I shrugged. “I have faith in you, ma’am. If you say you’ve got a way, I believe it. What’s it involve?”
After she told me, silence fell in the room. We all stared at her, dumbfounded, until Adrian finally spoke. “Wow,” he said. “I can’t say I saw that coming.”
“I don’t think anyone could have,” admitted Eddie.
Ms. Terwilliger’s focus was on me. “Are you up for it, Sydney?”
I swallowed. “I guess I have to be. And we shouldn’t waste any more time.”
“First,” said Adrian, “can I have a word with my wife before the hilarity ensues?”
“Of course,” said Ms. Terwilliger, gesturing grandly.
Adrian steered me away and called to the others, “Talk amongst yourselves.” He led me to our bedroom, not saying anything else until the door shut behind us. “Sydney, you realize this is crazy, right? And I don’t say that lightly.”
I smiled and drew him to me. “I know. But we both also know there’s no way I can’t not follow a lead that might take us to Jill.”
His expression darkened. “I wish I could do more than be your cover,” he said. “But if that’s what it takes . . .” He sighed. “What also seems crazy is you leaving after we fought so hard to get here and be together.”
“Yeah, but . . .” I hesitated, hating to say my next words. “You can’t say this has exactly been what we imagined.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, but I could tell he already knew.
“Adrian, there’s no question I love you and want a life with you. But this particular life . . . hiding away from both our people . . . having your mother hovering over us . . . I don’t know. Maybe some space is a good thing.”
His green eyes widened. “You want to get away from me?”
“No, of course not! But I want to revaluate things, to figure out how we can get that life we’ve been wanting.” I sighed. “And of course, even more than that . . .”
“We need to find Jill,” he finished.
I nodded and rested my head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. That earlier emotion rose up within me as I thought about the last year and all we’d gone through. We’d had to keep our relationship a secret, and then once it was discovered, the Alchemists had held me prisoner and tried to brainwash me into coming back into their fold. Every moment I had now with Adrian was a precious gift, but reveling in that, turning my back on Jill . . . well, that would be selfish.
“Finding her is bigger than us right now,” I said.
“I know,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “And part of why I love you is that there’s no question you have to do this. And that you’d let me if our roles were reversed.”
“It’s what we do,” I said simply.
“I swear it, as soon as I feel like I can sneak out safely, I’ll come to you. You won’t be alone.”
I touched my heart. “I never am. I always feel you in here.”
He brought his lips down to mine in a long, exquisite kiss, the kind that sent heat all the way to my fingers and toes and made me very conscious of the fact that there was a bed behind us. I pulled back before we accidentally got distracted.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I said, giving him one more hug. “And if all goes as planned, Jill will be with me.”
“If all goes as planned,” he countered, “we’ll get a call any minute now that whoever’s holding her has released her after the law change and she’s on her way home.”
I smiled at that, but there was no true joy in it. “That would be nice.”
We kissed again and returned to the others. I realized then that although Adrian and I were on good terms again, we hadn’t exactly resolved the fight from before. There were still a lot of issues to deal with—the biggest one being his continued flirtation with spirit. I’d missed my chance, and now I could only hope for the best with him.
Meanwhile, Ms. Terwilliger had already made herself busy converting our kitchen into a spell workshop. Bottles and bags of components were set out on the table, and she was busily boiling water on the stove. She sprinkled something into it, and the steam soon took on the fragrance of star anise.
“Good, good,” she said, barely looking up. “You’re back. Would you measure two teaspoons of that beetroot powder for me?”
I fell in beside her and had a brief sense of déjà vu. It was easy, momentarily, to feel like I had slipped back into those old days together. Not that they’d been exactly stress-free. Learning magic from her had been difficult both mentally and physically, and I’d always had the added pressures of my struggles with Adrian and the others. Still, the familiarity was nice, particularly since I’d missed this sort of magic-working. I still practiced but rarely cast anything of this magnitude here at Court. The spell she had in mind to make my escape work required both of us and a few hours of labor. Adrian and the others tried to distract themselves as best they could, and Eddie left once to grab an overnight bag, since none of us knew exactly what would happen in Pittsburgh.
Jill, I hoped silently. Please just let us get to that robot museum and find Jill there selling tickets.
Somehow, I doubted it’d be that easy.
Around four in the morning, Ms. Terwilliger and I completed our work. This was still practically midday on the vampiric schedule, which I’d adjusted to, but she was showing signs of fatigue. I knew she was dying for coffee, but caffeine reduced the effectiveness of magic, and she’d had to cast small spells along the way. The final one in the process was mine, however, and as the end neared, I began to question just what I was about to do.
“Maybe it would be easier to just smuggle me in the trunk,” I said, holding a cup of the brew we’d crafted.
“Good chance they’ll be searching cars as you leave,” said Adrian. “Especially hers. Lissa made it clear she didn’t want us leaving.”
I started to carry the potion over to where Ms. Terwilliger was setting up a mirror. A new worry fell over me. “Do you think she’ll let me back in when she finds out I left?”
No one had an answer for that right away until Ms. Terwilliger said pragmatically, “We can always get you back in the same way we’re getting you out.”
I grimaced and glanced down at the cup in my hands, wondering how I’d feel about that later. In the living room, Ms. Terwilliger had helpfully propped up a full-length mirror from Daniella’s bedroom. She now hauled the pet carrier over to it and opened the door. A white cat with tabby patches—Mr. Bojangles—came out and calmly sat in front of the mirror. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve said he was admiring himself.