Here it is. This chapter contains a couple of my very favourite scenes - I hope you like it too!

48. The Spark

(Sonya POV)

When I arrived at Rose and Dimitri's campsite a few hours later it was clear I'd interrupted something… intimate. Rose's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment as she unzipped the tent, and when I glanced across at their rumpled blankets and blinding auras I could tell that the couple had been sharing the comforts of body warmth, at the very least.

'Cozy,' I commented archly, scooting into the tiny tent next to Rose who was self-consciously neatening her hair. She really didn't need to worry – I wasn't easily shocked, and I certainly didn't plan to stand in the way of true love. I only wished it was Mikhail in the tent with me, not Dimitri and Rose.

'You've got the most secluded spot out in the campground. Took me forever to find the car you described,' I commented, trying to put my friends at ease.

'How'd you get here?' Rose asked, smoothing the skirt of her ruined dress with her hands. Clearly the Dhampirs hadn't escaped Ann Arbor without a fight.

'You're not the only ones who can steal cars,' I winked in reply.

Dimitri didn't smile at my joke but shifted to position himself by the flap of the tent. 'Were you followed?' he asked, peering intently into the darkness to watch for any signs of movement.

'Not that I could tell,' I replied, crossing my legs and getting down to business. 'But I've got some good news. I know where Victor and Robert are holding Jill.'

'Where?' asked Dimitri and Rose in unison. If it wasn't such a serious situation I'd think they were cute.

'West Michigan,' I explained quickly. 'They took off in the opposite direction from Court.'

'Damn,' Rose muttered, realising we were still hours away from their location. 'But you saw Jill? Is she okay?'

'Scared, but fine,' I grimaced. 'Victor wasn't feeling well so they had to stop off to rest at a motel. Jill described enough landmarks that I think we can locate them – they might still be there.'

'Then we need to leave now,' Dimitri commanded, instantly jumping into action, rolling up their bedding for Rose to pack in the car while he set about disassembling the tent.

As I helped Rose carry their meagre belongings back to the vehicle, I noticed that she was limping and called her to a halt. Kneeling down to lift the edge of her torn dress, I could see that Rose's ankle was badly swollen, not to mention any number of bruises and scrapes over the rest of her body. I paused for only a moment before reaching out to rest my hands on the injured foot, feeling the sweet release as the healing power of Spirit surged out from my body and into hers. When I was satisfied she was better I stood up and gave her a nervous smile.

'Thank you,' she said. 'But you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have used the magic.'

'You need to be in peak condition,' I dismissed her concerns. 'And anyway, the magic... well, it's hard to stay away from.' That was difficult to admit, but I realised that now I didn't have the darkness to battle it felt almost exciting using my magic again.

Rose opened her mouth to lecture me about using my second-chance wisely, but Dimitri came up to us then, throwing me a grateful look for restoring his right-hand-woman to prime fighting condition, and we all climbed into the car to begin our hunt for Jill.

After stopping off to acquire a new vehice and a map of the local region, it wasn't difficult to direct Dimitri and Rose to the motel where Jill was being held prisoner by the Dashkovs. We arrived at the small town of Sturgis in a little over two hours, just as the sun was rising, and as soon as we pulled into the lot behind the Sunshine Motel I spotted the CR-V that Victor had swiped from Sydney.

'That's their car,' I pointed it out, feeling suddenly nervous. 'They're here, but how do we find them?'

'We wait,' Rose answered immediately. 'It's amazing enough that they even stopped this long. If they have any sense they'll leave soon.'

'Agreed,' said Dimitri, eyeing her with approval. 'This location is easy to defend too. Not much room for escape.' He parked our vehicle in the furthest bay, partially concealed in the shadow of a huge maple tree, then instructed me to wait in the car while he and Rose took up watch outside.

