Richelle Mead - The Golden Lily

Again, my social skills took a moment to kick in. “You mean, you don’t like that you have to touch her?”

Eddie actually blushed. “It doesn’t bother me, that’s the problem. Better for us to spend time together in a hands-off way.”

I hadn’t expected that, but I could understand it. Leaving Eddie to his own inner demons, I soon got caught up in the day and wondering what had happened to Trey. I’d hoped he’d come into class late, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t surface for the rest of the day, not even when I was finishing up my independent study. I’d thought he might come by again for homework.

“You look troubled,” said Ms. Terwilliger, watching me pack up when the bell rang. “Worried about getting your project in on time?”

“No.” I’d actually finished two of the charms, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’m worried about Trey. He keeps missing school. Do you know why he’s out? I mean, if you can tell me?”

“The office notifies us if a student will be out for the day, but they don’t tell us the reason. If it makes you feel better, Mr. Juarez’s absence was called in this morning. He hasn’t disappeared.” I almost mentioned my fears about his home but held off. I still needed more evidence.

Between worrying about Trey, Ms. Terwilliger’s work, the Warriors, Brayden, and all my other myriad complications, I knew I couldn’t waste any of my free time. Nonetheless, I went to Adrian’s after school on a mission I couldn’t refuse. On our way to Wolfe’s class earlier this week, Adrian had mentioned offhandedly that he hadn’t had the Mustang looked at by a mechanic before purchasing it. Although my own novice assessment hadn’t found anything wrong with the car, I pushed for Adrian to get the car examined-which, of course, meant I had to look up a specialist and make the appointment. It was just before my textile museum date, but I was certain I had time to make it all work.

“The guy I bought it from seemed pretty trustworthy,” Adrian told me, after we’d dropped the car off with the mechanic. He’d told us he’d look at it right away and that we could hang around and wait. His shop was on the outskirts of a suburban area, so Adrian suggested we go for a walk through the neighborhoods. “And it ran just fine when I did the test drive, so I figured everything was okay.”

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems you can’t see. It’s best to be safe,” I said, knowing I sounded preachy. “Bad enough you got a car you can’t drive.” Glancing over, I saw a small, half smile on his face.

“With your help, I’ll be a pro in no time. Of course, if you don’t want to help anymore, I’ll just wing it and figure it out on my own.”

I groaned. “You already know what I’d say about-wow.”

The neighborhood we were in was pretty affluent. In fact, I’d say the houses bordered on being bona fide mansions. We stopped in front of one that looked like a cross between a hacienda and a southern plantation, large and sprawling with a pillared porch and pink stucco siding. The front yard was a mix of climates, green grass with palm trees lining the path to the house. The trees were like tropical sentries.

“Gorgeous,” I said. “I love architecture. In another life, I’d have studied that-not chemicals and vampires.” As we continued on, we saw more of the same, each house trying to outdo the others. All of them had high fences and hedges blocking their backyards. “I wonder what’s back there. Pools, probably.”

Adrian stopped in front of another. It was as yellow as his car and showed another mix of styles, like a southwest version of a medieval castle, complete with turrets. “Nice juxtaposition,” he remarked.

I turned, knowing my eyes were wide as I stared at him. “Did you just use juxtaposition in a sentence?”

“Yes, Sage,” he said patiently. “We use it all the time with art, when we’re mixing different components. That, and I know how to use a dictionary.” He turned from me and scanned the house, his eyes resting on a gardener who was out trimming some hedges. A sly smile crossed Adrian’s lips. “You want to see the back? Come on.”

“What are you-” Before I could say another word, Adrian strode up the granite pathway and cut across the lawn to where the guy was working. I didn’t want anything to do with this, but the responsible part of me couldn’t let Adrian get into trouble. I hurried after him.

“Are the owners home?” Adrian asked.

The gardener had stopped his clipping and stared at Adrian. “No.”

“When will they be back?”

“After six.”

I was astonished that the guy was answering these questions. If I’d been asked them, I would’ve assumed someone was staging a break-in. Then, I saw the glazed look in the gardener’s eyes and realized what was going on.

“Adrian-”

Adrian’s eyes never left the other man’s face. “Take us to the backyard.”

“Of course.”

The gardener dropped his hedge clippers and headed for a gate on the side of the house. I tried to get Adrian’s attention to stop this, but he was outpacing me. Our guide stopped at the gate, entered a security code, and led us to the back. My protests died on my lips as I gazed around.

This back property was almost three times the size of the front. There were more palm trees ringing the yard, along with a terraced garden full of plants, both native and non-native. A huge oval shaped pool dominated the space, its turquoise hue startling against the gray of the granite that surrounded it. On one side of the pool, several steps led up to a smaller, square pool. It could only hold a few people, and a waterfall poured out from it, down to the larger pool. Tiki torches and tables around the pools completed the lush setup.

“Thanks,” Adrian told the gardener. “Go back to your work. It’s okay if we’re here. We’ll see ourselves out.”

“Of course,” the man replied. He walked back the way we’d come in.

I snapped back to reality. “Adrian! You used compulsion on that guy. That… I mean, it’s…”

“Awesome?” Adrian walked over to the steps leading up to the upper pool. “Yeah, I know.”

“It’s wrong! All of this. Breaking and entering, and compulsion…” I shivered, despite the sweltering heat. “It’s immoral. Controlling someone else’s mind. You know it! Your people and mine both agree.”

“Eh, no harm done.” He climbed to the top of the pool and stood on its edge, surveying his kingdom. The sun brought out chestnut glints in his brown hair. “Believe me, that guy was easy to control. Weak-willed. I barely had to use compulsion.”

“Adrian-”

“Come on, Sage. Not like we’re going to hurt anything. Check out this view.”

I was almost afraid to go up there. It was so rare for any of the Moroi here to use their magic that it was easy for me to pretend it didn’t exist. Seeing Adrian use it-the most insidious kind-made my skin crawl. As I’d told Ms. Terwilliger in our charm discussion, no one should be able to control another like that.

“Come on,” Adrian repeated. “You’re not worried I’m going to compel you up here, are you?”

“Of course not,” I said. And I meant it. I didn’t know why, but some part of me knew Adrian would never, ever harm me. Reluctantly, I went to join him, hoping that would encourage him to leave. When I reached the top, my jaw dropped. The intimate pool hadn’t seemed that high, but it gave us a stunning view of the mountains off in the distance, rugged and majestic against the blue of the sky. The larger pool glittered below us, and the waterfall made it look like we’d entered some mystical oasis.

“Cool, huh?” he asked. Adrian sat down on the small pool’s edge, rolled up his jeans, and took off his socks and shoes.