Chapter 7
"Home" turned out to be a sprawling mansion encircled by a hedge maze. Even Court could not compare to the luxury before me. Before I had a chance to appreciate it, Nathan was once again tugging at my arm. He pulled me through a set of tall double doors, down long hallways, and only released me once we entered a library.
Nathan bowed slightly and motioned for me to do the same. I dropped into a curtsy that would have done my royal bloodline proud, keeping my eyes on the floor until acknowledged.
"What have we brought home, Nathan? A toy?" The voice had a thick but understandable accent. The owner of the voice stepped forward and I fought the urge to look up. "Did you tire of Inna so quickly? You know better than I that these pets never last."
Another footstep, then the sharp bite of nails as my face was yanked up. I was looking directly into the face of an older woman, her red eyes a sharp contrast against her dark hair. The older Strigoi hissed and stepped back, a steady stream of Russian pouring from her mouth. Nathan stood up straight and took a quick step to the left, narrowly avoiding a book the woman had thrown. She gestured at me, her lip curling, then threw several more books to punctuate her point. The Academy hadn't taught us Russian, though our church services had been conducted in Russian around the holidays. I recognized the word "risen" from Easter services but could not pick out any other words.
Almost an entire shelf of books were thrown before the woman composed herself.
"My name is Galina. This is my house and you will live under my rules. First, you obey me. Second, any spoils or trophies you take from kills are brought to me." She put her face close enough to mine that I could see the flakes of her mascara. "Third… drink, party, feed, but do not expose our kind. Do so and die."
"Yes ma'am."
"Then welcome to Russia."
The dancing girl stank of sweat, her body sparkling with poorly applied glitter. Strands of her long, dark hair were stuck to her neck as she jumped up and down to the beat of the horrible techno Russians seemed to be so fond of.
I bit her neck from behind her, fanning out her hair to cover my face as I drank. She was too high on drugs and endorphins to do much but sway against me. She reached up, twisting her hand in my hair to pull me closer. I quickly released her, recognizing the taste. I'd rather walk into the mid-afternoon sun than drink LSD-laced blood again.
Nathan had laughed as I choked and coughed most of it out. He had clapped me on the back and told me it "happened to the best of us," which wasn't exactly comforting. His interest in me had dulled with the passing hours once the novelty of "the last Dragomir" faded. I spent most of my time with Svetlana and Masha, polar opposites who had somehow formed a bond. Internally, I flinched from the thought. Bonding was a thing of the past. I wasn't bound anymore. I was free.
Moving through the crowded dance floor, I found a new target. A blond boy was seated alone at the bar, his back to me. His leather jacket collar was popped up and I smiled. It would be all too easy an obstacle. As I usually did, I made my way to him, moving slowly even by human standards. I needed time to catch his eye. Like all human men, I caught his attention. He spun in his chair, his eyes flicking from my too-high heels up to the absurdly low hemline of my dress.
"Hello, sweet thing," he said appreciatively. "Buy you a drink?"
I smiled, careful to hide my teeth. "Sure. You can get me a drink." Not even five minutes later, we were in a shadowy corner of the club. Svetlana blew me a kiss as she passed, leading a man by his tie to her own corner. I had to struggle not to frown with distaste as the blond boy–whose name I had instantly forgotten as soon as he said it–pawed at the front of my dress. Sighing, I tilted his head to the side and bit down. His hands may have grossly pawed at me, but at least his blood was clean.
I watched the club carefully as I fed. Galina's rules still stood–protect the existence of our kind. We had to be shadows in the night. I had only seen a few dhampirs since I came to Russia and was careful to keep out of their sight. My long, platinum hair was recognizable, though my eyes were not anymore.
My eyes landed on a couple in the middle of the floor. The girl, teetering a little in her high heels, was grinding against a dark-haired boy. The boy had one hand wrapped across her body, tightly pressing her back to him. He kissed her neck softly and she sighed in contentment, turning her face towards him to kiss him. His other hand reached for her throat, stroking it gently. Gasping, I realized only a second before what would happen. He bit into her throat, fanning the girl's hair out to hide just as I had done. Clever.
I released the blond boy, who was now quite dazed. He sat down hard on his chair, his sloppy grin plastered on his face. I didn't spare him a second glance as I made my way towards where the dark-haired boy was still feeding. As I got closer, I kept my gaze down. No sense in spoiling the game so soon. I tugged my dress lower, capturing his attention. Careful to move at approximate Moroi speed, I pushed the girl's hair aside, closed my eyes, and bit down.
