Author's note: The only thing (except for hair color) that separates Sydney Sage from me is knowledge about cars. While she knows how obvious the difference between a 1984 and 1985 Mustang is, I wouldn't be able to distinct a truck from a car. Okay, I'm not that bad and I know how to change a tire, but that's basically all knowledge about cars I have (and I know signs for car dealerships). That's why I ask of you not to be too hard on me, since I'm going to give Sydney a new car in this chapter, and it will probably be a disaster.
I'm not sure if Bukwurm13 saw, but I wrote the one-shot for her. Hope you like it! :)
1. TheHappyLol: Okay, I stabbed someone with a pen too, but in the arm and it didn't leave a mark :D And you go, girl, with throwing chairs at people! Thankfully, nobody even knows about Bloodlines at my school, except for my best friend and we're in love with Adrian together. Aawh, a cookie! Love ya, popcorn girl! Thank you for everything! :)
2. sheerio4ever: I won't be proud too much because you have homework. I'm not going to school yet, so I'm sad! :( Well, my name is Ehlimana but I always put a "y" on the username. It makes it readable for people that aren't from my country, I guess? Because people tend to pronounce my name with the short "I" and it's not how my name is pronounced. It's complicated, really :D Yay! You'll get your laptop back! I am exciteeeed! :D And I know the phrase. I told my family I'm writing something about some books here, but if they knew exactly what I'm doing, they'd just stare at me and ask me if I'm normal. I told only my brother and that's how he reacted. Thank you so much! :)
3. ranDomXx: Ah, she just wants the truth. But now we'll see what's going on with Adrian! Thank you for faithful reviewing. :)
4. Sam1405: That is so nice of you! You are crazy and I love you. You're amazing too. Thank you so much, Sam! :)
5. KeepCalmAndDream: Stalker! :D It's okay for not reviewing, the important fact is that you're back. I know I'm frustrating you, but hang on in there! And thanks for everything. :)
6. gg: Well hello there, new reviewer! I think half of you would die if I started updating as frequently as most of the writers. I hope you're still alive and not too frustrated! :D
7. Guest: I'm sorry for the cliffhangers, I don't do it on purpose… oh, who am I kidding, of course I'm doing it on purpose. But it makes the next chapter better! ;)
8. LenaTheLiar: Another new reviewer! I am a rich girl, so many people around me. Welcome to the reviewing crew :D I'm sorry for frustrating you (and I'm sorry to everyone else). Your kind words made me melt – thank you so much. Hope you didn't have to wait too long. :)
9. Totalbooknerd13: You wait until I finish with this chapter so that you can finally tell me your one-shot request!
10. KyKat: Well, let's be honest – Sydney wouldn't handle it well. She'd, and will freak out. Thanks for reviewing every chapter! :)
11. MilankaLovesMetal: This review made me laugh so much! Angry mode is okay, as long as it doesn't affect your health (I'm sounding like my mom now). Sorry for frustrating you, but it'll get better! But not soon. Lots of twists coming in further chapters. I think you're all going to kill me before I manage to finish :D Love you too, Milanka! And thanks for everything! :)
12. Katrick: Don't worry. They make up in this chapter. And about Marcus – hmmmm. You all seem to be doing exactly what I want you to. But not everything is how it seems. :D Thanks for always reviewing, and tell me your one-shot request, please! :)
13. Rebelde09: You described my life in that review! :D Except that I worry about family. Don't be frustrated, everything will be okay! :) And don't worry about one-shots either – you'll read them when you do! Hope you have a request too. Thank you so much for faithful and continuous reviewing! :D
14. HopperIvashkinator: Why are you always the last in line? Don't freak out, sis. Just read this chapter. Oh God, you told me I'm hot. How do I handle that? :D Love you too, sis, and I don't know about Sydney. I haven't yet decided about what to do about her. :D
You ready for Adrian?
All the characters belong to Richelle Mead.
I was losing the grip on reality.