My anxiety built steadily as I took in my surroundings. The deserted lot was shielded by the soulless brick motel on one side and a huge concrete wall on the other, giving the whole place an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. I just hoped we could secure Jill quickly so we could get out of this depressing place. As it turned out, I didn't have long to wait.

No more than fifteen minutes after we'd arrived, the motel's back door opened and Victor stepped outside, followed by Robert and Jill. The brothers didn't even notice they were in danger until Rose and Dimitri were nearly on top of them, and I covered my mouth tightly with my fingers as Dimitri surged towards Robert, an unstoppable force of muscle and determination. At the same time, Rose flew at Victor, tackling him to the ground – he hit the asphalt hard and blood spurted from his nose as the Dhampir smashed her fist into his face.

A heated verbal exchange flared between Rose and Victor as she kept him pinned down then, without warning, the ground began to tremble. My eyes widened in dismay as the asphalt beneath the pair began to ripple, giving the old man an opportunity to push himself free and throwing Rose off-balance.

Earth magic, I realised. It was illegal for Moroi to wield magic as a weapon, but Victor followed his own rules and would stop at nothing to get what he desired.

I wanted to get out of the car and help but hesitated as a horrible thought struck me. If Rose and Dimitri somehow failed against the magic users, then I would be the only one left to save Jill. I had to wait and let them do their job – save my energy in case I was needed later.

Fortunately, Victor appeared to be weakening quickly from the excessive magic use, and his whole body showed the toll of physical pain and fatigue. Grab him, Rose, I silently implored her. Don't let him get away.

Sensing he was running out of time, the old man summoned one last massive surge of magic, drawing the ground up into a solid wall that towered over Rose and threatened to crush her.

No! I couldn't let her die. Victor had once driven me to the edge of my sanity, pushing me into darkness and despair. I couldn't let him ruin another innocent life. I got out of the car and hurried to give Rose my aid.

'Real power is in the mind,' I heard the crazed man rant as the earth continued to tremble beneath us. 'In controlling Jillian, I control Vasilisa. With Vasilisa, I control the Dragomirs, and from there – the Moroi. That's power. That's strength.'

I was so close – only a few more steps and I would be in range to join the fight.

In those fleeting moments Rose reached within herself and by some unknown power she advanced towards her attacker. When she was only one step away she stopped and stared at him, the rage building in her eyes until it exploded out of her in a burst of pure, ugly hate; powerful and unforgiving.

'Rose!' I yelled out to her, realising what was happening. This was it. This was the spark – her breaking point. When the darkness became too much for me I turned Strigoi. What would it do to her?!

She sprang forward, using her body-weight to ram the fragile old man into the wall of rubble beside them. I watched in fascination and horror as the Moroi's head bent back at the impact and there was an odd cracking sound before Victor slumped wordlessly to the ground.

Oh my God. She's killed him. For half a moment I felt a sense of relief until the harsh reality hit me. Rose had trained her whole life to protect Moroi, and now she'd killed one. Moroi life was considered sacred to Dhampirs and I didn't know what the guilt would do to her. But worse still, the young woman appeared to be in some kind of ferrel rage, unaware of what she'd just done.

Victor's arms flopped like a rag-doll as Rose shook his lifeless body. 'Get up!' she screamed. 'Get up and fight me!'

I rushed forwards and threw my arms around her, trying my best to pull her from the corpse. 'Rose – Rose! Stop!' I cried out to her, but she couldn't hear me.

I wasn't strong enough to fight the Dhampir so I used Spirit instead, feeling around in her mind until I'd calmed her enough that I could compel her to let go of Victor and step away. Even once I got her back she continued to struggle against me.

'I have to stop him,' she shouted pitifully, wriggling from my grasp and seizing the dead man's shoulders once again. 'He has to pay.'

'Rose, he has! He's dead. Can't you see that? Victor's dead!' I hissed at her, praying she would come back to us from the darkness that blinded her.

