Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

Finally, another chapter! There should only two more after this and I'm hoping to have them out before TIS releases next week. Can't believe it's almost here :)

As we finally got off the plane in Los Angeles, I just kept thinking, I should of have told Adrian I love him.

It had been stuck on repeat in the back of my head for the entire trip back to California. Why hadn't I just said it last night? After the attack, after making out, after sleeping in the same bed. We woke tangled in the sheets together, for God's sake! I still couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. But Rose was right. I did love him. And I should tell him.

Adrian grabbed my luggage from me, taking my hand and leading me out to the long term parking lot where Latte was waiting. I could turn to him right now, I thought. I could just say it.

Say it!

I didn't. I stayed silent as we got in the car and started the drive back to Palm Springs. It wasn't that I didn't feel it. I did, but it was... it was like what Adrian had said yesterday when I'd wanted to take our make out session farther and he'd wanted to stop. I was scared. Scared I'd never get to say the words to him so I was rushing. I could turn to him right now and say Adrian, I love you. And he would love to hear that, but it would be forced. I thought back to what he said yesterday.

I want you to want it with everything you have in you.

That's what I wanted. I wanted to say it at a perfect, romantic moment when everything was just happening naturally and the words would roll off of my tongue. Unlike if I said them now while driving us down the freeway as the sun set behind us and the traffic jammed up ahead of us. I'd probably stutter and stumble over them and wouldn't that be romantic?

"What are you thinking about over there?" Adrian asked, smiling at me from the passenger seat.

I smiled back and said, "You."

"I'm thinking about you, too," he whispered, leaning across the console to kiss my cheek. "I'm also thinking about how nice the backseat of this car would be compared to how cramped the seats in coach were." He stretched his back and then cracked his neck. "What do you say, Sage? We could pull over for a few minutes, get semi-naked in the backseat...?" He gave me the sexiest look you could imagine, but the way he waggled his eyebrows just made the whole thing look ridiculous.

"No, that's okay," I said laughing. "Besides, I do have to be back at Amberwood before curfew."

He sighed and then perked up as an idea occurred to him. "Tell them you had to take a later flight. Stay at my place tonight. We'll cuddle like last night."

I raised an eyebrow at him, but kept my eyes on the road. "I think we did a little more than just cuddle last night."

Adrian smirked. "We can do some of that stuff too, if it's a deal breaker for you," he said. "But then we'll cuddle afterwards. I'll even set my alarm early so that you'll have plenty of time to get back to school in the morning. I promise."

I wanted to give in. It would be so easy to say yes and spend the night with him. And I wanted to. Waking up with him had been a great way to start the day, but being completely irresponsible was not a part of who I was. Besides, I really wanted to get back to Amberwood to see Jill and the others. I wanted to make sure they were all alright.

"Not tonight," I said to Adrian. To soften the no, I quickly reached over and squeezed his hand. "Thank you for the offer, though."

He huffed a little but then jumped into a whole conversation about this new watercolor technique one of his professors was teaching him. Soon I was dropping him off at his apartment and heading back to Amberwood.

I was eager to get back to my room and relax for a few minutes before going to find Jill and the others, but my hopes were cut short when I was accosted by Eddie in the lobby of the girl's dorms.

"There you are," he said with a sigh of relief when he saw me walking in, dragging my bag behind me. I was nervous about why he'd been waiting for me, but then he smiled and said, "Here, let me get that." I figured nothing could be too wrong of he was smiling and taking my bag for me.

"You don't have to," I mumbled, knowing it was no use. This was Eddie, after all. And that was precisely the problem. I'd wanted to speak with Jill about everything that had happened before I talked to Eddie or Angeline for multiple reasons. The biggest being because the attack had to have a huge emotional impact on her. I mean, this was the second time someone had tried to kill her at Court. But the reason that I was more interested in, even if I hated myself for it, was that Jill knew about my magic and she also knew Eddie and Angeline slightly better than I did because she spent so much time with them. I wanted her advice on how to tell them what I could do.

Eddie carried my bag upstairs for me as I followed behind him. "How are Jill and Angeline doing?" I asked.

Eddie's shoulders tensed and I was suddenly worried again. What if they really weren't alright like I'd assumed? And here I was, being all selfish and thinking about my own problems.

"They're doing okay." He sighed. "Angeline got really freaked out, she's good at keeping it in, but what happened scared her. I don't think she ever thought about what would happen if she got hurt."

I could see that. Angeline was always a little head strong about her abilities as a guardian. Something like this had to have altered her perception of herself.

