Sydney still felt woozy as she and the others sat down. She wasn't sure if it was due to the amount of blood she lost or the fact that she was sandwiched in between Adrian and a Moroi she only knew of from what the alchemists had record of, Christian Ozera, who happened to be Lissa's boyfriend. Lissa and Rose had to hurry off as soon as they'd said their hellos, as they were both in the wedding, leaving Sydney alone with the two people she'd least like to be with. She felt awful for it, but she was slightly terrified of Christian. She knew all about his family, and the alchemists didn't hesitate to slander Christian's name as well, as if he was just as foul as the rest of them. Sydney suspected that most Moroi didn't even think much of him, either. When they arrived he'd been standing alone, fidgeting his hands awkwardly, his face the picture of malcontent. It had considerably brightened when he saw Lissa approaching, and the scathing looks some of the guests shot the couple as Lissa showered him with affectionate kisses solidified Sydney's theory. She felt her cheeks grow hot now, guilty and embarrassed to be feeling the way she did. You're not afraid of Dimitri, are you? she reminded herself, and he used to be the worst kind of monster on Earth. So did Sonya, and you're at her wedding for God's sake.
She suddenly felt ridiculous for feeling weird around Christian. She was glad no one could read her mind, or at least, she didn't think they could. She was being paranoid now. She took a deep, shaky breath, wishing the ceremony would start already so she could focus her mind on anything than the fact that she was surrounded by vampires. There were other alchemists present, but they arrived so late she didn't have time to find them and sit where ever they were. Oh God, she realized, panic taking hold of her, what are they going to think? Me arriving so late with a slew of evil creatures in my entourage. She'd have some explaining to do later. She'd have to lie. She couldn't tell them she'd let a vampire heal her with magic. She took another ragged breath, mentally kicking herself for getting into this situation.
As Sydney spiraled further into her anxiety, a looming shadow passed over her. She looked up to see Dimitri Belikov standing over her.
"We've got a problem," he said, looking troubled.
"What is it?" Sydney asked, her eyes wide with fear.
He sighed deeply. "One of Mikhail's friends who doesn't seem to comprehend responsibility called to inform that he is too hungover to participate in the ceremony, leaving us short a groomsman." He looked toward Adrian.
Adrian's eyebrows raised. "What? You want me to replace him? I don't even know what to do. I wasn't at any of the rehearsals or anything."
"Keep your voice down," Dimitri commanded as some of the guests started to look at us questioningly, whispering to themselves. "Sonya doesn't know and Mikhail doesn't want her to find out. He wants everything to be perfect for her, you know." he attempted a smile. "She likes you well enough, you're the best choice for a substitute."
Adrian frowned. "Can't the ceremony go on without him? Will she really notice one less groomsman?"
Dimitri shook his head. "Then one of the bridesmaids wouldn't have a partner to walk down the aisle with."
Adrian scoffed. "Well then pick the least attractive one and tell her she's out."
"That's hardly an appropriate option," Dimitri said, all business. "I'm asking you to do this for Sonya. Please?"
Sydney didn't think she'd ever heard Dimitri say that word, and perhaps that's what got Adrian to finally nod his head, and reluctantly stand up. "Fine. But you're buying me drinks all night for this."
The reality of what was happening hit Sydney, then. She was going to be alone with Christian, who was virtually a stranger and a vampire she half felt sorry for, half wanted to stay far away from. She couldn't help herself from grabbing Adrian's wrist in panic, "You're leaving?"
He looked startled when looked down at her, and Sydney wondered if her fear was coming through in her aura. "Oh, right." he turned toward Dimitri. "I can't leave Sydney by herself."
Dimitri looked down at her. "She's not by herself." he shot Christian a serious glance. "You'll keep an eye on her." It wasn't a request.
"Will do," Christian nodded, smiling easily at Dimitri and Adrian. "I'll guard her with my life."
She knew he was trying to joke, but the comment made her realize what a baby she was being. She was supposed to be an adult, she was supposed to be professional. She dropped her hand and put on her best fake smile. "I'm fine. Go on, you guys."
Dimitri nodded once and walked away. Adrian hesitated for a moment, then leaned over and whispered something in Christian's ear. Something Christian seemed to find devastatingly amusing. He smirked at Adrian. "Got it."
