Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.
Ah! It's getting close to November now! I'm so excited. I really need to start getting Through the Darkness together. I have a lot of the story written out, but weaving it all together is proving to be difficult. I really want to have it uploaded by the time TFH is out though. Anyway, this chapter is just something I've had stirring in my head for a while now. I hope you enjoy it!
Adrian drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. We were perfectly silent, except for the constant thump, thump, thump of them. It was late by human standards—nearly eleven—but the Moroi world was just getting started. Visiting hours were about to begin.
I stared through the windshield at the massive prison looming in front of us. Adrian had pulled into the visiting parking lot, choosing a spot close enough to the building that I had to duck my head to see the whole thing through the windshield. It was a huge concrete structure, all right angles, the way many human prisons were. I would never guess this prison housed only Moroi convicts, aside from holding visiting hours so late at night, that is.
I looked over at Adrian, who still hadn't said anything, and found him staring at the dashboard with a blank, unfocused expression. Wherever he was right now, it wasn't in this car with me.
"Hey," I said softly, placing my hand on his shoulder. He gave me a quick hmm, but didn't look over at me. "Adrian, you don't have to do this, you know. Your mom doesn't know your coming. We can leave right now and come back another time—"
"No," he said, still looking straight ahead. "I need to do this. If I leave now, I'll never come back."
I shifted in my seat, my heart breaking for him. He was so nervous—to see his mother! I slid my hand up his shoulder and into his hair. When he finally turned toward me, the insecurity in his eyes had me pulling his face down to mine. I rested my forehead against his, my hair falling around us, shielding us from the night.
"What you're doing is really brave," I said softly. "Your mom is going to be so happy to see you, Adrian. I know you're scared of how she'll react, but you shouldn't be. She loves you."
Adrian took a deep breath and bumped his nose against mine. "When I tried to get in touch with her in a spirit dream she didn't want me to, she asked me to leave. I'm just... What if it wasn't the dream she didn't like? What if she just didn't want to see me? What if my dad was right? What if she hates me for ruining her life?"
His beautiful emerald eyes were pleading with me to correct him, to tell him it was all going to be okay. I might not have known Daniella Ivashkov, but I knew Adrian. And there was no way any part of his personality came from his dad, so he must have been more like his mom.
"She's your mom," I said. "She couldn't possibly hate you. And moms always want to see their children. Always. Besides," I smiled at him. "If it was me in there, I'd spend all that time just waiting for my chance to finally see you again."
Adrian returned my smile and I was glad to see that it was a real one. Those real smiles always looked so good on him. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing it's not you in there," he said, his eyes glittering. "I don't think this prison allows conjugal visits."
My cheeks flushed at the comment, but I laughed and smiled at him anyway. He needed to laugh right now. I hated seeing him so upset. Whenever Adrian was upset I always had the disconcerting feeling that the world just wasn't the way it should be. After a few more moments he took my hand and squeezed it.
"I need you to come in with me," he said quietly.
"Okay," I said, nodding to him. "I can do that. There must be a waiting room or something where I can sit—"
"No. I need you to come in with me, Sydney." He looked at me fiercely and I could see that he was telling the truth. "I don't think I can face her without you."
"Adrian, you did nothing wrong," I told him. "Your mom's in here because she did something she shouldn't have. It may have been done out of love, but it was still against the law. She knows that, she knew it when she did it." I squeezed his hand. "You are strong and you can do this. You don't need me and you don't need alcohol or cigarettes or anything," I said, anticipating his train of thought.
Adrian closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around me. His warm breath at the nape of my neck sent shivers down my spine and I could feel his lips moving against me as he spoke. "Why do you believe in me so much?"
"Because I know you," I said softly. Pulling back just enough to see his face, I leaned up and kissed him. It felt the way it always did when I kissed him, like we were made for each other. It wasn't a chaste kiss or a passionate one, but it was a kiss that represented all of our love and affection for each other, binding us together.
"Will you still come in?" he asked once we'd pulled back. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You can find that waiting room or whatever."
"Of course, I'll come in." I pulled on the door handle and started to get out of the car. "I would've went in to see her with you too, if you'd really wanted me to."
