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to us to be ignored.
Miss Sage, she said. I was planning on calling you soon. I trust everything s okay with
the Dragomir girl?
Jill? Yeah, she s fine. I wanted to check in on some other things. You got the info I sent
you about the Warriors of Light?
Stanton sighed. That s what I was going to call you about. Have you had any more runins?
No. And they don t seem to have been following us anymore either. Maybe they gave up.
Unlikely. Her next words took a long time to get out. Not from what we ve observed in
the past.
I froze, momentarily speechless. In the past? Do you mean& you ve run into them before?
I was hoping they were just some& I don t know. A crazy, localized group.
Unfortunately, no. We ve encountered them before. Sporadically, mind you. But they pop
up everywhere.
I was still in disbelief. But I was always taught that any hunters had disappeared centuries
ago. Why has no one ever talked about this?
Honestly? asked Stanton. Most Alchemists don t know. We want to run an efficient organization,
one that deals with the vampire problem in an organized, peaceful way. There are
some people in our group who might want to take more extreme action. It s best then if the
existence of our radical offshoot is kept secret. I wouldn t have even told you, but with all the
contact you re having, you need to be prepared.
Offshoot& then they are related to Alchemists! I was sickened.
Not for a very long time. She sounded equally disgusted. There s almost no resemblance
anymore. They re reckless and savage. The only reason we let them be is because
they usually just go after Strigoi. This situation with Sonya Karp is more difficult. She hasn t
had any more threats?
No. I just saw her tonight& which brings up the other reason I called&
I gave Stanton a rundown of the various blood experiments, including my own donation. I
painted it in very scientific terms, how it had seemed useful as extra data. I then made sure to
sound properly appalled by the second request which wasn t that difficult.
Absolutely not, said Stanton. No hesitation. Often, Alchemist decisions went through
chains of command, even with someone as high up as her. It was a sign of how much this
went against Alchemist beliefs that she didn t even have to consult anyone. Human control-
blood is one thing. The rest she s suggesting is out of the question. I will not allow humans
to be used in these experiments, especially when the evidence clearly shows the
former Strigoi need to be the focus not us. Besides, for all we know, this is some ploy on the
Moroi part to get more of our blood for personal reasons.
I didn t believe that last part at all and tried to find a tactful way of saying so. Sonya
seems to sincerely believe this would help protect against Strigoi. She just doesn t seem to
grasp how we feel about it.
Of course she wouldn t, said Stanton dismissively. None of them do.
She and I returned our focus to the vampire hunters. The Alchemists were doing some investigating
on any sightings in the area. She didn t want me to do any active investigation myself,
but I was to report in immediately if any other information came my way. She was assuming
the Warriors of Light were operating nearby, and once she found out where, the Alchemists
would deal with them. I wasn t entirely sure what that meant, but her tone made
me shiver. As she d pointed out earlier, we weren t a particularly aggressive group& though
we were excellent at getting rid of problems.
Oh, I said, just as we were wrapping up. Did you ever find out anything about Marcus
Finch? I d tried locating Clarence s mysterious human, who d helped against the hunters, but
had found nothing. I d hoped Stanton might have more connections.
No. But we ll keep looking. A slight pause. Miss Sage& I can t emphasize enough how
pleased we are with the work you re doing. You ve run into a few more complications than any
of us expected, yet you handle them all efficiently and properly. Even your conduct with the
Moroi is outstanding. A weaker person might have yielded to Karp s request. You refused and
contacted me. I m so proud I took the chance on you.
I felt a tightening in my chest. So proud. I couldn t remember the last time someone had
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