"I'm serious," Adrian said, narrowing his eyes. He then averted his gaze to Sydney, his expression softening. "You sure you're okay with this?"
Embarrassment flooded her. "Adrian, it's fine. Please, go. People are starting to stare."
He reached out momentarily as if to grab her hand, then pulled back suddenly, standing up straight. He cleared his throat. "Alright, can't keep that poor unattractive bridesmaid waiting." he rolled his eyes and left.
Sydney tried to remain calm. She didn't realize until now how much Adrian's presence made a difference in how she felt. He made her feel, well, safe. That was ridiculous, as far as vampires went he was technically just as dangerous as everyone else here but she knew him. He wasn't dangerous at all. He was familiar and he was...Adrian. She frowned as she grappled with how much the loss of his nearness affected her.
A whispered voice at her ear dragged her out of her anxiety ridden thoughts. "You look as miserable as I feel."
She looked quickly to her left, to see Christian giving her a rueful smile. She swallowed. "What do you mean?" she whispered back.
"I feel as out of place as you do, if not more so." he dropped his voice even lower, to an overdramatic whisper. "Everyone here hates me."
Sydney attempted a soft laugh which came out more like a strangled cat noise. "I'm sure that's not true." she said awkwardly, even though she wasn't sure of that at all.
"It's whatever," he shrugged. "Most of these people suck anyway. Sorry, no offense to your alchemists. I saw a few of them arrive earlier, I think. I could tell because the looks they gave me were especially disgusted."
Sydney blushed, caring less about the fact that those very alchemists could see her sitting with Christian now and caring more about the fact that everyone was so rude to him.
"I wouldn't take it so personally," she said, trying to smile, "That's how they look at everyone."
He laughed then, causing a few people in front of them to turn around and glare.
Sydney and Christian exchanged a glance and she had to keep herself from smiling. He was being so nice to her when he had no reason to be. She felt, for lack of a better term, like a complete bitch for thinking badly of him.
"I know what it feels like to have your own people treat you differently," she said, surprising herself with her words. "Ever since I helped Rose, a lot of the alchemists don't trust me anymore. I think my work in Palm Springs has helped but I'm still doomed to be the black sheep until someone else screws up more than I did."
He nodded slowly, then smiled. "Well, we can be black sheep buddies."
She smiled back, now unsure of what to say. Thankfully music began to fill the room as the ceremony started. She looked to the back as the family members of the bride and groom appeared, walking down the aisle with big smiles. She was taken aback at how similar this was to a human wedding. She didn't know what else she expected it to be like, and was once again embarrassed at being nervous for no reason. The first paired bridesmaid and groomsmen appeared, it was Rose and Dimitri. She smiled broadly as they walked, looking like the picture perfect couple. She was glad they were together and happy after all they'd been through. Next was Lissa and a really old guy. She nudged Christian. "Try not to get too jealous."
Christian had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. Her own laugh died in her throat as she caught sight of a fellow alchemist, Ian, sitting next to a few of their superiors. He was staring directly at her, eyeing her with disdain. She gave him a weak smile and half wave. He just continued to stare for a moment before looking away. Damn, she thought. How long had he been looking at her? Enough to see her being friendly with Christian. It was a harmless conversation, but the alchemists certainly wouldn't see it that way. She gulped, trying not to panic again. She could deal with Ian later. He was her friend, or he had been, maybe he wouldn't say anything to the other alchemists. She could only hope. All her thoughts of Ian and the alchemists were cut violently short when she saw Adrian and his partner enter the room. She was a young Moroi Sydney didn't recognize, maybe in her mid twenties, and very far from unattractive. She had her arm hooked tightly in Adrian's as they walked, looking at him like she'd won the lottery. He smiled back at her. Anger and hurt flared up in Sydney unexpectedly.
This is a good thing, she forced herself to think. This is what he needs, to move on from his impossible feelings for me, and this girl is clearly interested in helping him.
This time Christian nudged her. "Try not to get too jealous." What did that mean? She remembered that Adrian had whispered something to Christian before he left. Oh, God. What had he said? She hissed her question in his general direction, trying not to look at him in case any alchemists were looking at her.
"Nothing," he whispered back, amusement clear in his voice.