There was a horrible silence then Rose let the limp body fall from her hands. She stared at the crumpled, lifeless form on the ground and finally saw the truth – finally understood what she'd done.

Just then, a low wail broke out across the cool morning air and I turned to see Robert, his arms pinned behind his back as Dimitri held him in place. 'Victor! Victor!' he moaned in grief and anger.

'Get him out of here!' I darted forward suddenly, fixing Dimitri with an urgent gaze. 'He's trying to bring Victor back! He'll be shadow-kissed!'

Dimitri followed my command in an instant, tossing Robert over his shoulder and carting him off. The frail man fell silent but I could see his eyes staring vacantly at the body of his brother and knew there was still danger that Victor could return. I hurled myself across the corpse to break Robert's visual connection, breathing hard as I tried to sort through my frantic thoughts.

'Doesn't he have to touch the body?' a small voice asked, and I turned to see Rose huddled on the ground beside me.

'To finish the bond, yes. But he was wielding tons of Spirit just now, calling Victor's soul back and keeping it around,' I explained, still sensing the magic crackling around us.

Then another thought hit me. The whole fight had only taken a few minutes, but people in the motel would have heard the ruckus and any second the area would be inundated with onlookers and probably police as well.

'Quick. Help me. We have to hide the body,' I instructed breathlessly as I heard the sound of approaching footfalls, reaching for Victor's keys that peeked out from his coat pocket.

Rose was still badly shaken but she was functioning enough to help me hoist Victor into the back of the CR-V, and at that point Jill ran up to join us. Poor girl – I couldn't imagine what she must be thinking right now. We all got into the car and stayed low until the sounds of people outside died away.

'Rose?' I called to her softly when we were alone once more. 'I need you to look at the dead. Open your eyes to them.'

'I can't,' she shuddered in fear, but this was something that had to be done.

'You can,' I urged her, using compulsion to bend her to my will. 'I'll help you. Please.'

Her eyes widened in dread as she obeyed and for good reason too. I knew what she was seeing – ghosts, creatures of the darkness, horrible and sad and helpless.

'Do you see Victor?' I pushed her to look at the frightening images, knowing it was the only way to ensure he was really gone.

'No,' she shook her head as another shiver rocked her body.

'Push them back,' I instructed softly but firmly, almost dizzy with relief. 'Put your walls back up. He's gone.'

Rose stared at me with frantic, pleading eyes and I reached out to touch her arm.

'It's alright now, Rose. Victor's gone. He can't come back to life.'

The young woman's face was strained as she blinked back tears, and I turned to Jill who was still crouched in the foot-well under the dash.

'Get Dimitri,' I told her quietly, aware that Rose was close to breaking point again. Right now she needed the support of the person she trusted most in the world, and that wasn't me. 'He'll be somewhere close-by. Just take a walk around the block and he'll find you.'

'This is it, isn't it?' Rose whispered to me when Jill was gone. 'The spark you warned me about. The darkness has defeated me... just like Anna... just like… oh God. This is the dream, isn't it? But I won't wake up ...'

I looked at her in alarm, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder with one hand while stroking her hair soothingly. 'Stay with me, Rose. We'll push it back,' I comforted her. I knew what the darkness felt like. It had claimed me once. I wasn't going to let it claim Rose now.

A knock at the window startled us both and I looked up gratefully to see Dimitri climb into the driver's seat.

'Where's Robert?' I asked quickly, wanting to be sure we didn't have another threat to deal with.

'Unconscious, hidden in some bushes around the corner,' he answered disinterestedly, all his focus on the pale, shivering form of Rose on the back-seat. 'What's wrong?' he demanded, unable to hide the fear in his eyes as he glanced from Rose to see Victor's body spilling out awkwardly from the cargo space.

'Spirit,' I answered simply. 'She's pulled and pulled for so long... and managed to hold it back. It's been waiting, though. Always waiting...'

Dmitri took one last look at Rose then gunned the engine to life, completely focused on getting her somewhere safe to rest and recover.

