The Ruby Circle

Chapter 10 Syndey

AND JUST LIKE THAT, Olive Sinclair’s pregnancy was no longer the most astonishing thing going on. Or, well, at least it had some serious competition for bizarreness.

We all stood there awkwardly in the middle of the path, with the birds singing merrily around us, making this unexpected family revelation that much more surreal. Even Rose, who was rarely at a loss for words, stood there gaping. The Moroi man—Rand Ivashkov, according to Adrian—blinked at Dimitri as though he were seeing a ghost. Some of Rand’s cocky swagger diminished a little, and he took an uneasy step back.

“Well, I’ll be damned. It is you, Dimka.” He wet his lips and tried to smile. “You look pretty good for a guy who used to be undead, am I right?” He glanced around at the rest of us, looking for us to laugh at the joke. We stayed silent. Dimitri turned to Lana.

“Is he causing you trouble?” he asked her politely. “Are you having difficulty removing him? I’ll be happy to do it for you.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” she shot back, though not unkindly. As though summoned by some unspoken signal, Mallory and another dhampir woman who looked like a guard appeared on the path behind her. Mallory no longer seemed like a dreamy fangirl. In that moment she was as formidable as any guardian I’d met.

Rand relaxed a little. “Yeah, see? No need to do anything hasty.”

Lana fixed her glare on him. “That does not mean you are welcome here.”

“Hey,” he said, confidence returning, “I have every right to be here. I was visiting Elaine. She’s a resident. She can have guests.”

“She can have guests at my discretion,” Lana corrected, fists on her hips. “And I’ve told you before, I don’t want you here drinking.”

He held up his hands in what was apparently supposed to be a pacifying gesture. “Fine, I won’t have another drop. I swear it. But you can’t kick me out now—not when my son and nephew are here. This is practically a family reunion.”

Rose finally found her voice and turned on Dimitri. “Really? This guy? Are you sure?” I shared her disbelief.

Dimitri’s gaze was cool as it rested unblinkingly on Adrian’s uncle. “Positive. Though I thought he was off wandering Europe.”

Rand shook his head. “Haven’t been there in years. That business Nate hooked me up with said they didn’t need my consulting services anymore. How’s Olena doing these days?”

“Do not ever speak my mother’s name to me again,” growled Dimitri.

“Really?” repeated Rose. “This guy?”

The mention of Dimitri’s mother and Adrian’s father—whom I’d never, ever heard called Nate—suddenly triggered the most astonishing revelation of all. Adrian’s jaw dropped as understanding hit him as well. “Are we . . . does that mean . . . are we cousins?” he exclaimed, turning toward Dimitri.

Rose’s eyes widened even more.

Near us, Olive shifted uncomfortably and rested a hand on the small of her back, wincing as she did. As mind-boggling as this family drama was for the rest of us, I had to imagine it was of small concern to her, what with everything else going on in her life. Dimitri immediately swooped in and linked his arm through hers. “You’re tired. There’s no need for you to stand around and endure all this. I’ll escort you back.” He began leading Olive toward Diana’s cabin but paused to glance at Lana. “Whatever you do with him is your choice, but I’m more than happy to get rid of him for you, if you wish.”

“We’ll deal with it,” she replied.

Dimitri gave her a nod of acknowledgment and then escorted Olive away, like a knight from a chivalrous, albeit surreal, fairy tale. Rose appeared torn about whether to go with them or stay and finally followed the twosome down the path. Lana turned to Adrian and me.

“Will you vouch for him if he stays?”

“My uncle?” Adrian asked. “Hell no. I haven’t seen him in years. I don’t know anything about him.”

“Oh, come on,” cried Rand. “We’re family. And Lana, you can’t really turn me out. It’ll be sunset soon. There’ve been reports of local Strigoi sightings this week.”

I wondered if he was exaggerating for his own benefit, but Lana’s grave face suggested otherwise. “Fine. You can spend the night in our guest quarters at the front of the community.”

