Again, I hoped my anxiety simply made me sound like a flustered, love-struck girl, one Stanton would feel sorry for and shake her head over. St. Louis wasn't that much farther away by plane, and the end result was the same. "Well, that was business, ma'am. I didn't want to get distracted from our goal."
"Of course." Her next pause was only a few seconds long, but it felt like an hour. "Well, I see no reason why you can't go. You've done an admirable job in your work, and - from a personal point of view - I can understand why you'd want to be with familiar faces again. You've spent more time with the Moroi than many Alchemists ever will in their lives, and you didn't hesitate when that Ivashkov pushed himself onto you at the wedding."
I didn't really hesitate when he pushed himself onto me at the sorority, either. Or did I push myself on him?
"Thank you, ma'am."
She authorized me to go next weekend and said I could use Alchemist funds to book my travel arrangements. When we got off the phone, I contemplated calling Ian but then decided on a more impersonal approach. I jotted out a quick email telling him that I'd be in town and that I hoped we could meet up. After a few moments of thought, I then texted Marcus: Arrangements made.
Lunchtime came around, and Eddie texted to ask if I could meet Jill and him in my dorm's cafeteria. I headed downstairs at the appropriate time and found a glum Eddie sitting by himself at a table. I wondered where Angeline was and noted he hadn't mentioned her in his text. Rather than bring that up, I focused on who he had mentioned.
"Where's Jill?"
He nodded toward the opposite side of the cafeteria. I followed his gaze and saw Jill standing near a table, laughing and talking. She held a tray and looked as though she'd been stopped on her way back from the food line. Micah and some other guys were at the table, and I was happy to see he did indeed seem comfortable with being her friend again.
"That's nice," I said, turning back to my own food. "I'm glad she's getting along with everyone."
Eddie stared at me in amazement. "Don't you see what's going on?"
I'd been about to bite into an apple and stopped. I hated these kinds of loaded questions. They meant I'd missed out on some social subtlety - something that wasn't my strong suit. Glancing back at Jill, I tried to make my best guess.
"Is Micah trying to get back together with her?"
"Of course not," said Eddie, like I should've known. "He's going out with Claire Cipriano now."
"Sorry. I can't keep track of everyone's dating lives. I'll add it to my to-do list after, you know, busting Alchemist conspiracies and finding out whether the Warriors are after Jill."
Eddie's gaze was locked on Jill, and he nodded, making me think he hadn't actually heard a word I'd said. "Travis and Juan want to ask her out."
"So? She learned her lesson about human and vampire dating." I wished I had. "She'll tell them no."
"They still shouldn't be bothering her," he growled.
Jill didn't seem to be particularly bothered by their attention. In fact, I liked seeing her bright and smiling for a change. Confidence suited her and emphasized her royal status, and she clearly was enjoying whatever banter was going on. One thing I'd learned in my social education was that flirting wasn't the same thing as going out with someone. My friend Julia was an expert at the difference. If it made Jill happy, I certainly had no problems with it.
Honestly, it looked like the person who was most bothered by Jill's suitors was Eddie. He theoretically had the excuse of wanting to protect her, but this seemed pretty personal. I decided to bring him back to his own romantic life, the one he should actually be concerned about.
"Where's Angeline?"
Jill began walking toward us. Looking relieved, Eddie turned back to me. "Well, that's what we wanted to talk to you about."
Whenever anyone wanted to talk to me, it meant something weird was about to happen. Actual emergency issues were never given an introduction. They were just delivered immediately. This premeditated stuff was a wild card.
"What's going on?" I asked once Jill sat down. "With Angeline?"
She exchanged a knowing glance with Eddie. "We think Angeline's up to something," she said. A moment later, she clarified, "Something bad."
Not this again. I turned to Eddie. "Is she still being distant?"
"Yeah. She had lunch with us yesterday." He frowned. "But she was acting weird. She wouldn't explain why she's been so busy."
Jill concurred. "She actually got really upset the more we kept questioning her. It was strange. I think she's in some kind of trouble."
I leaned back in my chair. "The kind of trouble Angeline gets into is usually spontaneous and unexpected. You're talking like she's masterminding something in secret. That's not her style. At worst, she's harboring an illicit wardrobe."
Eddie looked like he wanted to smile but couldn't quite manage it. "True."
Jill apparently wasn't convinced. "You have to talk to her. Find out what's going on."
"Can't you talk to her?" I asked, looking between their faces. "You live with her."