Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

Hope you guys like this chapter. We're getting closer to a Sydrian reunion, but not quite yet. This chapter has lots of good stuff in it though to keep you entertained in the meantime. No more mopey Adrian!

Finding people is pretty easy when you know a genuinely pissed off mobster.

Abe wasn't pleased that they'd taken Sydney out of Palm Springs, but he was even less so when I told him they'd taken her against her will. It may not seem like it, but Abe could be a pretty good guy when it came to people harming the people he cared about. Luckily, the people Abe cared about were usually the people his daughter cared about, which included Sydney. So it was relatively easy to get him to track down which college Carly Sage was attending.

I'd wanted to go straight to Sydney's mom, but she was divorcing her husband she'd moved out of her house and was staying with a friend. Since I had no idea of her friend's address or even her name, I figured it might be best to go through Carly. Within hours I was on a flight, booked by Abe, heading toward Utah.

Eddie had insisted he accompany me on the trip. I was pretty sure it was because he felt guilty for Sydney's abduction, though I knew he wanted nothing more than to help me find her. Still, I couldn't let him leave Jill in the lurch like that. He'd tried to sway Lissa, telling her that it was dangerous for me to run off on my own, but Lissa didn't seem all that worried about me. She was more concerned with Jill.

"You know you can't leave now, Eddie," she'd said, her tone saying it all. Eddie wouldn't be going anywhere. "Jill needs you here, protecting her."

"I know that," Eddie protested. "But it would only be for a few days and she's safe now. The law's passed. Neil's got his eye on her, anyway."

"I don't want to risk it," Lissa said. "There are still so many threats out there. Some people are unhappy with the way the vote went and I'm not sure they wouldn't try something just to get back at me. I know you know that."

Eddie wasn't happy with that answer, grumbling about how Angeline could've helped Neil if Lissa hadn't sent her back to the Keepers after we'd been liberated from Palm Springs. It was a sore subject with all of us, Angeline's departure. But her family had requested she be sent back as soon as the mission was over. Though I don't think Angeline was any happier about it then we were.

Despite Eddie's annoyance at not being able to help find Sydney, I knew he had to be relieved to stay with Jill. He was so tightly wound about her safety I was surprised he hadn't locked her in an ivory tower yet. Still, it left me alone on the first step of my journey to save the love of my life.

Well. Maybe not completely alone.

"Thank god. I feel like I've been waiting here forever," a voice called as I exited the terminal.

Marcus Finch was waiting for me outside the airport when I landed in Salt Lake City. His hair was still stupid looking and he was leaning against an old minivan, strumming a guitar. For some reason, women kept stopping to smile at him and listen to him play.

"Does this really work for you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at a woman who actually tried to hand him some money and a card I was pretty sure had her number on it. "The homeless musician play?"

A smile broke out on his face and I rolled my eyes. "Does the starving artist bit really work for you?" he asked, straightening up, to the disappointment of some of the women walking by.

"You've seen my paintings and my girlfriend," I smirked. "What do you think?"

At the mention of Sydney he dropped the smile. "I think we should go find this sister of hers. The sooner we can get to her the better."

I nodded, suddenly just as serious. Marcus and I might not agree on much, but we were both on the same page when it came to getting Sydney out of reeducation. "Let's go."

###

It didn't take long for us to find the university Carly attended. Just a quick search on my phone gave me the directions. When we got there Marcus and I split up. He headed over to the next class on her schedule, which we had a copy of thanks to Abe, and I went to the dorms, hoping to catch her in between classes.

The campus was set up differently than Carlton's campus was, but the students and professors shuffling around in the quad sure looked similar to me. Carly was staying in student housing, in the Delaney Building according to Abe's information. It took me all of five minutes on campus to find a cute coed to give me the directions. It would have been even more helpful if she'd known Carly Sage personally so she could tell me where she was, but I wasn't above camping outside her building until she showed up.

The Delaney Building looked like a modern apartment building, with a brick and glass facade. It was a nice place and for some reason I couldn't stop myself from picturing Sydney living in a place like this. Going to school and getting her degree in some smart people field so she could make the big bucks and save the world from disease or poverty or something. It would be a dream come true for her.

