Adrian, Eddie, Angeline and I had just returned to Palm Springs, while Jill had returned with Rose, Dimitri, Lissa and Christian Ozera. Adrian had been looking a bit sick, so I sent him on ahead to find Dorothy, Clarence's housekeeper, for some blood.
Dropping my duffel bag in the foyer, I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a can of diet pop from the fridge. I walked into the lounge room and found Jill curled up on the couch reading, with headphones nestled comfortably in her ears. Faintly, I could hear the music she was listening to, the volume up loud so she could tune out the outside world. Curious as to what she was reading, I walked over and pushed the book off of its perch on her knees. I studied the cover and snorted. Jill removed her headphones from her ears, tucking them down the top of her shirt.
"What?" She asked. I shook my head and sat down, smirking.
"Nothing." I said as I opened the can and took a sip. "Absolutely nothing at all."
"Liar. I saw the look on your face when you saw the cover of the book." Jill had an eyebrow raised and a faint smile on her lips.
I sighed, "Twilight? Really Jill?" Jill looked down at the book then back up at me.
"Why? What's wrong with it?" She asked in a high-pitched voice. Oh, where to start? I'd heard all about it and had even been forced by my two sisters; Carly and Zoe, to read it. I'd found it horrible and immoral. What was so appealing about a girl with absolutely no will-power? A controlling, obsessive, creepy vampire who watches her sleep every night and sparkles in the sun? What the hell kind of vampire sparkles and is a "vegetarian"?
"It's a pathetic excuse for a story." I said with a shrug. Jill sat up and marked where she was up to with a bookmark before placing it on the coffee table.
"How would you know if it's a pathetic excuse for a story or not?" Jill asked.
I stayed silent, but unfortunately, my silence betrayed me because Jill's eyes widened and she laughed in disbelief.
"Have you read it Sydney?" She asked. It was at that moment that Adrian decided to reappear. He looked a lot better. He didn't look as pale as he did before, the bags under his eyes were gone and his emerald eyes were sparkling again.
"Read what?" He said coming to sit on the floor against the arm of the chair at my feet. Adrian rested his head against my leg, his arm wrapping lightly around my ankle, and looked up at me. I shifted uncomfortably, but not from him being so close to me.
"Sydney's read Twilight!" Jill exclaimed. Adrian twisted his body around to look at me properly. There was a mischievous glint in those pretty eyes of his. I reached out a hand and ran it softly through his hair.
"Has she now?" Adrian answered Jill, though he was looking straight at me, his lips quirked into a smirk. "Tell us Sydney, how you came across these," He waved his arm around dramatically. "Twilight books?" Adrian's voice sounded odd, like he was trying to speak with an English accent and failing quite miserably.
"What's this about Twilight?" Rose asked as she walked into the room at the same time I put my hand to Adrian's forehead and said, "Are you feeling alright?" Adrian removed my hand from his forehead and held it in his, his fingers softly massaging my knuckles.
"Sydney was just about to tell us about her experience with the Twilight books. Weren't you Iva- Sage?" Adrian corrected himself. He'd slipped and almost called me Ivashkov. I wasn't an Ivashkov...yet. I was still a Sage, and would be for a few more years.
Rose turned to look at me, her dark eyes widened in surprise, mouth dropping open to form an 'O' shape. Not a lot surprised the eighteen year old Dhampir, but this did.
"Have you read them Sydney?" Disbelief radiating from the tone of her voice. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"If you mean, I was subjected to the horribly written world that has brain-washed the world. Then yes, I have read them. My sister's Carly and Zoe and forced me to read them, stating that I didn't read novels. So, I sat down and read all four. I've lost days of my life because of these books. And I'll never get them back." Adrian squeezed my knee sympathetically and I shot him a grateful look. Rose looked thoughtful and was chewing on her nails.
"I have to agree with you. Those books were horrible! I only read them to see what all the fuss was about. Never again. I mean, come on, vampires that sparkle in the sun and not explode? I'm pretty sure that they're actually just wingless faeries. Or the author was on some fucking strong drugs at the time of their creation."
"You've read the Twilight books Rose?" Came Lissa's voice from the doorway. Rose looked down and grimaced.
"Yes. And it was a mistake I will never ever repeat." Rose finally said whipping her head around to look at Lissa. Lissa burst out laughing then immediately sobered up when she saw the expressions on mine and Rose's faces.