Adrian hopped out of the driver's side, closing the door behind him. The noise echoed through the parking lot, bouncing off the concrete walls of the prison. "How do you know I didn't want you to come? Maybe I want you to meet my mother?"
"In prison?" I laughed. "Yeah. I'm sure she definitely wants to meet her only son's human girlfriend while she's serving a sentence for fraud."
"Hey, it's the perfect time for it," Adrian smiled. "She's in no position to judge."
I shook my head, but took his hand as we started the walk up to the main entrance. "Let's just let the surprise of you coming to see her sink in first, okay?"
###
Half an hour later Adrian walked through the barred door sectioning off the rest of the prison from the lobby. He'd gone in, alone, to see his mother and I'd been sitting out here on an uncomfortable plastic chair ever since. For whatever reason I was nervous. Not because I was an Alchemist or in a Moroi prison or because the guards behind the desk were giving me odd looks as I pretended to flip through a magazine, but because from the moment Adrian joked about meeting his mother I was terrified he hadn't really been joking. His next words proved me right.
"Sage," he smiled, coming over to me. "Um, do you want to come in and meet her?"
He looked nervous too, and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Part of me wanted to laugh again. It was so absurd, the thought of meeting my boyfriend's mother for the very first time in prison. I hadn't really thought about it much, but I'd always sort of assumed our meeting would be after she was released. Most likely it would take place at Court, where I'd be surrounded by all of my friends, people Daniella Ivashkov knew, maybe even respected, people who had already accepted me into their lives. Even Adrian's dad spoke to me occasionally, although he openly showed disdain for my relationship with his son. Still, Adrian liked to say that was akin to approval from Nathan Ivashkov. But... Adrian's mom was a whole different story. Adrian didn't expect much from his dad, but he wanted his mom to like me, and while I hoped she did too, it was more for Adrian's sake than it was mine.
"Did you tell her about me?" I asked.
Adrian nodded, but his expression was neutral and it was impossible to tell if it had gone over well. "I really want her to meet you," he said quietly. "I told her how things were going and she was happy to hear that I'm doing well. She was ecstatic when I told her I'd quit smoking and I'm down to one drink a day." He smiled a little and I took his hand. "She said she was proud of me for going back to school," he made a face, "even if she doesn't see what an art degree will do for me. But she said she thought it was good that I break away from Court and all the royal bullshit."
"What did you say about me?" I couldn't help asking.
He squeezed my hand. "Just that I was dating someone and that you drove up here with me. I told her you were an Alchemist, or an ex one anyway. I didn't really want to drop the witch bomb just yet. I figure she's got enough going on right now that we don't have to tell her my girlfriend is a badass supernatural force to be reckoned with."
He was grinning and I smiled back, but my insides felt like they'd turned to liquid.
"Sage, it's okay," Adrian said, his fingers moving to my knee and brushing comforting circles there. "You don't have to go if you don't want. You can meet her some other time. It's fine. But I promise that if you do go in she'll end up falling in love with you." His fingers grazed up to my thigh and gave a tight squeeze. "It's impossible not to love you."
There wasn't much I wouldn't do for Adrian, if anything at all. But I'd never met a boyfriend's parents before, not that I'd had many boyfriends. And I'd met Adrian's dad, but that was before we were together. This, going into it with her knowing I'm dating her son, was entirely different. I wasn't some random friend of Adrian's or a colleague, I was someone she was probably going to deem unworthy of him. But he wanted this, and when I smiled at him and said, "Of course," the grin on his face told me I couldn't have said no.
###
The inside of a prison looks very much like it does in movies, except there were no rowdy cell blocks or guards with a power trip. That I could see, anyway. Mostly it just looked like sterile white cinder block walls and polished cement floors. Barred gates intersected the hall at fifty foot intervals, and when we reached the visiting area, the walls were made of shatter proof glass. Guards were posted outside the door, but inside there was only a woman in an orange jumpsuit sitting at a steel table.
She was beautiful, even in the ugly orange color. Her chestnut brown hair was wavy and thick and I wondered how she kept it so perfect. Did they have stylists in prison? She had that same classical bone structure Adrian did and it was almost startling to see her green eyes, a shade lighter than Adrian's, turn in my direction.
