The breakfast was unexpectedly uneventful. I was introduced to a Moroi, Nina Sinclair and her dhampir sister, Olive. I was honestly surprised about their relationship. It seems dhampir siblings are usually ignored by Moroi families. I was even more surprised to learn that Nina was a spirit user, which was why she was joining Sonya's group for research. I was unsure what Olive's role was, though. Maybe just a supportive sister.

I learned that my role here would be to help find a way to somehow suspend the magic that was typically used to bring Strigoi back to life. The hope was that if the magic could be held within an object (whether liquid or solid), then it could be easier to administer. Especially to larger groups at a time. I shuddered at the thought of willingly seeking out large groups of Strigoi.

"Sydney, you must be exhausted. Do you want to go take a nap and then meet back up with us in a few hours?" Sonya asked, just as our plates were being cleared off the table.

She was sitting across from me, with Nina to her right and Christian to her left. Next to me was Rose on the left and an empty seat to the right, between me and the queen at the head of the table.

"I am tired but I can push through as long as I can get some coffee."

"We haven't quite been able to keep the magic fully suspended within an object yet." Lissa explained. "We were going to try some other things this morning, so there would really be no need for you until later today."

"Yeah, just go take a nap and I can come get you once they're ready for you. Otherwise you'll just be bored here." Rose shrugged.

Christian rolled his eyes. "Only you would find experiments for a strigoi vaccine boring."

"Hey, it's not my fault I can't actually see what they're doing."

With that, everyone started getting up from the table and getting ready to go about their day. The experiments were taking place in the building next door, so everyone was just walking over.

I was actually very excited to have a chance to sleep. I was already practically asleep on my feet.

"I'll walk you back to the hotel." Rose said as she came to stand next to me. "Ready to go?"

I nodded. I hadn't even taken a step away from the table when I overheard Nina talking to Sonya."

"I think we should start by testing Adrian's sample."

I involuntarily stopped in my tracks. Rose immediately stopped with me.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

I had no idea I would respond like this to just his name.

I looked at Rose and nodded. "I'm fine. Like I said, just tired."

She frowned. "Okay… then let's get you back to your room before you collapse from sleep and coffee deprivation."

We restarted our walk towards the hotel and I risked a glance behind me towards Nina and Sonya. Had they noticed?

The answer was 'yes'. Nina was still talking to Sonya, but Sonya was looking at me. Her expression was unreadable but I was not interested in knowing what she was thinking.