He gestured back to the private cabins. “No need to put yourself out. I’m sure Elaine would—”

“Guest quarters,” Lana repeated more loudly. “Or you can leave now.”

Rand exhaled dramatically, like he was being terribly inconvenienced and not actually receiving a great kindness from her. “Fine. Will you at least walk me there, Adrian? Then you can get back to that dhampir girl you knocked up.”

Adrian scowled but didn’t correct him. Lana was already retreating, leaving Adrian and me no choice but to walk with Rand. Nonetheless, I noticed her guards trailing at a respectful distance as the three of us made our way back toward the commune’s front. Lana wasn’t going to leave Rand unsupervised.

“How’s your dad?” Rand asked Adrian companionably. “And your mom?”

“Not living together,” Adrian replied. “I figured you knew that.”

“Nate doesn’t talk to me anymore. No one does. I have to get all my information through secondhand gossip.” He sounded terribly put out by that as well. This was someone who felt sorry for himself a lot, I realized.

“Maybe that’s something you should think about,” Adrian remarked evenly. “If ‘no one’ is talking to you, maybe they’re not the problem. Maybe you are.”

He shot Adrian a wry look. “Don’t act so high and mighty. I told you—I heard about you. You and your . . . human wife.” Rand came to a sudden halt as it dawned on him. His gaze fell on me, then turned back to Adrian. “Wait . . . her? The Alchemist? And you’re just . . . out in public like this? No shame at all?”

Adrian remained remarkably calm. “Her name is Sydney. And we have nothing to be ashamed of. Humans and Moroi used to marry. They still do in the Keepers. Sydney and I love each other. That’s all that matters.”

Rand shook his head in disbelief. “Well, welcome to the family then, Sydney. At least this way I’m not the most scandalous anymore.” He glanced back at Adrian. “I tell you, though, our aunt would be rolling in her grave if she knew what you’d done.”

“I think she’d be okay with it. I know her pretty well,” said Adrian. A moment later, he seemed to realize what he’d said. “I knew her pretty well, that is.” I watched him carefully, trying hard to determine if it had been an honest slip of the tongue. Ever since he’d admitted hearing his aunt in his head to me, he’d been reticent about elaborating on how often she spoke to him. Seemingly unfazed, he kept his attention on Rand now. “Why weren’t you at her funeral?”

Rand shrugged and slowed his pace as we came to a stop in front of a building labeled GUESTS. “I don’t like funerals. That, and there wasn’t enough time to get back by the time I heard. I was in Europe when it happened.”

“Russia?” I asked. I’d spent a fair amount of time in Russia and was pretty sure I would’ve remembered seeing someone as obnoxious as Rand Ivashkov in the Moroi circles.

“France,” Rand corrected. “I haven’t been in Russia in a while.”

“You were there at least once,” Adrian pointed out. “If Dimitri really is your son.”

Rand straightened himself up. “He is, and I was there lots of times. That family never appreciated me, though. So I stopped coming around.”

Adrian eyed him carefully. “Really? That’s all there is to the story? Despite his badass exterior, Dimitri’s a pretty forgiving guy. I guess you’d have to be, to go on with life after being a Strigoi. But you? He’s pissed off at you.”

Rand looked away from us. “His mother and I stopped getting along. Boys overreact to that kind of thing, that’s all.” He stepped up onto the cabin’s porch. “You coming in? Might as well claim your room now before the other guys staying overnight show up.”

“We’re not staying here,” said Adrian.

Rand gestured to the darkening western sky. “You’re here for the night. This is their only free guesthouse. Where else you going to stay?”

Adrian and I exchanged brief glances. Staying overnight hadn’t come up in any of our planning. “Not here,” he said adamantly. “Not with you.”

