“I’m sorry,” I said, surprised to hear the sympathy in my words. This was hardly the harsh interrogation I’d envisioned. “I can only imagine what it must have been like . . . losing him. . . .”
The dreamy eyes grew sharp and hard. “No. You cannot. It’s like nothing you can imagine. Nothing. Right now . . . right now . . . you have the world. A universe of senses beyond those of others, an understanding of another person that no one can have. To lose that . . . to have that ripped away . . . it would make you wish for death.”
Wow. Robert was pretty good at killing conversation, and we all kind of sat there hoping the waiter would return this time. When he did, we all made halfhearted attempts at ordering food—except Robert—most of us deciding on the spot. The restaurant served Asian cuisine, and I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu: an egg roll sampler.
With food ordered, Victor continued taking the firm hand with Robert that I seemed incapable of managing.
“Will you help them? Will you answer their questions?”
I had a feeling that Victor was pushing Robert on this not so much as a way to pay back us rescuing him, but rather because Victor’s scheming nature was dying to know everyone’s secrets and motivations.
Robert sighed. Whenever he looked at Victor, there was such a strong expression of devotion and even idol worship. Robert probably couldn’t refuse his brother anything. He was the perfect type to play into Victor’s plans, and I realized I should possibly be grateful that Robert had grown unstable. If he’d been in full control of his powers, Victor would never have bothered with Lissa last time. He would have already had his own private spirit wielder to use however he wanted.
“What do you want to know?” asked Robert blearily. He addressed me, apparently recognizing my leadership.
I glanced at my friends for moral support and received none. Neither Lissa nor Adrian approved of this mission in the first place, and Eddie still didn’t know its purpose. I swallowed, steeling myself, and directed my full attention to Robert.
“We heard you freed a Strigoi once. That you were able to convert him—or her—back to their original state.”
Surprise flashed on Victor’s usually composed face. He certainly hadn’t expected this.
“Where did you hear this?” demanded Robert.
“From a couple I met in Russia. Their names are Mark and Oksana.”
“Mark and Oksana . . .” Again, Robert’s gaze slipped away for a moment. I had a feeling this happened a lot, that he didn’t spend much time in reality. “I didn’t know they were still together.”
“They are. They’re doing really great.” I needed him back in the present. “Is it true? Did you do what they said? Is it possible?”
Robert’s responses were always preceded by a pause. “Her.”
“Huh?”
“It was a woman. I freed her.”
I gasped in spite of myself, hardly daring to process his words.
“You’re lying.” It was Adrian who spoke, his tone harsh.
Robert glanced at him with an expression amused and scornful. “And who are you to say that? How can you tell? You’ve bruised and abused your powers so much, it’s a wonder you can even touch the magic anymore. And all these things you do to yourself . . . it doesn’t truly help, does it? Spirit’s punishment still affects you . . . soon you won’t be able to tell reality from dream. . . .”
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. “I don’t need any physical signs to see that you’re lying. I know you are because what you’re describing is impossible. There’s no way to save a Strigoi. When they’re gone, they’re gone. They’re dead. Undead. Forever .”
“That which is dead doesn’t always stay dead. . . .” Robert’s words weren’t directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. I shivered.
“How? How did you do it?”
“With a stake. She was killed with a stake, and in doing so, was brought back to life.”
“Okay,” I said. “That is a lie. I’ve killed plenty of Strigoi with stakes, and believe me, they stay dead.”
“Not just any stake.” Robert’s fingers danced along the edge of his glass. “A special stake.”
“A stake charmed with spirit,” said Lissa suddenly.
He lifted his eyes to her and smiled. It was a creepy smile. “Yes. You are a clever, clever girl. A clever, gentle girl. Gentle and kind. I can see it in your aura.”
I stared off at the table, my mind in overdrive. A stake charmed with spirit. Silver stakes were charmed with the four main Moroi elements: earth, air, water, and fire. It was that infusion of life that destroyed the undead force within a Strigoi. With our recent discovery of how to charm objects with spirit, infusing a stake had never even occurred to us. Spirit healed. Spirit had brought me back from the dead. In joining with the other elements within a stake, was it truly possible that the twisted darkness that gripped Strigoi could be obliterated, thus restoring that person to their rightful state?
