Adrian sighed and hoped that he didn't get a long chapter.
Nine
WITH SO MANY MOROI tracing their roots back to Eastern Europe, Orthodox Christianity was the dominant religion on campus. Other religions were represented too, and I'd say all in all, only about half of the student body attended any sort of services regularly.
"That is not bad for teens," Olena shook her head impressed.
Lissa was one such student. She went to church every Sunday because she believed. Christian also attended. He did it because she went and because it made him look good and seem less likely to become Strigoi.
"Valid reason," Eddie nodded at Christian,
Since Strigoi couldn't enter holy ground, regular church service provided a small front of respectability for him. When I wasn't sleeping in, I showed up at church for the social aspect. Lissa and my friends usually hung out and did something fun afterward, so church made for a good meeting spot. If God minded me using his chapel as a way to further my social life, He hadn't let me know.
"He's just pleased that she is there,' Abe chuckled.
Either that, or He was biding his time before punishing me. When the service ended that Sunday, however, I had to stick around the chapel, because that was where my community service was going to happen.
"Oh you know how to punish Rose," Mason and Eddie chuckled.
When the place had cleared out, I was surprised to see one other person had lingered with me: Dimitri. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Thought you might need some help. I hear the priest wants to do a lot of housecleaning."
"So sweet," Olena and Adrian said at the same time, but with very different tones.
"Yeah, but you're not the one being punished here. And this is your day off too. We—well, everyone else—spent the whole week battling it out, but you guys were the ones picking the fights the whole time." In fact, I noticed now that Dimitri had a couple bruises too—though not nearly as many as Stan had.
Dimitri sat up straight, very proud. Ivan chuckled and shook his head. Sometimes his friend still acted like a teenage boy.
It had been a long week for everyone, and it was only the first of six. "What else would I do today?" "I could think of a hundred other things," I noted dryly. "There's probably a John Wayne movie on somewhere that you haven't seen."
"Not possible," Karolina and Ivan said at the same time, Dimitri nodded agreeing with them.
He shook his head. "No, there isn't. I've seen them all. Look—the priest is waiting for us." I turned around. Sure enough. Father Andrew stood at the front, watching us expectantly. He'd taken off the rich robes he'd worn during service and now stood in simple slacks and a button down shirt.
"Did she really think he staid the entire day in the robes?" Sonja giggled,
"They don't?" Paul asked shocked,
"No buddy, they don't," Ivan smiled down at Paul.
He looked like he was ready to work too, and I wondered whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest. As Dimitri and I approached to get our assignments, I pondered what could have actually made Dimitri stay here in the first place.
"And she said guys are unobservant," Christian shook his head.
Surely he hadn't really wanted to work on his day off. I wasn't used to puzzles with him. His intentions were usually straightforward, and I had to assume there was a simple explanation now. It just wasn't clear yet. "Thank you both for volunteering to help me." Father Andrew smiled at us. I tried not to scoff at the "volunteering" reference. He was a Moroi in his late forties, with thinning gray hair. Even without much faith in religion, I still liked and respected him. "We aren't doing anything particularly complex today," he continued. "It's a bit boring, really. We'll have to do the regular cleaning, of course, and then I'd like to sort the boxes of old supplies I have sitting up in the attic."
Christian paled, he hoped that he and Lissa had cleaned up after themselves.
"We're happy to do whatever you need," Dimitri said solemnly. I repressed a sigh and tried not to think of all the other things I could be doing. We set to it. I was put on mop duty, and Dimitri took over dusting and polishing the wooden pews.
"Well he is tall so he could easily get all those high crevasses and shelves," Olena nodded thinking about how much help Dimitri was when he visited home.
He appeared thoughtful and intent as he cleaned, looking like he actually took pride in his work.
"I do," Dimitri nodded,
"You take pride in anything and everything you do," Ivan pointed out.
I was still trying to figure out why he was here at all. Don't get me wrong; I was happy to have him. His presence made me feel better, and of course I always loved watching him. I thought maybe he was there to get more information out of me about what had happened that day with Stan, Christian, and Brandon. Or maybe he wanted to chastise me about the other day with Stan, where I'd been accused of jumping into battle for selfish reasons.
"Or he just wanted to spend the time with her, without it looking to strange," Ivan said causally.
These seemed like likely explanations, yet he never said a word. Even when the priest stepped out of the sanctuary to go to his office, Dimitri continued working quietly. I would have figured if he'd had anything to say, he would have done it then.
"Defiantly," all of his family said at the same time.
When we finished the cleaning, Father Andrew had us haul box after box of stuff down from the attic and into a storeroom at the back of the chapel. Lissa and Christian frequently used that attic as a secret getaway, and I wondered if having it cleaner would be a pro or a con for their romantic interludes.
I think a con, as there were fewer things to hide behind," Christian thought about it.
"Here's an idea how about you two have sex not in a public place," Abe pointed out.
"It's the easiest play to do it, the dorms are too well monitored," Christian pointed out.
Maybe they would abandon it, and I could start getting some sleep.
"Doubt that would happen," Alberta shook her head, why teens were so horny she had no idea.
With all of the stuff downstairs, the three of us settled on the floor and began sorting it all out. Father Andrew gave us instructions on what to save and what to throw out, and it was a relief to be off my feet for a change this week. He made small talk as we worked, asking me about classes and other things. It wasn't so bad. And as we worked, a thought came to me.
"Is she really going to ask the priest about ghosts?" Mark chuckled,
"Well I feel betrayed," Christian and Eddie said at the same time. They were so sure that Rose would go to Dimitri or Lissa and if not to them, she would go to either Christian or Eddie, not the priest.
I'd done a good job convincing myself that Mason had been a delusion brought on by lack of sleep, but getting assurance from an authority figure that ghosts weren't real would go a long way toward making me feel better. "Hey," I said to Father Andrew. "Do you believe in ghosts? I mean, is there any mention of them in—" I gestured around us. "—in this stuff?"
"Rose," Janine shook her head disappointed as everyone else just laughed. Oh how they all love Rose's way of dealing with things.
The question clearly surprised him, but he didn't appear to take offense at me calling his vocation and life's work "this stuff." Or at the fact that I was obviously ignorant about it all, despite seventeen years of sitting through services.
"Nothing new to him," Alberts pointed out.
