“No need to gush,” interrupted Inez. “We know you’re grateful. And you should be. But now you need to prove it and go clean up Alicia’s mess. Save your friend.”
Sydney straightened up. “I will, ma’am.”
The witches gave a few more last-minute instructions, both for Sydney and for me since I’d be joining them later to release Alicia, and then went on their way. Eddie and Sydney made a beeline for a mirror and exclaimed in amazement at their change in appearance. They had previously been mistaken for siblings, and now they just looked like a different set of siblings. They had the same blue eyes, and Maude had done a neat job of making them look pleasantly average. Hopefully it would ensure no one gave them a second glance.
I’d just finished helping them dye their hair “Burnished Chestnut”—a shade that was dark brown with a faint red cast—when Sabrina showed up. Her normally cocky persona faltered a bit as she took them in. She’d grown used to a number of weird realities, but human magic wasn’t something she’d had a lot of experience with.
“Incredible,” she murmured, looking back and forth between their faces. “I’d never think it was you. You could walk right past the Alchemists now.”
Marcus, watching with amusement, crossed his arms and leaned back into Howie’s overstuffed sofa. “Maybe your friends can hook me up with that spell once in a while. Going incognito would be pretty handy.”
“I’ll let them know,” Sydney said. To Sabrina, she held up the hand wearing the silver ring. “Are there any rules about jewelry? Will they let us wear these in?”
“They should,” she said. “They’ll search for weapons or anything else they think is suspicious. Cell phones too—they don’t want any way for people to track you. You’ll go blindfolded when I take you in.”
“Sounds a lot like when I went to their arena,” Sydney remarked. She took off her engagement and wedding rings and walked over to me. “I don’t want anything to happen to these while I’m there.”
I clasped both of her hands in mine. “It’s not the rings I’m worried about.”
A faint smile crossed her lips, and even though the face was different, there was a feel to that smile that was uniquely Sydney. “I’ll be fine . . . but I want you to hold on to these for me until I get back.”
“Deal,” I said in a low voice that only she could hear, “but I get to put them back on you.”
“Okay,” she said.
“On my knees,” I added.
“Okay.”
“And we both have to be nake—”
“Adrian,” she said warningly.
“We’ll discuss the terms later,” I said with a wink. But I felt a pang in my heart as I squeezed the rings and let go of her hands, hating the danger she was about to walk into. Her appearance might be different, but her aura shone to me like no one else’s—so brave, despite the dangers ahead. I wanted so badly to go with her but knew there was nothing I could do there. My biggest help would be with Alicia when the witches unfroze her.
“We should grab something to eat and then hit the road,” Sabrina said.
“Hope you like Oreos and cheese puffs,” Eddie told her.
We ate a bizarre meal of junk food while Sabrina elaborated on a few more things for us. “We’re going to Calexico, down by the border,” she said. “But you’re not supposed to know that. We have to keep up appearances. Once we go in, we’ll probably be separated, but I’ll be around. They’ll also let me keep my phone, so I can send messages to Marcus.”
“And you’ll then update me, right?” I said.
Marcus gave me a tight smile. “Right. Don’t worry. Sabrina will look after them.”
It was a hollow reassurance, since we all knew things could go very, very badly at the Warriors’ place and that Sabrina would probably be able to do very little. In her usual way, Sydney was more concerned about me as they were leaving. “Be careful, Adrian. I want to find Jill too but not at the cost of losing you.”
“It’ll be remedial compulsion,” I assured her. “You’re the one walking into a hornet’s nest.”
“This is what we do,” she said simply. “You have your job. I have mine.” She stood on her tiptoes to give me a light kiss on the cheek. No way was I settling for that. With a quick maneuver, I swept her into my arms and gave her a long, deep kiss goodbye, not caring about the witnesses. When she finally pulled back, that new face was blushing in a very Sydney way, but she stayed in my arms.
“I can’t say I didn’t expect that,” she admitted.
“This is it,” I told her. “We’re on the verge of getting Jill back. Once we get that, we’ll secure our freedom and finally get that happily ever after.”
How exactly are you going to manage that? demanded Aunt Tatiana. Living back at Court? With those Keepers in Michigan?
I had a feeling Sydney was full of the same questions, but she didn’t speak any of them aloud. Instead, her face showed only love and hope as she gave me another parting kiss. The next thing I knew, Sabrina was ushering them out to her car to begin this bizarre adventure. I stood with Marcus in the doorway, gazing off into the night, even after they were gone.
“I hope this is a good plan,” I said to him, my heart aching.
Marcus sighed, and for once, his usual optimistic expression looked weary. It must be hard constantly convincing people that every risky thing he came up with would pay off.
“Good doesn’t enter into it,” he admitted. “It’s the only plan we’ve got.”
Chapter 15
CALEXICO WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN TWO HOURS AWAY, which made for a long and strange journey. When we were halfway there, Sabrina stopped to blindfold us, per Warrior protocol. For the rest of the trip, she repeated information we’d already memorized, information that we could never get enough of as we braced ourselves for this strange endeavor. I managed to hold on to that Zen state, focusing solely on Jill and my purpose here, remaining empty of all emotion. I especially tried hard not to worry too much about Adrian. I knew if I did, I’d falter. Instead, I took in Sabrina’s advice and insight, meshing it with what I knew I had to do. I felt oddly cool and detached.
Then we reached the Warriors’ compound.
Sabrina warned us it was coming as the car slowed for the compound’s gate. I heard the window roll down. “Sabrina Woods,” she said, “bringing two potential recruits.”