I was grateful for the food’s arrival because my brain was still moving sluggishly. The egg rolls provided a welcome opportunity to think.
“Is it really that easy?” I asked at last.
Robert scoffed. “It’s not easy at all.”
“But you just said . . . you just said we need a spirit-charmed stake. And then I kill a Strigoi with it.” Or well, not kill. The technicalities were irrelevant.
His smile returned. “Not you. You can’t do it.”
“Then who . . .” I stopped, the rest of my words dying on my lips. “No. No.”
“The shadow-kissed don’t have the gift of life. Only the spirit-blessed,” he explained. “The question is: Who’s capable of doing it? Gentle Girl or Drunken Sod?” His eyes flicked between Lissa and Adrian. “My wager would be on Gentle Girl.”
Those words were what snapped me out of my stunned state. In fact, they were what shattered this whole thing, this far-fetched dream of saving Dimitri.
“No,” I repeated. “Even if it was possible—and I’m not sure if I believe you—she can’t do it. I won’t let her.”
And in a turn of events almost as astonishing as Robert’s revelation, Lissa spun toward me, anger flooding our bond. “And since when can you tell me what I can or can’t do?”
“Since I don’t recall you ever taking guardian training and learning to stake a Strigoi,” I returned evenly, trying to keep my voice calm. “You only punched Reed, and that was hard enough.” When Avery Lazar had tried to take over Lissa’s mind, she’d sent her shadow-kissed brother to do some dirty work. With my help, Lissa had punched him and kept him away. It had been beautifully executed, but she’d hated it.
“I did it, didn’t I?” she exclaimed.
“Liss, throwing a punch is nothing like staking a Strigoi. And that’s not even counting the fact that you have to get near one in the first place. You think you could get in range before one bit you or snapped your neck? No.”
“I’ll learn.” The determination in her voice and mind was admirable, but it took guardians decades to learn what we did—and plenty still got killed.
Adrian and Eddie looked uncomfortable in the midst of our bickering, but Victor and Robert seemed both intrigued and amused. I didn’t like that. We weren’t here for their entertainment.
I tried to deflect the dangerous topic by turning back to Robert. “If a spirit user brought back a Strigoi, then that person would become shadow-kissed.” I didn’t point out the obvious conclusion to Lissa. Part of what had driven Avery crazy (aside from normal spirit usage) had been bonding with more than one person. Doing so created a very unstable situation that rapidly led all people involved into darkness and insanity.
Robert’s eyes grew dreamy as he stared beyond me. “Bonds form when someone dies—when their soul has actually left and moved onto the world of the dead. Bringing it back is what makes them shadow-kissed. Death’s mark is upon them.” His gaze suddenly snapped onto me. “Just as it is on you.”
&nb
sp; I refused to avoid his eyes, despite the chill his words sent through me. “Strigoi are dead. Saving one would mean its soul was brought back from the world of the dead too.”
“No,” he argued. “Their souls do not move on. Their souls linger . . . neither in this world nor the next. It’s wrong and unnatural. It’s what makes them what they are. Killing or saving a Strigoi sends the soul back to a normal state. There is no bond.”
“Then there’s no danger,” Lissa said to me.
“Aside from a Strigoi killing you,” I pointed out.
“Rose—”
“We’ll finish this conversation later.” I gave her a hard look. We held each other’s gazes a moment, and then she turned to Robert. There was still an obstinacy in the bond I didn’t like.
“How do you charm the stake?” she asked him. “I’m still learning.”
I again started to chastise her and then thought better of it. Maybe Robert was wrong. Maybe all it actually took to convert a Strigoi was a spirit-infused stake. He only thought a spirit user had to do it because he had done it. Allegedly. Besides, I’d much rather Lissa preoccupy herself with charming than fighting. If the charm part sounded too hard, she might have to give up altogether.
