Marcus called Sydney back a couple of hours later, saying he had news and would come to Palm Springs immediately to deliver it in person. Marcus was as much a wanted fugitive as Sydney, though, and in his usual cautious way, he arranged for a meeting away from both Clarence’s and Trey’s the next day.

The place he chose was a Mongolian restaurant outside of town. Rose and Dimitri, after much coaxing, agreed to wait at Clarence’s for an update so as not to create too large a crowd. We had Trey and Eddie join us, though, because Trey had useful insight about the Warriors and because no force on earth could keep Eddie from making plans about Jill. When we walked into the restaurant, Sydney exhaled in relief.

“Good. He brought Sabrina with him.”

I’d met Sabrina briefly but didn’t know her well. She was about my age and had been an undercover member of the Warriors of Light for years. Her first meeting with Sydney had involved holding Sydney at gunpoint, which didn’t thrill me, though we knew now that Sabrina had been trying to protect Marcus. Over time, we’d come to respect her and the important job she did. She didn’t agree with the Warriors’ philosophy, yet she’d remained among them because the intel she provided was so useful to others. I certainly hoped it’d be useful today.

“Good news and bad news,” said Marcus, which wasn’t exactly the opening we’d been hoping for. “The good news is that we’re pretty sure the Warriors do have Jill. The bad news is that we don’t know exactly where she is.”

Eddie crossed his arms. “Time to free Alicia and get some answers.”

“Not necessarily,” said Sabrina. Her long blond hair was pulled up into a high ponytail today, and she looked very much like an ordinary girl, not someone posing as a member of a fanatical anti-vampire group. “My guess is that Alicia doesn’t know where Jill is either. She most likely caught Jill and delivered her to the Warriors, then let them hide her away somewhere. I snooped around and found reports of a ‘high-profile Moroi prisoner,’ but they aren’t even revealing her location to members in our own group. They might work with someone like Alicia, but they wouldn’t trust her much.”

The news wasn’t cheering me up, and Eddie shared my frustration. “Then what do we do if your own people don’t know where she is?” he demanded.

“Well,” said Sabrina. “Someone knows. Just not someone at my level.”

Marcus nodded as he swallowed a bite of his stir-fry, which by my estimation seemed to contain entirely meat and no vegetables.

Primitive, sniffed Aunt Tatiana.

Hey, lay off, I told her. Being a dashing fugitive probably requires lots of protein.

“We have some ideas to get to that someone,” Marcus said. “The first is to ask the Alchemists to do it. We know they have ties to the Warriors.”

“For all we know, they’re working with them,” said Eddie. “They have in the past.”

“On some things,” Sydney said slowly. “But not on this. They don’t want to risk the Moroi going into chaos. They want Jill back. They wouldn’t stand by if she was a prisoner.”

“Agreed,” said Marcus. His eyes met mine. “That, and they might intervene simply because they won’t like the Warriors overstepping their bounds. They’re nothing if not control freaks, and they aren’t going to like that the Warriors worked with a witch to interfere with the Moroi. Of course, that means someone has to tell them the Warriors have Jill.”

“It doesn’t have to be one of you,” Eddie said, catching the unspoken message between Marcus and me. “Heck, I’ll do it.”

“They might not believe you,” I said, smiling at his vehemence. “They might not even believe me.”

Trey had been quiet while discussing the group he’d once been a member of, but he finally spoke up now. “There’s also a good chance the Warriors will deny it, even if the Alchemists do come asking about it. They’re kind of obsessed with control too. They might be difficult out of spite.”

“You’re right,” said Sabrina. “Which is why we have one more option.”

There was a warning note in her voice that put me on alert. “Which is?”

She exchanged glances with Marcus and then turned to Sydney. “The Warriors are going to be initiating some new members next week. You could go undercover and then try to infiltrate the higher tiers of power to find out where Jill’s at.” She spoke in a rush, as though that might help reduce the overall absurdity of the suggestion.

“You want me to join the Warriors?” Sydney exclaimed.

“No,” said Eddie and I in unison.

“You’d just be participating in their recruitment,” said Sabrina, as though that were some kind of reassurance. “It’s like an orientation.”

“Or a sorority rush,” said Marcus, which really didn’t improve things.

Trey shook his head in dismay. “I know what you’re talking about, and it’s crazy.” He turned to the rest of us. “They round up a bunch of potential recruits, bring them in secret to a Warrior compound, and make them compete in all kinds of ordeals to prove their worth. Remember when I had to fight my own cousin?”

The Warriors had once held Sonya captive and used her as part of a ceremony meant to “test” its young members. Along with fighting his cousin, Trey had then been expected to kill Sonya. He hadn’t planned on going through with it, and those plans went awry anyway when a group of guardians disrupted the whole ceremony to bust Sonya out. Sydney had also caused a fair amount of chaos, and the Warriors certainly weren’t her fans.

“The Warriors know Sydney’s face,” Eddie reminded us. “She can’t do it. Send me. I wouldn’t mind throwing a few of those freaks around. I’ve already had lots of practice.”

“You have,” agreed Marcus, “but Sydney’s had a bit more practice with breaking and entering to retrieve intel. And they probably know your face too.”

Sydney frowned. “Can we both go? I wouldn’t mind the backup, and I’ve got a few tricks that could disguise us.”

Are you going to sit by and let them go ahead with this? Aunt Tatiana asked me.

I turned to Sydney in amazement. “Are you seriously considering this? I mean, I’m all for crazy plans, but this is out there even for me.”