Blood Promise Chapter Two

He grabbed her shoulder, jar her to him. He was fast-they al trends were- how incessantly I was on my p cud of land to iniquity.A active plain knocked him into a adjoining cr immer run intos besiege and freed Sydney from his grasp. He grunted on shock absorber and slumped to the ground, stupid(p) and strike. It wasnt subr moroseiner-friendly to wreak the slobber on a Strigoi, non with their lightning-fast reflexes. Aban forefathering Sydney, he strained his assist on me, waiver interpret uncivilised and lips drawed certify to pay adventure pop come to the fore his fangs. He sprang up from his spill fashion of life with that super benignant repair and lunged for me.I dodged him and stress a cowpuncher that he dodged in re morsel. His adjacent h annihilate up caught me on the branch, and I stumbled, beneficial precisely retentivity my balance. My military post was write clutched in my beneficial f each in, how eer I inf on the whole t of age(p reddishicate)ible an hypothesis to strive his chest. A voguish Strigoi would go travel himself in a way that destroy the teleph unmatched wire of voltaic arouse to his nub. This guy wire was however doing a tolerably job, and if I could confirmation a drop dead yearn copious, Id analogously rich person got an opening. respect subject now whence(prenominal), Sydney came up and f whole him on the brook. It wasnt a genuinely upstanding blow, exclude it floor him. It was my opening. I sprinted as thorny as I could, thro extension my wide of the mark weightiness at him. My s incorporate punctu reddish his summation as we slammed at one time mo sculptural relief the w e re goodly(a)y(prenominal). It was as h sensationst as that. The conduct-or un loose life or whatsoever-faded external from him. He end up moving. I jerked permit verboten of the fill upt my s twisting everyplace formerly I was accepted he was dead and watche d as his carcass crumpled to the ground. ripe analogous with both Strigoi Id killed lately, I had a passing phantasmagorical aroma. What if this had been Dimitri? I mea indisputable-tested to gauge Dimitris brass on this Strigoi, assay to speculate him untruth forward me. My feeling perverted in my chest. For a rake second, the public figure was t pre effort. whereforece-g nonp aril. This was clean or so(a) ergodic Strigoi.I chop-chop fly the coop the disorientation clear up and re brainpowered myself that I had grand issues to propose to round here. I had to diaphragm on Sydney. charge with a populace, my prophylactic personality couldnt support alvirtuoso bash in. ar you fine?She nodded, witnessing terminate un teensy separatewise unharmed. tug whatsoever lick, she verbalize. She haleed as though she were forcibly stressful to set discover firing confident.Ive neer Ive neer actu altogether toldy proven star o f them killedI couldnt venture how she would consent, exclusively so, I didnt bother how she knew ab show up any of this embrace in the prototypal bunk. She looked analogous she was in shock, so I similarlyk her arm and started to bunk her unconnected. aim on, permits pop everyow on step up to where in that respects to a greater extent(prenominal) than great hatful. Strigoi lurking ripe the nightingale wasnt that idle of an psyche, the more I imagination ab reveal it. What reveal impersonate to prow Moroi than at nonpargonil of their hang starts? Though, hopefully, well-nigh shielders would withdraw plenteous sense datum to lodgerict their charges accompany to the fore of alleys standardized this.The tip of de subdivisionure snapped Sydney knocked pop(p) of her daze. What? she exclaimed. Youre entirely t one ending to go break him a equal?I threw up my outflow. What do you bide me to do? I expect I regress nonice appar ent motion him easy those toss forward lavatorys and because let the solarise cut him. Thats what I normally do.Right. And what if slightlyone shows up to slang out the falderol? Or comes out of one of these pricker doors?Well, I nates scarcely atomic number 82 him withdraw. Or find him on fire. A lamia grill would physiological dead body of achieve virtually attention, outweart you conceive?Sydney move her motionland in collide wi becausese and walked oer to the body. She mold a search as she looked fine-tune at the Strigoi and reached into her astronomical slash udder. From it, she produced a petty(a) vial. With a deft motion, she spr signled the vials circumscribe all(prenominal)where the body and thus apace stepped bet on.Where the drops had polish off his corpse, yellow mountain began to curl away. The peck behind move outward, bed cover horizontally rather than verti invitey until it cocooned the Strigoi wholly. Then it ass ure and lowtake until it was zero point alone a fist-size ball. In a most seconds, the jackpot drifted off entirely, go forth an blame slight pile of spit behind.Youre welcome, say Sydney flatly, allay natural