Chapter 11

RPOV

I was giving directions to Dimitri while he was driving. I was in the back and concentrating on Lissa. I could see which way they were going because they had taken off Lissa's blindfold. I guess there was no more use in pretenses. They were about ten minutes ahead of us. We had been speeding along the highway and had made up valuable time.

They slowed down, I had memorized the road they took, so this was our chance to get to them. They pulled up to a log cabin. There were a couple of Guardians stationed outside.

They brought Lissa inside, her hands still bound, but they weren't too rough with her. They didn't seem to want to harm her. Once inside she was brought to the main living area. There she met ViKtor. Lissa was first relieved, she thought he was there to save her. Then she thought maybe he had been kidnapped too. But when the Guardians were taking orders from Viktor, I could feel her dread. She hadn't made the connection yet and she was starting to realize Viktor had been the one to take her.

"Uncle Viktor, what is happening? Why am I here?"

Viktor looked at her with almost sorrowful eyes. As if he was regretting his decision.

"Ah my dear, I am sorry to have to do it this way. But I have no choice you see. As you know I am dying. But I am far from done with life. I have ambitions not only for me but for our people, and I need to be alive to achieve my goals. And that is where you come in, my dear niece. I would like you to heal me."

Lissa looked at him astonished. Viktor knew. I knew at that moment Viktor was responsible for placing the dying animals in Lissa's room. He was testing her. He needed to know she could do it.

"Yes, Vasilisa I know about your gift. More than you know about it. Ever since the accident, I have been following you. I was to take you a long time ago but you and Rosemarie disappeared. I was glad Guardian Belikov found you when he did, I was running out of time."

Had Viktor also been the one we had been running from two years ago?

"How? What do you know about it." Lissa's voice sounded small, she could not reconcile the fact that her uncle and practically the only family that she had left would kidnap her.

"My dear, you are a spirit user. It is a rare element forgotten in time. St. Vladimir had it."

So Dimitri had been right. It also meant Anna was bonded to St. Vladimir probably.

Lissa was reeling from the information. But there was one thing she didn't quite understand.

"But why kidnap me. I would have healed you if you would have asked."

Viktor's eyes turned from gentle to cold. I wondered too why he would need to kidnap Lissa. Viktor gave us the answer.

"Where the other four elements are physical elements drawing on physical strength, Spirit is a mental gift, and as one can imagine it costs mental capacity to pull off healings. It is why you suffer from depression from time to time. Although I can see that Rosemarie has played a role in keeping you grounded."

I was surprised. I knew that Viktor probably knew about the bond. Hence the need for distracting me to take Lissa, but he seemed to know a lot about this spirit. If it really was a forgotten element how did he know so much about it?

"You see my disease cannot be cured with one session. It is engraved into me and it will come back. It will take continuous healing from a spirit user to keep me healthy. This is detrimental for the spirit user, who would go insane from the drain of power each time. This, my dear, is why I needed to take you away. I am sorry. But I am more important for this world than you are and I need to fulfill certain goals before I am willing to give up this life."

I was furious. Viktor was sacrificing Lissa's life for his own. I don't care how much he still had to do. We had to get to her soon. I could feel determination from Lissa through the bond. She wasn't going to heal Viktor. That's my girl.

But when Viktor started to torture Lissa I realized just how far he was willing to go. An air user used his gift to draw the air from Lissa's lungs. I had felt suffocated by the darkness several times, but actually suffocating was a whole different matter. I tried to keep quiet in the backseat so as not to alarm Dimitri and Alberta. But the torture Viktor was relying on Lissa made that very difficult.

"Rose, are you alright?"

I could hear Dimitri's voice full of concern.

"No, He is torturing her. We need to hurry and get her out. Turn left here." I said between gusts of breath. I could get out of her head if I needed to. It would help with me experiencing what Lissa was experiencing, but I also need to know where she was at all times. I knew Viktor wouldn't risk hurting Lissa too much, but it still hurt a lot.

