I will," Dimitri said taking the book from Sonja
TWENTY
MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN. "Uh…wait…you mean sex?" My astonishment prevented me from thinking of a better response.
"That is understandable," Viktoria and Sonja nodded
Mason thought it was hysterical. Jesse looked like he wanted to die. "Of course I mean sex. She said she'd do it if we said that we'd…you know…" I made a face. "You guys didn't both, uh, do it at the same time, did you?" "No," said Jesse in disgust. Ralf kind of looked like he wouldn't have minded.
"That is gorse," Adrian and Christian nodded,
"God," I muttered, pushing hair out of my face. "I can't believe she hates us that much." "Hey," exclaimed Jesse, reading into my insinuation. "What's that supposed to mean? We're not that bad. And you and me—we were pretty close to—"
"No, they weren't," everyone said at the same time
"No. We weren't even close to that." Mason laughed again, and something struck me. "If this…if this happened back then, though…she must have still been dating Aaron." All three guys nodded. "Oh. Whoa." Mia really hated us. She'd just moved beyond poor-girl-wronged-by-girl's-brother and well into sociopath territory.
"Okay that girl needs help," Tatiana shook her head.
"Oh you have no idea," Christian shook his head
She'd slept with these two and cheated on a boyfriend whom she seemed to adore. Jesse and Ralf looked incredibly relieved when we walked away. Mason slung a lazy arm around my shoulders. "Well? What do you think? I rule, right? You can tell me. I won't mind." I laughed. "How'd you finally find that out?" "I called in a lot of favors. Used some threats. The fact that Mia can't retaliate helped too."
"I dote that she is helpless," Karolina shook her head
I recalled Mia accosting me the other day. I didn't think she was entirely helpless yet but didn't say so. "They'll start telling people on Monday." he continued. "They promised. Everyone'll know by lunch." "Why not now?" I asked sulkily.
"Chances are good they don't want to deal with it that night," Abe said shaking his head. He really didn't like the kids in that school
"They slept with a girl. Hurts her more than them." "Yeah. True. They didn't want to deal with it tonight. You could start telling people if you wanted to. We could make a banner."
Everyone chuckled at that
With as many times as Mia had called me a slut and a whore? Not a bad idea. "You got any markers and paper?…" My words trailed off as I stared across the gym to where Lissa stood surrounded by admirers, Aaron's arm around her waist. She wore a sleek pink cotton sheath in a shade I never could have pulled off. Her blond hair had been pulled up in a bun that she'd used little crystal hairpins on. It almost looked like she wore a crown.
Christian and Tatiana were smiling but for different reasons
Princess Vasilisa. The same feelings as earlier hummed through to me, anxiety and excitement. She just couldn't quite enjoy herself tonight. Watching her from the other side of the room, lurking in the darkness, was Christian.
The smiled disappeared of Tatiana's face
He practically blended into the shadows. "Stop it," Mason chided me, seeing my stare. "Don't worry about her tonight." "Hard not to." "It makes you look all depressed. And you're too hot in that dress to look depressed. Come on, there's Eddie." He dragged me away, but not before I cast one last glance at Lissa over my shoulder. Our eyes met briefly. Regret flashed through the bond.
Most people smiled at that, they all hoped that the two girls would make up soon,
But I pushed her out of my head—figuratively speaking—and managed to put on a good face when we joined a group of other novices. We earned a lot of mileage by telling them about the Mia scandal and, petty or not, seeing my name cleared and getting revenge on her felt amazingly good. And as those in our group wandered off and mingled with others, I could see the news spreading and spreading.
"Ah high school, the one place where gossip spreads faster than any other place," Adrian smiled wishfully
So much for waiting until Monday. Whatever. I didn't care. I was actually having a good time. I fell into my old role, happy to see I hadn't grown too dusty in making funny and flirty remarks. Yet, as time passed and Eddie's party grew closer, I started to feel Lissa's anxiety pick up in intensity.