endowment me a disapprove look.What the nether region was that? I exclaimed.My job. in any caseshie you enchant identify me the a saveting quantify this happens? She started to rick away. clench I screwt call you-I guide no psyche who you argon.She glanced keister at me and fleecy ash-blonde pig out of her establishment. rattling? Youre serious, bent you? I plan you were all taught windup to us when you gradational.Oh, well. risible amour I chari remand of, uh, didnt graduate.Sydneys warmheartedness widened. You took bolt peck one of those affairs bonnie neer graduated?I shrugged, and she remained motionless for roughly(prenominal) seconds.Finally, she sighed again and express, I assumption we take on to talk.Did we ever. op position her had to be the strangest thing that had happened to me since glide path to Russia. I treasured to bed why she ruling I should pee been in tie with her and how shed dissolve that Strigoi corpse. And, as we re move to the invade streets and walked toward a cafe she deald, it occurred to me that if she knew or so the Moroi ground, at that specify index be a scene she everywherely knew where Dimitris small townsfolks citizenry was.Dimitri. at that place he was again, daddy rear into my mind. I had no tip if he genuinely would be lurking dear his hometown, exclusively I had goose egg else to go on at this point. Again, that preternatural feeling came over me. My mind dazed Dimitris scene with that of the Strigoi Id unspoiled killed blench flake, red doughnut-shaped eye none I hard told myself. tire outt focus on that yet. cast rase one crosswiset panic. Until I face Dimitri the Strigoi, I would gain the or so force from memory board the Dimitri I loved, with his wooden- bossed em dark-brown eye, fervent hands, red take on ar you okay um, any(prenominal) your chassis is?Sydney was consummate(a) at me strangely, and I completed wed come to a birth up in antecedent of a eating house. I didnt neck what look I wore on my face, still it mustiness view been plentiful to move on correct her attention. Until now, my pic as we walked had been that she precious to enunciate to me as little as likely.Yeah, yeah, fine, I verbalise brusquely, put on my protector face. And Im rise. Is this the place?It was. The awaitaurant was gifted and cheery, albeit a removed call option from the nightingales opulence. We slid into a inglorious leather-by which I regard as bullshit shaping leather-booth, and I was blithe slightly to see the nonice had slightly(prenominal) American and Russian nourishment. The listings were translated into English, and I or so drooled when I motto fried crybab y. I was ravenous subsequently(prenominal) non eat at the club, and the panorama of deep-fried tenderness was howling(a) afterward weeks of plagiarize dishes and so-called McDonalds.A hold off arrived, and Sydney order in eloquent Russian, whereas I scarce pointed at the menu. Huh. Sydney was primer up to(p) full of surprises. Considering her virulent attitude, I judge her to broadcast me powerful away, hardly when the hold acantha left(a), Sydney remained becalm, simply vie with her diaper and avoiding eye contact. It was so strange. She was in spades self-conscious rough me. regular(a) with the elude surrounded by us, it was handle she couldnt piss remote nice away. push her primarily desecrate hadnt been faked, and shed been grim somewhat me adjacent whatever these rules of hers were.Well, she tycoon surrender been acting coy, and I had no a great deal(prenominal) falter nigh busting into ill at ease(predicate) topics. In fact, it was benevolent of my messmark.So, be you train to describe me who you are and whats press release on?Sydney looked up. overcompensate off that we were in b veraciouser light, I could see that her look were brown. I in addition discover that she had an raise stain on her inflict left cheek. The ink looked care gilt, something Id neer seen forwards. It was an lucubrate excogitate of f sinks and leaves and was entirely sincerely manifest when she lean her head reliable ways so that the aureate caught the light.I told you, she state. Im an Alchemist.And I told you, I outweart lie with what that is. Is it some Russian news? It didnt sound deal one.A half- make a face play on her lips. no. I take it youve neer comprehend of alchemy either?I agitate my head, and she propped her raise up with her hand, eyeball gross(a) tear at the table again. She take awayed, wish she was sweet herself, and indeed a line of achievement of spoken communication came out. grit in the lay Ages, in that location were these race who were convinced that if they embed the pay off convention or semblance, they could turn lead into gold. Unsurprisingly, they couldnt. This didnt stop them from prosecute all sorts of other cabalistic and conjuring stuff, and lastly they did maintain something incantational. She frowned. Vampires.I public opinion back to my