"And she's asking questions, so he would see that as a win," Abe added.
A bemused expression crossed his face, and he paused in his work. "Well … it depends on how you define 'ghost,' I suppose." I tapped a theology book with my finger. "The whole point of this is that when you die, you go to heaven or hell. That makes ghosts just stories, right? They're not in the Bible or anything."
"Well you should tell that to Mason," Paul smiled at the redhead. Mason just looked at the young boy and nodded, Mason was not brave enough to try and explain to Paul why that would not work.
"Again," he said, "it depends on your definition. Our faith has always held that after death, the spirit separates from the body and may indeed linger in this world."
"Oh she's not going to handle this well," Mason winced,
"I don't think anyone would handle seeing their dead friends well," Ivan remarked.
"What?" A dusty bowl I was holding dropped out of my hand. Fortunately, it was wood and didn't break. I quickly retrieved it. That was not the answer I'd been expecting. "For how long? Forever?" "No, no, of course not.
Mason relaxed, yes he cared about Rose but he didn't want to spend the rest of his death in this dark and sad world.
That flies in the face of the resurrection and salvation, which form the cornerstone of our beliefs. But it's believed the soul can stay on earth for three to forty days after death. It eventually receives a 'temporary' judgment that sends it on from this world to heaven or hell—although no one will truly experience either until the actual Judgment Day, when the soul and body are reunited to live out eternity as one."
"Well it would seemed that you broke the record of the ghost that stayed the longest," Adrian tried to cheer Mason up, it didn't work.
The salvation stuff was lost on me. The "three to forty days" was what caught my attention. I completely forgot about my sorting. "Yeah, but is it true or not? Are spirits really walking the earth for forty days after death?" "Ah, Rose. Those who have to ask if faith is true are opening up a discussion they may not be ready for." I had a feeling he was right.
"True," Yeva nodded agreeing with him.
I sighed and turned back to the box in front of me. "But," he said kindly, "if it helps you, some of these ideas parallel folk beliefs from Eastern Europe about ghosts that existed before the spread of Christianity. Those traditions have long upheld the idea of spirits staying around for a short time after death—particularly if the person in question died young or violently." I froze. Whatever progress I'd made in convincing myself Mason had been brought on by stress instantly vanished.
"Well at least she knew that she was not going crazy," Ivan hoped that was a more hopeful thought.
Young or violently. "Why?" I asked in a small voice. "Why would they stay? Is it… is it for revenge?" "I'm sure there are some who believe that, just as some believe it's because the soul has trouble finding peace after something so unsettling." "What do you believe?" I asked. He smiled. "I believe the soul separates from the body, just as our fathers teach us, but I doubt the soul's time on earth is anything the living can perceive. It's not like in the movies, with ghosts haunting buildings or coming to visit those they knew. I envision these spirits as more of an energy existing around us, something beyond our perception as they wait to move on and find peace.
"Well he's clearly wrong," Mason shook his head, he wonder why he had not found peace yet. Why was it so important for him to tell Rose something?
Ultimately, what matters is what happens beyond this earth when we attain the eternal life our savior bought for us with his great sacrifice. That's what's important." I wondered if Father Andrew would be so quick to say that if he'd seen what I'd seen. Young or violently. Both had applied to Mason, and he had died less than forty days ago. That sad, sad face came back to me, and I wondered what it had meant. Revenge? Or could he truly not find peace?
"I think that is something we all want to know," everyone looked at Mason who was unsure himself.
And how did Father Andrew's theology about heaven and hell fit with someone like me, who had died and come back to life? Victor Dashkov had said I'd gone to the world of the dead and returned when Lissa had healed me. What world of the dead? Was that heaven or hell? Or was it another way of referring to this in-between state on earth that Father Andrew was talking about? I didn't say anything after that, because the idea of a revenge-seeking Mason was so startling.
"Yeah how could a face like this ever want to take revenge on anyone?" Eddie chuckled at Mason as he squeezed his face between his hands, Mason ripped his face out of Eddie's hand and stuck his tongue out at Eddie.
Father Andrew sensed the change in me, but he obviously didn't know what had brought it about. He tried to coax me out. "I just got some new books in from a friend in another parish. Interesting stories about St. Vladimir." He tilted his head. "Are you still interested in him? And Anna?" Theoretically, I was.
"Any more information would be great," Abe was eager to learn more about Rose's abilities.
Until we'd met Adrian, we'd only known of two other spirit users. One was our former teacher, Ms. Karp, who'd gone completely nuts from spirit and become a Strigoi to stop the madness. The other person was St. Vladimir, the school's namesake. He'd lived centuries ago and had brought his guardian, Anna, back from the dead, just as Lissa had me. It had made Anna shadow-kissed and created a bond between them too. Normally, Lissa and I tried to get our hands on everything we could about Anna and Vlad, in order to learn more about ourselves. But, as incredible as it was for me to admit, I had bigger problems right now than the ever-present and ever-puzzling psychic link between Lissa and me.
"Yes but get the information and then she can read it latter," Abe pointed out.
"Why are you so quite in all this?" Olena asked looking at Dimitri,
"Book me probably is waiting for more information," Dimitri thought about it.
It had just been trumped by a ghost who could possibly be pissed off over my role in his untimely death. "Yeah," I said evasively, not making eye contact. "I'm interested…but I don't think I can get to it anytime soon. I'm kind of busy with all this…you know, field experience stuff." I fell silent again. He took the hint and let me work on without further interruption. Dimitri never said a word throughout any of this. When we finally finished sorting, Father Andrew told us we had one more task before our work was done.
"Good that would give them time to talk and hopefully Dimitri would be able to get her to talk to him," Ivan hoped that would happen.
He pointed to some boxes that we'd organized and repacked. "I need you to carry these over to the elementary campus," he said. "Leave them off at the Moroi dorm there. Ms. Davis has been teaching Sunday school for some of the kindergartners and might be able to use those." It would take at least two trips between Dimitri and me, and the elementary campus was a fair distance away. Still, that put me one step closer to freedom. "Why are you interested in ghosts?" Dimitri asked me on our first trip.
"Called it," Ivan said pleased that he was right.
"Just making conversation," I said. "I can't see your face right now, but I have a feeling you're lying again." "Jeez, everyone thinks the worst of me lately. Stan accused me of glory-seeking." "I heard about that," said Dimitri, as we rounded a corner. The buildings of the elementary campus loomed up in front of us. "That might have been a little unfair of him."