Dimitri did as instructed and realized that the sooner we would get to Lissa, the sooner both our torments would end. When we were near the cabin, I told Dimitri and Alberta what we were looking for and that Lissa was inside with at least six or seven Guardians. Alberta took tactical control and they devised a plan to assault the cabin. We would pull up a little down the road and continue on foot. This way we could sneak up on them.

I quickly checked on Lissa. The pain and suffocation of the torture had dissapated, but I had been too focused on the military precision of the Guardian to feel much else. I saw she was weak and dazed from healing Viktor. He had gotten his way.

I was about to exit our car and follow Dimitri when he stopped me.

"You have done your job, now let me do mine. Stay in the car."

He didn't even wait for a response. I guess Dimitri still needed to learn a thing or two about me. He thought if he gave me an order, I would just follow it. I snorted. Fat chance in hell.

Once Dimitri had gone inside I snuck out of the car and headed towards the cabin where I knew Lissa would be.

I was surprised when I was followed. I turned around and saw Christian. What the hell was he doing here? He must have been hiding in the back of the car. The back of the SUV was certainly big enough.

"I thought Belikov told you to stay put?" Christian asked but made no sign of slowing down himself.

"When do I ever listen to anyone?" I said not pausing for a second. He smirked at that.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, she was in the main room a minute ago. Let me check."

I slipped into her head to see the current state she was in. She had perked up a bit from the healing and was walking, well stumbling out of the room. Damn Lissa, just stay put. We are coming for you. But of course, she could not hear us and was making her way out through the back, away from all the ruckus, the Guardians had created when they attacked. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to their prisoner as they had their hands full on the army of guardians busting down the front door. Normally the move would have been smart, but she was making my job more difficult.

"Lissa is on the move, she is going out the back. Let's go get her." I motioned for Christian to follow me. Normally I wouldn't endanger a Moroi, but I knew that, like me, he wouldn't sit idly by. Besides, Christian could take care of himself.

We walked around the house, careful not to be seen by either side. Lissa was on the grass in front of us, she was on her knees catching her breath. Christian and I looked at each other and then simultaneously ran towards her. Lissa looked up at the noise and had just enough time to realize who we were before we had her strangled into a hug.

"Come on we have to get out of here Liss."

Christian was helping Lissa up and we were moving towards the cars. We didn't get very far when I stopped dead in my tracks, hearing an animalistic growling.

We suddenly came eye to eye with Psi-hounds. Their red eyes honing in on their prey...us. There were four of them. Psi-hounds were hard to breed and even harder to train but once under control, they are very loyal and very strong allies. I remembered being chased by psi-hounds when we were on the run. I realised Viktor had found us once before. We were lucky Dimitri found us first before Viktor had another chance. I knew if Dimitri hadn't, I might not have been able to save Lissa. Or I would have and Viktor would have ended up dead.

Not that would actually mourn him, but Moroi jail is no fun.

The psi-hounds were stalking us. Christian and I pushed Lissa back protectively. As much as we bud heads sometimes, this was something we could agree on. We would always put Lissa first.

I started to advance towards the big hairy mongrels. I had snuck a spare stake out of the glove compartment from Dimitri's car and was gripping it tightly. One of the psi-hounds jumped me and I fell backward, man those things are heavy. I tried getting it off of me but all I was able to do was keep the beast from ripping my throat out.

I had to take care of this soon. There were three more. I could feel heat coming from behind me and I noticed Christian was keeping the psi-hounds from coming closer to him and Lissa with a barrier of fire. It would only last so long though. I knew Moroi couldn't keep this much magic going for long.