"Jill and I keep telling her she did really well. She did everything she was supposed to. She's better now, but it really freaked her out last night. And Jill... Well, Jill was already scared from, you know, last time. This time wasn't nearly as bad as that. I think she'd really like to talk to you about it. They both would." As we came to my hallway he turned his head and gave me a long look. "But I really want to talk to you about it first."

I wondered if I could get away with playing dumb about the whole magic situation, but the gleam in Eddie's eyes told me I couldn't. Or shouldn't. He deserved to know what really happened. I nodded and gestured for him to follow me to my room.

"So," he said once we were in my dorm and the door was closed behind us. "What was that at dinner? What did you do? Because I know you did something to save me. I should be dead right now."

I had been so nervous about this talk. So worried how he'd react to my confession, but now, looking into his hazel eyes, I wasn't worried anymore. If Eddie could stand there and talk about his near death experience the way someone else might talk about the weather, then I could certainly admit I was a witch.

When I was finished with my explanation he was sitting quietly at my desk chair. I'd told him everything. About how Mrs. Terwilliger had tricked me into creating the fire amulet that helped save Adrian from the Strigoi in Keith's apartment and how Genevieve had kidnapped and brainwashed Carly. I told him the basics of the plan we'd fleshed out with Marcus to get her back. He took it all in silently, letting me release everything that had been on my chest for months. Whether he was silent because he was processing or because he was in shock, I couldn't tell.

"So, the other night, you used magic to push the bullet off course?" he said, repeating what I had told him just a few minutes ago.

I nodded. "I saw what was happening and I had the ability to stop it. So I did."

"And you're only telling me all of this now because I caught you?" he asked, sounding annoyed. That wasn't exactly the response I'd imagined him having. "You wouldn't have told me otherwise. You and Adrian would have run off and fought this–this Genevieve person without telling me!"

"Eddie..."

"No, Sydney!" he growled. "You should have told me this. I know you didn't trust us in the beginning, but after your sister was kidnapped? I could have helped you!"

I definitely hadn't been expecting this from him, but maybe I should have, I realized. Eddie was very protective of the people he cared about, and that now included me.

"I'm sorry," I said honestly. "I was trying to keep you all out of it. Your job is to protect Jill, not me. And you certainly weren't trained to run off half-cocked after a coven of psychotic witches."

"And you were?" he scoffed.

"No," I admitted. "But I'm learning now. Mrs. Terwilliger and Adrian have been helping me."

Eddie shook his head at the mention of Adrian. "He should have told me what you were up to."

"He wanted to," I defended. "But he was keeping a promise to me. I was the one who didn't want you involved."

"Sydney," Eddie sighed. "You're my friend. And I want to help you." He seemed to notice the argument brewing within me because he changed tactics. "And, regardless of any of that, don't you think it's important for me to be aware of any and all dangers that we might run into out here? What if that Genevieve woman came here for you? What if Jill was around?"

I didn't answer him, my argument dying in my throat. I wanted to say that that wasn't a likely scenario, but I knew that wasn't going to appease him.

"Well, at least I know now, before you all went off and got yourselves killed." He shook his head in exasperation. "You really got yourself in deep with this one, Sydney. Our best bet would be to call in the guardians..."

"No!" I snapped. "We can't."

"I know," he said seriously. "They'd ask too many questions and it might start a panic back at Court. And they'd definitely get the Alchemists involved which, I'm assuming based off of my impression of them, wouldn't end well for you."

I shook my head, relieved that he seemed to understand. Of course he did, he was Eddie. Always thinking ahead, always planning.

"They'd take me away, maybe even hurt me," I admitted.

"Damn," he muttered. "What are we going to do about that? I'm sure you and Adrian have been trying to come up with something?"

"That's not what's important right now," I said, wanting to switch topics away from the Alchemists. "What's important is getting Carly back and making sure no one—Moroi, dhampir or Alchemist—finds out about it."

Eddie nodded his agreement. "Alright. I'm in. And I want your word that I will be included in all of this from now on."

It really was no use. We'd need his help if our plan was ever going to come together. And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. This was his business and he deserved to be included.

"I swear," I said. "Now I should probably go have a chat with Jill and Angeline."

###

I was surprised to get a phone call from my mother two days later. I hadn't spoken to her in months and then two phone calls twice in less than a week. It was some kind of record. I was even more surprised by what she had to say.

"I'm in Palm Springs," she said as soon as I answered. "Tell me you're still here."

"I'm here," I said slowly. What was my mother doing in Palm Springs?

"Good," she sighed. She sounded relieved. "Can we meet up?"

"Um, yeah. Of course." She rattled off the address of a cafe not too far from Adrian's apartment. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes later I pulled Latte to a stop in front of the cafe and found my mother at a table inside near a window.

