ʺTake Lady Ozera. And Moore. Weʹll question them.ʺ
Seeing as Tasha was seated amidst other people, there was a bit of fear and panic when four guardians moved toward her. They avoided injuring other audience members as much as possible, but there was still plenty of pushing and shoving. What came as a total surprise was how fiercely Tasha fought back. She was trained, I remembered. Not in the same way guardians were, but enough to make it hard to get a hold of her. She could kick and punch—and stake queens—and even managed to knock one guardian down.
She might actually try to fight her way out of here, I realized—though I didnʹt believe for an instant she could. It was too crowded and chaotic. Guardians were heading toward the fray. Terrified Moroi were trying to get away from the fight. Everybody seemed to be getting in everyone elseʹs way. Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the room. A gunshot.
Most of the Moroi dropped to the floor, though guardians kept coming. Holding a handgun she must have seized from the guardian sheʹd knocked over, Tasha grabbed the first Moroi she could with her free hand. So help me, it was Mia Rinaldi. Sheʹd been sitting near Christian. I didnʹt think Tasha even noticed her hostage choice.
ʺDonʹt move!ʺ Tasha yelled at the encroaching guardians. The gun was at Miaʹs head, and I felt my heart stop. How had things escalated to this point? Iʹd never foreseen this. My task was supposed to be neat and tidy. Reveal Tasha. Put her away. Done. The guardians froze, less because of her command and more because they were sizing up how to deal with the total threat. Meanwhile, Tasha began to slowly—very slowly—make her way toward the exit, dragging Mia along.
Her progress was slow and unwieldy, thanks to all the chairs and people in the way. The delay gave the guardians time to solve this ugly dilemma. They come first. Miaʹs life—a Moroi life—was on the line. The guardians didnʹt want Mia killed, but a gun-toting warrior Moroi also couldnʹt be allowed to go free. The thing was, Tasha wasnʹt the only warrior Moroi in the room.
She had probably picked the worst hostage possible, and I could tell by the glint in Miaʹs eyes that she was not going to go quietly. Lissa realized this too. One or both of them were going to get killed, and Lissa couldnʹt let that happen. If she could get Tasha to look at her, she could compel her into submission. No, no, no, I thought. I didnʹt need another friend involved.
Both Lissa and I saw Mia tensing to break her way out of Tashaʹs hold. Lissa realized she had to act now. I could feel it through the bond. I could feel her thoughts, the decision, even the way her bodyʹs muscles and nerves moved forward to get Tashaʹs attention. I felt it all so clearly, as if we shared the same body. I knew where Lissa would move before she even did.
ʺTasha, please donʹt—ʺ Lissa sprang forward, her plaintive cry interrupted as Mia kicked back at Tasha and broke away, slipping down out of the gunʹs reach. Tasha, startled on two fronts, still had her gun pointed out. With Mia out of her grasp and everything happening so fast, Tasha frantically fired off a couple shots at the first threat moving toward her—which wasnʹt the rapidly approaching guardians.
It was a slim figure in white who had shouted at Tasha. Or, well, it would have been. Like I said, Iʹd known exactly where Lissa would step and what she would do. And in those precious seconds before she acted, I broke out of my captorsʹ hold and threw myself before Lissa. Someone leapt after me, but they were too late. That was when Tashaʹs gun had gone off.
I felt a biting and burning in my chest, and then there was nothing but pain—a pain so complete and so intense it was almost beyond comprehension. I felt myself falling, felt Lissa catching me and yelling something—maybe to me, maybe to someone else. There was so much commotion in the room that I didnʹt know what had happened with Tasha.
There was just me and the pain that my mind was trying to block out. The world seemed to grow quieter and quieter. I saw Lissa looking down on me, shouting something I couldnʹt hear. She was beautiful. Brilliant. Crowned in light . . . but there was darkness closing in around her. And in that darkness, I saw the faces . . . the ghosts and spirits that always followed me. Thicker they grew, closing in. Beckoning. A gun.
I had been brought down by a gun. It was practically comical. Cheaters, I thought. Iʹd spent my life focusing on hand-to-hand combat, learning to dodge fangs and powerful hands that could snap my neck. A gun? It was so . . . well, easy. Should I be insulted? I didnʹt know. Did it matter? I didnʹt know that either. All I knew in that moment was that I was going to die, regardless. My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in, and I swore, it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: The world of the dead wonʹt give you up a second time. Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitriʹs face join Lissaʹs.
I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world. The dead could finally have me. And Iʹd fulfilled my purpose, right? To protect? Iʹd done it. Iʹd saved Lissa, just like Iʹd sworn Iʹd always do. I was dying in battle. No appointment books for me. Lissaʹs face shone with tears, and I hoped that mine conveyed how much I loved her. With the last spark of life I had left, I tried to speak, tried to let Dimitri know I loved him too and that he had to protect her now. I donʹt think he understood, but the words of the guardian mantra were my last conscious thought. They come first.