Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

Have you guys read the first chapter of Silver Shadows yet? Amazing! And after seeing all of Penguin Teen Australia's spoiler free tweets, I can't even imagine how incredible and painful SS is going to be. But I'm obviously going to love every second of it! Anyway, hope you enjoy this! The big breakout is next chapter!

Planning out the search and rescue of the girl of your dreams with her mother is an instant exercise in bonding. And after all of my nerves finally settled, I decided I liked Sydney's mom.

"You wouldn't happen to know where your husband would have taken her, do you?"

"No," she sighed. A steely look of determination took over her face and she glanced at the book on the coffee table. The spell book. "But I might be able to find out."

I reached out and touched the book again. "With this?"

Carly and Marcus both gave me a strange look, but I focused on Mrs. Sage. Her eyes widened slightly, then narrowed as she looked up at me.

"If that's what you meant then we've already tried. Many times. There's something blocking us from her."

Mrs. Sage swallowed and nodded, ignoring the confused look her daughter was giving her. "Carly, sweetie, why don't you go get some snacks for us? Marie and I haven't been shopping yet this week, so there's nothing to eat in the kitchen. And I have a feeling this discussion is going to take us well past dinner."

"We can call for pizza," Carly suggested, pulling out her phone. "Do you know the number of any of the places around here?"

"No," she said. "But there's a place not far from here. Just go swing by."

"Mom," Carly started to protest, but one look from her mother silenced her. "Fine. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"Take Marcus with you." I smirked. "I know how much he loves your car."

Carly rolled her eyes, but Marcus didn't seem too put out by the idea. "I'm starving," he claimed, but the way he smiled at Carly led me to believe he was more interested in her than the pizza. I didn't even have to check his aura to know I was right.

Once they were gone Mrs. Sage turned on me. "What do you know about this?" she asked, grabbing the book. "And what do you mean you've tried? With vampire magic?"

"With vampire magic," I nodded. "And your kind. A friend of our's—of me and Sydney—is a witch. She's performed every location spell she can think of. She can't get through. It's the same when I try to locate her with my magic."

I watched her close her eyes and swallow, hard, before she finally looked up. "Sydney knows a witch?"

I gave her a look. "Mrs. Sage, Sydney is a witch."

She closed her eyes again and took three deep breaths before she could speak. "Yes. I know that." She glanced up at me. "Please, call me Deborah. I can't... I don't want you to call me Mrs. Sage. I can't be called that anymore."

"Okay." I hesitated a moment, unsure of what to tell her, before finally deciding to tell her everything. "Sydney's been training. She's been learning about her powers. It's part of what spurred her to go against the Alchemists." I told her about how Sydney met Jackie Terwilliger and how she'd forced her to practice magic even when Sydney refused. I told her about Veronica and Alicia and the Warriors of Light. I filled in everything I left out the first time I was telling this story.

"Does she hate me? For not telling her? Adrian, does she?" Deborah asked as soon as I was done. She was so frantic for the answer I was barely able to get one out.

"Mrs... I mean, Deborah, I don't think Sydney even realized that this was a possibility. I certainly didn't until I saw all these spell books. I've seen Sydney and Jackie reading plenty of them. I didn't think that you or the rest of your family might be involved in any of this stuff."

"Carly and Zoe aren't. I thought Sydney wasn't..." She shook her head. "I should have known if any of them were going to figure it out it would be her. She was always so smart and strong."

"Jackie says she's a prodigy or something. And I've seen her do some pretty amazing things with her power. She's incredible."

She glanced at me and then smiled at the pride in my voice while I spoke about her daughter. "You really do care for her, don't you?"

"I'm in love with her." There was no hesitation in my reply.

Deborah nodded slowly, processing this. "Good. Because I need to get my daughter out of that hellhole, and I'm going to need your help to do it."

"Do you have a plan?" I asked, starting to feel some excitement. I'd been swimming in hope ever since Nina suggested I find Sydney's family, but it hadn't been real until right now.

"Maybe," she said distractedly, looking for all the world like Sydney when she was thinking of something brilliant. "If magic won't work we'll have to do this delicately. The Alchemists—my husband, is too secretive to let her location slip, so I can't ask. But... Hmm."

I was about to ask what hmm meant, when Carly and Marcus came back. He was carrying two boxes of pizza and Carly was glaring at the back of his head. Deborah asked them to put the food in the kitchen and I followed them in there, leaving her to ponder her hmm alone.

