In that moment, I wasn’t sure who I felt worse for: Adrian, Jill—or Eddie. There was practically as much pain in Eddie as there was in Jill. Oh, Eddie, I thought. Why do you keep doing this to yourself? He was clearly worried about her but wouldn’t dare approach her or offer comfort.

“There’s nothing wrong with Jill. It’s Adrian, and she’s feeling it through the bond. He’s going through a rough time.” I offered no more details on Adrian’s situation. It wasn’t my story to tell.

Eddie’s face darkened a little. “It’s not fair that she has to endure his moods.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Seems like it might be a fair trade for her being alive.” Adrian using spirit to bring Jill back from the dead was still a troubling matter for me. Every bit of Alchemist training I had said that kind of magic was wrong, far worse than any of the other magic I’d witnessed. One could even argue that what he’d managed was only a few steps away from the undead immortality of Strigoi. At the same time, whenever I saw Jill bright and alive, I was convinced that Adrian had done a good thing. I’d meant it when I said as much to him in San Diego.

“I suppose,” said Eddie. “I wish there was a way she could block him out. Or at least a way to make him a little less moody.”

I shook my head. “From what I’ve heard, Adrian was like that long before Jill was shadow-kissed.”

Still, that conversation stuck with me, and I spent the day asking myself: what could I do to make Adrian happier? A new father obviously wasn’t possible. I would have tried that on myself years ago if I could. Slushes were also out, partially because they only offered ten minutes of comfort and because I was still recovering from the last one. An idea finally came to me later on, but it wasn’t one I could easily implement. In fact, I knew my superiors would say it was nothing I should even attempt—which is why I decided to do it in a way that wouldn’t leave an e-mail or paper trail. I couldn’t do it today, however, so I made a mental note to deal with it later. Besides, who could say? Maybe Adrian would shake off the effects of his fatherly encounter on his own.

These hopes were actually reinforced when I saw Jill the next day at a school assembly. Assemblies like this were still a new concept to me, and we’d had exactly two since school started. One had been a welcoming gathering during our first week. The other had been a pep rally to cheer on the football team before Homecoming. Today’s was called “Healthy Lifestyles.” I couldn’t figure out what it was about or why it was important enough to interrupt my chemistry class.

We were seated by grade in the school’s gym, putting Jill and me in separate sections of the bleachers. Craning my neck to get a glimpse of her, I saw her sitting down near the front with Angeline and several friends she’d made through Micah. They’d welcomed her easily once they got to know her, which wasn’t a surprise with how nice she was. Even Laurel, a girl who’d once tormented Jill, now gave her a friendly look. Angeline said something that made Jill laugh, and, overall, there was definitely an improvement in Jill’s attitude. A very big improvement, judging from how much she was giggling. My spirits rose. Maybe Adrian really had bounced back.