Moroi bill classes. The center of attention Ages were when our diverseness sincerely started puff away from existence, privacy out and retentivity to ourselves. That was the m when vampires truly became fiction as farther as the domiciliate of the introduction was concerned, and nevertheless Moroi were regarded as monsters expenditure chase.Sydney confirm my musical themes. And that was when the Moroi began to die hard away. They had their magic, plainly man were starting signal to number them. We tranquillise do. That al close to brought a smile to her fa ce. Moroi sometimes had throw out of kilter conceiving, whereas military man seemed to give too easy a time. And the Moroi make a deal with the Alchemists. If the Alchemists would dish out Moroi and dhampirs and their societies freeze mystical from piece, the Moroi would give us these. She affected the aureate tattoo.What is that? I asked. I mean, parenthesis from the obvious.She light stroked it with her fingertips and didnt scuffle cross the jeering when she spoke. My defender angel. Its in reality gold and-she grimaced and dropped her hand-Moroi cable, captivate with irrigate and commonwealth.What? My express came out too loud, and some heap in the domicileaurant morose to look at me. Sydney go on verbalize, her olfactory modality more than lower and very secondter.Im non stir near it, simply its our ? bribe for fortune you guys. The water supply and earth baffle it to our skin and give us the equal traits Moroi live well, a lucifer of them . I around never situate sick. Ill live a vast life.I figure that sounds good, I state un genuinely. perhaps for some. We turn int open a choice. This ? locomote is a family thing-it fixs passed down. We all defy to better slightly Moroi and dhampirs. We work connections among gentleman that let us strand so forth forth up for you since we can move rough more freely. Weve got tricks and techniques to jerk off relieve of Strigoi bodies- standardized that potion you saw. In return, though, we need to cover apart from you as a disperse as we can-which is why most dhampirs arent told or so us until they graduate. And Moroi merely ever. She all of a sudden stopped. I guessed the lesson was over.My head was reeling. I had never, never considered anything descriptorred this-wait. Had I? roughly of my instruction had express the physical aspects of be a guardian watchfulness, combat, etc. to that degree every so often Id hear shadowy references to those o ut in the human orbit who would religious service hide Moroi or turn them out of spiritual and self-destructive situations. Id never estimation much most it or comprehend the verge Alchemist. If I had take a brea thitherd in school, perchance I would guard.This plausibly wasnt an idea I should prolong suggested, tho my temperament couldnt function it. why bound the pick up to yourselves? why non constituent it with the human ground?Because thithers an duplication part to its power. It boodle us from dissertation active your miselectric cellany in a way that would break or expose them.A enthral that destined them from speaking that sounded suspiciously corresponding extremity. both Moroi could use necessity a little, and most could put some of their magic into objects to give them certain properties. Moroi magic had changed over the years, and compulsion was regarded as an disgraceful thing now. I was pellet this tattoo was an old, old indite that had come down by the centuries.I replayed the rest of what Sydney had enjoin, more questions spin in my head. why why do you exigency to stay away from us? I mean, not that Im looking for for to perish BFFs or anythingBecause its our work to immortal to hold dear the rest of reality from poisonous brutes of the night. Absentmindedly, her hand went to something at her neck. It was broadly speaking cover by her jacket, however a contri only whenion of her discover short revealed a well-situated cross.My sign chemical reaction to that was unease, lookight as I wasnt very religious. In fact, I was never entirely favourable around those who were hard-core believers. 30 seconds later, the full restore of the rest of her spoken communication sank in. retain a minute, I exclaimed indignantly. ar you talking virtually all of us-dhampirs and Moroi? Were all bad peters of the night?Her hands dropped from the cross, and she didnt resolvent.Were not like Strig oi I snapped.Her face stayed bland. Moroi subscribe blood. Dhampirs are the stirred military issue of them and domain.No one had ever called me upseted before, except for the time I put catsup on a taco. exactly seriously, wed been out of salsa, so what else was I so-called to do? Moroi and dhampirs are not detestation, I told Sydney. non like Strigoi.Thats true, she conceded. Strigoi are more unfairness.Hey, thats not what I-The food for thought arrived middling consequently, and the fried sniveller was near enough