The Ruby Circle

  “I’m sorry, she was too fast,” I said to Nina. “Where are we?”

  She took a step closer to me, her face filled with fear. “This is where we were attacked with our dad. When Olive was turned. There were Strigoi—”

  Before she could finish, two menacing figures emerged from behind the dark shape of a parked Buick. The phantom lighting made their pale white skin look even more gruesome. I couldn’t see the red in their eyes, but the evil within came through plainly, no matter the dim conditions. They snarled, revealing fangs similar to mine, save that their only intent was to kill.

  I gripped Nina’s hand and slowly backed up. “They can’t kill us in a dream,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry. “Not really.”

  “No, but we’ll wake up,” she said. “And Olive will be gone again.”

  “Not if we annihilate them first.”

  Terror filled me, even though I knew the Strigoi were only part of the dream. I’d been too conditioned against them my entire life to feel anything except fear. But what I’d said was true: You couldn’t die in a spirit dream. You would simply wake up. And before that, you’d feel deep, excruciating pain. They aren’t real, I told myself. This is a dream, and I still have some control.

  Olive had taken charge of big things—like the setting—but little things were within my grasp. Here, I could wield fire as deftly as Christian or Sydney. A fireball appeared in my hand, fueled by spirit magic. I felt magic surge in Nina too, and I was quick to chastise her.

  “No—let me handle this.” If I was caught in this dream, I might as well fulfill the original goal of keeping her away from the brunt of spirit. “Just assist. Don’t wield too much.”

  I hurled the fireball toward one of the Strigoi, and it went wide, missing him by about two feet. Okay—maybe I couldn’t wield fire quite as deftly as Christian or Sydney. It had always looked so easy when Sydney did it, and I realized I was thinking in those terms, imitating her throw. But relying on my physical abilities wasn’t the way to go. I had to be much more intentional. I summoned another fireball and this time used spirit to specifically guide it toward the Strigoi. My aim proved true, but the Strigoi, even in a dream, moved quickly. He dodged the brunt of the fireball and only ended up singeing his arm. It was enough to inspire me, though. I called on spirit again, summoning two more fireballs, one to keep going after this target and another to keep the other Strigoi at a distance.

  I also managed to anticipate the way the Strigoi would dodge this time, so I adjusted accordingly, sending the fireball right into his chest. Flames engulfed him, and I used spirit to summon a silver stake. Moving to where he writhed on the ground, I called on spirit to shield me from the fire as I plunged the stake into what I hoped was his heart. Either I was right or the fire had already done its job, because the creature suddenly stopped moving and vanished into nothing.

  The other Strigoi had tried to advance on Nina while I was distracted. She threw a fireball of her own and experienced the same learning curve I had, missing with her first attempt. It was enough to distract the Strigoi until I could swoop in.

  “Hold off,” I reminded Nina. I hit the second Strigoi squarely with another fireball, and then I once again finished the job with a silver stake. As I did, I felt my triumph falter as four more Strigoi suddenly stepped forward. I hastily retreated back to Nina.

  “No problem,” I told her. “We’ll get rid of them too.” Seeing four of them was daunting, but my method seemed to be working. In a dream, at least, I could be as badass as any guardian.

  “There’s no time!” Nina exclaimed. Spirit swelled within her—a lot of spirit. I turned on her in alarm.

  “What are you doing? That’s too much!”

  She ignored me and, impossibly, called on even more spirit. I was reminded of a balloon, ready to burst. “We need them gone, and we need them gone now!”

  “Stop it!” I cried. I shook her arm, hoping I could get her to lose her concentration. She shook me off and continued building up spirit to impossible, dizzying heights.

  “I won’t let Olive escape again!” Nina said.

  Fire shot out from her fingertips. It wasn’t a compact little ball like I’d formed. Nina was wielding sheets and sheets of fire. Substantial amounts of fire. Flames lit up the night, wrapping around the three Strigoi. There was no need to stake them; I think they were killed almost instantly.

  I shook her again. “Let go! Let the magic go!”

