After a little more speculation on the Badicas, Lisa and I left Aaron. As we stepped outside, I heard a funny shifting sound and then something sliding. Too late, I realized what was happening, just as a pile of slush slid off the chapel's roof and onto us. It was early October, and we'd had early snow last night that had started melting almost immediately. As a result, the stuff that fell on us was very wet and very cold.
Lisa took the brunt of it, but I still yelped as icy water landed on my hair and neck. A few others squealed nearby too, having caught the edge of the mini-avalanche.
"You okay? " I asked her. Her coat was drenched, and her platinum hair clung to the sides of her face.
«Y-yeah,» she said through chattering teeth.
I pulled off my coat and handed it to her. It had a slick surface and had repelled most of the water.
"Take yours off."
"But you'll be-"
"Take this."
She did, and as she slipped on my coat, I finally tuned into the laughter that always follows these situations. I avoided the eyes, instead focusing on holding Lisa's wet jacket while she changed.
"Wish you hadn't been wearing a coat, Rose, " said Ralf Sarcozy an unusually bulky and plump Moroi. I hated him. "That shirt would have looked good wet."
"That shirt's so ugly it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?"
I glanced up as Mia walked over and looped her arm through Aaron's. Her blond curls were arranged perfectly, and she had on an awesome pair of black heels that would have looked much better on me. At least they made her look taller, I'd give her that. Aaron had been a few steps behind us but had miraculously avoided being nailed by the slush. Seeing how smug she looked, I decided there'd been no miracles involved.
"I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh? " I asked,refusing to let her know how much that insult bugged me. I knew perfectly well my fashion sense had slipped over the last two years. "Oh, wait-fire isn't your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence that a bunch just fell on us."
Mia looked as if she'd been insulted, but the gleam in her eyes showed that she was enjoying this way too much to be an innocent bystander. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing to me.But Ms. Kirova will probably have something to say when she finds out you used magic against another student."
"That wasn't an attack, " she scoffed. "And it wasn't me. It was an act of God."
A few others laughed, much to her delight. In my imagination, I responded with,Sois this, and then slammed her into the side of the church. In real life, Lisa simply nudged me and said, "Let's go."
She and I walked off toward our respective dorms, leaving behind laughter and jokes about our wet states and how Lisa wouldn't know anything about specialization. Inside, I seethed. I had to do something about Mia, I realized. In addition to the general irritation of Mia's bitchiness, I didn't want Lisa to have to deal with any more stress than she had to. We'd been okay this first week, and I wanted to keep it that way.
"You know, " I said, "I'm thinking more and more that you stealing Aaron backis a good thing. It'll teach
Bitch Doll a lesson. I bet it'd be easy, too. He's still crazy about you."
"I don't want to teach anyone a lesson, " said Lisa. "AndI'm not crazy about him."
"Come on, she picks fights and talks about us behind our backs. She accused me of getting jeans from the Salvation Army yesterday."
"Your jeansare from the Salvation Army."
"Well, yeah, " I snorted, "but she has no right making fun of them when she's wearing stuff from Target."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with Target. I like Target."
"So doI. That's not the point. She's trying to pass her stuff off likeit's freaking Stella McCartney."
"And that's a crime?"
I affected a solemn face. "Absolutely. You've gotta take revenge."
"I told you, I'm not interested in revenge. " Lisa cut me a sidelong look. "And you shouldn't be either."
I smiled as innocently as I could, and when we parted ways, I felt relieved again that she couldn't read my thoughts.
"So when's the big catfight going to happen?"
Mason was waiting for me outside our dorm after I'd parted ways with Lisa. He looked lazy and cute, leaning against the wall with crossed arms as he watched me.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
He unfolded himself and walked with me into the building, handing me his coat, since I'd let Lisa go off with my dry one. "I saw you guys sparring outside the chapel. Have you no respect for the house of God?"
I snorted. "You've got about as much respect for it as I do, you heathen. You didn't even go. Besides, as you said, we wereoutside."
"And you still didn't answer the question."
I just grinned and slipped on his coat.
We stood in the common area of our dorm, a well-supervised lounge and study area where male and female students could mingle, along with Moroi guests. Being Sunday, it was pretty crowded with those cramming for last-minute assignments due tomorrow. Spying a small, empty table, I grabbed Mason's arm and pulled him toward it.
"Aren't you supposed to go straight to your room?"
I hunkered down in my seat, glancing around warily. "There are so many people heretoday, it'll take them a while to notice me. God, I'm so sick of being locked away. And it's only been a week."
"I'm sick of it too. We missed you last night. A bunch of us went and shot pool in the rec room. Eddie was on fire."
I groaned. "Don't tell me that. I don't want to hear about your glamorous social life."
"All right. "He propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "Then tell me about Mia. You're just going to turn around and punch her one day, aren't you? I think I remember you doing that at least ten times with people that pissed you off."