Robert glanced at me and then Eddie. “One of you must have a stake on you. I’ll show you.”
“You can’t take a stake out in public,” exclaimed Adrian, in what was a remarkably wise observation. “It might be weird for humans, but it’s still obvious that it’s a weapon.”
“He’s right,” Eddie said.
“We could go back to the room after dinner,” said Victor.
He had that perfectly pleasant and bland look on his face. I studied him, hoping my expression showed my distrust. Even with her zeal, I could sense the hesitation in Lissa too. She wasn’t keen on following any suggestion of Victor’s. We’d seen in the past how desperately far Victor would go in attempting to fulfill his plans. He’d convinced his own daughter to turn Strigoi and help him escape jail. For all we knew, he was planning the same for—
“That’s it,” I gasped, feeling my eyes go wide as I stared at him.
“That’s what?” Victor asked.
“That’s why you had Natalie turn. You thought . . . you knew about this. What Robert had done. You were going to use her Strigoi strength and then have him turn her back.”
Victor’s already pale face went paler, and he seemed to age before our eyes. His smug look disappeared, and he looked away. “Natalie is dead and long gone,” he said stiffly. “There’s no point in discussing her.”
Some of us made an attempt to eat after that, but my egg roll seemed tasteless now. Lissa and I were thinking the same thing. Among all of Victor’s sins, I’d always considered him convincing his own daughter to turn Strigoi to be the most awful. It was what had really sealed the deal for me about him being a monster. Suddenly, I was forced to reevaluate things—forced to reevaluate him. If he’d known he could bring her back, it made what he had done terrible—but not as terrible. He was still evil in my mind, no question. But if he had believed he could bring Natalie back, then that meant he believed in Robert’s power. There was still no way I was letting Lissa near a Strigoi, but this incredible tale had become slightly more credible. I couldn’t let it go without further investigation.
“We can go up to the room after this,” I said at last. “But not for long.” My words were to Victor and Robert. Robert seemed to have faded into his own world again, but Victor nodded.
I gave Eddie a quick glance and got a curt nod of a different sort from him. He understood the risk in taking the brothers to a private place. Eddie was telling me he would be extravigilant—not that he wasn’t already.
By the time we finished dinner, Eddie and I were both rigid and tense. He walked near Robert, and I stayed by Victor. We kept Lissa and Adrian between the brothers. Yet, even keeping close, it was hard as we cut through the crowded casino. People stopped in our path, walked around us, through us . . . it was chaos. Twice, our group got split by oblivious tourists. We weren’t too far from the elevators, but I was getting uneasy about the possibility of Victor or Robert running off through the mob of people
“We need to get out of this crowd,” I shouted over to Eddie.
He gave me another of his quick nods and took an abrupt left that caught me by surprise. I steered Victor in that same direction, and Lissa and Adrian sidestepped to keep up with us. I was puzzled until I saw that we were approaching a hall with an EMERGENCY EXIT sign on it. Away from the busy casino, the noise level dimmed.
“Figure there are probably stairs here,” Eddie explained.
“Crafty guardian.” I flashed him a smile.
Another turn showed us a janitorial closet on our right and ahead of us: a door with a symbol for stairs. The door appeared to lead both outside and to upper floors.
“Brilliant,” I said.
“You’re, like, on the tenth floor,” pointed out Adrian. It was the first time he’d spoken in a while.
“Nothing like a little exercise to—damn.” I came to an abrupt halt in front of the door. It had a small warning sign saying that an alarm would go off if the door was opened. “Figures.”
“Sorry,” said Eddie, like he was personally responsible.
“Not your fault,” I said, turning. “Back we go.” We’d have to take our chances in the crowd. Maybe the roundabout detour had tired Victor and Robert out enough to make escape unappealing. Neither of them was that young anymore, and Victor was still in bad shape.
