Give the book to me," Yeva smiled. Everyone looked at her worried, so far she had shown no want to read. And now all of a sudden she wanted to read.
"Okay, I'm asking now? Who's gonna die?" Ivan asked looking at Yeva who just smiled at him and winked.
Six
I WAS FEELING PRETTY GOOD about life when I headed to my before-school practice the next day. The secret gathering last night had been super fun, and I felt proudly responsible for fighting the system and encouraging Dimitri to go with Tasha. Better still, I'd gotten my first crack at a silver stake yesterday and had proven I could handle one.
"If your day starts well then you should have known it was not going to end well," Adrian shook his head
"That is not true," Mason and Eddie said at the same time
"But it's true for Rose," Adrian said looking at them with a lazy smile. The boys wanted to argue but they knew the was right,
High on myself, I couldn't wait to practice even more. Once I was dressed in my usual workout attire, I practically skipped down to the gym. But when I stuck my head inside the practice room from the day before, I found it dark and quiet. Flipping on the light, I peered around just in case Dimitri was conducting some kind of weird, covert training exercise. Nope. Empty. No staking today.
"Where is he?" everyone asked worried,
"Shit," I muttered. "He's not here." I yelped and nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Turning around, I looked straight into my mother's narrowed brown eyes. "What are you doing here?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, her appearance registered with me. A stretchy spandex shirt with short sleeves. Loose, drawstring workout pants similar to the ones I wore.
"Shit," Mason, Eddie, Alberta and Dimitri said at the same time,
"Shit," I said again. "Watch your mouth," she snapped. "You might behave like you have no manners, but at least try not to sound that way."
"Seriously Janine. There no reason to be acting like that," Alberta and Abe said at the same time
"Where's Dimitri?" "Guardian Belikov is in bed. He just got back a couple of hours ago and needed to sleep." Another expletive was on my lips, and I bit it back. Of course Dimitri was asleep. He'd had to drive with Tasha to Missoula during daylight in order to be there during human shopping hours. He'd technically been up all of the Academy's night and had probably only just gotten back. Ugh. I wouldn't have been so quick to encourage him to help her if I'd known it'd result in this.
"That should not have been you're the only reason," Ivan rolled his eyes
"Well," I said hastily. "I guess that means practice is canceled -"
"Oh she is not going to so lucky," Alberta shook her head. She was getting a very bad feeling
"Be quiet and put these on." She handed me some training mitts. They were similar to boxing gloves but not as thick and bulky. They shared the same purpose, however: to protect your hands and keep you from gouging your opponent with your nails. "We've been working on silver stakes," I said sulkily shoving my hands into the mitts. "Well, today we're doing this. Come on." Wishing I'd been hit by a bus on my walk from the dorm today,
Eddie and Mason nodded. Yeva kept sneakily looking to Dimitri then to Janine, she wondered which one would be pounced on first,
I followed her out toward the center of the gym. Her curly hair was pinned up to stay out of the way, revealing the back of her neck. The skin there was covered in tattoos. The top one was a serpentine line: the promise mark, given when guardians graduated from academies like St. Vladimir's and agreed to serve. Below that were the molnija marks awarded each time a guardian killed a Strigoi. They were shaped like the lightning bolts they took their name from. I couldn't gauge exact numbers, but let's just say it was a wonder my mom had any neck left to tattoo.
Janine rubbed the back of her neck, she hated the fact that there were so many. Abe didn't know how to feel, on the one hand, he was proud that Janine was such a badass. But on the other hand, he hated it that she placed herself is so much danger,
She'd wielded a lot of death in her time. When she reached the spot she wanted, she turned toward me and adopted an attack stance. Half expecting her to jump me then and there, I quickly mirrored it. "What are we doing?" I asked. "Basic offensive and defensive parrying. Use the red lines." "That's all?" I asked. She leapt toward me. I dodged -just barely-and tripped over my own feet in the process.
"This is not going to end well," Alberta said her focus solely on Janine
Hastily, I righted myself. "Well," she said in a voice that almost sounded sarcastic. "As you seem so keen on reminding me, I haven't seen you in five years. I have no idea what you can do."
"That is not what she meant," Olena glared at Janine
She moved on me again, and again I just barely kept within the lines in escaping her. That quickly became the pattern. She never really gave me the chance to go on the offensive. Or maybe I just didn't have the skills to take the offensive.
"Both," Dimitri and Janine said at the same time.
I spent all my time defending myself -physically, at least. Grudgingly, I had to acknowledge to myself that she was good. Really good. But I certainly wasn't going to tell her that. "So, what?" I asked. "This is your way of making up for maternal negligence?" "This is my way of making you get rid of that chip on your shoulder. You've had nothing but attitude for me since I arrived.