I focused back on the mongrel sitting on top of me. His claws dug into my skin. His fangs were close enough to my face I could feel the drool slip down my neck. Ewh. I was trying to free one hand so I could grab the stake, but I needed both hands to keep it from biting my head off. I moved my hand down a bit, still using most of my arm to hold him off, I could feel the cold silver on the rim of my pants. But juggling the psi-hound with one hand and one elbow/ lower arm was hard. I would have to be quick. I pushed as hard as I could lifting the psi-hound up a bit and simultaneously grabbed the stake from my pants and in one swift motion plunged the stake into its side. He yelped and fell lifeless on top of me. I threw him off and moved on to the next. This was taking too long and I guess the hounds felt the same way as two of them jumped Christian. The remaining psi-hound jumped at me. I was struggling. I had to get to Christian quick. I tried tapping into the darkness to grant me extra speed and strength but the mall incident was only days ago and there simply was not enough to give me the edge that I needed. That was a first. I guess I had to do it the old fashion way.

I was finally getting the upper hand when I heard Christian scream. The dogs were ripping into him. I then felt a blaze of heat coming from behind me. The dogs were yelping and I saw them withering in flames on the ground. I guess seeing his brothers burn to death distracted the psi-hound that was on me and I was able to take him down.

I walked over to Christian, he was exhausted from the extended magic use and he had a good chunk of his shoulder torn out. The ground was already soaked with his blood and the pool of blood kept getting bigger and bigger. I was no medic, but I knew that was a bad sign, a very bad sign. He was on the edge of unconsciousness, I knew he was dying. Lissa seemed to have realized this too. She was on him in a second. She was hovering her hands over his large wound but I could see her getting frustrated.

"I can't heal him, Rose, I have nothing left." Tears fell down her face as she kept trying over and over again, willing her hands to work.

She was exhausted from healing Viktor and I could feel how desperate she was. She loved him and she was watching him die.

I was kneeling next to her and I pulled down Dimitri's sweater and the dress to expose my neck and shoulder.

"Come on Lissa, take some of my blood and you'll be strong enough to heal him."

She had always hesitated before drinking from me, but this time she did not doubt for a second. She planted her fangs into my neck and drank from me. It took very little time for the endorphins to enter my body and make me feel amazing. I could tell she was taking a lot. She needed to fully heal herself before she could save Christian. I felt myself slipping. I hope this was enough. I saw her put her hands on Christian again and I could feel the amazing feeling of her magic flowing through her. She was healing Christian. It was the last thing I felt before passing out.

I woke up in the infirmary...again. Lissa was sitting next to me. She was all bleary eyed and looked very tired. I hoped the tears she shed were because of stress and exhaustion and not because Christian hadn't made it. I looked around, I knew if he was alive, Lissa wouldn't stray too far from him. The simple movement of rotating my head hurt but it was effective. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Christiand in the bed next to me. He seemed to be sleeping. There were beeping sounds coming from his side of the room. The sound was steady so he was good.

My movements had alerted Lissa. "Hey, you're awake."

I tried moving more than just my head. I grunted, I am not sure how awake I was, my body didn't seem fully conscious. I looked over at Christian, silently asking the question if he was alright.

"He is fine Rose, thank you. You gave me what I needed to heal him. They are keeping him for observation and I could not heal the exhaustion from the magic but he is fine. How are you feeling, I know I took a lot of blood."

I thought about it for a moment. I was tired and I felt like I could barely lift my arms but otherwise, I was fine. I sustained no injuries during the psi-hound fight other than a few bumps, bruises, and scratches.

"I am fine Liss, just a bit of rest and a good amount of chocolate and I'll be good as new."

Lissa smiled and pulled a bag from behind the chair. She pulled out a box of chocolate donuts.

"Someone ordered chocolate?"

I smiled brilliantly at her. She knew me so well. All the tiredness in my body left me as I practically jumped at the box of donuts and started to dig in. I was on my second donut before I asked if she wanted one too. Lissa laughed but took one anyway. I could easily offer her one. Moroi didn't eat as much as Dhampirs because they also sustained themselves with blood. Lissa would pick at that one and I would be surprised if she finished it at all.

After a good solid breakfast of donuts and having been checked out by Dr. Olendski, the doctor released me. She informed me that Kirova wanted to see me. Damn, I had hoped that with everything going on she had forgotten about my punishment for breaking Mia's nose.