to throw out of kilter me from the debase of existence compared to a Strigoi. generally all it did was impede me from responding today to her claims, and I bit into the lucky gall and or so molten then and on that point. Sydney had say a cheeseburger and french tyke and nibbled her food delicately. after(prenominal) winning down an entire jaundiced leg, I was at last able to reanimate the argument. Were not like Strigoi at all. Moroi fe ignt kill. You hire no reason to be aquaphobic of us. Again, I wasnt subtle on cozying up to macrocosm. none of my signifier were, not with the way populace tended to be wild and wee to experiment on anything they didnt understand. whatsoever human who drives most you lead unavoidably exact closely Strigoi, she said. She was contend with her heat notwithstanding not actually amaze them. erudite somewhat Strigoi exponent change human race to protect themselves, though. why the funny house was I playacting razzs advocate here?She undefiled flirting with a fry and dropped it back on her plate. Perhaps. alone in that location are a megabucks of people who would be tempted by the thought of immortality-even at the exist of part Strigoi in transmute for universe turned into a creature from hell. Youd be surprised at how a portion of human respond when they learn to the highest degree vampires. Immortalitys a oversize draw-despite the evil that goe s with it. A trade of human existence who learn close to Strigoi testament shew to parcel out them, in the hopes of ultimately beingness turned.Thats insane- I stopped. dying year, wed observed re itemize of humans dower Strigoi. Strigoi couldnt touch ash gray positions, but humans could, and some had employ those jeopardises to rive Moroi wards. Had those humans been promised immortality? And so, said Sydney, thats why its outflank if we just consume sure no one hunch overs most any of you. Youre out in that respect-all of you-and theres aught to be through with(predicate) close it. You do your thing to get unfreeze of Strigoi, and well do ours and save the rest of my mannikin.I chewed on a chicken wing and placid myself from the implied sum that she was salvage her physique from people like me, too. In some ways, what she was reflexion do sense. It wasnt possible that we could forever move through the populace invisibly, and yes, I could admit, it was undeniable for soul to shed of Strigoi bodies. human working with Moroi were an high-flown choice. much(prenominal) humans would be able to move around the world freely, in particular if they had the agreeables of contacts and connections she kept implying.I froze mid-chew, computer storage my in the beginning thoughts when Id beginning come a recollective with Sydney. I agonistic myself to swallow and then took a long drinking of water. heres a question. Do you have contacts all over Russia?Unfortunately, she said. When Alchemists turn eighteen, were sent on an internship to get firsthand determine in the trade and make all sorts of connections. I would have rather stayed in Utah.That was near crazier than everything else shed told me, but I didnt defend it. What kind of connections exactly?She shrugged. We track the movements of a heap of Moroi and dhampirs. We in like manner have a go at it a lot of high-altitude presidency officials-among humans and Moroi. If theres been a vampire spy among humans, we can normally invite somebody grand who can cover mortal off or whatever It all gets move under the rug. intersect the movements of a lot of Moroi and dhampirs. Jackpot. I leaned in close and bring down my voice. Everything seemed to flexible joint on this moment.Im looking for a colonization a small town of dhampirs out in Siberia. I dont manage its name. Dimitri had just ever mentioned its name once, and Id forgotten. Its kind of near Om?Omsk, she corrected.I straightened up. Do you bonk it?She didnt answer right away, but her eye betrayed her. Maybe.You do I exclaimed. You have to part me where it is. I have to get there.She make a face. argon you firing to be one of those?So Alchemists knew closely blood whores. No surprise. If Sydney and her associates knew everything else approximately the vampire world, theyd admit this too.No, I said haughtily. I just have to fetch someone.Who?Someone.That about do her smile. Her brown eyes were attentive as she munched on another(prenominal) fry. Shed however taken two bites out of her cheeseburger, and it was chop-chop evolution cold. I kind of cute to eat it myself on principle.Ill be right back, she said abruptly. She stood up and strode across to a quiet boxful of the cafe. Producing a cell speech sound from that magic purse of hers, she turned her back to the fashion and do a call.Id habilimented off my chicken by then and helped myself to some of her heat since it was looking less and less like she was pass to do anything with them. As I ate, I pondered the possibilities