"Why would she be panicking?" Tatiana asked worriedly
Frowning, I stopped talking and turned around, scanning the room for her. There. She was still with a group of people, still the sun in her little solar system. But Aaron was leaning very close to her, saying something in her ear. A smile I recognized as fake was plastered across her face, and the annoyance and anxiety from her increased further.
Everyone sat forward they knew that Lissa didn't like Aaron but they knew that it had to be something ells that made her nervous
Then it spiked. Mia had walked up to them.
"This is not going to end well," Everyone said at the same time
Whatever she'd come to say, she didn't waste any time in saying it. With the eyes of Lissa's admirers on her, little Mia in her red dress gestured wildly, mouth working animatedly. I couldn't hear the words from across the room, but the feelings grew darker and darker through the bond. "I've got to go," I told Mason.
"Smart idea," Abe smiled
I half walked, half ran over to Lissa's side, catching only the tail end of Mia's tirade. She was yelling at Lissa full force now and leaning into her face. From what I could tell, word must have reached her about Jesse and Ralf selling her out. "—you and your slutty friend! I'm going to tell everyone what a psycho you are and how they had to lock you in the clinic because you're so crazy. They're putting you on medication. That's why you and Rose left before anyone else could find out you cut—"
"Wow she knows a lot," Christian said worriedly
Whoa, not good. Just like at our first meeting in the cafeteria, I grabbed her and jerked her away. "Hey," I said. "Slutty friend here. Remember what I said about standing too close to her?" Mia snarled, baring her fangs.
"Oh she better not try to bite my daughter," Janine and Abe said at the same time
As I'd noted before, I couldn't feel too sorry for her anymore. She was dangerous. She had stooped low to get back at me. Now, somehow, she knew about Lissa and the cutting. Really knew, too; she wasn't just guessing. The information she had now sounded both like what the guardians on the scene had reported, as well as what I'd told them about Lissa's history. Maybe some confidential doctor's stuff too. Mia'd snagged the records somehow.
Everyone looked at Albert who just nodded and made a note of it
Lissa realized it too, and the look on her face—scared and fragile, no more princess—made my decision for me.
"Poor Mia," Everyone said at the same time
It didn't matter that Kirova had spoken the other day about giving me my freedom, that I'd been having a good time, and that I could have let my worries go and partied tonight. I was going to ruin everything, right here and right now. I'm really not good with impulse control.
"You're child," Abe and Janine said looking at each other. Everyone ells just smiled at each other and shook their heads
I punched Mia as hard as I could—harder, I think, than I'd even hit Jesse.
Everyone winced at that
I heard a crunch as my fist impacted her nose, and blood spurted out. Someone screamed. Mia shrieked and flew backwards into some squealing girls who didn't want to get blood on their dresses.
"Please let that be the only hit she gets in," Janine begged, everyone was worried for Mia. Sure she was horrible to the girls but she didn't deserve getting her ass kicked by Rose
I swooped in after her, getting in one more good punch before somebody peeled me off her. I didn't fight restraint as I had when they'd taken me from Mr. Nagy's classroom. I'd expected this as soon as I'd swung at her. Stopping all signs of resistance, I let two guardians lead me out of the dance while Ms. Kirova tried to bring some semblance of order.
"Well didn't expect that," Alberta said impressed, she looked at Dimitri happy that the man had been able to teach Rose some restraint
I didn't care what they did to me. Not anymore. Punish or expel. Whatever. I could handle— Ahead of us, through the ebbing and flowing waves of students passing through the double doors, I saw a figure in pink dart out. Lissa. My own out-of-control emotions had overridden hers, but there they were, flooding back into me. Devastation. Despair. Everyone knew her secret now. She'd face more than just idle speculation. Pieces would fall together. She couldn't handle that.
"Poor girl," everyone said at the same time
Knowing I wasn't going anywhere, I frantically searched for some way to help her. A dark figure caught my eye. "Christian!" I yelled.