"Marcus thought it was a good idea to serenade the whole pizzeria with a song," Carly huffed, dropping a bottle of soda on the table. "The girl behind the counter was practically drooling in our food."

"No, he didn't!" I laughed. She just raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"She didn't drool," Marcus said, but he looked mighty pleased with himself. "I can't help it if women are attracted to me."

"Please!" Carly joined in my laughing. "You can control pulling your guitar out and breaking into song while you're waiting in line for pizza. You chose to do that because you were, like, trying to impress me or something. And just so you know," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "so not going to happen."

I grinned at her attitude. I could've kissed her right there for ragging on Marcus so hard, you know, if I wasn't in love with her sister.

"Who says I was trying to impress you?" Marcus asked smoothly. "That girl behind the counter was hot."

I knew he was trying to impress her and I was thinking about calling him on it, but Carly blushed at the comment and turned away, grabbing a plate and some pizza to busy herself.

"Whatever," she said, still not facing him. "Just leave your guitar in the car if we're ever assigned food duty again, alright? It's all kinds of pretentious. Not to mention embarrassing."

Suddenly feeling like I was watching a tennis match I turned to Marcus, waiting for his comeback. He just glared at her back before rolling his eyes. "Whatever."

Grabbing a slice of his own, he went back out to the living room. I wasn't sure what just happened, but the tension levels in the room were high. Carly still hadn't looked up from her pizza.

"I've never seen Marcus this annoyed before and I've actually gotten into a fist fight with him. I guess he doesn't take rejection well."

Carly spun to look at me, eyes wide. "You got into a fight with Marcus? Why?"

I shook my head. "It was nothing, really. A misunderstanding about Sydney. We've worked it out."

Carly looked toward the living room, where Marcus had disappeared, then back to me. "He doesn't like her, does he?"

"Who Sydney? No." I smirked and gestured to my face. "Besides, why would she go for that when she's got this?"

Carly laughed. "You're just as full of it as he is, you know that?"

I shrugged and leaned back against the counter. "Possibly. But your sister likes it."

"It's weird," she said, handing me a plate of pizza then getting another for her mom. "Sydney's never dated anyone, or even had a crush, so I don't really know her type, but somehow I didn't think you'd be it."

I gave her a look of mock hurt. "You didn't think your sister's type would be a stunningly attractive, extremely talented, and insanely intelligent vampire?"

Her lips turned up in a teasing smirk. "It hadn't crossed my mind, no. What are so talented at anyway? Or do I even want to know?"

The skeptical look she gave me made me laugh. "I'm an artist. I'm studying it in school. Or I was anyway, before Sydney was... taken. I had to drop out since we left Palm Springs."

"You're an artist?" Carly said quietly. The look she gave me, from head to toe as if seeing me for the first time, made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "Never mind. I take it back. You are Sydney's type. She's always been obsessed with art, even when Dad told her it was a waste of time."

"Yeah," I nodded, still feeling like I'd just been thoroughly judged in that one look. "I took her to a museum on our first date. On our only real date, actually." Then I grinned so wide it hurt, but I couldn't help it. "You should have seen the look on her face while she was showing me all the Etruscan art. She was so happy, so excited. Best date I've ever had, even though it was at a museum."

"Sounds like Sydney," she smiled, but her expression turned uncomfortable as she watched me. "If you guys are dating then I'm sure you've... um. I mean, you don't look like the kind of guy who, um... You know."

I really didn't know, but her embarrassment was enough to help me figure it out. Sex wasn't something I was normally embarrassed about, and I wasn't embarrassed about having sex with Sydney, but telling her sister about it was a little weird. "Sydney and I have been dating for awhile and we took it slow, but yeah. We're serious enough about each other that we've taken that step."

Carly nodded, her embarrassment fading, turning to determination. "Sydney's an adult, and I trust her judgment, but I need you to tell me one thing and I need you to be very honest with me."

"Anything."

She sucked in a deep breath. "Have you fed from her?"

I choked a little.

"I've heard that's what vampire men do during sex. They like to drink blood and the people they drink from get high. It's gross and degrading and I need to know if you do that to my sister."

