Richelle Mead - The Golden Lily

With that, he sat down and gestured to me. Nothing else was offered, and I assumed this meant the floor was mine. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to make my case or where. The council made the decisions, but this seemed like something everyone should hear. I stood up and waited for the girl with the gun to stop me from moving. She didn’t. Slowly, carefully, I made my way down the bleachers and stood in the arena, mindful not to go near Sonya. I didn’t think that would go over well.

I kept my body angled toward the council but turned my head in a way that would hopefully carry to others. I’d given reports and presentations before but always in a conference room. I’d never addressed an angry mob, let alone spoken to such a large group about vampire affairs. Most of the faces out there were swallowed by shadows, but I could picture all those mad, bloodthirsty eyes fixed on me. My mouth felt dry, and, in what was a very rare occurrence, my mind blanked. A moment later, I was able to push through my fear (though it certainly didn’t go away), and remember what I’d wanted to say.

“You’re making a mistake,” I began. My voice was small, and I cleared my throat, forcing myself to project and sound stronger. “Sonya Karp is not a Strigoi.”

“We have records of her in Kentucky,” interrupted Master Jameson. “Eyewitnesses who saw her kill.”

“That’s because she was a Strigoi back then. But she isn’t anymore.” I kept thinking the tattoo would stop me from talking, but this group was already well aware of the vampiric world. “In the last year, the Alchemists have learned a lot about vampires. You must know that the Moroi-your so-called ‘benign fiends’-practice elemental magic. We’ve recently found out there’s a new, rare kind of magic out there, one that’s tied to psychic powers and healing. That power has the ability to restore Strigoi back to their original form, be it human, dhampir, or Moroi.”

A few angry denials quickly rose to a frenzy. Mob mentality in action. It took Master Jameson to quiet them again. “That,” he said simply, “is impossible.”

“We have documented cases of three-no, four-people this has happened to. Three Moroi and a dhampir who once were Strigoi and are now in possession of their original selves and souls.” Speaking about Lee in the present tense wasn’t entirely accurate, but there was no need to clarify. Besides, describing a former Strigoi who wanted to become Strigoi again probably wouldn’t help my case. “Look at her. Does she seem Strigoi? She’s out in the sun.” There wasn’t much of it left, but even these fleeting rays of sunset would kill a Strigoi. With the way I was sweating from fear, I might as well have been out under a blazing mid-afternoon sun. “You keep saying this is the work of some twisted magic, but have you ever, even once, seen her in Strigoi form here in Palm Springs?”

No one acknowledged that right away. Finally, Master Angeletti said, “She defeated our forces in the street. Obviously, she turned back into her true form.”

I scoffed. “She didn’t do that. Dimitri Belikov did-one of the greatest dhampir warriors out there. No offense, but despite all the training, your soldiers were hopelessly outclassed.” I was met with more aggressive gazes. I realized that probably wasn’t the best thing I could’ve said.

“You’ve been deceived,” said Master Angeletti. “No surprise since your people have long since become enmeshed behind the scenes with the Moroi. You aren’t like us, down in the trenches. You don’t come face-to-face with the Strigoi. They’re evil, bloodthirsty creatures who must be destroyed.”

“I agree with that. But Sonya’s not one of them. Look at her.” I was gaining courage, my voice growing stronger and clearer in the desert night. “You keep bragging about capturing some terrible monster, but all I see is a drugged, restrained woman. Nice work. Truly a worthy enemy.”

None of the council looked nearly as tolerant of me as they had before. “We simply subdued her,” said Master Ortega. “It’s a sign of our prowess that we were able to do so.”

“You’ve subdued an innocent and defenseless woman.” I didn’t know if driving home that point would help, but I figured it couldn’t hurt if they had twisted, chivalrous views of women. “And I know you’ve made mistakes before. I know about Santa Cruz.” I had no idea if this had been the same group whose men had gone after Clarence, but I was gambling the council at least knew about it. “Some of your more zealous members went after an innocent Moroi. You saw the errors of your way then when Marcus Finch told you the truth. It’s not too late to correct this mistake either.”

To my astonishment, Master Ortega actually smiled. “Marcus Finch? You’re holding him up as some kind of hero?”

Not exactly, no. I didn’t even know the guy. But if he was a human that talked these crazy people down, then he must have some kind of integrity.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked. “He was able to see right from wrong.”

Even Master Angeletti chuckled now. “I would never have expected an Alchemist to praise his sense of ‘right and wrong.’ I thought your own views of that were immovable.”

“What are you talking about?” I didn’t mean to get derailed, but these comments were too puzzling.

“Marcus Finch betrayed the Alchemists,” explained Master Angeletti. “You didn’t know? I assumed a rogue Alchemist is the last person you’d use to make your case.”

I was momentarily speechless. Was he saying… was he saying that Marcus Finch used to be an Alchemist? No. He couldn’t be. If he had been, then Stanton would have known who he was. Unless she lied about not having any record of him , a voice in my head warned.

Master Jameson had apparently heard enough from me. “We appreciate you coming out here and respect your attempt to stand up for what you believe is true. We’re also glad you were able to see just how strong we’ve become. I hope you’ll take this news back to your order. If anything, your attempts here have demonstrated what we’ve long known: our groups need each other. Clearly, the Alchemists have gleaned a lot of knowledge over the years that could be very useful to us-just as our strength could be useful to you. Nonetheless,” he glanced over toward Sonya and scowled, “the point remains now that whatever your intentions, you truly have been deceived. Even if there’s some tiny impossible chance that you’re right, that she truly is a Moroi… we can’t take the chance that she’s still been corrupted. Even if she believes she’s been restored, she may still have been subconsciously influenced.”

Again, I was speechless-but not because I appeared to have lost my case. Master Jameson’s words were nearly identical to what Keith’s father had said, when he’d told me Keith would be taken back to Re-education. Mr. Darnell had echoed the sentiment, that they couldn’t take the risk of even a subtle bit of influence affecting Keith. Extreme actions had been required. We’re the same , I thought. The Alchemists and the Warriors. Years have divided us, but we came from the same place-in both our goals and blind attitudes .

And then Master Jameson said the most shocking thing of all. “Even if she is just a Moroi, it’s no great loss. We’ll come for them eventually anyway, once we’ve defeated the Strigoi.”

I froze at those words. The blonde girl came forward and again forced me to sit down on the first row of the bleachers. I offered no resistance, too shocked at what I’d just heard. What did they mean they’d come for the Moroi? Sonya could just be the beginning, then the rest of my friends, and then Adrian…

Master Angeletti snapped me back to the present. He made a grand gesture toward Chris as he spoke. “By the divine power we have been granted to bring light and purity into this world, you are authorized to destroy this creature. Commence.”