"Thank you," Abe and Janine said at the same time.
"A little, huh?" Hearing him admit that thrilled me, but it didn't change my anger against Stan. That dark, grouchy feeling that had plagued me lately sprang to life.
Mark winced, he knew that feeling.
"Well, thanks, but I'm starting to lose faith in this field experience. Sometimes in the whole Academy." "You don't mean that." "I don't know. The school just seems so caught up in rules and policies that don't have anything to do with real life. I saw what was out there, comrade. I went right to the monster's lair. In some ways … I don't know if this really prepares us."
"Nothing could really prepare them for the real world," Alberta wished that they could, but sadly strigoi's were ones human or Moroi so they knew how to think and change and plan and that made them so dangerous. They were always changing and learning, something the Moroi had a hard time doing it would seem.
I expected him to argue, but to my surprise he said, "Sometimes I agree." I nearly stumbled as we stepped inside one of the two Moroi dorms on the elementary campus. The lobby looked a lot like the ones on the secondary campus. "Really?" I asked. "Really," he said, a small smile on his face. "I mean, I don't agree that novices should be put out in the world when they're ten or anything, but sometimes I've thought the field experience should actually be in the field. I probably learned more in my first year as a guardian than I did in all my years of training.
Alberta and Janine nodded agreeing with him.
Well… maybe not all. But it's a different situation, absolutely." We exchanged looks, pleased over our agreement. Something warm fluttered up in me, putting the lid on my earlier anger. Dimitri understood my frustration with the system, but then, Dimitri understood me. He glanced around, but there was no one at the desk. A few students in their early teens were working or talking in the lobby.
"Yeah probably not the best place to have a heart to heart," Abe said imagining how awkward that would have been.
"Oh," I said, shifting the weight of the box I held. "We're in the middle school dorm. The younger kids are next door." "Yes, but Ms. Davis lives in this building. Let me try to find her and see where she wants these." He set his box down carefully. "I'll be right back." I watched him go and set my own box down. Leaning against a wall, I glanced around and nearly jumped when I saw a Moroi girl only a couple feet away. She'd been standing so perfectly still, I hadn't noticed her. She looked like she could be mid-teens—thirteen or fourteen—but she was tall, much taller than me. The slimness of her Moroi build made her look even taller. Her hair was a cloud of brown curls, and she had freckles—rare among the normally pale Moroi—across her face.
"Cute," Eddie, Mason and Adrian said at the same time.
Her eyes widened when she saw me looking at her. "Oh. My. God. You're Rose Hathaway, aren't you?" "Yeah," I said with surprise. "Do you know me?" "Everyone knows you. I mean, everyone heard about you. You're the one who ran away. And then you came back and killed those Strigoi. That is so cool. Did you get molnija marks?"
"Oh she's sweet, why can't you all be like her?" Mason asked looking at Christian,
"Character development," Christian answered.
Her words came out in one long string. She hardly took a breath. "Yeah. I have two." Thinking about the tiny tattoos on the back of my neck made my skin itch. Her pale green eyes—if possible—grew wider. "Oh my God. Wow." I usually grew irate when people made a big deal about the molnija marks. After all, the circumstances had not been cool. But this girl was young, and there was something appealing about her.
"Huh," Dimitri and Ivan said. It was rare for Rose to be intrigued with any other Moroi than Lissa.
"What's your name?" I asked. "Jillian—Jill. I mean, just Jill. Not both. Jillian's my full name. Jill's what everyone calls me." "Right," I said, hiding a smile. "I figured it out." "I heard Moroi used magic on that trip to fight. Is that true?
"Kind of," Christian said pleased that some of the younger kids were interested.
I would love to do that. I wish someone would teach me. I use air. Do you think I could fight Strigoi with that? Everyone says I'm crazy."
"Oh I like her," Christian made a small note to go and talk to the girl, they were going to train even if Tatiana didn't want them to.
For centuries, Moroi using magic to fight had been viewed as a sin. Everyone believed it should be used peacefully. Recently, some had started to question that, particularly after Christian had proved useful in the Spokane escape. "I don't know," I said. "You should talk to Christian Ozera." She gaped. "Would he talk to me?"
"oh someone has a fan," Adrian teased Christian.
"If you bring up fighting the establishment, yeah, he'll talk to you." "Okay, cool. Was that Guardian Belikov?" she asked, switching subjects abruptly. "Yeah." I swore I thought she might faint then and there.
"Oh she just seems to love everyone," Ivan laughed. He like her she was so energetic and fun.
"Really? He's even cuter than I heard. He's your teacher, right? Like, your own personal teacher?" "Yeah." I wondered where he was. Talking to Jill was exhausting. "Wow. You know, you guys don't even act like teacher and student. You seem like friends. Do you hang out when you're not training?" "Er, well, kind of. Sometimes." I remembered my earlier thoughts, about how I was one of the few people Dimitri was social with outside of his guardian duties. "I knew it! I can't even imagine that—I'd be freaking out all the time around him. I'd never get anything done, but you're so cool about it all, kind of like, 'Yeah, I'm with this totally hot guy, but whatever, it doesn't matter.'"
"Oh I love her," Abe laughed,
"It's kind of sweet that she thinks Rose is so relaxed about it. Given the fact she cares a lot," Christian laughed.
I laughed in spite of myself. "I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve." "No way. And I don't believe any of those stories, you know." "Um, stories?" "Yeah, about you beating up Christian Ozera."
"if she wanted to she could, but who the hell would spread those types of rumors," Ivan rolled his eyes, these kids had way too much time to waste.
"Thanks," I said. Now rumors of my humiliation were trickling down to the lower campus. If I walked over to the elementary dorms, some six-year-old would probably tell me she'd heard that I killed Christian. Jill's expression turned momentarily uncertain. "But I didn't know about the other story." "What other story?" "About how you and Adrian Ivashkov are—"
It was fair to say that everyone wanted to strangle Adrian at that moment.
"No," I interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest. "Whatever you heard, it's not true." "But it was really romantic." "Then it's definitely not true."
"I can be romantic," Adrian pouted.
