"What guests?' asked Lissa.
"Well,' said Hans, "it's funny you mention Hathaway. Because we just had a sighting of her.'
Lissa stiffened, panic flashing through her. They found Rose. But how? Abe had assured her I was safe in that town in West Virginia.
"She and Belikov were spotted outside of Detroit, where they kidnapped a girl.'
"They'd never--' Lissa stopped. "Did you say Detroit?' It was with great restraint that she didn't shoot questioning looks at Christian and Adrian.
Hans nodded, and although he gave the appearance of just passing on information, I knew he was watching for some sort of telling reaction from my friends. "They had a few other people with them. Some of them got away, but we caught one.'
"Who did they kidnap?' asked Christian. His astonishment wasn't faked either. He too had thought we were safely stashed.
"Mastrano,' said Hans. "Something Mastrano.'
"Jill Mastrano?' exclaimed Lissa.
"Jailbait?' asked Adrian.
Hans clearly wasn't up to date on this nickname but didn't have a chance to question it because just then, the door opened. Three guardians entered, and with them was-- Sydney.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I WOULD HAVE GAPED IF I were there, both from the shock of seeing Sydney and at the sight of a human on Court grounds. Humans, actually, because there were two others with her, a man and a woman. The man was young, only a little older than Sydney, with deep brown hair and eyes. The woman was older and wore the tough, seasoned look I associated with Alberta. This woman was dark-skinned, but I could still see the golden tattoo she and the other humans had. All Alchemists.
And it was obvious these Alchemists were not happy. That older woman was putting on a good show, but her darting eyes made it clear she wanted to be somewhere-- anywhere--else. Sydney and the guy didn't hide their fear at all. Sydney might have gotten used to me and Dimitri, but she and her associates had just walked into a den of evil, as far as they were probably concerned.
The Alchemists weren't alone in their discomfort. As soon as they'd entered, the guardians no longer regarded Eddie as the room's threat. Their eyes were all on the humans, scrutinizing them as though they were Strigoi. My friends seemed more curious than afraid. Lissa and I had lived among humans, but Christian and Adrian had had very little exposure, other than feeders. Seeing the Alchemists on "our turf' added an extra element of intrigue.
I was certainly astonished to see Sydney there so quickly. Or was it quickly? Hours had passed since we'd escaped Jill's house. Not enough time to drive to Court but certainly enough to fly. Sydney hadn't changed clothes since I'd last seen her, and there were shadows under her eyes. I had a feeling she'd been grilled to no end since her capture. The mystery was, why bring the Alchemists here to the meeting about Eddie killing the unknown Moroi? There were two completely different issues at stake.
Lissa was thinking the same thing. "Who are these guys?' she asked, although she had a pretty good idea who Sydney was. She'd heard enough description from me. Sydney gave Lissa a once-over, and I suspected she had guessed Lissa's identity as well.
"Alchemists,' said Hans gruffly. "You know what that means?'
Lissa and my friends nodded. "What do they have to do with Eddie and that guy who attacked me?' she asked.
"Maybe something. Maybe nothing.' Hans shrugged. "But I know there's something strange going on, something you're all involved in, and I need to figure out what. She'-- Hans pointed at Sydney--'was with Hathaway in Detroit, and I still have trouble believing none of you know anything about it.'
Adrian crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, the perfect picture of indifference. "Keep believing that, but I don't know any of these people. Don't Alchemists hate us? Why are they here?' Adrian, ironically, was the only one of my friends who knew I hadn't been in West Virginia, but you'd never tell from his demeanor.
"Because we have an escaped murderess to deal with and needed to question her accomplice in person,' was Hans's crisp response.
A denial of my guilt was on Lissa's lips, but the older Alchemist jumped in first. "You have no proof that Miss Sage was an "accomplice' to your criminal. And I still think it's ridiculous that you wouldn't let us do our own questioning and leave it at that.' "In any other situation, we would, Miss Stanton,' replied Hans. Ice was forming between the two of them. "But this one, as you can imagine, is a bit more serious than most. Our queen was murdered.'
Tension ramped up even more between the guardians and the Alchemists. Their working relationship was not a happy one, I realized. It also occurred to me that even if Sydney's superiors thought she'd committed some crime, they would never admit as much to my people--which meant Hans's paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded. When none of the Alchemists responded, Hans seemed to read this as approval to begin interrogating Sydney.
"Do you know these three?' He gestured to my friends, and Sydney shook her head. "Ever communicated with them?'
"No.'
He paused, as though hoping she'd change her answer. She didn't. "Then how did you get involved with Hathaway?'
She studied him intently, fear in her brown eyes. I wasn't sure if it was because of him exactly. Really, she had a lot of things to be nervous about right now, like being here at all and the eventual punishment the Alchemists would dole out. Then, of course, there was Abe. Technically, he was the reason she had gotten ensnared in this mess. All she had to do was tell on him, say he'd blackmailed her. It'd get her off the hook--but incur his wrath. Sydney swallowed and forced a defiant look.
"I met Rose in Siberia.'
"Yes, yes,' said Hans. "But how did you end up helping her escape here?'
"I had nothing to do with her escaping this place!' said Sydney. It was a half-truth, I supposed. "She contacted me a few days ago and asked for help to get to a house near Detroit. She claimed she was innocent and that this would help prove it.'
"The Alchemists knew by then she was a fugitive,' pointed out Hans. "Everyone had orders to look out for her. You could have turned her in.'
"When I first met Rose, she didn't seem like the murdering type--I mean, aside from killing Strigoi. Which isn't murder at all, really.' Sydney threw in a little Alchemist disdain. It was a nice touch. "So, when she said she was innocent and could prove it, I decided to help her. I gave her a ride.'
"We already asked her about this,' Stanton said irritably. "And we already told you that we did. What she did was foolish--a naive lapse in judgment. It's something for us to deal with, not you. You worry about your murdering fiend.' Her words were light, like they were going to take Sydney home and chastise a naughty child. I doubted it would be that simple.