over Sydney would’ve come spilling out. And no matter what Lissa kindheartedly said, I seriously didn’t think she’d understand that.

“Same here, cousin,” I said as gallantly as I could. “Tell me when and where to go, and I’ll be there with bells on.”

“We’ll have the flight info sent to—oh. I nearly forgot. You need to bring one of the dhampirs with you.”

“Did you get a free companion fare or something?”

“No,” she said, laughing. “It’s just safer. If Olive had any connections to other Strigoi—well, you never know if they might come sniffing around. We’re taking precautions. But if it helps, you can pick which one to take.”

That wasn’t even a choice. I was on the verge of saying Eddie when a moment of inspiration struck. “Neil.”

“Neil?” Lissa sounded surprised but didn’t question it. “Okay. We’ll make it happen.”

Maybe getting Mr. Buckingham Palace away from Palm Springs for a couple days would snap some sense into Jill and even Angeline. Sure, Jill would give me grief, but she’d thank me later when she realized she needed to give up on Neil as a distraction and just lay it all out on the line with Eddie.

As soon as I was off the phone with Lissa, I texted Sydney on the Love Phone: Can you talk? Classes weren’t over yet, so I was hoping she’d be Zoe-free. Sure enough, I got a call back a minute later.

“What’s up?” she asked, making no effort to hide her worry. “Are you okay?”

“Aside from the fact that that my world is a cold and lonely place when you aren’t around? Yeah, I’m okay. But I’m about to take an unexpected vacation.” I gave her a quick rundown of Nina and Olive.

“Wow,” she said when I finished. “Where are you going?”

“Guess. ‘The stars at night are big and bright . . .’”

There was silence.

“You don’t know that song?” I asked.

“No.”

“I’m going to Texas. Dallas. Maybe I can find a cute cowgirl outfit to bring back to you. Leather fringe, short skirt—”

“Just bring yourself back,” she said. But there was amusement in her voice. The line between exasperation and adoration was pretty thin with us sometimes. “When do you leave?”

“Lissa made it sound like a few hours, which probably means I’ll need to actually get to the airport soon. She’s still got to send me the information and have someone get in touch with Neil.” I was certain he wouldn’t warrant a personal royal call. Not like some people.

“Well, be careful . . . but wow, what an opportunity.” I could hear her shifting into intellectual mode. Well, she was always in that mode, but some moments were stronger than others. “I’d kind of given up on being able to find any way to prevent people turning.”

“It’s not a done deal,” I reminded her. “There may not be anything to see. Or I may not be able to find it.” The gravity of what was being placed on my shoulders began to settle in. This mystery had consumed some of the best and brightest minds over the last few months. Now, we had a huge lead . . . and it was up to me to examine it? Who was I to unlock spirit’s secrets? Sonya was better suited to this.

“If it can be done, you can do it,” Sydney said, guessing my insecurity. “I believe in you.”

“You have to say that because you’re my girlfriend.”

“I have to say it because it’s the truth.”

Later, as I packed a hasty overnight bag, I almost wished Sydney hadn’t called. Actually speaking to her just made our parting more bittersweet. Never—not even when I was obsessed with Rose—had I thought I’d be so far gone for a girl. A couple days away, and I plunged into despair. It was ironic since there’d been girls in the past that I kind of wished would stay away for a couple of days. Okay, a lot of days. It all seemed crazy, but then, I was crazy for Sydney.

Lissa sent along my travel info, and I took a taxi over to the airport. Sydney would’ve killed me if I left the Ivashkinator in the long-term parking garage. I was supposed to meet Neil at our airline’s desk and spotted him right away, with his height and rigid posture. And, to my surprise, a shorter blond figure stood beside him. Sydney turned at my approach, a cool Alchemist expression on her face.

“Why, Sage Senior,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like I wanted to throw her up against a wall and kiss her. “Did they draft you for this crazy adventure too?”

“Sydney was nice enough to give me a ride,” said Neil obliviously.

