I felt a bit of smugness at that. Alicia had been so cocky that we wouldn’t be prepared to go for Jill, but she hadn’t counted on Sydney’s sleuthing. I was proud of myself for holding back in truly turning on the spirit. In fact, I’d been very cautious of it the last couple of days, and amazingly, Aunt Tatiana had stayed mostly quiet.

“We also currently have amnesty, so we can move around freely and go join them in St. George,” Sydney said, nodding to me. “Not that you and I’ll do much as far as action, but we can at least monitor things and be there when Jill’s released. Neil, Eddie, and some of the others will be at the actual rescue.”

“I look forward to it,” said Neil, a dangerous edge in his voice. Eddie’s fierce expression answered for him.

“We’ll all get more details once we’re in St. George,” continued Sydney. “We can hit the road as soon as everyone’s ready. It’s about a six-hour drive, and we should end up there right about the time the raid is scheduled to happen.”

“I’m ready to go any time,” said Neil.

“Me too,” I said. “Just give me two minutes to gather my things.”

Sydney followed me to Maude’s guest room and watched as I shoved my spare clothes and laptop into the tote bag I’d been hauling around on this adventure. “Rose called me,” she said, shutting the door. “She and Dimitri wanted to see if it was okay for them to go to St. George—leaving your mom and Declan at Clarence’s. I told them it was. I hope that’s all right.”

I paused, momentarily alarmed, then gave a slow nod. “Yeah, I think so. The Alchemists will have given up watching your hangouts, now that they know where you’re headed. And really, as long as no one’s looking for Declan . . .”

“That’s what I thought too,” agreed Sydney. “Though I could tell Rose was dying to know why we’ve been so secretive about him.”

I slung my bag over my shoulder and put my free arm around her, noticing that she had a small bag tucked in the crook of her elbow. “I think we should tell them when this is over—and once we’ve figured things out with Neil. They’re trustworthy . . . and they deserve to know. You know what it means for them.”

“I do. Plus, whatever we end up doing to help Declan and Neil . . . well, I think we’re going to need a few allies. They’re good ones to have. I don’t suppose Neil’s changed his mind?”

“No,” I said in exasperation. “He still keeps wanting to take the moral high ground, saying it’s best for Declan.”

“We’ll talk him out of it,” she said. “Once this is all over and Jill’s back.”