"For good bloody reason," Karolina said shaking her head
You want to fight?" Her fist shot out and connected with my arm. "Then we'll fight. Point." "Point," I conceded, backing up to my side. "I don't want to fight. I've just been trying to talk to you." "Mouthing off to me in class isn't what I'd really call talking. Point." I grunted from the hit. When I'd first begun training with Dimitri, I'd complained that it wasn't fair for me to fight someone a foot taller than me. He'd pointed out that I'd fight plenty of Strigoi taller than me and that the old adage was true: size doesn't matter. Sometimes I thought he was giving me false hope,
"Oh you won't be getting any of that from my grandson," Yeva shook her head, Ivan nodded agreeing with her.
but judging from my mom's performance here, I was starting to believe him. I'd never actually fought anyone smaller than me. As one of the few girls in the novice classes, I accepted that I was almost always going to be shorter and slimmer than my opponents. But my mother was smaller still and clearly had nothing but muscle packed into her petite body. "I have a unique style of communication, that's all," I said.
"Like mother like daughter," Abe smiled shaking his head.
"You have a petty teenage delusion that you've somehow been wronged for the last seventeen years."
"She was," Olena and Yeva said at the same time,
Her foot hit my thigh. "Point. When in reality, you've been treated no differently than any other dhampir. Better, actually. I could have sent you off to live with my cousins. You want to be a blood whore? Is that what you wanted?" The term "blood whore" always made me flinch. It was a term often applied to the single dhampir mothers who decided to raise their children instead of becoming guardians.
"There is nothing wrong with that. If you had done that then Rose would have at least gotten more motherly love. No offence Alberta," Olena said glaring at Janine who just chooses to ignore her,
"None taken," Alberta replied. Janine didn't feel like she did the wrong thing. She made sure Rose would survive and that she would have everything she needed to make a success of her life, so she couldn't doubt her decision,
These women often had short-term affairs with Moroi men and were looked down on for it -even though there wasn't really anything else they could have done, since Moroi men usually ended up marrying Moroi women. The "blood whore" term came from the fact that some dhampir women let men drink blood from them during sex.
"Some not all," All the Belikov woman said at the same time,
In our world, only humans gave blood. A dhampir doing it was dirty and kinky-especially during sex. I suspected only a few dhampir women actually did this, but unfairly, the term tended to get applied to all of them. I had given blood to Lissa when we had run away, and although it had been a necessary act, the stigma still stayed with me.
"Because it was taught to you since you could remember," Olena rolled her eyes. This was one of the things she hated about their world.
"No. Of course I don't want to be a blood whore." My breathing was becoming heavy. "And they're not all like that. There're only a few that actually are." "They bring that reputation on themselves," she growled. I dodged her strike. "They should be doing their duty as guardians, not continuing to fool around and have flings with Moroi."
"Great now both of them are going to get mad and things are going to get out of hand," Christian said shaking his head. He slowly moved further back on the couch, he didn't want to near Janine when Abe or Alberta or Olena jumped the redhead,
"They're raising their children," I grunted. I wanted to yell but couldn't waste the oxygen. "Something you'd know nothing about. Besides, aren't you the same as they are? I don't see a ring on your finger. Wasn't my dad just a fling for you?"
Abe winced while Janine had gone pale,
Her face turned hard, which is saying something when you're already beating up your daughter. "That," she said tightly, "is something you know nothing about. Point." I winced at the blow but was happy to see I'd struck a nerve. I had no clue who my dad was. The only bit of information I had was that he was Turkish.
Abe looked sadly down at his hands, he wished that he had been allowed to be in Rose's life but the past was the past and there was nothing he could do about that now,
I might have my mom's curvy figure and pretty face though I could smugly say mine was much prettier than hers nowadays-but the rest of my coloring was from him. Lightly tanned skin with dark hair and eyes. "How'd it happen?" I asked. "Were you on some assignment in Turkey? Meet him at a local bazaar? Or was it even cheaper than that? Did you go all Darwin and select the guy most likely to pass on warrior genes to your offspring? I mean, I know you only had me because it was your duty, so I suppose you had to make sure you could give the guardians the best specimen you could."
The entire room was silent, no-one knew what to say,
"Janine you better not do what I think you are going to do," Alberta warned sitting at the edge of her seat.