“That was nice of you,” I agreed, trying to sound as condescending as possible. “Figured you and your sister would be off doing top secret color coding. Or whatever it is you guys do for fun.”

Sydney crossed her arms and put on a stern look. “We rescheduled it so that I could make sure you guys got on your flight. I had to come in and see for myself that you showed up. This is serious, you know.”

I shrugged. “If you say so.”

She managed to look like a perfect, pissed-off Alchemist. Now I wanted to kiss her more than ever.

“We don’t have time for you guys to argue,” said Neil. “And this is serious.” He glanced over at a monitor, and in that brief moment, Sydney met my eyes. A hint of a smile curved at her lips, vanishing just as Neil faced us again. “Time to go. We need to check in.”

She nodded, just as businesslike as him. “Safe travels, and good luck.”

“We make our own luck, Sage.”

That nearly broke her act. It was an old joke between us, and I was glad Neil was too distracted to notice any interpersonal cues or body language. She and I were standing a healthy distance apart, but I was fully conscious of every inch between us and every detail of her body. To anyone else passing by, it was probably completely obvious that we were seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off.

She bid us farewell and left without a backward glance, but as I got in line to check in, my phone buzzed with a text: I love you.

On such short notice, we had to fly coach. Keeping me away from the temptation of complimentary liquor was probably just as well, since I’d need a clear head to tune in to spirit. Neil, mercifully, was a quiet companion, and I tried to distract myself by reading The Great Gatsby. Sydney had been horrified to discover my home library consisted of a bartending dictionary and an old copy of Esquire, and at her pleading, I’d promised to read something more substantial. I was trying to think deep thoughts as I read Gatsby, but mostly I wanted to throw some parties.

Nina and Olive were being kept at a safe house on the far outskirts of Dallas, with few neighbors to notice the odd sight of guardians patrolling the property. We parked our rental car in the driveway, and through the window, I recognized a familiar figure sitting on the porch’s chair swing, her feet up propped up on the railing. A prickle of anxiety ran through me.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered.

Rose stood up as we stepped onto the porch. For a moment, I was transported to our first meeting over a year ago, also on a porch. That one had been covered in snow, attached to a posh ski resort. Her beauty had taken my breath away then, and now, after all this time, I still wasn’t unaffected. Her long, dark hair spilled over her shoulders, and there was a fire in her brown eyes that was both dangerous and alluring. That same mix radiated from her body, even in a casual pose and wearing jeans.

And yet, though I admired her, I didn’t feel the old attraction or even pain. Sure, there was always going to be a sting from the insensitive way she’d botched up our brief relationship, but my heart no longer raced at the sight of her. I didn’t feel the devastation of having the love of my life ripped away. I didn’t even hate her anymore. Mostly, I found myself thinking of Sydney, with her lithe legs crossed underneath her as she studied books on my bed, the golden sunlight illuminating her face when she looked up to give me a knowing smile.

“You made good time,” I said by way of greeting. “Did Belikov bend the rules of time and space to get here so fast? He can do that, right?” The Moroi Royal Court was in Pennsylvania, making for a much longer trip than mine had been.

Rose smiled at that, though I could sense a little wariness in her as well. She wasn’t sure what to expect from me and was afraid I might do something that would cause a scene. I couldn’t blame her. It was probably why she was receiving me here before letting me into the volatile situation inside.

“No need to today. We got really, really lucky and got on a flight the instant we heard about this. And we only just got here about an hour ago.” She shook Neil’s hand. “I’m Rose.”

“Neil,” he said, with a formal bow of his head. “It’s a great honor to meet you. Your heroics with Dimitri Belikov are legendary.”

“Um, thanks,” she said. It was nice to see one woman finally immune to that accent. That wasn’t to say Rose wasn’t a sucker for accents. She just preferred hers from the other side of Europe. “He’s inside if you want to meet him.”

Neil lit up. “That’d be wonderful.” He cast an uncertain look at me, and I waved him off.

