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My father's urging to hurry up echoed back throughhis other warning, I also ht sleeper Nor off on Alche so kindly toward her husband's (and daughter's) ery Alchemists had deposited me on my parents' doorstep last month, this household had held all the warone down between my parents, andaround

Zoe

Why does he need Zoe?

The question burned through et ready I knehat 'presentable'on jeans and a T-shirt was out of the question Instead, I tugged on gray slacks and a crisp, white button-down shirt A darker, charcoal gray cardigan went over it, which I cinched neatly at old cross - the one I alore around my neck - was the only ornamentation I ever bothered with

My hair was a slightly bigger proble in every direction I smoothed it down as best I could and then coated it with a thick layer of hair spray in the hopes that it would getof poas the onlymore

The entire process took ht have been a new record for ain, to avoid waking ht spilled out past the not-quite-shut door ofthat as an invitation, I pushed the door open and slipped inside A hushed conversation stopped at my entrance My father eyed me from head to toe and showed his approval atcriticism

'Sydney,' he said brusquely 'I believe you know Donna Stanton'

The for as tough and lean as I reh I would hardly say ere friends - especially since certain actions ofthe two of us under a sort of 'vampire house arrest' If she harbored any resenth She nodded to , her face all business

Three other Alchemists were there as well, all men They were introduced to me as Barnes, Michaelson, and Horowitz Barnes and Michaelson were er,up a tattooist's tools All of the in nondescript colors Our goal was always to look nice but not attract notice The Alche before huht hit their faces the right way, each Alchemist displayed a lily tattoo identical to mine

Again, ation? An assessirl ed? I crossed my ar I looked cool and confident If I still had a chance to plead my case, I intended to present a solid one

Before anyone could utter another word, Zoe entered She shut the door behind her and peered around in terror, her eyes wide Our father's study was huge - he'd built an addition on to our house for it - and it easily held all the occupants But as I watched my sister take in the scene, I knew she felt stifled and trapped I e of sympathy Itonly fractionally less afraid

'Zoe,' saidin the air in this way he had,it clear to both of us that he was disappointed I could iuess why She wore jeans and an old sweatshirt and had her brown hair in two cute but sloppy braids By any other person's standards, she would have been 'presentable' - but not by his I felt her cower against me, and I tried tosure his condemnation was felt, our father introduced Zoe to the others Stanton gave her the saiven me and then turned toward my father

'I don't understand, Jared,' said Stanton 'Which one of the to use?'

'Well, that's the problem,' my father said 'Zoe was requestedbut I'm not sure she's ready In fact, I know she isn't She's only had the ht of Sydney's recentexperiences'