  What she’d done, to create that ridiculous amount of fire, hadn’t been a small change to the dream. She’d not only had to break through Olive’s control, she’d also had to break through mine at the dream’s foundation. The spirit that had required—to blast all those Strigoi away in one fell swoop—was staggering. It was at least twice as much as I’d seen her wielding when we were in the dream together before.

  The fire vanished (as did the incinerated Strigoi), and Nina dropped to her knees. She rested her hands on the side of her head and began to scream. And scream. Around us, the dark parking lot transformed to the sunny Getty Villa as my control of the dream returned—thanks to her efforts. I knelt beside her and gently rested my hands on her shoulders. Her eyes stared blankly ahead, lost, as she kept screaming.

  “Nina, Nina . . . it’s okay. It’s okay.”

  But I didn’t know if it was. She wasn’t screaming because of the Strigoi. There was something else going on, the terrible aftereffects of all that spirit use. Week after week of so much use, now followed by this . . . it was too much. The final straw. I had no idea how much damage had been done, but something was seriously wrong. I needed to wake us up and find out how she was in real life. With a thought, I let the dream begin to disintegrate.

  “Nina . . .”

  The small voice jerked my attention up. I hadn’t realized that Olive was back with us in the Getty Villa. When Nina had blasted through the Strigoi, she’d wrested control back from Olive and temporarily from me. Now Olive was left with nothing, no more control, no ability to escape. She was fading, though, just like Nina and me as I sent us to the waking world.

  Before we all disappeared, however, I saw a few things very clearly. One was concern on Olive’s features as she stared at Nina. No matter what had passed between them, Olive loved her sister and wasn’t trying to purposely hurt her with these obstacles.

  The other thing I noticed was that Olive’s cloak was gone. With no control left of the dream, Olive now appeared as she did in the waking world. The clothes she wore were old and threadbare, as though they’d been passed around a few times. Around her neck was a small, circular wooden pendant edged in green. I’d never seen it before and didn’t know what it meant.

  But as I got my last glimpse of her before waking, I saw something else about her that I recognized immediately.

  The dream completely shattered, and I found myself alert and sitting up in the inn’s bed. As I blinked and tried to focus, Sydney clutched my arm and tried to calm me.

  “Adrian,” she exclaimed, and I knew it wasn’t the first time she’d said my name. “What’s wrong?”

  “Olive’s pregnant,” I gasped out.

  CHAPTER 8

  SYDNEY

  “OLIVE?” I REPEATED STUPIDLY. I was a little addled myself, having been woken out of a deep sleep by Adrian’s cries. “What are you talking about?”

  He shook his head, regret on his features. “I’m sorry, Sydney. I didn’t mean to. Nina found me in a spirit dream, and I got pulled into looking for Olive. And this time we got to her. She was pregnant.”

  I was so stunned to hear that he’d gone through with the dream that I couldn’t process the rest of what he was saying immediately. But the regret on his face was so sincere, I believed that it had been against his will. “She can’t be pregnant,” I said at last. “I mean . . . I guess she can. But I thought she was involved with Neil. If she’s pregnant, then . . .”
>
  Adrian swallowed and slowly seemed to be recovering himself. “I know, I know. If she’s pregnant, then it was by someone other than Neil.”

  Soap opera drama with Olive wasn’t dire in the grand scheme of things—especially when compared to what was happening with Jill—but it was still a surprise. Olive and Neil had seemed so close. “Do you know for certain she is?”

  He gave a shaky nod. “We did it. Nina and I broke through Olive’s defenses and saw her as she truly is in the waking world. No question—she was pregnant. I guess that’s why she kept trying to hide herself in the dream.” He paused to consider. “I guess that’s why she’s hiding herself in real life too.”

  “I suppose I can understand her wanting to hide from Neil . . .” I began, my mind spinning. Because she was a dhampir, only a Moroi could have gotten her pregnant. Well, a human could have as well, but most people in the mainstream Moroi world weren’t taking after Adrian and me. “But why Nina? Especially since they were so close? Unless . . . oh.” My heart sank. “Maybe . . . maybe whatever happened wasn’t consensual.”

