The Golden Lily

She'd even spit it out.

"Yes..." I said carefully.

"Obviously, you're not a restored Strigoi," said Sonya. "But we'd like to take a look at your blood too. Maybe there's something about it that could help us. A small sample should suffice." All eyes were on me, even Clarence's. The room started to close in as a familiar panic filled me. I had thought a lot about why the Strigoi hadn't liked my blood - actually, I'd tried to avoid thinking about it. I didn't want to believe there was anything special about me. There couldn't be. I didn't want to attract anyone's attention. It was one thing to facilitate these experiments and another to actually be a subject. If they wanted me for one test, they might want me for something else. And then something else. I'd end up locked away, poked and prodded.

There was also the fact that I just didn't want to give up my blood. It didn't matter that I liked Sonya and Dimitri. It didn't matter that the blood would be drawn with a needle, not teeth. The basic concept was still there, a taboo stemming from the most rudimentary of Alchemist beliefs: giving blood to vampires was wrong. It was my blood. Mine. No one - especially vampires - had any business with it.

I swallowed, hoping I didn't look like I wanted to bolt. "It was only one Strigoi's opinion.

And you know they don't like humans as well as... you guys." That was part of why the Moroi lived in such fear and had seen their numbers reduced over time. They were the creme de la creme of Strigoi cuisine. "That's probably all it was."

"Perhaps," said Sonya. "But there's no harm done in checking." Her face was alight with this new idea. I hated turning her down... but my principles on this matter were too strong. It was everything I'd been raised to believe.

"I think it's a waste of time," I said. "We know spirit has to be involved, and I have no connection to that."

"I do think it would be helpful," she said. "Please."

Helpful? From her point of view, yes. She wanted to rule out every possibility. But my blood had nothing to do with Strigoi conversions. It couldn't.

"I... I'd rather not." A tame response, considering the emotions churning inside me. My heart was starting to race, and the walls were still closing in on me. My anxiety increased as I was visited by an old feeling, the awful realization that I was outnumbered here at Clarence's.

That it was me and a roomful of vampires and dhampirs. Unnatural creatures. Unnatural creatures who wanted my blood...

Dimitri studied me curiously. "It won't hurt, if that's what you're afraid of. We don't need any more than what a doctor would take."

I shook my head adamantly. "No."

"Both Sonya and I have training in this sort of thing," he added, trying to reassure me.

"You don't have to worry about - "

"She said no, okay?"

All the eyes that had been on me suddenly jerked toward Adrian. He leaned forward, fixing his gaze on Sonya and Dimitri, and I saw something in those pretty eyes I'd never seen before: anger. They were like emerald fire.

"How many times does she have to refuse?" Adrian demanded. "If she doesn't want to, then that's all there is to it. This has nothing to do with her. This is our science project. She's here to protect Jill and has plenty to do there. So stop harassing her already!"

"'Harassing' is kind of a strong word," Dimitri said, calm in the face of Adrian's outburst.

"Not when you keep pushing someone who wants to be left alone," countered Adrian. He shot me a concerned look before fixing his anger back on Sonya and Dimitri. "Stop ganging up on her."

Sonya glanced uncertainly between us. She looked legitimately hurt. As astute as she was, I don't think she'd realized how much this bothered me. "Adrian... Sydney... we aren't trying to upset anyone. We just really want to get to the bottom of this. I thought all of you did too. Sydney's always been so supportive."

"It doesn't matter," growled Adrian. "Take Eddie's blood. Take Belikov's blood. Take your own for all I care. But if she doesn't want to give hers, then that's all there is to it. She said no.

This conversation is done." Some distant part of me noticed that this was the first time I'd ever seen Adrian stand up to Dimitri. Usually, Adrian simply tried to ignore the other man - and hoped to be ignored in return.

"But - " began Sonya.

"Let it go," said Dimitri. His expression was always difficult to read, but there was a gentleness in his voice. "Adrian's right."

Unsurprisingly, the room was a little tense after that.

There were a few halting attempts at small talk that I hardly noticed. My heart was still in overtime, my breath still coming fast. I worked hard to calm down, reassuring myself that the conversation was done, that Sonya and Dimitri weren't going to interrogate me or forcibly drain my blood. I dared a peek at Adrian. He no longer looked angry, but there was still a fierceness there. It was almost... protective. A strange, warm feeling swirled in my chest, and for a brief moment, when I looked at him, I saw... safety. That wasn't usually the first sentiment I had around him. I shot him what I hoped was a grateful look. He gave me a small nod in return.

He knows, I realized. He knows how I feel about vampires. Of course, everyone knew. Alchemists made no secret about how we believed most vampires and dhampirs were dark creatures who had no business interacting with humans. Because I was with them so often, however, I didn't think my cohort here in Palm Springs really understood how deeply that belief ran. They understood it in theory but didn't really feel it. They had no reason to since they hardly ever saw any evidence of it in me.

But Adrian understood. I didn't know how, but he did. I thought back on the handful of times I'd freaked out around them since being in Palm Springs. Once had been at a mini-golf course when Jill had used her water magic. Another time had been with the Strigoi and Lee, when Adrian had offered to heal me with his magic. Those were small lapses of control for me, ones none of the others had even noticed. Adrian had.

How was it that Adrian Ivashkov, who never seemed to take anything seriously, was the only one among these "responsible" people who had paid attention to such small details?

How was he the only one to really understand the magnitude of what I was feeling?

When the time came to leave, I drove Adrian home along with the rest of us Amberwood students. More silence persisted in the car. Once Adrian had been dropped off, Eddie relaxed and shook his head.

"Man. I don't think I've ever seen Adrian so mad. Actually, I've never seen Adrian mad at all."