Bloodlines

"Okay," I said at last. "Let's go."

I signed us out for off-campus travel, which took a little finagling. Mrs. Weathers was quick to point out that Jill had been banished to her dorm for the rest of the school day. I was equally quick to point out that classes were almost done, technically meaning the school day was almost finished. Mrs. Weathers couldn't fault the logic but still made us wait the full ten minutes until the last bell rang. Jill sat there, tapping her foot anxiously against the chair. We drove the half hour to Clarence's estate in the hills, saying little. I didn't really know what kind of small talk to make. "How was your first day of school?" was hardly an appropriate topic. And anyway, each time I thought about it, I just grew angrier. I couldn't believe any teacher would have the audacity to accuse Jill of drinking and having a hangover. There was really no way to prove something like that, and besides, you could tell after spending five minutes with her that it was impossible.

A middle-aged human woman greeted us at the door. Her name was Dorothy, and she was Clarence's housekeeper and feeder. Dorothy was pleasant enough, if a little distracted, and wore a stiff gray dress with a high collar to hide the bite marks on her neck. I smiled back at her and maintained my professional mode but couldn't help a shudder when I thought about what she was. How could anyone do that? How could anyone offer their blood up willingly like that? My stomach lurched, and I found myself keeping my distance from her. I didn't even want to accidentally brush her arm when I walked past.

Dorothy escorted us back to the room we'd all been sitting in the day before. There was no sign of Clarence, but Adrian was lying on a plush green couch, watching a TV that had been cleverly concealed inside an ornate wooden cabinet last time. When he saw us, he turned the TV off with a remote control and sat up. Dorothy excused herself and shut the French doors behind her.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," he said. He looked us over. Jill had changed into her normal clothes during her isolation today, but I still had on the Amberwood blouse and skirt. "Sage, aren't you guys supposed to have uniforms? This looks like what you usually wear."

"Cute," I said, suppressing an eye roll.

Adrian gave me a mock bow. "Careful. You almost smiled." He reached for a bottle of brandy sitting on a nearby table. Small glasses were arranged around it, and he poured himself a generous amount. "You guys want one?"

"It's the middle of the afternoon," I said incredulously. Not that it'd really matter for me what time of day it was. "I've got a wicked hangover," he declared, giving us a mock toast. "This is just the thing to cure it."

"Adrian, I need to talk to you," said Jill earnestly.

He looked over at her, the smirk fading from his face. "What's up, Jailbait?"

Jill glanced uneasily at me. "Would you mind..."

I took the hint and tried not to let on how irritated I was by all the secrets. "Sure. I'll just... I'll just go outside again." I didn't like the idea of being exiled, but no way was I going to wander the halls of the old house. I'd face the heat.

I hadn't gotten very far down the hall when someone stepped out in front of me. I let out a small scream and nearly jumped three feet in the air. A heartbeat later, I realized it was Lee - not that it reassured me much. No matter how ostensibly friendly I was with this group, old defenses inside me kicked up at being alone with a new vampire. Running into him didn't help matters either because my brain processed it as an attack! Lee just stood there, staring at me. From the expression on his face, he was just as startled to find me in his house - though perhaps not quite as alarmed about it as I was.

"Sydney?" asked Lee. "What are you doing here?"

Within moments, my fear became embarrassment, like I'd been caught prowling. "Oh... I'm here with Jill. She had kind of a rough day and needed to talk to Adrian. I wanted to give them some privacy and was going to just... uh, go outside."

Lee's confusion transformed into a smile. "You don't have to do that. No need for exile. Come on, I was going to get a snack in the kitchen." My face must have shown abject horror because he laughed. "Not the human kind."

I blushed and followed along with him. "Sorry," I said. "It's instinct."

"No problem. You Alchemists are kind of jumpy, you know."

"Yeah." I laughed uncomfortably. "I know."

"I've always wanted to meet one of you, but you guys certainly aren't what I expected." He opened the door to a spacious kitchen. The rest of the house might be antique and gloomy, but inside here, everything was bright and modern. "If it makes you feel any better, you're not as bad as Keith. He was here earlier today and was so nervous, he literally kept looking over his shoulder." Lee paused thoughtfully. "I think it might have been because Adrian kept laughing like a mad scientist at those old black-and-white movies he was watching."

I came to an abrupt stop. "Keith was here - today? What for?"

"You'd have to ask Dad. That's who he talked to the most." Lee opened the refrigerator and produced a can of Coke. "Want one?"

"I - uh, no. Too much sugar."

He grabbed another can. "Diet?"

I hesitated only a moment before taking it. "Sure. Thanks." I hadn't intended to eat or drink anything in this house, but the can seemed safe enough. It was sealed and looked like it had come straight from a human grocery store, not some vampiric cauldron. I opened it and took a sip as my mind spun. "You have no idea at all what it was about?"

"Huh?" Lee had added an apple to his menu and hoisted himself up so he sat on the counter. "Oh, Keith? No. But if I had to guess, it was about me. Like he was trying to figure out if I'm staying here or not." He took a giant bite into the apple, and I wondered if having fangs made that harder at all. "He just likes his facts straight," I said neutrally. As much as I disliked Keith, I still wanted a unified human front. I wasn't entirely inaccurate, though. I was pretty sure Keith felt undermined at learning there was one extra Moroi in "his territory" and was now making sure he was in on everything. Part of it was good Alchemist business, sure, but most was probably Keith's wounded pride.

Lee didn't seem to think much of it and kept chewing his apple, though I could feel his eyes studying me. "You said Jill had a bad day? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don't know. I'm not even sure how things got messed up. She wanted to see Adrian for some reason. Maybe he can help."