This was all too much. She felt like she was about to pass out. The vampires, Christian, Ian giving her that strange look, and now Adrian arm in arm with some beautiful girl that was leagues above her. She shook her head, trying to clear it. This day wasn't about her, and she needed to be respectful to Sonya and Mikhail and stop worrying about herself.
The rest of the wedding passed in a blur. Sonya was a vision in her dress. Her hair was piled loosely on top of her head, a few curled strands spilling out to frame her face perfectly. Sydney was once again surprised at how normal everything was. The vows, the ring exchange, the chaste yet loving kiss they shared. She wondered how Ian and the other alchemists were reacting to this. A tiny part of her hoped that maybe somehow, someway it was showing them that maybe vampires weren't so outrageously different from them, after all. She doubted it. People see what they want to see. They were probably picking out every minute detail about everything and everyone here that was different and using it to fuel their mindless hate. As people started to file out, she strained her neck to see if she could spot Ian, wanting desperately to speak with him before he had a chance to draw any incriminating conclusions.
She felt a hand on her arm and spun around, it was Christian, of course, smiling widely. "Do you want me to take you to the reception? I figure Adrian and Lissa and everybody will have to hang back and take photos for awhile."
She shook her head, moving away from him. "Sorry. I have to go talk to my friend, Ian. He's an alchemist. I need to check in with them, anyway. The alchemists." she was babbling now.
He nodded. "I get it. Duty calls. I did promise to keep an eye on you, though. But I guess you'll be safe with your friend, right?"
"Well, of course." Sydney didn't mean for her words to come out so incredulously. She blushed. "It was uh, nice meeting you, Christian."
"Same to you," he grinned. "I guess I'll see you there?"
"The reception?" he added as she stared at him blankly.
"Oh," she said. "Sure, yeah. See you there." and she hurried away before he could say anything more.
She looked around frantically, pushing her way through the lingering crowd, trying to find Ian to no avail. After a few minutes of fruitless searching she was about to give up when she felt a hand on her back. She jumped and whipped around, staring directly into the eyes of the boy she'd been searching for.
"Ian!" she yelled, clutching her heart. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry," he blushed madly, thrusting his hands in his pockets. "I guess it's not a good idea to sneak up on someone in a room full of monsters. I'm an idiot."
She winced at his word choice. But this was her moment to fix things, she had to play everything up or he'd know something was amiss.
"I know!" she sighed exaggeratedly, looking around as if she was disgusted. "It's so freaky."
He leaned in close to her, dropping his voice. "Did I see you sitting with Christian Ozera?" he said the name like it was a curse.
She tried not to cringe as she spoke. "I had to. I got here really late and there was nowhere else to sit."
He frowned. "Why were you late? That's not like you."
She tried to look embarrassed. "To be perfectly honest, I was kind of scared about coming here. I mean, I've been around vampires for awhile now but, this many of them in one place..." she gave a dramatic shudder.
His expression went all soft and full of concern. "Oh, I know. I felt weird the whole time, and I was sitting with humans. I can't even imagine how freaked you must have been, sitting next to him."
"I wish I'd known you were going to be here." she said sweetly, finding the strength to ignore his dig at Christian. "I would have liked to sit next to you."
He smiled goofily and Sydney wondered if he really did have a crush on her, as more than one person had told her in the past. She felt bad for stringing him up like this but she needed him to believe what she was saying.
"Do you want to go to the reception together?" she asked, still with that fake sticky-sweet voice.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm not going. I didn't think any of the alchemists were."
Damn. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, her brain commanded furiously. "Really? It was in my list of instructions to attend."
"You got a list of instructions?" he asked, his voice slightly awed. "Wow, they must be thinking about promoting you soon. It's no surprise, you're like, super awesome. At being an alchemist, I mean. And you, know, in general."
She looked down, feigning shyness. "Aw, that's nice of you to say. But oh, darn!" she looked up, widening her eyes as much as she could. "I probably wasn't supposed to tell you. Oops."
He shook his head quickly. "Oh, don't worry. I won't say anything at all. You can trust me."
"Thanks, Ian." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're the best."
He blushed again, then his face turned troubled. "Sydney...I know this sounds crazy but, when I saw you with Christian, you looked sort of...friendly. Like you were smiling at whatever he was saying...It just freaked me out. I actually thought...nevermind. I feel like an asshole for thinking so little of you."
