“You’ve subdued an innocent and defenseless woman.” I didn’t know if driving home that point would help, but I figured it couldn’t hurt if they had twisted, chivalrous views of women. “And I know you’ve made mistakes before. I know about Santa Cruz.” I had no idea if this had been the same group whose men had gone after Clarence, but I was gambling the council at least knew about it. “Some of your more zealous members went after an innocent Moroi. You saw the errors of your way then when Marcus Finch told you the truth. It’s not too late to correct this mistake either.”

To my astonishment, Master Ortega actually smiled. “Marcus Finch? You’re holding him up as some kind of hero?”

Not exactly, no. I didn’t even know the guy. But if he was a human that talked these crazy people down, then he must have some kind of integrity.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked. “He was able to see right from wrong.”

Even Master Angeletti chuckled now. “I would never have expected an Alchemist to praise his sense of ‘right and wrong.’ I thought your own views of that were immovable.”

“What are you talking about?” I didn’t mean to get derailed, but these comments were too puzzling.

“Marcus Finch betrayed the Alchemists,” explained Master Angeletti. “You didn’t know? I assumed a rogue Alchemist is the last person you’d use to make your case.”

I was momentarily speechless. Was he saying… was he saying that Marcus Finch used to be an Alchemist? No. He couldn’t be. If he had been, then Stanton would have known who he was. Unless she lied about not having any record of him, a voice in my head warned.

Master Jameson had apparently heard enough from me. “We appreciate you coming out here and respect your attempt to stand up for what you believe is true. We’re also glad you were able to see just how strong we’ve become. I hope you’ll take this news back to your order. If anything, your attempts here have demonstrated what we’ve long known: our groups need each other. Clearly, the Alchemists have gleaned a lot of knowledge over the years that could be very useful to us—just as our strength could be useful to you. Nonetheless,” he glanced over toward Sonya and scowled, “the point remains now that whatever your intentions, you truly have been deceived. Even if there’s some tiny impossible chance that you’re right, that she truly is a Moroi… we can’t take the chance that she’s still been corrupted. Even if she believes she’s been restored, she may still have been subconsciously influenced.”

Again, I was speechless—but not because I appeared to have lost my case. Master Jameson’s words were nearly identical to what Keith’s father had said, when he’d told me Keith would be taken back to Re-education. Mr. Darnell had echoed the sentiment, that they couldn’t take the risk of even a subtle bit of influence affecting Keith. Extreme actions had been required. We’re the same, I thought. The Alchemists and the Warriors. Years have divided us, but we came from the same place—in both our goals and blind attitudes.