"Without your clothes? "She handed me a bag, and I swung it around happily. "I can't wait to see the dress."
"Me either.If they let me go. Kirova's still deciding if I've been good enough."
"Show her those boring shirts you bought. She'll go into a coma. I'm about ready to."
I laughed and hopped up onto one of the wooden benches, pacing her as I walked along it. I jumped back down when I reached the end. "They aren'tthat boring."
"I don't know what to think of this new, responsible Rose."
I hopped up onto another bench. "I'm not that responsible."
«Hey,» called Spiridon. He and the rest of the group trailed behind us. "You're still on duty. No fun allowed up there."
"No fun here, " I called back, hearing the laughter in his voice. "I swear-shit."
I was up on a third bench, near the end of it. My muscles tensed, ready to jump back down. Only when I tried to, my foot didn't go with me. The wood, at one moment seemingly hard and solid, gave way beneath me, almost as though made of paper. It disintegrated. My foot went through, my ankle getting caught in thehole while the rest of my body tried to go in another direction. The bench held me, swinging my body to the ground while still seizing my foot. My ankle bent in an unnatural direction. I crashed down. I heard a cracking sound that wasn't the wood. The worst pain of my life shot through my body. And then I blacked out.
CHAPTER 18
I woke up staring at the boring white ceiling of the clinic.A filtered light-soothing to Moroi patients-shone down on me. I felt strange, kind of disoriented, but I didn't hurt.
"Rose."
The voice was like silk on my skin. Gentle. Rich. Turning my head, I met Dimitri's dark eyes. He sat in a chair beside the bed I lay on, his shoulder-length brown hair hanging forward and framing his face.
«Hey,» I said, my voice coming out as a croak.
"How do you feel?"
"Weird.Kind of groggy."
"Dr. Olendzki gave you something for the pain-you seemed pretty bad when we brought you in."
"I don't remember that…How long have I been out?"
"A few hours."
"Must have been strong.Must still be strong. "Some of the details came back.The bench.My ankle getting caught. I couldn't remember much after that.Feeling hot and cold and then hot again. Tentatively, I tried moving the toes on my healthy foot. "I don't hurt at all."
He shook his head. "No.Because you weren't seriously injured."
The sound of my ankle cracking came back to me. "Are you sure? I remember…the way it bent. No. Something must be broken. " I manage to sit up, so I could look at my ankle.
"Or at least sprained."
He moved forward to stop me. "Be careful. Your ankle might be fine, but you're probably still a little out of it."
I carefully shifted to the edge of the bed and looked down. My jeans were rolled up. The ankle looked a little red, but I had no bruises or serious marks.
"God, I got lucky. If I'd hurt it, it would have put me out of practice for a while."
Smiling, he returned to his chair. "I know. You kept telling me that while I was carrying you. You were very upset."
"You…you carried me here?"
"After we broke the bench apart and freed your foot."
Man. I'd missed out on a lot.The only thing better than imagining Dimitri carrying me in his arms was imagining him shirtless while carrying me in his arms.
Then the reality of the situation hit me.
"I was taken down by a bench, " I groaned.
"What?"
"I survived the whole day guarding Lisa, and you guys said I did a good job. Then, I get back here and meet my downfall in the form of a bench. " Ugh. "Do you know how embarrassing it is? And all those guys saw, too."
"It wasn't your fault, " he said. "No one knew the bench was rotted. It looked fine."
"Still.I should have just stuck to the sidewalk like a normal person. The other novices are going to give me shit when I get back."
His lips held back a smile. "Maybe presents will cheer you up."
I sat up straighter. "Presents?"
The smile escaped, and he handed me a small box with a piece of paper.
"This is from Prince Victor."
Surprised that Victor would have given me anything, I read the note. It was just a few lines, hastily scrawled in pen.
Rose-
I'm very happy to see you didn't suffer any serious injuries from your fall. Truly, it is a miracle. You lead a charmed life, and Vasilisa is lucky to have you.
"That's nice of him, " I said, opening the box. Then I saw what was inside. "Whoa.Very nice."
It was the rose necklace, the one Lisa had wanted to get me but couldn't afford. I held it up, looping its chain over my hand so the glittering, diamond-covered rose hung free.
"This is pretty extreme for a get-well present, " I noted, recalling the price.
"He actually bought it in honor of you doing so well on your first day as an official guardian. He saw you and Lisa looking at it."
«Wow.» It was all I could say. "I don't think I didthat good of a job."
"I do."
Grinning, I placed the necklace back in the box and set it on a nearby table. "You did say 'presents, right? Like more than one?"
He laughed outright, and the sound wrapped around me like a caress. God, I loved the sound of his laugh. "This is from me."
He handed me a small, plain bag. Puzzled and excited, I opened it up. Lip gloss, the kind I liked. I'd complained to him a number of times how I was running out, but I'd never thought he was paying attention.
"How'd you manage to buy this? I saw you the whole time at the mall."
"Guardian secrets."
"What's this for?For my first day?"
«No,» he said simply. "Because I thought it would make you happy."
Without even thinking about it, I leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank you."