Taking a deep breath to pull myself together, I shook off the images I was conjuring of Sydney rushing around campus with a coffee in her hand. In order for that dream to become a reality I needed to rescue her and in order to do that I needed to find her sister. Turned out it wasn't such a hard thing to do.

I hadn't even made it to the front entrance when a pretty blonde girl about my age pushed through the doors with a couple of brunettes in tow. Even without ever having met Carly, it was easy to recognize her. She had Sydney's hair, but she looked more like Zoe in the face. And then there were those amber eyes. So similar to the eyes I loved, to the eyes I could lose myself in for hours if I had the chance.

I realized I was staring when one of her friends giggled and flashed the other girls a smile, nodding in my direction.

"Carly Sage?" I finally asked, snapping out of it.

She smiled and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. She looked so much like Sydney with her blonde hair. If I squinted this could be her. This could be her dream life. But this wasn't Sydney. Carly didn't move like Sydney or smile like Sydney or sound like Sydney.

"Hi," she said, sounding a little confused. "Do I know you?"

I shook my head. "No, we haven't met. But I know your sisters, Sydney and Zoe."

Carly froze. Her friends didn't realize. They stood near her, smirking and giggling like I was some guy about to ask their friend out. But Carly was a Sage, even if she hadn't gone through the same rigorous education as her sisters. She knew something was wrong, and, by the fear in her eyes, I could only assume she suspected I wasn't just some normal human guy. For a second I thought she might run and wondered if I should have made Marcus check the dorms instead. She wouldn't have been afraid of him.

"How do you know them?" she swallowed, trying to relax, but failing. At least she wasn't running. Her friends finally caught on to her distress and looked at me as if for the first time. "Who are you?"

"Yeah, who are you?" the friend standing to Carly's right demanded. She was so small she looked like a tiny doll, but she sounded fierce enough that I knew she didn't need height to be intimidating.

"My name's Adrian Ivashkov," I told her, holding out a hand and trying to sound casual. "I'm a good friend of Sydney's. Have you heard from her recently?"

Carly shook her head, but didn't take my hand. "No. She's... working. I haven't spoken to her in a while."

That's what I'd figured. That Sydney's dad hadn't even bothered to tell her mom or sister what had happened to her.

"What are you doing here, friend of Carly's sister?" the short brunette said.

I ignored her, focusing on Carly. "I need to talk to you about Sydney. Just for a minute. Please."

"Okay, hot weird guy," the brunette said, her dark eyes flashing as she put herself between me and Carly. "She doesn't know you and she's not—"

"One minute," Carly said, interrupting her friend, and nodded toward the front entrance of her dorm. "I'll catch up with you guys in a second," she told her friends.

The shorter friend nodded and threw me a look that said if I messed with Carly I'd be sorry. She was clearly a good friend, even if it was a little annoying at the moment.

Carly led me to a small sitting area with a couple of benches, but didn't sit down. "What's going on? Why are you... I mean, you're a..."

"Moroi," I said quietly. "Yeah. But I am friends with Sydney and I'm worried about her."

That distracted her from my vampire-ness. "Why? What's wrong with Sydney?"

I took a deep breath. This was it. This was the moment this plan either succeeded or failed. "Your dad took her. About a month and a half ago. Ripped her away from her mission and put her in reeducation."

Carly's amber eyes became impossibly wide at the word. "No. He wouldn't do that. There's no reason..."

"Except that Sydney was a lot friendlier to my race than your dad and sister thought acceptable. Call her phone if you don't believe me. She won't answer it."

She swallowed hard, trying to digest what I was saying. She pulled out her phone and dialed Sydney. I could hear it go straight to voicemail. She called again with the same outcome. When she was done it took a few moments before she spoke again, but she studied me intensely the entire time, judging the sincerity of my words. When she did finally speak, she seemed resigned that I was telling the truth, but still horrified about it. "He sent her to that place? He really did that? I mean, you're sure?"

"Yes." I explained the ambush that Eddie described to me, skipping the parts that included anything witchy. It wasn't my place to tell anyone about that. "I've been trying to find her ever since but... it's like she's disappeared off the face of the earth. The Alchemists keep saying she was reassigned, but that's such bullshit. Sydney was worried this would happen, she told me what they'd do if they took her."

