The Golden Lily

I left an upset and frustrated Angeline off at her dorm room and also verified with Jill that Adrian had indeed been drinking. That and my agitation were more than enough to make me want to leave campus, if only for the escape. Brayden had asked earlier if I wanted to go out, but I wasn't up to that. I sent a quick text: Can't go out tonight. Family stuff. Then I headed off to Clarence's.

I'd called ahead to make sure Dimitri and Sonya were there since I had no interest in having a one-on-one visit with the ancient Moroi. He wasn't around when I arrived. I found Dimitri and Sonya huddled over some cards with blots of dried blood, speculating on how to proceed.

"It'd be interesting to get Strigoi blood and see if anything happened when I applied spirit," she was saying. "Do you think you could manage that?"

"Gladly," said Dimitri.

They noticed me. As soon as she looked up, Sonya asked, "What's wrong?" I didn't even bother asking how she knew. My face probably said more than my aura did.

"Angeline got into a brawl with a motivational group at school." Dimitri and Sonya exchanged looks. "Maybe we should go get some dinner," he said. He grabbed a set of keys from the table. "Let's go downtown." I never would've imagined that I'd look forward to going out with a Moroi and a dhampir. It was yet another sign of how far I'd advanced - or regressed, by Alchemist standards. Compared to most of the other people in my life, Dimitri and Sonya were grounded and stable. It was refreshing.

I gave them a rundown of Angeline's behavior, as well as my thinly veiled legal threat.

That part seemed to amuse Sonya.

"Smart," she said, twirling spaghetti on a fork. "Maybe you should be in law school instead of the Alchemists."

Dimitri found it less funny. "Angeline came here to do a job. She wanted out of the Keepers and swore she'd devote every waking minute to protecting Jill."

"There has been a bit of a culture shock," I admitted, unsure as to why I was defending Angeline. "And those guys today... I mean, if they'd tried to get me to join their sing-along, I probably would've punched them too."

"Unacceptable," said Dimitri. He used to be a combat instructor, and I could understand why. "She's here on a mission. What she did was reckless and irresponsible." Sonya gave him a sly smile. "And here I thought you had a soft spot for reckless young girls."

"Rose never would have done anything like that," he countered. He paused to reconsider, and I could've sworn there was the hint of a smile there. "Well, at least not in such a public setting."

Once the Angeline topic was put to rest, I brought up the reason I'd come here. "So... no experiments today?"

Even Sonya's good nature faltered. "Ah. No, not exactly. We've gone over some notes on our own, but Adrian hasn't been... he hasn't been quite up to the research this week. Or up to going to class."

Dimitri nodded. "I was over there earlier. He could barely answer the door. No idea what he'd been drinking, but whatever it was, he'd had a lot." Considering their rocky relationship, I would've expected disdain in discussing Adrian's vices. Instead, Dimitri sounded disappointed, as though he'd expected better.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," I said. I'd eaten little of my dinner and was nervously tearing a roll into pieces. "Adrian's current mood isn't entirely his fault. I mean, it is, but I can kind of understand it. You know we saw his dad this weekend, right? Well... it didn't go well."

There was a knowing glint in Dimitri's dark eyes. "I'm not surprised. Nathan Ivashkov isn't the easiest man to get along with."

"He sort of tore down everything Adrian's been trying to do. I tried to make a case for Adrian, but Mr. Ivashkov wouldn't listen. That's why I was wondering if you guys could help." Sonya couldn't hide her surprise. "I'd gladly help Adrian, but something tells me Nathan's not going to really put much stock in what we have to say."

"That's not what I was thinking." I gave up on the bread and dropped all the pieces to my plate. "You guys are both close to the queen. Maybe you could get her to tell Adrian's dad how... I don't know. What an asset he's been. How much he's been helping. Obviously, she couldn't explain exactly what he's doing, but anything might help. Mr. Ivashkov won't listen to Adrian or anyone else, but he'd have to take a commendation from the queen seriously. If she'd do it."

Dimitri looked thoughtful. "Oh, she'd do it. She's always had a soft spot for him. Everyone seems to."

"No," I said stubbornly. "Not everyone. There's a split. Half condemn him and write him off as useless like his dad. The other half just shrug and indulge him and say, 'Well, that's Adrian.'" Sonya studied me carefully, a trace of that amusement returning. "And you?"

"I don't think he should be babied or disregarded. If you expect him to do great things, he will."

Sonya said nothing right away, and I shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. I didn't like when she looked at me like this. It was about more than auras. It was like she could see into my heart and soul.

"I'll speak to Lissa," she said at last. "And I'm sure Dimitri will too. In the meantime, let's hope that if we follow your advice and expect Adrian to sober up soon, he will." We had just paid the check when Dimitri's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered. And like that, his face transformed. That fierceness I so associated with him softened, and he practically glowed. "No, no. It's always a good time for you to call, Roza." Whatever the response on the other end was, it made him smile.

"Rose," said Sonya to me. She stood up. "Let's give them a little privacy. You want to take a walk?"

"Sure," I said, rising as well. Outside, dusk was falling. "There's a costume store a few blocks away I actually want to check - if they're still open." Sonya glanced at Dimitri. "Meet us there?" she whispered. He gave a quick nod. Once we were outside in the warm evening air, she laughed. "Ah, those two. In a fight, they're lethal.

Around each other, they melt."

"Is that how you and Mikhail are?" I asked, thinking there wasn't much melting with Brayden and me, no matter how much I enjoyed spending time with him.

She laughed again and glanced up at the sky, painted in shades of orange and blue. "Not exactly. Every relationship is different. Everyone loves differently." There was a long pause as she chose her next words. "That was a nice thing you chose to do for Adrian."

"There was no choice to be made," I countered. We crossed onto a busier street, full of brightly lit stores with water misters outside that were meant to cool off hot shoppers. I winced at what that mist was doing to my hair. "I had to help. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment.