Chapter 9

ADRIAN POV (POINT OF VIEW!) *DIES* *SCREAMS OF JOY AND HAPPINESS AND FANGIRLING CAN BE HEARD!*

Damn it.

So close. She was so close. I couldn't know for sure, but I was almost certain she was about to kiss me.

But of course, Rose had to show up during the most important moment in my whole life. She had to show up and ruin everything. I wanted to kill myself for actually being surprised when it happened.

I should've expected something like that. Someone always showed up a moment before something important was about to happen. Sometimes it was Angeline opening her locker with an axe, sometimes it was Zoe and her vampire-paranoia, sometimes it was Ms. Terwilliger and her crazy requests, sometimes it was the apocalypse… even before the Strigoi took her away from me , we were always interrupted during important moments.

Important moment seemed like an understatement. I mean, Sydney lost all her memories, up until a few minutes ago she was afraid of me because I was a Moroi. Yeah, saying that almost-kissing her was important definitely was an understatement.

I shook my head, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself.

My problem was the fact that I didn't and couldn't know it for certain. Did I just imagine those slow, hesitant movements which brought her closer to me, inch by inch? Was I finally going crazy? Or did I just misunderstand her intentions? Perhaps she was about to hug me, or…

"Stop," I heard Jill say from behind me. "If you continue thinking so fast, both our brains are going to explode."

I turned around and pulled Jill into a big hug, spinning her around. "Jailbait," I said in a light voice, "I haven't seen you in ages. How's Castile?"

She rolled her eyes as I put her down. "Don't make small talk," she said seriously. I still couldn't get used to the fact that she wasn't the small little girl I met years ago anymore. She was almost a woman now. I felt like a proud big brother.

"And don't distract me with those thoughts," she snapped, though we were both smiling. "I hoped that I could talk with Sydney, calm your nerves, and save your relationship."

I watched her for a second, trying to understand why she suddenly decided to become Dr. Love, and then it dawned upon me.

"Ah," I murmured. "You saw the spirit dream."

Jill nodded. "Yes, and I also saw what happened in the hospital. It's not that hard, since you keep remembering it," she said, and even though her words implied that she was bothered by this fact, the smile on her face implied exactly the opposite.

"So, are you here to tell me I'm going crazy again?" I teased, making the smile on her face widen.

Jill shook her head. "I'm here to tell you exactly the opposite – you hadn't imagined it. I'm not really sure what's going on with Sydney, but I think that she's either starting to remember, or that at least her memory works on an instinctual level. She's not afraid of you, Adrian, even though her mind's telling her she should be. I believe that's what confusing her – she doesn't know why she feels how she does when she's around you, but those feelings still exist."

My heart squeezed when I heard those words. "Don't give me hope, Jill. I don't think I could handle it if I lost her again. All I want to do now is go back into that room and do what my body's been telling me to do ever since I found out she was alive-"

"And that's exactly why I'm here," Jill said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You have to give her space, Adrian. You have to let her sort out her thoughts, not jump her like an animal."

I shook my head. "If you keep giving me those advices, I'm going to turn into an animal," I said desperately. "You know how many times I almost told her all about the past? But this tall Moroi girl who just happens to be my best friend told me not to…" I ruffled her hair, trying to stay positive.

Jill laughed and moved away. "Seriously. Give her time. Let women handle this."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is Rose a part of that category? For all I know, she's teaching her how to throw knives at people in there."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Come on, don't be so judgmental. After all, she ended up in Palm Springs because of Rose and their friendship, right? Rose knows the Alchemist part of her better than we do. If anyone can understand what she's going through right now, it's Rose."

I sighed and started pacing the corridor. I literally felt Jill roll her eyes, and then she said, "I'm going in. She needs to talk with girls, and with Eddie and Abe and you being around her all the time, it's a wonder she hasn't turned into a man yet."

"Okay, okay," I said, knowing Jill was too determined for me to try to stop her. "I'll go take a shower, feed and all of that. But I'll be back in an hour, and I want you gone until then."

I actually did exactly what I said I'd do. I took a shower, shaved, changed clothes and all of that. After I fed, though, I ran into someone unexpected.

"Abe," I said, nodding at him politely. I owed respect and gratefulness to this man, seeing how he took care of Sydney and managed to talk her into IVs and medical treatment when I failed to do it.

God, just the thought of everything she's been through…

"Adrian," Abe said back in a cheerful voice. That man always seemed to be cheerful – I suspected that's why we got along so well. Today he was wearing a green tuxedo, and instead of a scarf he was wearing a white tie.

That sure made me raise my eyebrows. "The meeting with the queen, I suppose?" I guessed.

He grinned at me. "A quick lesson – never talk about the business with the queen. But since you're good friends, I suppose it won't hurt to tell you what she told me. It's about Sydney."

Just like that, all the cheerfulness was out of my voice and I was all business again. "What about her?" I asked uncertainly.

Abe started walking, and soon we fell into step. "Lissa is concerned about how this might affect everything," he started. "If Sydney was just a regular human, she would be transferred to an Alchemist facility and they'd take her into a hospital and take care of her."