I swallowed roughly and Carly did too.

"I don't know details," she said slowly, "but I know she was scared of that place. That she was afraid they would send her there after she got in trouble." She gritted her teeth together. "I can't believe Dad would send her there. It's basically prison! I'm calling him right now."

She started to pick up her cell phone again, but I grabbed her hand to stop her. She flinched back and I threw my hands up in surrender.

"I'm sorry, but Carly, please. I need your help and I need you to not call your dad or Zoe right now. Them not knowing we're looking for her is the only advantage we have. I need to talk to your mom. I think, no, I know we can save her if we work together."

"Minute's up, buddy," her brunette friend said, walking over to Carly's side. Her other friend stood close by, but didn't actually come over, just watched with narrowed eyes.

"Danielle," Carly sighed. "It's okay. We were just talking."

"He grabbed you," Danielle said, unimpressed by Carly's vouching for me. Actually she looked a little pissed. "I've made you go to those self defense classes with me. Have you learned nothing?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "I've learned plenty, Dani. And if Adrian was an attacker, this would all be going down just like one of those scenes in class where all the girls kick the guy in the junk. But he wasn't trying to hurt me. He's my sister's friend."

She looked up at me then, her golden eyes so much like Sydney's as she silently asked for the truth. "Boyfriend," I admitted softly. "We've been dating for the past few months."

Carly's eyes widened, but Danielle and her other friend seemed to relax a little. "Nice, Carly. Your little sister's pulling hotties already," the other friend said, laughing.

Danielle still didn't look impressed with me. "If you're dating her sister I'm assuming you aren't here to rape or kill anyone, but I'm still watching you."

Carly shook her head. "Dani, leave him alone. He's Sydney's... boyfriend," she paused like she couldn't believe she was saying the word, but she composed herself quickly. "And we need to go, actually. Planning a surprise party for Sydney. You know how it is. I'll call you later, but I probably won't be back tonight. I'll just stay at my mom's."

"You're sure?" Danielle asked, giving Carly one last chance to scream stalker, but Carly just smiled and gave her a hug.

"Yes, but thank you. See you guys later," she called, gesturing for me to follow her out to the student parking lot.

While we walked I texted Marcus, letting him know I'd found Carly and that he should meet us in the parking lot with the van.

"Another friend of Sydney's is with me," I told her, hoping she wouldn't freak when Marcus showed. "He's human, don't worry. But he needs to talk to you and your mom as much as I do if we want to help Sydney."

She hesitated, but only for half a second. "Okay. But we're taking my car. And don't think for one second I won't pepper spray you if I think something's fishy."

"From what I know of you Sages," I laughed, "I wouldn't put anything past you. But I swear that we're only trying to help your sister. I can't..." I had to pause for a second to take a steadying breath. "I can't let her rot away in reeducation. Not when I know she's counting on me to save her."

"And how do you know that?" Carly asked as we approached the parking lot.

"Because it's what we do. We save each other." I didn't look to see her expression, but from her silence I guessed that was a good enough answer.

I could only assume Carly had inherited the Sage women's love for cars based on her pristine red Volkswagen Beetle and the fact that she'd parked it at the far end of the parking lot, avoiding the majority of beat up cars most of the other students were driving.

"What did you name it?" I asked, feeling like this girl had so much of Sydney in her and if I could just talk to her maybe I'd feel a little closer to Sydney.

"The car?" Carly asked, startled, leaning back against the door, waiting for Marcus. "Why would you think I named it?"

For some reason, I felt oddly disappointed that Carly didn't name her cars the way Sydney did. "Oh, it's just something—"

"Sydney does," we finished at the same time.

"Yeah," I said, nodding distractedly. Such a shame Carly hadn't named the car. It was actually really nice for a Beetle. The inside looked cramped, but the seats were a supple tan leather and the red paint reminded me of a lady bug. Maybe that's what Carly should call it, the Lady Bug. Or Hot Sauce or Wild Cherry. There were so many possibilities, I wasn't sure how Sydney ever chose just one.