"Mom..." I said slowly as I sat down. "What are you doing here? How did you even know where I was?"

She looked up at me with her wide brown eyes and took a deep breath. "I made Zoe tell me where you were. She confessed that she was the one who told Carly where to find you. She thinks this is all her fault."

I shook my head firmly. "It's not. Not even a little."

"I know," she said. She took another breath and pulled her straight brown hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck. She was always doing that. Being a mechanic she liked to keep her hair out of her face so she could work. I could never do anything as simple as pull my hair into a ponytail without looking in a mirror. I would be too worried that it wasn't smoothed down and perfect. It suddenly seemed like such a stupid worry to have. Who cared if my hair wasn't perfect? My sister was missing.

"That's why I'm here," Mom went on. "Because it isn't her fault. It isn't your fault. It's mine."

"What do you mean?" I asked. How could Genevieve taking Carly be my mother's fault?

"You were right, Sydney," she said, brown eyes flashing. "When you said the only way to help Carly was with the truth. So tell me the truth and I'll tell it to you too. Where is Carly? Do you know?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

She let out a relived breath. "Good. That's good. Is she okay? Can I speak with her? Have you?"

"I have," I admitted. "But I don't think she's feeling very talkative right now. Mom, there's something's I need to tell you."

She nodded. "There are things I need to tell you too. But you can start. So tell me. How did you find out you're a witch?"

I told her everything, well, almost everything. I told her about Mrs. Terwilliger, I told her about learning magic, about using it against the Warriors. I told her about Genevieve and how the meeting with Carly went.

She sat quietly and listened attentively the whole time. When I was finished she reached over and took my hand.

"I would like to meet this history teacher of yours," she said with a soft smile. "I'm glad you have someone here you can turn to for help." I almost told her about Adrian then. I hadn't mentioned him to her throughout the story. I was afraid if I mentioned him casually she'd see right through me and if I said we were dating that she'd be disgusted with me. But she kept talking so I closed my mouth and tried to concentrate on what she was saying. "Sweetie, I'm sorry that I never told you the truth. We thought we were protecting you by keeping magic from you."

"So Dad knows too," I confirmed.

"He does," she said. "He's known since we met. He never liked magic, but he was going to leave the Alchemists so he could be with me anyway. I thought it was the most romantic thing ever. Sometimes I wish he had."

"Why didn't he?" It didn't seem like Dad to consider leaving the Alchemists, but I'd seen old photos of my parents. In the pictures back before they'd had Carly, they looked insanely in love. I was pretty sure those pictures, those memories, were the only reason Mom put up with Dad anymore.

"Because I was in danger," Mom said bluntly. "There was a group of families who had created a coven. Separately, the families weren't all that powerful, but together they were strong. Stronger than either of my parent's families were. They wiped our lines out. My parents were survivors of that coven's massacre. The coven became stronger, more aggressive. Eventually they almost wiped themselves out through sheer greed and infighting. But there are still those who hunt us. I realize now that it may have been a stupid decision to keep all of this from you, but when Carly was born it just seemed like the right move. And Daddy's job with the Alchemists seemed like the perfect hiding spot. No one would look for a witch in an organization that hates magic." She shook her head, her eyes tearing up a bit. "It wasn't until you became an Alchemist that I realized what a mistake I'd made, but by then it was too late. I didn't want you to ever have to deal with power hungry witches hunting you down the way they did my parents."

I squeezed her hand. "Mom, it's okay. Really."

"No, it's not." She sniffed and blinked her tears away. "I never wanted you to have to deal with this, Sydney. And now here you are, battling a power hungry witch who's kidnapped Carly! Lying to you didn't make anything better. In fact, it probably only made it worse."

I bit my lip. I couldn't really disagree with her because being lied to never made anything better, but I was almost afraid of what my life would be like if she had told me the truth. I wouldn't be an Alchemist, which would mean I never would have met Rose, which would mean I never would have met Adrian. And if I hadn't met Adrian, well... Both of our lives would be different and I didn't really want to think about that.

"Let's talk about this later," I said finally. "Right now we need to focus on the plan to get Carly back."

"You have a plan?" She looked at me hopefully and smiled. "Of course you do. You're always so prepared, Sydney. My brilliant girl. Have you tried a location spell yet?"

"We're doing one the day after tomorrow. Then we've got a semi-decent plan to distract Genevieve's coven while Ms. Terwilliger deals with her sister."

"Who's we?" she asked. "Surely you're not planning on attacking a powerful coven with just you and your teacher?" Her tone said that that better not be the plan.

