The Golden Lily

Somehow, sometime, I was going to find Marcus Finch and get my answers.

I was surprised to see Jill sitting outside our dorm when I walked in. She was in the shade, of course, still able to enjoy the nice weather without the sun's full force. We'd finally moved into a sort of autumn around here, not that eighty was what I usually associated with brisk fall weather. Jill's face was pensive, but she brightened a little when she saw me.

"Hey, Sydney. I was hoping to catch you. Can't find you anymore without your phone." I made a face. "Yeah, I need to replace that. It's been a huge pain." She nodded in commiseration. "Did you drop Sonya off?"

"She's on her way back to Court and Mikhail - and hopefully a much more peaceful life."

"That's good," said Jill. She glanced away and bit her lower lip.

I knew her well enough by now to recognize the signs of when she was bracing to tell me something. I also knew better than to push the matter, so I waited patiently.

"I did it," she said at last. "I told Micah it's over... really over." Relief flooded me. One less thing to worry about. "I'm sorry," I said. "I know that must have been hard."

She brushed curly hair away from her face as she considered. "Yes. And no. I like him.

And I'd like to keep hanging out with him - as friends - if he wants to. I don't know, though. He took it kind of hard... and our mutual friends? Well... they're not very happy with me right now." I tried not to groan. Jill had made such headway with her status here, and now it could be shattered. "But it's for the best. Micah and I live in different worlds, and there'd be no real future with a human anyway. Besides, I've been thinking a lot about love... like, epic love..." She looked up at me for a moment, her gaze softening. "And that wasn't what we had. Seems like if I'm with someone, that's what I should feel."

I thought epic love was kind of a stretch for someone her age but didn't say so. "Are you going to be okay?"

She snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I think so." A small smile played over her lips. "And once this has passed, maybe Eddie will want to go out sometime - away from campus, of course. Seeing as we're 'related.'"

Her words were almost a repeat of what I'd heard the other night at Clarence's, and I stared in surprise as realization dawned on me. "You don't know... I thought you would since Angeline's your roommate..."

Jill frowned. "What are you talking about? What don't I know?" Oh God. Why, oh why, did I have to be the one to deliver this news? Why couldn't I be locked away in my room or the library doing something enjoyable, like homework?

"Eddie's, um, asked Angeline out. I don't know when it's going to happen, but he decided to give her a chance." He hadn't borrowed my car, so presumably there'd been no date yet.

Jill looked stricken. "W-what? Eddie and Angeline? But... he can't stand her..."

"Something changed," I said lamely. "I'm not sure what. It's not like, er, epic love, but they've gotten closer these last few weeks. I'm sorry." Jill seemed more devastated by this than breaking up with Micah.

She looked away and blinked back tears. "It's okay. I mean, I never encouraged him. He probably still thinks I'm dating Micah. Why should he have waited around? He should have someone."

"Jill - "

"It's okay. I'll be okay." She looked so sad and then, amazingly, her face grew even darker.

"Oh, Sydney. You're going to be so mad at me."

I was still thinking of Micah and felt totally confused at the topic change. "Why?" She reached into her backpack and pulled out a glossy magazine. It was some kind of southern California tourism one, with articles and ads highlighting the area. One of the pages was marked, and I turned to it. It was a full-page advertisement for Lia DiStefano, a collage of pictures of her various designs.

And one of the photos was of Jill.

It took me a moment to catch it. The picture was a profile shot, with Jill in sunglasses and a fedora - as well as that peacock-colored scarf Lia had given her. Jill's curly hair streamed out behind her, and the angles of her face looked beautiful. If I hadn't known Jill so well, I would never have identified her as this chic model - though it would certainly be obvious that she was a Moroi to anyone who knew what to look for.

"How?" I demanded. "How did this happen?"

Jill took a deep breath, ready to accept her blame. "When she dropped off the costumes and gave me the scarf, she asked if I'd let her take a picture to see how the colors photographed.

She had some of the other accessories in the car, and I put those on too. She wanted to prove to me that with the right coverage, she could hide my identity. But I never thought... I mean, she didn't say she'd use it. God, I feel so stupid." Maybe not stupid, but certainly naive. I nearly crumpled up the magazine. I was furious at Lia. Part of me wanted to sue for using a picture of a minor without permission, but we had much bigger problems. How wide was this magazine's circulation? If Lia had only put Jill's photo on display in California, maybe no one would recognize her. Still, a Moroi model could raise eyebrows. Who knows what kind of trouble this was going to cause for us now?

"Sydney, I'm sorry," said Jill. "What can I do to fix this?"

"Nothing," I said. "Except to stay away from Lia." I felt ill. "I'll take care of this." I really didn't know how, though. I could only pray no one noticed the picture.

"I'll do whatever you need if you think of something. I - oh." Her eyes lifted to something behind me. "Maybe we should talk later."

I glanced back. Trey was walking toward us. Another problem to deal with.

"Probably a good idea," I said. Jill's heartache and publicity would have to go on the back burner. She left as Trey came to stand beside me.

"Melbourne," he said, attempting one of his old smiles. It faltered a little.

"I didn't know you were still around," I said. "I thought you'd left with the others." The Warriors had scattered to the wind. Trey had said before that they traveled for their "hunts," and Master Angeletti had also mentioned gathering from various places of the country. Presumably, they had all returned to where they'd come from. I'd thought Trey would simply disappear as well.

"Nope," he said. "This is where I go to school, where my dad wants me to stay. Besides, the other Warriors never had a permanent base here in Palm Springs. They'll move on to wherever..."

He couldn't finish, so I did. "Wherever you get a tip-off about monsters you can brutally execute?"