Her face fell, and then she perked back up a few seconds later. "Hey, can you teach me to punch someone?" "Wai— What? Why would you want to know that?" "Well, I figure if I'm going to fight with magic someday, I should learn to fight the regular way too."
"I really like her," Christian smiled, he was so glad that this girl was already at the academy.
"I'm probably not the right person to ask," I told her. "Maybe you should, um, ask your P.E. teacher." "I did!" Her face looked distraught. "And he said no."
"So mean," Eddie chuckled.
I couldn't help but laugh. "I was joking about asking him." "Come on, it could help me fight a Strigoi someday." My laughter dried up. "No, it really wouldn't." She bit her lip, still desperate to convince me. "Well, it would at least help against that psycho."
"What psycho?" Alberta and Christian questioned, both of them were worried for her.
"What? What psycho?" "People keep getting beat up around here. Last week it was Dane Zeklos, and just the other day it was Brett." "Dane …" I ran through my knowledge of Moroi genealogy. There were a gazillion Zeklos students around. "That's Jesse's younger brother, yeah?" Jill nodded.
"What the hell," Ivan asked, what was wrong with this school?
"Yup. One of our teachers was so mad, too, but Dane wouldn't say a word. Neither would Brett." "Brett who?" "Ozera." I did a double take. "Ozera?" I had the impression she was really excited to tell me things I didn't know. "He's my friend Aimee's boyfriend. He was all bruised up yesterday—had some weird things that looked like welts, too. Maybe burns?
Alberta was pale, she was in pure shock. The strigoi situation was bad enough now the students were being attacked in the school. Oh whoever was doing this better hope that she doesn't find them.
But he wasn't as bad as Dane. And when Mrs. Callahan asked him about it, Brett convinced her it was nothing, and she let it go, which was weird.
"He didn't compel her did he?" Janine asked not sure if she really wanted an answer.
"He can't. And if he could who taught him?" Adrian was worried. Not everyone was like him and Lissa, who knew what he would use it for.
He was also in a really good mood—which was also weird, since you'd kind of think getting beat up would bring you down." Somewhere in the back of my mind, her words tickled a memory. There was some connection I should be making, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Between Victor, ghosts, and the field experiences, it was honestly a wonder I could string words together anymore.
"It's too much," Abe agreed with the book. Rose needed to take to someone, she can't take all these things at the same time.
"So can you teach me so that I won't get beat up?" Jill asked, clearly hoping she'd convinced me. She balled her fist up. "I just do this, right? Thumb across the fingers and swing?" "Uh, well, it's a little more complicated than that. You need to stand a certain way, or you'll hurt yourself more than the other person. There are a lot of things you need to do with your elbows and hips."
"Please show her," Ivan hoped that Rose did, he didn't want this poor innocent child to get hurt.
"Show me, please?" she begged. "I bet you're really good." I was really good, but corrupting minors was one offense I didn't yet have on my record,
"Well that is surprising," Abe was impressed.
and I preferred to keep it that way. Fortunately, Dimitri came back just then with Ms. Davis. "Hey," I told him.
"Yes get him to show her how," Ivan nodded at Dimitri.
"I have someone who wants to meet you. Dimitri, this is Jill. Jill, Dimitri." He looked surprised, but he smiled and shook her hand. She turned bright red and became speechless for a change. As soon as he released her hand, she stammered out a goodbye and ran off.
"No," Ivan and Christian had hoped that either Rose or Dimitri would show her how to punch someone.
We finished up with Ms. Davis and headed back toward the chapel for our second load. "Jill knew who I was," I told Dimitri as we walked. "She had kind of a hero-worship thing going on." "Does that surprise you?" he asked. "That younger students would look up to you?"
"That is actually terrifying," Christian said thinking about all the damage Rose could do with just a few people who looked up at her.
"I don't know. I just never thought about it. I don't think I'm that good of a role model." "I disagree. You're outgoing, dedicated, and excel at everything you do. You've earned more respect than you think."
"Suck up," Adrian rolled his eyes at Dimitri.
I gave him a sidelong glance. "And yet not enough to go to Victor's trial, apparently."
"Well that took her a long time," Janine shook her head.
"Not this again." "Yes, this again! Why don't you get how major this is? Victor's a huge threat." "I know he is." "And if he gets loose, he'll just start in on his crazy plans again." "It's really unlikely he will get loose, you know. Most of those rumors about the queen letting him off are just that— rumors. You of all people should know not to believe everything you hear."
"I hate it when you are right," Karolina shook her head at him. Dimitri just smiled at him.
I stared stonily ahead, refusing to acknowledge his point. "You should still let us go. Or"—I took a deep breath—"you should at least let Lissa go."
That shocked everyone, no one would have thought that Rose would let Lissa go alone to the trail.
It was harder for me to say those words than it should have been, but it was something I'd been thinking about. I didn't think I was a glory seeker like Stan had said, but there was a part of me that always wanted to be the one in the middle of a fight. I wanted to rush forward, doing what was right and helping others. Likewise, I wanted to be there at Victor's trial. I wanted to look him in the eye and make sure he was punished.
"That is completely understandable," Abe nodded.
"If it was up to you he would have disappeared," Janine said looking accusingly.
"True," Abe smiled proud of that fact.
But as time went on, it seemed less likely that that would happen. They really weren't going to let us go. Maybe, though, maybe they'd let one of us go, and if it should be anyone, it should be Lissa. She'd been the target of Victor's plan,
"That would also remind the court about what he had done. Who he had been willing to sacrifice," Ivan pointed out.
and though her going alone stirred up that nervous idea about how maybe she didn't need me to guard her, I'd still rather take the chance and see him put away. Dimitri, understanding my need to rush in and take action, seemed surprised by my unusual behavior.
"Mood," was all Mason said.
"You're right— she should be there, but again, it's nothing I can do anything about. You keep thinking I can control this, but I can't." "But did you do everything you could?" I thought back to Adrian's words in the dream, about how Dimitri could have done more. "You have a lot of influence. There must be something. Anything." "Not as much influence as you think. I've got a high position here at the Academy, but in the rest of the guardian world, I'm still pretty young. And yes, I did actually speak up for you."
Abe and Janine nodded at him, pleased that he had tried his best.
"Maybe you should have spoken up louder." I could sense him shutting down. He'd discuss most things reasonably but wouldn't encourage me when I was just being a bitch. So, I tried to be more reasonable.