“Dismiss me all you want, but I’ve made the best of what I’ve got,” Rand said angrily. “I never fit in, never played by their rules, and one by one they rejected me. That’ll happen to you, just wait. That’s the price of marrying her. You lost everything you could have had, could have been, as an Ivashkov. Soon you’ll see what it’s like, drifting from place to place.”

“We have to go check on my friends,” Adrian told him, taking my arm and steering me away. “Nice running into you.”

“You’re a terrible liar, boy,” Rand called after us.

“Is he right?” I asked quietly, once we’d put some distance between the guest cabin and us.

“That I’m a terrible liar? No. I’m a fantastic liar.”

I came to a halt, forcing him to as well. It was dark enough that our only light came from strategically placed lanterns along the camp’s main path. “Adrian, I mean what he said about me . . . did I really cost you all that? We always talk about me being on the run from humans, but you gave up the life of a royal to—”

“Sydney,” Adrian interrupted, cupping my face in his hands. “Never, ever think like that. I don’t regret anything we’ve faced. Being with you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, the one perfect decision I’ve made in a lifetime of fumbling and poor judgment. I’d go through it all again to be by your side. Never doubt that. Never doubt how I feel about you.”

“Oh, Adrian,” I said, letting him wrap me in his arms, surprised at the bubble of emotion welling up within me.

He held me tightly. “I love you. If anything, I can’t believe you gave up everything you did to be with me. You changed your whole life for me.”

“My life didn’t even begin until I met you,” I told him fiercely.

Adrian pulled back and looked at me closely, shadows on his face. “When you see someone like him, like Uncle Rand, does it make you nervous? That I might turn out like that?”

I felt my eyes widen. “No,” I said adamantly. “You’re nothing like him.”

I could tell from Adrian’s face he wasn’t so certain and was in danger of falling into one of those terrible depressions of his. His recent spirit usage with Nina would only make him that much more vulnerable. Adrian might not have any doubts about me and our love, but the future Rand had predicted—us bouncing around with no place to live—might very well be a real one. That scared me, and it had to scare Adrian too. With great effort, I watched as he tried to force his dark thoughts away and put on a cheerier expression.

“Well, I guess on the bright side of all of this, I can celebrate a new family member.”

I’d nearly forgotten the startling revelation about him and Dimitri. “Is it really true? How could you have not known that?”

Adrian gave a rueful headshake and began walking again. “From what I’ve heard about Uncle Rand’s ‘activities,’ he might very well have dozens of illegitimate children around the world. Why not Dimitri?”

“It just seems weird Dimitri wouldn’t have said anything before this,” I remarked.

“That surprised me too,” admitted Adrian as Diana’s cabin came into view. “Though to be honest, I never thought of him having a father. He just seems like the kind of guy who sprung into being fully grown up. Or, if I was going to picture a dad for him, I guess I’d just go with a gray-haired version of him, complete with duster.”

I laughed at that and followed him up to the cabin’s porch. Someone called for us to enter when we knocked, and we found Rose and Dimitri sitting in the cabin’s little living room. Diana had apparently left. Olive was lying on a bare-bones sofa, looking pale. “Is he gone?” asked Dimitri. His tone clearly told us which he was being referred to.

Adrian and I sat down together on a wooden bench. “No,” I said. “He’s staying in their guesthouse and seemed to think we would too.”

“I can think of a dozen forms of torture I’d rather undergo than spend a night under the same roof as him,” said Dimitri, deadpan.

“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Adrian replied.

“Olive says we can stay here for the night,” Rose explained. “If you don’t mind making a bed on the floor.”

“Considering the alternative? No problem.” Adrian fixed his gaze on Dimitri. “When were you going to break the news that we’re one big happy family?”

A pained expression crossed Dimitri’s face. “I honestly didn’t know.”

Adrian threw up his hands. “Come on. You’ve got, what, two or three sisters? That guy was obviously around a lot. It never occurred to you that Rand Ivashkov might be related to another Ivashkov you knew?”