Carly was smiling when I looked back up at her. "She still does that? She used to name all of Mom's cars when we were kids. I guess I haven't been around much lately, or, well actually, she hasn't been around much. She's always so busy."

"Alchemist schedules, right?" I said, bitterness coloring my tone.

She straightened up then turned to face me. "You're really Sydney's boyfriend?" she asked. "Or were you just saying that in front of Danielle?"

"We started dating in December," I explained. "And we'd been close friends long before that. Though, I might have said anything to save me from your friend."

Carly smiled fondly. "Yeah. Dani's a real pain sometimes, but she's a good friend. She's just become really protective of me since I told her..." Her smile faded and she trailed off, looking embarrassed.

I wasn't sure what she was talking about but I decided not to ask. Whatever it was wasn't any of my business and we both had other things to worry about right now.

"I've been trying to get in touch with Sydney, using magic, but so far it hasn't worked."

Carly inhaled deeply before turning to watch Marcus's minivan rumble into the parking lot. Her hands were shaking a little. I guess even the civilian Sage wasn't a fan of magic. "She's really okay with all of this? The magic and that you're a vampire? She used to tell me about how evil vampires were when we were younger."

"She's been through a lot in the past year. She's learned a lot of things about herself and the Alchemists. Enough to make her question their philosophies." I grimaced. "And after this experience I'm sure she'll be even less thrilled with them. That is, if we get her out of there before they do any serious damage."

"Then we better go," she said, pointing behind me. "Is this your friend?"

Marcus pulled the van to a stop in the spot next to us and hopped out, grinning at Carly in a way that was probably supposed to be charming. I was glad when I saw her quirk an eyebrow at him instead of swooning like everyone else seemed to.

"Hello, beautiful. Marcus Finch," he said, extending a hand, which Carly shook, tentatively, but still. He was human, so of course she had no problems with him touching her. It annoyed me a little, that she assumed Marcus was okay just because he was human, but I didn't have the time or energy to get worked up over it. I just hoped she'd feel comfortable enough with me to help save Sydney.

"Carly Sage," she said taking her hand back, "but you already knew that since you guys tracked me down and all."

"It's nice to meet you, Carly," Marcus grinned again, giving her a brief once over that I was pretty sure Carly didn't appreciate. "You guys ready? Hop in and we'll get going."

He'd started rounding the van again when Carly called out, "No thanks. I'm driving. So you can hop in and then we'll get going."

I would have laughed at Marcus's expression when he took in the Volkswagen behind her. "That thing?" He pointed incredulously at it like she'd just told him it could fly. "No. I'm sorry, but we won't even all fit in that thing. The van is big enough that we won't need to have back surgery just to straighten up when we get out of it. I'm not getting in that thing."

"Well, I'm not getting into a van with two strange men," Carly said, standing her ground. "You either drive with me or you try to keep up in that hunk of junk."

"Hunk of junk!" Marcus laughed. "And what exactly do you call—" He cut off quickly at Carly's hard glare and I had to bite back a laugh. "Fine. We'll go with you. The van's stolen anyway," he said nonchalantly and then grabbed his guitar out of the van and climbed into the back of the Lady Bug, as I'd finally decided it should be named. When Carly gave me a WTF? look I just shook my head and hopped into her car.

The car jerked as Carly whipped it out of the parking space and into drive, then jerked again as she pulled forward out of the parking lot. I was sure Marcus was about to complain about being tossed around the cramped backseat—I know I probably would have—but he didn't, much to my surprise, and delight. I wasn't sure I could have taken his complaining just then. I was too nervous about convincing Sydney's mom to help me. Unlike Sydney, Carly apparently liked to drive fast and without restraint. She brought the car out onto the street, driving toward the highway and, I assumed, her mom's house.

###

Forty-five minutes, and a bad case of whiplash, later, Carly pulled into a driveway in a quaint little neighborhood. I looked around as I got out of the Lady Bug, taking in the mountains off in the distance and lazy suburban vibe surrounding us. Did Sydney grow up in a neighborhood like this one? Did she play outside on a street like this one, sipping lemonade in the summer and making snow angels in the winter? I hoped so. I hoped she had more than just her dad barking orders and Alchemist training.