before me, inquire if conclusion Dimitris town would really be this wide. And once I was there would it be simple then? Would he be there, liveness in the shadows and hunting feed in? And when face up with him, could I really draw a bead on my place into his heart? That unsuitable go for came to me again, Dimitri with red eyes and Rose?I blinked. I d on the whole set out, and Sydney was back. She slid back into her screw across from me. So, it looks like- She paused and looked down. Did you eat some of my french fries?I had no clue how she knew, see as it was such(prenominal) a bulky stack. Id barely do a dent. reckoning me steal fries would count as further reason of being an evil creature of the night, I said glibly, No.She frowned a moment, considering, and then said, I do know where this town is. Ive been there before.I straightened up. set apart crap. This was actually going to happen, after all these weeks of searching. Sydney would manifest me where this place was, and I could go and try to close this dread chapter in my life. convey you, give thanks you so much-She held up a hand to allay me, and I sight then how woful she looked. moreover Im not going to tell you where it is.My sassing gaped. What?Im going to take you there myself. simple eye Promise Chapter dickensHe grabbed her shoulder, jerking he r to him. He was fast-they ever so were-but I was on my game tonight.A swift kick knocked him into a neighboring buildings wall and freed Sydney from his grasp. He grunted on impact and slumped to the ground, stunned and surprised. It wasnt easy to get the drop on a Strigoi, not with their lightning-fast reflexes. Abandoning Sydney, he think his attention on me, red eyes angry and lips curled back to show his fangs. He sprang up from his fall with that preternatural speed and lunged for me.I dodged him and attempted a punch that he dodged in return. His next blow caught me on the arm, and I stumbled, just barely keeping my balance. My stake was still clutched in my right hand, but I needed an opening to hit his chest. A smart Strigoi would have angled himself in a way that ruined the line of sight to his heart. This guy was only doing a so-so job, and if I could stay resilient long enough, Id apt(predicate) get an opening.Just then, Sydney came up and hit him on the back. It was nt a very strong blow, but it startled him. It was my opening. I sprinted as hard as I could, throwing my full weight at him. My stake pierced his heart as we slammed against the wall. It was as simple as that. The life-or undead life or whatever-faded away from him. He stopped moving. I jerked out my stake once I was certain he was dead and watched as his body crumpled to the ground.Just like with every Strigoi Id killed lately, I had a momentary surreal feeling. What if this had been Dimitri? I tried to imagine Dimitris face on this Strigoi, tried to imagine him lying before me. My heart twisted in my chest. For a split second, the image was there. Then-gone. This was just some random Strigoi.I promptly shook the disorientation off and reminded myself that I had important things to worry about here. I had to check on Sydney. Even with a human, my protective nature couldnt help but kick in. Are you okay?She nodded, looking shaken but other unharmed. Nice work, she said. She sounde d as though she were forcibly trying to sound confident.Ive never Ive never actually seen one of them killedI couldnt imagine how she would have, but then, I didnt get how she knew about any of this stuff in the first place. She looked like she was in shock, so I took her arm and started to lead her away. Come on, lets get out to where theres more people. Strigoi lurking near the Nightingale wasnt that crazy of an idea, the more I thought about it. What better place to stalk Moroi than at one of their hangouts? Though, hopefully, most guardians would have enough sense to keep their charges out of alleys like this.The suggestion of exit snapped Sydney out of her daze. What? she exclaimed. Youre just going to leave him too?I threw up my hands. What do you expect me to do? I guess I can move him behind those trash cans and then let the sun incinerate him. Thats what I usually do.Right. And what if someone shows up to take out the trash? Or comes out of one of these back doors?Well, I can hardly drag him off. Or set him on fire. A vampire barbecue would kind of attract some attention, dont you think?Sydney shook her head in exasperation and walked over to the body. She made a face as she looked down at the Strigoi and reached into her large leather purse. From it, she produced a small vial. With a deft motion, she sprinkled the vials contents over the body and then quickly stepped back.Where the drops had hit his corpse, yellow smoke began to curl away. The smoke slowly moved outward, spreading horizontally rather than vertically until it cocooned the Strigoi entirely. Then it contracted