Christian smiled, while Tatiana just shook her head
He'd been staring at Lissa's retreating figure but glanced up at the sound of his name. One of my escorts shushed me and took my arm. "Be quiet." I ignored her. "Go after her," I called to Christian. "Hurry." He just sat there, and I suppressed a groan.
"Idiot," Adrian shook his head looking at Christian, who just smiled
"Go, you idiot!" My guardians snapped at me to be quiet again, but something inside of Christian woke up. Springing up from his lounging position, he tore off in the direction Lissa had traveled.
Tatiana glared at Christian who just smiled at her
No one wanted to deal with me that night. There'd be hell to pay tomorrow—I heard talk of suspension or possibly even expulsion—but Kirova had her hands full with a bleeding Mia and a hysterical student body. The guardians escorted me to my room under the watchful eye of the dorm matron who informed me she'd check on me every hour to make sure I stayed in my room. A couple guardians would also hang out around the dorms entrances. Apparently I was now a high-security risk.
"Because she hit an annoying little girl?" Victoria shook her head annoyed with the headmistress
I'd probably just ruined Eddie's party; he'd never sneak a group up to his room now. Heedless of my dress, I flounced onto the floor of my room, crossing my legs underneath me. I reached out to Lissa. She was calmer now. The events from the dance still hurt her terribly, but Christian was soothing her somehow, although whether it was through simple words or physical mojo, I couldn't say.
Everyone but Tatiana smiled at Christian happy that he was able to calm Lissa down,
I didn't care. So long as she felt better and wouldn't do anything stupid. I returned to myself. Yes, things were going to get messy now. Mia and Jesse's respective accusations were going to set the school on fire. I probably would get thrown out and have to go live with a bunch of skanky dhampir women.
"No," Dimitri, Abe, Janine and Alberta said at the same time
At least Lissa might realize Aaron was boring and that she wanted to be with Christian. But even if that was the right thing, it still meant— Christian. Christian. Christian was hurt.
"What?" everyone said at the same time.
I snapped back into Lissa's body, suddenly sucked in by the terror pounding through her. She was surrounded, surrounded by men and women who had come out of nowhere, bursting up into the attic of the chapel where she and Christian had gone to talk. Christian leapt up, fire flaring from his fingers. One of the invaders hit him on the head with something hard, making his body slump to the ground.
"Who would attach them?" Alberta said worriedly
I desperately hoped he was okay, but I couldn't waste any more energy worrying about him. All my fear was for Lissa now. I couldn't let the same thing happen to her. I couldn't let them hurt her. I needed to save her, to get her out of there. But I didn't know how. She was too far away, and I couldn't even escape her head at the moment, let alone run over there or get help. The attackers approached her, calling her Princess and telling her not to worry, and that they were guardians.
That shocked everyone,
"That couldn't be possible could it," Tatiana said worried, but no-one said anything
And they did seem like guardians. Definitely dhampirs. Moving in precise, efficient ways. But I didn't recognize them as any of the guardians from school. Neither did Lissa. Guardians wouldn't have attacked Christian. And guardians certainly wouldn't be binding and gagging her—Something forced me out of her head, and I frowned, staring around my room.
"What could do that?" Olen said worriedly
"Nothing good," Yeva said shaking her head
I needed to go back to her and find out what had happened. Usually the connection just faded or I closed it off, but this—this was like something had actually removed me and pulled me. Pulled me back here. But that made no sense. What could pull me back from…wait. My mind blanked. I couldn't remember what I'd just been thinking about. It was gone.
"Okay, what the hell is going on there?" Ivan asked worriedly
Like static in my brain. Where had I been? With Lissa? What about Lissa? Standing up, I wrapped my arms around myself, confused, trying to figure out what was going on. Lissa. Something with Lissa. Dimitri, a voice inside my head suddenly said.