A smolder of anger shone in Dimitri’s eyes. “He never told us his full name. He was always just Randall. We knew he was an American royal who frequently came by on business. We never asked questions. My mother liked him . . . for a while.”

“He mentioned that they stopped getting along,” I noted. “He claimed he wasn’t appreciated.”

That smolder in Dimitri’s eyes turned into a flame. “Wasn’t appreciated? He shoved my mother around when he’d been drinking and didn’t get his way.”

Those words drew even Adrian up short. “Then what happened?” he asked softly.

Dimitri didn’t answer, but Rose did. “Dimitri shoved him back,” she replied.

Silence fell, broken only by Olive shifting on the couch. She’d been listening quietly, her face creased with discomfort. Adrian regarded her with a look I’d come to know by now, one that somehow managed to be both focused and distracted. He was viewing her aura. I’d tried chastising him about aura viewing for a while but had finally given up. It was so second nature to him, he didn’t even realize he was doing it half the time. It really did use only a little spirit, according to Sonya, so I tried to pick my battles over larger expenditures.

“Are you okay?” Adrian asked Olive with concern.

“I don’t feel well,” she said. She slid her hand down her stomach. “Some pain. I’ve had it throughout the whole pregnancy.”

“Your colors are all over the place—different from earlier. It’s almost like looking at two people’s auras blurred together.” Adrian’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you in labor?”

She looked startled at the thought . . . but also afraid. “I . . . I’m not sure. The pain’s worse than usual, but it’s still more than a month before I—”

The deep booming of a large iron bell rang out through the air. Rose and Dimitri were on their feet in an instant. “What’s that?” she demanded.

Dimitri pulled a silver stake from his belt. “Strigoi warning. We have the same system back in Baia.” He ran to the door, Rose close on his heels. Before leaving, he gestured to the fireplace. “Build a fire. If any Strigoi come in, throw them into it.”

He didn’t elaborate on how exactly we were supposed to accomplish that, with brute force or Adrian’s spirit, but they were gone before I could question them. Adrian and I met each other’s gazes, the new threat spurring us to action. With only a small spell, I made the fire in the hearth suddenly double in size. Fire was our best weapon against Strigoi, and while I could summon it out of thin air, having a ready source would aid both Adrian and me.

Olive cried out as the flames rose. I turned to her. Pain contorted her features as she rested a hand on her stomach. “Are you okay?”

“I think . . . I think the baby might be coming after all,” she gasped out.

Adrian blanched. “When you say ‘coming,’ do you mean now or kind of in the near future?”

The question was ridiculous enough to momentarily draw her from her pain. “I don’t know! I’ve never had one before!”

Adrian looked up at me. “So . . . um, you know how to do this, right? Deliver a baby?”

“What?” I asked. Panic seized me now. “Why would you even think that?”

“Because you’re so good at everything else,” he said. “All I know is what I’ve seen in movies. Boil water. Tear up sheets.”

As usual, I clung to logic to try to calm myself. “You could boil water for sterilization. But the sheets? That’s not really—”

A scream from outside interrupted my babbling. Adrian moved his body protectively to shield Olive, and I summoned a fireball to my palm. We all stared wordlessly at the dark window, unable to make out what was happening. We heard shouts and another scream, making my imagination run wild.

“I wish Neil was here,” Olive whispered.

“Me too,” I said, thinking I’d feel a lot better with him standing by the door with a silver stake.

Adrian squeezed Olive’s hand. “You’re going to be fine. Sydney and I will protect you. Nothing’s going to come through that door that we don’t want.”

Just then, the door burst open and Rand Ivashkov appeared, face frantic.

“What’s happening out there?” I demanded.

He slammed the door shut behind him and sank into a chair. “Strigoi. Dimitri told me to come stay here with you guys.” He eyed Olive’s state uneasily. “In case you needed help.”

“Not unless you’ve got a secret medical degree you’ve been hiding from the family,” snapped Adrian.

“How many Strigoi are there?” I asked.

