Bloodlines Page 0,141

type of protection too."

I shivered at the memory. "Maybe. It all happened so fast... it's hard to say. And it was certainly no protection from the Strigoi wanting to snap my neck."

Stanton nodded. "It's certainly something to look into eventually. But first we have to figure out what exactly happened to Lee."

"Well," I said, "spirit has to be a key player, right? Lee was restored by a spirit user."

A waiter came by, and Stanton waved her plate away. "Exactly. Unfortunately, we have a very limited quantity of spirit users to work with. Vasilisa Dragomir hardly has the time to experiment with her powers. Sonya Karp has volunteered to help, which is excellent news, especially since she's a former Strigoi herself. At the very least, we can observe the slowed aging firsthand. She's only available for a short while, and the Moroi haven't answered my request yet for some other useful individuals. But if we had another spirit user on hand, one with no other obligations to distract him from helping us fulltime..."

She looked at me meaningfully.

"Adrian?" I asked.

"Do you think he'd help research this? Some magical way to protect against Strigoi conversion? Like I said, between Sonya and the others, he'd have help," she added quickly. "I've spoken to the Moroi, and they're putting together a small group with expertise on Strigoi. They plan on sending them out soon. We just need Adrian to help."

"Wow. You guys move fast," I murmured.

At the words "Adrian" and "research," my mind had put together images of him in a lab, wearing a white coat, bent over test tubes and beakers. I knew that the actual research wouldn't look anything like that, but it was a hard picture to shake. It was also hard to imagine Adrian seriously focused on anything. Except, I kept having that nagging thought that Adrian would focus if he only had something worth caring about. Was this important enough? I really wasn't sure. It was too hard to guess what purpose might be noble enough to get Adrian's attention. But I was pretty sure I knew some less-thannoble perks that might get him on board.

"If you can get him his own place, I bet he'd do it," I said finally. "He wants out of Clarence Donahue's pretty badly."

Stanton's eyebrows rose. She hadn't expected this. "Well. That's not a huge request, I suppose. And actually, we're already paying the bill for Keith's old apartment since he took out a year-long lease. Mr. Ivashkov could simply move into there, except..."

"Except what?"

Stanton gave a small shrug. "I was going to offer it to you. After much discussion, we've decided to simply make you the Alchemist on point here, in light of Keith's... unfortunate departure. You could leave Amberwood, move into his apartment, and simply oversee activities from there."

I frowned. "But I thought you wanted someone with Jill all the time."

"We do. And we've actually found a better choice - no offense. The Moroi were able to locate a dhampir girl Jill's age, who could not only serve as Jill's roommate but also as a bodyguard. She'll be joining the researchers who are coming out. You don't have to pose as a student anymore."

The world reeled. Alchemist schemes and plans, always in motion. A lot had been decided in this week, it seemed. I considered what this meant. No more homework, no more high school politics. Freedom to come and go when I wanted. But it also meant removing myself from the friends I'd made - Trey, Kristin, Julia. I'd still see Eddie and Jill, but not to the same extent. And if I was on my own, would the Alchemists - or my father - help fund college classes? Unlikely.

"Do I have to leave?" I asked Stanton. "Can I give the apartment to Adrian and stay on at Amberwood for a while? At least until we figure out if we can get another place for me?"

Stanton didn't bother hiding her surprise. "I didn't expect you'd want to stay on. I figured you'd especially be happy to no longer room with a vampire."

And like that, all the fears and pressure I'd faced before coming to Palm Springs descended on me. Vamp lover. I was an idiot. I should've been jumping at the chance to get away from Jill. Any other Alchemist would. In offering to stay, I was likely putting myself under suspicion again. How could I explain that there was so much more to my choice than just a change of roommate?

"Oh,"