Sydney felt like her jaw was going to fall off, yet she still kept her fake smile locked tight in place. "It's okay, I can see why you would think that. I just felt really bad for him, you know? I mean, he's kind of pathetic. Not even the Moroi like him."
Ian nodded. "He seems creepy."
"Totally!" Sydney gushed. "He wouldn't stop talking to me. I hated every minute of it. I couldn't wait to get away from him." The words felt bitter and wrong coming out of her mouth.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Ian frowned. "But that's probably why the alchemists want you at the reception. You're really good at handling yourself around them."
"It's hard," she said with fake severity. "But someone's got to do it, right?"
He nodded, looking at her like she was the eighth wonder of the world. "You really are amazing. If things get too weird at the reception, or if Ozera tries to mess with you, just call me. I'll be there in a heartbeat."
She crumpled her face into an expression she hoped resembled immense gratitude. "Thank you, Ian." She wrapped her arms around him in a brief, stiff hug. "I'll be sure to do that. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Yeah, definitely. I mean, whenever you want to see me, you can call or, yeah..." He blushed again and mumbled an untelligible goodbye and headed in the opposite direction.
When he was out of sight, Sydney let out a huge sigh of relief. She deserved an award for that performance. Feeling infinitely better that she'd smoothed things over with Ian, she spun around happily, hoping she could maybe catch Christian if he was still around and go to the recpetion with him.
Unfortunately, it was Christian who she locked eyes with the moment she turned around.
His expression was dark, he let out a sardonic scoff. "Pathetic, huh?"
Her heart plummeted. She felt sick. He'd heard everything she'd said to Ian. "Oh, Christian, no. I just-"
He shook his head, backing away from her. "I thought you were cool, Sydney."
"I had to-" she tried to explain, but he was already walking away from her, and she could hardly cause a scene by running after a vampire with tears pricking at her eyes. It wasn't just the fact that she'd hurt Christian's feelings, she felt like garbage for doing that but she barely knew him. It was everything else on top of that. Lying to Ian. Lying to the other alchemists every time she had to act like being around the people she'd come to know as her friends was just an unfortunate job. Seeing Adrian with that girl. Being angry at herself for even caring about Adrian with another girl. She needed to get away. Not just from vampires, but from people, in general. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and slipped quietly out of the building. She hailed a cab back to the hotel and trudged back up to her room, only letting herself cry once she was safely engulfed in darkness under the covers of the bed.
She must have dozed off after awhile, because she was woken with a start as she heard loud pounding on the door. Oh, no, it's them. was her first thought, her heart kicking into double time. The alchemists. I didn't do a good enough job to convince Ian. They're here to drag me off to re-education.
A familiar voice shouted through the door, "Sydney! I know you're in there. Are you asleep? If you're asleep, WAKE UP!"
Rose. She sighed heavily. Rose, she could deal with. Maybe she could even tell her about what had happened with Christian. If anyone knew about what to do when you've hurt a boy's feelings, it would probably be Rose.
She padded over to the door, attempting to smooth down her now sleep-rumpled dress.
She opened the door to find not only Rose, but Lissa as well. Her cheeks went hot. "Oh, hey guys..." she said, lamely.
"What have you been doing?" Rose asked, scrunching up her face. "You look a mess."
"Rose!" Lissa chastised, slapping her on the arm. "She was obviously asleep." She turned to Sydney. "Sorry we woke you. You're not sick or anything, are you?"
So, Lissa definitely wasn't privy to what had gone down. She finally nodded after a long moment. "I was feeling a little under the weather after the wedding. I just needed to rest." Great, more lying. "I feel better now."
"Good," Rose said, pushing her way into the dark room. "Because it's party time and your face needs fixin."
Rose flipped on the light and Sydney squinted as her eyes adjusted to the glaring brightness. She blinked. "Excuse me?"
"The reception!" Rose sighed, "You're so not getting out of coming." she gave Sydney a thoughtful once over. "Your hair needs work too. I can't believe you took a nap!"
"Sorry," Sydney mumbled as Rose went to work, dumping the contents of her purse onto the bed. She grabbed a makeup wipe and started wiping underneath Sydney's eyes. "Look up," she commanded and smeared some concealer on the area. "Much better."
