The Ruby Circle

by Richelle Mead

  “That’s enough for us to go on,” I said. “We can find this place in St. George.” Whether it would be through Sydney’s sleuthing, the Alchemists giving in and helping, or even Sabrina’s insight, it couldn’t be that difficult now that we had a city. I would’ve liked to know more about the “obstacles” in place, but I wasn’t going to burn myself out when she probably just meant crazy Warriors and their weapons. The guardians could handle that. They had before.

  “Do you need anything else from her before we freeze her up again?” asked Maude.

  Alicia’s eyes went wide. “You said I wouldn’t be frozen if I cooperated!”

  “That wasn’t exactly cooperating,” replied Maude coolly.

  I shook my head. “That should be enough. If we need more, I’ll let you know.”

  “No!” shouted Alicia. Fireballs formed in her hands, and she began futilely hurling them at the invisible barrier. “I won’t go into that state again! I won’t! You can’t—”

  But Maude was casting beside me, and a minute later, Alicia was frozen in place again, her fireball-hurling stance even more ridiculous than her last one. The witches disbanded the circle, and Jackie came over to speak to me.

  “Are you sure you got everything you needed from her? I felt you wanted to ask her more.”

  “I did,” I admitted. “But her defenses were strong. I’ll pass the St. George information to my contacts and see what they can find out.”

  Jackie nodded. “Very well then. I also spoke to Maude. If you’d like, you’re welcome to stay here at her house until the next move in this plan. It’ll put you a little closer to the action, and from what I hear, she has a lot more room than the last place you were staying.”

  “Hopefully more produce too,” I added. I glanced at Neil. “You’re the security expert. Is it safe?”

  “I believe so,” he said after a moment’s thought. “No one followed any of us. And if it’s fine with her, I’ll stay on too to look after you.”

  We thanked Maude for her hospitality and stayed out of the way as the witches wrapped things up. Apparently, Alicia would eventually be transported to a magical trial and prison, but for now, she’d remain in the wine cellar/dungeon. Neil and I, thankfully, had guest rooms upstairs. I sent the St. George info to Marcus and then finally decided it was time to break some hard news, since it looked like Neil and I would be waiting around together for a while.

  “Neil . . .” I began, when we were alone in his room. “We need to talk.”

  “Sure,” he said easily. “Is it about Jill?”

  “Nothing at all to do with her, actually.” I gestured to the bed. “Maybe you should sit down.”

  Neil frowned, alerted by my tone. “I’ll stand, thanks. Just tell me what’s happening.”

  I crossed my arms, as though I could protect myself from all the anguish I was about to dredge up. Until then, I didn’t realize how I’d been fighting to keep it from crushing me.

  “Neil, there’s no easy way to say this . . . and I’m so sorry to be the one telling you . . . but Olive died two nights ago.”

  Neil made no sound at all, but his face went white, so white I thought he might pass out. “No,” he said at last, after several long moments of agonized silence. “No, that’s impossible.” He shook his head adamantly. “No.”

  “A Strigoi killed her,” I said. Whereas I’d initially struggled to find words, I now suddenly found myself rushing forward, unable to stop. “She was staying in a dhampir commune. In Michigan. A small group of Strigoi attacked it, breaking through the wards somehow. We think they got a human to pull one of the warding stakes up. Regardless, they got in, and Olive was caught when she was running away and—”

  “Wait,” interrupted Neil. In the blink of an eye, his stricken face had turned hard and skeptical. “Olive wouldn’t run away from a fight. Certainly not from a group of Strigoi. She of all people would stand her ground.”

  That terrible agony ripped through me. “She was running away to protect her baby. Declan—the baby my mom is taking care of.”

  Another heavy silence filled the room as the weight of those words sunk in. I wished then that I’d waited for Sydney. She would have done a more eloquent job explaining this.

  “And it wasn’t even the Strigoi she was running from,” I said, when Neil only continued to stare at me in shock. “Neil, the baby, Declan . . . he’s yours. Your son. You’re the father.”