"No! Carly, no. I've never done that to Sydney. That's not what our relationship is about. I love her, I would never degrade her. If Sydney and I were to do something like that it would be because it was something we both wanted and not just for the blood or endorphins. It would be for the connection. And it wouldn't happen until we'd discussed it. Thoroughly. And I'm pretty sure Sydney would have to make some charts showing the pros and cons as visual aids. She's very into weighing the benefits and risks of all her options before making a decision. And I'd never force her."

Carly seemed taken aback that I'd actually put that much effort into my answer. I guess she thought I'd just say no, but really mean that I wanted to and Sydney hadn't let me. The disgust and suspicion melted off her face as I spoke, replaced by something that I thought might be the makings of respect.

"Good," she nodded, looking down for a moment and then back up to meet my gaze. "What my sister does is up to her, I just wanted to make sure it really was up to her."

"I wouldn't hurt your sister like that," I told her. "I've made mistakes in my past, but I swear to you, Sydney will never be one of them."

Carly bit her lip and nodded, taking me at my word that I wouldn't hurt or take advantage of Sydney. Then she smiled.

"Before Marcus went all John Mayer on me at the pizzeria, we were talking. He told me about how he first met Sydney and how you'd had to heal him. He said your magic is like nothing he's ever seen."

"That's when I hit him," I joked. "Can't believe he left that part out."

She ignored me, but looked sluddenly eager. "That's incredible. It's sort of scary, but also pretty amazing. Marcus said you can also visit people's dreams. Have you done that with Sydney?"

"Not since she was taken," I explained and her eager expression crumbled. "They have her drugged or something. I can't get through."

"Oh. I just wanted—"

"To know your sister is alright," I finished for her. She nodded. "She's going to be fine, Carly. She will be." I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We should go back in and see what your mom's come up with."

She agreed and we grabbed some plates and drinks before going back out to the living room. Marcus was sitting quietly on the couch, eating and watching Deborah page through on of the spell books. She glanced up as Carly and I came in.

"The divorce hearing is in two weeks," she said, then went back to her book. It was amazing how much she reminded me of Sydney. She didn't look exactly like her, but her mannerisms were so familiar it was like I'd known this woman forever. "Jared will have to let Sydney attend. It would look bad for him if she wasn't there. He wants to use her as an example of his parenting skills."

"He's going to parade her around like a show pony and take credit for her intelligence. Like he had anything to do with her accomplishments," Carly said bitterly.

"She won't testify for him," I said. "Not unless they re-ink her and compel her to do it, and even then it might not work if..."

"If what?" Deborah asked. Carly and Marcus, who were sitting beside each other, but diligently ignoring one another, were waiting for the answer. When it didn't immediately come, Deborah sighed. "Just tell me, Adrian. Carly won't allow herself to be kept out of the loop for long, so we might as well speak openly now."

I nodded and explained what we'd learned from Inez, about how Sydney using magic was enough to break the tattoo the first time and would probably protect her if she were to be re-inked. Then I had to wait while Deborah explained to Carly about magic, and how it flowed through their veins.

"My grandmother and her coven taught me most of what I know," Deborah said. "I was going to join a coven of my own when I met your father."

"So you gave up your magic for Dad?" Carly's question was thick with disbelief. She'd been shocked when her mother first explained that she was a witch, but now she seemed more shocked by the idea of her mother giving up such a talent for someone like her dad.

"Your father was different back then, Carly," Deborah explained. "He was young and full of life and ideals. He wanted to change the world. He didn't know what I was, and I kept it from him at first, telling myself it didn't matter. By the time I realized it did, it was too late. It wasn't until after Zoe was born that he realized something wasn't right with my side of the family. He was always so busy when you girls were young, always going on this trip or that trip. Your grandmother used to help me take care of you all when he was away. But he came home early from a trip, caught your grandmother performing a simple spell in the kitchen." She shook her head, her eyes watering. "He acted like she was Satan himself. He acted as if I was... It wasn't even a powerful spell. Mom just wanted to boil the water a bit faster so Zoe wouldn't have to wait for her bottle."

"Is that why he stopped letting us see Grandma?" Carly asked. She was taking all of this pretty well. Marcus, even being an ex-alchemist, seemed more intrigued by then afraid of the kind of magic Deborah was talking about.

"He pulled away from us all then," Deborah went on. "He told me I had to cut ties with my family or he'd divorce me. And I did, for him, for our family, but it wasn't the same. I loved him, God help me, I loved him, but he isn't the man I married. He hasn't been for a long time."