"well she does learn fast," Sonja laughed,
"Victor knows about us," I said. "He could say something."
"Oh he's not brave enough," Abe was so sure about that.
"Victor has bigger things to worry about with this trial than us." "Yeah, but you know him. He doesn't exactly act like a normal person would. If he feels like he's lost all hope of getting off, he might decide to bust us just for the sake of revenge."
"I hate that she is right," Janine was worried, none of them knew if the court would believe him if he did tell them about Dimitri and Rose's feelings.
I'd never been able to confess my relationship with Dimitri to Lissa, yet our worst enemy knew about it. It was weirder even than Adrian knowing. Victor had figured it out by watching us and gathering data. I guess when you're a scheming villain, you get good at that stuff. He'd never made the knowledge public, though.
"That is concerning," Abe hoped that Victor was not waiting to use that information on a later date. But if Victor waited too long the information would be useless, so it seems that this will be a waiting game.
Instead, he'd used it against us with the lust charm he'd made from earth magic. A charm like that wouldn't work if there wasn't already attraction in place. The charm just cranked things up. Dimitri and I had been all over each other and had been only a heartbeat away from having sex. It had been a pretty smart way for Victor to distract us without using violence.
"Yes, because Dimitri would have beaten her to easily," Ivan was glad it had not come to that.
If anyone had tried to attack us, we could have put up a good fight. But turn us loose on each other? We had trouble fighting that. Dimitri was silent for several moments. I knew he knew I had a point. "Then we'll have to deal with that as best we can," he said at last. "But if Victor's going to tell, he's going to do it whether or not you testify."
"True," Abe said, but he was not pleased that Victor had that information.
I refused to say anything else until we got to the church. When we did, Father Andrew told us that after going over some more things, he'd decided he really only needed one more box brought over to Ms. Davis. "I'll do it," I told Dimitri crisply, once the priest was out of earshot. "You don't have to come." "Rose, please don't make a big deal about this." "It is a big deal!" I hissed. "And you don't seem to get it." "I do get it. Do you really think I want to see Victor loose? Do you think I want us all at risk again?" It was the first time in a long time I'd seen his control on the verge of snapping.
Olena looked at her son, she knew that he had good control over his emotions. So if he was this close to snapping was concerning.
"But I told you, I've done all I can do. I'm not like you—I can't keep making a scene when things don't go my way." "I do not." "You're doing it right now." He was right. Some part of me knew I'd crossed a line … but just like with everything else recently, I couldn't stop talking. "Why did you even help me today?" I demanded.
"Tell her the truth," Ivan begged Dimitri.
"Why are you here?" "Is that so strange?" he asked. He almost looked hurt. "Yes. I mean, are you are you trying to spy on me? Figure out why I messed up? Make sure I don't get into any trouble?" He studied me, brushing hair out of his eyes. "Why does there have to be some ulterior motive?" I wanted to blurt out a hundred different things.
"Well you did spend an entire book telling her you can't be together, so she had a valid reasons to feel like that," Victoria told Dimitri.
"I know that, book me doesn't," Dimitri explained.
Like, if there wasn't a motive, then that meant he just wanted to spend time with me. And that made no sense, because we both knew we were only supposed to have a teacher-student relationship. He of all people should know that. He was the one who'd told me. "Because everyone has motives." "Yes. But not always the motives you think." He pushed open the door. "I'll see you later." I watched him go, my feelings a tangle of confusion and anger. If the situation hadn't been so strange, I would have almost said it was like we'd just gone on a date.
"You did go a date," Ivan was confused, he did not like that idea. According to him, Rose deserved so much better.
"You are fixing this," Ivan told Dimitri who just nodded, terrified at the look in his friends' eyes. Adrian sighed and closed the book before handing it over to Christian.
~~~~
Christian opened the book,
Ten
THE NEXT DAY, MY guardian duties with Christian resumed. Once again, I found my own life put on hold for someone else's. "How was your penance?" he asked as we walked across campus from his dorm. I stifled a yawn. I hadn't been able to sleep well last night, both because of my feelings for Dimitri and because of what Father Andrew had told me.
"Not good," Ivan was worried, if Stan saw how tired she was how would he react.
Nonetheless, I kept a sharp eye out. This was the location where Stan had attacked us twice before, and besides, the guardians were sick and twisted enough to come after me on a day when I was so exhausted.
"Defiantly," Alberta nodded.
"It was okay. The priest let us go early." "Us?" "Dimitri came and helped me. I think he felt bad about me being stuck with that work." "Either that or he has nothing else to do now that he's not doing your extra sessions."
"Wow you are gullible," Karolina shook her head, why was it so hard for the people in the book to see that they like each other more than friends or as teacher and student.
"Maybe, but I doubt it. All in all, I guess it wasn't that bad a day." Unless you considered learning about spiteful ghosts bad. "I had a great day," said Christian, the smallest amount of smugness in his voice. I repressed the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know." He and Lissa had taken advantage of their guardianless day to take advantage of each other.
"Well at least they waited till they were alone," Eddie shuttered at the idea of being near them when they did the dirty.
I supposed I should be glad they'd held off until Eddie and I weren't around, but in a lot of ways, it didn't matter. True, when I was awake, I could block out all of the details, but I still knew what was going on. A bit of the jealousy and anger I'd felt from the last time they'd been together returned. It was the same problem all over again: Lissa doing all the things I couldn't do. I was dying to go eat breakfast. I could smell French toast and hot maple syrup. Carbs wrapped in more carbs. Yum.
Everyone laughed at that.
But Christian wanted blood before we ate solid food, and his needs trumped mine. They come first. He'd apparently skipped his daily blood dose yesterday—probably to maximize his romantic time. The feeder room wasn't crowded, but we still had to wait. "Hey," I said. "Do you know Brett Ozera? You're related, right?" After my encounter with Jill, I'd finally put some pieces together. Brett Ozera and Dane Zeklos had reminded me of how Brandon had looked the day of Stan's first attack.
"Okay that makes sense why she had forgotten," Janine said thinking about how bad that day had gone.
The disaster of that attack had made me completely forget about Brandon, but the coincidences here suddenly stirred my curiosity. All three had been beaten up. All three had been in denial. Christian nodded. "Yeah, in the way we're all kind of related. I don't know him that well—he's like a third or fourth cousin or something. His branch of the family hasn't had much to do with mine since … well, you know."