"My leg's asleep," Marcus finally complained as he unfurled himself from the car. He stomped his foot a couple of times and grimaced. "I told you we should've taken the van."

"Shake it off," Carly said, walking toward the house. "My mom's living here with a friend of hers so please don't judge the place, okay? She's letting Mom stay for free."

"No judging," I said, hurrying to catch up with her. Marcus trailed behind, shaking the pins and needles out of his leg with an annoyed expression on his face. "It can't be that bad. I know a lady who's only requirement when buying furniture is that the upholstery has roses on it. Hundreds and hundreds of roses."

Carly and Marcus both raised their eyebrows at me and I smiled, thinking of Inez's house. "It was a thousand times worse then whatever you're picturing," I assured them.

"Well this isn't that bad," Carly said, knocking on the door. "Marie just has strange... taste. And she likes cats. A lot. Which is actually good since my mom brought our cat with her. He likes it here, at least."

The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with brown hair. She started when she saw the three of us, but quickly burst into a smile and hugged Carly.

"I didn't know you were coming!" the woman said happily. "I'm so glad you're here though. I've missed you so much." She pulled back from Carly and smiled at me and Marcus. "And who are your friends?"

The woman smiled brightly. She was really pretty for an older woman, and her smile... It was all I needed to know this was Sydney's mom. It was almost painful to see her smiling like that, knowing I was going to have to tell her something horrible in a minute.

"It's good to see you too, Mom," Carly smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was dreading hurting her mom as much as I was. "This is Adrian and Marcus, but they're not my friends, Mom. They're Sydney's."

Her mom cocked her head to the side, studying us more thoroughly. She seemed to be sizing us up. Neither of us looked like Alchemists, in jeans and wrinkled T-shirts from all the travel, and that seemed to intrigue her. Her brown eyes lingered on me longer and when she said, "You're a vampire," I wasn't too surprised.

"Yes, ma'am." I gave her a warm smile, careful not to show my fangs. The last thing I wanted was to scare her or her daughter.

Mrs. Sage looked suspicious, but more than that, concern was taking over her expression, replacing the interest she'd had a moment ago. "What's going on? Carly, why did you bring them?"

"Dad did something to Sydney, Mom," she cried, and all of the fierceness she'd shown since we'd left the college seemed to collapse as she spoke to her mother. "He took her to reeducation!"

Her mom didn't say anything, she didn't even look that shocked, but her aura was definitely showing signs of it. Shock and anger. Lots and lots of anger. When she turned her brown eyes on me I felt the need to take a small step back, but held my ground.

"You know Sydney?" she asked me.

"Yes, ma'am."

"How?"

I faltered for a moment under her steady, unflinching gaze. "I'm... I—"

"He's Sydney's boyfriend," Carly said, sniffling, but pulling herself back together. "He claims to be anyway. But I believe him."

I threw her a smile, grateful for her support.

"I used to be an alchemist," Marcus said with one of those supposed-to-be-charming smiles of his. "I left when I found out what they were really like. I met Sydney a few months ago and we've been working together, trying to bring them down. Adrian's a good guy," he vouched for me, knowing they'd trust a human before a vampire. "He and Sydney have helped my cause a lot and I've seen them together. Sydney really cares about him and he cares enough about her that he's dragged me all the way across the country to convince you to help us save her."

Sydney's mom, to my amazement, didn't fall over at the sight of Marcus's smile, just like Carly. I really loved that about this family. They didn't buy into bullshit easily. In fact, Mrs. Sage just have him a once over and then turned back to me.

"We should talk inside. Come in." We followed her inside and she gestured for us to sit in the living room. "Sorry, I know it's kind of a mess."

I had to do a double take when I walked into the house because for a moment it felt like I'd just walked into Jackie Terwilliger's living room, but a million times worse. There were musty old books everywhere. Piles of them on all of the tables, shelves lining the walls, a box of them next to the couch. There were also at least three cats, that I could see. One was sleeping on a cat bed over in the corner and the other two were curled together in an orange and black fur ball on the couch.

"Marie really loves old books," Carly said with a shake of her head. "Most of them aren't even in English."

"This place look familiar?" Marcus muttered to me under his breath. He'd only been to Jackie's house a few times after Sydney was taken, but the similarity was enough that he picked up on it right away.