"Rosemarie," she warned through gritted teeth, "for once in your life, shut up." "Why? Am I tarnishing your precious reputation? It's just like you told me: you aren't any different from any other dhampir either. You just screwed him and -" There's a reason they say, "Pride goeth before a fall." I was so caught up in my own cocky triumph that I stopped paying attention to my feet. I was too close to the red line. Going outside of it was another point for her, so I scrambled to stay within and dodge her at the same time.
"Please don't hit her, please for the love of all that is holy don't hit her," Alberta chanted under her breath.
Unfortunately, only one of those could work. Her fist came flying at me, fast and hard -and, perhaps most importantly, a bit higher than the permissible according to rules of this kind of exercise. It smacked me in the face with the power of a small truck, and I flew backward, hitting the hard gym floor back-first and head-second.
The room was silent for a few more seconds before
"What the hell!!!" Abe and Alberta yelled at the same time. Both standing in front of Janine. She had gone pale and seemed to be frozen.
"I…I…I" Janine couldn't find words to say.
"You… you…you. What the hell. Why did you hit OUR DAUGHTER so hard? You are a grown-ass adult." Abe's voice was controlled and cold. Only at certain syllables were louder than the rest. Alberta was shaking with the effort of containing all her anger. Her fists clenched tightly at her side, her face red and her normally kind eyes were hard and cold.
"You tell her to control her feeling but you are no better. What the hell Janine, you can't just go and HITT OUT DAUGHTER because she PISSED you off. Look at things from her point of view. SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT MY NAME IS AND YOU EXPECT HER TO NOT BE MAD AT YOU FOR DISRESPECTING WOMAN WHO chooses TO PLACE THEIR LOVED ONED ABOUT A RANDOM ROYAL BLOOD SUCKER! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID IT WOULD BE BETTER IF ROSE DIDN'T KNOW WHO I WAS, and I trusted you because I loved you and I should have fought harder to be in OUR DAUGHTER'S LIVE," the rest of Abe's rant was in Turkish but let's just say he didn't stop for five minutes straight. When he was done he sat down on the couch again but moved as far away as he could from Janine. Janine who had tears in her eyes looked up at Alberta who still had not said a word.
Slap*
Janine's face snapped to the side. Her hand come up and cradled her bruised cheek as she looked shocked up at Alberta who just turned and walked back to her seat. Janine pulled her legs up and all but curled up on her side of the couch tears running down her cheek.
And I was out of the lines. Damn it. Pain cracked through the back of my head, and my vision went blurry and sparkly. Within seconds, my mother was leaning over me. "Rose? Rose? Are you okay?" Her voice sounded hoarse and frantic. The world swam. At some point after that, other people came, and I somehow wound up in the Academy's med clinic.
"Well at least she is still awake, so she didn't get to hurt," Mason said almost too afraid to say anything.
There, someone shone a light in my eyes and started asking me incredibly idiotic questions. "What's your name?" "What?" I asked, squinting at the light. "Your name." I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me. "You know my name." "I want you to tell me." "Rose. Rose Hathaway." "Do you know your birthday?" "Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?"
"You should be glad she is okay," Alberta said glaring at Janine
Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. "I think she's fine," I heard her tell someone. "I want to keep her here for the school day, just to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. I certainly don't want her anywhere near her guardian classes." I spent the day moving in and out of sleep because Dr. Olendzki kept waking me up to do her tests. She also gave me an ice pack and told me to keep it close to my face. When the Academy's classes let out, she deemed me well enough to leave. "I swear, Rose, I think you should have a frequent patient's card."
Mason and Eddie nodded,
There was a small smile on her face. "Short of those with chronic problems like allergies and asthma, I don't think there's any other student I've seen here so often in such a short period of time." "Thanks," I said, not really sure I wanted the honor. "So, no concussion?" She shook her head. "No. You're going to have some pain, though. I'll give you something for that before you go."
"Thank goodness for that," Ivan said looking at Dimitri. Anyone who didn't know him would have said he was calm, but those who knew him could see he was beyond pissed. Ivan was impressed that he had not gone and tried to kill Janine yet.
Her smile faded, and suddenly she looked nervous. "To be honest, Rose, I think most of the damage happened to, well, your face." I shot up from the bed. "What do you mean 'most of the damage happened to my face'?" She gestured to the mirror above the sink on the far side of the room. I ran over to it and looked at my reflection. "Son of a bitch!" Purplish red splotches covered the upper portion of the left side of my face, particularly near the eye. Desperately, I turned around to face her. "This is going to go away soon, right? If I keep the ice on it?" She shook her head again. "The ice can help...but I'm afraid you're going to have a wicked black eye.
