Bloodlines Page 0,114

who struggled to simply walk across the room without falling. Grace and beauty weren't concerns as much as staying upright.

Nonetheless, when I glanced over at Eddie, he was watching Jill with a rapt look on his face, as though every step she were taking was pure magic.

Catching my eye, he immediately resumed his wary, protective guardian face.

I did my best to offer Jill words of encouragement - and yes, stop her from falling and breaking her neck. Halfway through the session, we heard a knock at the glass door. Lia started to scowl and then recognized the face on the other side of the door. She brightened and went to unlock it.

"Mr. Donahue," she said, letting Lee in. "Come to see how your starlet's doing?"

Lee smiled, his gray eyes instantly seeking out Jill. Jill met his gaze, grinning just as widely. Lee hadn't been around at the last feeding, and although they talked constantly on the phone and IM, I knew she had been pining to see him. A glance at Eddie's face showed me he wasn't nearly as delighted by Lee's presence.

"I already know how she's doing," said Lee. "She's perfect."

Lia snorted. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Hey," I said, inspiration striking me. "Lee, do you want to be in charge of keeping Jill from breaking her neck? I need to run an errand." Unsurprisingly, Lee was more than willing, and I knew I didn't need to fear for her safety with Eddie on watch.

I left them, hurrying two streets over to Nevermore. Ever since I'd heard Slade and his friends confirm the tattooists were in business again, I'd wanted to pay an in-person trip. Not a covert one, though. My stolen goods had already yielded their evidence. Except for the clear liquid, I had identified all the other substances in the vials. All the metallics were exact matches for Alchemist compounds, meaning these people either had an Alchemist connection or were stealing. Either way, my case got stronger and stronger. I just hoped it'd be enough to redeem me and keep Zoe out of here, particularly since the clock was ticking on her arrival. We were almost a week away from when my father had said she'd be replacing me.

My plan was to see how willing Nevermore was to give me a tattoo. I wanted to know what warnings (if any) they gave out and how easy it was in the first place. Adrian's conversation hadn't yielded much info, but probably his on-fire-biker-skelet-on-with-a-parrot tattoo request hadn't done much to help his credibility. I was armed with cash today, which I hoped would get me somewhere.

As it was, I never needed to flash any. As soon as I walked in, the guy behind the counter - the same one Adrian had spoken to - looked relieved.

"Thank God," he said. "Please tell me you have more. These kids are driving me crazy. When we got into this... I had no idea it was gonna get this big. The money's good, but Christ. It's crazy to keep up with."

I kept my confusion off of my face, wondering what in the world he was talking about. He was acting as though I was in on his scheme here, which made no sense. But then his eyes flashed to my cheek, and suddenly, I understood.

My lily tattoo.

It was uncovered, since school was over. And I knew then, with absolute certainty, that whomever he was working with to get his supplies was also an Alchemist. He'd assumed my tattoo made me an ally.

"I don't have anything with me," I said.

His face fell. "But the demand - "

"You lost the other batch," I said haughtily. "You let it get stolen right out from underneath you. Do you know how much trouble we go to in order to get that?"

"I already explained that to your friend!" he exclaimed. "He said he understood. He said he'd taken care of the problem and that we didn't have to worry anymore."

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Yeah, well, he doesn't speak for all of us, and we're not sure we want to continue. You were compromised."

"We're careful," he argued. "That theft wasn't our fault! Now, come on. You have to help us. Didn't he tell you? There's a huge demand for tomorrow because those private school kids have a game. If we can deliver, we'll make double the money."

I gave him my best icy smile. "We'll discuss it among ourselves and get back to you."

With