"The two people I thought would never read books like that, have actually read them!" before either one of us could answer, there was a knock at the door. Rose hurried past Lissa and to the front door. Adrian reached up, hands on my waist, and pulled me down onto his lap. I went voluntarily and wrapped an arm around his neck, my eyes still focused in the direction of the front door. Voices floated in and grew louder as they approached the lounge room. I could feel Adrian lightly running his fingers up and down my spine, sending a shiver through me. Rose walked back in and following behind her was Donna Stanton. My mouth dropped open in surprise and I immediately got out of Adrian's lap and stood up.
"Ma'am?" Stanton smiled at me.
"It's alright Sydney. I'm just here to tell you that we've spoken to your father and, well," She gestured to the couch. "You might want to sit down." I sat down on the couch, Adrian getting off the floor to come sit beside me, taking my hand in his. I clasped our fingers together and looked at Stanton expectantly. She stayed standing where she was and breathed deep, exhaling slowly.
"Your father has confessed to lying about the reason why you left and has surrendered himself to those over at the Re-Education Centre." Stanton looked down at her hands and closed her eyes. "He's also confessed to some other things that he's done." She said opening her eyes and looking directly at me. I could feel my brow furrowing and Adrian's fingers flexing on my waist.
"What else has he done?" Rose asked before I could. Though, I wasn't sure I actually would have been able to say anything, so I shot Rose what I hoped was a grateful look. She smiled back at me before returning her attention to Stanton. I turned my head back and felt a light pressure on my cheek, right where my lily tattoo was. I turned my head a little further and was met with Adrian's lips. He pressed them firmly to mine for a few seconds, then pulled away.
"You'll be fine, I promise." I heard him say as I turned to look at Stanton, who was looking at me and Adrian; a small, warm, knowing smile on her lips which then turned into a grimace.
"Your father has confessed to having an affair with a Moroi woman. Though she has since been executed for High treason." A shocked gasp echoed throughout the room as the Moroi and Dhampirs in the room digested this piece of information. I sat there, locked in Adrian's arms, frozen, unmoving and unsure of what to do. My father cheated on my mother with a Moroi woman? Did my mom know? And who was this Moroi woman? I was about to ask that last thought, when Christian spoke up and well, sort of answered the question for me.
"Tasha?" He asked, his voice a shocked and pained whisper. I whipped my head around in his direction and saw that he was looking paler than was normal for a Moroi. Lissa reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I saw him clutch at her hand and realised that this Tasha was his aunt; Tasha Ozera. She'd killed the former Moroi queen and framed Rose for it. We all turned our heads in Stanton's direction and she gravely nodded her head. One thing was bothering me; how did they get my father to divulge all this information? And willingly? He would never do anything like that. He was a proud man and believed he was better than everyone else.
"How did you get all this information?" I finally managed to ask Stanton, my voice no louder than a whisper, but I knew she'd heard me. "You know what he's like?" Donna Stanton nodded her head thoughtfully, her eyes hardening. I knew that look. This had something to do with the vampires.
"I do know what he's like. And he didn't give this information willingly. We went against everything we believe in and brought in a Spirit user to compel him."
"Which Spirit user did you bring in?" Adrian and Lissa asked at the same time. They exchanged wary glances. There were only a handful of known Spirit users and we all knew them all. So it could be either Sonya, or Robert Doru, or a Russian Spirit user Rose and I had met while in Siberia; Oksana. It couldn't be Avery Lazar; she had been driven insane and was spending the rest of her life in a Moroi psychiatric ward, or maybe even Tarasov; the vampire prison.
"There's no need to worry," Stanton said reassuringly. Her smile now warm and gentle. "We'd only asked Sonya Tanner, to which she gladly agreed." Stanton had looked at me as she said that last part.
"Why didn't she tell us? Me especially?" I asked.
"We asked her not to. She understood why we didn't want her telling you Sydney; we wanted to tell you ourselves." Well, that was understandable. And I nodded my head.
"Fair enough. How long will my father be in a Re-Education Centre?" I was curious to see what would become of my father at the end of his tenure at a Re-Education Centre.
"Unfortunately, he'll be in there for quite some time." There was something else that was bothering me. My dad was being sent away because he'd had an affair with a Moroi woman? I was sitting here talking about this, yet I too was in a relationship-and secretly engaged to- with a Moroi. So why wasn't I being sent away as well?