"So, now that your getting divorced he's going to try to take Sydney and her sister from you," Marcus said, leaning forward to join the conversation. "And he's planning on using Sydney to do it. Which means she'll be at the divorce hearing and out of reeducation. Those places are bunkers, we'd probably never make it inside. But in a courthouse? She'll be right out in the open where we can grab her."

"Yes," Deborah said, nodding. "But, it might not be as easy as that. My husband isn't stupid. Don't underestimate him or the Alchemists. They could be expecting this. He'll have protection in place."

"And so will we," I interrupted. "We'll have people in place to keep them off our backs if need be."

"I might be able to sneak a few of my guys in undercover," Marcus added, with an amused smile in my direction. "We can finally put Sydney's ink to good use."

"Think you can get any hints as to what they're planning?" Deborah asked him. "I know then when and the where, but we need to know how many guys they'll be bringing with them. We need to know if Sydney will be under any sort of special protection while she's there."

"I'll make a few calls," Marcus told her, already standing and pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Good." She told him where the hearing was happening and when, and he left to make his calls. "Adrian, how many people do you think would be willing to help? And you'll need transportation once you get her. The Alchemists will come after you as soon as she's gone."

"I have a friend with a private plane," I said. "She'll let me borrow it. And Sydney has some friends who will be more than willing to help break her out."

"Okay," Deborah said. "Call them. Tell them they're going to be there just in case. I don't want any violence if it's not necessary. The Alchemists don't shy away from violence and someone will get hurt if it comes to that."

"Then how are we going to get her away from them?" Carly asked. "They aren't just going to let her go wandering around freely, even at court."

"No," Deborah, agreed. "But if they're distracted enough they won't be watching her quite as thoroughly."

"You just said you didn't want any violence," said Carly. "Who's going to distract them?"

Deborah smirked, and I could see more Sydney in her then ever. They had the exact same smirk. "We are." Then she picked up the spell book she had been paging through. "And we're going to use this."

"Magic?" Carly said uncertainly. "I thought you haven't used it in years?"

"I haven't," Deborah admitted. "But I've been practicing recently. And you're going to help me."

Carly's eyes went wide. "How am I going to help you? I don't know anything about it."

"Which is why I'm going to teach you. You'll just need to know a couple of basic spells. You'll do fine. Besides, it's beyond time you learned about your heritage."

"But..."

Marcus came back into the living room then, cutting off whatever Carly's but was going to be. "One of my guys heard something about a reeducation patient being temporarily released in a couple weeks. I told him to keep me informed and to try to get in on the security team."

"You did that already?" Carly asked, looking somewhere between incredulous and impressed.

"I have a large network of contacts," he shrugged. "And they're all willing to do whatever it takes to get away from the Alchemists."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "We get it. Your Merry Men love you."

Marcus rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored me. "The point is, we'll have inside details of their plans. And I might be able to get a message to Sydney on the day, letting her know we're coming."

The hope that had been rising inside ever since we'd landed on Deborah's doorstep was now rushing through me, ready to explode right out of my chest. We had a plan. One that didn't involve breaking down the Alchemists door at reeducation, and possibly starting some sort of war between the races. I wasn't completely self-absorbed. I knew the dangers a rescue operation presented to the Moroi, to Lissa. The Alchemists wouldn't let something like this stand, but if we were able to do it without invading one of their bunkers, it might be a little tougher for them to prove Lissa was involved. We'd just have to make sure no one associated with Lissa was included in the mission. That meant Rose and Belikov were out. Eddie and Neil, too.

The list of backup might have been getting shorter but I had every hope that we could do this. Sydney would be able to if she was here. She wouldn't let anything get in her way.

"Well, then," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips. The first real happiness I'd felt since the last time I'd seen Sydney fluttering in my chest. "Let's get this show on the road. Sydney's waiting."

###

I was so filled with certainty after my visit with Deborah, I felt as if nothing could go wrong. We had our plan mostly in place, we just needed to put a few things into motion. Sydney was as good as free in my mind.

That was, until I went back to Court.

As soon as I got back a sought out Lissa to ask for the plane. We'd need it as a getaway ride after we got Sydney back. I figured it wasn't too much to ask for. Jill met me there, already knowing what I was there for because of the bond and obviously just as excited about it as I was.