“Go, go. I’ll be fine. Besides, this is Rose’s not-so-subtle way of saying she wants to talk to me alone. Go do some hero worship.”

Neil didn’t need to be told twice. She watched him with amusement and then turned back to me, sobering a little. “I also figured you’d want a cigarette. Must have been rough going, what, three hours?” she teased.

“Three hours? Hell, Rose. I’m going on about six weeks.”

The complete shock on her face was one of the best things I’d seen all day. To be fair, her surprise wasn’t entirely unwarranted. I’d kind of quit while dating her, though I’d cracked a few times and then completely relapsed afterward. “You . . . quit?”

I put my hands in my coat pockets and leaned against the railing. “It’s a bad habit.”

“Wow . . . well, good for you.” She overcame her amazement and apparently decided to further assess my new respectability. “And I heard you’re in college too?”

“Yup. Taking some art classes. Just finished a project examining the symbolic evolution from the Australopithecus age to the one of superficial media obsession.” The words rolled easily off my tongue, and I wondered how many hot points that would’ve scored me if Sydney were here.

“Wow,” Rose said again, her eyes widening.

I played it cool. “Just a little something I threw together. But let’s focus on business. What am I going to find inside?”

She snapped instantly back to attention. “About what I saw in Lexington when Robert Doru saved Sonya. An exhausted spirit user and a confused patient. Dimitri’s been talking to Olive, which seems to have helped already, and I’m sure Nina will feel better having you around.”

It was a nice setup for making some joke about how all women loved having me around, but I decided to withhold my stunning wit until I’d seen things with my own eyes. “How’d you find out about this?”

“A guardian called us. I guess Nina had been looking for her sister for a long time and used a guardian friend to create this whole elaborate trap to restore Olive.” Rose’s face turned sympathetic. “But Nina wasn’t prepared for the physical and mental toll it took on both of them. That’s when the guardian called for help. It all happened less than twenty-four hours ago.”

“Explaining the urgency,” I murmured. Everyone really had acted quickly. “Well, we’ll see what I can find. Spirit’s fickle.”

“Yeah, believe me, I know. I miss that connection with Lissa, but I don’t miss living with spirit.” She tilted her head to study me. “How are things with Jill?”

I gave her the same answer I had given Lissa. “The same. Not much of the nasty side effects getting to her, but we also haven’t learned to put barriers between us. So she still gets to experience the awesome adventures of Adrian Ivashkov firsthand.”

“I’m a little worried about how ‘awesome’ they are.” Her dubious look transformed to one of horror. “Oh, God, Adrian. You aren’t working your way through every Moroi girl in southern California, are you?”

“Of course not,” I said. “I’m much more discriminating.”

She groaned. “Even one is too much. You should be ashamed of yourself, exposing Jill to your sex life. Isn’t it possible for you to abstain from your cheap flings for just a little while? For Jill’s sake?”

Some part of me wanted to defend the magnitude of my relationship with Sydney. The rest of me knew that if the world thought I was rampantly having one-night stands with Moroi girls, they’d never suspect I was devoted to a human one.

I gave Rose a cocky grin. “Hey, I’ve gotta live, don’t I?”

She shook her head in disgust and headed for the door. “I guess some things can’t change.”

It was an older house but still in good condition, and I wondered where they’d dug it up. According to Lissa, it didn’t belong to either of the sisters and had been set up by the guardians to provide a safe haven. As we stepped into the front room, a Moroi girl close to my age stood waiting for us. Her hair was a tangle of dark curls, and she had a blanket draped around her like a cloak.

Rose’s disposition immediately softened. “Nina, you should get back to bed.”

The girl shook her head and glanced between us with wide, gray eyes. “I want to know what’s going on. Why are new people here? What are you going to do with Olive? Are you going to experiment on her like some sort of lab animal?” The girl began to tremble, her face full of fear and outrage, and my heart went out to her.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” I said, sending out a trickle of compulsion to soothe her. “There’s no need to worry.”