Maybe I could fake being injured. Maybe I could claim some latent effect of the blood loss. Maybe I could make a run for it.

But in the end I resigned myself to whatever judgment Kirova would put on me. I had several witnesses that would testify that Mia was bullying Lissa. My reaction had been understandable.

I was thinking about a good lawyer when I walked into her office, expecting the worst.

"Ah Rose, I am glad to see you are feeling better. Please sit."

Kirova was being nice? I hadn't noticed the seas were on fire or the sky falling down and the room was absent from the flying pigs. I quickly masked my look of surprise at her concern and sat down in the chair at the other end of the table. A chair that had dents in it from me sitting in it so often.

"Lord Dashkov has confessed and has been detained in the academy cells for the moment. We were very lucky we were able to get to the princess when we did. He had planned to smuggle her out of the country within hours. Natalie has been questioned and she has confessed to the dead animals."

Kirova settled her glasses on her nose. She looked down at a piece of paper, probably the incident report. She was reading over the report again and again before she continued.

"The princess has informed us of her specialty and what comes with this. It will be of the utmost importance to keep this information private. If word gets out about her unusual specialty more people like Lord Dashkov could arise. We did, however, inform the Queen of the situation, as it plays a major part in the case against Lord Dashkov."

I wasn't very happy the Queen knew. Lissa and I have been hiding her abilities for so long, it felt weird that the highest ranking member of our society knew. Like an itch I couldn't quite scratch, although I always felt that way around Queen Tatiana Ivashkove. But the Queen and Kirova knowing also meant Lissa could get some help. At least Kirova seemed to be Lissa's safety first. For that I was grateful.

Kirova closed the file and her eyes settled on me. There was something very strange in her eyes. Concern was a big word, but there was a certain amount of warmth coming from her, maybe pity?

"There is also another matter. Lord Dashkov has requested to see you."

What? Why would he want to see me? I had a million questions for Viktor. As much as I hated it, Viktor was the only one who seemed to know anything about this spirit. I didn't want to depend on him, but if he wanted something from me, I would want something in return.

"Now, you are under no obligation to go. But if you want to I won't stop you."

Kirova looked like she didn't want me to visit Viktor. At least she cared enough not to want me near a psychopath that had already kidnapped one of her students today.

"I'll go. I have some questions of my own I would like for him to answer."

Kirova only nodded, then went back to the papers on her desk. I guess this conversation was over. No mention of Mia. Yeah. If I had to see Lissa's kidnapper to get out of punishment I would.

About ten minutes later I was led into the academy jail cells. The guardian that brought me there stood back from the cell to give me a bit of privacy. I saw him walking back up the stairs. I walked towards the only occupied cell with Viktor inside of it. When I looked at him I was angry. He no longer looked like the friendly sick old man I had always known. He looked healthy and for the first time, the look in his eyes betrayed his true feelings, cunning and devious.

"Well Rosemarie, you look well. I hope you have recovered a bit."

"Cut the chit-chat, Viktor, why am I here? Why did you want to see me?"

Viktor looked me over from head to toe as if he was looking for something.

"What do you know about spirit users and the bond? What do you know about being shadow-kissed?"

Actually, I knew very little. I had heard people use the term before so I knew Viktor was legitimate. I just kept my mouth shut. Viktor seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice so I knew he would continue without me having to force him.

"Do you know how the bond is formed?"

Lissa and I didn't know for sure. But the accident was obviously a trigger. Could it hurt to tell Viktor? He knew so much, he probably knew that too.

"I assumed it happened in the accident. Something with heightened emotions or something. Lissa needing a connection to someone?"

Viktor looked almost like a kid in a candy store. I assumed my answer amused him.I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from pulling him through the bars and asking him what was so funny.

"Well, you are half right. Your bond was formed in the car accident but it has nothing to do with Lissa's desire to connect. Well, in a way I guess it does. Lissa healed you that day. They say it was a miracle that you survived. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret."