Lissa was too tense to think much about being led around, but Adrian gave me a look that clearly said he thought this traipsing was a waste of his time. Of course, he thought this whole Robert thing was a waste of time. I was honestly surprised he was coming with us at all back to the room. I would have expected him to stay in the casino with his cigarettes and another drink.
Eddie, leading our group, took a few steps back toward the casino down the hallway. And then it hit me.
“Stop!” I screamed.
He responded instantly, coming to a halt in the narrow space. A bit of confusion followed. Victor stumbled into Eddie in surprise, and then Lissa stumbled into Victor. Instinct made Eddie reach for his stake, but mine was already out. I’d grabbed it as soon as the nausea had swept me.
There were Strigoi between us and the casino.
TEN
AND ONE OF THEM. . . ONE OF THEM . . .
“No,” I breathed, even as I sprang toward the one closest to me—a woman. There appeared to be three Strigoi around us.
Eddie was in motion too, and both of us were trying to shove the Moroi behind us. They didn’t need much urging. At the sight of Strigoi, the Moroi had begun to back up—creating sort of a bottleneck. Between Eddie’s instant reflexes and the Moroi panic, I was pretty sure no one had noticed what I already had spotted.
Dimitri was among them.
No, no, no, I said, this time to myself. He’d warned me. Over and over, he’d said in his letters that as soon as I was out of the safety of the wards, he would be coming for me. I’d believed him and yet . . . seeing the reality of it was a totally different thing. It had been three months, but in that instant, a million memories ran through my mind in crystal clear sharpness. My captivity with Dimitri. The way his mouth—so, so warm, despite his cold skin—had kissed mine. The feel of his fangs pressing into my neck and the sweet bliss that followed . . .
He looked exactly the same too, with that chalky white pallor and red-ringed eyes that so conflicted with the soft, chin-length brown hair and otherwise gorgeous lines of his face. He even had a leather duster on. It had to be a new one, seeing as his previous coat had gotten pretty torn up in our last fight on the bridge. Where did he keep getting them?
“Get out!” I yelled. My words were to the Moroi, even as my stake bit into the female Strigoi’s heart. The momentary confusion with all of us in the hall had been more of a detriment to her than me. I got a good line of sight on her, an
d it was clear that she hadn’t expected me to be so fast. I’d killed a lot of Strigoi because they’d underestimated me.
Eddie didn’t have my luck. He stumbled when Victor shoved past him, allowing the other Strigoi—a guy—near the front to backhand Eddie against the wall. Still, that was the kind of thing we faced all the time, and Eddie responded beautifully. He immediately came back from the hit, and with the Moroi out of the way now, Eddie was able to lunge toward the Strigoi and engage him fully.
And me? My attention was on Dimitri.
I stepped over the fallen Strigoi without even looking at her. Dimitri had hovered near the back, sending his minions into the front lines of battle. Maybe it was because I knew Dimitri so well, but I suspected he wasn’t surprised that I’d take out the one so quickly and that Eddie was giving the other a tough time. I doubted Dimitri cared whether they lived or died. They were just distractions for him to get to me.
“I told you,” said Dimitri, eyes both amused and sharp. He was watching my every move, each of us subconsciously mirroring the other as we waited for an opening to attack. “I told you I’d find you.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to ignore the grunts of Eddie and the other Strigoi. Eddie could take him. I knew he could. “I got the memos.”
A ghost of a smile curled up Dimitri’s lips, showing the fangs that somehow triggered a mix of both longing and loathing in me. Instantly, I shoved those feelings aside. I’d hesitated before with Dimitri and nearly died because of it. I’d refused to let it happen again, and the adrenaline pumping through my body served as a good reminder that this was a do-or-die situation.
He made the first move, but I dodged it—almost having sensed it coming. That was the problem with us. We knew each other too well—knew each other’s moves too well. Of course, that hardly meant we were an even match. Even in life, he’d had more experience than me, and his Strigoi abilities tipped the scale.
“Yet here you are,” he said, still smiling. “Foolishly stepping outside when you should have stayed in the safety of Court. I couldn’t believe it when my spies told me.”
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