The Golden Lily Page 0,136

backpacks. When I noticed what looked like an office, I hesitated in the doorway. Papers covered large foldout tables inside, and I wondered if any contained useful information about the Warriors.

I wanted so badly to go in and investigate. These Warriors were a mystery to the Alchemists.

Who knew what intel these papers contained? What if there was information that could protect the Moroi? I hesitated for the space of a few heartbeats then reluctantly kept going.

The guardians were using tranquilizers, but the Warriors had real guns - guns they wouldn't be afraid to use on me. Better to get out of here with the information I already had than not get out alive.

I reached the far side of the building at last and peered out a bedroom window. It was so dark outside now that I could hardly see anything. I didn't have the benefit of torches anymore.

The only thing I could tell for sure was that I was no longer adjacent to the arena. That was good enough for me, though it would've been better if there was a door leading outside.

I'd have to make my own. Grabbing a chair, I swung it into the window and was completely astonished when the glass broke easily. A few shards hit me, but nothing large enough to cause injury. Standing on the chair, I managed to climb out the window without injuring my hands.

I was met by a warm, dark night. No electric lights were visible ahead, just open black land. I took this to mean I was on the opposite side of the compound where Trey had brought me. There were no roads, no sound from the highway we had traveled. There was also no sign of life anywhere, which I took as a good sign. Hopefully all the Warrior guards who normally paroled the grounds were off fighting guardians. If Sonya was out now, my hope was that the guardians would begin retreating - and grab me along the way. Even if they didn't, I wasn't above walking back to I-10 and hitchhiking.

The compound was sprawling and confusing, and as I walked around it and still saw no sign of the highway, I began to grow uneasy. How turned around had I gotten? I only had a limited amount of time to get off Warrior property. They could be hunting me right now. There was also the disconcerting problem that once I made it to the periphery, I'd have to deal with the electric fence. Still, it might be best to forget looking for the freeway and simply make for the edge of the Warriors' camp so that I could -

A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I screamed.

"Easy there, Sage. I'm no gun-toting crazy guy. Crazy, yes. But not the rest." I stared in disbelief, not that I could really make out much of the tall, dark figure standing over me. "Adrian?" The height was right, as was the build. As I stared, I became more and more certain. His hands steadied my shaking. I was so glad to see a friendly face - to see him - that I nearly sank into his arms in relief. "It is you. How'd you find me?"

"You're the only human out here with a yellow and purple aura," he said. "Makes you easy to spot."

"No, I mean, how'd you find me here? At the compound?"

"I followed the others. They told me not to, but... well." In the faint moonlight I could barely see his shrug. "I don't follow directions well. When Castile came out with Sonya and started babbling about how you'd gone out some random door, I thought I'd take a quick walk around.

I don't think I was supposed to do that either, but the guardians were kind of busy."

"You are crazy," I snapped, despite how happy I was to know I hadn't been abandoned in this miserable place. "The Warriors are so mad that they'd probably kill a Moroi on sight if they saw you."

He tugged my hand forward. Even through his banter, there'd been a hard tone to his words. He was fully aware of the danger we faced. "Then we'd better get out of here." Adrian led me back in the direction I'd come, then went around the opposite side of the building. I didn't see the freeway lights yet, but he soon turned and began running toward the property's far edge, away from the building. I ran alongside him, still holding his hand.

"Where are we going?"