The good thing about being on a human schedule in Baia was that Lissa and I were awake at the same time. With the twelve hour time difference, we usually were running directly opposite of each other, hence why I had taken to observing her nights just before Dimitri and I's early morning practices. This week, with time turned on its head, I had leeway to see through her eyes during more consequential moments.

Consequential, to say the least, because for Lissa, it was Friday night on All Saint's Day. And Queen Tatiana Ivashkov had just entered the building.

Through Lissa's eyes, I could see that the cafeteria at St Vladimir's had been transformed into an elegant banquet hall for her visit.

The queen looked the picture of royalty, a crown nestled on top of cascading silver waves. Tatiana glided effortlessly through the rows of kneeling students, smiling politely to dhampirs and then stopping to speak with some of the more favorable royal Moroi.

I felt alarm bubble up in Lissa as the Queen stopped in front of her, "Vasilisa Dragomir."

Lissa wanted so much to just shrink back into the tiny cocoon of safety she'd made since she got back. Christian and Natalie were on either side of her, but it's not like either of them, least of all Christian, could reach out to her at the moment.

"We heard you'd returned. So good to have the Dragomirs back, even if only one remains. We deeply regret the loss of your family, it was a true a tragedy, they were among the finest of the Moroi."

The Queen smiled down on Lissa. She was speaking with that annoying royal we that was customary in her position, representing the entirety of her race. Lissa cringed at the mention of her family, but smiled back weakly.

She paused, as if considering something. "You have an interesting name. So many heroines in Russian literature have your name. Vasilisa the Brave. Vasilisa the Beautiful. All the young women who hold that name, different though they may be, have the same wonderful qualities: strength, discipline, intelligence, virtue… they are able to triumph over their adversaries and accomplish great things.

"Your surname also commands its own respect. Dragomir kings and queens reigned as some of the best monarchs in history. They have fought beside their own guardians and used their powers for miraculous ends." If only Tatiana knew the true weight of her words.

Lissa could feel the weight of the room shift around her. Everyone was holding their breath, hanging on every word of praise. Pride rose up in Lissa, for her family and for herself.

"Hmm," Tatiana continued, "you are doubly named with power and grace. But, as you have so clearly shown us, names do not make a person. They cannot control how one might turn out," Tatiana turned to look Christian once over, "or the company you keep."

Lissa's heart sank to the bottom of her stomach, in time with the collective shock throughout the room. She was mortified. With a tight-lipped smirk, Tatiana turned on her heel and walked away.

"Oh no, Lissa," I whispered to myself.

The four of us - Dimitri, Ivan, Alexei and I – had settled on the large couch when we'd gotten back, stuffed from dinner and taking a moment to rest before going to visit Mark and Oksana.

Dimitri had been reading a book beside me but I felt him reach out to touch my arm. "Is the Princess okay?"

"Yeah," I said, fumbling for words. Why not the truth? "Tatiana is a bitch."

Everyone snickered, Alexei the loudest. "You're safe from her here," he said. "She makes, what? One visit a year?"

"I'll have to go into hiding."

I sunk back into Lissa. She'd left the banquet hall early, rushing out as people rose to take their seats for dinner.

Christian had slipped outside after Lissa and they now sat in a courtyard. Glints of morning light filtered through an ornate wooden roof, meant to protect Moroi. Despite the shield they provided, trees and plants lined the edges, reaching their bare branches to outwards for light.

In the center, a water feature, empty for winter, lay guarded by a large statue of St Vladimir himself. Carved out of the same grey rock as the buildings, he looked every bit like a Russian saint, with long facial hair and cascading robes. How they could make the stone look like it had movement was beyond me.

They were silent before Christian spoke. "She's wrong. Tatiana is…" he probably was reaching to call her a bitch, just like me, but thought better of it, "well she's just not right. Don't let her get to you."

"Kind of late for that."

"She just liked feeling like she has that power over all of us."

"No, she's right," Lissa sighed. "My parents, Andre… they would have hated who I've become."

"No, they would have understood."

"I was so irresponsible, if-"

"If your parents were around, they would have helped you. With compassion. With reason. They wouldn't have allowed you to go one feeling so unsafe. They would have gotten to the bottom of it. You and Rose leaving, it was just that."

"Andre was so much better at the politics of everything," she sighed, wistfully.

Christian scoffed. "You don't give yourself enough credit on that. Even without the compulsion, people are drawn to you. You're… magnetic."

Lissa whipped her face around to meet Christian's eyes. They stood there, looking at each other levelly, his filled with warmth and understanding. Christian, of all people, knew what it was like to be cast off by our society.

I didn't need to be there right now. He was the best person for the job.

Something twisted inside me. Jealousy, I realized with a bitterness.


We decided to visit Mark and Oksana all together.

The couple was a wealth of knowledge for Ivan, on a research level, and Alexei was officially on guard. Dimitri, on the other hand, was just stubborn.

I urged him to stay behind, insistent. "You haven't slept in more than 36 hours."

"I'm a professional guardian, Rose," he countered. "It's in the job description and I'll sleep when we get back."

"But-"

"You're going to want to give up," Ivan said, slinging on a scarf at the front of the house. "He won't budge."

I huffed, mad I wouldn't be getting my way on this issue. I was stubborn, but Dimitri just might have me beat.

We set off towards the couple's home. They lived a few miles outside of town, but the rental car made quick work of it.