  Disbelief returned to Neil’s features, but this time it was more stunned than angry. “We both know that’s not true,” he said. “Was that . . . was that why she ran? Did she think I’d judge her? We had no real commitments, not truly. I was crazy about her, it’s true, but there was just—”

  “The one time, I know,” I finished. “But that’s all it took. Somehow, something happened to her when she was restored from being a Strigoi that let her conceive a baby with you. I didn’t believe it either until I looked at him more closely with my magic. There’s definitely a spiritual, I don’t know, residue on him. It’s crazy, I know. But he is yours.”

  Neil sat on the bed, so still he could have been a statue. I understood his grief and sat beside him. “Neil, I’m so sorry.”

  “Olive’s dead,” he said numbly. He looked up at me and blinked back tears. “If what you’re saying is true—if somehow, through some sort of magic, that baby is mine, then why didn’t Olive tell me herself? Why’d she run away?”

  “Because she was afraid of that magic,” I said. “And she was afraid of what people would say or do—both the Moroi and the Alchemists. She hid him to protect him from being treated like a freak of nature, and I promised to help protect him.”

  Neil stared blankly for several moments, and then I think hearing about protection woke up his better instincts. “Who knows? Who knows about D-Declan?”

  “About his true nature?” I gestured to myself. “Only me and Sydney. Rose and Dimitri know he’s Olive’s, as do a couple of people back at the commune. That’s it. We thought it was safest that as few people know about him as possible. If they knew that somehow, probably through Olive being restored, dhampirs could have kids . . . well, it’d shock a lot of people. Some would be happy, some curious. They’d all want to learn more about him, and that’s not what Olive wanted.”

  Neil remained silent and nearly as motionless as Alicia had been.

  “Neil?” I said, a little unnerved by his shell-shocked state. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll help you. We’ll make sure Olive’s wishes are honored—that Declan lives a happy, normal life. Once this business with Jill is over, we’ll get you and Declan together and—”

  “No,” said Neil, suddenly coming to life. He looked up at me sharply, and though his expression was hard, there was a terrible sadness in his voice. “I can’t ever see him again.”

  CHAPTER 17

  SYDNEY

  THE WARRIORS’ COMPOUND WAS QUIET and still as I crept through the night. Trey and Sabrina had said the Warriors could have wild parties when they wanted, but when curfews and discipline were laid down, everyone obeyed. That was certainly the case now. Most people were tucked away in their dorms, and the people who passed me as I crept invisibly toward the masters’ headquarters were those on patrol. None of them seemed to expect much to happen overnight, and they made their rounds with relaxed confidence.

  Another open window allowed me to slip inside the masters’ building easily, right in front of a guard assigned to watch at the front door. Inside, I found mostly quiet and empty rooms, and like in my building, most of the doorways were open. There were, of course, a few rooms with real doors, and as luck would have it, it was in one of those that the masters chose to have a meeting. At least, that’s what I assumed was going on. Two guards were posted in front of a closed door, and I could hear muffled voices behind it. Noting its position, I went back outside and circled around to it, hoping I’d
find its window open to allow me to climb in and spy. When I reached it, I found it only partway open, enough to let in air in the hot night but not enough for me to climb through. Sabrina had said one of the masters usually carried pertinent information about their organization at all times—sometimes in hard copy or sometimes on a laptop, depending who it was and how tech savvy he was. My plan had been to rifle through said information in the hopes of finding where Jill might be held. For now, I’d have to start with eavesdropping.

  As it turned out, I’d arrived just in time for the beginning of their meeting, which I initially thought was a stroke of luck. It meant I hadn’t missed anything. Unfortunately, it meant I had to endure a lot of preliminary material—including more of those absurd psalms. Then someone got sidetracked and started asking about baseball scores. All the while, I was conscious of my invisibility. It was long lasting, but not that long lasting, and it was a relief when the group finally started talking about the business of the day.

