Disbelief returned to Neil’s features, but this time it was more stunned than angry. “We both know that’s not true,” he said. “Was that . . . was that why she ran? Did she think I’d judge her? We had no real commitments, not truly. I was crazy about her, it’s true, but there was just—”

“The one time, I know,” I finished. “But that’s all it took. Somehow, something happened to her when she was restored from being a Strigoi that let her conceive a baby with you. I didn’t believe it either until I looked at him more closely with my magic. There’s definitely a spiritual, I don’t know, residue on him. It’s crazy, I know. But he is yours.”

Neil sat on the bed, so still he could have been a statue. I understood his grief and sat beside him. “Neil, I’m so sorry.”

“Olive’s dead,” he said numbly. He looked up at me and blinked back tears. “If what you’re saying is true—if somehow, through some sort of magic, that baby is mine, then why didn’t Olive tell me herself? Why’d she run away?”

“Because she was afraid of that magic,” I said. “And she was afraid of what people would say or do—both the Moroi and the Alchemists. She hid him to protect him from being treated like a freak of nature, and I promised to help protect him.”

Neil stared blankly for several moments, and then I think hearing about protection woke up his better instincts. “Who knows? Who knows about D-Declan?”

“About his true nature?” I gestured to myself. “Only me and Sydney. Rose and Dimitri know he’s Olive’s, as do a couple of people back at the commune. That’s it. We thought it was safest that as few people know about him as possible. If they knew that somehow, probably through Olive being restored, dhampirs could have kids . . . well, it’d shock a lot of people. Some would be happy, some curious. They’d all want to learn more about him, and that’s not what Olive wanted.”

Neil remained silent and nearly as motionless as Alicia had been.

“Neil?” I said, a little unnerved by his shell-shocked state. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll help you. We’ll make sure Olive’s wishes are honored—that Declan lives a happy, normal life. Once this business with Jill is over, we’ll get you and Declan together and—”

“No,” said Neil, suddenly coming to life. He looked up at me sharply, and though his expression was hard, there was a terrible sadness in his voice. “I can’t ever see him again.”

CHAPTER 17: SYDNEY

CHAPTER 17

SYDNEY