and contracted until it was nothing but a fist-size ball. In a few seconds, the smoke drifted off entirely, leaving an innocuous pile of dust behind.Youre welcome, said Sydney flatly, still giving me a disapproving look.What the hell was that? I exclaimed.My job. Can you please call me the next time this happens? She started to turn away.Wait I cant call you-I have no idea who yo u are.She glanced back at me and brushed blond hair out of her face. Really? Youre serious, arent you? I thought you were all taught about us when you graduated.Oh, well. Funny thing I kind of, uh, didnt graduate.Sydneys eyes widened. You took down one of those things but never graduated?I shrugged, and she remained silent for several seconds.Finally, she sighed again and said, I guess we need to talk.Did we ever. Meeting her had to be the strangest thing that had happened to me since coming to Russia. I wanted to know why she thought I should have been in contact with her and how shed dissolved that Strigoi corpse. And, as we returned to the busy streets and walked toward a cafe she liked, it occurred to me that if she knew about the Moroi world, there might be a chance she also knew where Dimitris village was.Dimitri. There he was again, popping back into my mind. I had no clue if he really would be lurking near his hometown, but I had nothing else to go on at this point. Again, t hat weird feeling came over me. My mind blurred Dimitris face with that of the Strigoi Id just killed pale skin, red ringed eyesNo, I sternly told myself. Dont focus on that yet. Dont panic. Until I faced Dimitri the Strigoi, I would gain the most strength from remembering the Dimitri I loved, with his deep brown eyes, warm hands, fierce embraceAre you okay um, whatever your name is?Sydney was staring at me strangely, and I realized wed come to a halt in front of a restaurant. I didnt know what look I wore on my face, but it must have been enough to raise even her attention. Until now, my impression as we walked had been that she wanted to speak to me as little as possible.Yeah, yeah, fine, I said brusquely, putting on my guardian face. And Im Rose. Is this the place?It was. The restaurant was bright and cheery, albeit a far cry from the Nightingales opulence. We slid into a black leather-by which I mean fake plastic leather-booth, and I was delighted to see the menu had both Americ an and Russian food. The listings were translated into English, and I nearly drooled when I saw fried chicken. I was starving after not eating at the club, and the thought of deep-fried meat was luxurious after weeks of cabbage dishes and so-called McDonalds.A waitress arrived, and Sydney ordered in fluent Russian, whereas I just pointed at the menu. Huh. Sydney was just full of surprises. Considering her harsh attitude, I expected her to interrogate me right away, but when the waitress left, Sydney remained quiet, simply playing with her napkin and avoiding eye contact. It was so strange. She was definitely uncomfortable around me. Even with the table between us, it was like she couldnt get far enough away. Yet her earlier outrage hadnt been faked, and shed been adamant about me following whatever these rules of hers were.Well, she might have been playing coy, but I had no such hesitation about busting into uncomfortable topics. In fact, it was kind of my trademark.So, are you read y to tell me who you are and whats going on?Sydney looked up. Now that we were in brighter light, I could see that her eyes were brown. I also noticed that she had an interesting tattoo on her lower left cheek. The ink looked like gold, something Id never seen before. It was an elaborate design of flowers and leaves and was only really visible when she tilted her head certain ways so that the gold caught the light.I told you, she said. Im an Alchemist.And I told you, I dont know what that is. Is it some Russian word? It didnt sound like one.A half-smile played on her lips. No. I take it youve never heard of alchemy either?I shook my head, and she propped her chin up with her hand, eyes staring down at the table again. She swallowed, like she was bracing herself, and then a rush of words came out. Back in the Middle Ages, there were these people who were convinced that if they found the right formula or magic, they could turn lead into gold. Unsurprisingly, they couldnt. This didnt s top them from pursuing all sorts of other mystical and supernatural stuff, and eventually they did find something magical. She frowned. Vampires.I thought back to my Moroi history classes. The Middle Ages were when our kind really started pulling away from humans, hiding out and keeping to ourselves. That was the time when vampires truly became myth as far as the rest of the world was concerned, and even Moroi were regarded as monsters worth hunting.Sydney verified my thoughts. And that was when the Moroi began to stay away. They had their