“It wasn’t any weird extra torture,” he insisted. “It’s a sad, ironic coincidence. The Alchemists have one re-education center in this country, and it happens to be a few hours from where she was taken. From what Keith and others have said, though, it might as well have been light years from where she was taken. We’re going to have our work cut out for us, even if we narrow down the location. Now, can you focus on the road, or do I need to take over?”
“Do what you got to do,” I told him bleakly.
I stayed quiet as he made his calls to his shadow agents, asking them to drop whatever else they were working on in order to determine whether the facility was in Tucson or Death Valley. He also put out feelers to find out everything possible about the facility itself, to help us with our rescue, and he even made some disconcerting requests for tranquilizer guns and “other related supplies.” All the while, that dark debilitating depression swirled within me, as did Aunt Tatiana’s condemnation. When Marcus finally finished his last call, he explained to me that most of his intel on the place’s logistics wouldn’t come until after he had a hit on the location.
“Once we have a concrete place, we can dig up old records. Even the Alchemists can’t build a place invisibly. They’ll have it masked, of course, but there should be a public paper trail if we know what to look for. I’ve got a few people on the inside too who’ll be able to help once we’ve got better search parameters.”
I nodded in compliance and finally managed to shrug off my despair by replacing it with something else: anger. Not just anger. Rage. Fury at those who’d done this to Sydney. This kind of reconnaissance was Marcus’s thing. Mine would be blasting open the doors and getting Sydney out of that hellhole. That’s how I would make this right.
Yes, hissed Aunt Tatiana. We will make them pay for what they’ve done.
“How long until they find out which place it is?” I asked. “Before you said it could take as long as a week or two.”
“That was when we were guessing blindly. Knowing it’s definitely one of these helps a lot. If it’s Death Valley, we might find out pretty quickly. There’s not a lot out there. Tucson could take a little longer since there’s more of a metropolitan area—and the outlying desert—to hide things. I’ve got people working on both places. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
We stopped for the night in northern Nevada, getting a room in a hotel attached to one of the many casinos so ubiquitous in that state. It was hardly a luxury place but proved decent enough, especially for being in a no-name town. We had cable and internet, as well as a minibar I yearned to raid. Cutting myself off like I had after Court had been brutal, but my determination to stay in control of both my wits and my powers for Sydney was strong.
Once we were settled, I texted Jill, and before long, we had a video call set up with the gang back in Palm Springs on Marcus’s laptop. “Did you find Sydney?” Eddie asked immediately. Jill knew all the day’s details from the bond but hadn’t yet had a chance to brief the others.
“We’re on the verge of getting her location,” said Marcus. “And it’s not going to be far from you guys. Death Valley or Tucson. We’re waiting on confirmation.”
Our friends shared my surprise at the realization that Sydney had been so close the entire time. “Let us know as soon as you find out, and we’ll be right there,” exclaimed Angeline.
For a moment, I wanted nothing more than to have them all at my back. But a few realities hit me—as did knowing that Sydney would never forgive me if her original mission failed. On the laptop screen, Jill grimaced as she sensed my thoughts.
“No,” I said. “You guys are still in exam week. And Jill’s not going off on any crazy escapades. Her life is still in danger.”
“There’s only two more days of exams,” she protested. “And I’m practically out of danger. Didn’t you hear when you were at Court? Lissa expects a vote within the month to rewrite the law about how a monarch needs a living family member. Once that’s changed and I don’t matter, she’s going to bring me back. I’m only staying on in Amberwood’s summer program until that’s resolved.”
I hadn’t heard that, likely because my time at Court had been spent in a drunken haze. “You always matter, Jailbait. And you just spelled it out yourself—that law hasn’t been passed yet. You’re still the key to the throne, and you’re not going to be leaving the safe haven everyone worked so hard to create. And don’t ask for the dhampirs to go,” I added, remembering how she’d used that argument in our last meeting. “You need their protection.”
“I’m not a dhampir,” said Trey. “And I’m under no orders. Tell me where to go, and I’ll be there.”
I hesitated but then slowly nodded. He was right. He didn’t have the same obligations as the others, and he was good in a fight. Angeline gave him a punch in the arm that looked painful but probably only endeared her to him more.
“No fair,” she said. “I want to help.”
“We all do,” said Neil.
“You can take one dhampir,” said Jill calmly. “I’ll be okay with two, especially if I just stay on campus the whole time. Take Eddie.”
He turned to her in surprise. “You don’t . . . want me to guard you?”
The smile she gave him was very queenly, almost a mirror of something I’d seen Lissa do. “Of course I do. There’s no one I trust more than you. But you need to do this. And you know he’s one of the best, Adrian.”
I doubt any of them, not even Eddie, realized the magnitude of what Jill was offering. I couldn’t read her mind, but I knew her well enough to understand she very much wanted to be a part of any mission to free Sydney. I also knew that she realized no one was going to let that happen. Rather than fight it, she was sinking her energy into getting me to accept Eddie . . . not just because he was an asset but because her words were absolutely true: He needed to do this. I’d observed him since Sydney’s capture and seen how it had eaten him up in a way different from what I suffered. My feelings over her loss were all about loneliness and feeling helpless to find her. His were about guilt—he still felt responsible for her being taken in the first place. She’d tricked him, sacrificing herself to save him, and he couldn’t get over that. Jill, always wiser than anyone gave her credit for, understood that—and understood that saving Sydney might very well be the only thing that would let Eddie feel redeemed. Jill understood it because she was observant and wise.