The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)(65)

"Sydney?"

Jill was standing beside us - a worried expression on her face. My inner alarms immediately went off, wondering what had caused such a sudden change from her happy, carefree attitude earlier. "What's wrong?" I asked. My first fear was for Adrian, that she'd sensed something through the bond. I shook the thought. I needed to be worrying about Moroi assassins, not his well-being.

Jill said nothing but simply nodded toward the punch table, almost exactly where Brayden and I had been earlier. Trey was back, talking animatedly to a girl in a Venetian mask. The mask was beautiful - an icy blue, decorated with silver leaves and flowers. The mask was also familiar. Jill had worn it in Lia's runway show and had been allowed to keep it. Equally familiar was this masked girl's outfit, a threadbare shirt and ragged jean shorts -

"No," I said, recognizing the long, strawberry blonde hair. "Angeline. How did she get here? Never mind." There were any number of people she could have sneaked here with. The chaperones probably wouldn't have noticed her on a shuttle bus. "We have to get her out of here. If she's caught, she'll be expelled for sure."

"The mask does hide her features," Jill pointed out. "Maybe no one will notice."

"Mrs. Weathers will," I said, sighing. "That woman's got a sixth sense for - oh. Too late." Mrs. Weathers was chaperoning on the other side of the room, but her eagle eyes missed nothing. Peering over the crowded dance floor, I saw her begin making her way toward the punch. I didn't think she'd made a positive ID on Angeline yet, but her suspicions were definitely raised.

"What's wrong?" asked Brayden, glancing between Jill and me. No doubt we wore mirrored expressions of dismay.

"Our cousin's about to get in some serious trouble," I said.

"We have to do something." Jill's eyes were wide and anxious. "We have to get her out of here."

"How?" I exclaimed.

Mrs. Weathers had reached the refreshments table, just as Trey and Angeline began walking toward the dance floor. I saw her start to go after them, but Mrs. Weathers didn't get very far - because the punch bowl suddenly exploded.

Well, not the bowl itself. The punch inside exploded, spraying out in a spectacular shower of bright green liquid. There were shrieks as several nearby people got splashed, but it was Mrs. Weathers who took the brunt of it.

I heard a sharp intake of breath from Brayden. "How in the world did that happen? That must have - Sydney?

I'd cried out and jerked a few feet away, knowing exactly what had caused that bowl to explode.

Brayden assumed my reaction was fear of injury. "It's okay," he said. "We're too far away for any glass to be over here."

Immediately, I looked at Jill. She gave me a small, helpless shrug that said, Well, what else was I supposed to do? My usual reaction to Moroi magic was disgust and fear. Tonight, shock and dismay were there too. We didn't need attention drawn to us. True, no one knew or would even guess that Jill had used vampire water magic to create the punch distraction, but it didn't matter. I didn't want any word of weird, unexplainable phenomena leaking out of Amberwood.

We needed to stay under the radar.

"Are you okay?" Eddie had suddenly appeared by our side - or rather, Jill's side. "What happened?" He wasn't even looking at the punch. His focus was all on Jill, and just like earlier, she actually seemed to notice it. Brayden was the one who answered, his eyes alight with intellectual curiosity as he watched teachers scurry and try to clean up the mess.

"Some sort of chemical reaction, if I had to guess. Could be as simple as using baking soda. Or maybe some kind of mechanical device?"

I gave Eddie a pointed look. "It was a prank," I said. "Anyone could've done it." Eddie looked at me, then looked back at Jill. He gave a slow nod. "I see. We should get you out of here," he told her. "You never know what - "

"No, no," I said. "Get Angeline out of here."

"Angeline?" Eddie's face registered disbelief. "But how...?" I directed him toward where she stood with Trey on the dance floor. They, like many others, were staring at the aftermath of the punch explosion with wonder. "I don't know how she got here," I said. "It's irrelevant. She needs to leave. Mrs. Weathers nearly caught her." A knowing glint flashed in Eddie's eyes. "But the punch distracted her?"

"Yes."

His attention fell back on Jill, and he smiled. "Convenient timing." She smiled back. "I guess we got lucky this time." Their gazes locked, and it was almost a shame to interrupt. "Go," I told Eddie. "Get Angeline." He cast one last look at Jill and then jumped into action. I couldn't hear the conversation as he spoke with Angeline and Trey, but the look on his face would accept no arguments. I could see Trey yielding to family authority, and after a few more arguments, Angeline gave in as well. Eddie quickly escorted her out, and to my relief, neither Mrs. Weathers nor anyone else seemed to notice.

"Jill," I said. "It might be best if you and Micah leave early. You don't have to go right this second... but soon."

Jill nodded, face sad. "I understand."

Even if no one would connect her to this, it was best if she wasn't around. Already, I could see people gathering at the table and, like Brayden, trying to figure out what could have caused such a phenomenon. She vanished into the crowd. Brayden finally looked away from the spectacle. He started to say something to me and then suddenly jerked his head toward the DJ.