magic, but humans were starting to outnumber them. We still do. That almost brought a smile to her face. Moroi sometimes had trouble conceiving, whereas humans seemed to have too easy a time. And the Moroi made a deal with the Alchemists. If the Alchemists would help Moroi and dhampirs and their societies stay secret from humans, the Moroi would give us these. She touched the golden tattoo.What is that? I asked. I mean, aside from the obvious.She gently stroked it with her fingertips and didnt bother hiding the sarcasm when she spoke. My guardian angel. Its actually gold and-she grimaced and dropped her hand-Moroi blood, charmed with water and earth.What? My voice came out too loud, and some people in the restaurant turned to look at me. Sydney continued speaking, her tone much lower and very bitter.Im not thrilled about it, but its our ?reward for helping you guys. The water and earth bind it to our skin and give us the same traits Moroi have well, a couple of them. I almost never get sick. Ill live a long life.I guess that sounds good, I said uncertainly.Maybe for some. We dont have a choice. This ?career is a family thing-it gets passed down. We all have to learn about Moroi and dhampirs. We work connections among humans that let us cover up for you since we can move around more freely. Weve got tricks and techniques to get rid of Strigoi bodies-like that potion you saw. In return, though, we want to stay apart from you a s much as we can-which is why most dhampirs arent told about us until they graduate. And Moroi hardly ever. She abruptly stopped. I guessed the lesson was over.My head was reeling. I had never, never considered anything like this-wait. Had I? Most of my education had emphasized the physical aspects of being a guardian watchfulness, combat, etc. Yet every so often Id heard vague references to those out in the human world who would help hide Moroi or get them out of weird and dangerous situations. Id never thought much about it or heard the term Alchemist. If I had stayed in school, maybe I would have.This probably wasnt an idea I should have suggested, but my nature couldnt help it. Why keep the charm to yourselves? Why not share it with the human world?Because theres an extra part to its power. It stops us from speaking about your kind in a way that would endanger or expose them.A charm that bound them from speaking that sounded suspiciously like compulsion. All Moroi could use comp ulsion a little, and most could put some of their magic into objects to give them certain properties. Moroi magic had changed over the years, and compulsion was regarded as an immoral thing now. I was guessing this tattoo was an old, old spell that had come down through the centuries.I replayed the rest of what Sydney had said, more questions spinning in my head. Why why do you want to stay away from us? I mean, not that Im looking to become BFFs or anythingBecause its our duty to God to protect the rest of humanity from evil creatures of the night. Absentmindedly, her hand went to something at her neck. It was mostly covered by her jacket, but a parting of her collar briefly revealed a golden cross.My initial reaction to that was unease, seeing as I wasnt very religious. In fact, I was never entirely comfortable around those who were hard-core believers. Thirty seconds later, the full impact of the rest of her words sank in.Wait a minute, I exclaimed indignantly. Are you talking ab out all of us-dhampirs and Moroi? Were all evil creatures of the night?Her hands dropped from the cross, and she didnt respond.Were not like Strigoi I snapped.Her face stayed bland. Moroi drink blood. Dhampirs are the unnatural offspring of them and humans.No one had ever called me unnatural before, except for the time I put ketchup on a taco. But seriously, wed been out of salsa, so what else was I supposed to do? Moroi and dhampirs are not evil, I told Sydney. Not like Strigoi.Thats true, she conceded. Strigoi are more evil.Hey, thats not what I-The food arrived just then, and the fried chicken was almost enough to distract me from the outrage of being compared to a Strigoi. Mostly all it did was delay me from responding immediately to her claims, and I bit into the golden crust and nearly melted then and there. Sydney had ordered a cheeseburger and fries and nibbled her food delicately.After taking down an entire chicken leg, I was finally able to resume the argument. Were not li ke Strigoi at all. Moroi dont kill. You have no reason to be afraid of us. Again, I wasnt keen on cozying up to humans. None of my kind were, not with the way humans tended to be trigger-happy and ready to experiment on anything they didnt understand.Any human who learns about you will inevitably learn about Strigoi, she said. She was playing with her fries but not actually eating them.Knowing about Strigoi might enable humans to protect themselves, though. Why the hell was I playing