I smiled a little and stood. "Come with me and I'll explain everything."

###

It took less than five minutes to get to Adrian's apartment. I explained to my mom that she wouldn't be able to meet the others involved until our planned meeting the day after tomorrow. But I thought she wouldn't mind meeting Adrian, since he had been a part of this since the beginning. I just wasn't sure if she'd have an issue with him being Moroi or not. I think, more than anything, that that was why I brought her here. I wanted to gauge how she acted around my boyfriend.

When I pulled up in front of Adrian's building my mom's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Is that a 1967 Mustang?" she asked even though she already knew.

She jumped out of Latte and started slowly circling the car, stopping every now and then to examine a detail that caught her attention or to peer through the window.

"The leather is in mint condition. The whole car is. It must have cost a fortune," she raved.

"A small one," an unexpected voice said from behind us. I spun around and spotted Adrian on the sidewalk, his head cocked as he looked back and forth between me and my mother. "But it was totally worth it," he smirked.

My mother, in her excitement over the car, didn't seem to notice that Adrian was Moroi. Of maybe she just didn't care. "This is your car?" she asked. "How long have you had it? Have you had to replace anything? It looks like it's all original to this model..."

Mom could go on and on about cars. Unfortunately for her, Adrian couldn't. He shrugged and confessed he'd only had the car for a couple of months. "You'll have to ask Sydney about the rest," he said charmingly. "I don't know nearly a quarter of what she does. And I'm guessing she has you to thank for that knowledge, Mrs. Sage?"

My mom smiled brightly at him, realizing he was a friend of mine. "I suppose I taught her an appreciation for cars. I'm sorry, I'm Deborah. And you are?" she asked holding her hand out to him.

I opened my mouth to make the introductions but Adrian beat me to it. He shook her hand, grinning from ear to ear. "Adrian Ivashkov. It's a pleasure to meet you, Deborah. And you know," he said, touching a finger to his chin and looking between my mom and me. "Even though I can tell just by looking at you that you're related, you don't seem nearly old enough to be someone's mother. Are you sure you're not Sydney's other older sister?"

I rolled my eyes at the ridiculously cheesy line, but Mom seemed amused by it.

"You're a charmer, aren't you, Adrian?" she grinned back. She looked at me and said, "I'm surprised he hasn't swept you off your feet already."

I shook my head, hoping to hide the blush that was spreading up my neck and cheeks. "Adrian, I'm sorry to bother you, but do you mind if we come in? We were discussing Carly and, you know, the plan."

Adrian was smirking at me, but he nodded and led us into his apartment without hesitation. When we got inside I realized his art studio was in full form today. We must have interrupted him while he was doing homework.

"Oh!" Mom exclaimed as she came to a halt in Adrian's living room. "Did you paint all of these?"

Adrian seemed to remember that his apartment was filled with paintings and supplies so he started to clean things up a bit. "Yeah. Most are for school projects," he said as he pulled a canvas off of an easel and placed it against a wall, stacked with a few other paintings. He quickly pulled a plastic covering over them.

My mother was having none of that though. Intrigued by his suspicious behavior she walked over, pushed past Adrian, and pulled the covering off the painting. Adrian made a sound of protest, but clearly it was too late. My mom was already looking.

"This is..." she said slowly, choosing her words carefully as she studied the painting.

Adrian looked over at me sheepishly and my stomach dropped out. What did he paint? I walked over, my eyes widening when I saw the canvas my mother was looking at.

"Oh my God!" I mouthed angrily at him, behind Mom's head.

He mouthed back, "Sorry! I didn't know you were coming."

"This is...," my mom said again. "It's excellent. Beautiful." She turned and smiled at the both of us. "Did you pose?" she asked me.

I looked back at the painting. It was of me, standing in the middle of the desert, what I assumed was my aura glittering around me in yellow and purple swirls, completely nude. "No. I didn't pose," was all I could say.

"Is it from memory?" Mom asked, sounding amazed. "It's very good if it's from memory. I had a cousin who was a painter and she always had the toughest time getting people right if they weren't standing directly in front of her."

"Mom!" I was mortified. "Some guy paints a picture of me naked and all you can ask is if I posed or if he painted it from memory? You're not in the least bit concerned by this?" I gesture, a little wildly, at the canvas.

"Oh, sweetie, it's a painting," she said with a roll of her eyes toward Adrian. He laughed a little, which only frustrated me more. "You're a spirit user, correct?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I can sense it," she said and pointed to the purple swirls on the painting. "That's her aura?"