Their house was a small one-story cabin in the middle of the woods. Even in the dark, I could see brightly colored shutters painted in designs that reminded me of photos of traditional Russian architecture Dimitri had shown off to me once.

Ivan knocked on the door. In the ensuing silence, despite Yeva assuring us she'd called ahead, I worried that maybe we had arrived too late – that everyone was already in bed. The early setting sun made it feel later than it was.

A pretty Moroi woman with strawberry-blond hair greeted us, her cheekbones reaching hire as she took in the group. "Come in, come in," she corralled us inside in Russian, smiling at each of us as we walked inside. When she made eye contact with me, her smile faltered, but came back even wider.

"Rose can understand most Russian," Ivan explained to her. "But she may be more comfortable if we speak in English."

"I haven't quite learned the intricacies of speaking about the bond in Russian," I joked sheepishly.

"Oh, of course," she responded, moving to shake my hand. "I'm Oksana. Mark, my husband, is just cleaning up in the kitchen."

On command, a tall, stocky man moved into the living room. While Oksana seemed to be in her thirties, his silver hair belied an older age. Stranger, even, he was a dhampir. I considered the possibility that maybe this wasn't her husband, maybe this was their guardian, but Oksana introduced him as the one and only and it came with a sharp realization: they were a Moroi and dhampir married couple. Our races intermingled all the time, the longevity of the dhampir race and the presence of Baia alone was enough to confirm this. But marriage? It was scandalous.

I tried not to let my surprise show, but Alexei watched me with knowing eyes.

Oksana and Mark watched me curiously while entertaining simple formalities such as asking Ivan what he'd been up to.

"Yeva warned us that you would be coming by tonight," Oksana mused. "But she didn't exactly explain why."

Ivan laughed. "No, she's usually not so forthcoming is she? We were going to visit tomorrow to discuss everything at a more reasonable time, but she insisted we come tonight. We're so sorry for the interruption."

Oksana waved him off politely. "No worries at all. I suspect it might have something to do with you, Rose."

I nodded shyly. "The boys told me that you're bonded."

The couple shared a knowing glance before fixing their eyes on me. Oksana seemed to scrutinize me and then, after a brief flare of shock across her face, affirmed, "So are you."

"How could you know that?"

Oksana smiled softly. "There's something called auras. They're like rings of light that surround people, display emotions, tell you a little bit about a person's character. The shadow kissed have a distinct aura around them."

"What sets them apart?" Ivan asked, scribbling into his notebook. Always the scholar.

"There's always a dark ring around the edges," she elaborated. "An aftershock of touching death. Hasn't your bondmate seen that? Where are they?"

I shivered and moments passed. "Lissa can't see auras. Or at least, she's never tried to. She's back in the US… we got separated."

A look of deep sympathy took over the pair's faces, and I saw them reach to grab each other. A strange feeling floated through my mind, fluttering, a rush of heat and cold. I shivered and Dimitri shot me a soft look.

Across the room, Mark shot Oksana a scolding look, and I realized that they were probably having a conversation amongst themselves.

Breaking away his eyes from her, Mark looked at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry. It's invasive and inappropriate to do it to someone you aren't bonded to," he said, scolding Oksana with a glance to her. Seeing my confused expression, he explained, "She just brushed your mind."

"What?" I exclaimed.

Having worked with the couple before, Ivan, Alexei and Dimitri didn't look surprised in the slightest. Dimitri looked guarded.

"I have the ability to go into someone's mind and… search it," she explained. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to be sure about what was going on. Absence isn't good for a bonded pair. It can only increase the strain of the shadow-kissed darkness."

We sat in silence for a moment, considerate, before I turned to Mark. "What else can you, we do? Dimitri said you've run into ghosts."

Taking the change of pace in stride, Mark smiled sadly, "Hopefully you never have to experience the same."

"Why is that?"

"It's… dangerous. People like us, the shadow kissed, we walk a tightrope above darkness and insanity. Opening yourself up to the dead brings you closer to falling over, losing your mind. I had to learn to control the ghosts, prevent them from coming."

"Just like the bond? I'm getting better at not getting pulled in, but sometimes-"

"You have to learn to keep your control," he pressed. "No matter the circumstances. Vasilisa is better served by a guardian than can stay out of her mind and in the present."

We were silent for a moment. "That makes sense," I admitted. "What about do you mean we walk a tight rope between darkness and insanity? Ivan has mentioned that to me before, the darkness. Can you tell me more about that?"

"You haven't experienced any mood flaring? Bouts of rage or incontrollable emotions?" Mark asked.

I shook my head. "I mean, maybe. But I've always been reckless, according to most."

Mark pressed on. "How much magic is your bondmate using?"

"Nothing, really," I responded after a moment's consideration. "She's healed things before and gotten super depressed about it, but she's still in school and the worst she does is compel a teacher to extend her deadline."

I could swear I heard Alexei mutter a soft, "Genius," from beside me.

"That's good," Oksana affirmed. "You have to make sure she keeps her magic use to a minimum. The darkness can only bleed into you and affect you."

"It's kind of hard," I countered. "Being so far away from her."

"Yes, but you have found ways to help her besides all of that." Of course, Oksana had seen our dynamic through her mind prodding.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar sensation, the pulse of emotions coming to me from beyond my own mind. Lissa. She was scared and upset and alone.

As I zoned out of the conversation, the irony of Mark having just touted the benefits of staying present and out of her mind didn't escape me.