A cluster of emotions boiled within me. Anger. Embarrassment. Reassurance. “You’ve got a lot to say for a drunk guy.”

“Oh, Sage. I’ve got a lot to say, drunk or sober.” He released me and stepped away. I felt oddly vulnerable without him near. “What most people don’t get is that I’m more coherent like this. Less chance for spirit to make me crazy.” He tapped the side of his head and rolled his eyes.

“Speaking of which… I’m not going to give you any lectures about that,” I said, glad to shift the topic from me. “Lunch with your dad sucked. I get it. If you want to drown that out, it’s fine. But please, just keep Jill in mind. You know what this does to her—not now, maybe, but later.”

The ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. “You’re always the voice of reason. Just try listening to yourself once in a while.”

The words were familiar. Dimitri had said something similar, that I couldn’t take care of others without taking care of myself first. If two people as wildly different as Adrian and Dimitri had the same opinion, then maybe there was something to it. It gave me a lot to think about when I returned to Amberwood later.

One of the good things about Adrian’s intoxication was that Jill hadn’t been able to witness our talk. So the next day over lunch when I gave Jill, Eddie, and Angeline a recap of what had happened, I was able to edit the story and leave out my own breakdown. Jill and Angeline’s reactions were about what I expected. Jill was concerned and kept asking over and over if Sonya and I were okay. Angeline regaled us with tales of all the things she would’ve done to the attackers and how, unlike Dimitri, she would have chased them through the streets. Eddie was quiet and didn’t say much until the other two had left, Angeline back to her room and Jill to get ready for class.

“I thought something was wrong with you today,” he said. “Especially at breakfast, when Angeline called a tomato a vegetable and you didn’t correct her.”

I managed a half smile at his joke. “Yeah. Well, it’s the kind of thing that sticks with you. I mean, maybe not for you guys. Random sword attacks in dark alleys are normal for you, right?”

He shook his head, face serious. “You can’t ever take any attack in stride. People who do get careless. You have nothing to feel bad about.”

I’d been stirring some sketchy looking mashed potatoes and finally gave up. “I don’t like being unprepared. For anything. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve been there when you and Rose fought Strigoi. I was helpless then too… but that’s different. They’re larger than life… beyond a human’s scope. I don’t really expect myself to be able to fight then. But what happened last night—even with the sword—was only one step away from a mugging. Mundane. And they were human, like me. I shouldn’t have been so ineffectual.”