The woman smiled at Adrian as we walked back in, but the moment her eyes focused on me it turned into a puzzled frown. "Adrian?" she questioned, her voice smooth and elegant as she spoke. "Is this... the girl you were talking about?"
I smiled, but was suddenly self conscious. I should have checked a mirror before just walking in here. You only get one first impression, and I had enough working against me already.
"This is Sydney," Adrian introduced me, his hand on my back, ushering me toward one of the hard plastic chairs at the table.
As I sat, I reached a hand out toward Daniella. A hand she didn't take. She just looked at me, an unreadable expression on her beautiful face. I tried not to take offense.
"Mom," Adrian chastised.
"It's okay," I said, not wanting to cause a fight between them. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Ivashkov. Adrian's told me so much about you. He's so excited to see you."
Daniella's eyes flashed at my last sentence, or, more probably, at the tone I'd used to say it. It was almost a silent warning to not ruin this for him. And I was pretty sure she got the message.
"It's so nice to meet you, Sydney," my name rolling off her tongue like candy coated acid. She didn't like me, that much was clear, but she was willing to play along for her son. We at least had that in common. "Adrian was just telling me all about you. He didn't mention how... lovely you were."
"Mom, please," Adrian said, closing his eyes for a moment. He was probably more aware of his mother's disdain than I was, with his ability to read people so easily. "Try to be nice, okay?"
"I am being nice. Am I supposed to be happy that you're involved with a human?" Daniella asked, then shook her head. "I thought you'd gotten all of this out of your system when that Hathaway girl broke your heart. Why can't you just go find a nice Moroi girl?"
Adrian looked upset, but kept his voice calm. "You said I should stay away from all the royal bullshit."
"I didn't say she had to be a royal, just a Moroi, Adrian." Daniella looked exasperated, like she honestly didn't understand why her son was being so difficult.
"He could go do that," I told her. My voice was surprisingly calm as I spoke, even though I felt like the butterflies in my stomach were about to come flapping out of my mouth. "He could go find a nice Moroi girl and marry her and make you and Nathan very happy. Or he can stay with me and make himself happy."
"He won't be so happy when you break his heart, too," Daniella spit, then turned to her son with a pleading look, begging him to understand. "Adrian, all I want is for you to make smart decisions. Don't risk everything on some girl that will leave you as soon as she's through with you."
Adrian opened his mouth to protest on my behalf, but I cut him off. I needed to defend myself to this woman or else she might never take me seriously.
"I'm not leaving," I said firmly and Daniella's eyes snapped back to mine. "Mrs. Ivashkov, I understand you want to protect your son, but you have to understand that that's what I want too. I want to make him happy, not for right now, but for always. I'm not after his money, or his looks. I'm in love with him." She didn't look impressed, she actually looked surprisingly bored sitting there in her bright orange prison jumpsuit, but I continued on. "I've given up a lot to be with Adrian. I've sacrificed relationships with my father and younger sister to be with him, because he makes me happy in a way I've never been before. In a way I'd never known you could feel happiness; deep in your soul. Your son is the most loving, caring, considerate person I've ever met."
I looked at Adrian to see his lips twitch into a small smile, before turning back to Daniella. "I had my issues with our relationship too. It took me a long time to realize that what other people said about us didn't matter. But Adrian... Adrian always knew. He told me once that it didn't matter what I did. That no other guy would ever love me as much as he did. And he was right." I met Daniella's gaze, feeling angry and a little self righteous. "Even if Adrian does what you want and marries a girl you approve of, she will never love him as much as I do. And isn't that what you want for your son? For someone to love him the way he deserves to be loved, for who he is, not who he pretends to be for your sake?"
I've faced some scary things before—Strigoi, vampire hunting cults, maniacal witches—but sitting across from Daniella Ivashkov as she stared me down was, by far, the most stressful. She wasn't someone I could fight against. There was no beating her. The best I could do was ignore her or avoid her and since she was Adrian's mother those two things didn't seem feasible. But then something amazing happened. The cold, hard light in her green eyes melted and she sat back in her chair, blinking.
"You're serious?" she asked Adrian and he nodded, his lips pressed together tightly, clearly suppressing some snarky comment. As if we would go through all of this and not be serious about each other.