Abe and Alberta had glares on their faces but neither looked at Janine,
It'll probably be at its worst tomorrow but should clear up in a week or so. You'll be back to normal before long." I left the clinic in a daze that had nothing to do with my head injury. Clear up in a week or so? How could Dr. Olendzki speak so lightly about this? Didn't she realize what was happening? I was going to look like a mutant for Christmas and most of the ski trip.
"I doubt that it is that bad, and knowing Rose she is going to make it work for her," Christian said shaking his head. Abe just glared at him.
I had a black eye. A freaking black eye. And my mother had given it to me.
"Done," Yeva smiled proudly
~~~~
I'll read next," Karolina said taking the book from her grandmother.
Seven
I ANGRILY PUSHED THROUGH THE double doors that led into the Moroi dorm. Snow swirled in behind me, and a few people lingering on the main floor glanced up upon my entrance. Not surprisingly, several of them did double takes.
"Well, it has probably been a while since someone has been able to give Rose a black eye," Mason said nodding.
Swallowing, I forced myself not to react. It would be okay. No need to freak out. Novices got injured all the time.
"Yes but that is a more noticeable injury than normal," Alberta glared at Janine.
It was actually rarer not to get injured. Admittedly, this was a more noticeable injury than most, but I could live with it until it healed, right? And it wasn't like anyone would know how I'd received it. "Hey Rose, is it true your own mother punched you?" I froze. I'd know that taunting soprano voice anywhere. Turning slowly, I looked into the deep blue eyes of Mia Rinaldi.
"Oh that girl really doesn't know when to give up and stop," Adrian shook his head. Everyone but Janine nodded.
Curly blond hair framed a face that might have been cute if not for the malicious smirk on it. A year younger than us, Mia'd taken on Lissa (and me by default) in a war to see who could tear apart the other's life most quickly -a war, I should add, that she started.
"Well that wasn't smart," Mason and Eddie said at the same time.
It had involved her stealing Lissa's ex-boyfriend-despite the fact Lissa had decided in the end she didn't want him-and the spreading of all sorts of rumors. Admittedly, Mia's hatred hadn't been entirely unjustified. Lissa's older brother, Andre -who had been killed in the same car accident that technically "killed" me-had used Mia pretty badly when she was a freshman. If she weren't such a bitch now, I would have felt sorry for her. It had been wrong of him, and while I could understand her anger, I don't know that it was fair of her to take that out on Lissa in the way she did.
"Agreed," Everyone nodded.
Lissa and I had technically won the war in the end, but Mia had inexplicably bounced back.
"Well that is rather impressive," Adrian and Eddie nodded. Eddie knew how bad it would be to lose a war against Rose and Lissa and he shuttered to think about how strong Mia had to be to have been able to bounce back.
She didn't run with the same elite that she once had, but she had rebuilt a small contingent of friends. Malicious or not, strong leaders always attract followers. I'd found that about 90 percent of the time, the most effective response was to ignore her. But we had just crossed over to the other 10 percent, because it's impossible to ignore someone announcing to the world that your mother just punched you -even if it was true.
Abe and Alberta glared at Janine, while everyone else wished that Mia had said nothing.
I stopped walking and turned around. Mia stood near a vending machine, knowing she'd drawn me out. I didn't bother asking how she'd found out about my mother giving me the black eye. Things rarely stayed secret around here. When she caught full sight of my face, her eyes widened in unabashed delight. "Wow. Talk about a face only a mother could love."
"Oh that girl is either the bravest person in the world or the stupidest," Mason shook his head.
"How long is it going to take before Rose fully snaps and tries to kill Mia?" Eddie asked looking at Alberta
"I'm surprised she has not done it yet. It looks like Dimitri has an excellent effect on Rose," Alberta said looking at Dimitri.
Ha. Cute. From anyone else, I would have applauded the joke. "Well, you're the expert on face injury," I said. "How's your nose?" Mia's icy smile twitched a little, but she didn't back down. I'd broken her nose about a month ago -at a school dance of all places-and while the nose had since healed, it now sat just the tiniest bit askew.
"Well that must have pleased her," Abe said with a small smile,
"Would it have pleased you?" Alberta asked,
"Most definitely" Abe smirked.
Plastic surgery could probably fix it up, but from my understanding of her family's finances, that wasn't possible just now. "It's better," she replied primly. "Fortunately, it was only broken by a psychopathic whore,
"Oh I'm gonna kill that girl," Abe and Ivan said at the same time.
and not anyone actually related to me." I gave her my best psychopathic smile. "Too bad. Family members hit you by accident. Psychopathic whores tend to come back for more." Threatening physical violence against her was usually a pretty sound tactic, but we had too many people around right now for that to be a legitimate concern for her. And Mia knew it.
