Silver Shadows (33 page)

“Ivashkov,” interrupted Sydney. It was the first she’d spoken since we entered the room.

Ian turned his outraged expression from the throne to her. “I beg your pardon?”

“Ivashkov,” she repeated, her face the picture of serenity. Only I could tell from the sweating of her hand how high her anxiety was running. The Alchemists had dealt her a low blow sending these three. “My name is Sydney Ivashkov now, Ian.”

“The hell it is!” exclaimed her father, face filled with fury. “I’m done with this nonsense. I’ll haul you out of here myself, if that’s what it takes to save your soul from this filth.”

He lunged toward Sydney and me, and in the blink of an eye, Dimitri swooped and put himself between us. “Mr. Sage,” he said calmly. “No one will be hauling anyone out of here—unless her majesty the queen requests it.”

All eyes swiveled toward Lissa. Her face was lofty and composed, but her aura betrayed her. We had put her in a position no Moroi monarch had probably ever been put in. I did feel a little bad about that, seeing as we were friends, but I stood by my decision. I meant every word of my marriage vows and would do whatever it took to keep Sydney safe.

“Adrian Ivashkov is my subject,” Lissa declared at last. “And as such, he is entitled to all the rights and privileges of that position. His wife has come here seeking sanctuary—and I am granting it to her. They are both under my protection now, and so long as they are here at Court, you have no jurisdiction over them. I will not release them to your custody, especially since I truly haven’t seen any evidence of their so-called crimes.”

“Their crime is that they’re standing right there in front of you, with no shame whatsoever!” exclaimed Ian.

Sydney’s father clearly agreed. “This is an outrage! If you do
this, you’ll have the wrath of the entire Alchemist organization to contend with! You think you can get away with half the things you do now? We cover up for you! Without us, you’re nothing. How do you think you’ll exist in this society without us to help? If you don’t have us—”

“Then the whole world will know vampires exist,” said Sydney coolly. “Are you going to let that happen, Dad? Aren’t you worried other weak humans might fall prey to their agenda if the Alchemists don’t help hide them?”

Her father’s expression grew even darker, and he looked as though he wanted to say any number of things to her. Instead, he took a deep breath and turned back to Lissa. “The Alchemists have been very powerful allies to you. You don’t want to see what kind of enemy we’d be.”

“Thank you for the advice.” Lissa looked undaunted, though I saw her aura waver. “Glen?” she asked, directing her attention to one of the guardians at the door. “Would you and your people make sure Mr. Sage and the others are safely escorted off of Court property?”

The guardian swept her a bow and then strode forward, beckoning five other guardians to join of him. “Of course, your majesty.”

The guardians led the protesting Alchemists out of the room, though we could continue to hear them make threats until they were well down the hall. At least, two of them did. Zoe hadn’t said a single word the entire time and had simply watched her sister with wide, troubled eyes. Whether Zoe felt guilty over her role in Sydney’s trip to re-education or was simply in shock over these new developments, I couldn’t say. Beside me, Sydney was shaking. It couldn’t have been easy to see her family hauled
out like that. Still holding her hand, I stepped forward as more uneasy silence started to fall.

“Thank you, Lissa. You have no idea—”

Lissa held up her hand to stop me, a hand she then used to rub her forehead, as though she had a headache. “No, Adrian. You have no idea what trouble this may have brought down on me. I’m happy for you, I really am. But for tonight, I’m done talking. I need to sleep on this and the possible fallout. We’ll get you set up with a place to stay and—”

“Hold on a minute.” So help me, my own father stepped forward now, and judging from his expression, it was a wonder he hadn’t been right there to argue with Jared Sage. “You’re saying you’re letting this … this …
marriage thing
just slide? That you’re treating it as … real?”

Lissa, who really did look exhausted, sighed. “It seems very real to them, Lord Ivashkov, and that’s good enough for me.”

“I thought you were just playing along to get those Alchemists out of here! There’s no way you can act as though this is a legitimate marriage. No civilized Moroi has ever stooped so low in—” My father bit off his own words as he gave Sydney and me a once-over. He swooped toward us with speed the guardians might have admired and had the audacity to grab Sydney’s left hand. “I recognize those! Those are your aunt’s! How dare you! You had the nerve—the sheer audacity—to put a queen’s fortune in jewels on this … this …
feeder’s
hand!”

