I sighed, making a mental note to have a talk with Jill tomorrow. “Seeing as everyone’s alive, I can acknowledge what a big deal this fiasco was. It’s going to blow their minds back at Court.”

“And tomorrow night we see Marcus and get to deliver the other big deal,” she said. “Maybe this is all crazy enough to work.”

“It always is,” I said. I trailed my fingers along on her shoulder, which was damp with perspiration. As I moved upward to her neck, my fingers touched a fine metal chain and I discovered she hadn’t taken off everything. She still wore the wooden morning glory cross I’d made her, and somehow, that was sexier than if she’d been completely naked.

“Escape plan number forty-five,” I said. “Join nudist colony in Fiji.”

“Do they have those in Fiji?”

“Well, they’ve got to be somewhere warm, right?”

The panic of losing her still burned within me, almost enough to urge me toward sex again. But as we lay there, talking throughout the night, it was our minds and spirits that ended up connecting. There was peace and joy in each other’s embrace, and the balance we brought to each other’s lives allowed me to drift into a deeper sleep than I’d had in a long time.

I didn’t know what questions she’d face the next day. The Ms. Terwilliger excuse went a long way, but surely Zoe would wonder what had kept Sydney out all night. Maybe Sydney could say they’d been up so late that she just stayed over on Jackie’s couch. Whatever it was, I could see from Sydney’s resolve the next morning that she would handle it. This was her battle, not mine.

She scoured the ingredients that Cassie had left behind and found enough to make us pancakes. I didn’t actually have any syrup, but I did have raspberry jam. We slathered it on the pancakes, and it was the best thing I’d ever tasted. And as we sat there at the kitchen table with our pancakes and coffee, Sydney reading news on her phone while I leafed through the poetry book, I knew without a doubt that I could do this for the rest of my life.

“Escape plan number seventy-three,” I said. “Open a pancake restaurant in Sweden.”

“Why Sweden?”

“Because they don’t have pancakes there.”

“They do, actually.”

“Well, then, it looks like we’ve got our market already in place.”

Dropping her off at Amberwood was bittersweet, mostly because it ended the spell we’d been in since last night. We both had things to do, though, and I was going to see her later anyway.

“You know I love you, right?” The urge to kiss her goodbye was so strong that I almost broke our rules.

She smiled, beautiful and golden in the late morning light. “Not as much as I love you.”

“Oh, man. This is my dream come true: having an ‘I love you more’ debate. Here, I’ll start. I love you more. Your turn.”

Sydney laughed and opened the door. “I’ve taken debate classes. You’d lose to my logic. See you tonight.”

I watched her walk away and didn’t leave until she disappeared inside the building.

A text chimed for me when I walked in the door of my apartment. For a moment, I thought it was the Love Phone, and then I remembered I was an idiot and had lost it. When I’d called the coffee shop I’d been to, they told me they had a couple phones in their lost and found, and I intended to go there later today. Meanwhile, on my regular phone, the message was from Lissa: Get on your laptop. We need to talk face-to-face.

I had a good idea what this was about, and when we connected, her radiant face confirmed it. “You heard?” she asked excitedly.

“About the dangerous and completely unauthorized field trip the kids went on last night? Yeah, I heard.”

Lissa ignored my snark. “Adrian! This is monumental. It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true. I know they shouldn’t have done it, but it’s over, they’re safe, and now we have a real answer.”

“I know.”

She gave me a puzzled look. “You’re awfully calm about this.”

“I found out last night. I’ve had a lot of time to process it.” That, and the thought of how Sydney had endangered herself took away some of the awesomeness of the escapade for me.

“You realize how big a role you had in this, right?” Those jade green eyes were piercing. “You figured out what none of us could. What happened is because of you.”

I shrugged. “Nah, one of you smart girls would’ve figured it out.”

“But you were the one who did. Now we’ve just got to find a more efficient way to do this that doesn’t involve restoring a Strigoi each time.” Her enthusiasm faltered. “I wish . . .”

“I know,” I said. I’d guessed this was coming. “But I can’t, Lissa. I’m staying on the pills.”

She nodded, resigned. “I figured. And it’s wrong of me to ask. You look good, you know—and no jokes about how you always do. There’s something different. A light. A happiness. I don’t know.”

“Hey, it’s not all sunshine around here. I was listening to The Wall the other day. Man, let me tell you my opinions on that.”

“Maybe some other time,” she said with a grin. “And for now, maybe you can just help advise the rest of us. Nina and I have brought back Strigoi. Sonya was restored. You and I have brought back the dead.”

“Impressive resume, Your Highness.”

“You know what I’m saying. Between all of us, we’ve done enough and seen enough to figure out how to make this work. We won’t let spirit beat us.” Her earlier rapture returned. “I don’t want glory and fame, Adrian, but I’d like to leave behind some kind of legacy. This could be it. I don’t want to be one of those monarchs who ‘just ruled.’ I want to do something for my people.”

“You’re going to do a lot of things for us, cousin. You’re going to get that age law fixed, right? And the family quorum?”

“Ah.” She grew serious. “That’s the thing . . . I was going to tell you later. The council’s on the verge of voting about the two-person family rule, and from what we can tell, we’ve got all the votes we need.”

“Holy shit,” I said, unable to help myself. “If that passes . . . Jill’s safe. She can leave Palm Springs.”