  It took Adrian a moment to catch on, and anger darkened his features. “If some Moroi forced her, then why wouldn’t she tell Nina? And everyone else?”

  I laced my fingers through his. “Because unfortunately not all girls think like that. Look at my sister Carly, when Keith raped her. She thought it was her fault. She was mortified at the thought of anyone finding out and judging her.”

  “Nina wouldn’t judge her,” said Adrian adamantly. “Olive should know that. Nina might be crazy, but—”

  I did a double take at the alarm that suddenly filled his face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nina.” He reached over and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. I could just barely hear the sound of ringing and eventually voice mail picking up. “Nina, it’s me. Call me. Immediately.” When he’d disconnected, he turned back to me with a sigh. “What we did . . . whatever happened to break through to Olive, it didn’t go so well for Nina. She took control from me and ended up wielding most of the spirit. I’m not entirely sure what happened to her—it was just a sense I got before the dream disbanded, but I feel like something went horribly wrong. Like she got injured.” He glanced at his phone, as though staring long enough might make her call back.

  “She might still be asleep,” I warned. I wouldn’t say so aloud—and I hoped Nina hadn’t been harmed—but a part of me was relieved Adrian hadn’t wielded all the spirit he’d planned. “She’ll probably be fine when she wakes up. And you’ll have a lot to tell her.”

  Adrian sighed. “Not sure I will. I mean, I suppose I could tell her the pregnancy part. But the rest? I’m still not sure where she is. She was dressed strangely . . .” He got up and found a pen and some inn stationery. After some quick sketching, he showed me a drawing of a circle filled with abstract designs. “Does this mean anything to you?”

  I studied it with a frown. “No. Should it?”

  “Olive was wearing it on a necklace. I thought it might mean something.” He sat back beside me and stifled a yawn. “I hope Nina and I haven’t gone through all of this and not found any way to help Olive. Worse, if we don’t get any answers, I’m afraid Nina’s going to keep doing it.” He cast another anxious glance at his cell phone, but there was still no response from Nina.

  I put an arm around him and drew him near. “Just hope for the best. That symbol may mean something to her. Be patient until she gets back to you.”

  I tried to keep my tone light and hide the fear within me. I wasn’t afraid for Nina. I worried Adrian would help her again, putting her and Olive’s needs above his own, no matter the dangers. My heart clenched at the thought, and conflicting emotions stirred in my chest. I admired Adrian for wanting to help them. But I also loved him and selfishly wanted to protect him.

  He tried calling Nina one more time and then finally heeded my words when I said we should try to get some rest while we could. I hated seeing him so worried and worked up, and at last, he managed to put his worries aside and relax. We fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms and were jolted awake a few hours later by a phone ringing. Adrian grabbed for his, nearly falling out of bed in the process, and stared at the screen in dismay. “Crap. My battery died. I forgot to charge it.”

  “It’s my phone,” I said, making my way groggily to my purse. A jolt of panic helped push me awake as I braced myself for news from Ms. Terwilliger. But when I picked up the phone, I was surprised to see Sonya’s name on the display. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Sydney,” came her familiar voice. “I trust you’re doing well.”

  “Yes,” I said cautiously, puzzled as to why she was calling me. We were friendly, but usually she dealt with Adrian. “How about you?”

  “I’m fine. I can’t say the same for Nina Sinclair,” she replied, making my heart stop. “I tried calling Adrian, but it went to voice mail.”

  “His phone’s dead,” I explained. “What’s wrong with Nina?” At that, Adrian jerked his head up.

  “I figured you two would already know, seeing as she was found in your rooms at guest housing.”

  “We stepped out,” I said uneasily. “What do you mean, ‘found’?” It was the kind of terminology you used when people died.

  “She’s alive,” said Sonya, guessing my thoughts. “She’s been taken to the medical center, but she’s practically comatose. The one time she did come to, she babbled incoherently before lapsing back into unconsciousness. The doctors haven’t been able to rouse her since. Perhaps you’d like to come by and see her.”

