From Bloodlines, Chapter 4 -

I tried to steer the subject away- and get some answers for myself.

"I wasn't aware you were joining us, Mr. Mazur." The sweetness in my voice matched his.

"Please," he said. "You know you can call me Abe. And I won't be staying, unfortunately. I simply came along to make sure this group arrived safely- and to meet Clarence in person."

"That's very nice of you," I said dryly, sincerely doubting Abe's motives were as simple as that. If I'd learned anything, it was that things were never simple when Abe Mazur was involved. He was a puppet master of sorts. He not only wanted to observe things, he also wanted to control them.

He smiled winningly. "Well, I always aim to help others in need."

"Yeah," a new voice suddenly said. "That's exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man."

I hadn't thought anyone could shock me more than Abe, but I was wrong.

"Rose?" The name came out as a question from my lips, even though there could be no doubt about who this newcomer was. There was only one Rose Hathaway, after all.

ROSE

"Hey, Sydney," I said, giving her a small, crooked smile as I entered the room. Another human was sitting in a chair near the corner of the room, and I noted the greasy blond hair and arrogant expression- he was also dressed very similar to Sydney. An Alchemist. I wondered if a drab fashion sense was as much a requirement for them as a strong religious devotion. One look at Sydney told me she was still wearing the cross I'd seen her constantly fiddling with in Siberia.

"Hey, other Alchemist."

He stared at me wide-eyed, and I wondered if it was the half-vampire thing or the fact that I looked hot as hell today. I wanted to decide on both, but by the way he was constantly assessing the room, it became clearer that it was fear of being outnumbered. He and Sydney were the only humans in the room, and more "unnatural" creatures like myself continued to arrive.

"I-I'm Keith," he stammered. So much for the arrogance. I introduced myself.

"Rose Hathaway."

If possible, his eyes bugged out even more. I guess I'd never be able to shake my reputation as a murderer. Well, accused murderer. Although I might as well have indeed killed the late Moroi queen by the way some people treated me. That kind of thing wasn't easily forgotten. Especially not among the gossipers at Court.

I made my way over to Clarence, and felt sympathy wash over me while studying him. He may not have been a spirit user, but the way his mind was deteriorating, and how his paranoia consumed him, reminded me of Sonya Karp before Lissa and I broke out of the academy. She'd willingly turned Strigoi to get away from spirit's madness, and had been restored by another user- Robert Doru. I'd hardly thought twice about him since Dimitri had hid his unconscious body in some bushes. Right after I'd murdered his step-brother, Victor Dashkov.

So maybe people like Keith had some semblance of accuracy when associating me with murder. Albeit after all this time, I'd concluded Victor had deserved it.

"I checked the house's perimeter like you asked. It's about as safe as you can make it, although your back door's lock should probably be replaced."

Like that would stop a Strigoi. Not that that was a big concern, at least not out here in Palm Springs. There were very little reports of vampire attacks in this area, if any. The sun was pretty hard to handle even for humans- making it particularly unpopular for Moroi, and therefore, Strigoi.

"Are you sure?" Clarence asked in disbelief. "It's brand new."

Something about that statement bothered me.

"Maybe when this house was built," Lee said from the doorway. "It's been rusted since we moved here."

Seeing as Lee was definitely more in tune with his surroundings than Clarence, I decided to take his word for it.

Lee seemed intrigued with Sydney and Keith, and I wondered if it was because they were Alchemists. As far as I knew, Lee attended college here in California, so the fact that Sydney and Keith were humans couldn't be what was so interesting to him. In fact, even if Lee didn't regularly mingle with humankind, any kind of fascination wouldn't have been on the table. To most Moroi and Dhampirs, if not all, humans were either feeders, Alchemists, or just not noteworthy. It had been that way for me too, until I met Sydney. Aside from being an Alchemist, I liked to think of her as my friend.

And after helping me escape being executed for high treason, tracking down and proving Lissa wasn't the last Dragomir, on top of our time in Russia- I hoped she thought of me that way too.

"I'm Lee Donahue," he said, extending his hand. Keith didn't take it. It wasn't polite, but it also wasn't the most mistrustful I'd seen an Alchemist behave. When I first met Sydney, she could hardly stand to be in the same room as me. "Hardly" also meaning not at all, since she'd had to leave our room the first night on the train towards Baia in an effort to keep away from me.

She took Lee's hand instead, and introduced the herself and Keith.

Lee's expression turned from intrigue to wonder.

"Alchemists, right? I've never met one of you. The tattoos you guys have are beautiful," he said, giving Sydney's cheek a good look. "I've heard about what they can do."

"Donahue?" Keith spoke up. He glanced between Lee and Clarence, apparently making a connection. "Are you related?"

Lee gave Clarence an indulgent look. "Father and son."

Keith frowned. The more he talked the more I didn't like him, but I couldn't really pinpoint why.

"But you don't live here, do you?"

