The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6)(52)
Author: Richelle Mead

The news wasn’t cheering me up, and Eddie shared my frustration. “Then what do we do if your own people don’t know where she is?” he demanded.

“Well,” said Sabrina. “Someone knows. Just not someone at my level.”

Marcus nodded as he swallowed a bite of his stir-fry, which by my estimation seemed to contain entirely meat and no vegetables.

Primitive, sniffed Aunt Tatiana.

Hey, lay off, I told her. Being a dashing fugitive probably requires lots of protein.

“We have some ideas to get to that someone,” Marcus said. “The first is to ask the Alchemists to do it. We know they have ties to the Warriors.”

“For all we know, they’re working with them,” said Eddie. “They have in the past.”

“On some things,” Sydney said slowly. “But not on this. They don’t want to risk the Moroi going into chaos. They want Jill back. They wouldn’t stand by if she was a prisoner.”

“Agreed,” said Marcus. His eyes met mine. “That, and they might intervene simply because they won’t like the Warriors overstepping their bounds. They’re nothing if not control freaks, and they aren’t going to like that the Warriors worked with a witch to interfere with the Moroi. Of course, that means someone has to tell them the Warriors have Jill.”

“It doesn’t have to be one of you,” Eddie said, catching the unspoken message between Marcus and me. “Heck, I’ll do it.”

“They might not believe you,” I said, smiling at his vehemence. “They might not even believe me.”

Trey had been quiet while discussing the group he’d once been a member of, but he finally spoke up now. “There’s also a good chance the Warriors will deny it, even if the Alchemists do come asking about it. They’re kind of obsessed with control too. They might be difficult out of spite.”

“You’re right,” said Sabrina. “Which is why we have one more option.”

There was a warning note in her voice that put me on alert. “Which is?”

She exchanged glances with Marcus and then turned to Sydney. “The Warriors are going to be initiating some new members next week. You could go undercover and then try to infiltrate the higher tiers of power to find out where Jill’s at.” She spoke in a rush, as though that might help reduce the overall absurdity of the suggestion.

“You want me to join the Warriors?” Sydney exclaimed.

“No,” said Eddie and I in unison.

“You’d just be participating in their recruitment,” said Sabrina, as though that were some kind of reassurance. “It’s like an orientation.”

“Or a sorority rush,” said Marcus, which really didn’t improve things.

Trey shook his head in dismay. “I know what you’re talking about, and it’s crazy.” He turned to the rest of us. “They round up a bunch of potential recruits, bring them in secret to a Warrior compound, and make them compete in all kinds of ordeals to prove their worth. Remember when I had to fight my own cousin?”

The Warriors had once held Sonya captive and used her as part of a ceremony meant to “test” its young members. Along with fighting his cousin, Trey had then been expected to kill Sonya. He hadn’t planned on going through with it, and those plans went awry anyway when a group of guardians disrupted the whole ceremony to bust Sonya out. Sydney had also caused a fair amount of chaos, and the Warriors certainly weren’t her fans.

“The Warriors know Sydney’s face,” Eddie reminded us. “She can’t do it. Send me. I wouldn’t mind throwing a few of those freaks around. I’ve already had lots of practice.”

“You have,” agreed Marcus, “but Sydney’s had a bit more practice with breaking and entering to retrieve intel. And they probably know your face too.”

Sydney frowned. “Can we both go? I wouldn’t mind the backup, and I’ve got a few tricks that could disguise us.”

Are you going to sit by and let them go ahead with this? Aunt Tatiana asked me.

I turned to Sydney in amazement. “Are you seriously considering this? I mean, I’m all for crazy plans, but this is out there even for me.”

Sabrina frowned in thought. “The Warriors usually just sponsor one person, but I’ve occasionally seen someone present two. If you could disguise yourselves, I could get you both in.”

“Then send me and Sydney,” I said.

“No way,” said Eddie. “I’m in much better condition to beat those freaks up. No offense, Adrian.” I started to say I could protect her with spirit but knew she wouldn’t like that.

“You should stay behind, Adrian,” agreed Sydney. “You could try to compel answers out of Alicia when the witches unfreeze her. No one but you can do that.”

I opened my mouth to protest but couldn’t think of anything to say. Sydney had me cornered and knew it. I wanted to go with her, but not because I had a concrete plan for dealing with the Warriors—I only had a gut instinct to protect her. But she was right about Alicia. We could give the witches their two days while Sydney went undercover with the Warriors. Hopefully that would weaken whatever compulsion protection Alicia had put upon herself.

“You’re endorsing me using spirit?” I asked in amazement.

“No,” she admitted. “I’m hoping they can get answers out of her through other means. But if they can’t, I have a feeling you’ll use compulsion regardless.”

“You’re a wise woman, as usual,” I told Sydney.

She smiled at that, but I could tell she wasn’t happy with the idea at all. With a sigh, she turned back to Sabrina. “How much trouble will you get in for this? For bringing two spies in? Because obviously we aren’t really going to stay with the Warriors.”

Sydney had a point. What she and Eddie were volunteering for—infiltrating some barbaric initiation ritual—was dangerous, but we couldn’t forget Sabrina’s role in this. She was playing a game with a very volatile group and could ultimately face more risk.

“Depends on if you guys get caught or not.” Sabrina offered a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “So don’t get caught, okay?”

Trey looked grimmer and grimmer as the planning progressed. “But this only happens if you can’t convince the Alchemists that the Warriors are holding Jill. If you can convince them, they can hopefully do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to get involved with any of this madness.”