  “Um, I’ll have to talk to Adrian and see when we can get a chance to—”

  “Save the subterfuge, Sydney.” There was something both weary and exasperated in Sonya’s voice. “We know you aren’t here.”

  “Well, yeah, like I said, we stepped out—”

  “We know you aren’t at Court,” she interrupted. “After Nina’s fit, a Court-wide search was conducted, and then Daniella Ivashkov finally caved and admitted you both were gone. She won’t tell us where you are, though, and I think she’s trying to confuse us by giving us some outlandish story about you turning into a cat.”

  I really didn’t know how to respond to any of that.

  “A number of people would like to speak to you,” Sonya continued. “Both of you. I don’t suppose you have the means to do a video call?”

  My eyes fell on Adrian’s laptop bag, which he’d brought along. “We do . . .” Honestly, I was kind of afraid of what this conference call might entail, but I could see Adrian was having to restrain himself from tearing the phone away from me to get answers about Nina. A group call might be the best solution, especially since our cover was blown. There was also a good chance we could be traced by such a call, but I wasn’t quite as nervous about the Moroi finding us as the Alchemists.

  When I disconnected with Sonya, I found Adrian was in agreement. He was dying to know more about Nina, and we decided it’d be worth the risk. We were both still naked, so the first order of business was hastily tossing on some clothes so it wouldn’t be entirely obvious what we’d been doing.

  Adrian eyed me wistfully as I searched for my shirt. “If we made sure only our heads were in the shot, I don’t think anyone would notice.” I answered him with a warning look, and after a great deal of dramatic sighing, he reluctantly put on his own clothes too.

  We still stayed on the bed, however, opening up the laptop there. Once we had everything set up and connected, we leaned in together over the laptop and found Sonya’s worried face looking back at us. Before Adrian could even ask her about Nina, Sonya moved away, and another face filled the screen.

  “Really, Adrian?” Lissa exclaimed, outrage written all over her. “How could you guys do this to me? You begged me to protect you! I risked the wrath of my own people and the Alchemists to take you in, and this is
how you repay me?”

  She looked truly frustrated, and uneasily, I wondered just how much trouble we might have caused. I forgot sometimes what a precarious position Lissa was in, constantly being pulled in different directions as she worked hard to do the impossible and please everyone. Adrian and I had done what we needed to do for ourselves—but hadn’t considered the fallout for others.

  “It was for Jill,” Adrian said resolutely. “We had to go after her.”

  Lissa shook her head angrily. “And I told you, as much as it’s appreciated, we don’t need you out there looking for Jill. We’ve already got people on it.”

  “No, no . . . it’s not like that,” Adrian protested. “It wasn’t just some impulsive trip. Sydney had a real lead.”

  Lissa’s green eyes focused on me expectantly. I launched into a retelling of what I knew so far, about how Alicia was behind Jill’s disappearance and how my contacts in Palm Springs were currently looking for leads. As I spoke, I saw Lissa’s expression grow more and more incredulous.

  “How am I just learning about this? You guys should have told me immediately!”

  “We didn’t know all the facts then,” said Adrian. Despite his outward confidence, I could tell he too was second-guessing our actions. “Still don’t. But Jackie Terwilliger’s good. She’ll turn up something.” He hesitated. “Who knows we’re gone?”

  “The Alchemists don’t, if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Lissa. “So far, only a handful of people here at Court know, and you’d better hope it stays that way. The Alchemists have made it very clear to me that Sydney won’t be returned to us if they catch her.” I flinched at the words.

  “Enough, Liss.” Rose suddenly pushed her way into the picture, wriggling in beside her friend, like Lissa wasn’t the ruler of all Moroi. “They get it. They screwed up.”

  “We didn’t screw up,” said Adrian obstinately. “Finding Jill is the most important thing we can do right now.”

  Lissa’s anger diminished a bit. “It is. And I want to find her too. Why didn’t you come to me once you had that box?”