"Asses," Sonja shook her head. Why it was so hard for families to stick together through the hard times.
"I heard something weird about him." I then related what Jill had told me about Dane and Brett. "That's weird," agreed Christian. "But people get in fights."
"Yeah but not so often and given the fact that none of them hard reported who had beaten them up," Alberta pointed out.
"Yeah, but there are some weird connections here. And royals aren't usually on the losing ends of fights—all three of these guys were." "Well, maybe that's it. You know how it's been. A lot of royals are getting pissed off that non-royals want to change how guardians are assigned and learn to start fighting. That's the whole point of Jesse and Ralf's stupid little club. They want to make sure royals stay on top. Non-royals are probably getting just as pissed off and fighting back."
"About time," Christian hoped that they did at least some damage to the royal pricks.
"So, what, some kind of vigilante is out making royals pay?" "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened around here," he pointed out.
"I wish it was," Alberta shook her head.
"That's for damn sure," I muttered. Christian's name was called, and he peered ahead. "Look at that," he said happily. "Alice again." "I don't get your fascination with her," I observed as we approached the old feeder. "Lissa's always kind of excited to see her too. But Alice is nuts." "I know," he said. "That's what's so great." Alice greeted us as Christian sat down beside her.
"You two are strange," Mason shook his head at Christian.
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed over my chest. Feeling uppity, I said, "Alice, the scenery hasn't changed. It's exactly the same as last time." She turned her dazed eyes on me. "Patience, Rose. You must be patient. And prepared. Are you prepared?"
"What?" Olena asked worried about what the lady meant,
"She's crazy," Christian answered not sure how he felt about that.
The switch in subject threw me a little. It was like talking to Jill, except less sane. "Um, prepared how? For the scenery?" In what had to be a prime moment of irony, she looked at me as though I were the one who was crazy. "Armed. Are you armed? You're going to protect us, aren't you?"
"Oh she meant a stake," Abe relaxed.
I reached inside my coat and pulled out the practice stake I'd been given for the field experience. "Got you covered," I said. She looked immensely relieved and apparently couldn't tell the difference between a real stake and a fake one. "Good," she said. "Now we'll be safe." "That's right," said Christian. "With Rose armed, we have nothing to worry about. The Moroi world can rest easy."
"You have no idea how right you are in the book," Janine laughed pleased.
Alice was oblivious to his sarcasm. "Yes. Well, nowhere is ever safe." I concealed the stake again. "We're safe. We've got the best guardians in the world protecting us, not to mention the wards. Strigoi aren't getting in here." I didn't add what I'd recently learned: that Strigoi could get humans to break the wards.
"That is concerning," Janine hoped that it would not happen to the school as well.
Wards were invisible lines of power that were composed of all four elements. They were created when four Moroi, each one strong in a different element, walked around an area and laid the magic in a circle upon the ground, creating a protective border. Moroi magic was imbued with life, and a strong field of it kept out Strigoi, since they were devoid of life.
"I wonder how strong the wards would get if you added spirts to them?" Adrian wondered. Alberta looked at Janine before looking at Adrian and Oksana.
So wards were frequently laid around Moroi dwellings. Tons of them were laid around this school. Since stakes were also imbued with all four elements, driving a stake through a ward line in the ground pierced the ward and canceled out the protective effect. This had never been much of a concern because Strigoi couldn't touch stakes. However, in some recent attacks, humans—who could touch stakes—had served Strigoi and broken some wards. We believed the Strigoi I'd killed had been the ringleaders in that group,
"What are the chances of that?" Christian said worried,
"We have no idea," Alberta said worried if they had not been the ringleaders that would mean neither the school nor court was safe.
but we still didn't know for sure. Alice studied me closely with her cloudy eyes, almost as though she knew what I was thinking. "Nowhere is safe. Wards fade. Guardians die." I glanced over at Christian, who shrugged in a sort of what did you expect from her? kind of way. "If you guys are done with your girl talk, can I eat now?" he asked. Alice was more than happy to comply; he was her first hit of the day. She soon forgot about wards or anything else and simply lost herself to the ecstasy of his bite. I forgot about wards too.
"We have been used to them being a defense for so long," Alberta made a note, she would try and get more guardians to patrol the ward lines. Ensuring that they were guarded and that humans didn't get a chance to break them.
I had a one-track mind, really: I still wanted to know if Mason had been real or not. The priest's frightening explanation aside, I had to admit Mason's visits hadn't been threatening, just scary. If he was out to get me, he was kind of doing a half-assed job of it.
"Now that is nothing new," Alberta smiled at Mason who laughed and nodded at her.
Once again, I started putting more stock in the stress-and-fatigue theory. "Now it's time for me to eat," I said when Christian finished. I was pretty sure I could smell bacon now. That'd probably make Christian happy.
"That would make anyone happy," Christian chuckled.
He could wrap it around his French toast. We'd barely stepped out of the room when Lissa came running up to us, Eddie trailing behind. Excitement lit her face, though the feelings in the bond weren't exactly happy. "Did you hear?" she asked, a little breathless. "Hear what?" I asked. "You have to hurry—go pack your things. We're going to Victor's trial. Right now."
"You're welcome," Adrian smile pleased with himself.
"How do you know this was you're doing?" Ivan questioned
"Well cradle robber didn't do it and no one ells wanted them there. So I'm the last option," Adrian smiled.
There'd been no warning at all about when Victor's trial would even occur, let alone that someone had apparently decided we could go. Christian and I exchanged brief, startled looks and then hurried off to his room to gather our things.
"They didn't even question it," Abe laughed shaking his head.
Packing was a breeze. My bag was ready to go already, and Christian only took a minute to throw his together. In less than a half hour, we were out on the Academy's landing strip. Two private jets sat in attendance, one of which was fired up and waiting to go. A couple of Moroi hurried about, doing last-minute things with the plane and the runway. No one seemed to know what was going on. Lissa had simply been told that she, Christian, and I were going to testify and that Eddie could come along to continue his field experience.
"Let's just hope that Victor doesn't tell the court about the charm then," Olena hoped that he had actually forgotten it.
"You must have really kissed your aunts ass to not only get them there but have them testify," Dimitri shook his head not impressed with Adrian at all. Ivan and Dimitri didn't want Rose anywhere near Victor.