"Say what now," Abe said looking worried. He didn't like what was going on with his daughter
Go to Dimitri . Yes. Dimitri. My body and spirit burned for him all of a sudden, and I wanted to be with him more than I ever had before. I couldn't stay away from him. He'd know what to do. And he'd told me before I should come to him if something was wrong with Lissa. Too bad I couldn't remember what that was. Still. I knew he'd take care of everything.
Everyone nodded at that
Getting up to the staff wing of the dorm wasn't hard, since they wanted to keep me inside tonight. I didn't know where his room was, but it didn't matter. Something was pulling me to him, urging me closer. An instinct pushed me toward one of the doors, and I beat the living daylights out of it. After a few moments, he opened it, brown eyes widening when he saw me.
"How?" everyone said at the same time.
"Rose?" "Let me in. It's Lissa." He immediately stepped aside for me. I'd apparently caught him in bed, because the covers were peeled back on one side and only a small tableside lamp shone in the darkness. Plus, he wore only cotton pajama bottoms; his chest—which I'd never seen before, and wow, did it look great—was bare.
"That is just going to distract her," Sonja shook her head looking at her brother
The ends of his dark hair curled near his chin and appeared damp, like he'd taken a shower not so long ago. "What's wrong?" The sound of his voice thrilled me, and I couldn't answer. I couldn't stop staring at him. The force that had pulled me up here pulled me to him. I wanted him to touch me so badly, so badly I could barely stand it. He was so amazing.
Everyone just looked around confused at what was going on with Rose
So unbelievably gorgeous. I knew somewhere something was wrong, but it didn't seem important. Not when I was with him. With almost a foot separating us, there was no way I could easily kiss his lips without his help. So instead, I aimed for his chest, wanting to taste that warm, smooth skin.
"What the hell,' Adrian shook his head, he was confused as everyone, Rose was not acting the way she should have been
"Rose!" he exclaimed, stepping back. "What are you doing?" "What do you think?" I moved toward him again, needing to touch him and kiss him and do so many other things. "Are you drunk?" he asked, holding his hand out in a warding gesture. "Don't I wish." I tried to dodge around him, then paused, momentarily uncertain.
Dimitri hoped that at that moment she had seen reason but sadly she didn't
"I thought you wanted to—don't you think I'm pretty?" In all the time we'd known each other, in all the time this attraction had built, he'd never told me I was pretty. He'd hinted at it, but that wasn't the same. And despite all the assurances I had from other guys that I was hotness incarnate, I needed to hear it from the one guy I actually wanted. "Rose, I don't know what's going on, but you need to go back to your room." When I moved toward him again, he reached out and gripped my wrists. With that touch, an electric current shot through both of us, and I saw him forget whatever he'd just been worrying about.
"Okay what the hell, what could be making her act like that?" Tatiana said worried, she didn't like the idea that Lissa was in trouble and no-one knew of it.
"Hopefully the book says, and then we could stop it," Alberta said worried for Lissa. Yeva meanwhile was watching Dimitri who had gone rigged and pale.
"What is wrong?" Ivan asked when Dimitri just stopped reading. Dmitri said nothing and just handed him the book. Ivan scanned the rest of the chapter before laughing at his friend who was looking down at his hands shaking his head
"You are so screwed," Ivan chuckled before opening the book
Something seized him too, something that made him suddenly want me as much I wanted him.
Abe and Janine both looked at Dimitri with questions but the man didn't look up from his hands that were resting on his knees
Releasing my wrists, he moved his hands up my arms, sliding slowly along my skin. Holding me in his dark, hungry gaze, he pulled me to him, pressing me right up to his body. One of his hands moved up the back of my neck, twining his fingers in my hair and tipping my face up to his. He brought his lips down, barely brushing them against mine. Swallowing, I asked again, "Do you think I'm pretty?" He regarded me with utter seriousness, like he always did. "I think you're beautiful." "Beautiful?" "You are so beautiful, it hurts me sometimes."