"Oh, she is so lucky," Karolina shook her head.
Not that I was above attacking someone in this kind of setting -hell, I'd done it lots of times-but I was trying to work on my impulse control lately.
"Thank you," Alberta said looking at Dimitri.
"Doesn't look like much of an accident to me," she said. "Don't you guys have rules about face punches? I mean, that looks really far out of bounds." I opened my mouth to tell her off, but nothing came out. She had a point. My injury was far out of bounds; in that sort of combat, you aren't supposed to hit above the neck.
Abe and Alberta glared at Janine.
This was way above that forbidden line. Mia saw my hesitation, and it was like Christmas morning had come a week early for her. Until that moment, I don't think there'd ever been a time in our antagonistic relationship in which she'd rendered me speechless. "Ladies," came a stern, female voice. The Moroi attending the front desk leaned over it and fixed us with a sharp look. "This is a lobby, not a lounge. Either go upstairs or go outside." For a moment, breaking Mia's nose again sounded like the best idea in the world -to hell with detention or suspension.
"Is it wrong that I really want her to do that?" Victoria asked,
"Sadly yes," Olena sighed.
After a deep breath, I decided retreat was my most dignified action now. I stalked off toward the stairs leading up to the girls' dorm. Over my shoulder, I heard Mia call, "Don't worry, Rose. It'll go away. Besides, it's not your face guys are interested in."
Everyone shook their heads. Mason and Eddie didn't know how they were going to stop themselves from killing Mia the next time they saw her.
Thirty seconds later, I beat on Lissa's door so hard, it was a wonder my fist didn't go through the wood. She opened it slowly and peered around. "Is it just you out here? I thought there was an army at the -oh my God." Her eyebrows shot up when she noticed the left side of my face. "What happened?" "You haven't heard already? You're probably the only one in the school who hasn't," I grumbled. "Just let me in." Sprawling on her bed, I told her about the day's events. She was properly appalled. "I heard you'd been hurt, but I figured it was one of your normal things," she said.
"If only," Abe glared at Janine.
I stared up at the spackled ceiling, feeling miserable. "The worst part is, Mia was right. It wasn't an accident." "What, you're saying your mom did it on purpose?" When I didn't answer, Lissa's voice turned incredulous. "Come on, she wouldn't do that. No way." "Why? Because she's perfect Janine Hathaway, master of controlling her temper? The thing is, she's also perfect Janine Hathaway, master of fighting and controlling her actions. One way or another, she slipped up."
"Big-time," Alberta and Abe growled at the same time. Janine wanted to say something but at the last minute, she chooses not to.
"Yeah, well," said Lissa, "I think her stumbling and missing her punch is more likely than her doing it on purpose. She'd have to really lose her temper." "Well, she was talking to me. That's enough to make anyone lose their temper. And I accused her of sleeping with my dad because he was the soundest evolutionary choice."
Janine looked sadly at Abe.
"Rose," groaned Lissa. "You kind of left out that part in your recap. Why'd you say that to her?" "Because it's probably true." "But you had to know it'd upset her. Why do you keep provoking her? Why can't you just make peace with her?"
"I hate to say it but Lissa is right. Rose did kind of pick a fight," Christian said looking between the three adults.
"Whether she picked a fight or not. Janine is a grown-up and a trained guardian she should have walked away," Alberta told Christian.
I sat upright. "Make peace with her? She gave me a black eye. Probably on purpose! How do I make peace with someone like that?" Lissa just shook her head and walked over to the mirror to check her makeup. The feelings coming through our bond were ones of frustration and exasperation. Lingering in the back was a bit of anticipation, too. I had the patience to examine her carefully, now that I'd finished my venting. She had on a silky lavender shirt and a knee-length black skirt. Her long hair had the kind of smooth perfection only achieved by spending an hour of your life on it with a hair dryer and flat iron.
"Looks like Lissa is ready for a date," Adrian smirked at Christian.
"You look nice. What's up?" Her feelings shifted slightly, her irritation with me dimming a little. "I'm meeting Christian soon." For a few minutes there, it had felt like the old days with Lissa and me. Just us, hanging out and talking. Her mention of Christian, as well as the realization that she'd have to leave me soon for him, stirred up dark feelings in my chest...feelings I had to reluctantly admit were jealousy.
"Poor Rose. She is really finding it hard to share her best friend," Christian rolled his eyes.
