Disclaimer: I do not own bloodlines or these characters, they are all the property of Richelle Mead.
Note: This store takes place after Bloodlines, with a few minor alterations to the original plot. Zoe has always been the alchemist in Palm Springs, for reasons that will be explained later in the story. Keith's tattoo business was never investigated by Zoe, so he was never removed from his post in Palm Springs. Instead, he was ultimately a victim of Lee's quest to become a strigoi once more. Lee was still killed in his attempt to return to his former state and Eddie still killed the strigoi while Zoe watched, having been present when the strigoi arrived.
Adrian
Palm Springs was too hot and too boring. Lee had been able to bring me around LA a few times, but outside of that I had nothing to do to entertain myself. Now, Lee was gone and we were stuck with the boring alchemist, Zoe to babysit all of us. The incident with Lee had been pretty traumatic on her, making her distance herself even further from us than most alchemists did. Regardless, she was just doing her job, but it left me feeling bored.
To make things worse, I had work to do myself now. Orders directly from Lisa, which surprised me. She never liked using her title against me, her friend, but she had viewed this as an important mission. Lee's immunity needed to be studied more, so we could replicate its effects on others. Once this was accomplished, all of the moroi would be safe from our enemy, the strigoi. Well, at least from becoming one of them, anyway.
Zoe was the lucky one, the one who had benefitted the most from our attack. I got stuck with a job while she inherited Keith's swanky apartment, filled with expensive furniture and a huge TV. She had all the tools in the world to entertain herself and I was jealous. At least I would be getting some kind of social interaction today. It was feeding day for Jill, something that normally managed to improve my mood. Today, I was suffering more due to spirit's side effects. Overuse for our experiments left me moody, which was great when it made me happy, but not so great on the down swing.
Thankfully, Dimitri and Sonya had gone out today so I was free from my Russian competitor. Seeing him only reminded me of Rose, the dhampir who broke my heart. She was always on the back of my mind, the girl who had decided I wasn't enough for her and never would be. No amount of alcohol could drown out the misery she had put me in.
The door opened, bringing in my friends that were busy spending time at Amberwood. "Adrian! Guess what we brought?" Jill said cheerily, always trying to brighten my mood. Her smile was one of the few bright spots in my life now, one of the few things I looked forward to seeing. Jill was almost like a sister to me, a creepy one that could see inside my head all the time.
The smell told me what she had already. "You are awesome, Jailbait. A goddess, a food bringing goddess." I told her, putting on a smile like always. This mood would go away soon enough and the pizza they brought would only help chase it away. "Enough, this is not the time for you to be socializing. Get your…eat and let's get out of here." Zoe said, stepping up to her job. It was funny to see that she was still uncomfortable thinking about us drinking blood.
"As friendly as ever, Zoe. Nice to see you too." I told her, grinning just to annoy her. It was so easy to put fear into this alchemist, especially compared to the others. I remembered the day she came, when she was cowering against Keith for protection from us evil creatures. Keith hadn't been much better, and while Zoe had improved, she still held some deep hatred in her eyes. This was a personal hatred for her, but I had yet to figure out why.
"Where are Sonya and Dimitri? I needed to finalize their arrangements here." she asked, ignoring my comment and focusing on business. Only the downturn of her mouth alerted me to her dislike of me and the rest of us. "Out, running some errands. They needed fuel to continue our little operation over could help by bringing us more vodka, wine, or any other kind of alcoholic beverage." I told her.
Eddie groaned, clearly reaching his tolerance limit. "Adrian, stop pestering the alchemist. She is only doing her job, so leave her alone." he told me, but I didn't care. Irritating Zoe was one of the few sources of entertainment in my life. It was fun to watch and see if she would keep her calm, alchemist demeanor, or snap and yell at me.
"My job is to ensure that Jill is hidden at Amberwood and provide transportation for them when they need to participate in these studies or get to her feedings. I will do nothing outside of those duties. It is best if we stay as far away from each other as possible, Mr. Ivashkov." Zoe responded, getting close to her bursting point. She was trying really hard, but one of these days she would explode and in that explosion, I would hear her reason for hating us.
"Of course, sorry for bothering you, Ms. Sage. If you ever change your mind and decide to loosen up a bit, let me know." I told her, only making her frown more. The door opened again, this time nearly making me lose my smile. Dimitri and Sonya were returning from their trip, bringing me back into my endless torment at this house. No alcohol was left to drown out my sorrow, leaving me open to endless torment from them and spirit.