ROSE's POV
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, checking the display. Yup, still dead. Not that I expected anything else. I may be shadow-kissed, but my phone wasn't. So here I stood, in the middle of nowhere, a pack of Strigoi nearby, and no payphone in sight.
No anything in sight, really. Even if my phone had been working, I don't know what I would have told Dimitri. I'd crossed into South Dakota abut an hour ago, which was the closest I could come to pinpointing my location. Andre had steered my down smaller and smaller roads until finally motioning for me to stop the car and hike up into the mountains. I now appear to have reached my destination. And I had no clue where that was.
On the bright side, literally, the six hours it had taken me to drive here had me arriving in sunlight, so I didn't have to worry about being ambushed by Strigoi. But that was about all I had going for me. I hadn't even really found Lissa. As I hiked up the path Andre had indicated, I passed all kinds of caves. The perfect hiding spot for a pack of Strigoi with some royal captives. But how was I supposed to know which cave they were in?
Then I saw Andre. I kind of lost him when he had me stop the car and get out. He was really hard to see. I didn't know if that was because the sunlight made him extra watery or if I was just losing my grip. I'd never kept my walls down this long before. And while I was managing to keep the other shadows at bay, it took a lot of effort. I knew I was going to have to banish all of them pretty soon. And then I really would be alone.
Andre was holding his finger to his lips and beckoning me forward. I crept towards him, lying down on my belly to wriggle up over the final peak and look down where he was pointing. All I saw at first was more caves, and then a hint of movement caught my eye. There, right below me was a sentry. A human, obviously, to be out in the sunshine. As much as their service to the Strigoi disgusted me, at the moment I was grateful for it. He would be much easier to capture and question.
As I moved myself into position, a few rocks were knocked loose and rolled down the hill. If I'd been ambushing a Strigoi, that probably would have cost me my life. The man below me barely had time to turn around before I was landing on top of him.
It was almost laughably easy for me to get him pinned. I had my stake out and over his heart in a flash. It was the only weapon I had and it was just as effective at killing humans as it was Strigoi. Though I really hoped it didn't come to that.
"Where is the Moroi Queen?" I demanded.
He didn't answer at first, but when I put a little pressure on the stake he broke. "Inside!" he gasped.
Okay, I didn't actually have to ask that. But at least he was talking. "And the other prisoner?"
"With her."
"What do you want with them?"
"M-M-Master wants to awaken the queen. Says it'll be an even bigger triumph than killing her."
I wondered what I looked like just then to make a man who willingly served Strigoi stammer in fear. Probably like I was about to kill him, since that's how I felt. But I managed to pull my anger back in somewhat. "Is he turning both of them?" Since Christian's parents had voluntarily turned Strigoi, he'd sort of become a target for a lot of them.
"No. He's to be her first kill."
I knew that Lissa would suffer the tortures of hell before she hurt Christian, but that was my Lissa. Once she'd been turned, she'd feed off anybody. "But they're both still alive?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice.
"Master isn't here yet. He has to wait for nightfall. Then he'll awaken the queen and march out to show the world what he can do."
I glanced at the sky. Still early morning. So I had most of a day to sneak into a cave full of Strigoi, free two closely watched prisoners and then get somewhere safe before enemy reinforcements showed up. Piece of cake.
I clubbed my prisoner on the side of the head, knocking him out. I used his belt to tie his hands behind his back and then lugged him to the top of the hill I'd used to ambush him. I didn't really want to hurt him, but I couldn't leave him in front of the cave. As gently as possible, I rolled him down the other side. He came to rest at the bottom, a little bruised and scratched, but mostly okay. I hoped.
I scrambled back down the other side and looked at Andre. "This is it. I wish I could take you with me, but I really need to focus. Don't worry, I'll get her out."
He gave me a small smile and a thumbs up. I wasn't entirely sure I should head into a fight with good luck from a dead guy, but I appreciated the thought. After so many hours of letting the dead walk with me, it was extra hard to put my walls back up. Andre kept flickering in and out of sight, like a TV with bad reception. Finally I felt the barriers snap into place and he disappeared. The headache slammed into me like it always did, but it didn't even take that much effort to ignore it. Lissa needed me. Nothing else mattered.
I crept into the cave and made my way forward as quietly as possible. There were a lot of twists and turns, which I guess made sense. The Strigoi wouldn't want to risk accidentally stepping into some sunshine. I tried not to think about the last time I'd stormed a cave full of Strigoi. It wouldn't end that way this time, I promised myself. I wasn't going to lose anyone I loved today.
I rounded a final bend and jerked back sharply. The passage widened into a large room, and it was full of Strigoi. I took another quick peek and counted. Maybe the room wasn't exactly full, but it did hold 9 Strigoi. With only one of me, it might as well have been 900.
Lissa and Christian were tied up off to the side. They weren't on the opposite side of the cave, which was a good thing, but they were still too far away for me to risk sneaking over to them. I backed down the passage way a little and considered my options. The jacket I was wearing had been charmed by Christian to supposedly protect me from flames. And I had a lighter in my pocket. But we hadn't gotten a chance to actually test the charm yet, and starting a fire in here was too big of a risk until Christian and Lissa were untied.
I pulled out the other charm I'd gotten from the Stelle and hung it around my neck. Jackie had told me that it would change my appearance, based on whatever image I had in mind when I recited the incantation. The less I changed, the stronger the illusion would be. Since I was actually changing very little, I hoped it would be very strong. I closed my eyes and pictured them turning red as I muttered the Latin incantation.
I felt a warm tingling which I assumed meant the spell had taken effect. I ran my tongue over my teeth. Still felt flat. I wish I had a mirror. My skin had gone deathly white, which was really the only proof I had that it had worked. Trying to ignore the voice that told me I was committing suicide, I stepped into the cave.