"Well so far Lissa has been the only consistent thing in Rose's life so it makes sense that Rose would be afraid to lose her," Sonja explained
Naturally, I didn't let on to that. "Wow. What'd he do to deserve that? Rescue orphans from a burning building? If so, you might want to make sure he didn't set the building on fire in the first place." Christian's element was fire. It was fitting since it was the most destructive one.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Christian smirked.
Laughing, she turned from the mirror and noticed me gently touching my swollen face with my fingers. Her smile turned kind. "It doesn't look that bad." "Whatever. I can tell when you're lying, you know. And Dr. Olendzki says it'll be even worse tomorrow." I lay back down on the bed. "There probably isn't enough concealer in the world to cover this, is there? Tasha and I'll have to invest in some Phantom of the Opera- style masks."
Ivan rolled his eyes at the mention of Tasha, while Christian mealy glared at the book. Dimitri was just happy Rose seemed to like Tasha.
She sighed and sat on the bed near me. "Too bad I can't just heal it." I smiled. "That would be nice." The compulsion and charisma brought on by spirit were great, but really, healing was her coolest ability.
Everyone nodded at that.
The range of things she could achieve was staggering. Lissa was also thinking about what spirit could do. "I wish there were some other way to control the spirit ... in a way that still let me use the magic..."
"That would be great," Adrian smirked.
"Yeah," I said. I understood her burning desire to do great things and help people. It radiated off of her. Hell, I would also have liked to have this eye cleared up in an instant rather than days. "I wish there were too." She sighed again. "And there's more to me than just wishing I could heal and do other stuff with spirit. I also, well, just miss the magic. It's still there; it's just blocked off by the pills. It's burning inside of me. It wants me, and I want it. But there's a wall between us. You just can't imagine it."
"I think she can relate," Ivan said looking at Dimitri who just shook his head.
"Well Rose does feel Lissa's feeling so she must know," Tatiana said bored.
"I can, actually." It was true. Along with having a general sense for her feelings, I could sometimes also "slip into her." It was hard to explain and ever harder to endure. When that happened, I could literally see through her eyes and feel what she experienced. During those times, I was her. Many times, I'd been in her head while she longed for the magic, and I'd felt the burning need she spoke of. She often woke up at night, yearning for the power she could no longer reach. "Oh yeah," she said ruefully. "I forget about that sometimes."
"It would have been great if the bond went both ways," Dimitri noted wondering how much that would have changed the girl's lives.
"Well, thankfully it doesn't" Tatiana forced a smile.
A sense of bitterness filled her. It wasn't directed at me so much as it was the no-win nature of her situation. Anger sparked inside of her. She didn't like feeling helpless any more than I did. The anger and frustration intensified into something darker and uglier, something I didn't like.
"Why does Rose keep mentioning something dark inside Lissa and in herself?" Abe wanted to know.
"Let's hope that the books will explain," Alberta said looking at the book in Karolina's hands.
"Hey," I said, touching her arm. "You okay?" She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them. "I just hate it." The intensity of her feelings reminded me of our conversation, the one we'd had just before I went to the Badica house. "You still feel like the pills might be weakening?" "I don't know. A little." "Is it getting worse?" She shook her head. "No. I still can't use the magic. I feel closer to it... but it's still blocked off." "But you still... your moods ..." "Yeah ... they're acting up.
"That is not good," Tatiana shook her head. Christian sat forward he didn't want anything to happen to Lissa, and from what they had learned in the previous book just made him more worried for Lissa.
But don't worry," she said, seeing my face. "I'm not seeing things or trying to hurt myself."
"Well, that is a relief," Karolina smiled softly.
"Good." I was glad to hear it but still worried. Even if she still couldn't touch the magic, I didn't like the idea of her mental state slipping again. Desperately, I hoped the situation would just stabilize on its own. "I'm here," I told her softly, holding her gaze. "If anything happens that's weird...you tell me, okay?" Like that, the dark feelings disappeared within her. As they did, I felt a weird ripple in the bond. I can't explain what it was, but I shuddered from the force.
"What the hell," Ivan asked worriedly.
"We seriously need more information about spirit and being shadow kissed," Abe, Ivan, Dimitri, and Christian all shook their heads not happy with what they were hearing.
Lissa didn't notice. Her mood perked up again, and she smiled at me. "Thanks," she said. "I will." I smiled, happy to see her back to normal. We lapsed into silence, and for the briefest of moments, I wanted to pour my heart out to her. I'd had so much on my mind lately: my mother, Dimitri, and the Badica house. I'd been keeping those feelings locked up, and they were tearing me apart.
"She should be able to talk to her best friend," Sonja shook her head, wishing that Rose would just tell Lissa about everything.