Rand shook his head. “Not sure. Probably only a few or we’d all be dead by now. But a few can do a lot of damage if they get the drop on you.”

Olive made a small cry of pain, and we turned back to her.

“Another contraction,” I noted.

“At least it’s been a few minutes. Maybe he’ll wait until this is all over,” Olive replied.

“He? You know it’s a boy?” Adrian asked.

“Not for sure,” she admitted. “But I just have a hunch.”

“I believe in hunches,” Adrian said seriously.

Another scream sounded, and I tried to provide a distraction for Olive. I might not know everything about labor and delivery, but stress like this couldn’t be good for a pregnant woman. “What are you going to name him?” I asked her.

Adrian followed my lead. “Adrian Sinclair has a nice ring to it,” he said.

Olive’s eyes, full of fear, watched the window and door, but her lips curled into another smile at the joke. “Declan.”

“Nice Irish name,” I said.

“It would work,” Adrian conceded. “Declan Adrian Sinclair.”

“Declan Neil,” she corrected.

I wondered how Neil would feel about having someone else’s child named after him. In the nonstop chaos that had ensued since we’d arrived, there’d been no opportunity to talk to Olive about the circumstances that had driven her here to the commune. And as we continued our anxious vigil, it seemed unlikely we’d discuss matters anytime soon. Conversation dried up as time passed. All we could do was watch and wait. The sounds outside eventually quieted, and I didn’t know whether to be reassured or more alarmed. Equally disconcerting was that Olive’s contractions kept getting more frequent. I wondered if we should be boiling water after all.

The door opened again, and I nearly hurled the fireball at the newcomer until I saw it was Rose. Her face was streaked with blood and dirt. “We got them,” she said. “None of our people died, but there are a lot of injuries. Their doctor’s away right now, and we were wondering, Adrian, if you could . . .”

She couldn’t finish, but I knew what she wanted. Adrian did too. He turned from her to me, his face full of pain.

“Sydney—”

“She said no one’s dead,” I interrupted.

“Some might be close,” he countered. “Especially if the doctor’s away.”

I glanced back at Rose. “Are there people who might die?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know. Some are clearly in pretty bad shape, though. I saw a lot of blood when I was back at their infirmary.”

Adrian began moving toward the door. “That’s it, then. I’m going to help.” He paused to look back at Olive. “She needs someone too. Right now. The baby’s coming. Sydney—”

“No, I’m coming with you. I know basic first aid,” I said, though my true motivation was to keep an eye on Adrian. “Rose, can you help Olive? Or get someone who can?”

The look on Rose’s face showed she felt as completely unprepared for that as I was, but she gave a quick nod. “I’ll try to find someone who actually knows what they’re doing. There must be plenty of people who’ve helped with that before. But Sydney, are you sure you want to go? There’s an Alchemist on the way to help destroy the bodies.”

“An Alchemist?” Olive gasped out.

I froze, and suddenly, a whole new sort of panic took over. “On the way?”

“Not here yet,” Rose concurred. “I think they said his name was Brad or Brett or something. Works out of Marquette.”

“Don’t risk it,” Adrian told me. “Stay here.”

I hesitated, knowing that was the smart thing to do. It would be idiotic to risk myself now after everything I’d done to avoid recapture by the Alchemists. Yet, at the same time, I was just as afraid of what might happen to Adrian if I left him alone to wield spirit. I shook my head. “Brad or Brett isn’t here yet. I’ll keep out of sight when he shows up.”

Adrian’s face told me he didn’t like that plan, but Olive spoke before he could. “Is he like you?” she asked, more concerned than I would have expected. “An ex-Alchemist?”

I shook my head. “Not likely. He’s probably the standard, analytical kind that thinks vampires are freaks of nature.”