I jerked Sydney away from him. “Dad,” I said quietly, “I’ve always made it a rule in my life not to pick fights with children, cute animals, or ignorant old men. I will, however, make an exception for you if you ever touch or insult my wife again.”

“Nathan,” warned my mom, moving to his side. “She’s your
daughter-in-law now. Show some semblance of respect.”

Now my dad turned his rage on her. “I will do no such thing! This is preposterous, not to mention insulting. This is—”

“What our son wants,” my mother stated. “And I stand by him.”

I met her eyes and felt a swelling in my chest. I’d never made amends with her after our bad parting. I’d never even made any attempt to acknowledge her many calls and messages. It hadn’t been a lack of love, so much as preoccupation with Sydney, but as I looked at my mother now, I was surprised to see something in her that hadn’t been there before: defiance.

“For God’s sake, Daniella,” my father growled. “Don’t add one more stupid mistake to the list of those you’ve already made. Now, if you want to come home with me tonight, be quiet and—”

“No,” she said, interrupting him again. “I actually don’t want to go home with you, tonight or ever again.”

“You have no idea what you’re saying,” he hissed. “Or what the consequences will be.”

“Actually, Nathan, I understand it all perfectly.”

I looked up at Lissa, who appeared more than a little surprised at this new turn in drama. “Your majesty,” I said. “You mentioned hooking my bride and me up with a place to stay. Any way we could get one for my mother as well?”

Lissa might worry what fallout would come of her actions with the Alchemists, but she had no such fears regarding my father. “Yes,” she said. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”

When we finally left for the night, a small crowd had gathered outside the palace. Gossip had spread in just the short time we’d been there, and curious onlookers had shown up,
despite the late hour. The wedding clothes spoke legions, and I could see the shock and disbelief on their faces—including Nina’s. I hadn’t expected her to be there. Like my mother, I hadn’t spoken to her since leaving Court, and it was obvious nothing could’ve prepared her for the sight of me with a human bride. She looked so stricken, I worried she might faint. Her hands were squeezed tightly together, and as we passed by, I thought I caught a glimpse of blood on them from where she’d scratched herself.

Not far from her stood Wesley Drozdov, and he, unlike everyone else there, didn’t look shocked. He looked gleeful—maliciously so.

Uneasily, I remembered what I’d told Sydney on the plane, about how it was smooth sailing from here on out.
Life at Court’s going to be a breeze
, I’d said. With a pang, I wondered if I might have inadvertently lied, and I was glad when she, my mother, and I hurried past the gawkers.

Rose and Dimitri escorted the three of us to guest housing and had enough tact not to badger us with questions—though I could tell they were eating Rose up. She maintained her self-control admirably until Sydney sat down in the guest-housing lobby as I checked us in. The toe of one of the blue shoes peeped out from under her gown, and Rose couldn’t help herself.

“Those are badass shoes,” she declared. “Is there a story there?”

Sydney smiled at her. “There are lots of stories.”

“Tomorrow, Rose,” I said. “Give us the rest of the night off, and we’ll give you the whole scoop tomorrow. Plus it’ll give you a chance to get us a wedding present. We’re not registered anywhere, but we could seriously use some china and a blender.”

“Lord Ivashkov?” asked the desk attendant, looking embarrassed at having to interrupt us. “I’m actually afraid we’re short on rooms, between renovations and a tourist group from Bulgaria. We don’t have two single rooms, but we do have a larger family suite that would hold your whole group.”

I glanced between Sydney and my mom, both of whom seemed to be keeping their faces extremely neutral. I shrugged. “Well, we
are
family now.”

Rose and Dimitri bid us farewell once everything was settled, and the three of us made our way up to the suite we’d been given. I unlocked the door and, on impulse, swept Sydney into my arms and carried her inside.

“I know it’s not technically our real home yet,” I said. “But with as many irregularities as we’ve had with this wedding day, I feel like we need to keep some traditions.”

“By all means,” Sydney laughed.