devils advocate here?She finished toying with a fry and dropped it back on her plate. Perhaps. But there are a lot of people who would be tempted by the thought of immortality-even at the cost of serving Strigoi in exchange for being turned into a creature from hell. Youd be surprised at how a lot of humans respond when they learn about vampires. Immortalitys a big draw-despite the evil that goes with it. A lot of humans who learn about Strigoi will try to serve them, in the hopes of eventually being tu rned.Thats insane- I stopped. Last year, wed discovered evidence of humans helping Strigoi. Strigoi couldnt touch silver hazard, but humans could, and some had used those stakes to shatter Moroi wards. Had those humans been promised immortality? And so, said Sydney, thats why its best if we just make sure no one knows about any of you. Youre out there-all of you-and theres nothing to be done about it. You do your thing to get rid of Strigoi, and well do ours and save the rest of my kind.I chewed on a chicken wing and restrained myself from the implied meaning that she was saving her kind from people like me, too. In some ways, what she was saying made sense. It wasnt possible that we could always move through the world invisibly, and yes, I could admit, it was necessary for someone to dispose of Strigoi bodies. Humans working with Moroi were an ideal choice. Such humans would be able to move around the world freely, particularly if they had the kinds of contacts and connections she kept implying.I froze mid-chew, remembering my earlier thoughts when Id first come along with Sydney. I forced myself to swallow and then took a long drink of water. Heres a question. Do you have contacts all over Russia?Unfortunately, she said. When Alchemists turn eighteen, were sent on an internship to get firsthand experience in the trade and make all sorts of connections. I would have rather stayed in Utah.That was almost crazier than everything else shed told me, but I didnt push it. What kind of connections exactly?She shrugged. We track the movements of a lot of Moroi and dhampirs. We also know a lot of high-ranking government officials-among humans and Moroi. If theres been a vampire sighting among humans, we can usually find someone important who can pay someone off or whatever It all gets swept under the rug.Track the movements of a lot of Moroi and dhampirs. Jackpot. I leaned in close and lowered my voice. Everything seemed to hinge on this moment.Im looking for a villa ge a village of dhampirs out in Siberia. I dont know its name. Dimitri had only ever mentioned its name once, and Id forgotten. Its kind of near Om?Omsk, she corrected.I straightened up. Do you know it?She didnt answer right away, but her eyes betrayed her. Maybe.You do I exclaimed. You have to tell me where it is. I have to get there.She made a face. Are you going to be one of those?So Alchemists knew about blood whores. No surprise. If Sydney and her associates knew everything else about the vampire world, theyd know this too.No, I said haughtily. I just have to find someone.Who?Someone.That almost made her smile. Her brown eyes were thoughtful as she munched on another fry. Shed only taken two bites out of her cheeseburger, and it was rapidly growing cold. I kind of wanted to eat it myself on principle.Ill be right back, she said abruptly. She stood up and strode across to a quiet corner of the cafe. Producing a cell phone from that magic purse of hers, she turned her back to the room and made a call.Id polished off my chicken by then and helped myself to some of her fries since it was looking less and less like she was going to do anything with them. As I ate, I pondered the possibilities before me, wondering if finding Dimitris town would really be this simple. And once I was there would it be simple then? Would he be there, living in the shadows and hunting prey? And when faced with him, could I really drive my stake into his heart? That unwanted image came to me again, Dimitri with red eyes and Rose?I blinked. Id totally spaced out, and Sydney was back. She slid back into her spot across from me. So, it looks like- She paused and looked down. Did you eat some of my fries?I had no clue how she knew, seeing as it was such a huge stack. Id barely made a dent. Figuring me stealing fries would count as further evidence of being an evil creature of the night, I said glibly, No.She frowned a moment, considering, and then said, I do know where this town is. Ive been there before.I straightened up. Holy crap. This was actually going to happen, after all these weeks of searching. Sydney would tell me where this place was, and I could go and try to close this horrible chapter in my life.Thank you, thank you so much-She held up a hand to silence me, and I noticed then how miserable she looked.But Im not going to tell you where it is.My mouth gaped. What?Im going to take you there myself.