Olive looked even more alarmed, and I recalled her fear when she’d seen me earlier. Rose gave her a reassuring smile. “I know they don’t always have the greatest personalities, but this one might be able to help with cleanup. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. And in the meantime, I’m going to send someone to help with that baby.” She fixed a hard look on Rand. “Wait with her until someone else gets here. Come on, you two.”

Adrian and I followed her out into the darkened commune, and a feeling of dread settled over me, entirely different from what I’d felt during the Strigoi attack. The lanterns along the path made everything look extra sinister. We saw little evidence of the Strigoi until we reached Lana’s cabin, where they’d gathered the injured. A dozen dhampirs were there, bloodied and beaten, but being tended to as best they could. Dimitri hurried over to us when we arrived.

“Thank you for helping,” he said. “I know it’s hard for you.”

“It’s not hard at all, actually,” Adrian replied.

“Adrian,” I warned. “Be smart about this. Only tend to the truly critical.”

He gazed around, taking in all the dhampirs on makeshift cots. Rose was right that there was a lot of blood. Moans of pain filled the air.

“How can we choose who deserves healing?” Adrian asked softly. “Especially when they all just fought to keep us safe.”

“I’ll help you triage,” I said.

Dimitri pointed at the far end of the room. “Some of the worst are down there. Whatever you can do will help. I’ve got to get back out there. Turns out one got away and is out in the woods. We’re going after him.”

“I’ll go too,” said Rose promptly.

Dimitri briefly touched her cheek. “I need you here. Help Sydney and Adrian.”

“Help us later,” I said. “Get someone for Olive now.”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up at that, and she hurried off to find Lana. Adrian and I settled into helping the injured. I tried to warn him again to use caution with his magic, but it wasn’t easy. All he could focus on was the suffering around him—and how he wanted to fix it. He set into healing, using his spirit generously. He at least started with the critical ones Dimitri had pointed out. As for me, I began doing what I could with basic skills in the hopes that Adrian would see he didn’t need to use spirit on everyone. I patched lacerations and gave water. I even gave pep talks. Most of the patients were conscious, and I worked hard to keep up a good bedside manner, assuring them all would be well. Every so often I’d pause to check on Adrian.

Mallory was among the injured, and she and another guard were pretty bad off, having lost lots of blood. Mallory also had a number of broken ribs, as well as some internal injuries, according to Adrian’s read of her aura. A Strigoi appeared to have taken a chunk out of the place where her shoulder and neck met, and blood pooled from the wound, despite attempts to bandage it. She was one of the few unconscious ones, and it seemed hard to believe she’d been swooning over Rose and Dimitri only a few hours ago. Adrian made her his first priority, restoring her to almost complete health. I was glad for her but winced at the power that must have required. Wordlessly, he moved on to his next patient.

When he was halfway through her healing, Rose hurried up to me. “I sent someone to Olive. But you need to come with me now—upstairs. The Alchemist is about to come in.”

I finished the bandage I was applying and gave one more warning to Adrian about caution. He nodded at me, and I wondered if he’d even heard my words. But there was no time to linger, not with an Alchemist about to walk in who could potentially undo all Adrian and I had done to win my freedom. My heart raced as I followed Rose up to the second floor of Lana’s cabin. I breathed a sigh of relief as we reached it. It was little more than a loft, but it kept me out of sight from those below. Unfortunately, it kept me away from what was happening downstairs as well.

“Rose,” I said as she started to go, “you’ve got to make sure Adrian doesn’t—”

A dhampir suddenly appeared in the doorway and beckoned Rose out urgently. I saw them speak in concerned whispers outside the door. Rose looked distressed and glanced my way, then followed the dhampir downstairs. That left me alone for the better part of an hour with nothing to do but pace and worry about what was happening. Finally, Diana came up to tell me the Alchemist had moved on to a different part of the camp and that I could come downstairs, as he had no reason to return to the infirmary.

I wasted no time in complying and was shocked to see that nearly every single person who’d been lying on the floor injured earlier was now up and about, looking healthy and well. Adrian was just finishing up a healing, and I stared, openmouthed, unable to believe what I was witnessing. “Adrian . . . what have you done?”

