LISSA
As yet another evening blackened the sky outside, I fought the urge to get up and pound on the door. They weren't going to let me out. And repeating my pleas and commands for the hundredth time when they hadn't garnered any results yet was the very definition of insanity. Since I was already on trail for being mentally unstable, it was best I didn't do anything to convince the Council that I really was over the edge.
I couldn't really blame them, at least not in my calmer moments. I had Compelled the entire Council in the middle of a session. I had only been able to hold them all for a few seconds, true, but that wasn't the point. The point was that I had crossed a line that nobody had ever believed could be crossed.
I was fairly certain that they weren't planning on holding me criminally liable. Adrian and Sonya had both petitioned hard on my behalf, making the Council understand how much pressure Spirit users were under, especially one who had just done such an incredible feat as restore a Strigoi. Abe had mentioned a show of contrition on my part, but I hadn't actually been asked to make one yet.
Which was a damn good thing, because I wasn't the least bit sorry. As long as people on the Council continued to push for mandatory guardian service from the dhampirs, I would continue to do everything in my power to fight them. Even if it landed me in Tarasov.
That still wasn't off the table, either. Just because the Council had decided that I couldn't be held responsible for my actions didn't mean that I was going to get off free. Now they were trying to determine if I was insane or not.
My stellar record as a Spirit user actually worked against me here. I had restored Dimitri, brought Rose back from the dead, and restored her as well. People were beginning to wonder if the effects of these huge feats were cumulatively eroding my sanity. I wished that I wasn't wondering the same thing.
I couldn't help but think that this would all go away if Rose was home. I don't know what I expected her to do, but this was her specialty. She took charge of impossible situations and made it all better.
If nothing else, I knew Rose would at least look me in the eye and talk to me. Even Christian was only in my room for brief visits. I really wanted to believe that he was being forced to stay away. I didn't want to think that my own boyfriend was afraid of me. But I couldn't really blame him if he was. Even I hadn't been prepared for how powerful my Compulsion had become. Who knew what I was capable of, or what someone else would be capable of under my control?
Cut off from the rest of the world as I was, I didn't know what everyone else thought, but I knew that something had to change soon. The Council was using the story that I was sick to explain my prolonged absence from the public view. Even that was suspicious. Vampires didn't get sick, not unless it was something really serious like Victor's Sandovsky's disease. Their story wouldn't hold for long. They were going to have to make a decision, and soon.
One way or another, my time was running out. I pressed myself against my window and tried to call through the bond that was no longer there. Come on, Rose, I need you. Come home.