"Aww," All of Dimitri's sister and mother said at the same time, while Adrian and Abe were just glaring at him. Janine was holding herself back from doing anything, she had chosen to wait and see what would happen between the two
His lips moved to mine, gentle at first, and then hard and hungry. His kiss consumed me. His hands on my arms slid down, down my hips, down to the edge of my dress.
"Oh you better not," Janine glared at Dimitri while Olena nodded agreeing with Janine
He gathered up the fabric in his hands and began pushing it up my legs. I melted into that touch, into his kiss and the way it burned against my mouth. His hands kept sliding up and up, until he'd pulled the dress over my head and tossed it on the floor. "You…you got rid of that dress fast," I pointed out between heavy breaths. "I thought you liked it." "I do like it," he said. His breathing was as heavy as mine. "I love it." And then he took me to the bed.
"Okay I'll read the next chapter as well," Ivan chuckled.
"Please let it not be a sex scene," Christian begged, he was worried for Lissa and wanted to know what was wrong with her. But he really didn't like the idea of hearing about Rose's love life. Abe and Janine glared at Dimitri but they had chosen to wait and see what would happen but they were ready to kill
~~~~
You are so dead, you know that right?" Ivan asked Dimitri who was still trying to figure out how he was going to survive Abe and Janine.
TWENTY-ONE
I'D NEVER BEEN COMPLETELY NAKED around a guy before. It scared the hell out of me—even though it excited me, too. Lying on the covers, we clung to each other and kept kissing—and kissing and kissing and kissing.
"Please let it not get any more heated," Christian and Adrian begged at the same time
His hands and lips took possession of my body, and every touch was like fire on my skin. After yearning for him for so long, I could barely believe this was happening. And while the physical stuff felt great, I also just liked being close to him. I liked the way he looked at me, like I was the sexiest, most wonderful thing in the world. I liked the way he would say my name in Russian, murmured like a prayer: Roza, Roza…
"Aww, she really loves you," Victoria smiled at Dimitri who just looked up at her, he wanted to say something but then he saw the glares Abe and Janine were sending him
And somewhere, somewhere in all of this, was that same urging voice that had driven me up to his room, a voice that didn't sound like my own but that I was powerless to ignore. Stay with him, stay with him. Don't think about anything else except him. Keep touching him. Forget about everything else.
"This is not good, something is controlling them and I don't like it," Abe glared. All the grown-ups nodded agreeing with him
I listened—not that I really needed any extra convincing. The burning in his eyes told me he wanted to do a lot more than we were, but he took things slow, maybe because he knew I was nervous. His pajama pants stayed on.
Abe and Janine let out a breath of relief. Dimitri just bought himself more time to live, not much but a little
At one point, I shifted so that I hovered over him, my hair hanging around him. He tilted his head slightly, and I just barely caught sight of the back of his neck. I brushed my fingertips over the six tiny marks tattooed there. "Did you really kill six Strigoi?" He nodded.
"Okay that is a mood killer," Adrian shook his head
"Yet they continued," Ivan smirked
"Wow." He brought my own neck down to his mouth and kissed me. His teeth gently grazed my skin, different from a vampire but every bit as thrilling. "Don't worry. You'll have a lot more than me someday."
Janine and Alberta nodded proudly of the idea that Rose would be able to protect herself and her charge
"Do you feel guilty about it?" "Hmm?" "Killing them. You said in the van that it was the right thing to do, but it still bothers you. It's why you go to church, isn't it? I see you there, but you aren't really into the services." He smiled, surprised and amused I'd guessed another secret about him.
"She is good," Karolina smiled existed to see how their relationship will change over time. Karolina hoped that she had gained a new sister.
"How do you know these things? I'm not guilty exactly…just sad sometimes. All of them used to be human or dhampir or Moroi. It's a waste, that's all, but as I said before, it's something I have to do. Something we all have to do. Sometimes it bothers me, and the chapel is a good place to think about those kinds of things. Sometimes I find peace there, but not often. I find more peace with you."