With every day, the world slowly faded more and more away. First I stopped noticing the weather. The next day I didn't notice Hopper and Lily were hungry. The next day I didn't notice my car was low on gas. The next day, I didn't notice when Rose was talking to me…
All I saw was Sydney. My angry, ignorant girlfriend to who I first lied, and then told her she wouldn't be able to handle the truth. I was positive that I'd be angry at myself, if only I had the energy to care.
But all of this was worth it. Telling Sydney she had a lost brother wasn't something I wanted to do. At least not yet. That's why I endured, why I sat at Clarence's house silently, watching her every move.
And the shadows were closing in on me. Lissa healed only greater wounds, so I had to heal myself, and it took a lot out of me. I was always in the dark… No, I wasn't always in the dark. I saw the light two times, when I came to Clarence's for a feeding.
She didn't even pause to look at me the first time, but her aura said otherwise. Her aura said that she missed me and that she was sorry, but that she was too proud to say so.
I never told her what really happened in that alley. My whole body, my whole being wanted to tell her what happened – she'd be proud of me. I, Adrian Ivashkov, broke Jared Sage's nose. Believe me, there was a lot of blood. And that rat, Marcus, he was so shocked that he just stood there, watching his own father bleed.
But he quickly got out of it when Jared commanded him to fight me. I was a Moroi, but he was stronger and I ended up on the floor.
What really didn't add up was the conversation the two had while I was in the dirt, half-conscious, bathing in my own blood.
"Who is this Moroi?" Jared asked his son in a very cold tone that reminded me of my own father. No wonder Sydney and I found each other – if I was forced to do whatever that jerk asked of me, I'd be messed up too.
"It's just a douchebag from LA," Marcus said, making me frown. Why didn't he say exactly who I was and confirm that Sydney and I were involved? I was Adrian Ivashkov, the compulsion guy, but explaining why I broke Sydney's father's nose out of nowhere would be impossible.
Jared spit on the ground. "Unholy creatures, attacking Alchemists," he said in disgust. "Leave him there," were the last words he said before they both disappeared.
There was something wrong, I was sure of it. What kind of a game was Marcus playing? He wanted to gain his father's trust, but in the same time he refused to do what he wanted when he finally got the chance. It really made no sense. Was he simply a coward, or did he want to have something to blackmail me with? Or was he playing a double game?
Whatever, I didn't want him near Sydney. Her brother or not, he was capable of hurting her and that was a risk I definitely wasn't going to take.
So with everything going on, I just snapped when Sydney just disappeared one day. She was under Neil's watch and he called me, saying that she went out of the campus with her car and that he couldn't follow her.
I know, asking Neil for anything was stupid, but Eddie was too busy protecting Jill and Angeline constantly had meetings with Trey (which, I noticed, never resulted in any real information), so I had no choice. He had his own room and he had the ability and the time, so I told him I'd do him a favor when the time came.
What could a British military old-fashioned guardian ask from me, anyway?
Freaking out lasted until I finally found her. I searched the whole Palm Springs and I just came to Amberwood when she just came through the main door.
I was furious. "Where were you?" I immediately yelled, standing up. I practically run to her, because she stopped talking – she was watching me with furrowed eyebrows.
After five days, someone finally said something. I just hoped our relationship still wasn't dead – one look at her aura told me so. There was a lot of want and love and confusion and relief and anger and loneliness in it.
I approached her, trying to ignore the frantic beating of my heart. I drank her in – her beautiful long hair, her beautiful brown eyes, her overall appearance.
I found myself mentally asking a rhetoric question: How did you survive without her for so long, Adrian?
"What do you care, Adrian?" Sydney carefully said, her aura contradicting the calm, cold Alchemist voice in which she was addressing me.
"I was looking for you for hours! You can' just disappear and then show up-"
Sydney cut me off, annoyance crossing her features. She was annoyed? Annoyed? "As much as I know, I'm able to leave the campus on my own. I can do whatever I want, and I don't see how that's your business."
I knew where this was heading. Because of what she said, I also knew where she was. "You went to see him," I said in a low voice. "Despite what I said, you went to see him."
