"It's not worth it, " I argued. "Not if…not ifyou… " I couldn't finish, but she was right. She'd read me. I had missed the other novices.Even some of the Moroi. But there was more to it than just that. The weight of my inexperience, how much I'd fallen behind, had been growing all day.
"It might be better, " she countered. "I haven't had as many…you know, things happening in a while. I haven't felt like anyone was following or watching us."
I didn't say anything to that. Before we'd left the Academy, she'd always felt like someone was following her, like she was being hunted. I'd never seen evidence to support that, but I had once heard one of our teachers go on and on about the same sort of thing. Ms. Karp. She'd been a pretty Moroi, with deep auburn air and high cheekbones. And I was pretty sure she'd been crazy.
"You never know who's watching, " she used to say, walking briskly around the classroom as she shut all the blinds. "Or who's following you.Best to be safe.Best toalways be safe. " We'd snickered amongst ourselves because that's what students do around eccentric and paranoid teachers. The thought of Lisa acting like her bothered me.
"What's wrong? " Lisa asked, noticing that I was lost in thought.
"Huh?Nothing.Just thinking. " I sighed, trying to balance my own wants with what was best for her. "Lis', we can stay, I guess…but there are a few conditions."
This made her laugh. "ARose ultimatum, huh?"
"I'm serious. " Words I didn't say very much. "I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything but youknow, the others.The power players. Camille.Carly. That group."
Her amusement turned to astonishment. "Are you serious?"
"Sure. You never liked them anyway."
"Youdid."
"No. Not really. I liked what they could offer.All the parties and stuff."
"And you can go without that now? " She looked skeptical.
"Sure. We did inPortland."
"Yeah, but that was different. " Her eyes stared off, not really focused on any one thing. "Here…hereI've got to be a part of that. I can't avoid it."
"The hell you do. Natalie stays out of that stuff."
"Natalie isn't going to inherit her family's title, " she retorted. "I've already got it. I've got to be involved, start making connections. Andre-"
"Lis', " I groaned. "Youaren't Andre. " I couldn't believe she was still comparing herself to her brother.
"He was always involved in all that stuff."
"Yeah, well, " I snapped back, "he'sdead now."
Her face hardened. "You know, sometimes you aren't very nice."
"You don't keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in therewho would rip each other's throats to get in good with the Dragomir princess. You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is: Andre's dead. You're the heir now, and you're going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. We'll just lie low.Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Lis', and you'll drive yourself…"
"Crazy? "she supplied when I didn't finish.
Now I looked away. "I didn't mean…"
"It'sokay " she said, after a moment. She sighed and touched my arm. "Fine. We'll stay and we'll keep out of all that stuff. We'll 'coast through the middle' like you want. Hang out with Natalie, I guess." To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any of that. I wanted to go to all the royal parties and wild drunken festivities like we'd done before. We'dkept out of that life for years until Lisa's parents and brother died.
Andre should have been the one to inherit her family's title, and he'd certainly acted like it. Handsome and outgoing, he'd charmed everyone he knew and had been a leader in all the royal cliques and clubs that existed on campus. After his death, Lisa had felt it was her family duty to take his place.
I'd gotten to join that world with her. It was easy for me, because I didn't really have to deal with the politics of it. I was a pretty dhampir, one who didn't mind getting into trouble and pulling crazy stunts. I became a novelty; they liked having me around for the fun of it.
Lisa had to deal with other matters. The Dragomirs were one of the twelve ruling families. She'd have a very powerful place in Moroi society, and the other young royals wanted to get in good with her. Fake friends tried toschmooze her and get her to team up against other people. The royals could bribe and backstab in the same breath-and that was just witheach other. To dhampirs and non-royals, they were completely unpredictable.
That cruel culture had eventually taken its toll on Lisa. She had an open, kind nature, one that I loved, and I hated to see her upset and stressed by royal games. She'd grown fragile since the accident, and all the parties in the world weren't worth seeing her hurt.
"All right then, " I said finally. "We'll see how this goes. If anything goes wrong-anything at all-we leave. No arguments."
She nodded.
"Rose?"
We both looked up at Dimitri's looming form. I hoped he hadn't heard the part about us leaving.
"You're late for practice, " he said evenly. Seeing Lisa, he gave a polite nod. "Princess."
As he and I walked away, I worried about Lisa and wondered if staying here was the right thing to do.
I felt nothing alarming through the bond, but her emotions spiked all over the place.Confusion.Nostalgia.
Fear.Anticipation. Strong and powerful, they flooded into me.
I felt the pull just before it happened. It was exactly like what had happened on the plane: her emotions grew so strong that they «sucked» me into her head before I could stop them. I could now see and feel what she did.
She walked slowly around the commons, toward the small Russian Orthodox chapel that served most of the school's religious needs. Lisa had always attended mass regularly. Not me.
I had a standing arrangement with God: I'd agree to believe in him-barely-so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays.
But as she went inside, I could feel that she wasn't there to pray. She had another purpose, one I didn't know about. Glancing around, she verified that neither the priest nor any worshippers were close by. The place was empty.
Slipping through a doorway in the back of the chapel, she climbed a narrow set of creaky stairs up into the attic. Here it was dark and dusty. The only light came through a large stained-glass window that fractured the faint glow of sunrise into tiny, multicolored gems across the floor.
I hadn't known until that moment that this room was a regular retreat for Lisa. But now I could feel it, feel her memories of how she used to escape here to be alone and to think. The anxiety in her ebbed away ever so slightly as she took in the familiar surroundings. She climbed up into the window seat and leaned her head back against its side, momentarily entranced by the silence and the light.
Moroi could stand some sunlight, unlike the Strigoi, but they had to limit their exposure. Sitting here, she could almost pretend she was in the sun, protected by the glass's dilution of the rays.
Breathe, just breathe,she told herself.It'll be okay. Rose will take care of everything.
She believed that passionately, like always, and relaxed further.
Then a low voice spoke from the darkness.
"You can have the Academy but not the window seat."
She sprang up, heart pounding. I shared her anxiety, and my own pulse quickened. "Who's there?"
A moment later, a shape rose from behind a stack of crates, just outside her field of vision. The figure stepped forward, and in the poor lighting, familiar features materialized.Messy black hair.Pale blue eyes.
A perpetually sardonic smirk.
Christian Ozera.
"Don't worry, " he said. "I won't bite. Well, at least not in the way you're afraid of. " He chuckled at his own joke.
She didn't find it funny. She had completely forgotten about Christian. So had I.