  “All in all, it was a strong showing,” a voice I recognized as Master Angeletti’s said. “We had a good turnout, and they put on a commendable show.”

  “Some were a little out of line,” a sullen voice grumbled. I knew that one too: Chris Juarez.

  Master Angeletti laughed. “Still put out that that girl tricked you? I say more power to her. We need more thinkers around here.”

  “Not too many.” That was Master Ortega.

  “No, no, of course not,” said Master Angeletti. “But if we’re going to be dealing with the Alchemists more, we need to be able to outsmart them.”

  My ears pricked at that. The Alchemists? I’d once done some reconnaissance for Marcus and discovered that there were indeed Alchemists and Warriors working together, but Marcus had yet to learn the full extent of how deep that relationship went.

  “We’ve already outsmarted them,” said Master Ortega. “We’ve gotten them to do business with us.”

  “Yes, but don’t get too comfortable with that arrangement,” said a new voice that must have been one of the council members. “Didn’t you say you got a call about that girl, Alfred?”

  “Yes, yes,” said Master Angeletti, not sounding particularly concerned. “But it was just preliminary. One of them claimed they’d gotten a tip we might be holding her, but I think they were just covering their bases. I checked with the guards, though, and they said there was no sign that anyone had been snooping around or was coming for her. I’ll keep logging everything here, though, just so we’ve got a trail if anything happens.”

  I didn’t know what he meant until I heard the click of fingers typing on keys. I tensed, waiting for them to elaborate about “that girl,” but they switched topics, moving on to more about the trials. Nonetheless, excitement surged through me. Sabrina had been right. There was a computer or laptop in there that Master Angeletti was apparently keeping records on. Was there other information about “that girl” recorded? I didn’t know for sure if they were referring to Jill, but it was promising, as was the laptop’s existence. I needed to make obtaining it my goal. That wasn’t going to be easy, seeing as how I had no idea how long this meeting was going to last or if Master Angeletti would leave his laptop behind when it ended. I was mentally listing all the possible distractions I might cause when the Alchemists came up in conversation again—in a way I totally didn’t expect.

  “Well, just be careful,” Master Ortega was saying in response to someone else. “Don’t screw up this deal with the Alchemists. If your contact can really deliver on what he’s offering, we won’t have to focus so much on the candidates’ physical prowess. We can make our recruits as strong as we like.”

  “I still don’t like it,” muttered another unknown council member. “We’re dabbling in unholy substances.”

  “Not if we purify those substances first,” said Master Angeletti. “And use the strength they give us to fight back against the evil.”

  I frowned as I tried to determine what they might be referring to. “I’ve seen what these substances can do,” remarked Chris. “I saw them when they were used at my cousin’s school. If the Alchemists really do have more of them, they’re letting them go to waste if they aren’t using them in the fight against evil.”

  “The Alchemists fight evil by cataloguing it,” chuckled someone.

  “Don’t make those kinds of comments around our contact,” warned Master Ortega. “He’s already hesitant about doing business with us. His people won’t like it if they find out what he’s doing.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” snapped Master Angeletti. “And believe me, I’m paying him enough to get over any hesitancy he might have.”

  The conversation drifted back toward a discussion of the recruits, analyzing each of us according to what the Warriors saw as our pros and cons. I only half listened, my mind spinning with the other shocking piece of news I’d heard. Based on what Chris had said, it sounded as though they were talking about using vampire blood to create performance-enhancing tattoos on humans. A surge of those had occurred at Amberwood Prep, resulting in both athletic and academic prowess. The problem was, the results of those tattoos were unpredictable and often had illicit side effects. The ring had been shut down when I’d helped uncover its mastermind: Keith Darnell. He’d been sent off to re-education, reprogrammed, and now toed the line with nearly robotic loyalty.

  Or did he?

  The Warriors had kept referring to “he” as their contact. I’d known of no other Alchemist participating in such activity . . . was it possible Keith had broken free of some of that programming? Was he now making a secret deal with these psychopaths, one that would give their fighters superhuman strength?

