Bloodlines

"As opposed to your excellent behavior when you aren't there?" I glanced back into the condo. "Maybe your two groupies have room for you."

"Hey, show some respect. They're real people with names. Carla and Krissy." He frowned. "Or was it Missy?"

I sighed. "I told you before, I don't have any control over your living arrangement. How hard is it for you to go get your own place? Why do you need me?"

"Because I have almost no money, Sage. My old man cut me off. He gives me an allowance that's barely enough for cigarettes."

I considered suggesting he quit, but that probably wouldn't be a useful turn in the conversation. "I'm sorry. I really am. If I think of something, I'll let you know. Besides, doesn't Abe want you to stay there?" I decided to come clean. "I overheard you two on the first day. How he wanted you to do something for him."

Adrian straightened up, shoes secured. "Yeah, I don't know what that's all about. Did you hear how totally vague he was too? I think he's just trying to screw with me, keep me busy because somewhere in that messed-up heart of his, he feels bad about what happened with - "

Adrian shut his mouth, but I could hear the unspoken name: Rose. A terrible sadness crossed his features, and his eyes looked lost and haunted. I remembered when I'd been in the car with Jill, and she'd slipped into a tirade about Rose, about how the memory of her tormented Adrian. Knowing what I knew now about the bond, I had a feeling there'd been very little of Jill in those words. That had been a direct line to Adrian. Looking at him, I could barely understand the scope of that pain, nor did I know how to help. I just knew that I suddenly understood a tiny bit better why he would want to drown his sorrows so much, not that that made it any healthier.

"Adrian," I said awkwardly, "I'm - "

"Forget it," he said. "You don't know what it's like to love someone like that, then to have that love thrown back in your face - "

An ear-splitting scream suddenly pierced the air. Adrian flinched more than me, proving the downside of vampire hearing: annoying sounds were that much more annoying.

As one, we hurried back inside the condo. The blond girl was sitting upright on the couch, as startled as we were. The other girl, the one who had let me in, stood in the doorway to the bedroom, pale as death, a cell phone clutched in her hand.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

She opened her mouth to speak and then did a double take at me, seeming to remember that I was human.

"It's okay, Carla," said Adrian. "She knows about us. You can trust her."

That was all Carla needed. She threw herself into Adrian's arms and began crying uncontrollably. "Oh, Jet," she said between sobs. "I can't believe it happened to her. How did this happen?"

"What happened?" asked the other Moroi girl, rising unsteadily to her feet. Like Adrian, she looked like she'd slept in her clothes. I dared to hope that Jill hadn't been subjected to as much as indecency as I'd originally imagined.

"Tell us what happened, Carla," said Adrian in a gentle voice I'd only ever heard him use around with Jill.

"I'm Krissy," she sniffed. "And our friend - our friend." She wiped at her eyes as more tears came to her eyes. "I just got the call. Our friend - another Moroi who goes to our college - she's dead." Krissy looked up at the other girl, whom I guessed was Carla now. "It was Melody. She was killed by Strigoi last night."

Carla gasped and began crying, triggering more tears from Krissy. I met Adrian's eyes, both of us aghast. Even if we had no idea who this Melody was, a Strigoi killing was still a terrible, tragic thing. Immediately, my Alchemist mind kicked into action. I needed to make sure the crime scene was secure and the murder kept secret from humans.

"Where?" I asked. "Where did it happen?"

"West Hollywood," said Carla. "Out behind some club."

I relaxed a little, though I was still shaken by the tragedy of it all. That was a busy, populated region, one that would definitely be on the Alchemists' radar. If any humans had found out, the Alchemists would have long since taken care of it.

"At least they didn't turn her," said Carla forlornly. "She can rest in peace. Of course, those monsters still couldn't rest without mutilating her body." I stared, feeling cold all over. "What do you mean?"

She rubbed her nose on Adrian's shirt. "Melody. They didn't just drink from her. They slit her throat too."

Chapter Fifteen

ADRIAN SLEPT for a lot of the way back to Palm Springs. Apparently, his late-night partying with Carla and Krissy had resulted in very little rest. Thinking about it made me uncomfortable. Thinking about Jill experiencing it through him made me ill.

There'd been little we could do for Carla and Krissy except offer our sympathies. Strigoi attacks happened. It was tragic and terrible, but the only way most Moroi could protect themselves was to exercise caution, keep their whereabouts secure, and stay with guardians if possible. For non-royal Moroi living and going to school in the world like Carla and Krissy were, guardians weren't an option. Plenty of Moroi got by like that; they just had to be careful. The two of them thought the circumstances surrounding their friend's death were awful. That was true. They were. But neither girl thought much past that or felt there was anything odd about the throat-slitting. I wouldn't have either if I hadn't heard Clarence's account of his niece's death.

I brought Adrian back to Amberwood with me and signed him in briefly as a guest, figuring Jill would feel better about seeing him in the flesh. Sure enough, she was already waiting for us in the dorm when we arrived. She hugged him and flashed me a grateful look. Eddie was with her, and though he said nothing, there was a look of exasperation on his face that said I wasn't the only one who thought Adrian had behaved ridiculously.

"I was so worried," Jill said.

Adrian ruffled her hair, which made her duck away. "Nothing to worry about, Jailbait. So long as the wrinkles come out of this shirt, there's no harm done."

No harm done, I thought, feeling anger kindle within me. No harm except Jill has to watch Adrian hook up with other girls and endure his drinking binges. It didn't matter if Lee had supplanted her old crush on Adrian. She was just too young to witness anything like that. Adrian had been selfish. "Now," Adrian continued, "if Sage would be kind enough to keep playing chauffeur, I'll take us all out to lunch."

"I thought you didn't have any money," I pointed out.

"I said I don't have very much money."