"You are too sweet," Janine shook her head at Dimitri
He rolled me off of him and moved on top of me again. The kissing picked up once more, harder this time. More urgent. Oh God, I thought. I'm finally going to do it. This is it. I can feel it. He must have seen the decision in my eyes. Smiling, he slid his hands behind my neck and unfastened Víctor's necklace.
Ivan froze before he looked at Dimitri with an I told you so look.
He set it on the bedside table. As soon as the chain left his fingers, I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. I blinked in surprise.
"No," Everyone said shocked they never would have thought Victor would do smoothing like that
Dimitri must have felt the same way. "What happened?" he asked. "I-I don't know." I felt like I was trying to wake up, like I'd been asleep for two days. I needed to remember something. Lissa. Something with Lissa. My head felt funny. Not pain or dizziness, but…the voice, I realized. The voice urging me toward Dimitri was gone.
"He's dead," Abe and Janine said at the same time
That wasn't to say I didn't want him anymore because hey, seeing him there in those sexy pajama bottoms, with that brown hair spilling over the side of face was pretty fine. But I no longer had that outside influence pushing me to him. Weird. He frowned, no longer turned on. After several moments of thought, he reached over and picked up the necklace. The instant his fingers touched it, I saw desire sweep over him again. He slid his other hand onto my hip, and suddenly, that burning lust slammed back into me.
"He charmed the necklace," Abe was furious. Dimitri and Ivan were also furious at the idea of Victor doing that to Rose
"But why?" Tatiana said not understanding why Victor would spend so much effort on two dhampirs
My stomach went queasy while my skin started to prickle and grow warm again. My breathing became heavy. His lips moved toward mine again. Some inner part of me fought through. "Lissa," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. "I have to tell you something about Lissa. But I can't…remember…I feel so strange…" "I know." Still holding onto me, he rested his cheek against my forehead. "There's something…something here…" He pulled his face away, and I opened my eyes. "This necklace. That's the one Prince Victor gave you?" I nodded and could see the sluggish thought process trying to wake up behind his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he removed his hand from my hip and pushed himself away.
"And here is the Dimitri with the iron-strong will," Victoria said happy that her brother was breaking free of the necklace's control, but she also had a sneaky suspension that after this Dimitri is going to tell Rose there was nothing between them
"What are you doing?" I exclaimed. "Come back…" He looked like he wanted to—very badly—but instead he climbed out of the bed. He and the necklace moved away from me. I felt like he'd ripped part of me away, but at the same time, I had that startling sensation of waking up, like I could think clearly once more without my body making all the decisions. On the other hand, Dimitri still wore a look of animal passion on him, and it seemed to take a great deal of effort for him to walk across the room. He reached the window and managed to open it one-handed. Cold air blasted in, and I rubbed my hands over my arms for warmth. "What are you going to—?" The answer hit me, and I sprang out of bed, just as the necklace flew out the window.
"Smart boy," Abe nodded happily that Dimitri had woken up from the charm. He still wanted to kill Dimitri but he knew he couldn't.
"No! Do you know how much that must have—?" The necklace disappeared, and I no longer felt like I was waking up. I was awake. Painfully, startlingly so. I took in my surroundings. Dimitri's room. Me naked. The rumpled bed. But all that was nothing compared to what hit me next. "Lissa!" I gasped out.
"Thank goodness for that," Tatiana relaxed she hoped that they would find out what had happened to Lissa
It all came back, the memories and the emotions. And, in fact, her held-back emotions suddenly poured into me—at staggering levels. More terror. Intense terror. Those feelings wanted to suck me back into her body, but I couldn't let them. Not quite yet. I fought against her, needing to stay here.
