“Shut up,” I mumbled.
Behind me, Sydney stirred. “Did you say something?”
I rolled back over and kissed her shoulder. “I said I’m sorry. I love you.”
Chapter 12
I WENT TO BED FEELING UNSETTLED. Adrian had swung back too quickly from his opposing stance for me to believe he’d truly had a change of heart. When morning came, though, there was little opportunity for further discussion. Declan demanded our attention, and then, before long, it was time for us to go and help the others search for Alicia. Before joining the witches, however, Adrian and I first had a much-needed reunion with some of our friends.
We went to Adrian’s old apartment with Rose and Dimitri, triggering another wave of nostalgia as I thought back to all the time I’d spent there. Long afternoons lounging around in Adrian’s arms, before we were married, before we were constantly pursued . . . I’d thought we were living on the edge back then, but compared to what we faced these days, life had been deceptively simple.
Trey Juarez greeted us at the door¸ his easy grin growing even bigger as he took in Adrian and me. “Been a long time, Melbourne. Or do I call you Ivashkov now?”
I returned his powerful embrace. When Adrian had left Palm Springs to live at Court, he’d given his apartment to Trey. “I’m still just trying to get you to call me Sydney,” I told him. I introduced Rose and Dimitri to him and then glanced around the apartment, still the sunny yellow shade that Adrian had painted it. Eddie and Neil were there waiting for us, and I gave them hugs too. “Where’s Angeline?”
“At Amberwood. She’s got summer classes.”
“Does she?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t know that. I thought she was just boarding there for the summer.”
“She was,” Trey agreed, a sparkle in his eyes. “And then I convinced her some extra studying would help her with classes in the fall.”
“The fall?” I settled down on the couch, trying not to think of the times Adrian and I had curled up together on it. “I figured she’d go back to the Keepers.”
“You should know her better than that,” said Neil wryly. “The queen agreed to fund her education as a way of thanking her for looking after Jill all this time.” I almost didn’t process his words. The sight of Neil reminded me of Declan, waiting back at Clarence’s. Adrian and I had agreed it was best to wait to tell Neil the news, but it was a huge secret to be carrying.
“Angeline almost refused,” added Trey. “Said she didn’t deserve it since she’d let Jill slip away. But I convinced her Jill will want a well-educated guardian when we rescue her—and that Amberwood’s not that far of a drive from UCLA.”
I smiled, despite a pang of jealousy. Trey was going to college soon, something I’d been denied initially because I was part of the Alchemists. Now, being constantly on the run from them, it seemed unlikely I’d go anytime soon. “Look at you, setting a good example for others,” I teased.
“Hey,” he said, “I meant all of it. And we are going to get Jill back, right? Explain this lead you’ve got. Eddie said it’s some girl you fought before?”
The light mood instantly shifted as we got down to business. “Her name’s Alicia DeGraw,” I explained, getting out my phone. “We don’t entirely know where or how she’s holding Jill, but it seems pretty clear now she’s doing it as a way to get back at me. Her last clue led to the Salton Sea, and that’s where Ms. Terwilliger’s friends are going to help us search today.” I showed him Alicia’s picture, which Ms. Terwilliger had obtained from a friend of hers who’d known Alicia back when she was Veronica’s apprentice. It had been taken a couple of years before I met Alicia, but she looked the same: hipster glasses, excessive accessories, and bobbed, pale blond hair.
Trey’s eyes widened. “I know this girl.” Seeing our astonished looks, he hastily amended: “That is, I’ve seen her. She came here looking for you and Adrian. I told you guys . . . but I never caught her name.”
Vaguely, I recalled Trey mentioning a girl who’d come by asking for Adrian and me during the time I’d been held captive by the Alchemists. We’d been so preoccupied by other things—like escaping with our lives from the Alchemists—that the incident had slipped our minds.
“She was here?” exclaimed Eddie.
“Only long enough to ask for Sydney and Adrian,” Trey said. “And use the bathroom.”
Realization hit me. “And I bet I left a comb or brush in there. That’s how she got my hair to key that spell to me.”
Many of our friends only knew bits and pieces of the story and the chase Alicia had led us on, so I took a moment to catch everyone up and give a full rundown. Eddie was glowering by the time I finished.
“It’s been driving me crazy being in town, knowing I might be so close to Alicia and not able to do anything,” he said. “But Ms. Terwilliger insisted we search with the other witches.”
“You could’ve shaved in your downtime,” suggested Adrian helpfully.
“I understand,” I told Eddie, ignoring Adrian’s snark. “I haven’t liked the delay either, but getting them to help us will give us an extra layer of protection against Alicia. There’s no telling what magical traps she might have laid.”
“Are you sure she wants you to come to the Salton Sea?” asked Dimitri. “You think that clue was meant to be taken literally?”
“All her other clues were very specific,” I said. “So, yes, I think that was her initial plan . . . however, we’ve delayed a few days by keeping me away. That may have undone whatever she originally wanted, which is good and bad. It means she’s been thrown off . . . but it also means she may just come up with something new that we aren’t expecting. Our hope is that we can find some clue at Salton today that might put us on the right track.”
“I don’t even know her, and I hate her already,” remarked Rose.
I glanced at the time. “Let’s hope we can find her so you can tell her in person. It’s time to go.”
Our group mobilized and set out in two different cars, off to meet Ms. Terwilliger and the other witches at a Salton Sea state park. The sky was overcast with gray clouds, hinting of a rare rainy summer day ahead. When I saw the group that Ms. Terwilliger had assembled, I was awestruck. At least two dozen witches stood before us.