At first I found that question odd, until remembering the nature of Alchemists. If Keith was asking, it meant he didn't know, and Alchemists don't like not knowing. Lee took Keith's questioning in stride.

"Not regularly, no," said Lee. "I go to college in LA, but my schedule's just part-time this semester. So, I want to try to spend more time with Dad."

Abe shot me a glance. "You see that? Now that's devotion."

A retort about his absence for my first 17 years of life was on the tip of my tongue, but instead I opted to rolled my eyes, and Clarence spoke again.

"I could've sworn I had that lock replaced." This was his second remark about the lock. The more he insisted, the more on edge I became.

"Well, I can replace it soon if you want," said Lee. "It can't be that hard."

"I think it's fine," Clarence rose unsteadily to his feet. "I'm going to take a look."

A sudden feeling came over me, a nausea I didn't think would return. Not after getting shot by Tasha Ozera during the climax of the Moroi election.

"Wait," I said, grabbing hold of both their arms. Eddie stood up straighter, preparing himself for a danger he really had no sense of. It spoke volumes about the trust he had in me.

Maybe nearly dying, again, had broken my bond with Lissa- but it seemed likely now that I still had my connection to the dead, or in this case, the undead. Being so preoccupied with Lissa at Court, in the safety of the wards, hadn't given me an opportunity to face any Strigoi after she became queen. I really hoped that opportunity wouldn't present itself now.

"Stay here, nobody move," I ordered. Abe looked like he wanted to say something, but I threw him a meaningful look that changed his mind.

I brought out my stake, and Eddie mirrored me. The closer I moved to the door, the stronger the nausea grew. A sharp pang of worry for Adrian hit me in my gut until I remembered seeing him step outside for a cigarette. As part of a condition of dating me, he'd promised to give those up. That quickly fell through after my betrayal. It was a habit that always bugged me about him and yet I couldn't be more grateful for it now. He was in the safety of the sun.

Before softly opening the door, I glanced back at Eddie, who looked ready for anything. "Could be nothing."

It was a possibility. What if an effect of mine and Lissa's bond breaking was false Strigoi warnings? Like some kind of phantom pain, or a placebo effect. My body playing tricks on me.

Eddie's face told me he was doubtful. He trusted my instincts perhaps even more than I did.

I slipped outside the room, hearing Eddie lock the door behind me. If there indeed was any danger, it was smart to take much as much precaution as necessary.

SYDNEY

Keith didn't look as scared as I felt.

Considering how much more experience I'd had with Strigoi, that just didn't seem possible. He'd appeared pretty uncomfortable while Clarence was protesting about his lock, but now it was as if he wasn't worried about anything at all.

Until he saw me looking at him.

He quickly stood, and stepped further away from the door- which Eddie was currently guarding- perhaps in an attempt to look frightened. What I didn't get was why he wouldn't be already. If a Moroi poking him in the back was enough to terrify him, where was his fear of the worst, and most dangerous kind of vampire, the Strigoi?

"It's probably nothing, who knows what she's on about," Keith said. I realized what his problem was. To him, it looked like Rose was just paranoid about the lock. Keith had underestimated zmey, thinking the stories about him were overrated, and now Rose. His imbecilic judgement towards the most dangerous people I knew was laughable.

"She can sense them," I said. Keith looked at me in confusion. "Sense what?"

"Strigoi. I've seen it." My personal confirmation made him falter. "She's never wrong."

His mistrust never left his face, but I could see what I said had finally got him to act a little worried. Before he could make another stupid comment, Clarence got everyone's attention with a harsh whisper.

"It's no Strigoi. It's those vampire hunters, they've finally come for me, just like they did my niece!" Everyone in the room seemed surprised. Except maybe Eddie, who was still focused on whatever was, or wasn't, outside the door. Keith seemed startled, but ignored Clarence's outburst.

"She just said she checked the perimeter, and anyways, the sun's right outside. It's the middle of the day. It can't be Strigoi, and I'm pretty sure it isn't 'vampire hunters' either," Keith scoffed. This time Eddie weighed in.

"You would be surprised by what kind of bad things happen during the day," Eddie said solemnly. "Now be quiet."

I hoped Keith wouldn't embarrass us any further and finally decide to shut his mouth. He did so, after a moment, but it was still clear he was skeptical about Rose's abilities. The room went back to a tense silence, soon interrupted by a loud crash coming from somewhere in the house.

ROSE

The second I'd slipped through the heavy French doors, I knew I'd been right about my Strigoi senses.

I crept down the hall, sure to move as stealthily as possible. The nausea had turned into full blown alarm the further through the house I moved. It led me into a dimly lit pool room, but I could still see no sign of an intruder, undead or otherwise.

Until I was thrown into a rack of pool cues.

That hurt, but it my training kicked in and my recovery was quick. It didn't do enough to faze me. What did, however, was the Strigoi I was facing.

It was Robert Doru.