"Good," Alberta nodded, she was happy that the two were free and now they could focus on Lissa
With the words coming out in a rush, I told Dimitri everything that had happened. He was in motion before I finished, putting on clothes and looking every bit like a badass god. Ordering me to get dressed, he tossed me a sweatshirt with Cyrillic writing on it to wear over the skimpy dress.
"Thank goodness for that," Abe and Janine said at the same time. Dimitri finally looked up from his hands. Everyone but Yeva was looking at the book. Yeva was looking at Dimitri like she wanted to hug him and slap him at the same time
I had a hard time following him downstairs; he made no effort to slow for me this time. Calls were made when we got there. Orders shouted. Before long, I ended up in the guardians‟ main office with him. Kirova and other teachers were there. Most of the campus's guardians. Everyone seemed to speak at once. All the while, I felt Lissa's fear, felt her moving farther and farther away. I yelled at them to hurry up and do something, but no one except Dimitri would believe my story about her abduction until someone retrieved Christian from the chapel and then verified Lissa really wasn't on campus.
"We will have to change that this time around," Alberta nodded to herself
Christian staggered in, supported by two guardians. Dr. Olendzki appeared shortly thereafter, checking him out and wiping blood away from the back of his head. Finally, I thought, something would happen. "How many Strigoi were there?" one of the guardians asked me. "How in the world did they get in?" muttered someone else. I stared. "Wh—? There weren't any Strigoi." Several sets of eyes stared at me. "Who else would have taken her?" asked Ms. Kirova primly. "You must have seen it wrong through the…vision." "No. I'm positive. It was…they were…guardians." "She's right," mumbled Christian, still under the doctor's ministrations.
"Thank you," Abe, Alberta and Janine said looking at Christian who just smiled and nodded
He winced as she did something to the back of his head. "Guardians." "That's impossible," someone said. "They weren't school guardians." I rubbed my forehead, fighting hard to keep from leaving the conversation and going back to Lissa. My irritation grew. "Will you guys get moving? She's getting farther away!" "You're saying a group of privately retained guardians came in and kidnapped her?" The tone in Kirova's voice implied I was playing some kind of joke.
"She really hates her," Dimitri shook his head. Why was it so hard for them to trust Rose?
"Yes," I replied through gritted teeth. "They…" Slowly, carefully, I slipped my mental restraint and flew into Lissa's body. I sat in a car, an expensive car with tinted windows to keep out most of the light. It might be "night" here, but it was full day for the rest of the world. One of the guardians from the chapel drove; another sat beside him in the front—one I recognized. Spiridon. In the back, Lissa sat with tied hands, another guardian beside her, and on the other side— "They work for Victor Dashkov,"
Tatiana shook her head, they didn't understand why Victor would want Lissa. There was no way he knew about the healing
I gasped out, focusing back on Kirova and the others. "They're his." "Prince Victor Dashkov?" asked one of the guardians with a snort. Like there was any other freaking Victor Dashkov. "Please," I moaned, hands clutching my head. "Do something. They're getting so far away. They're on…" A brief image, seen outside the car window, flared in my vision. "Eighty-three. Headed south." "Eighty-three already? How long ago did they leave? Why didn't you come sooner?"
"This should be good," Adrian sat forwarded
My eyes turned anxiously to Dimitri. "A compulsion spell," he said slowly. "A compulsion spell put into a necklace he gave her. It made her attack me."
"Well he isn't wrong," Alberta nodded
"No one can use that kind of compulsion," exclaimed Kirova. "No one's done that in ages." "Well, someone did. By the time I'd restrained her and taken the necklace, a lot of time had passed," Dimitri continued, face perfectly controlled. No one questioned the story. Finally, finally, the group moved into action. No one wanted to bring me, but Dimitri insisted when he realized I could lead them to her.
"That bond is really a live saver," Ivan nodded, happy that Dimitri was still trusting Rose
Three details of guardians set out in sinister black SUVs. I rode in the first one, sitting in the passenger seat while Dimitri drove. Minutes passed. The only times we spoke was when I gave a report. "They're still on Eighty-three…but their turn is coming. They aren't speeding. They don't want to get pulled over."