I could practically feel the moan vibrating from the dark-haired Moroi. Excellent. We fed together, his greedy hands reaching for me too. Getting a little high from the girl's blood, I relaxed into his touch. His hands spread across my back, pulling me in tighter.
I grabbed his hand that was on my waist and began pulling him towards the exit of the club. He let go of the girl, not sparing her a second thought, and followed me closely as I carefully maneuvered between couples. I whistled at a pitch much too high for human ears and waved to Svetlana, who looked up from her dinner long enough to wink at me.
Pulling him out the back door, I led him to the alley out back. A couple was already in the process of undressing there, so I continued deeper into the alley where no street lamps reached. Letting go of his hand, I grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him towards me. His lips met mine with an almost aggressive velocity. My luck was excellent tonight. A Moroi. I had only tasted Moroi blood a few times and it had always been incredible.
Unable to wait much longer, I traced my fingers down the veins in his neck. I could feel his rapid heartbeat under my fingertips.
I bit and he cried out, then sighed in contentment. His blood exploded under my tongue, sweet and clean. I could practically feel his power being absorbed into me. Unlike the blond boy, I wasn't annoyed by his hands running over my body. I could feel him tangling my hair in his hands, pulling me closer and inviting me to drink more. So I did.
I drowned in the feeling and the rich taste of him. Gradually, his hands slipped from my hair and my body. Puzzled, I stopped drinking for a moment and looked up. Brown glassy eyes met mine. I had drained him. I stepped out of his embrace and his body crumpled to the wet ground of the alleyway.
Remembering Galina's rules, I sighed in relief as I spotted a nearby dumpster. At least this one would be simple. I picked up one of his hands, stopping for one last drink, and dragged him to the base of the dumpster. My new body was so much stronger than my old one, but I still grunted as I pushed the heavy Moroi into the dumpster.
The smell was horrid, but better to smell trash than my burning flesh as Galina let me turn to ash in the sun. She frequently threatened to do so if we misstepped and while I was young enough in my new life to still be scared, Masha and Svetlana rolled their eyes every time.
A noise from behind the dumpster startled me out of my thoughts. My lip curled. The feral cats here were disgusting. The rustling came again, and it was much too large to be a cat. I sank into a fighting stance, just as Nathan had taught me. With a battle cry, a young boy jumped out from behind the dumpster. With one kick to the chest, I sent him crashing right back into the dumpster.
"Die, Strigoi!" he cried, scrambling to his feet and running for me again.
I rolled my eyes as I delivered a second kick. "What are you, eight?"
"Eleven and a half!" He yelled back indignantly, standing back up shakily and brushing off a newspaper that had stuck to his pants. "Prepare to meet your maker!"
I opted for a simple elbow this time, which left him wheezing on the pavement.
"Die," he wheezed. "Evil… creature." It almost made me smile. Rose's extensive guardian training had never quite managed to stop her battle cries or witty comments. At age eleven, she had gotten in trouble quite a bit for sneaking up behind other novices and jumping on their backs, pulling their hair and "staking" them.
I shook my head as if it would banish the thought from my mind. The kid's ribs were surely broken, but he was standing up for yet another attempt at killing me.
"I'll give you to the count of ten," I said. He froze in place as I started to count. By the time I made it to seven, the alleyway was empty. Even with broken ribs and a concussion, the kid was impressively fast. I wondered how many laps he had been forced to run at school.
The guardian school in Russia was called Saint Basil's. Though we weren't anywhere near its campus, we occasionally saw older dhampirs in the area that were angry and out for revenge. When I asked why they weren't in school, Masha had replied that they were "unpromised," meaning they hadn't graduated but still killed Strigoi. Most of the time, these glory-seekers were sloppy and easily taken down. Nathan had laughed at one as he tore the boy's arms clean off his body.
I wondered if the guardians from Saint Vladimir's were as easy to kill. I hadn't thought about the Academy since I left. Time had melted into some sort of endless night of drinking and partying and staying out of Galina's way. I couldn't even remember how long ago I had left the Academy. Months? A year?
For a moment, I let myself wonder what it was like. I wasn't even sure what time it was there. As I walked down the sidewalk, I pictured the old hallways. Natalie's dirty side of our dorm room, Adrian calling me "cousin," Rose tugging on my hair affectionately. And Christian–
Christian. Christian. I stopped walking suddenly, causing the person behind me to smack into my back and swear viciously. Christian. I thought about the Moroi boy I had just been drinking from against the alley wall and mentally replaced his face with Christian's. Christian was the missing piece. Someone to love me. Someone to be with forever. It was perfect. Why hadn't I thought of it earlier?
With a new purpose, I restarted my walk back to the manor house. I had a gift to plan.
