"And now it's gone."
"Yeah. It sucks. Charles is really losing it if the sword slipped from his care," Mimi sighed. It truly looked bad for her father. She could sense that there were members of the Conclave who were suspicious of this "break-in." But why would Charles steal his own sword? Did they actually believe Michael, Pure of Heart, would consort with Silver Bloods?
Bliss looked around for her father. Forsyth was still in the room, probably talking to Charles. "So who do they think stole it?"
"They have no idea; although Charles said Kingsley was the last person who visited him in his study. I know they should never have trusted that loser. Anyway, Kingsley's team is incommunicado in Rio. They couldn't get him on the telepath. And Lawrence hasn't been checking in either. It's chaos," Mimi said a tad gleefully.
"I hope they don't think Dylan's behind it. He can't be," Bliss said nervously.
"What are you talking about?" Mimi asked. "Dylan? Why would he be involved? Didn't he disappear on you a few months ago? He's like, history." Mimi dimly remembered the story of how Dylan had broken into Bliss's window before being taken by a Silver Blood. Bliss had been inconsolable for days, and Mimi had tried to comfort Bliss by reminding her that the monster could have taken her too. She was lucky to be alive. The Conclave had sent a team to investigate and track down Dylan's whereabouts, but the Venators had found nothing.
"Don't you know?" Bliss asked.
"Know what?"
"Dylan's back and he's in rehab."
"Are you sure we're talking about the same guy. Dylan— your deadbeat ex and the guy who killed Aggie? Who got turned into a Silver Blood?" Mimi demanded. Bliss wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. A girl who was still wearing last season's sack dresses in May was totally clueless, as far as Mimi was concerned.
"Yeah."
"Why would I know about it?" Mimi asked.
"You're on the Conclave. I turned him in to Forsyth. He said he would let the Conclave know, so that everyone could make a decision. He said the Elders decided to send him to Transitions."
Mimi shook her head, looking mystified. "No. Your dad never mentioned it in a meeting. We did no such thing." She looked at Bliss like she was out of her mind. How strange that Forsyth would keep something like that a secret from the Conclave.
"That's odd, why would he lie to me?"
"Who knows?" Mimi studied Bliss. "Dylan's really back? You're sure?"
Bliss nodded. "We visited him the other week."
"Take me to him. I'll let Forsyth know I need to make a report on Dylan for the Conclave."
Cordelia Van Alen Files
Repository of History
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT:
Altithronus Clearance Only
Cordelia.— I trust you will find this satisfactory. Forsyth L.
The Houston Star
Birth Announcement
Congressman Forsyth Llewellyn and his wife, the former Roberta Prescott, are the proud parents of a new baby daughter. Jordan Grace Llewellyn was born exactly at midnight on January 1, 1994. Jordan is the second daughter of the congressman. Mother and baby are doing well.
Because Mimi wanted to see Dylan right away, they decided to visit him the next day, which would mean cutting classes again. Not that Bliss minded all too much. Her grades were the furthest thing on her mind at that point. That evening, Bliss did not ask her father why he hadn't told the Conclave about Dylan. She was wary about letting him know she knew he was keeping secrets from her. Forsyth must have had his reasons, but somehow Bliss had a feeling he wouldn't share them.
The next afternoon Bliss packed Dylan a care package. She knew he was receiving the best care money could buy, but Transitions wouldn't have the newest indie-rock CD or a copy of Absolute Sandman. She thought maybe if he had a couple of his favorite things, it would remind him who he was, and in tandem, what Bliss had meant to him. She just didn't want to give up on him. She'd even decided to stop feeling rejected about what had happened when they'd made out that fateful night. Maybe Dylan freaking out on her was just part of his sickness.
Jordan walked by the doorway and peeked inside Bliss's room. "Are you going up to Saratoga again?" she asked.
"Yeah. Mimi wants to go see Dylan for the Conclave. And his doctor's there today. I can finally ask what's going on with him," Bliss explained, folding a new leather motorcycle jacket she'd had her stylist track down at Barneys and stuffing it into the shopping bag.
Her sister walked in and sat on the bed, watching Bliss pack. "Hey … I wanted to ask you…you know how you used to have your blackouts?"
"Uh-huh." Bliss nodded, deciding against bringing the teddy bear in a "Get Well" T-shirt she'd bought on impulse at a card shop. Dylan would definitely think it was corny. He'd always made fun of her for having so many stuffed animals on her bed.
"Do you still get them?"
Bliss paused and thought about it. The blackouts used to come with unnerving regularity. She would pass out and wake up somewhere completely different from where she'd begun, with no knowledge of how she'd gotten there. "No. And I haven't had a nightmare in months either."
"That's good," Jordan said, looking relieved.
But Bliss wasn't finished talking. "It's like, I get them during the day now. Like the other day—I saw this weird thing. I was holding my hairbrush and it turned into this, like, gold snake. Scared the crap out of me."
Jordan paled. "Gold snake?"
"Yeah."
"And the other day I looked up at the sky, and I saw this seven-headed dragon. Freaked me out."
"This happens a lot?" Jordan asked.
Bliss shrugged. "Kind of. I asked Dad about it. He said it was all …"
"Part of the transformation," Jordan chimed in.
"Yeah." Bliss finished packing. Her cell phone buzzed. Mimi was downstairs with the car, waiting. Jordan was still standing there, an odd expression on her face. She looked as if she were wrestling with a decision. "What's up?" Bliss asked.
"Nothing." Jordan shook her head. "Have fun visiting your friend."
Bliss hadn't hung out with Mimi for months, and at first she thought it would be uncomfortable between them, but she had forgotten how self-absorbed Mimi Force could be. Mimi chatted easily during the entire drive, talking about everything from her new cast of human familiars, which included the hottest boys from Collegiate and Horace Mann, along with a college kid or two, as well as her plans for the summer: an intensive Chinese-immersion program in Beijing, since she wanted to display language fluency for her Stanford application next year.
"Isn't that funny? Chinese is the only language that isn't in my memories. Huh. I'm staying with Wah and Min, you know those Chinese twins we met at the Four Hundred Ball?" Mimi giggled.
When they arrived at Transitions, Dylan was alone in his room, watching television. "Hey…Bliss…right?" he asked, turning off the tube. "And you are?"
"Mimi." She looked at him sharply. "You seriously don't remember us?"
"I remember her," Dylan said a little shyly. "She's come to see me a few times."
"I brought you a couple of things," Bliss said, holding up the fat bag of treats.
"Cool," Dylan said, digging into the bag. "What's this for?" he asked, holding up the black leather jacket.
Bliss felt embarrassed. "I … um…you used to have one…"
"No, it's…God, it's great." Dylan put it on. He looked just as handsome in it as the old one. He smiled at her, and her heart skipped a beat. He rooted in the bag again and removed an iPhone box.
"I thought you might want one," Bliss said. "I hope you don't mind. I already programmed my number into it."
"Bliss," Mimi asked. "Could you leave us alone for a bit? I'd like to ask Dylan some questions."