"She wouldn't want to add to Lissa's stress," Eddie added shaking his head.
Now, feeling so comfortable with Lissa for the first time in a long time, I finally felt that I could let her into my feelings for a change. Before I could open my mouth, I felt her thoughts suddenly shift. They became eager and nervous. She had something she wanted to tell me, something she'd been thinking about intently. So much for pouring my heart out. If she wanted to talk, I wouldn't burden her with my problems,
"See," Mason rolled his eyes.
so I pushed them aside and waited for her to speak. "I found something in my research with Ms. Carmack. Something strange..." "Oh?" I asked, instantly curious. Moroi usually developed their specialized element during adolescence. After that, they were put into magic classes specific to that element. But as the only spirit user on record at the moment, Lissa didn't really have a class she could join. Most people believed she just hadn't specialized, but she and Ms. Carmack -the magic teacher at St. Vladimir's-had been meeting independently to learn what they could about spirit.
"Smart, that way all the kids wouldn't bother her about her powers or the pills," Adrian nodded.
"I'm just surprised that they were able to keep it a secret," Dimitri added.
They researched both current and old records, checking for clues that might lead to other spirit users, now that they knew some of the telltale signs: an inability to specialize, mental instability, etc. "I didn't find any confirmed spirit users, but I did find...reports of, um, unexplained phenomena." I blinked in surprise. "What kind of stuff?" I asked, pondering what would count as "unexplained phenomena" for vampires.
"Very strange things." Tatiana and Adrian said at the same time.
When she and I had lived with humans, we would have been considered unexplained phenomena. "They're scattered reports...but, like, I read this one about a guy who could make others see things that weren't there. He could get them to believe they were seeing monsters or other people or whatever." "That could be compulsion." "Really powerful compulsion. I couldn't do that, and I'm stronger -or used to be-in it than anyone we know. And that power comes from using spirit..."
"Well, she would be able to if she practised," Ivan nodded.
"So," I finished, "you think this illusion guy must have been a spirit user too." She nodded. "Why not contact him and find out?" "Because there's no information listed! It's secret. And there are others just as strange.
Everyone glared at Tatiana.
"What?" She asked looking between everyone.
"You and your secrets," Adrian rolled his eyes at Tatiana.
Like someone who could physically drain others. People standing nearby would get weak and lose all their strength. They'd pass out. And there was someone else who could stop things in midair when they were thrown at him."
"Well he could have been an air user," Christian pointed out.
"Well that is terrifying," Victoria said thinking about the other things that were stated.
Excitement lit up her features. "He could have been an air user," I pointed out.
Christian shook his head, while everyone else laughed at the face he was making.
"Maybe," she said. I could feel the curiosity and excitement swirling through her. She desperately wanted to believe there were others out there like her. I smiled. "Who knew? Moroi have Roswell- and Area 51-type stuff. It's a wonder I'm not being studied somewhere to see if they can figure out the bond."
"Hell no," Abe said looking at Tatiana who looked like she had gotten the best idea ever.
Lissa's speculative mood turned teasing. "I wish I could see into your mind sometimes. I'd like to know how you feel about Mason."
"He's a friend," Christian and Adrian said at the same time. Mason glared at them while Eddie just rubbed his back comfortingly.
"He's my friend," I said stoutly, surprised at the abrupt change in subject. "That's it." She tsked. "You used to flirt -and do other stuff-with any guy you could get your hands on." "Hey!" I said, offended. "I wasn't that bad." "Okay...maybe not. But you don't seem interested in guys anymore."
"Well, that's not Mason's fault," Victoria giggled looking at Dimitri who just shook his heads.
I was interested in guys -well, one guy. "Mason's really nice," she continued. "And crazy about you." "He is," I agreed. I thought about Mason, about that brief moment when I'd thought he was sexy outside Stan's class. Plus, Mason was really funny, and we got along beautifully. He wasn't a bad prospect as far as boyfriends went.
Mason pouted sadly. He wished that he and Rose could be something, but she seemed to only care about Dimitri.
"You guys are a lot alike. You're both doing things you shouldn't." I laughed. That was also true. I recalled Mason's eagerness to take on every Strigoi in the world. I might not be ready for that -despite my outburst in the car-but I shared some of his recklessness.
"Some! She is a lot more recklessness than I will ever be," Mason shook his head chuckling.
"Maybe before but now she is starting to be a lot more responsible," Eddie said looking at Dimitri wondering what made him so different.
It might be time to give him a shot, I thought.
