The Golden Lily

Dimitri smiled at me. It made his already handsome face even more so, and I knew that

"Zen master wisdom" wasn't the reason Rose had fallen for him. "I'm guessing you didn't take a nap."

"Too much to do," I said.

Sonya gave Eddie a curious look. "We've been wondering where you were."

"Busy at Amberwood," said Eddie vaguely. He'd mentioned in the car that it might be best if Angeline's indiscretion and his forced shopping weren't mentioned. "You know, keeping an eye on Jill and Angeline. Besides, I was waiting until Sydney came back since she wanted to see what we were doing." I let the white lie slide.

"How is Angeline?" asked Dimitri. "Is she improving?"

Eddie and I exchanged glances. So much for avoiding her indiscretions. "Improving how exactly?" I asked. "In combat, in following the dress code, or in keeping her hands to herself?"

"Or in turning off caps-lock?" added Eddie.

"You noticed that too?" I asked.

"Hard not to," he said.

Dimitri looked surprised, which was not a common thing. He wasn't caught off guard very often, but then, no one could really prepare for what Angeline might do.

"I didn't realize I needed to be more specific," said Dimitri after a pause. "I meant combat." Eddie shrugged. "There's a little improvement, but it's hard to get through to her. I mean, she's absolutely dead set on protecting Jill, but she's also convinced she already knows how.

She's got years of that sloppy training drilled into her. It's hard to break that. Plus, she's...

easily distracted."

I had to swallow a laugh.

Dimitri still looked troubled. "She has no time for distraction. Maybe I should talk to her."

"No," said Eddie firmly, in a rare show of contradicting Dimitri. "You've got plenty to do here. She's my responsibility to train. Don't worry."

Adrian pulled up a chair, turning it backwards so he could rest his chin on its back. "What about you, Sage? I know we don't have to worry about you violating the dress code. Did you have fun at your Alchemist spa this weekend?"

I set down my bag and walked over to the refrigerator. "If by spa, you mean underground bunker. And it was just business." I made a face as I looked inside. "You promised to get me diet pop."

"I did promise that," said Adrian, no remorse whatsoever. "But then I read some article that said those artificial sweeteners aren't good for you. So, I figured I'd watch out for your health." He paused. "You're welcome."

Dimitri said what we were all thinking. "If you want to start tackling healthy habits, I could suggest a few."

If Eddie or I had said that, it would have rolled right off Adrian - particularly since it was completely valid. But coming from Dimitri? That was different. There was a huge amount of tension between the two men, tension that had been building for a long time. Dimitri's girlfriend, a notorious dhampir named Rose Hathaway, had briefly dated Adrian. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but she'd been in love with Dimitri the whole time. So, there was no way that situation could have ended well. Adrian still carried a lot of scars from that and was particularly bitter toward Dimitri.

"Wouldn't want to inconvenience you," said Adrian, a bit too coolly. "Besides, when not hard at work with this research, I'm actually conducting a side experiment on how cigarettes and gin increase charisma. As you might guess, the results are looking very promising." Dimitri arched an eyebrow. "Wait, go back. Did you say hard at work?" Dimitri's tone was light and playful, and again, I was struck by the double standard here. If I'd made that comment, Adrian's response would've been something like, "Absolutely, Sage.

I'll probably win the Nobel Prize for this." But for Adrian, Dimitri's words were a call to battle. I saw a glint of something hard in Adrian's eyes, a stirring of some old pain, and it bothered me.

That wasn't his way. He always had a smile and a quip, even if they were often irreverent or inappropriate. I'd gotten used to that. I kind of liked it.

I glanced at Adrian with a smile that I hoped looked genuine, rather than a desperate attempt to provide distraction. "Research, huh? I thought you were a gambling man." It took Adrian a few moments to drag his gaze from Dimitri and fix it on me. "I've been known to roll the dice now and then," he said warily. "Why?" I shrugged. "No reason. Just wondering if you'd put your charisma research on hold and step up for a challenge. If you went twenty-four hours without cigarettes, I'd drink a can of pop. Regular pop. The whole can."

I saw the glimmer of Adrian's earlier smile returning. "You would not."

"I totally would."

"Half a can would put you into a coma."

Sonya frowned. "Are you diabetic?" she asked me.

"No," said Adrian, "but Sage is convinced one extraneous calorie will make her go from super skinny to just regular skinny. Tragedy."

"Hey," I said. "You think it'd be a tragedy to go an hour without a cigarette."

"Don't question my steel resolve, Sage. I went without one for two hours today."

"Show me twenty-four, and then I'll be impressed."

He gave me a look of mock surprise. "You mean you aren't already? And here I thought you were dazzled from the moment you met me."

Sonya shook her head indulgently at the two of us, like we were adorable children. "You're missing out, Sydney," she remarked, tapping the open pop in front of her. "I need about three of these a day to keep me focused on all this work. No detrimental effects so far." No detrimental effects so far? Of course not. Moroi never had any. Sonya, Jill... they could all eat whatever they wanted and still keep those amazing bodies. Meanwhile, I labored over every calorie and still couldn't reach that level of perfection. Fitting into these size four khakis had been a triumph this morning. Now, looking at Sonya's slender build, I felt enormous by comparison. I suddenly regretted my comment about drinking a can of pop, even if it had succeeded in distracting Adrian. I supposed I could rest easy knowing that him skipping cigarettes for a day was impossible. I'd never be called to pay up on my sugary wager.

"We should probably get to work. We're losing time." That was Dimitri, getting us back on track.

"Right," said Adrian. "This is five minutes of valuable research wasted. Up for more fun, Castile? I know how much you love sitting around." Because they were trying to find something special about Dimitri, Sonya and Adrian would often sit the two dhampirs side by side and study their auras in fine detail. Their hope was that Dimitri's Strigoi conversion had left some sign that would help explain the immunity to being turned again. It was a valid idea, though not something that someone as active as Eddie enjoyed.