Vampire Academy Blood Promise Changes from chapter 18

UNSURPRISINGLY, I WOKE UP WITH A HEADACHE.

For a few addled seconds, I had no idea what had happened or where I was.

As drowsiness wore off, the events on the street came slamming back

to me. I sat upright, all of my defenses kicking into action, despite the slight

wooziness in my head. Time to figure out where I was now.

I sat up on an enormous bed in a darkened room. No—not just a room. More

like a suite or a studio. I'd thought the hotel in Saint Petersburg was

opulent, but this blew it away. The half of the studio I sat in contained the bed

and usual bedroom accessories: a dresser, nightstands, etc. The

other half looked like a living room area, with a couch and a television.

Shelves were built into the walls, all of them filled with books. Off to my

right was a short hall with a door at the end. Probably a bathroom. On my

other side was a large picture window, tinted, as Moroi windows often

were. This one had more tint than any I'd ever seen. It was almost solid

black, nearly impossible to see through. Only the fact that I could

differentiate the sky from the horizon—after a fair amount of squinting—let

me know it was daytime out there.

I slid off the bed, my senses on high alert as I tried to assess my danger. My

stomach felt fine; there were no Strigoi in the area. That didn't

necessarily rule out some other person, however. I couldn't take anything for

granted—doing so was what had gotten me in trouble on the street.

There was no time to ponder that, though. Not quite yet. If I did, my resolve

here was going to falter.

Sliding off the bed, I reached into my coat pocket for the stake. Gone, of

course. I saw nothing else nearby that would pass as a weapon, meaning

I'd have to rely on my own body to do my fighting. Out of the corner of my

eye, I caught sight of a light switch on the wall. I flipped it on and

froze, waiting to see what—or who—the overhead lights would unveil.

Nothing unusual. No one else. Immediately, I did the first obvious thing and

checked the door. It was locked, as I'd expected, and the only way of

opening it was a numeric keypad. Plus, it was heavy and made of what

looked like steel. It reminded me of a fire door. There was no getting past

it, so I turned back around to continue my exploration. It was actually kind of

ironic. A lot of my classes had gone over detailed ways of checking

out a place. I'd always hated those; I'd wanted to learn about fighting. Now it

appeared those lessons that had seemed useless at the time had real

purpose.

The light had brought the suite's objects into sharper relief. The bed was

covered in an ivory satin duvet, filled to maximum fluffiness with down.

Creeping over to the living room, I saw that the TV was nice—really nice.

Large-screen plasma. It looked brand-new. The couches were nice too,

covered in matte green leather. It was an unusual color choice for leather, but

it worked. All of the furniture in the place—tables, desk, dresser—

was made of a smooth, polished black wood. In a corner of the living room, I

saw a small refrigerator. Kneeling down, I opened it up to find bottled

water and juice, assorted fruits, and bags of perfectly cut cheeses. On top of

the refrigerator was more snack-type food: nuts, crackers, and some

type of glazed pastry. My stomach growled at the sight of it, but no way was I

going to eat anything in this place.

The bathroom was done in the same style as the rest of the studio. The

shower and large Jacuzzi tub were made of black polished marble, and

little soaps and shampoos lined the counter. A larger mirror hung over the

sink, except . . . it wasn't actually hanging. It was embedded so tightly

into the wall that there was absolutely no way it could be removed. The

material was strange too. It looked more like reflective metal than glass.

At first I thought that was strange, until I raced back out to the main room and

looked around. There was absolutely nothing here that could be

turned into a weapon. The TV was too big to move or break, short of

cracking the screen, which looked like it was made of some high-tech plastic.

There was no glass in any of the tables. The shelves were embedded. The

bottles in the refrigerator were all plastic. And the window . . .

I ran over to it, feeling along its edges. Like the mirror, it was fitted perfectly

"Rose," he said, deflecting one of my kicks effortlessly. "You're wasting

time. Stop."

Oh, that voice. Dimitri's voice. The voice I heard when I fell asleep at night,

the voice that had once told me he loved me . . .

No! It's not him. Dimitri is gone. This is a monster.

Desperately, I tried to think of how I could win here. I even thought of the

ghosts I'd summoned on the road. Mark had said I could do that in

moments of wild emotion and that they'd fight for me. This was as wild as

emotion could get, yet I couldn't seem to call them. I honestly had no

clue how I'd done it before, and all the wishing in the world couldn't make it

happen now. Damn. What good were terrifying powers if I couldn't

use them to my advantage?

Instead, I pulled the DVD player off its shelf, cords ripping from the wall. It

wasn't much of a weapon, but I was desperate now. I heard a strange,

primal battle scream, and some distant part of me realized I was making it.