"I'm a new, reformed Rose, " I said, doing my best impression of demure.Which wasn't very good. He emitted a choking sort of laugh. "Besides, if I do that, I'll have broken my probation with Kirova.Gotta walk the straight and narrow."
"In other words, find some way to get back at Mia that you won't get in trouble for."
I felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "You know what I like about you, Mase? You think just like I do."
"Frightening concept, " he replied drily. "So tell me what you think of this: I might know something about her, but I probably shouldn't tell you…"
I leaned forward. "Oh, you already tipped me off. You'vegot to tell me now."
"It'd be wrong, " he teased. "How do I know you'd use this knowledge for good instead of evil?"
I batted my eyelashes. "Can you resist this face?"
He took a moment to study me. "No. I can't, actually. Okay, here you go: Mia isn'troyal."
I slouched back in my chair. "No kidding. I already knew that. I've known who's royal since I was two."
"Yeah, but there's more than just that.Her parents work for one of the Drozdov lords. " I waved my hand impatiently. A lot of Moroi worked out in the human world, but Moroi society had plenty of jobs for its own kind too. Someone had to fill them. "Cleaning stuff.Practically servants. Her dad cuts grass, and her
mom's a maid." I actually had a healthy respect for anyone who pulled a full day's work, regardless of the job. People everywhere had to do crappy stuff to make a living.But, much like with Target, it became another matter altogether when someone was trying to pass herself off as something else. And in the week that I'd been here, I'd picked up on how desperately Mia wanted to fit in with the school elite.
"No one knows, " I said thoughtfully.
"And she doesn't want them to. You know how the royals are. " He paused. "Well, except for Lisa, of course. They'd give Mia a hard time over it."
"How do you know all this?"
"My uncle's a guardian for the Drozdovs."
"And you've just been sitting on this secret, huh?"
"Until you broke me.So which path will you choos
e: good or evil?"
"I think I'll give her a grace-"
"Miss Hathaway, you know you aren't supposed to be here."
One of the dorm matrons stood over us, disapproval all over her face.
I hadn't been joking when I said Mason thought like me. He could bullshit as well as I could. "We have a group project to do for our humanities class. How are we supposed to do it if Rose is in isolation?"
The matron narrowed her eyes. "You don't look like you're doing work."
I slid over the priest's book and opened it at random. I'd placed it on the table when we sat down.
"We're, um, working on this."
She still looked suspicious. "One hour. I'll give you one more hour down here, and I'd better actually see you working."
"Yes, ma'am, " said Mason straight-faced. "Absolutely."
She wandered off, still eyeing us. "My hero, " I declared.
He pointed at the book. "What is this?"
"Something the priest gave me. I had a question about the service."
He stared at me, astonished.
"Oh, stop it and look interested. " I skimmed the index. "I'm trying to find some woman named Anna."
Mason slid his chair over so that he was sitting right beside me. "All right. Let's 'study. "
I found a page number, and it took me to the section on St. Vladimir, not surprisingly. We read through the chapter, scanning for Anna's name. When we found it, the author didn't have much to say about her.
He did include an excerpt written by some guy who had apparently lived at the same time as St. Vladimir: And withVladimir always is Anna, the daughter of Fyodor. Their love is as chaste and pure as that of brother and sister, and many times has she defended him from Strigoi who would seek to destroy him and his holiness. Likewise, it is she who comforts him when the spirit becomes too much tobear, and Satan's darkness tries to smother him and weaken his own health and body. This too she defends against, for they have been bound together ever since he saved her life as a child. It is a sign of God's love that He has sent the blessedVladimir a guardian such as her, one who is shadow-kissed and always knows what is in his heart and mind.
"There you go, " Mason said. "She was his guardian.»
"It doesn't say what 'shadow-kissed' means."
"Probably doesn't mean anything."
Something in me didn't believe that. I read it again, trying to make sense of the old-fashioned language.
Mason watched me curiously, looking like he very much wanted to help.
"Maybe they were hooking up, " he suggested.
I laughed. "He was asaint."
"So? Saints probably like sex too. That 'brother and sister' stuff is probably a cover. " He pointed to one of the lines. "See? They were 'bound' together. " He winked. "It's code."
Bound.It was a weird word choice, but that didn't necessarily mean Anna andVladimirwere ripping each other's clothes off.
"I don't think so. They're just close. Guys and girls can just be friends. " I said it pointedly, and he gave me a dry look.
"Yeah?We'refriends, and I don't know what's in your 'heart and mind. " Mason put on a fake
philosopher's look. "Of course, some might argue that one can never know what's in the heart of a woman-"
"Oh, shut up, " I groaned, punching him in the arm.
"For they are strange and mysterious creatures, " he continued in his scholarly voice, "and a man must be a mind reader if he ever wishes to make them happy."
I started giggling uncontrollably and knew I'd probably get in trouble again. "Well, try to read my mind and stop being such a-"
I stopped laughing and looked back down at the book.