I immediately started shaking my head in protest of something as ridiculous as that, but Abe stopped me with his next sentence. "But obviously, Sydney's not a regular human. Again, if she was a regular Alchemist, the procedure would be the same, but there's the memory loss, and her involvement with a certain Moroi…"

Abe trailed off, and I groaned. "So, now it's all my fault? I understand that it's a bit shocking and scandalous, but Sydney's not an Alchemist anymore. She hasn't been an Alchemist for 4 years already. Haven't they written her off as dead?"

Abe shook his head. "No. And it seems that not being discreet about her arrival here was a mistake, since they somehow found out. Lissa received a letter from the Alchemists, just a few minutes ago, and in it they're demanding – not asking – for her to hand her over to the Alchemists so that they can treat her wounds and punish her according to the Alchemist laws."

"Punish her?" I asked in disbelief and disgust. "For what? Being held captive in a Strigoi nest for years? For losing all her memories? For being afraid of needles and addicted to Moroi endorphins? God, what's wrong with those people? Hadn't she suffered enough already?"

Abe watched me calmly while I took all my frustration out on him. It wasn't his fault, but I was too angry to care. I was angry at myself, and the Strigoi, and the Alchemists, and the whole world for letting this happen.

"That fact is exactly why they want to 'purge the evil from her soul,'" Abe said calmly. "They're aware that she's been tortured and bitten, so they think that Re-education is going to help her remember who she is."

"Re-education," I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why is that word oddly familiar?"

"Sidney might've mentioned it to you once," Abe continued. "It's the place where they put those who they see as tainted by evil. I don't have any information about what they're doing to people down there, but it's basically brainwashing, according to all the reports. When people get out of there, they're like mindless robots who exist only to serve the Alchemists."

I shuddered, realization dawning on me. "It's that j***, Keith," I said, nodding at myself. "They send him to Re-education after they found out he was selling vampire blood and that people were making tattoos with it. Sydney told me about him, and how different he was after he came back."

When Abe didn't say anything, I stopped and looked him in the eye. "I'm not letting Lissa do that, Abe."

Abe's look was just as serious as mine. "There might be a war if Lissa doesn't-"

"I don't care," I continued. "I don't care about Moroi and what's forbidden and wars and all of that. All I care about is Sydney, her safety and her recovery. If you're going to take her away from me, then you might as well kill me, since I'm not going to allow that to happen."

Abe nodded. "Nobody's been asking anything like that from you, young man," he said in a gentle voice – well, as gentle a voice as Ibrahim Mazur could pull it off, "Even though Lissa has been considering it. I'm not sure if she understands just how involved you two were. I'm actually curious about that – when I told you going to Palm Springs would be good for you, I had no idea you'd end up getting involved with Sydney. To be honest, I'd never expect her to do something like that. Ever since I met her, she's been afraid of the Moroi. Finding out about your relationship was quite a surprise."

I nodded, feeling a bit proud of what I was about to say. "It came as a surprise to us, too, Abe," I said, a smile starting to form on my face. "We changed each other. In the beginning, it was hard for her to acknowledge the fact that she loved me, but we overcame that burden. I didn't even have the chance to show her how much I loved her properly before I lost her."

I paused for a second, knowing exactly how crazy I was for saying what I was about to say to Abe Mazur, the Moroi mafia godfather. I also knew this could be our – my and Sydney's – ticket out, because Abe has the resources to get us both out of here.

"She's it for me, Abe," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "In four years my love hasn't weakened, not even a single bit. Life without her was hell, and I'm not going back there. If you can help in any way, now's the perfect time to do it."

Abe grinned. "Well, well, and what makes you think I'd be willing to help you, Adrian Ivashkov?" He raised both his eyebrows, and still managed to look dangerous and proper. Damn, I was playing with fire here. "What makes you think that I'd even theoretically be able to make you both slip under the radar? I'd be going against the Queen, the Alchemists and it'd probably be the reason for a war between the Alchemists and the Moroi to start."

I stood my ground. I was becoming desperate, since if Abe said no, we were so screwed. "Now's the time to make that decision, Abe. You either help us, or you don't. Even if Lissa doesn't listen to reason here, I'll still try to get us out of here. But you'd be saving us a lot of trouble if you helped. And I'd be in your debt."

My heart was beating violently in my chest. I begged God and every saint that came to my mind, including St. Vladimir, to somehow make him say yes.

And then Abe's grin widened. "You know how much I love danger and breaking rules. Sydney's done a lot of favors and ended up in trouble with the Alchemists once because of Rose. And let's not forget the fact that Rose broke your heart. I suppose I could do one little favor to you, but just because you two make a great couple."

I laughed, feeling more relieved than I ever did before in my whole life. "We both know you're doing this just because our relationship is scandalous," I said and shook my head.

"Now, let's not make assumptions, young man," Abe said, and then launched into a story about the Keepers and how what Sydney and I were doing was beyond scandalous.

A tiny spark of hope came to life inside of me. Sydney and I. We'd have a chance together, she'd have the chance to get her memories back, and even if she never remembered, it wouldn't matter. I'd tell her all about how we met and fell in love. But we'd have the chance to make new memories, to live a life together, just like we planned. We'd be away from both the Moroi and the Alchemists, we'd get our happy ending, and everything would finally be okay.

It was just a spark of hope, but I held onto it. And even though Abe could be creepy and scary sometimes, I couldn't help but love the man in that moment.

He was Rose's father, after all.