Hey guys! So I figured out that if I don't give myself set days to update, I'm just going to keep procrastinating. Same with all my summer work. I might not get back to a regular routine quite yet; I still have to figure out days for my other stories and for work and stuff. Oh, and if you've made it this far to reading, thank you so much!

Recap, since it's been a while even for me: Lissa sent a team out for Sydney and the other Alchemists in re-education. The ones in charge had been putting gold charmed with compulsion in the rebels' food, among other things. A shadow-figure we have yet to learn the identity of wants Sydney to cure the Alchemists of their hatred for vampires, and Adrian of course doesn't want her to do anything that would put her in danger. Sydney has a few plans in motion already with the other escaped Alchemists, including Keith and Marcus, on her side.

In Chapter Eighteen, Sydney overheard her father with Cyrus, another Alchemist placed on campus. When Cyrus approached her after, Sydney offered to help him out of his lily-based confines.

I will be adding aspects of Silver Shadows, but nothing involving major spoilers if I can help it. And I will change some of the original details, as usual.

By the time I went to sleep that night, I felt worse when I should've been more confident. While Carly and I chipped in to get a ticket for a flight taking off right about now, not only could we only get the one seat, but Carly told me that Jared had taken custody of Zoe. Legally, thanks to the Alchemists, Mom couldn't do anything about it.

The single good thing to come out of that situation was that my resolve hardened. Zoe would be easily influenced, as she was younger yet grew up hearing the same things I did. I refused to let her fall into those traps.

It took my riled brain a bit too long to fall asleep, but when I did, I was sucked almost immediately into a spirit dream.

"Took you long enough." Adrian folded me against his chest. We only ever shared fleeting kisses; wrapped in his embrace, I was okay with that. There was still too much at stake, even more unknown, and if I was perfectly honest with my new rebellious self, I still had underlying Alchemist feelings holding me back. "Jailbait texted me about your workout with Eddie. You're worrying our princess, Sage."

I pulled back enough to meet his green eyes. Exhaustion flickered in the depths. I drew on my magic, too, blending it seamlessly with his so that he could sleep through the dream. "I was trained by Rose. What do you expect?"

"Good point." He sighed. "That doesn't change anything. You are going a little revenge-crazy, don't you think?"

"Training for self-defense and actually attacking are two different things." I made a point not to mention my plans in their full extent yet. Instead I decided to tell him about what happened after I left our friends, since I was pretty sure Jill told him I didn't see them for the rest of the night. At least she knew I was alright by now.

Adrian didn't have the same positive outlook. "You still trusted that Cyrus jerk. He's here to find out your weaknesses, and you heard your own fa– ex-father say it." I was impressed that he hadn't cursed, even a minor one. "You shouldn't have told him anything." He attempted a glare but failed, too worried about what could happen now that I'd reached out.

"Marcus and I both need someone on the Alchemists' good side. I can always protect Cyrus if he decides to join us. And if he goes straight to my once-dad, he doesn't know enough to get me locked up forever. I know how to break out of most things they send my way."

He released me to rake his hands through his hair. "This is stupid and reckless and… God, Sage, why can't you focus on staying away from them instead?" I stayed silent. He knew why.

"If you don't want to help me, you don't have to," I ventured quietly. "Jill and I can stop involving you."

Pain flickered in the emerald depths. "Of course I have to help," he muttered. Raising his voice slightly, he added, "Jailbait would end up telling me everything that happened anyway, or else I would pester her a million times over. It's not like I can bother you all day without worrying about leaving a trail for psychos to follow." I couldn't help but smile at that comment.

The dream started to fade around me. "I'll see you at Clarence's," I said in farewell.

In the waking world, it was Angeline above me just a little after midnight. "Trey called me. He was attacked." I bolted into a sitting position. If I hadn't been awake already, I definitely was now. "He woke up before the three people could land a blow. Two ran out and he pushed the other one through the window since it was dissolved or something."

"Fantastic," I groaned. Getting out of the comfort of my bed, I pulled out the case of my Alchemist chemicals and some witchcraft stuff. I planned on making more amulets tomorrow during independent study; taking out the invisibility one, I met Angeline's gaze. "I can fix the glass before anybody notices. If his roommate asks in the morning, he's going to have to say there was a draft… but I'll tell him that when I see him. Just text him that I'm heading over now and not to do anything near that window." She nodded and rushed off. I hoped Jill would get enough sleep after this. She had a big fashion project coming up.

Cutting across campus took a lot longer on foot. Luckily the amulet kept me undetected, exactly as Ms. Terwilliger said it would. When I managed the climb into Trey's room, his eyes landed on me immediately.

"I didn't think Angeline would wake you up that fast. She must've been in the hallway when I was still talking to her."

I shrugged. "It's fine. The sooner we get this done, the less likely it is to be found out." Remarking swiftly it was just a draft in the room, I set to work quickly, feeling the magic waver after I spoke. Trey kept an eye on the rest of the room, both for some shadow presence lying in wait and for his roommate's shallow breathing.

Once I finished, the window looked as if nothing had happened, yet I had no clues to tell us who did this. I could take three guesses and possibly be right on any of them. Noting mentally that I would have to look into this more, especially since Trey's roommate was still sleeping through everything, I fought the drowsiness tugging at me.

Cyrus caught me sneaking back through campus. "What are you doing up?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could. The amulet had worn off not even six strides back. I wasn't as fast with those chemicals as I used to be.

"I could ask you the same thing," he shot back. Then he sighed. "Can I talk to you during your free period tomorrow… err, today?"

My guard spiked up. "Ms. Terwilliger will be in the room with us. You aren't sending my teacher supervisor away for some hidden agenda." I knew I sounded snappish, but there was no way I would let him catch me alone a third time.

"Of course," he agreed. "If you want me at the feeding tonight, I would come."

His sincerity struck a heavy realization. Two times now he had every opportunity to have hidden Alchemists back him up, and he didn't either one. "You don't need to be around the Moroi more than you have to. You were put here to watch me, right?" I bit my tongue before I could give away exactly how much I knew about his presence. "Try not to talk to me before last period, though. If I'm right in my assumption, this needs to be completely secret."

"Thank you." He walked off stiffly. I watched him for several seconds, judging the tense gait.

Putting that analysis off for another night, I rushed back to get some sleep while I still could. It was going to be a long day.