"Well, then," Daniella sighed, turning back to me. She took me in, all of me. What was it about green eyes that allowed them to see straight through you? "I want my son to be happy," she said, her voice low and serious. "I want him to find a girl who loves him and will take care of him the way he deserves. And, while I don't think this is a good idea, I hope that, for his sake, that girl is you."
Adrian breathed a sigh of relief next to me, but I didn't feel relieved. Not even close.
"I don't like that you're human," she went on, sounding as if she were talking about what topping to get on her pizza. Though I doubted Daniella Ivashkov had ever even had pizza. "No one will. And you're going to have to live with that. The constant judgment and ridicule. Do you think that it's worth it?"
"It's worth it," I told her without hesitation. She still didn't look impressed, but she nodded and looked to Adrian.
"She's worth it," he said, following my lead and keeping it short and simple, although I felt there was some romantic monologue floating around in his head, just begging to be spoken. Adrian wasn't usually as brisk as I was. His artistic nature wouldn't allow it when it came to matters of the heart, but, in this case, I felt a brusque demeanor was necessary in order to be convincing.
"And we've been through a lot together already, Mom," Adrian went on. "Like Sydney said, she's sacrificed relationships with her family to be with me. We're not just playing around. Even Dad thinks we're good together," he said, like that fact alone should make his mother's acceptance easier to obtain.
"Oh," Daniella said, throwing her hands in the air. "That's a glowing recommendation if I've ever heard one."
The sarcasm in her voice was so sharp that it surprised me. I felt an overwhelming amount of sympathy for this woman who suddenly reminded me of my own mother. My mom was friendlier and, in general, just a warmer person, but she'd dealt with the same type of controlling husband Daniella had and had only recently been able to take control of her own life. I hoped that when Daniella was released from prison she managed to take control of her's as well.
"He doesn't like that she's human either," Adrian said with a roll of his eyes, "but he's seen us together. He's seen the changes I've been making since I met Sydney. He keeps telling me that I should marry a royal girl to appease everyone at Court, and keep Sydney around as my mistress." Adrian laughed. "It's the best blessing we're going to get from him, but I'll take it."
Daniella ran a hand over her face, clearly not as amused by Nathan's odd, and offensive, approval of our relationship. "Adrian," she said.
"Mom, look," he said, and reached out to take her hand. She squeezed his fingers and, despite her cold exterior, when she looked at Adrian, I could see the love she felt for him in her brilliant green eyes. As well as the concern. "I know that this is a lot to deal with on such short notice. And I know that you're upset and worried, but you need to trust us. You need to trust me. You didn't before and you ended up stuck in this place."
A flash of pain flickered across Daniella's features, but she reigned in her expression quickly.
"I'm sorry about that," Adrian went on, clearly noticing his mother's reaction as well. "I know you were trying to help and I love you for that, Mom, but it's time you trusted me to take care of myself."
I wasn't sure what startled me more, the look of resignation on Daniella's face as her shoulders slumped against the back of her chair, or the tears that sprang to her eyes. She reached out and took Adrian's other hand in hers, swallowing hard to calm her tears.
"You're right," she said softly, looking at their interlocked hands. "You're an adult now, and... you seem to understand the consequences of your actions. If you want..." She swallowed again, closing her eyes. When she reopened them she looked at me and, for the first time, it wasn't a look of disgust or indifference. She looked broken and desperate and my eyes felt wet just looking at her. "If you want to be together," she went on, "then I hope you're strong enough to get through all of the bullshit you're going to get for it."
She turned to me, tears spilling out over her high, elegant cheekbones. "Sydney, I don't know you, and maybe someday I will if this all works out, but, regardless of my feelings about it, I can tell you love my son. And I'm glad for that. I do want him to have all the things you said. I want you to be happy."
That last part was directed at Adrian and her voice broke as she said it. Before she even had time to let out a shaky breath Adrian was already by her side, pulling her into his arms.
"I know, Mom," he murmured over and over. "I want you to be happy, too. I want you to be happy."