There'd been no explanation as to why things had changed, and a weird mix of eagerness and apprehension crackled around us. We all wanted to see Victor locked away for good, but now that we were actually faced with the reality of the trial and of seeing him—well, it was kind of scary.
"Maybe that was shy everyone wanted to keep them away," Dimitri added.
A few guardians lingered near the steps going up to the plane. I recognized them as the ones who had helped capture Victor. They were probably going to do double duty and serve as witnesses and as our protection. Dimitri hovered near the outskirts, and I hurried over to him. "I'm sorry," I gulped out.
"Aww," Victoria cooed, she was happy that Rose was not holding a grudge.
"I'm so sorry." He turned toward me, his face schooled to that perfect picture of neutrality that he was so good at. "Sorry for what?" "For all the horrible things I said yesterday. You did it— you really did it. You got them to let us go." Despite my nervousness about seeing Victor, I was filled with elation. Dimitri had come through.
Adrian chuckled at that,
"Poor cradle robber has to tell her that he had not been able to do it," Adrian was enjoying this way too much.
I'd known all along that he really cared about me—this just proved it. If there hadn't been so many people around, I would have hugged him. Dimitri's face didn't change. "It wasn't me, Rose. I had nothing to do with it." Alberta signaled that we could board, and he turned away to join the others. I stood frozen for a moment, watching him and trying to figure out what had happened.
"Are you still mad at her?" Christian asked,
"no there are other guardians around and they are a lot more observant then the school kids," Dimitri pointed out.
If he hadn't intervened, then why were we going? Lissa's diplomatic efforts had been shot down a while ago. Why the change of heart? My friends were already on board, so I hurried to catch up. As soon as I stepped into the cabin, a voice called to me. "Little dhampir! About time you got here." I looked and saw Adrian waving, a drink in his hand.
"Great," Ivan and Dimitri said at the same time. Abe knew it was too much to hope that he would not be joining them.
Great. We'd had to beg and plead to go along, yet Adrian had somehow just glided on in. Lissa and Christian were sitting together, so I joined Eddie in the hopes of staying away from Adrian.
"Not going to work," Adrian shook his head,
Eddie gave me the window seat.
"You're no fun," Adrian said looking at Eddie.
Adrian moved to the seat in front of us, though, and might as well have been sitting in our row, as often as he turned around to talk to me. His chatter and outrageous flirting indicated he'd been sipping cocktails long before the rest of us had come aboard. I kind of wished I'd had a few myself once we were airborne.
"Why?" Ivan asked, Rose had never indicated that she didn't like flying and Adrian couldn't have been that much of an irritation.
A wicked headache set in almost immediately after liftoff,
"Why?" Abe was worried, it was not normal to get a headache just out of the blue.
"Stress because of the situation?" Janine and Oksana hoped.
and I entertained a fantasy of vodka numbing the pain. "We're going to Court," Adrian said. "Aren't you excited about it?" I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. "About which one? The royal one or the legal one?" "The royal one. Did you bring a dress?"
"Please no," Abe and Dimitri hoped. While Adrian looked existed at the thought of Rose in a dress.
"Nobody told me to." "So … that's a 'no.'" "Yes." "Yes? I thought you meant no." I opened one eye and glared. "I did mean no, and you know it. No, I did not bring a dress." "We'll get you one," he said loftily.
"No you won't," Abe and Ivan said glaring at him.
"You're going to take me shopping? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they won't consider you a reliable chaperone." "Shopping? As if. There are tailors that live there. We'll get you something custom-made." "We're not staying that long. And do I really need a dress for what we're doing there?" "No, I'd just kind of like to see you in one." I sighed and leaned my head against the window.
"Leave her be, she's in pain," Janine told Adrian still worried about the fact that Rose had a headache.
The pain in my skull was still throbbing. It was like the air was pressing in on me. Something flashed in my peripheral vision, and I turned in surprise, but there was nothing but stars outside the window. "Something black," he continued. "Satin, I think… maybe with lace trim. Do you like lace? Some women think it itches."
"Shut up," Abe, Ivan and Dimitri said at the same time. Alberta was just happy that Abe was not in the book at this moment or Adrian would have been dead.
"Adrian." It was like a hammer, a hammer inside and outside my head. "You could get a nice velvet trim too, though. That wouldn't itch." "Adrian." Even my eye sockets seemed to hurt. "And then a slit up the side to show off what great legs you have. It could go nearly to the hip and have this cute little bow—"
"Can you stop being a pervert," Christian shook his head. Was it so hard for Adrian to see that Rose was in pain.
"Adrian!" Something inside of me burst. "Will you shut the hell up for five seconds?" I yelled so loud that the pilot had probably heard me. Adrian had that rare look of astonishment on his face. Alberta, sitting across the aisle from Adrian, shot up in her seat. "Rose," she exclaimed. "What's going on?" I gritted my teeth and rubbed my forehead. "I have the worst fucking headache in the world, and he won't shut up."
"Sorry," Adrian said a little ashamed.
I didn't even realize I'd sworn in front of an instructor until several seconds later. From the other side of my field of vision, I thought I saw something else—another shadow darting through the plane, reminding me of black wings. Like a bat or a raven. I covered my eyes. There was nothing flying through the plane.
"What the hell was going on," Abe asked, everyone was worried.
"God, why won't it go away?" I expected Alberta to chastise me for the outburst, but instead, Christian spoke: "She hasn't eaten today. She was really hungry earlier." I uncovered my eyes. Alberta's face was filled with concern, and Dimitri now hovered behind her.
"Completely understandable," Alberta and Dimitri were worried. None of them had ever seen her have a headache that bad.
More shadowy shapes flitted across my vision. Most were indistinct, but I could have sworn I saw something that looked like a skull mixed in with the darkness.
"Now she's seeing things," Christian was worried, seeing a dead Mason was one thing but seeing other things were concerning.
I blinked rapidly, and it all disappeared. Alberta turned to one of the flight attendants. "Can you get her something to eat? And find a painkiller?" "Where's it at?" Dimitri asked me. "The pain?" With all of this attention, my explosion suddenly seemed excessive. "It's a headache…I'm sure it'll go away…" Seeing his stern look, I pointed to the center of my forehead. "It's like something pushing on my skull. And there's pain kind of behind my eyes. I keep feeling like…well, it's like I've got something in my eye. I think I'm seeing a shadow or something. Then I blink and it's gone."