Again, I ran at Dimitri, swinging the DVD player as hard as I could. It

probably would have hurt a little—if it had hit him. It didn't. He intercepted it

again, taking it from me, and throwing it down. It smashed to pieces

on the floor. In the same motion, he grabbed a hold of my arms to stop me

from hitting or reaching for something else. His grip was hard, like it

could break my bones, but I kept struggling.

He tried reason again. "I'm not going to hurt you. Roza, please stop.

"

Roza. The old nickname. The name he'd first called me when we'd fallen

prey to Victor's lust charm, both of us wrapped naked in each other's arms

..

.

This isn't the Dimitri you knew.

My hands were incapacitated, so I struck out with my legs and feet as best I

could. It didn't do much. Without full use of the rest of my body for

balance, I had no force to throw into my kicks. For his part, he looked more

annoyed than truly concerned or angry. With a loud sigh, he grabbed

me by the shoulders and flipped me around, pressing me against the wall and

immobilizing me with the full force of his body. I struggled a little but

was as pinned as the Strigoi had been when the others and I had gone

hunting. The universe had a sick sense of humor.

"Stop fighting me." His breath was warm against my neck, his body right up

against mine. I knew his mouth was only a couple inches away. "I'm

not going to hurt you.

I gave another fruitless shove. My breath was coming in ragged gasps, and

my head injury throbbed. "You'll have to understand if I have a hard

time believing that.

"

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Now, if you're going to keep fighting,

I'll have to tie you up. If you stop, I'll let you stay unrestrained.

"

"Aren't you afraid I'll escape?

"

"No." His voice was perfectly calm, and chills ran down my spine. "I am not.

"

We stood like that for almost a minute, deadlocked. My mind raced. It was

true that he probably would have killed me already if that were his

intent, yet that gave me no reason to believe I was even remotely safe.

Nonetheless, we were at a draw in this fight. Okay, draw wasn't entirely

accurate. I was at a draw. He was toying with me. My head was throbbing

where his blow had landed, and this pointless fighting would only take

a

further toll. I had to regain my strength in order to find a way to escape—if I

lived that long. I also needed to stop thinking about how close our

bodies were. After our months of being so careful not to touch, this much

contact was heady.

I relaxed in his hold. "Okay.

"

He hesitated before letting me go, probably wondering if he could trust me.

The whole moment reminded me of when we'd been together in the

little cabin on the periphery of the Academy's grounds. I'd been raging and

upset, brimming with spirit's darkness. Dimitri had held me down then,

too, and talked me out of that horrible state. We had kissed, then his hands

had lifted my shirt, and—no, no. Not here. I couldn't think about that

here.

Dimitri finally eased up, releasing me from the wall. I turned around, and all

my instincts wanted to lash out and attack him again. Sternly,

I

reminded myself to bide my time so that I could gain more strength and

information. Even though he'd let me go, he hadn't moved away. We were

only a foot apart. Against my better judgment, I found myself taking him in

again, like I had on the street. How could he be the same and yet so

different? I tried my best not to focus on the similarities—his hair, the

difference in our heights, the shape of his face. Instead, I concentrated on

the Strigoi features, the red in his eyes and pallor of his skin.

I was so fixated on my task that it took me a moment to realize he wasn't

saying anything either. He was studying me intently, like his eyes could

look right through me. I shivered. It almost—almost!—seemed as though I

captivated him the same way he captivated me. That was impossible,

though. Strigoi didn't possess those kinds of emotions, and besides, the

thought of him still having any affection for me was probably just wishful

thinking on my part. His face had always been hard to read, and now it was

overlaid with a mask of cunning and coldness that made it truly

impossible to know what was on his mind.

"Why did you come here?" he asked at last.

"Because you hit me on the head and dragged me here." If I was going to die,

I was going to go in true Rose style.

The old Dimitri would have cracked a smile or given an exasperated sigh.

This one remained impassive. "That's not what I meant, and you know it.

Why are you here?" His voice was low and dangerous. I'd thought Abe was

scary, but there was no competition at all. Even Zmey would have

backed off.

"In Siberia? I came to find you.

"

"I came here to get away from you.

"

I was so shocked that I said something utterly ridiculous.

"Why? Because I might kill you?

"

The look he gave me showed that he thought that was indeed a ridiculous

thing to say. "No. So we wouldn't be in this situation. Now we are, and

the choice is inevitable.

"

I wasn't entirely sure what this situation was. "Well, you can let me go if you

want to avoid it.

"

He stepped away and walked toward the living room without looking back at

me. I was tempted to try to do a sneak attack on him, but something

told me I'd probably only make it about four feet before getting backhanded.