  Again, I heard those clicking keys, driving home the importance of getting a look at what was on that laptop. I considered a few options that might allow me a chance to peek at it, but I soon rejected those. The Warriors might act like they were from the Middle Ages, but it was very likely Master Angeletti locked his laptop when he left it. I might need technical assistance to view it. That, and I really wanted more than just a peek. If he logged notes on all their meetings, kept track of important calls and transactions . . . well, the possibilities for what that laptop could hold were endless. Rescuing Jill was my main priority, but I might very well walk out of this with information that could show us a whole lot more.

  Abandoning the masters’ meeting, I used more invisibility magic to break into other dorms and smuggle out Sabrina and Eddie. Neither was asleep when I found them, and we managed to find a secluded spot behind a storage shed to talk.

  “You were right,” I told Sabrina. “Master Angeletti does log his information on a laptop. And I heard what sounded very much like a suspicious reference to them holding Jill.”

  Eddie perked up. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go take it.”

  “Actually, that’s kind of what I had in mind,” I said. “I mean, maybe there are more delicate ways to go about this, but do we have that kind of time? We’ve lost so much with Jill.” I turned to Sabrina. “Marcus hinted that you were prepared for if your cover was ever blown. Is that true?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “You plan on blowing it?”

  “Not if I can help it,” I said. “But the end result of all this is going to be the laptop gone and Eddie and me never finishing the recruitment. If they link us to the theft, they’ll link us to you. You could be in trouble.”

  “Understood,” she said. “If I leave this gig with a prize like his laptop, it’ll be worth it.”

  “I just worry about them coming after you,” I said.

  Sabrina remained unfazed. “Don’t worry about me. These guys aren’t as connected as the Alchemists, and I know how to avoid them. Now, what’s your plan?”

  “Kind of simple, really,” I admitted. “Create a big distraction. Steal the laptop in the chaos.”

  She looked a little disappointed, pro
bably because she’d been expecting something more sophisticated and stealthy. And really, if I’d had the time to concoct a more elegant plan, I would have. Eddie, meanwhile, had no problem with my idea. It was straightforward, which he liked.

  “Fire?” he suggested.

  “I considered it. But with as close as these buildings are . . .” I gestured around at how tightly packed in everything on the compound was. “Well, I don’t like these guys, but I don’t want to kill all of them if a fire gets out of hand. So, believe it or not, I’m going to take a page out of Alicia’s book. Spell book, if you want to get technical.”

  “Alicia probably would burn this place down around them,” he pointed out.

  “Probably. But she does have less violent methods. While I was waiting around in Palm Springs, I looked up some of the spells she used on us. Most were pretty advanced, but I think I could pull off the fotianas.”

  “The what?” asked Sabrina.

  “Think of them as annoying mutant fireflies,” Eddie told her.

  I nodded in agreement. “I feel like a swarm of them would be a pretty good distraction—enough to get the masters out of their meeting. Then I can grab the laptop, and we can all run out of here in the chaos. Sabrina, do you think you’ll be able to get out and get your car ready?”

  “Sure. The gate guards won’t stop me. And if there’s a big enough uproar, I can claim I’m getting weapons from my car and that Eddie’s helping me.” Seeing our surprised looks, she rolled her eyes. “Come on. You don’t think everyone here has weapons stashed in their car?”

  The question then came down to whether I could pull off Alicia’s spell. I’d committed the spell to memory after reading about it, but magic was a lot more than just memorization. Summoning supernatural creatures wasn’t an easy task, especially with no physical spell components to aid me. I spoke the words, concentrating on the power within me, and felt the magic flare up in response. The spell I’d read about had an element of control to it—a way for the caster to direct the fotianas to do the caster’s bidding. I’d planned on having the fotianas do some steady loops of the compound, enough to be distracting and steer everyone’s attention from the masters’ meeting room but not degenerate into complete chaos.