The Golden Lily

"What... what is he?" I asked, unable to take my eyes off of Liam. It was a silly question, of course. Liam was clearly human, and yet... there was something about him that wasn't right.

"A corrupt soul who wants to be Strigoi," said Zeke. "Some guardians found him serving those monsters and delivered him to us. We've tried to rehabilitate him but with no luck. He keeps going on and on about how great the Strigoi are and how he'll get back to them one day and make us pay. In the meantime, he does his best to pretend he's one of them."

"Oh," said Liam, with a sly smile, "I will be one of them. They will reward my loyalty and suffering. They will awaken me, and I will become powerful beyond your miniscule mortal dreams. I will live forever and come for you - all of you. I will feast on your blood and savor every drop. You Alchemists pull your strings and think you control everything. You delude yourselves. You control nothing. You are nothing."

"See?" said Zeke, shaking his head. "Pathetic. And yet, this is what could happen if we didn't do the job we did. Other humans could become like him - selling their souls for the hollow promise of immortality." He made the Alchemist sign against evil, a small cross on his shoulder, and I found myself echoing it. "I don't like being in here, but sometimes... sometimes it's a good reminder of why we have to keep the Moroi and the others in the shadows.

Of why we can't let ourselves be taken in by them."

I knew in the back of my mind that there was a huge difference in the way Moroi and Strigoi interacted with humans. Still, I couldn't formulate any arguments while in front of Liam.

He had me too dumbstruck - and afraid. It was easy to believe every word the Alchemists said. This was what we were fighting against. This was the nightmare we couldn't allow to happen.

I didn't know what to say, but Zeke didn't seem to expect much.

"Come on. Let's go." To Liam, he added, "And you'd better eat that food because you aren't getting any more until morning. I don't care how cold and hard it is." Liam's eyes narrowed. "What do I care about human food when soon I'll be drinking the nectar of the gods? Your blood will be warm on my lips, yours and your pretty girl's." He began to laugh then, a sound far more disturbing than any of Keith's screams.

That laughter continued as Zeke led me out of the room. The door shut behind us, and I found myself standing in the hall, numbed. Zeke regarded me with concern.

"I'm sorry... I probably shouldn't have shown you that." I shook my head slowly. "No... you were right. It's good for us to see. To understand what we're doing. I always knew... but I didn't expect anything like that." I tried to shift my thoughts back to everyday things and wipe that horror from my mind. I looked down at my coffee. It was untouched and had grown lukewarm. I grimaced.

"Can I get more coffee before we go?" I needed something normal. Something human.

"Sure."

Zeke led me back to the lounge. The pot I'd made was still hot. I dumped out my old coffee and poured some new. As I did, the door burst open, and a distraught Tom Darnell came in. He seemed surprised to see anyone here and pushed past us, sitting on the couch and burying his face in his hands. Zeke and I exchanged uncertain looks.

"Mr. Darnell," I began. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer me right away. He kept his face covered, his body shaking with silent sobs. I was about to leave when he looked up at me, though I got the feeling he wasn't actually seeing me. "They decided," he said. "They decided about Keith."

"Already?" I asked, startled. Zeke and I had only spent about five minutes with Liam.

Tom nodded morosely. "They're sending him back... back to Re-education." I couldn't believe it. "But I... but I told them! I told them he's not in league with vampires.

He believes what... the rest of us believe. It was his choices that were bad."

"I know. But they said we can't take the risk. Even if Keith seems like he doesn't care about them - even if believes he doesn't - the fact remains he still set up a deal with one.

They're worried that willingness to go into that kind of partnership might subconsciously influence him. Best to take care of things now. They're... they're probably right. This is for the best."

That image of Keith pounding on the glass and begging not to go back flashed through my mind. "I'm sorry, Mr. Darnell."

Tom's distraught gaze focused on me a little bit more. "Don't apologize, Sydney. You've done so much... so much for Keith. Because of what you told them, they're going to reduce his time in Re-education. That means so much to me. Thank you." My stomach twisted. Because of me, Keith had lost an eye. Because of me, Keith had gone to Re-education in the first place. Again, the sentiment came to me: he deserved to suffer in some way, but he didn't deserve this.

"They were right about you," Tom added. He was trying to smile but failing. "What a stellar example you are. So dedicated. Your father must be so proud. I don't know how you live with those creatures every day and still keep your head about you. Other Alchemists could learn a lot from you. You understand what responsibility and duty are." Since I'd flown out of Palm Springs yesterday, I'd actually been thinking a lot about the group I'd left behind - when the Alchemists weren't distracting me with prisoners, of course.

Jill, Adrian, Eddie, and even Angeline... frustrating at times, but in the end, they were people I'd grown to know and care about. Despite all the running around they made me do, I'd missed that motley group almost the instant I left California. Something inside me seemed empty when they weren't around.

Now, feeling that way confused me. Was I blurring the lines between friendship and duty?

If Keith had gotten in trouble for one small association with a vampire, how much worse was I? And how close were any of us to becoming like Liam?

Zeke's words rang inside my head: We can't let ourselves be taken in by them.

And what Tom had just said: You understand what responsibility and duty are.

He was watching me expectantly, and I managed a smile as I pushed down all my fears.

"Thank you, sir," I said. "I do what I can."

Chapter 2

I DIDN'T SLEEP THAT NIGHT. Part of it was simply the time change. My flight back to Palm Springs was scheduled for six in the morning - which was three in the morning in the time zone my body still thought it was in. Sleeping seemed pointless.

And, of course, there was the teeny-tiny fact that it was kind of hard to relax after everything I'd witnessed over at the Alchemist bunker. If I wasn't envisioning Liam's freaky eyes, then I was replaying the constant warnings I'd heard about those who got too close to vampires.

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