Which meant Sydney would also have to leave.

“I know. And it will pass. I’m certain.”

The world as I knew it was suddenly altered. “What happens to her then?”

“She can come back to Court, go to school here, learn royal stuff. I know she’ll want to see her mom too.” Lissa hesitated. “And I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better. I know you think I’ve treated her badly.”

“You did what you had to do,” I said, which was neither a confirmation nor a denial. Circumstances had put both sisters in very, very bad positions.

“Well, you can tell her the news, but otherwise, try to keep it quiet until the vote happens. Once it’s secure, we can tell the world.”

I saluted. “As you command.” I could tell she was getting ready to end the call. “Hey, is your worse half around? I need to ask him something.”

A flicker of surprise showed in her eyes. Christian and I hadn’t been the best of friends lately. “Sure. He’s actually right over here.” I saw her get up and leave, and a moment later, Christian appeared with his trademark sarcastic smile.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Need some hairstyling tips?”

I choked up for half a second. Maybe Aunt Tatiana didn’t haunt my waking days anymore, but she lived forever in my memories. The Ozeras all had a strong resemblance, and looking at him, with his black hair and icy blue eyes, suddenly made me see his aunt, Tasha Ozera. The old panic and depression started to rear up in me, and I slowly, carefully urged it back down. What had happened wasn’t Christian’s fault. We were friends. I could handle this.

“Tips you stole from me? No thanks. But I hear you’ve got a really good bacon meatloaf recipe.”

It was worth it then and there to see his complete and total surprise.

“Since when do you cook?” he finally managed to stammer.

“Oh, you know. I’m a Renaissance man. I do it all. Send it if you’ve got it, and I’ll give it a try. I’ll let you know if I make any improvements.”

His smirk returned. “Are you trying to impress a girl?”

“With cooking?” I pointed at my face. “This is all it takes, Ozera.”

Once I finished with royal shenanigans, I got in touch with Jill. I wanted to be the one to tell her the news about the law. I would’ve really liked to have taken her out somewhere, but one of the dhampirs would’ve insisted on going. I wasn’t up for that, so she and I made arrangements to meet at her school for a “brother and sister” picnic. It was a nice day, and I still had two leftover cupcakes. Hopper had eaten most of them this morning before Sydney returned him to his inert form to bring him along with her for some togetherness time.

“I can’t believe you made these,” Jill said between bites, when we met up later. Another perk of the bond fading was that I could embellish my role in the baking.

“I can’t believe you joined an impromptu Strigoi hunt without telling me,” I said sharply.

She sighed. “I would have, but there wasn’t time. It all happened so fast. One minute it’s a chase, the next, we’re in the middle of the action.”

“Yeah. I heard about that too—how you got some action.”

Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s not like that. It was just a kiss. And we talked about it later. Kind of. He says he ‘has to think.’ Whatever that means.” She sighed again, this time in a lovelorn way. “He probably wasn’t really into the kiss and is just trying to find a way to let me down gently.”

“Did he kiss you back?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I think I caught him off guard.”

“Jailbait, he’s a guardian. They’re never caught off guard.” I watched with amusement as a smile slowly blossomed on her face. “It’s about time you get your own romance,” I added. “Instead of always looking in on mine.”

Her smile turned into an outright grin. “I kind of miss not being part of that,” she said. “That sounds creepy. I didn’t like the voyeur part, but feeling all that love . . . it was amazing.”

“Be patient. Your time will come.” The sun was going strong, but we were in the shade, and I sprawled out on the blanket I’d brought. “Just try not to let it be in the midst of any more deadly Strigoi battles, okay?”

“Doing that was dangerous,” she admitted. “Not just to my own life but also to Lissa’s rule—and all the consequences that would follow if I died.”

I sat back up. “Funny you mention that . . .”

I told Jill the news, about how she might no longer be on Lissa’s enemies’ most-wanted list. I told her how she might be able to live a normal life—as much as a princess whose half sister was queen of a nation could. Jill’s eyes grew so wide, I thought her face would run out of room.

“I could see Mom . . .” She blinked back tears. “I’ve gotten used to being here . . . but I’ve missed her so much. I want to see her again.”

I gave her a comforting pat on the hand, refusing to let her know she wasn’t the only one wishing for a mother.

She brushed her emotions aside. “What’ll happen to everyone if I leave? Everyone else will leave too, right? New assignments?”

“I suppose so. No reason to stay.”

“Sydney will leave too,” Jill realized.

I nodded.

“What will you do?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I came here for you. I still want to support you, you know that. But do we need to stay together so long as the bond is inactive? And how can I follow Sydney to her next assignment? We have the excuse of her job now for seeing each other. If I followed her halfway around the world . . . well, there’d be no explaining that.”

“She could leave them. Marcus did.” The sympathy in Jill’s face almost made me want to cry. “You could go somewhere. Are you still making up escape plans?”

West Virginia. Rome. New Orleans. Fiji. Sweden.

“Those are just jokes,” I said, feeling sad for reasons I couldn’t understand. “I need to talk to her about it. She doesn’t even know the news, and there’s been no vote yet.”

But first we had to get through Marcus and the ink delivery. I texted Sydney when I got home, careful in my wording since it wasn’t the Love Phone. Everything still a go? Her answer came back swiftly: As far as I know.