"I can't believe it's happening," she whispered to me, as we entered Lissa's office to find her and Christian sitting around her desk. "We're going to get her back!"

We were. I was so sure of it. But Lissa's enthusiasm on the subject didn't quite match Jill's.

"This again?" Lissa sighed, when I brought up Sydney's name. "I've told you there's nothing I can do about it. Why won't you two drop it already?"

"We won't drop it because it's Sydney!" Jill cried, more agitated then I'd ever seen her. "You might not know her, but she's important to us. We love her and we won't sit back and let her suffer when we have a real plan to save her."

"You have a plan?" Lissa said, mildly intrigued despite herself. I briefly explained the plan Deborah had come up with, but Lissa was shaking her head when I finished. "Adrian, do you know how much trouble you'll get me into if you try to kidnap that girl?"

The question was like a slap in the face. "The word is rescue," I said. My tone may have been nastier than I'd intended it to be. "You can't kidnap someone who's already been kidnapped."

She sighed. "You know what I mean. Whether or not Sydney would rather be here or there, in their eyes you'll be kidnapping an Alchemist. And you can't possibly even understand the repercussions of something like that because I can hardly understand the repercussions of something like that. It's insane!"

Guilt churned in my gut because I knew I would be starting all kinds of trouble for Lissa if I did this, but I couldn't not do it. It was Sydney! The love of my life, mother of my future children. I had to save her, everyone else be damned.

"Liss, you won't have to do anything. I promise. I don't want them thinking you were involved any more than you do. Sydney's friends are going to help, and her mom and her teacher have already agreed. All I need is to borrow your plane."

She looked at me like I'd finally lost it. "Let me get this straight. You, some friends of Sydney's, a high school teacher, her mom, and my plane are going to break Sydney out of Alchemist jail?"

"Out of a courthouse in Utah, technically, but yes," I said as confidently as I could.

The queen rolled her eyes, quite regally.

"Adrian, I get it," Christian said. "I don't like the idea of the Alchemists holding Sydney against her will, and I don't even know her." Of course he would have a problem with that. He hated bullies and what were the Alchemists besides an organization of bullies? "But," he went on, "have you really thought about the consequences here? What this could mean for you if you're caught? Eddie said those Alchemist freaks were shooting at him. Do you really think being in public will stop them from hurting one of you if it comes to it?"

"I can't leave her there," I told him. "Sydney's friend, Marcus, used to be an Alchemist. Between him and Sydney I have a pretty good idea of what they're doing to her in there. And the fact that none of us can get in touch with her through a spirit dream is proof that they have her drugged. This is our best shot to help her."

Christian took a deep breath, thinking it over. He barely knew Sydney, and I knew he'd be more concerned for Lissa and me than some stranger he hardly knew, but I had to try to convince him anyway.

"The Alchemists want everyone to fit a mold," I told him. "Sydney has a mind of her own so now they're trying to break it. They're going to break her down until she fits their idea of what's right. They'll take away her mind until she's nothing more the a hollow shell who follows orders. That guy Keith who used to be in Palm Springs with us? They sent him there. Sydney said he was a mindless robot when he came out of that place. I know you guys don't know her, but it scared the hell out of her. And Sydney's almost never scared of anything."

"She was pretty scared of us the few times I met her," Lissa mumbled.

I shook my head. "No, that wasn't scared. Uncomfortable, maybe. And then she was angry with me about something the last time, but she wasn't scared. Not like she was scared of reeducation." The idea of Sydney, scared and all alone having God knows what done to her, nearly knocked the wind out of me, the way it always did whenever I stopped to really imagine it. "Please, cousin. All you have to do is lend me the plane. I can even rent it from you if that would make it better or..."

An idea came to me all of a sudden. Well, I'd had the idea before, but all of a sudden it hit me that it could be a major bargaining tactic here. Thinking of Sydney—Sydney, who believed in me, who said I was capable of anything—had me straightening up and looking Lissa square in the eyes. Her expression changed in that moment. It went from concerned to curious, and I realized just my change in demeanor had captured her attention.

"I know how to replicate the effects of spirit on a saved Strigoi's blood." I tried to stay as business-like and confident as possible, hoping to make it impossible to doubt me. Essentially, I was trying my best to mimic Sydney.

