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TWO
MY HATRED NOTWITHSTANDING, I HAD to admit Dimitri Beli-whatever was pretty smart After they’d carted us off to the airport to and onto the Academy’s private jet, he’d taken one look at the two of us whispering and ordered us separated
"Don’t let theuardian who escorted ether, and they’ll cohty look and stormed off down the aisle Neverescape
As it was, things didn’t look good for our heroes - or heroines, rather Once ere in the air, our odds of escape dropped further Even supposing a uardians, we’d sort of have a probleht have parachutes aboard somewhere, but in the unlikely event I’d be able to operate one, there was still that little issue of survival, seeing as we’d probably land somewhere in the Rocky Mountains
No, eren’t getting off this plane until it landed in backwoods Montana I’d have to think of so past the Acadeuardians Yeah No probleh Lissa sat at the front with the Russian guy, her fear sang back toinside my head like a hammer My concern for her cut into my fury They couldn’t take her back there, not to that place I wondered if Diht have hesitated if he could feel what I did and if he knehat I knew Probably not He didn’t care
As it was, her e that for ain her seat - in her skin even It happened soht into her head Dimitri’s tall fraripped a bottle of water He leaned forward to pick up so six tiny symbols tattooed on the back of his neck: htning crossing in an X syoi he’d killed Above the line, sort of like a snake, that uardian The proainst her and shifted back into ri Lissa’s e we both despised She saw it as an invasion of privacy, so I usually didn’t tell her when it happened Neither of us could control it It was another effect of the bond, a bond neither of us fully understood Legends existed about psychic links between guardians and their Moroi, but the stories had never h it as best we could
Near the end of the flight, Diuardian besideout theabsentmindedly Several mooing to attack all of us?"
I didn’t answer
"Doing that¡­protecting her like that - it was very brave" He paused "Stupid, but still brave Why did you even try it?"
I glanced over at hi my hair out of my face so I could look hiuardian" I turned back toward the
After another quiet moment, he stood up and returned to the front of the jet
When we landed, Lissa and I had no choice but to let the coate, and our driver spoke with guards who verified eren’t Strigoi about to go off on a killing spree After a h the wards and up to the Academy itself It was around sunset - the start of the vampiric day - and the campus lay wrapped in shadows
It probably looked the sa on tradition; nothing ever changed with them This school wasn’t as old as the ones back in Europe, but it had been built in the sas boasted elaborate, alh peaks and stone carvings Wrought iron gates enclosed s on a college campus, I had a new appreciation for just how h school
We were on the secondary campus, which was divided into lower and upper schools Each was built around a large open quadrangle decorated with stone paths and enor toward the upper school’s quad, which had acadeym sat opposite Moroi dorms sat on one of the other ends, and opposite thes that also served the lower school Younger students lived on the primary campus, farther to the west
Around all the campuses was space, space, and more space We were in Montana, after all, s and srown forests ringed the peri the day, you could seeup in the distance
As alked into the uardian and ran up to Dimitri
"Hey, Co and wouldn’t look atus to Kirova?"
"Headmistress Kirova," he corrected On the other side of hi
"Headhteous old bit - "
My words faded as the guardians led us through a set of doors-straight into the cohed Were these people really so cruel? There had to be at least a dozen ways to get to Kirova’s office, and they were taking us right through the center of the commons
And it was breakfast tiuardians - dha, faces alight hatever current gossip held the Academy’s attention When we entered, the loud buzz of conversation stopped instantly, like someone had flipped a switch Hundreds of sets of eyes swiveled toward us
I returned the stares of et a sense as to whether things had changed Nope Didn’t seem like it Caroomed bitch I remembered, still the self-appointed leader of the Acadeawky near-cousin Natalie watched ide eyes, as innocent and na?ve as before
And on the other side of the roo Aaron Poor, poor Aaron, who’d no doubt had his heart broken when Lissa left He still looked as cute as ever - olden looks that complemented hers so well His eyes followed her every move Yes Definitely not over her It was sad, really, because Lissa had never really been all that into hione out with hi to do
But what I foundwas that Aaron had apparently found a way to pass the tiirl who looked about eleven but had to be older, unless he’d beco our absence With plulets, she looked like a porcelain doll A very pissed off and evil porcelain doll She gripped his hand tightly and shot Lissa a look of such burning hatred that it stunned me What the hell was that all about? She was no one I knew Just a jealous girlfriend, I guessed I’d be pissed too ifsomeone else like that
Our walk of sha - Heads The old hag looked exactly like I reray-haired She was tall and slim, like most Moroi, and had always reminded me of a vulture I knew her well because I’d spent a lot of time in her office
Most of our escorts left us once Lissa and I were seated, and I felt a little less like a prisoner Only Alberta, the captain of the school’s guardians, and Di stoic and terrifying, just as their job description required
Kirova fixed her angry eyes on us and opened her in ould no doubt be a entle voice stopped her
"Vasilisa"
Startled, I realized there was souardian, even a novice one
With a great deal of effort, Victor Dashkov rose fro up and ran to hi her arms around his frail body
"Uncle," she whispered She sounded on the verge of tears as she tightened her grip
With a slad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa" He looked towardto hide how shocked I was He’d been sick e left, but this - this was horrible He was Natalie’s father, only about forty or so, but he looked twice that age Pale Withered Hands shaking My heart broke watching him With all the horrible people in the world, it didn’t see to kill hi
Although not technically her uncle - the Moroi used family terms very loosely, especially the royals - Victor was a close friend of Lissa’s faone out of his way to help her after her parents had died I liked him; he was the first person I was happy to see here
Kirova let them have a few more moments and then stiffly drew Lissa back to her seat
Tiood one - one of Kirova’s best, which was saying so She was a one into school administration, because I had yet to see any evidence of her actually liking kids The rant covered the usual topics: responsibility reckless behavior, self-centeredness¡­Bleh I i the logistics of escaping through thein her office
But when the tirade shifted to me - well, that hen I tuned back in
"You, Miss Hathaway, broke the uardian to protect a Moroi It is a great trust A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away froomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it"
"Rose didn’t kidnap me" Lissa spoke before I could, her voice and face calo Don’t blame her"
Ms Kirova tsked at us both and paced the office, hands folded behind her narrow back
"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the entire plan for all I know, but it was still her responsibility to make sure you didn’t carry it out If she’d done her duty, she would have notified someone If she’d done her duty, she would have kept you safe"
I snapped
"I did doup from my chair Dimitri and Alberta both flinched but leftto hit anyone Yet "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you" - I esture around the room - "could do it I took her away to protect her I did what I had to do You certainly weren’t going to"
Through the bond, I felt Lissa trying to send et the best of me Too late
Kirova stared at iveher out of a heavily guarded,her Unless there’s so us?"