Judging from his stiff posture, I'd clearly caught him by surprise. And yeah…I'd actually caught myself by surprise, too. But he relaxed a few moments later, and when he reached around and rested his hands on my lower back, I thought I was going to die.
"I'm glad you're better, " he said. His mouth sounded like it was almost in my hair, just above my ear.
"When I saw you fall…"
"You thought, 'Wow, she's a loser. "
"That's not what I thought."
He pulled back slightly, so he could see me better, but we didn't say anything. His eyes were so dark and deep that I wanted to dive right in. Staring at them made me feel warm all over, like they had flames inside. Slowly, carefully, those long fingers of his reached out and traced the edge of my cheekbone, moving up the side of my face. At the first touch of his skin on mine, I shivered. He wound a lock of my hair around one finger, just like he had in the gym.
Swallowing, I dragged my eyes up from his lips. I'd been contemplating what it'd be like to kiss him. The thought both excited and scared me, which was stupid. I'd kissed a lot of guys and never thought much about it. No reason another one-even an older one-should be that big of a deal. Yet the thought of him closing the distance and bringing his lips to mine made the world start spinning.
A soft knock sounded at the door, and I hastily leaned back. Dr. Olendzki stuck her head in. "I thought I heard you talking. How do you feel?"
She walked over and made me lie back down. Touching and bending my ankle, she assessed it for damage and finally shook her head when finished.
"You're lucky. With all the noise you made coming in here, I thought your foot had been amputated. Must have just been shock. " She stepped back. "I'd feel better if you sat out from your normal trainings tomorrow, but otherwise, you're good to go."
I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't remember my hysteria- and was actually kind of embarrassed that I'd thrown such a fit- but I had been right about the problems this would have caused me if I'd broken or sprained it. I couldn't afford to lose any time
here; I needed to take my trials and graduate in the spring. Dr. Olendzki gave me the okay to go and then left the room. Dimitri walked over to another chair and brought me my shoes and coat. Looking at him, I felt a warm flush sweep me as I recalled what had happened before the doctor had entered.
He watched as I slipped one of the shoes on. "You have a guardian angel."
"I don't believe in angels, " I told him. "I believe in what I can do for myself."
"Well then, you have an amazing body. " I glanced up at him with a questioning look. "For healing, I mean. I heard about the accident…."
He didn't specify which accident it was, but it could be only one. Talking about it normally bothered me, but with him, I felt I could say anything.
"Everyone said I shouldn't have survived, " I explained. "Because of where I sat and the way the car hit the tree. Lisa was really the only one in a secure spot. She and I walked away with only a few scratches."
"And you don't believe in angels or miracles."
"Nope.I-"
Truly, it is a miracle. You lead a charmed life….
And just like that, a million thoughts came slamming into my head. Maybe…maybe I had a guardian angel after all…
Dimitri immediately noticed the shift in my feelings. "What's wrong?"
Reaching out with my mind, I tried to expand the bond and shake off the lingering effects of the pain medication. Some more of Lisa's feelings came through to me.Anxious. Upset.
"Where's Lisa? Was she here?"
"I don't know where she is. She wouldn't leave your side while I brought you in. She stayed right next the bed, right up until the doctor came in. You calmed down when she sat next to you."
I closed my eyes and felt like I might faint. I had calmed down when Lisa sat next to me because she'd taken the pain away. She'd healed me….
Just as she had the night of the accident.
It all made sense now. I shouldn't have survived. Everyone had said so. Who knew what kind of injuries I'd actually suffered?Internal bleeding.Broken bones. It didn't matter because Lisa had fixed it, just like she'd fixed everything else. That was why she'd been leaning over me when I woke up.
It was also probably why she'd passed out when they took her to the hospital. She'd been exhausted for days afterward. And that was when her depression had begun. It had seemed like a normal reaction after losing her family, but now I wondered if there was more to it, if healing me had played a role.
Opening my mind again, I reached out to her, needing to find her. If she'd healed me, there was no telling what shape she could be in now. Her moods and magic were linked, and this had been a pretty intense show of magic.
The drug was almost gone from my system, and like that, I snapped into her. It was almost easy now. A tidal wave of emotions hit me, worse than when her nightmares engulfed me. I'd never felt such intensity from her before.
She sat in the chapel's attic, crying. She didn't entirely know why she was crying either. She felt happy and relieved that I'd been unharmed, that she'd been able to heal me. At the same time, she felt weak in both body and mind. She burned inside, like she'd lost part of herself. She worried I'd be mad because she'd used her powers. She dreaded going through another school day tomorrow, pretending she liked being with a crowd who had no other interests aside from spending their families' money and making fun of those less beautiful and less popular. She didn't want to go to the dance with Aaron and see him watch her so adoringly-and feel him touching her-when she felt only friendship for him.
Most of these were all normal concerns, but they hit her hard, harder than they would an ordinary person, I thought. She couldn't sort through them or figure out how to fix them.
"You okay?"
She looked up and brushed the hair away from where it stuck to her wet cheeks. Christian stood in the entrance to the attic. She hadn't even heard him come up the stairs. She'd been too lost in her own grief. A flicker of both longing and anger sparked within her.