Sydney was a wonderful actor. Apparent shock hit her features, but her aura remained the same and I knew she was lying. She had a meeting with Marcus, and I wasn't able to prevent it. Now he did God knows what to her. Did he reinforce the spells? Was Re-education already done?
"Of course I didn't," Sydney said calmly. "I was shopping, with Jill."
I shook my head, laughing humorlessly. "I didn't know you were a liar, Sage," I said venomously. "I never took you for that type. You know what was your best quality?"
Sydney was looking at me with a cold gaze, but her aura was on the brink of tears. My next words would hurt her, I knew, but I still said them. They were just out of me, without any chance of being stopped. "You were honest. No matter what, you always spoke the truth. Now you lost that too, Sage. Congratulations." I remained firm for another moment , seeing the hurt in her eyes. Then I turned around and left.
The next few hours were like hell. I couldn't understand how Sydney and I never fought while we were friends, when now we fought all the time. Was it something universal? Was it like this for everyone? Because if this was going to happen often, I was fairly certain I was going to end up in an asylum. Literally.
My apartment, a bottle of whiskey, a gramophone and spirit got me through those hours. I felt guilty for hurting Sydney – for the millionth time – and I felt lonely. I missed her. I missed her smell and I missed her smile and her rambling. I missed her presence – it made me brave, somehow. Without her, I felt useless and I knew it was the truth.
Day 5 almost ended, when my phone started ringing.
It said Jill. I was obviously drunker than I thought. "Yeah," I answered in a low voice, not caring about who it was anymore.
Thankfully, I was still far from being drunk. Jill's voice startled me. "Adrian," she said in an exasperated voice. "You just had to hurt her again, didn't you? She came to my room hours ago, and she was crying!"
"Huh?" I said, not knowing who she was talking about. Then realization hit me. "Oh my God," I said, hitting my forehead with my palm. "I'm so sorry, Jailbait."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Jill asked and I realized that she was right. Probably because I wanted to, and I had no one else. Jill sighed. "You forget that I can hear your thoughts. Call her, Adrian."
"Not until she apologizes," I said firmly. "She lied to me today and I'm not going to get over it that easily."
Jill laughed, but nothing was funny. "First of all, you lied to her first and expected to be 'easily forgiven,' and second, she didn't lie. She really was with me."
"Don't protect her, Jailbait," I snapped. "I thought this was low even for you."
I could practically feel Jill's eyes rolling. "Thank you for trusting me, so much!" she said, faking a cheerful tone. "Yeah, Adrian, I'm lying to you because I hate you and because I'd seriously love it if you and Sydney broke up. I'd love to have you for myself."
I still wasn't giving up. "You are protecting her because you know I'll kill Marcus if I find out she was in the same area as him, and I don't know what I'll do to her, but it'll be far more painful than what I did today." Okay, where was this coming from? That wasn't what I wanted to say.
"The darkness," Jill said and I nodded.
"I guess you're right. I'm in no state to talk with Sydney now. It'll have to wait, perhaps a month, until she decides to give me a phone call."
"Adrian!" Jill squealed. "How can you act like that! Your relationship is hanging on a thin line, and you're deciding to let it go?"
I frowned. "Then what do you want me to do? Call her and say I'm sorry for believing she lied to me?"
"Exactly!" Jill squealed once again.
"In your dreams, Jailbait," I said and almost hung up.
"If you hang up, I'm going to kill you with my bare arms," she said in a low voice.
"You sound like Rose," I said, smiling. Imagining Jailbait as Rose really was hilarious. Jill, short, her hair dyed in brown, in a black uniform, a stake in her hand…
"Stop daydreaming," Jill said. "It's distracting."
I sighed. "Just tell me the truth, Jill," I said, knowing she knew it was the only fair thing. She couldn't accuse me of lying to Sydney – I had to do that. I had to protect her from what I knew. Yes, she was going to find out, but I'd prefer it to happen when she's with me, safe and away from her psycho father and coward brother.
"We really went to shopping today," Jill said softly. "Eddie was complaining so much. I think it was actually cute – he had to go into the stores with us to be able to guard me. When I tried things on, I'd just watch him react and I'd immediately know whether to buy it or not. I ended up buying everything I tried on."
