In Palm Springs, Adrian takes his exam with Rowena and afterwards leaves to pick up Jill and the others.

She is then asked what her sins are, to which Sydney replies, ' I fell in love with a vampire,' and moments after this, a bright light blinds her and the doors are opened. The disembodied female voice demands that Sydney confess her sins, to which Sydney replies that she confesses. Eventually, Sydney figures out that if she confesses her sins, she will be able to dream and finally see Adrian, giving her a chance to escape the re-education. At this point, the drug is piped into her cell, and she falls asleep.

Once more, the woman tells Sydney that she can see her family if she just confesses, but Sydney thinks of Adrian and refuses again. The Alchemist gives her a thin dress to wear because their idea to get her to confess while naked didn't work.Ī female voice tells Sydney that her betrayal has broken her father's and her sister's hearts, to which Sydney responds that both her father and her sister aren't at the top of her favorite list at that very moment and also tells the woman that her father didn't have a heart to begin with. Sydney replies 'no' and says that she wants them to stop drugging her and let her sleep properly so that she can dream and talk to Adrian. A female voice pierces the silence of the cell, asking Sydney to confess her sins.

Fearing that if she were an alchemist, they would have complete control over her, she thankfully notes that it is only her inside her own body. Sydney mentions that she knows they know she is off her pill, that her monthly cycles are up and down, and along with this, she notes that she isn't pregnant with Adrian's child. She has been on a hunger strike, believing that the drugs that make her sleepy are inside the food, but she later works out that they were coming through the air itself. She mentions she doesn't know how long she has been inside the cell since the capture. The book opens with Sydney inside the same dark cell that she was last seen in The Fiery Heart. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. But first, they have to survive.įor Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. In the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian now struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other.

Richelle mead bloodlines series