And would they let him go?
When I'd asked about him, Stanton claimed the Alchemists had no knowledge of Marcus, but I knew that was a lie. She didn't know I had his picture. His blue tattoo was big enough to cover a lily, and I'd seen metallic hints of one underneath, proving he had indeed once been one of us. And if he'd had the Alchemist mark, then they most certainly knew about him. They were covering him up, and that just intrigued me further. In fact, I was a little obsessed with him. Some instinct told me he was the key to my problems, that he could help me uncover the secrets and lies the Alchemists were telling me. Unfortunately, I had no clue how to find him.
"It's important no one here knows what you're doing, so remember to be discreet," Stanton added, like I needed to be reminded. A small crease appeared between her eyebrows. "I was particularly worried about that Ivashkov boy coming to this wedding. We can't let anyone know you two have more than a passing acquaintance. Little things like that could compromise our mission."
"Oh, no," I said quickly. "You don't need to worry about Adrian. He understands how important our work is. He'd never do anything to compromise it."
Ian returned, and our discussion ended there. Dinner soon gave way to dancing. With the atmosphere more relaxed, a number of Moroi came over to introduce themselves to us. I felt nearly as popular as the bride and groom. Ian shook so many hands that he eventually became immune to it. And as uncomfortable as it was for my companions, I could tell this event was actually accomplishing its goal of smoothing relations between Alchemists and Moroi. Stanton and Ian were by no means ready to be best friends with any of them, but it was clear they were pleasantly surprised at how friendly and benign most of the guests seemed.
"I'm glad we got this chance to be together," Ian told me during a lull in our public relations. "It's so hard with our jobs, you know? I'm in St. Louis now, in the facility archives. Where do they have you?"
Secrecy was key in Jill's protection. "I'm in the field, but I can't say where. You know how it is."
"Right, right. But you know, if you ever wanted to visit . . . I'd show you around."
His desperation was almost cute. "Like for a vacation?"
"Well, yeah. Er, no." He knew as well as I did that Alchemists didn't get vacations easily. "But, I mean, they're doing all the holiday services, you know. If you decide to come to one, well, let me know."
Alchemist priests always conducted special services around Christmas in our main facilities. Some Alchemist families made a point of going to them every year. I hadn't been to any in a while, not with the way my missions kept jumping around.
"I'll keep that in mind."
There was a long pause, and his next words came haltingly. "I'd ask you to dance, you know. Except it wouldn't be right in this kind of unholy setting."
I gave him a stiff smile. "Of course. That, and we're here on business. We've got to focus on building good relationships with them."
Ian had started to respond when a familiar voice interrupted us. "Miss Sage?"
We looked up and found Adrian standing above us, dashing in his shades of blue. His face was the picture of perfect politeness and restraint, meaning something disastrous was probably about to happen.
"It's so nice to see you again," he said. He spoke as though it had been a while, and I nodded in agreement. As I'd assured Stanton, Adrian knew too much familiarity between us might create a trail back to Jill. "Did I just hear you two talking about building good relationships?"
I was tongue-tied, so Ian answered. "That's right. We're here to make things friendlier between our people." His voice, however, was most decidedly unfriendly.
Adrian nodded with all seriousness, like he hadn't noticed Ian's hostility. "I think it's a great idea. And I thought of something that would be an excellent gesture of our future together." Adrian's expression was innocent, but there was a mischievous sparkle in his eye that I knew all too well. He held out his hand to me. "Would you like to dance?"
Chapter Four
I FROZE. I didn't trust myself to respond.