'Hurry,' I urged him as we sped out of Sturgis, before turning my attention to monitor Rose's fragile condition. Jill looked frighted but she reached over to comfort her friend, and that's when I noticed a heart-shaped locket around the younger girl's neck.

'Is that silver?' I asked, and she nodded, undoing the clasp.

I was never great at making elemental charms when I was a student and didn't experiment with them much as an adult, but I remembered something Mikhail told me that he'd found in one of Father Nathanial's books. If the records were right, it might be possible to infuse a silver object with Spirit to give it a healing effect.

Jill passed the pendant over to me and I held it between my palms, connecting my mind with the cool, heavy feeling of the metal as I let my magic flow into the silver heart.

'Put it on,' I handed the necklace to Rose as soon as I was done and her confused, agitated expression gradually relaxed.

'It's a healing charm,' I explained when she seemed more lucid. 'It won't be a permanent fix, but between it and your own will you'll be okay for a while.'

We all waited anxiously to see the full effect of the charm, and after a few minutes Rose improved enough to speak coherently. 'What have I done?' she whispered in horror.

It was Dimitri who replied, his eyes dark with love and sorrow. 'What you had to.'

We headed east after that, only stopping off to dump Victor's body in some secluded wetlands just over the border in Indiana before getting back on the I-90 and speeding towards Court, trying to put as much distance between ourselves and the trail of carnage we'd left behind us. I think Dimitri hoped we could complete the journey in one leg, but Rose's condition was starting to deteriorate again. My healing charm could only last so long against the powerful darkness that clawed at her spirit, and I did everything I could to keep the creeping shadows at bay; using compulsion to keep her from harming herself and taking the edge off her simmering panic by letting some of my own strength and control seep into Rose's troubled mind.

We were only an hour from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border when it became clear that Rose was unable to go on any further. She had been eerily quiet for most of the journey but now she had started mumbling to herself, tossing her head agitatedly and calling out Lissa's name as she stared blindly into the distance.

'We're stopping,' said Dimitri. 'You need to rest.'

'No, I don't,' Rose argued as she surfaced from the trance, suddenly fixated on pushing forwards. 'We need to keep going to Court. We need to get Jill there in time for the elections.'

Dimitri clearly didn't believe that Rose was fit to continue, but he also knew she was too stubborn to admit she needed a break. 'You were just with Lissa,' he commented evenly. 'Are the elections actually happening yet?'

'No,' she admitted.

'Then you're getting some rest,' he insisted, turning off the interstate towards the nearest town in search of accommodation.

We ended up at a small hotel nestled on the fringes of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. None of us had a credit card so I had to use compulsion to check us in with a cash deposit and we were lucky enough to get two adjoining rooms.

'Let me talk to her alone,' Dimitri murmured to me as the four of us walked down the hallway together. 'I can handle it.'

I nodded grimly. I'd done everything I could do – if anybody could get through to her now it was Dimitri. 'Be careful. She's fragile,' I warned him gently before ushering Jill into the first suite.

'Come on, let's order room service,' I suggested as brightly as I could, suddenly aware of how hungry I was.

We ate our pizza quietly, both of us too tired to really function properly, and as soon as we'd showered I turned the lights out and headed to bed. I didn't have any clothes to change into so I wrapped myself in the complimentary hotel robe and settled down on one of the twin beds, but before I could fall asleep I heard a faint gasping sound, and when I rolled over I realised Jill was sobbing.

My poor, sweet girl. My heart cried for her as I saw the trembling shoulders and dim, muddy aura. Her whole world had been tipped upside-down overnight and now the emotions she'd held back all morning completely overwhelmed her. I folded back the covers carefully and came to sit on the edge of her bed, stroking her hair reassuringly until she was able to speak.

'It will be okay, Sweetheart. I know you've had a horrible shock finding out about your father, and what you witnessed today with Victor, with Rose – it was too awful to bear… but everything will be okay in the end, Jill. I promise.'