It took him several moments to turn to me, and when he did, I could barely believe the difference in him. He looked as bad as the patients had earlier—pale, sweating, eyes glazed. I caught hold of his arm, afraid he might faint from exhaustion.

“How many of them did you heal?” I whispered.

He swallowed and stared around vacantly. “I . . . I don’t know. As many as I could . . .”

I clutched his hand, filled with a mix of anger and fear. “Adrian! You didn’t need to do that!” Glancing around, I noticed some people who’d had only light injuries—a few scratches or bruises—were completely unmarked now. I turned on him incredulously. “That was a waste of your energy! Most of these people would have healed on their own.”

He seemed to be recovering a little of his bearings. “I could help them . . . why not? Once I started, it was just so hard to stop . . . what’s the harm?”

Before I could even process that, Rose came up to us with a grave face. “You guys . . . there’s something you should know. Olive’s gone.”

I was so focused on Adrian’s wiped-out state, I thought I’d misheard. “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

“She sneaked up on Rand and knocked him unconscious. Then she ran away before Lana got there to deliver the baby.”

Adrian, though dazed, managed to focus on this seemingly improbable change of events. “Olive . . . knocked someone out . . . while she was in labor? How?”

“No idea,” said Rose sadly. “But she’s gone . . . probably fled out in the woods.”

“In the woods,” Adrian repeated. A new energy filled him as panic set in. “In labor. In the dark. Is that Strigoi still out there?”

Rose’s expression answered for her, and Adrian hurried to the door with me fast on his heels. “We have to go,” he said. “We have to go find her now.”

Rose tried to stop us. “Adrian, it’s not safe to—”

Dimitri suddenly burst through the door. “We found her. We found all of them. You have to come, Adrian. You have to come now.”

We followed without question, and I struggled to keep up with the others and their longer strides. Rose came too. “Did you find the Strigoi?” she called as we passed the commune’s center.

“Yes. There.” Dimitri gestured to two dhampirs dragging a dead Strigoi’s body. They brought it to where three other Strigoi were piled. A human guy knelt by them, pouring the contents of a small vial over the bodies. The Alchemist, I realized. I angled myself so that Rose was between us. Fortunately, he was engrossed in his work.

“Then what happened?” asked Rose.

“He got to Olive first,” he explained. “She’d already had the baby—out in the woods. She hid him there. We found him too. He’s fine—small, but fine.”

Adrian and I were still so overwhelmed by the course of events that we couldn’t respond, but Rose was ready with more questions. “Why are we going to her? Why didn’t you bring her in?”

Dimitri led us out of the commune and into a wooded area. “I was afraid to move her. I thought it best to leave her where she was until Adrian could heal her.”

Adrian grimaced. “You guys, I . . . I don’t know if I have enough spirit left to do it. If you can stabilize her until I recover . . . or if she’s not that bad . . .”

Dimitri made no response as we trekked out into the deep forest past the commune, but his expression said that she was, in fact, that bad. My stomach sank as the implications hit me.

We finally reached a clearing in the woods. Lana and two other dhampirs stood there holding lanterns. We hurried up to them and found Olive propped up against a tree, a small bundle held close to her with one arm. When I got a good look at her, I understood why they’d been afraid to move her. Her face was so white, she could’ve passed for Strigoi herself. Her arm—the one not holding the baby—was nearly torn from her. The side of her head looked as though it had been slammed hard against something, and everywhere, everywhere, there was blood. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow.

Adrian focused on her for several moments, and then shook his head, his face full of despair. “I can’t,” he murmured, nearly choking on the words. “I can’t even bring up her aura. I’m out . . . I’m out of magic.”

Olive’s eyelids fluttered at the sound of his voice. “Is that . . . is that Adrian?”

He knelt down beside her. “Shh, don’t strain. You need to rest so I can build my magic back up and heal you.”