"They probably figured that they had more time," Dimitri said tilting his head. He was relieved that he had stopped in the book and figured it out, otherwise, he would have been dead by now
He nodded, not looking at me. He most definitely was speeding. Giving him a sidelong glance, I replayed tonight's earlier events. In my mind's eye, I could see it all again, the way he'd looked at me and kissed me. But what had it been? An illusion? A trick?
"Hopefully," Abe and Janine said at the same time
On the way to the car, he'd told me there really had been a compulsion spell in the necklace, a lust one. I had never heard of such a thing, but when I'd asked for more information, he just said it was a type of magic earth users once practiced but never did anymore.
"For good reason," everyone said at the same time
"They're turning," I said suddenly. "I can't see the road name, but I'll know when we're close." Dimitri grunted in acknowledgment, and I sank further into my seat. What had it all meant? Had it meant anything to him? It had definitely meant a lot to me. "There," I said about twenty minutes later, indicating the rough road Víctor's car had turned off on. It was unpaved gravel, and the SUV gave us an edge over his luxury car. We drove on in silence, the only sound coming from the crunching of the gravel under the tires. Dust kicked up outside the windows, swirling around us. "They're turning again." Farther and farther off the main routes they went, and we followed the whole time, led by my instructions. Finally, I felt Victor's car come to a stop.
The room grew tenser and tenser. They hated the idea of Lissa being in danger
"They're outside a small cabin," I said. "They're taking her—" "Why are you doing this? What's going on?" Lissa. Cringing and scared. Her feelings had pulled me into her. "Come, child," said Victor, moving into the cabin, unsteady on his cane.
"He's running out of time," Ivan said worried, he had a feeling that Victor knew about the healing and he was planning on using Lissa
One of his guardians held the door open. Another pushed Lissa along and settled her into a chair near a small table inside. It was cold in here, especially in the pink dress. Victor sat across from her. When she started to get up, a guardian gave her a warning look. "Do you think I'd seriously hurt you?" "What did you do to Christian?" she cried, ignoring the question. "Is he dead? "The Ozera boy? I didn't mean for that to happen. We didn't expect him to be there. We'd hoped to catch you alone, to convince others you'd run away again. We'd made sure rumors already circulated about that." We? I recalled how the stories had resurfaced this week…from Natalie.
"I told you so," Ivan said hitting Dimitri with the closed book.
"Sorry," Dimitri said defending himself from his friend's assault
"Now?" He sighed, spreading his hands wide in a helpless gesture. "I don't know. I doubt anyone will connect it to us, even if they don't believe you ran away. Rose is the biggest liability. We'd intended to…dispatch her, letting others think she'd run away as well. The spectacle she created at your dance made that impossible, but I had another plan in place to make sure she stays occupied for some time…probably until tomorrow. We will have to contend with her later."
"Oh, he better not mean what I think he means," Abe glared at the book. Oh when these books were over he was going to kill a lot of people
He hadn't counted on Dimitri figuring out the spell. He'd figured we'd be too busy getting it on all night. "Why?" asked Lissa. "Why are you doing all this?" His green eyes widened, reminding her of her father's.
"Okay that must have been disturbing," Christian shook his head imagining how Lissa must have felt in that moment
They might be distant relatives, but that jade-green color ran in both the Dragomir's and the Dashkov ' s. " I'm surprised you even have to ask, my dear. I need you. I need you to heal me."
"How did he find out about that," Tatiana all but demanded
"We will have to wait and see. Perhaps the books will say," Ivan said closing the book. Abe looked at Olena and nodded at her, he was going to have a serious conversation with her about her son. Janine just sat back in her seat and decided that she would wait and see what the books tell her before she goes and kills Dimitri. And that was mostly because he seemed to be a good influent on Rose