Her features started to relax, and then she suddenly blinked and fixed me with a glare. “Don’t try that on me.”

Worn out or not, Nina Sinclair was still a savvy spirit user. I chuckled and held up my hands in a placating gesture. “Just trying to help.”

“Everything really will be okay,” Rose told her. “This is Adrian. He just needs to talk to her. You can come along.”

Nina gave me a long, suspicious look but said nothing else as she followed us farther into the house. We reached a spacious bedroom with peeling wallpaper and a quilt-covered bed. A dhampir girl sat upright in it. I hid how much that surprised me. No one had mentioned it, and I’d just assumed the sisters were both Moroi. Although they shared black hair, they were complete opposites in other features. Olive’s skin was a coppery brown, making me think of Native American heritage, and her eyes were large and dark. She had the athletic build most dhampirs had, contrasting with her sister’s tall, slim frame. Only a similarity in their facial shape and high cheekbones suggested they shared a parent, probably their father, seeing as Moroi men liked to have dhampir women on the side. It gave me a new regard for Nina, since dhampir half siblings weren’t always acknowledged. Nina had risked her life for hers.

Along with Rose, Dimitri, and Neil, there were three other guardians in the room, creating an almost comical scene, considering how docile Olive looked at the moment. In fact, Dimitri was making this very argument to one of the unknown guardians, telling him, “There’s no Strigoi part of her left, trust me. You don’t need this much security. She’s safe.”

The other guardian didn’t seem certain. “We have our orders.”

Dimitri raked a hand through his chin-length hair in frustration, knowing better than anyone else that restored Strigoi possessed no more of that undead state. Everyone technically knew it, but fear still ran high in some people. Seeing me, he let his argument go and gave me a smile that was genuine. He and I had recently had to spend a lot of time together, and although it was hard to shake that he was the one Rose had left me for, I couldn’t help but feel a grudging respect for him.

“Adrian,” he said. “I’m glad you could be here. We’re hoping that acting so quickly might get us somewhere the experiments didn’t.”

He kept talking, but my attention was all on Olive. I summoned spirit to view her aura, which was a mix of what I’d expect from a dhampir and what I would not expect: the brilliant flares of gold seen in a spirit user. Even as I watched, that gold was fading ever so slightly. I drew on more spirit and heard Nina catch her breath. She might be too drained to produce much of her own, but it would be obvious to her how much I was using. I focused on Olive again, trying to look past her aura, more deeply into her very essence. I’d never done it before, and it was much more difficult than I’d expected. I didn’t even know if it would accomplish anything. I was simply playing a hunch.

I gritted my teeth and concentrated harder. There—it was hard to see. In fact, it was more of a sense than actual vision. But every part of Olive was infused with that same golden glow. I couldn’t see at a cellular level or anything, but I suddenly knew that all of her being was wrapped in spirit. And like the aura, it was fading with each breath she took. There was still plenty there, but connecting what I saw now with how long ago she’d been saved, I had a feeling it would all dissipate within hours. I blinked, and the spirit burning within me went out. Olive looked normal again.

The room was silent. I dragged my eyes from her and looked at everyone else. They were all staring back expectantly. I swallowed, and for the briefest of moments, my earlier anxiety swelled inside my chest. The magnitude of what I faced slammed into me. We were on the verge of one of the biggest breakthroughs in our race’s history, and everyone was looking to me to figure it out. Me! What were they thinking? I was no genius like Sydney. I was just a slacker guy who fought the temptation of his liquor cabinet every day and couldn’t finish The Great Gatsby. Who was I to do this?

An image of Sydney’s face appeared in my mind’s eye, calm and lovely. I believe in you.

My anxiety faded. I took a deep breath and met the gazes of all those watching me in the room. Who was I to do this?

I was Adrian Ivashkov. And I was about to kick some ass.

“If you want any chance of learning how to save others, you need to do exactly as I say. And you need to it now.”