The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6)(25)
Author: Richelle Mead

Chapter 7

ALICIA DEGRAW WAS ALIVE.

It was shocking to me, so I could only imagine how Sydney must feel. She thought she’d killed Alicia. Alicia had been the apprentice of Jackie’s sister, Veronica, but had gone rogue. That was no small thing, seeing as Veronica herself was certainly no role model. She’d been obsessed with stealing youth and power from other witches, effectively leaving them in comas for the rest of their lives. Alicia had turned on her mentor, taken her power, and then gone after Jackie. Sydney and I had been involved in a showdown at Jackie’s house at the end of last year—a showdown that had resulted in said house burning to the ground. We hadn’t known for sure if Alicia had made it out, but now we had our answer.

“I’m kind of torn,” Sydney admitted, stirring the coffee she had yet to drink. We’d left the campground to go discuss matters in a twenty-four-hour restaurant, and it was a sign of her worry that the coffee was untouched. I was pretty sure I’d never seen her pass on caffeine in all our time together. “Part of me’s relieved I didn’t actually kill someone. On the other hand . . . well, this kind of complicates things.”

“You’re certain?” Jackie asked from across the table. “Those are the same ones?”

Sydney held up a golden razor blade, the only one she’d saved from the campsite. The rest had been destroyed. “Positive. You don’t forget something like that. That night I fought her, I transformed some perpetual-motion balls into blades just like these.”

“I remember those,” Jackie murmured, almost wistfully. “They were an end-of-the-year gift from a former student. I think he hoped I’d raise his grade.”

Sydney seemed not to have heard. There was a haunted look in her eyes. “I sent the blades toward Alicia. It was just instinct. She fell down your basement stairs, and I couldn’t stick around to see what had happened—not with everything on fire.”

I put my hand over hers. “You did what you had to do. It was the right thing. She was—is—an evil person.”

“I suppose,” Sydney said with a sigh. “And I guess this answers our questions. We’ve been trying to figure out who would have a vendetta against me and could use human magic. She’s the perfect fit.”

“Now that we know she’s behind this, let’s go after her and get Jill,” growled Eddie. This life on the road had made him shave even less, and he was well on his way to a beard. “She left that clue: She’s in Palm Springs. She needs to be stopped once and for all.”

“Agreed,” Sydney said, snapping out of her earlier malaise. “We need to finish this and get Jill. None of us are going to sleep anytime soon—we might as well hit the road now and go to Palm Springs.”

“Not you,” said Jackie. “I don’t want you anywhere near Palm Springs right now.”

“What?” exclaimed Sydney. Her intensity was a match for Eddie’s. “But that’s the next piece of this! Alicia all but told us.”

“And that’s why we’re not going to rush into this—at least not right away.”

“But Jill—” Eddie began.

Jackie shook her head. “We don’t yet know the extent of Jill’s involvement in this. What we do know is that Alicia is baiting Sydney and wants her to come to Palm Springs, where there’s probably a very neatly laid trap. Alicia’s also following her old pattern of wearing out an enemy first. This ‘scavenger hunt’ wasn’t just for her amusement. It was to weaken Sydney magically. If you run off to Palm Springs now, after the magic you’ve wielded these last few days, you might very well succumb to whatever she has in store. Then we lose you and never find out what’s become of Jill.”

I felt conflicted and tightened my hold on Sydney’s hand. I could understand why Jackie wanted to keep Sydney away from danger. I wanted that too. But I also felt the increasing pressure that everyone else did. Each passing day put Jill at greater risk. How could we not take action when we had a lead?

“But,” continued Jackie, as though reading my mind, “that’s not to say I have any intention of just abandoning Jill. I want to conduct a search in Palm Springs—specifically the Salton Sea area—but I plan on doing it with appropriate backup.”

Eddie and I were both confused, but Sydney, as usual, caught on fastest. “The Stelle,” she said, referring to the coven of witches she’d joined.

Jackie nodded. “Them and others. Alicia isn’t just your problem—she represents a problem for the entire magical community. And so the entire community will deal with her. I’ll get them together, and we’ll conduct a search, using magical and conventional means. You, meanwhile, will stay somewhere safe—somewhere far away.”

“And I’ll stay with you,” I said, feeling a little bit better knowing that Jill wasn’t being abandoned. It was tough, almost like I had to choose between Sydney and Jill, but it sounded like Jackie wouldn’t be sitting around idly.

“I’ll go with you,” Eddie told Jackie. Then he turned to Sydney and me. “That is . . .” The conflict on his face mirrored what I felt inside.

“Go,” I said. “We’ll be okay. No one knows we’re gone yet. We’ll disappear somewhere and be fine.”

Eddie hesitated again. He hated to have his loyalties torn, but at last he nodded. “As long as you think you’ll be okay. How did you get away without anyone knowing?”

“I’ll tell you some other time,” I said.

I could tell from Sydney’s expression she was interested in that story too. She looked at Jackie instead. “But I want you to call me as soon as you and the other witches have things secure. As soon as you think it’s safe, I want to be a part of the hunt for Jill.”

“Unless we find her first and defeat Alicia,” insisted Eddie.

Sydney gave him a small smile that suggested she didn’t think it’d be that easy. “I would love that.”

The four of us hashed out a few more details before finally parting ways. I could tell it still bothered Eddie to be leaving us, and he was full of advice on how we should lie low and not attract any attention. He also wanted to send for Neil to guard us, but Sydney dismissed that idea, saying it’d be easier for us to just slip away now. We all agreed Neil might be handy in Palm Springs when we closed in on Alicia, so Eddie promised to make that happen.