She managed a harsh laugh, and a small trail of blood leaked from her lips. “I’m beyond any magic, even yours.”

“Not true. I just need it back.”

“No time,” she croaked out. “But I need . . . to talk to you. Alone.”

“Olive, you need to rest,” Adrian insisted, but the words sounded hollow. We both knew she was right about time. Her life was bleeding out in front of us.

The baby in her arms began to cry.

“Go,” Dimitri ordered the others, shooing them away. To Adrian and me, he said, “Give her what comfort you can.”

I gave a weak nod, but mostly I was trying not to start crying.

“Take him,” Olive said, when the others had left. She thrust the baby toward Adrian.

I was pretty sure he’d never held a baby in his life, but as his arms went around the tiny bundle, the baby quieted. I leaned over to get a better look. He was so tiny as to seem unreal. A fuzz of dark hair covered his head, and he looked up at us with astonishingly alert eyes. He was wrapped in someone’s jacket, and Adrian attempted some half-hearted rocking.

“Shh, there you go. There you, Declan. Declan Neil Sinclair.”

“Raymond,” Olive said. She paused and coughed up more blood. “Declan Neil Raymond.”

“Neil’s last name,” I said.

“You have to take him to Neil,” she told us. “When I’m gone.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Adrian said, sounding as though he were having trouble keeping sobs from his voice.

With her good arm, she clutched Adrian’s sleeve. “You don’t understand. He is Neil’s. Neil’s his father.”

Arguing dhampir genetics seemed pointless, given her state. Maybe she was so out of it, she believed Neil was the father. Maybe she was speaking figuratively. From what I’d seen at Court, Neil loved her so much, he’d probably adopt the baby as his own anyway. “Of course,” I said gently, simply wanting to pacify her.

She was fading fast, but a spark of anger glittered in her eyes. “No, I mean it. He’s Neil’s. I’ve never been with anyone else.”

“Olive,” Adrian said, not unkindly, “that’s impossible.”

“No,” she repeated. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, I feared the worst. Then they fluttered open again. “I was only with Neil. Just once. And when I found out . . . I was so scared. I don’t know what happened . . . it must have something to do with me being restored. With all the spirit that was in me. I’ve been so afraid if anyone—Moroi or Alchemists—knew, they’d want to take the baby. Experiment on him, like Sonya does. So I hid. Hid from them all. Even N-Nina.” Her voice caught on her sister’s name, and she paused to breathe, which seemed to be causing more difficulty.

What she was saying was impossible. Two dhampirs couldn’t make a dhampir. It went against the fundamental rules of the world. And yet, if she believed that . . . I suddenly remembered her panic upon meeting me and then later, when she found out another Alchemist was coming. “That’s why you ran,” I said. “You were afraid of the Alchemist.”

She gave a weak nod and opened her eyes again. “You know how they are. I don’t know how this is possible, but they’d want to know. They’d take him. Please, Adrian. Sydney. Don’t let them. Or the Moroi authorities. Keep him secret until he gets to Neil. Then Neil will hide him. Neil will keep him safe. But promise me . . .” Her eyes closed, and her head tilted. “Promise me . . . you’ll . . . keep Declan safe . . .”

“Stay with us,” Adrian said urgently. My own vision was blurred with tears. “A little longer. Spirit’s coming back to me. I know it.”

Declan stirred in Adrian’s arms and began to cry again. Olive’s eyes open a slit, and she smiled. “So sweet,” she said softly. Her eyelids fell closed again, and all the tension went out of her body as she slumped forward.

“There,” Adrian gasped out. “I’ve got it . . . a spark of spirit . . . enough to see auras . . .”

I clutched his arm and felt tears running down my cheeks. “Adrian . . .”

“The baby’s is so bright,” Adrian said. There were tears on his face now too. “Like a star. But in her . . . there’s nothing. No aura left to see . . .”