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Adrian kneeling by her side as Daniella cried on his shoulder. I felt uncomfortable, like I should give them some space, but I couldn't leave the room without having one of the guards let me out and I feared that would disturb them too much. Instead I turned my head away to give them some semblance of privacy while they embraced. Finally, Daniella pulled back, wiping her tears and sitting up straight in the hard plastic chair, somehow looking as regal as ever.
"I'm glad you came to visit, Adrian," she said, trying to compose herself. "I know you didn't have to come, and that you certainly didn't have to," she said to me, a small, but unexpected smile transforming her face. She looked different, younger, when she smiled. Her smile actually reminded me a lot of Adrian's. "Thank you for that," she said. "For including me in your lives. Not... not many people do anymore."
"You'll always be a part of my life," Adrian told her. "Sydney will, too. And if you're okay with that, then we'll all just be a lot happier during the holidays."
Daniella, in a rare show of uncouthness, actually snorted. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Once I get out of here, of course."
"You'll be out soon," I said. I knew a little about her case from working with the Alchemists, but I'd also looked into her sentencing after getting involved with Adrian, and she was almost up for parol.
Daniella smiled uncomfortably at me and I wondered if I should have said anything at all. Maybe she didn't want me knowing about the private details of her imprisonment.
"Hopefully," she said after a few moments. "When I do get out maybe I'll move out to California so I can be near you." She smiled at Adrian. "And also escape from Court with some piece of my dignity intact."
Adrian, despite truly wanting her to be happy, looked like a deer in the headlights at the thought of his mother moving closer to us.
"We'd love that," I said with a bright smile, hoping to distract her from Adrian's blank stare. "You could attend all of Adrian's art galleries and spend time together. And there are lots of Moroi in Los Angeles if you get sick of us."
Daniella finally well and truly smiled at me, and it almost looked conspiratorial, then patted Adrian on the shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetheart," she said to him, her voice lighter than it had been before. "I don't think I'll get sick of you for the first, oh, five years or so. Plenty of time to spend together, just the three of us. I hope your house is big enough, otherwise it might get a little cramped once you start having children."
She chuckled at his expression, her laugh rich and warm, just like her son's. Adrian's shoulders visibly relaxed as he realized she was joking, but he still looked tense. "No offense, Mom, but the first thing we're doing when we get back to California is making a list of available apartments for you. None closer than half an hour away."
We left not long after that, saying that we'd come visit again in a couple of months, when she was up for parol. Daniella smiled warmly at me and said goodbye. It hadn't escaped my notice that she never apologized for her unfriendliness when we'd first met, but at least she seemed to accept me now. Adrian couldn't stop smiling all the way back to the parking lot.
"Thank you," he said to me as he climbed into the drivers seat and started the engine.
"For what?" I asked.
"For making me go in there." He leaned over to kiss me. It was quick, but it still managed to elicit a small sigh from me when he pulled back. "I never would have been able to do it if you weren't here."
"I'm glad you made me go in there, too," I told him, leaning forward for one more kiss before we started the long drive back to our hotel room near the Moroi Court. "It was bumpy at first, but I feel good about it now. I like Daniella, she reminds me of my mom."
Adrian gave me a look that said he didn't see it, but that's only because my mom had always been very supportive of our relationship. The first time she'd met Adrian she'd pulled him into a huge hug and told him how happy she was that I'd found such a loving boyfriend. Adrian's mom was, well, a lot more standoffish, but I think their hearts were the same underneath it all. Daniella wanted Adrian to be just as happy as my mom wanted me to be, and that was all that mattered.
"It means a lot to me that you were willing to put up with all of that," he said, taking my hand across the console. "Hopefully she'll just be happy that I'm happy and leave it at that."
I smiled, pulling his fingers to my lips and kissing them softly. "And are you happy?" I asked.
I lowered his hand to my lap and he squeezed my fingers as he mulled over the question. After a minute I thought he wouldn't answer, but then he suddenly pulled over to the shoulder of the road, parking the car and leaning closer to me.
"I can't think of a way to tell you how happy I am without sounding cheesy or like I'm in a bad made-for-TV movie, so instead I'll just do this."
I was about to ask him what, when he leaned even closer to me and we melted into a kiss. A kiss that said that what he'd told his mother was true. Adrian did love me, he was happy with our life together, and that wasn't going to change any time soon.