The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)(107)

The other reason was that I didn't plan on being around.

I was still resolved to go with Marcus to Mexico, and the week flew by. Winter finals were a breeze, and before I knew it, it was Friday, the day before our trip to Mexico. I took a risk by telling my friends goodbye. The safest thing would've been to disappear without a trace, but I trusted them all - even Angeline - to keep my secret and feign ignorance once the Alchemists discovered they had a runaway. I told Trey as well. No matter what had gone down between us, he was still my friend, and I would miss him.

As the day wore on, the dorm grew quieter and quieter - aside from unending Christmas music playing in the lobby. Not wanting to exclude other religions, Mrs. Weathers had also set out a menorah and "Happy Kwanzaa" banner. Tomorrow was officially the last day before everyone had to be out, and a number of people had already left for winter break. I'd finished my own packing, which was light. I didn't want to be burdened down with excess luggage since I really had no idea what to expect in Mexico.

I still had two people I needed to say goodbye to: Adrian and Jill. I'd avoided them both for very different reasons, but time was running out. I knew Jill was just a flight of stairs away, but Adrian was more difficult. We'd been in touch a couple times after the fire, simply to sort out some details, but he'd soon gone silent. No calls, no texts, no dreams. Maybe I should've been glad. Maybe I should've welcomed the chance to leave without any painful goodbyes . . . but I couldn't. My chest ached with the thought of not seeing him again. Even though he was the reason I was leaving, I still felt like I needed some closure.

It's not about closure, Sydney. You want to see him. You need to see him. And that's exactly why you have to leave.

Finally, I took the plunge and called him. It took me so long to work up the nerve that I could hardly believe it when he didn't answer. I resisted the urge to immediately try again. No. I could wait. There would still be time tomorrow, and surely . . . surely he wasn't avoiding me?

I decided to hold off on talking to Jill until the next day. Telling her goodbye was just as difficult - and not just because of what she saw through the bond. I knew she'd think I was abandoning her. In truth, if I stayed and ended up with Adrian, I'd possibly be caught and never be able to help her at all. At least if I was away and free, I could try to help her from the outside. I hoped she'd understand.

Waiting on her gave me the opportunity to take care of an unwelcome errand: returning Malachi Wolfe's gun. I'd never gone to his home without Adrian, and even though I knew I had nothing to fear from Wolfe, there was still something a little unsettling about going to the compound alone.

To my complete and utter astonishment, Wolfe let me into the house when I arrived. All was quiet. "Where are the dogs?" I asked.

"At training," he said. "I have a friend who's an expert dog trainer, and he's giving them some stealth lessons. He used to work for a local K-9 unit."

I didn't think it was in the Chihuahua genetic code to ever be stealthy. I kept that to myself and instead stared around in amazement at Wolfe's kitchen. I'd expected something like a ship's galley. Instead, I found an astonishingly cheery room, with blue-checkered wallpaper and a squirrel cookie jar. If someone had asked me to describe the most unlikely Wolfe kitchen out there, it would've looked something like this. No - wait. On the refrigerator, he had some magnets that looked like ninja throwing stars. That, at least, was in character.

Adrian's going to flip out when I tell him. Then I remembered I might not see Adrian for a very long time. That realization killed whatever amusement I'd just felt.

"So what do you need?" asked Wolfe. Peering at him, I suddenly had a strange feeling the eye patch really was on a different eye from last time. I should've paid more attention. "Another gun?"

I returned to the task at hand. "No, sir. I didn't even need the first one, but thanks for lending it to me." I removed it from the bag and handed it to him.

He gave the gun a once-over and then set it inside a drawer. "Fixed your problem? You can still hang on to it if you want."

"I'm leaving the country. Bringing it over the border might cause me some trouble."

"Fair enough," he said. He grabbed the cookie jar and took off the lid, leaning it toward me. An amazing scent drifted out. "Want one? I just made them."

I was really regretting not being able to tell Adrian about this. "No thanks, sir. I've had more than enough sugar these last few weeks." I felt like I should have a frequent customer card for Pies and Stuff.

"I thought you looked better. Not all skin and bones anymore." He nodded in approval, which felt really weird and slightly creepy. "So where are you two kids going?"

"Mexi - oh, Adrian's not going with me. I'm going with someone else."

"Really?" He slid the squirrel back across the counter. "I'm surprised. I always figured when you two left here, you went home and had your own private 'training sessions.'"

I felt myself turning bright red. "No! It's not like - I mean, we're just friends, sir."

"I had a friend like that once. Silver Tooth Sally." He got that faraway expression that always came on when he had an anecdote to share.

"I'm sorry, did you say - "

"Never met a woman like Sally," he interrupted. "We fought our way across Switzerland together, always watching each other's backs. We finally got out alive - just barely - and she wanted to come back to the States and settle down. Not me. I had dreams, you see. I was a young man then, drawn to danger and glory. I left her and went off to live with an Orcadian shaman. It took two years and a lot of vision quests to realize my mistake, but when I got back, I couldn't find her. When I close my eye at night, I can still see that tooth sparkle like a star. It haunts me, girl. It haunts me."