"I'm fine, " she snapped. Sniffling, she tried to stop her tears, not wanting him to see her weak.
Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms and wore an unreadable expression. "Do…do you want to talk?"
"Oh. . " She laughed harshly. "You want to talk now? After I tried so many times-"
"I didn't want that! That was Rose-"
He cut himself off and I flinched. I was totally busted.
Lisa stood up and strode toward him. "What about Rose?"
"Nothing. "His mask of indifference slipped back into place. "Forget it."
"What about Rose? "She stepped closer. Even through her anger, she still felt that inexplicable attraction to him. And then she understood. "Shemade you, didn't she? She told you to stop talking to me?"
He stared stonily ahead. "It was probably for the best. I would have just messed things up for you. You wouldn't be where you are now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means?God. People live or die at your command now, Your Highness."
"You're being kind of melodramatic."
"Am I? All day, I hear people talking about what you're doing and what you're thinking and what you're wearing.Whether you'll approve.Who you like.Who you hate. They're your puppets."
"It's not like that. Besides, I had to do it. To get back at Mia…"
Rolling his eyes, he looked away from her. "You don't even know what you're getting back at her for."
Lisa's anger flared. "She set up Jesse and Ralf to say those things about Rose! I couldn't let her get away with that."
"Rose is tough. She would have gotten over it."
"You didn't see her, " she replied obstinately. "She was crying."
"So? People cry.You're crying."
"Not Rose."
He turned back to her, a dark smile curling his lips. "I've never seen anything like you two.Always so worried about each other. I get her thing-some kind of weird guardian hang-up-but you're just the same."
"She's my friend."
"I guess it's that simple. I wouldn't know. " He sighed, momentarily thoughtful, then snapped back to sarcastic mode. "Anyway. Mia. So you got back at her over what she did to Rose. But you're missing the point.Why did she do it?"
Lisa frowned. "Because she was jealous about me and Aaron-"
"More to it than that, Princess.What did she have to be jealous about? She already had him. She didn't need to attack you to drive that home. She could have just made a big show of being all over him. Sort of like you are now, " he added wryly.
"Okay. What else is there, then? Why did she want to ruin my life? I never did anything to her-before all this, I mean."
He leaned forward, crystal-blue eyes boring into hers.
"You're right. You didn't-but your brother did."
Lisa pulled away from him. "You don't know anything about my brother."
"I know he screwed Mia over.Literally."
"Stop it, stop lying."
"I'm not. Swear to God or whoever else you want to believe in. I used to talk to Mia now and then, back when she was a freshman. She wasn't very popular, but she was smart. Still is. She used to work on a lot of committees with royals- dances and stuff. I don't know all of it. But she got to know your brother on one of those, and they sort of got together."
"They did not. I would have known. Andre would have told me."
"Nope.He didn't tell anyone. He told her not to either. He convinced her it should be some kind of romantic secret when really, he just didn't want any of his friends to find out he was getting naked with a non-royal freshman."
"If Mia told you that, she was making it up, " exclaimed Lisa.
"Yeah, well, I don't think she was making it up when I saw her crying. He got tired of her after a few weeks and dumped her. Told her she was too young and that he couldn't really get serious with someone who wasn't from a good family. From what I understand, he wasn't even nice about it either-didn't even bother with the 'let's be friends' stuff."
<
br /> Lisa pushed herself into Christian's face. "You didn't evenknow Andre! He would never have done that."
"Youdidn't know him. I'm sure he was nice to his baby sister; I'm sure he loved you. But in school, with his friends, he was just as much of a jerk as the rest of the royals. I saw him because I see everything.
Easy when no one notices you."
She held back a sob, unsure whether to believe him or not. "Sothis is why Mia hates me?"
"Yup.She hates you because of him. That, and because you're royal and she's insecure around all royals, which is why she worked so hard to claw up the ranks and be their friend. I think it's a coincidence that she ended up with your ex-boyfriend, but now that you're back, that probably made it worse. Between stealing him and spreading those stories about her parents, you guys really picked the best ways to make her suffer. Nice work."
The smallest pang of guilt lurched inside of her. "I still think you're lying."
"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar. That's your department.And Rose's."
"We don't-"
"Exaggerate stories about people's families? Say that you hate me? Pretend to be friends with people you think are stupid? Date a guy you don't like?"
"I like him."
"Like orlike?"
"Oh, there's a difference?"
"Yes.Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes."
Then, out of nowhere, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was hot and fast and furious, an outpouring of the rage and passion and longing that Christian always kept locked inside of him. Lisa had never been kissed like that, and I felt her respond to it, respond tohim — how he made her feel so much more alive than Aaron or anyone else could.
Christian pulled back from the kiss but still kept his face next to hers.
"That's what you do with someone youlike."
Lisa's heart pounded with both anger and desire. "Well, I don't like orlike you. And I think you and Mia are both lying about Andre.Aaron would never make up anything like that."
"That's because Aaron doesn't say anything that requires words of more than one syllable."
She pulled away. "Get out. Get away from me."
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