He leaned in towards the bars as if it really was a big secret. I didn't like the smirk on his face one bit.

"You didn't."

He stopped talking so I could let the information sink into my brain.

"What do you mean I didn't survive, I am here aren't I?" I asked him exasperated. He was playing games with me and I would not tolerate that.

He smiled. "No, you died in the car accident, but Lissa brought you back to life. You were probably only dead for a few moments, but dead you were nonetheless. That is what created the bond. Why do you think they call it shadow-kissed? You crossed over to the land of the dead, the land of shadows and came back, but you never really escape that place. It will always taint your soul, leaving its mark on you. Have you already seen any ghosts?"

I could not move, I could not breathe. I would like to think Viktor was crazy but somewhere, somehow I knew he was right. I always felt different after the accident. It wasn't just the darkness I take from Lissa that did that, something about me had changed.

And did he mention ghosts? After the first time I killed a Strigoi I started to see images of people. I would have major migraines and shadows with faces would dance around me, trying to drag me into a dark abyss. I was eventually able to block those things out, much in the same way I learned to block Lissa out. But were those the ghosts that Viktor was talking about?

I had trouble wrapping my head around this. I was trembling but I couldn't show any weakness in front of Viktor. I needed to distract him and myself from the very disturbing news that I had died at age fifteen. So I opted for asking the questions I was here to ask him.

"How do you know all this? If Spirit is so rare that it has been forgotten for ages, how do you know about it?"

Viktor contemplated that question. He was figuring out if he wanted to tell me or not.

"Just because most people have forgotten doesn't mean it doesn't exist anymore."

And with that he let it go. He wasn't going to give any more information. Okay next question it is.

"Why did you distract me and Dimitri with the necklace, why not just take us out permanently. I doubt murder would be the line you would not cross."

I actually wanted to know how he knew about us. If he just infused the charm with something to distract us or if he knew something more was going on.

"Ahh, yes. Your crush on your mentor and more disturbingly, his obsession with you. I did not want you dead yet Rose. Keeping you alive to take some of the darkness away from Lissa so she could keep healing me was important. But I needed you two occupied. I knew that you would be able to sense her distress and immediately warn guardians. Most likely the guardian you trust most. And a lust charm seemed like the obvious choice. It would feed on the desire already there between you two and keep the charm going. It would also not arouse any suspicion on your part because it only enhances what is there. It cannot create any of those feelings, it can only amplify them."

He looked me over with disgust. He obviously didn't approve of me and Dimitri. He had seen what was between us, but he hadn't really seen it. He didn't understand what Dimitri was to me. Hell, I didn't even understand it, but I knew it was deep.

"It was very clear to me at the mall how you two feel about each other. I can forgive you, Rose for not being able to hide it so well. But there is absolutely no excuse for Guardian Belikov. Not only should he not be feeling those things, his training should have allowed him to hide it better. Really you two have brought this on yourselves."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He sounded almost disappointed in me. I was panicking though. Was it really that obvious? If Viktor noticed, who else noticed. I tried very hard for that guardian mast he was so disappointed in not to show how panicked I was. If anyone found out, it could be Dimitri's career and my position as Lissa's Guardian. Although we actually hadn't done anything wrong… yet. Well, maybe that one make-out session. The stuff in his room didn't count, that wasn't really us.

No matter how much I might want it to be.

I was saved stressing about it too much when we were interrupted by a crashing sound coming from up the stairs. I whipped my head around in surprise.

Viktor, however, didn't seem surprised at all. "Ah finally, I was beginning to wonder what took her so long."

I looked up the stairs just in time to catch a guardian thrown in my direction. I caught his unconscious body clumsily but saw was still breathing, barely, but he was alive. What the hell happened and what was strong enough to throw a Guardian like that?

A moment later Natalie walked down the stairs.

Except, it wasn't Natalie. The way she walked, the way I could feel her. I felt nauseous. No, I looked at her eyes and I could not believe sweet, boring Natalie was standing in front of me, a Strigoi.