"Yeah," he said, looking comfortable now. "Whenever I look at Sydney she's practically glowing. I think it tells more about her personality than anything else I could have painted ever could."

Mom nodded, inspecting the painting further. This was making me so uncomfortable.

"Mom—"

"Sydney, look at it," she said, gesturing to the canvas. "Do you see the love and devotion put into this piece? It's in every stroke. The pose, the way your aura is wrapped around you. It's almost reverent." She turned to Adrian. "You're very good."

"Thank you, ma'am." He smiled brightly for her, something passing between them in that moment.

"Oh," she swatted her hand at him. "Please, call me Debbie."

"Debbie?" I asked incredulously. "No one calls you Debbie. Dad doesn't even call you that."

"That's because Dad has always called me Deb. and I like when he calls me that, but my friends have always called me Debbie," Mom said.

"What friends?" I asked.

"I have friends," she huffed. "And if I'm going to be friends with anyone it's going to be my daughter's boyfriend."

"What makes you think he's my boyfriend?" I asked, indignant just because I was embarrassed.

Mom's eyes widened and she pointed toward the painting. "He better be your boyfriend if he's painting you naked."

At that Adrian laughed and my tension started to seep away. I smiled a little and said, "Can we please cover this painting up now? It's making me very uncomfortable."

Mom stepped away from the painting and Adrian put the plastic sheeting back in place. "So," he said as he gestured for us to sit down on his plaid couch. "We're discussing the plan to get Carly back?"

We immediately fell into the story of what happened when Carly showed up at the warehouse that night, but this time Adrian made sure all of his actions—aside from when we made out in the car afterwards—were accounted.

###

"It was really nice to meet you, Adrian," Mom said, shaking his hand. It was clear throughout our conversation that she thought Adrian was my boyfriend, but neither of us had ever clarified our relationship status to her. I could tell she liked him though and that made me happy. "I'll be in town until... well, for awhile, so I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you. I'd really love to get a chance to look at your car. It's a beauty."

Adrian told her it was great to meet her too, and then sealed the deal as boyfriend material in my mother's eyes by grabbing his keys from a table by the front door and holding them out to her. "You guys can borrow it if you want. I'll trade off cars with Sydney later."

Mom looked like she wanted to agree so I jumped in quickly. "That's sweet, but I really need to get back to school and if you let her drive that car I won't be back for a long, long time," I told Adrian.

Mom laughed. "She's right. A Mustang like that? I'd take it on one hell of a joyride. Thank you for the offer though." She turned to me. "We should go now, Sydney. You need to get back to your school. I don't want to get you in trouble."

I nodded. It was getting closer to curfew now and I did have some homework I needed to get done before everything went down this weekend.

Mom looked back and forth between me and Adrian, realizing I wasn't going to follow her out right away. "I'll just... be out here. Looking at the Mustang some more. Take your time," she added with a knowing smile.

Once she was outside I turned to Adrian. He was smiling at me.

"I like your mom," he said, taking a step towards me.

"I like my mom, too," I said, leaning into him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He kissed me softly, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm sorry about the painting," he said when we pulled back. "I can get rid of it if you want. I didn't mean for it to make you uncomfortable. And I definitely never meant for your mom to see it."

"It's fine." I shook my head. "I was just embarrassed because, you know. It's personal and my mom saw it." He nodded. "But I don't want you to get rid of it. It was beautiful and I'd really like to look at it again when I'm not cringing because my mom is standing next to me."

He chuckled and leaned into me. "It's actually pretty cute," he whispered near my ear as he peppered kissed along my neck. "You being all shy in front of your mom. But she seems cool with us being together, Sage. Let her be cool with us." He kissed my jaw and pulled back to look at me.

"I know," I whispered back. "I'm just not used to that side of her. I've seen her act like that with Carly's boyfriends, though she's never taken to anyone the way she took to you." He smirked at that. "Believe me, I'm glad that she approves of us. If she didn't it wouldn't change anything, but it's still nice to have."

"I know," he said, leaning in and brushing his lips against mine. "It is nice. At least we had one parents approval."

I agreed.

"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and somehow pulling me closer. "Are we still on for our date tomorrow? I've got everything planned, but we can change it if you want to spend time with your mom. I know you haven't seen her in a while and with everything going on with Carly..."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "It's our first real date. I don't want to cancel. Especially because of everything going on. I'll see Mom at the meeting. Tomorrow is our day."

He kissed my cheek, right below my eye, and then leaned his forehead against mine. "I'll pick you up at six then."

I untangled myself from him, however reluctantly, and headed for the door. "That's perfect. I can't wait."

I threw him one last smile over my shoulder before leaving to take my mother back to her hotel.