Her slim body shuddered with each heaving breath. 'I'm scared, Sonya,' she sobbed into the pillow. 'Will Rose be okay?'

'I think so, Honey. She's strong, and she's got Dimitri to support her. She'll pull through, I'm sure,' I answered, hoping I was right.

I thought my words would reassure her but the tears kept flowing and I slipped in beside Jill to hold her in my arms. I'd known this girl since she was a baby and while I wasn't quite her aunty I cared for her like she was my own child.

'What is it, Love?' I whispered, and Jill's sobs gradually quietened enough for her to speak.

'I feel like I don't know who I am any more. I don't know how to be a royal. Everybody's telling me I'm something I'm not. I don't think I can do it. I'm worried I won't be able to fill everybody's expectations.'

Apart from the bit about being royal, I knew exactly how she felt. We were each at a crossroads in our life and whatever we did next would define our entire future. The pressure was unimaginable, but there were new possibilities as well, and I wanted Jill to know she was strong enough to face this next chapter of her life and worthy of her new place in society.

I let her get it all off her chest before I gave her my reply. 'Your mom decided to keep your true identity a secret because she wanted to protect you from the difficulties of a life at Court. She couldn't bear the thought of the royals turning you into one of them. But the fact is; you are one of them. Eric Dragomir was your father and Vasilisa is your half-sister. You might not have the experience dealing with Court matters like she has, but you have inner-strength and confidence, you're humble enough to listen to advice and clever enough not to let anybody talk you into something you don't feel comfortable doing. If that doesn't make you princess material, I don't know what would…' I paused to stroke her hair, listening to her breathing even out as she took comfort in my words. '… And you don't need to change who you are to be exactly like them – just keep on being yourself and the people that matter will see how valuable you really are.'

I'd meant the advice for Jill, but a lonely tear trickled down my own cheek as truths I needed to hear continued to ring in my ears. I'd battled so long with not fitting-in because of my magic, and I didn't realise until now how worried I really was about going back to my old life. If people thought I was crazy before, then how were they going to treat me when everybody knew I'd been a Strigoi? You don't need to change for me, Mikhail's voice echoed in my memory and I clung to his words like a guiding light.

Jill shifted in my arms then and looked up at me with those beautiful Dragomir eyes.

'Thank you, Sonya…' she said in a small voice. 'I'm glad you're back.'

'So am I, Honey.' I smiled sadly through unshed tears. 'So am I.'

Author's Note:

Phew... Let's all breathe for a moment and then review...

* The Campsite - I love that Sonya is onto Rose & Dimitri's emotional affair, even though they aren't fully acknowledging it yet. I have an annoying sister who always knows what I'm up to before I tell anybody so I felt I had a good insight into Sonya's mindset here :-)

* The Rose/Victor Showdown - Totally awesome scene in the book & I've tried to stay true to it in every way. The only thing I really needed to add was explaining why Sonya stayed in the car instead of fighting (if I was her I'd want to get out and use Spirit to save Jill right away).

* Charms - This bugged me in the books... Sonya was never mentioned in connection with using/making charms until right here in this scene (in Blood Promise it is Oksana who introduces the concept of Spirit charms) so I had to explain that she suddenly knew how to do charms because of some info Mikhail found when he was researching Spirit - a bit flimsy maybe, but it's the best I could do.

* The Jill/Sonya Conversation - For a major character in Lissa's story arc, Jill doesn't really get a lot of dialogue in Last Sacrifice until the very end. I wanted to give her a voice so she could explain how the sudden discovery of being Eric Dragomir's daughter affected her. I also wanted to show the bond between Sonya & Jill (if Sonya was best friends/cousins with Emily, then I'm sure she would have been involved in Jill's life growing up), and draw a parallel between Sonya & Jill's experiences as they each start out on their new lives.