I reached out and picked one of the leather bound books out of the box beside the couch and flipped through it. I wasn't sure what language it was in, but the formatting looked just like one of Jackie's spell books. It hadn't occurred to me until that very moment that I could be walking into something like this.

"Excuse me," Sydney's mom said, plucking the book out of my hand. "These are my roommates things. Please don't disturb them."

She placed the book on the coffee table and sat across from me. The way she looked at me, as if I was a mystery she needed to unravel, was really unnerving me. It didn't help that I'd just realized that this woman knew about spell books. She knew about magic. She must know everything. I hoped she did. It would be a whole lot easier to convince a witch to help me than an Alchemist.

"How do you know Sydney?" she asked me again.

I gave her an extremely succinct version of the events that led us here. I told her all about my relationship with Sydney, but there was still so much I had to skip or gloss over. Too much of our story involved Sydney's magic and, despite how certain I now was Mrs. Sage was aware of it, I didn't want to go blurting about that with Carly in the room. Sydney and her sisters had been brought up to think magic was evil. If their mother didn't tell them about it, I wasn't going to.

Mrs. Sage and Carly and even Marcus listened attentively, sometimes even eagerly, as I explained how Sydney and I fell in love and then how everything fell apart. When I was done Mrs. Sage studied me for a minute before her eyes flickered up to the ceiling, a gesture I recognized. Sydney did that whenever she was trying not to cry. I leaned over the coffee table and placed my hand on hers. I felt hopeful when she didn't flinch away.

"I'm going to find her, Mrs. Sage. I swear. I'm going to save her."

"I'm going to kill him," she hissed furiously. And, despite the tears in her eyes, she looked ready to do it. "How could he—Bastard! Selfish, selfish bastard. How could he do that to his own daughter? I've heard what reeducation does to people. He swore to me he'd never let them send Sydney there!" More tears rolled down her cheeks, but they only added fuel to the fire. "I hate him! I don't think he ever really cared about any of us. Or maybe," her shoulders slumped and she pulled her hand back from me, "maybe this is just to get back at me for leaving him...?"

"No!" Carly and I said at the same time. She jumped up and squeezed her mother's shoulders.

"He did this because of me," I said, hoping she wouldn't hate me too much. "Sydney told me I needed to be careful, I knew I needed to be. I'm the one who got us caught. If I'd done more, if I hadn't been so stupid—"

"The Alchemists had too much on her already. Nothing you could have done would have saved her," Marcus said from beside me. "Every move she made was written down in some supervisor's folder somewhere, being tallied against her until they had enough to send her away."

"But I'm the reason Zoe turned her in, because we were dating. Because she loved me." I hadn't said that out loud to anyone besides Jill. Somehow saying it to these people made it more real. It hurt to think Sydney was being hurt because of me, it hurt so much more to admit it to her mother.

"If Sydney was dating you," Mrs. Sage said, taking a deep breath and wiping her tears, "if she loved you, then I have to assume she thought you were worth the risk. Sydney doesn't make decisions lightly. Especially not a decision with such huge consequences."

I laughed, there wasn't any real humor in it, but I did manage a small smile for her. "Thank you. For not kicking me out of your house for getting your daughter arrested."

Now she laughed a little. "Honestly, I'm still trying to process all of this. It's hard to believe, but everything you said... I want to believe it. I want to believe you love my daughter the way you say and that she loves you. I want to believe she's had that opportunity."

"We'll just have to get Sydney back so she can tell you I'm not some crazy stalker," I joked. Carly laughed a little, but her mom just watched me.

"I haven't spoken to Sydney in a while. She usually tries to keep in touch, but with everything going on with the divorce I haven't spoken to her. She never told me about a boyfriend but, well. She wouldn't have been allowed to tell me if she was dating you. So I'm trusting you here, because I believe you and because I need you to help get my daughter back." After a few moments of studying me, she smiled softly. "And because Sydney's never had a boyfriend I've known about before. I'm very curious about you."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," I promised.

"Good. I'll take you up on that offer later, when we have Sydney back." Her face became deathly serious as she scooted to the edge of her seat. "For now all I want to know is how we're getting her away from those people."