After a few minutes of fussing, Rose leaned back, taking in Sydney's face. "Hmm. Yeah, I think I'm done." she brandished a small mirror for Sydney to see.
She gasped. The eye makeup was much more than she'd ever wear normally and it was dark. Her lips were stained a dark berry color. "This is like, a lot." she breathed.
"Oh, whatever, it's not even that much. You look hot. Right, Liss?" Sydney looked up and Lissa nodded enthusiactially. Sydney turned to side and marveled at the fact that her cheekbones somehow looked more pronounced. "How'd you do that?"
Rose shrugged. "I saw it on a youtube video. Come on, now, up up up!" She pulled Sydney to her feet.
"What about her hair?" Lissa chimed in. "Sorry," she glanced at Sydney. "But it really does kind of need work."
Sydney sighed. "That's what I get for sleeping with it up."
Rose pursed her lips for a moment. "Here," she said, pulling at the pins in Sydney's hair and letting it tumble down around her shoulders. "There, perfect."
Sydney raked her fingers through the messy waves. "No way, it looks awful like this."
"It does not." Rose retorted, "It's like, sexy messy."
"You look great," Lissa assured her.
"What is taking so long?" another painfully familiar voice cut in as Adrian strode into the room. "You shouldn't leave the door open, you know, ladies. This hotel is probably crawling with perverts." He smirked devilishly. "Myself included."
His eyes fell on Sydney and his smirk vanished. She was reminded of the way he'd looked at her when he saw her the night of her school's dance, back in Palm Springs.
"Will you please tell her she looks good?" Rose asked, rolling her eyes. "She doesn't believe us."
Adrian's smirk returned. "What makes you think she'd listen to me?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Sydney. "Not that I don't agree." The intensity of his gaze made her whole body feel hot. She looked away, this was the last thing she needed right now.
Lissa cleared her throat. "We really should get going. Christian just texted me. People are wondering where we are."
A sick feeling washed over Sydney unpleasantly.
Rose threw her arm around Sydney, "There won't be any other alchemists at the reception, right?"
"No..." she replied distantly.
"Good! You can actually let loose for a change!" Rose exclaimed happily. She began shoving the spilled contents of her purse back inside it. She paused to check her phone. "Oops, Dimitri's been calling me. We really gotta go." She and Lissa made their way out of the hotel room, both buried in their phones, eager to get back to their boyfriends.
There may not be any alchemists, but Christian would be there, and that was almost worse. She'd rather face a barrage of angry alchemists than deal with the awkwardness of seeing him again. Maybe she could get him alone and try to explain. But even if she did, what was there to say? Sorry I said a bunch of mean stuff about you, I didn't really mean it? She'd still said it and that was bad enough.
"You really do look good," Adrian said softly, breaking her away from her thoughts. "More than good. You always do. I don't want to get myself into trouble with what I'm actually thinking, but if that's what you're looking so worried about you can calm down."
Sydney shook her head, sighing heavily. "Adrian..." she said, "Can I tell you something?"
He moved closer to her. "Anything."
She opened her mouth to tell him what had happened when she suddenly remembered the beautiful girl he'd walked down the aisle with, which also reminded her of another pressing matter.
"What did you say to Christian before you left?" she blurted.
He raised his eyebrows. "That's more of an asking than a telling."
"That's not the point," she said, crossing her arms. "What did you say?"
He smiled widely, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't quite remember," he chuckled, putting his finger on his chin as if he were actually pondering. "You'll have to ask Christian."
Sydney's frown deepened. "I kind of can't."
"What do you mean?"
Just then Rose appeared at the doorway. "Um, hello? Did you miss the part where I said we need to go? Come on, slow pokes."
Sydney shook her head. "Never mind." Adrian narrowed his eyes, not wanting to let the subject drop. But they both left the room without another word. Sydney's stomach flip flopped as they all crammed into a taxi, on their way to where the reception was being held. She may not have been psychic, but she had an overwhelming feeling that what ever was going to happen once they got there wasn't going to be good.
A/N: Sorry, I know there was a lack of Sydrian in this chapter, but there will be heaps more angst and tension and maybe some mouth to mouth action in the next one! I promise! Thank you to everyone who reviewed this, by the way. I never expected to get such a response!