He sat down in one of the luxurious leather armchairs, folding his sixfoot-

seven frame up as gracefully as he'd always done. God, why did he have

to be so contradictory? He had the old Dimitri's habits mixed with

those of a monster. I stayed where I was, huddled against the wall.

"Not possible anymore. Not after seeing you now . . ." Again, he studied me.

It felt strange. Part of me responded with excitement to the intensity

of his gaze, loving the way he surveyed my body from head to toe. The other

part of me felt dirty, like slime or muck was oozing over my skin as he

studied me. "You're still as beautiful as I remember, Roza. Not that I should

have expected anything different.

"

I didn't know what to say to that. I'd never really had a conversation with a

Strigoi, short of trading a few insults and threats in the midst of a fight.

The nearest I'd come was when I'd been held captive by Isaiah. I actually

had been tied up then, and most of the talking had been about him

killing me. This . . . well, it wasn't like that, but it was still definitely creepy. I

crossed my arms over my chest and backed up against the wall. It

was the closest I could come to some semblance of a defense.

He tilted his head, watching me carefully. A shadow fell across his face in

such a way that it made the red in his eyes hard to see. Instead, they

looked dark. Just like they used to, endless and wonderful, filled with love

and bravery . . "Roza my love I can not let you go . I came here so that I can fix this ... this problem that I am ... this this MONSTER !" He stood and hit his fist straght into the wall . I heard the crunch of bones and flinched . He took a glance at me and his emotions changed from riggid and mad to falling to the floor and crying . Wait this is not right he is strigoi they don't feel .

I walk to him slowely and slowly crouched by his side , he remained still and crying . I slowely lifted my hand and touched his head feeling that soft silky brown hair I so very much missed. He stiffined but then looked up at me with so much sadness it broke my heart . I sat down between his legs and held him as he cried . " I thought you hated me Roza , I couldn't bare it . Now your here and your afraid of me . Roza I love you so very much . I know you can help me change, you and Lissa can change me back to a Damphir . " I stared wide eyed at him then kissed him . He staid still first but then everything changed the kiss started to get heaty and needy , he picked me up while kissing . He set me down on the soft bed and conyinued to kiss me . He licked my neck and ... sudenly I felt cold I opened my eyes to see him standing at the door.

"Whe can't Roza I want to be a Damphir first. " I motioned for him to come to me and he did . He layd down and I lied onto his cheast and he held me. " We leave tommorow Roza , Lissa will be waiting with the others tommorow I will be a Damphir again. " I smiled and kissed him aand fell asleep .

I woke up to movement . When I opened my eyes I saw I was in a car . " Roza we are almost there just relax love " I smiled at him and he took my hand and kissed our entwined hands .

One hour later whe stopped at an abandoned wairhouse . We went in and there was a chair in the middel . Dimitri sat in it . " Roza tie me down and please you must do it to me and hold me please love ." I did as I was told then Lissa and Christian and Adrian came out . Adrian ran to me and looked into my eyes and held me . Behind us Dimitri growld. I let Adrian go and Lissa hugged me next . She told me what to do and I went to Dimitri .

" Roza Kiss me While you do it and please hold me I know I am going to be in pain. " I just nodded whith tears in my eyes . I sat between his legs on my knees and kissed him . I continued to kiss him until I felt him go entirely relaxed and I staked him with the magical stake.

He started skreaming in pain and crying but I held him and what felt like houers he stoped and fel asleep not long after I did aswell.

I woke up and turned to find Dimitri next to me . " Oh , Roza I thought you left me . " I stared at him in shock he is the one who went through that pain not me . " Dimitri what do you mean I'm fine." He kissed me . " Roza you fainted after me because you took most of my pain . " I stared at him and kissed him again. " How long was I out and what now "

He sat up and pulled me onto him so that I was stradeling him . " Roza you where asleep for 3 months ... and now whe are free . The qeeun said because of all that we went through whe will be the first damphir family without being ordered around. Tasha is dead she tried to kill you in your sleep aparantly she loved me but I sai no and she went mad and I killed her . "

Wow that is alot to take in . I look around and realize this place is unreconizable . " Dimitri where are we ?"

" Roza we are in South Africa . Our new home . No one whil come looking for us here because the sun is to warm here for any Strigoi or Moroi . "

" Wow so this is realy hapening where together and free ? "

" Yes Roza we are , and all that is left to do is live hapilly ever after . " He smiled and held me closer . " I can definitley live with that " He kissed me and held me tighter " I love you Roza "

" I love you too Dimitri " he smiled and kissed me and while he did I realized this is my end of my story my happy ending .