Mason smiled hopefully, while Abe and Dimitri glared at him. Adrian wanted to glare as well but he was still waiting patiently to see how Rose would react to him. And he had a feeling that Rose and Mason wouldn't be a couple for long.
Bantering with him was fun, and it had been a long time since I'd kissed anyone. Dimitri made my heart ache ... but, well, it wasn't like anything else was going on there.
Abe and Janine nodded, happy about that.
Lissa watched me appraisingly, like she knew what I was thinking -well, aside from the Dimitri stuff. "I heard Meredith say you were an idiot for not going out with him. She said it's because you think you're too good for him." "What! That's not true." "Hey, I didn't say it. Anyway, she said she's thinking of going after him."
"Well that would be interesting," Mason nodded
"That would be a disaster," Eddie smirked.
"Mason and Meredith?" I scoffed. "That's a disaster in the making. They have nothing in common." It was petty, but I'd gotten used to Mason always doting on me. Suddenly, the thought of someone else getting him irked me.
"Well she is possessive," Adrian smirked.
"You're possessive," Lissa said, again guessing my thoughts. No wonder she got so annoyed at me reading her mind. "Only a little." She laughed. "Rose, even if it's not Mason, you really should start dating again. There are lots of guys who would kill to go out with you -guys who are actually nice." I hadn't always made the best choices when it came to men.
"That we can agree on," Alberta shook her head, wondering why Rose never chooses the good boys.
"Well she made one good choice," Ivan smirked looking at Dimitri.
Once again, the urge to spill all my worries to her seized me. I'd been hesitant to tell her about Dimitri for so long, even though the secret burned inside of me. Sitting with her here reminded me that she was my best friend. I could tell her anything, and she wouldn't judge me.
"Well at least Rose knew she could tell Lissa," Olena added.
"Let's just hope she gets the chance," Adrian shook his head, wondering how bad Rose's luck must be.
But, just like earlier, I lost the chance to tell her what was on my mind. She glanced over at her alarm clock and suddenly sprang up from the bed. "I'm late! I've got to meet Christian!" Joy filled her, underscored with a bit of nervous anticipation. Love. What could you do?
"Nothing," Dimitri said softly, Ivan heard him and just patted his shoulder.
I swallowed back the jealousy that started to raise its ugly head. Once again, Christian had taken her away from me. I wasn't going to be able to unburden myself tonight. Lissa and I left the dorm, and she practically sprinted away, promising we'd talk tomorrow. I wandered back to my own dorm. When I got to my room, I passed by my mirror and groaned when I saw my face. Dark purple surrounded my eye.
Abe and Alberta glared at Janine who just sniffed and rubbed her eyes, she chooses to ignore them. She knew that they both would be mad at her for a while so she chooses to let them just be angry.
In talking to Lissa, I'd almost forgotten about the whole incident with my mother. Stopping to get a closer look, I stared at my face. Maybe it was egotistical, but I knew I looked good. I wore a C-cup and had a body much coveted in a school where most of the girls were supermodel slim. And as I'd noted earlier, my face was pretty too. On a typical day, I was a nine around here -ten on a very good one. But today? Yeah. I was practically in negative numbers.
Dimitri, Adrian and Mason shook their heads. They couldn't imagine Rose not being the most beautiful person in the world.
I was going to look fabulous for the ski trip. "My mom beat me up," I informed my reflection. It looked back sympathetically.
That got a few chuckles out of everyone.
With a sigh, I decided I might as well get ready for bed. There was nothing else I wanted to do tonight, and maybe extra sleep would speed the healing. I went down the hall to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my hair. When I got back to my room, I slipped on my favorite pajamas, and the feel of soft flannel cheered me up a little. I was packing my backpack for the next day when a burst of emotion abruptly shot through my bond with Lissa.
"Please let that be good," Alberta hoped. She was not in the mood to hear about another kidnapping attempt.
It caught me unaware and gave me no chance to fight it. It was like being knocked over by a hurricane-force wind, and suddenly, I was no longer looking at my backpack. I was "inside" Lissa, experiencing her world firsthand. And that's when things got awkward. Because Lissa was with Christian. And things were getting ... hot.
"Oh please no," Christian shook his head, he felt about ready to die.
Karolina was about to close the book when she saw a note stuck on the next page. She took out the letter and opened it.
Good day
Please contact Mark and Oksana. The Belikova's know them. Don't start the next chapter without them.
Vlad.
"Okay I will go call them," Olena said getting up and taking out her phone.
"Why do they need to be here?' Tatiana asked wondering what made Mark and Oksana so special.
"We will have to wait and see," Abe said getting up. He needed some fresh air.