Lissa's eyes went wide and she almost looked angry when she spoke. "And you're only telling us now? What, were you planning to use it as a bargaining chip to get the plane?"

"No," I lied, sort of. I hadn't kept the information to myself to use as a bargaining chip, but I was willing to use it as one now. "I didn't realize before. Well, I did, but I didn't realize the full weight of the idea. Sydney's blood!" That was met with looks of confusion. "Sydney's blood is the key, just like Sonya thought. I think we can use it the same way we used Olive's blood on Neil."

Lissa shook her head. "First of all, the Alchemists have Sydney and I doubt they'll send us samples of her blood."

"Which is another reason for you to lend me your plane. I'll bring her back."

She ignored me. "And Sonya asked Sydney for samples several times. Sydney didn't want her blood tested. Even if you were able to get her and bring her back, why would she give us samples now?"

"Because," I said, that confident tone still in my voice. "Sydney wants to create a Strigoi vaccine as much as any of us. She's invested in this now. All she wants is to protect people from Strigoi. After seeing it work with Neil, she'll do it."

"And how do we know her blood will work?" Christian asked. "I mean, even if you guys can get her and she'll let us test her blood. Why is she so special? She's human."

Well, that was it, wasn't it? Sydney wasn't human, not a regular human, anyway. Her blood held human magic and Strigoi couldn't stomach it. If Alchemists could use Moroi blood in tattoos for compulsion and a boost to the immune system, then maybe we could use human magic in a tattoo to make us unpalatable to Strigoi. And maybe, if we had more help, we could even figure out what it was in a witch's blood that made them unsavory to Strigoi. We could come up with a real vaccine. A way to wipe out the Strigoi epidemic at the root. Without the ability to create new Strigoi, the population would eventually be killed off by Moroi and dhampirs willing to fight. Maybe even witches and vampire hunters, like Trey, who wanted to help. We could do this. We could actually end the Strigoi problem once and for all. We just had to work together.

But I couldn't tell them all of that. They'd think I was insane, talking about witches. Even if Jill, Eddie, and Neil backed me, it would take too long to explain it all to them.

"Strigoi can't drink from her, same as Lee and Dimitri and Sonya and Olive. That's what makes her special. We'll figure out the rest later."

It was the most I could give them, I just had to hope it would be enough.

They both thought about it for a while, glancing at each other in that way couples do when they're having a silent conversation. A pang of envy shot through my chest watching them. I'd always wanted that kind of relationship with someone. I'd finally found it with Sydney and now she was gone, stolen away from me before we'd even had a chance to have a real relationship. The kind where we didn't have to sneak around or keep it a secret from all of our friends. The kind where I could actually take her to a damn restaurant for dinner and hold her hand while we walked down the street.

A small hand wrapped around mine and I glanced over at Jill with a grateful smile, giving it a squeeze. I might not have Sydney right now, but I did have Jill. And she understood me too, even if it was in a slightly different way.

"Okay," Lissa said after a minute. I glanced up at her, trying to release the bitter depression rising inside me. "You can borrow the plane. To go visit a friend out in California. A friend your father forbid you to go see."

Ah. So we were going the whole wink, wink, nudge, nudge direction with this. Saying one thing, but meaning another. I could roll with that.

"Of course." I gave her my most charming smile. "You know my father hates all of my friends. All except you, of course. He'd cut me off again if he knew I was going back out there. You're doing me a huge favor here, cousin. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

I really did appreciate it and even though the words were meant to come off as aloof, the meaning behind them was clear, if her tight lipped nod was any indication. She knew this was important to me and, even if I'd had to find a way to make it important to her before she'd bend the rules and help, I truly couldn't articulate how much gratitude I felt that she was willing to do it at all.

She wasn't being stubborn for no reason. I did know that this could be dangerous if the Alchemists decided to take it out on Lissa. Sydney's discovery that the Alchemists might be working with the Warriors of Light made that much clear. If they wanted to, the Alchemists could put up a pretty good fight. They certainly would have weapons and information that could do serious damage if placed in the wrong hands. Marcus and I could be doing some real damage if we did this. Another flash of guilt shot through me as I smiled at Lissa, but I quickly pushed it away. We could figure all of that out once we got Sydney back. We didn't have a choice.

It might not make any logical sense, but I'd risk anything to get Sydney back. Even a war between humans and vampires.