"Well at least she's telling him that now and not trying to hide it," Olena tried to look on the bright side, she hated seeing any of her kids in pain and for better or worst Rose was now one of her kids.
"Ah," said Alberta. "That's a migraine symptom—having vision problems. It's called an aura. People sometimes get it before the headache sets in." "An aura?" I asked,
"Not that kind," Adrian added.
startled. I glanced up at Adrian. He was looking at me over the top of his seat, his long arms hanging over the back of it. "Not that kind," he said, a small smile turning up his lips. "Same name. Like Court and court. Migraine auras are images and light you see when a migraine's coming on. They have nothing to do with the auras around people I see. But I tell you … the aura I can see … the one around you … wow."
"Would you stop flirting for a few seconds," Abe asked wishing Adrian would just keep his mouth shut.
"Black?" "And then some. It's obvious even after all the drinks I've had. Never seen anything like it."
"I wonder if it looks like yours." Adrian said looking at Mark.
I didn't exactly know what to make of that, but then the flight attendant returned with a banana, a granola bar, and some ibuprofen. It was a far cry from French toast, but it sounded good on my empty stomach. I consumed it all and then propped a pillow up against the window. Closing my eyes, I rested my head and hoped I could sleep the headache off before we landed.
"That would be the best," Janine said remembering how stressful court was.
Mercifully, everyone else stayed quiet. I had drifted off a little when I felt a slight touch on my arm. "Rose?" Opening my eyes, I peered at Lissa as she sat in Eddie's seat. Those bat-winged shapes flitted behind her, and my head still hurt. In those swirling shadows, I again saw what looked like a face, this time with a wide gaping mouth and eyes like fire. I flinched.
"Is she seeing other ghost?" Christian asked worriedly.
"It is possible, that would mean it was the wards that stopped her from seeing other ghost," Mark realized.
"You're still in pain?" Lissa asked, peering at me. I blinked, and the face was gone. "Yeah, I—oh no." I realized what she was going to do. "Don't do it. Don't waste it on me." "It's easy," she said. "It hardly fazes me." "Yeah, but the more you use it… the more it hurts you in the long run. Even if it's easy now."
"No it's hurting Rose," Dimitri said not liking that Rose was in pain.
"I'll worry about that later. Here." She clasped my hand between hers and closed her eyes. Through our bond, I felt the magic welling up in her as she drew upon spirit's healing power. To her, magic felt warm and golden. I'd been healed before, and it always came through to me as varying temperatures: hot, then cold, then hot, etc. But this time, when she released the magic and sent it into me, I didn't feel anything except a very faint tingle. Her eyelids fluttered open. "Wh—what happened?" she asked. "Nothing," I said.
"You can't heal the darkness away," Oksana shook her head.
"The darkness is making her have a headache?" Abe asked
"Yes, Rose being shadow kissed means she always has an amount of darkness in her. That is why she had her gifts." Mark explained.
"The headache's still going strong." "But I…" The confusion and shock on her face mirrored what I sensed in her. "I had it. I felt the magic. It worked." "I don't know, Liss. It's okay, really. You haven't been off the meds that long, you know." "Yeah, but I healed Eddie the other day without any problems. And Adrian," she added dryly. He was hanging over the seat again, watching us intently. "Those were scrapes," I said. "This is a five-alarm migraine we're talking about. Maybe you've got to build back up." Lissa bit her lower lip.
"I wished it was so simple," Oksana said looking at Mark, if she could she would take the burden of the shadows away from him.
"You don't think the pills permanently hurt my magic, do you?" "Nah," said Adrian, head tilted to the side. "You lit up like a supernova when you were summoning it. You had magic. I just don't think it had any effect on her." "Why not?" she demanded. "Maybe she's got something you can't heal."
"You're right," Oksana shook her head.
"A headache?" I asked in disbelief. He shrugged. "What do I look like, a doctor? I don't know. Just telling you what I saw." I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead. "Well, I appreciate the help, Liss, and I appreciate your annoying commentary, Adrian. But I think sleep might be the best thing for now. Maybe it's stress or something." Sure, why not? Stress was the answer to everything lately. Ghosts. Incurable headaches. Weird faces floating in the air.
"She was really willing to believe anything, just to avoid telling them what she saw," Ivan shook his head.
"Well it is understandable, stress was a good explication. It was defiantly better than thinking you were going crazy," Alberta pointed out.
"Yes but ether way she needs to talk to someone about it," Abe was sure that Rose was not going to be able to cope for much longer.
"Probably can't heal that." "Maybe," she said, sounding as though she took personal offense at me having something she couldn't fix. Inside her mind, though, her accusations were turned toward herself, not me. She worried she wasn't good enough. "It's okay," I said soothingly. "You're just getting your stride back. Once you're up to full power, I'll go crack a rib or something so we can test it."
"Please don't," Abe and Janine begged at the same time.
"With Rose's luck she wouldn't even need to try," Christian chuckled.
She groaned. "The horrible part is that I don't think you're joking." After a quick squeeze of my hand, she stood up. "Sleep well." She left, and I soon realized Eddie wasn't coming back. He'd taken a new seat so that I'd have more room.
"Thanks," Alberta smiled at Eddie who was just happy to help.
Appreciative, I fluffed and repositioned the pillow while stretching my legs out as best I could across the seats. A few more phantom clouds danced across my vision, and then I closed my eyes to sleep. I woke up later when the plane touched down, the sounds of its engines kicking into reverse startling me out of a deep sleep. To my relief, the headache was gone. So were the weird shapes floating around me.
"So the ward?" Janine asked
"Perhaps, but let's wait and see," Mark hoped that this was something that only happened once.
"Better?" Lissa asked when I stood up and yawned. I nodded. "Much. Better still if I can get some real food." "Well," she laughed, "somehow I doubt there's any shortage of food around here." She was right. Glancing out the windows, I tried to get my first look at our surroundings. We'd made it. We were at the Moroi Royal Court.
"Welcome to hell," Abe said not pleased that Rose was there.
"Dinner time," Olena said as Christian closed the book. He placed the book down as all the others got up to go to the kitchen.