Why on earth would Natalie… Viktor. She had turned willingly to get her father out of jail. I turned around furious at Viktor. Just looking at him made me want to hurl and it had nothing to do with his late daughters proximity.

"You even convinced your own daughter to become a monster for your own benefit? You truly are despicable."

"A necessary evil." He said as if he was loading the dishwasher.

I could not look at Viktor a second longer. To me, he was the worst kind of man. Where I was willing to give my life for people, he was willing to throw life away like it was nothing. First Lissa's and now Natalie's.

But I had more pressing matters to attend to. Natalie was standing in front of me.

"If you can help it, keep her alive, Natalie." Oh yes, not because he cared, but because I still had a use for him.

"I'll try daddy, but it won't be easy," Natalie said with a cruel smile on her face. It was so unlike the Natalie I had known. She threw Viktor the keys to the door she had apparently taken off the Guardian earlier.

I had three problems when facing Natalie. One, it was Natalie. I had fought a lot of Strigoi, but never one I used to know in life. It was unnerving, to say the least, but I could clearly see the differences. The blood lust in her eyes was something that separated sweet Natalie from Strigoi Natalie.

Second, although Lissa had used some magic healing me and Christian I had accumulated little darkness over the past few days. Would it be enough? Could I do it on my own if I couldn't tap into the darkness. Natalie had no training and was a baby, if I had a chance to take any Strigoi down, it would be Natalie.

And not unimportant problem number three. I had no weapon. No stake. When fueled with darkness I would just rip their heads off, but I did not know if I could do that here. Also, I think people would look very different at me when they saw how much damage I would do to Natalie.

Natalie decided that time for thinking was over as she launched herself at me. I moved out of the way and was grateful for the extra training sessions with Dimitri. Maybe I could do this. I had been in many battles and I could see the moves she wanted to make. Also, Dimitri taught me well. I now had both battle instinct and technique to help me.

Natalie and I circled each other. I knew she would be faster and stronger, but she had no idea how to handle that strength yet. I blocked as she advanced, she pushed back hard. I saw Viktor escaping up the stairs. I had to go after him, but I knew I had to take down Natalie first, not only for me, but for the unconscious Guardian at my feet.

I kept blocking and avoiding her punches as much as I could. One good hit and I could be incapacitated. I was trying to find an opening. There, I moved out of the way, pivoting a little. I used my momentum and swiped my foot under her legs, bringing her to the ground. I was on top of her but I had no way of finishing her off. That was until I heard Dimitri's voice.

He was standing on top of the stairs; he shouted my name and threw a stake in my direction. I caught it and I plunged it into her heart in one swift motion.

It felt different doing it without the darkness. It took a lot more effort pushing past the sternum and pushing the stake far enough it actually pierced her heart.

I saw the light in her eyes fade. In that last moment before she died she looked so much like the old Natalie, the red eyes and cruelness gone.

I climbed off of her but stayed on my knees. Dimitri had made his way down the stairs and was now kneeling beside me. I turned to him.

"Viktor?"

"They apprehended him outside, don't worry, he did not get away. How are you? Are you okay?"

I found out I died, that Viktor knew about Dimitri and I and I had killed a friend, so there was only one answer for that.

"No."

More guardians started to come in and the adrenaline started to leave me as the situation sat in. I could barely move. I was shaking so hard. Dimitri helped me move somewhere, but I was too dazed to notice where. I just knew that I placed one foot in front of the other.

I sat in a chair and I recognized it as the same chair I had sat in an hour ago, before my life fell apart. Kirova asked me my rundown of events. A Guardian was noting everything I said down.

Everyone was astonished when they learned I was the one to take Natalie down. I was to be awarded a molnija in the next few days. I just nodded, I was numb. I knew I should be excited about that, it was a big deal, but how could I, knowing I had killed a friend. And now the reminder of that would be forever evident on my skin.