Bound togetherandalways knows what is in his heart and mind.
They had a bond, I realized. I would have bet everything I owned-which wasn't much-on it. The
revelation was astonishing. There were lots of vague stories and myths about how guardians and Moroi 'used to have bonds. But this was the first I'd ever heard of anyone specific that it had happened to.
Mason had noticed my startled reaction. "You okay? You look kind of weird."
I shrugged it off. "Yeah.Fine.»
CHAPTER 7
Acouple weeks passed after that, and I soon forgot about the Anna thing as life at the
Academy wrapped around me. The shock of our return had worn off a little, and we began to fall into a semi-comfortable routine. My days revolved around church, lunch with Lisa, and whatever sort of social life I could scrape together outside of that. Denied any real free time, I didn't have too hard a time staying out of the spotlight, although I did manage to steal a little attention here and there, despite my noble speech to her about 'coasting through the middle. I couldn't help it. I liked flirting, I liked groups, and I liked making smartass comments in class.
Her new, incognito role attracted attention simply because it was so different than before we'd left, back when she'd been so active with the royals. Most people soon let that go, accepting that the Dragomir princess was fading off the social radar and content to run with Natalie and her group. Natalie's rambling still made me want to beat my head against a wall sometimes, but she was really nice-nicer than almost any of the other royals-and I enjoyed hanging around her most of the time.
And, just as Kirova had warned, I was indeed training and working out all the time. But as more time passed, my body stopped hating me. My muscles grew tougher, and my stamina increased. I still got my ass kicked in practice but not quite as badly as I used to, which was something. The biggest toll now seemed to be on my skin. Being outside in the cold so much was chapping my face, and only Lisa's constant supply of skin-care lotions kept me from aging before my time. She couldn't do much for the blisters on my hands and feet.
A routine also developed with Dimitri and me. Mason had been right about him being antisocial. Dimitri didn't hang out much with the otherguardians, though it was clear they all respected him. And the more I worked with him, the more I respected him too, though I didn't really understand his training methods. They didn't seem verybadass. We always started by stretching in the gym, and lately he'd been sending me outside to run, braving the increasingly coldMontana autumn.
Three weeks after my return to the Academy, I walked into the gym before school one day and found him sprawled on a mat, reading a Louis L'Amour book. Someone had brought in a portable CD player, and while that cheered me up at first, the song coming from it did not: "When Doves Cry " by Prince. It was embarrassing to know the title, but one of our former housemates had been obsessed with the 80s. "Whoa, Dimitri, " I said, tossing my bag on the floor. "I realize this is actually a current hit inEastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"
Only his eyes flicked toward me; the rest of his posture remained the same. "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running."
I made a face as I set my foot up on one of the bars and stretched my hamstrings. All things considered, Dimitri had a good-natured tolerance for my snarkiness. So long as I didn't slack in my training, he didn't mind my running commentary.
«Hey,» I asked, moving on to the next set of stretches, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice."
"Maybe you should hit harder, " he replied drily.
"I'm serious."
"Hard to tell the difference. "He set the book down but didn't move from his sprawl. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?"
"Yup."
"So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"
"Depends on what store we're in."
He looked at me.
"Fine.I'll stab him with a silver stake."<
br />
Dimitri sat up now, crossing his long legs in one fluid motion. I still couldn't figure out how someone so tall could be so graceful. «Oh?» He raised his dark eyebrows. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"
I dragged my eyes away from his body and scowled. Made with elemental magic, silver stakes were a guardian's deadliest weapon. Stabbing a Strigoi through the heart with one meant instant death. The blades were also lethal to Moroi, so they weren't given out lightly to novices. My classmates had just started learning how to use them. I'd trained with a gun before, but no one would let me near a stake yet.
Fortunately, there were two other ways to kill a Strigoi.
"Okay. I'll cut his head off."
"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"
I straightened up from touching my toes, annoyed. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire."
"Again, with what?"
"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"
He looked at me and didn't blink. "You run."
I repressed the urge to throw something at him. When I finished my stretches, he told me he'd run with me. That was a first. Maybe running would give me some insight into his killer reputation.
We set out into the chilly October evening.Being back on a vampiric schedule still felt weird to me. With school about to start in an hour, I expected the sun to be coming up, not down. But it was sinking on the western horizon, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with an orange glow. It didn't really warm things up, and I soon felt the cold pierce my lungs as my need for oxygen deepened. We didn't speak. He slowed his pace to match mine, so we stayed together.
Something about that bothered me; I suddenly very much wanted his approval. So I picked up my own pace, working my lungs and muscles harder. Twelve laps around the track made three miles; we had nine more to go.
When we reached the third-to-last loop, a couple of other novices passed by, preparing to go to the group practice I'd soon be at as well. Seeing me, Mason cheered. "Good form, Rose!"
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