I rolled my eyes. "Back to important things, lovebird," I said and Jill giggled. "So she wasn't with him?"
"No. She was with me." Jill's voice was firm and it was really hard to believe that she wasn't saying the truth.
I simply gave up. "Okay. I'll call her now."
"I'll be watching," Jill said, and then, in a low voice, "Don't screw up. Tomorrow is her Zoe-free hour."
I nodded. "Thanks, Jailbait," was all I said and she hung up.
I took a deep breath. You can do this, Adrian, I told myself. What's a little pride loss if you get Sydney in return?
With those thoughts, I called her.
And In a second, I realized I dialed the wrong number.
"Zoe Sage speaking," the voice said.
I started to apologize and hang up, when she continued, in an uncertain voice, "Are you Jet?"
I raised an eyebrow. So I did call the right number, just not right enough. This was Sydney's normal cell phone, and I was obviously listed as Jet in it.
I loved Sydney.
In a low, masculine voice, I said, "Well, yes I am. Would you mind giving the phone to your sister, babe?" I knew this too well. Sage was a great actor, but I was even better.
Zoe giggled. "In a moment. Just a quick question first. Are you two…" she paused, then continued, "like, in a relationship or something?"
I raised an eyebrow. I had no idea what Sydney told to Zoe, but presenting myself as her human boyfriend Jet wouldn't hurt. I cleared my throat. "Well, you could say so…"
Zoe squealed. "I knew it, I knew it! I knew she had a boyfriend!" Her voice became distant as she yelled, "Sydney! Get out of the bathroom! It's Jet!" I rolled my eyes. Her voice was normal once again as she said, "It's nice to meet you, Jet." And with a giggle, she handed the phone to Sydney.
I gulped, preparing myself for fury. "Jet?" she asked, confused.
"Sage," I started, "I really have to apologize for the way…"
Sydney cut me off. "Are you crazy? Calling me? Talking to my sister?" she said it in a near-whisper, probably because of Zoe. "Is everything okay, Adr- I mean, Jet?"
I chuckled. "No, everything's not okay, Sydney. I'm feeling guilty for doing – and saying – what I did, and I'm here, redempting myself somehow."
Sydney sighed. "Please wait a moment." Her voice also became distant. I wondered if I'd be able to hear it if I was a human. Probably not. "Zoe, I need privacy. Could you go get us coffee or something while I talk with Jet?"
"Did you guys have a fight or something?" I heard Zoe say. Sydney obviously gestured with her hands or something, because I didn't hear Zoe say anything else.
"Okay, Adrian, we're clear," she said after a moment. "Now, could you just remind me what are we even fighting about?"
It was my turn to sigh. "I don't want to tell you something about Marcus and that resulted in you becoming angry. I became paranoid in the last few days and thought that you were meeting him, when all you did was go shopping with Jill. And because of that I said nasty things and that made you cry." I said it all as one long sentence, every word taking more of my strength with it. Then I admitted defeat by saying one sentence, "I am truly sorry, Sydney. I hope you'll be able to forgive me for my behavior."
Sydney was silent for a few moments. Then she said something unexpected. "This is not what I thought it'd be like," she simply said.
She probably expected my answer, but when I said nothing, she continued. "I thought we'd be perfectly synchronized until I somehow got rid of Zoe. I never thought we'd fight, trying to protect each other, that we'd lie, trying not to hurt each other, and that we'd be silent for days in order not to fight even more and destroy what we have. I'm tired, Adrian. I'm tired of fighting with you, when none of us is going to abandon our opinions."
I nodded to myself. That was my girl – my honest girl. "I know this is just going to make it worse, but the reason I said you lied to me was your aura when you told you didn't meet with Marcus. It shifted the way it does when someone's lying. I was probably just imagining it, seeing things I wanted to see."
Sydney took a deep breath. "No. I wasn't lying, but I wasn't saying the whole truth either. I am going to meet Marcus. The day after tomorrow. I was thinking about it when you mentioned him. You didn't imagine it."