I carefully set her down, and my mother smiled politely. She might have stood up for me and thrown her lot in with us, but I knew her well enough to understand it would take her a while to warm to a human daughter-in-law. “Thank you, Mom,” I said, sweeping her into a hug.

“I thought I’d learned my lessons in prison,” she said. “But it wasn’t until after you left that it all really and truly sunk in. I can’t say this is my ideal situation, but I’d rather make this kind of life with you than not have you at all—or my self-respect.”

I released her from the hug. “I’m proud of you. We’ll make it work. You’ll see. This’ll be great. We’ll be one big happy family.”

The two women in my life seemed a little unsure of that, but both seemed certain of their love for me, and for now, that had to be good enough. My mother soon found she could
hide her discomfort by finding things to criticize about our accommodations, which were every bit as luxurious as my last ones, only bigger. I left her to it and was more than relieved to finally get Sydney away for some privacy.

She sat on our bed and kicked off the blue shoes. “I don’t know which part of this day seems the most unreal.”

I sat beside her. “That’s the thing. It’s
all
real, especially the most important part: you and me, together forever, our marriage recognized in the eyes of human and Moroi alike.”

“But not happily.” Her smile faded. “Half my family never wants to see me again. And the half that does want to see me … well, I may not be able to see them again.”

“You will,” I said. “I’ll make sure of it.” I was acting more confident than I felt, and I knew she could tell. She’d just cut herself off from her family—from her race—for me, and although I couldn’t entirely relate to what she was going through, I silently vowed to help her through it as much as possible.

“You were right.” She pulled me closer to her. “About us getting protection. Even with all the complications, you made everything work.”

“
We
made it work, and those complications won’t last. For now, we can sit back and enjoy the rewards.” I spoke gallantly, not giving voice to some of the fears I’d picked up. After seeing the reactions of her father, my father, and even Wesley, I had an uneasy feeling that we wouldn’t be getting the peace she so longed for anytime soon. I refused to show that, though. At least not tonight. “And I have all sorts of rewards in mind. Unless you want to get some sleep.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and brushed her
lips against mine. “Depends. Did you stop at the drugstore, along with your trip to the wine store?”

“Stop there? Hell, I bought that place out, Sydney. I’m having no repeats of last time.”

She laughed and let me lay her back on the bed, where I began the exciting, albeit slightly frustrating, process of trying to figure out how to get that elaborate dress off. It turned out to be worth the effort, though, and when we fell asleep in each other’s arms much later, naked except for our wedding rings, I knew it had been worth
all
the effort. All the trials and ordeals we’d experienced had led to this moment, this perfect moment. We were exactly where we were meant to be.

I was awakened hours later by a knock at the door and my mother’s gentle voice: “Adrian? You have visitors.”

Sydney stirred in my arms, looking beautiful and content as the light of late afternoon spilled in through the blinds, illuminating her features. She was so gorgeous and sexy that I was debating pretending I hadn’t heard my mom, when a second and more forceful knock sounded. “Adrian? Sydney? It’s Rose. We have to talk.”

That brought Sydney around and eliminated whatever romantic morning encounter I might have pulled off. We got dressed and eventually made our way out to the suite’s living room. There, my mother sat with both Rose and Dimitri. I nearly chided Rose for not having been able to wait to hear the stories of all our exciting adventures … but then I noticed her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She and Dimitri exchanged looks. “Jill’s missing.”

“What do you mean Jill’s missing?” I demanded. “She’s still
at school. I had a text from her yesterday. She set up our trip.”

“And she’s got all her guardians,” added Sydney. “Eddie’s back, right?”

Rose nodded. “All three dhampirs were there on campus. Angeline was even in her room when she was taken.”

“Wait … did Angeline see it happen?” I asked.

“No,” said Dimitri. “That’s what’s so strange. Angeline went to bed with Jill in the room … and woke up with her gone.”

“She didn’t hear or see anything. Jill just disappeared like magic.” Rose snapped her fingers for effect. “Angeline feels terrible.”

I felt a tightness in my chest, and the room reeled. Jill … missing? It wasn’t possible. Not after everything I’d done for her. I’d brought her back to life! This couldn’t be happening. There was some mistake. Eddie wouldn’t have let this happen.