"He was in a secret relationship with a Moroi woman, correct?" I asked looking Stanton directly in the eyes.
"Yes." She said unblinkingly.
"And he's being sent to a Re-Education Centre because of this?"
Stanton frowned, "Yes. Where is this going?"
"I'm in a relationship with a Moroi, yet I'm not being sent away. Why?" Stanton shifted uncomfortably completely aware of all the attention she was getting.
"You asked permission to leave the Alchemists, remember? Whereas your father, his was secret and well..." Again Stanton shifted uncomfortably, this time with a look of pure disgust on her face. I stood up and slowly approached her.
"What is it? Was there something else? Something else he did? Please, tell me." I begged standing in front of her. Stanton's bottom lip trembled as she opened up her mouth to speak.
"He was planning on leaving your mother for this Moroi woman and be her-be her," She leaned in closer to me and I copied her. The vampires would still be able to hear her anyway. "To be her...bloodwhore." I took a step back, horrified. Bloodwhore's allowed Moroi to drink blood during sex. It was disgusting and one of the most terrifying things I'd ever heard of. Even the Moroi and Dhampirs who didn't take part in it think it is the most disgusting thing anyone could ever do. So why did my father want to participate in it? This was what confused me the most.
"We don't know why he's doing this." Stanton answered my unasked question. I looked up to see everyone staring at me. I must have said it out loud and not realised. "We think she may have brainwashed him, but we're hoping we can reverse that and try to bring him back. It may take some time, so be prepared to not see your father for a long time. Unfortunately, there isn't any more I can tell you at this stage but, if you would like, I can keep you up to date with your father's progress?" I nodded unable to answer. Stanton nodded back and looked down at her watch, then back up to look at each of us in turn, her watchful eyes lingering on me the longest. "I must be going; I have some other business to attend to. Goodbye." Stanton turned on her heel and walked out to the front door. She paused mid step and turned back to look at me...and Adrian, a knowing glint in her eyes. "And good luck." And with that, she walked away, the front door closing gently behind her. I stood there, in the middle of the room, arms limply by my sides, staring after the woman who had just left. She'd looked straight at me and Adrian when she said "and good luck". Did she know that we were engaged? That was impossible! We hadn't even told anyone! Not like we were going to anyway. Not even Jill knew, seeing as the bond between her and Adrian had been broken when he'd died.
"What the hell did she mean when she said good luck to you and Sydney?" Jill asked Adrian. I spun around and glared at Adrian, but he just smirked and shook his head.
"I don't know." He lied. I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped.
"It's only me." Rose said coming to stand in front of me. "Are you okay?" I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. I needed to get out of here and back to Amberwood. Not because I had homework to do, but because I needed space and alone time.
"Yeah I'm okay. Just a little shocked I guess," I looked around for my handbag, spotting it by the front door where I must have left it and then looked at Jill, Eddie and Angeline. "We need to get back to Amberwood. I'll meet you guys out at the car." I turned on my heel and walked to the front door, scooped up my handbag and walked out, unintentionally slamming the door shut behind me.
As I sat in the driver's seat of Latte, I waited for the others to say their goodbyes and get in the car. There was a knock at my window and I jumped, not expecting anyone but those three. It was Adrian at the door and he was leaning against it looking in at me, worry in those beautiful green eyes. I rolled the window down and he leaned against the frame.
"Do you want some company?" He asked. I sighed, closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the headrest.
"No, but thank you. I just want the others to hurry up and get in so we can go." Adrian reached a hand out and cupped my face.
"I love you," He murmured. "So much. I hate seeing you like this. Just...let me know if you need anything and I'll be there to give it to you." He leaned into the car and kissed me softly on the lips. Behind me, in the car, I heard the sounds of the car doors opening and then shutting, and knew the others had gotten in. Putting the keys in the ignition, I looked up at Adrian.
"Thanks. I love you too." I pulled away from the curb and drove back to Amberwood, leaving Adrian standing the side walk watching me drive away.
Later, back in my room, after I'd said good night to the others, I lay in my bed and replayed everything I'd learnt about today. The Alchemists had used a Spirit wielding Moroi to get answers out of my father; who had been having an affair with a Moroi woman and had been planning on leaving my mom to go be a blood whore for this woman. And Donna Stanton might somehow know about me and Adrian. I rolled onto my side as the tears began streaming down my face, my sobs eventually sending me into a deep sleep.