"Thanks for being honest," I said, also tired of fighting her. We could continue fighting tomorrow – I just wanted to talk to her now. "I missed you," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed of myself. Was I supposed to say something else, something more manly? Was this too honest?
But Sydney just laughed. "I missed you too," she said gently.
A stone fell from my chest. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, feeling a grin start to form on my face.
"Earlier than you thought. I'm buying a car tomorrow. Be in Amberwood at 9 AM."
"Okay, Sage. Love you." I tried to sound casual, but I wasn't sure if I managed to do it.
"Love you too, Jet," she said and shut me off.
That night I slept like a baby, not having nightmares or seeing shadows. I couldn't go out in the sun, but I imagined this was how people felt. It was glorious – knowing my Sage wasn't mad at me anymore. The whiskey was safe, the bottle still full, and a new painting was born – it was a picture of Sydney, standing alone against an army. She really looked like a Greek goddess.
Tomorrow, at 9, I hoped I'd get a minute with Sydney alone, but the lost puppy Zoe was in the back before I could even say anything.
"I want to help choosing the car, Lord ivashkov," Zoe said when she caught me watching her in the rearview window.
I just nodded and kept the casual talk through the whole trip. Zoe seemed to be more at ease, not freezing when I asked her a question, but it was obvious she wasn't really happy either.
And when I finally pulled up in the car dealership's parking lot, Sydney and Zoe were out of the car even before I cut the engine off.
I got out of the car and gently tapped on the hood. "Remember how they screamed when they saw you first? Well, no other car here is like you, Ivashkinator. You can be sure of that." I laughed at myself for talking with cars, but Zoe and Sydney distracted me.
It was like an auction, except that they weren't saying prices but car characteristics.
Sydney was pointing at a brown car, and Zoe was pointing at a grey one. I identified the first one as Honda Accord and the second one as Toyota Avalon. Personally? I liked the first one more, but that was probably because it was Sydney's choice.
And even though I was a man, I practically had no idea what they were talking about. I just heard numbers. "1989," Sydney would say and Zoe would contradict with "1997." Sydney would say, "1.6," and Zoe would say, "3.0" and such. They were talking back and forth with those numbers and I'd rarely catch things such as "miles per hour" or "horse power," but they were using some kind of vocabulary I mostly didn't understand.
I was standing there awkwardly, silently watching the two girls fight with their knowledge, but I knew Sydney would win in the end. She always did.
"What do you think, Adrian? Is a bigger horse power better?" Sydney would occasionally say.
"Lord Ivashkov, tell Sydney that bigger speed is better!" Zoe would try.
My head started to hurt after only a minute of this, and I couldn't believe it when they started touching the cars and leaning on them, as if they were their pets. Sydney was looking at the Honda longingly, saying something about naming "her," and when Zoe asked her how did she know it was a girl, she said, "a woman just knows."
I had to roll my eyes at that. They kept throwing numbers at each other and it was impossible to keep track of what they were saying, so I went out, shaking my head, trying to clear the mist from my thoughts.
After maybe 15 minutes, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "We bought it," Sydney said cheerfuly.
"Which one?" I asked, turning around. Sydney just grinned, and I knew they bought the Honda.
"Does it have a name?" I asked carefully.
Sydney shook her head. "No, but we have to think of something inspiring, something that'll keep her ours. Something unique and special."
I just laughed, once again admiring her beauty. She looked at me after a moment, biting her lower lip. "We have a minute or two, until Zoe finishes the contract," she whispered.
I grinned. I didn't want to delay it – I just leaned down, tilted her head upwards and kissed her. In that kiss I tried to show her everything –my love, my concern, my anger, my redemption, my guilt, my everything. Sydney gently touched my cheek.
I pulled back after several moments. "Plan number fourteen. Go to the Himalayas and live as monks," I said.
Sydney laughed, putting her head on my chest, and she said, "Women aren't allowed at the Himalayas. The monks say they're a distraction."
I shushed her. "You're too smart for any of my plans," I said and any further protest Sydney might have expressed died on her lips, when they met mine once again.
