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FIFTEEN

MASON DELIVERED

He founda box of books

"I got theet in trouble for talking to runted They were heavy "Christian gave you these?"

"Yeah Managed to talk to hiot kind of an attitude, did you ever notice that?"

"Yeah, I noticed" I rewarded Mason with a smile that he ate up "Thanks This means a lot"

I hauled the loot up to my room, fully aware of hoeird it was that soet buried in dusty crap froh, I saw that these must be reprints of reprints of reprints, probably because anything that old would have long since fallen apart

Sifting through the books, I discovered they fell into three categories: books written by people after St Vladimir had died, books written by other people when he was still alive, and one diary of sorts written by him What had Mason said about priroups were the ones I wanted

Whoever had reprinted these had reworded the books enough so that I didn’t have to read Ye Olde English or anything Or rather, Russian, I supposed St Vladimir had lived in the old country

Today I healed thesince suffered froone, but God has not allowed htly I a to leak into my head I thank God every day for shadow-kissed Anna, for without her, I would surely not be able to endure

Anna again And "shadow-kissed" He talked about her a lot, a ser But other ti what he did each day And if it really wasn’t just a load of crap, he healed all the tiht dead crops back to life when people were starving Sometimes he would make flowers bloo on, I found out that it was a good thing old Vlad had Anna around, because he was pretty messed up The et to hiry and sad He blamed it on demons and stupid stuff like that, but it was obvious he suffered from depression Once, he admitted in his diary, he tried to kill hih the book written by the guy who knew Vladimir, I read:

And many think it miraculous too, the power the blessed Vladimir shows over others Moroi and dhampirs flock to him and listen to his words, happy just to be near him Some say it is madness that touches hi he asked Such is the way God marks his favorites, and if such moments are followed by hallucinations and despair, it is a sood and leadership he can show a the people

It sounded a lot like what the priest had said, but I sensedpersonality" People adored hi he asked Yes, Vladimir had used compulsion on his followers, I was certain A lot of Moroi had in those days, before it was banned, but they didn’t use it on Moroi or dhampirs They couldn’t Only Lissa could

I shut the book and leaned back against my bed Vladimir healed plants and animals He could use co those sorts of powers had made hi it that uardian as "shadow-kissed" That expression had bugged me ever since I first heard it

"You’re shadow-kissed! You have to take care of her!"

Ms Karp had shouted those words ato when I’d been inside the main part of the upper school to return a book It was nearly past curfew, and the halls were empty I’d heard a loud co around the corner, looking frantic and wild-eyed

She shovedh self-defense that I could have probably pushed her away, but my shock keptfor me They’ll come for her"

"Who?"

"Lissa You have to protect her The et Stop her, Rose Stop her before they notice, before they notice and take her away too Get her out of here"

"Iwhat do you mean? Get her out ofyou mean the Academy?"

"Yes! You have to leave You’re bound It’s up to you Take her away from this place"

Her words were crazy No one left the Acadean to feel strange A fuzzy feeling clouded my mind What she said suddenly sounded very reasonable, like thein the world Yes I needed to take Lissa away, take her -

Feet pounded in the hallway, and a group of guardians rounded the corner I didn’t recognize them; they weren’t fro her wild thrashing So at Ms Karp

"Don’t let her use the power!" she screauardians had later explained to me that she wasn’t well and had been taken to a place where she could recover She would be safe and cared for, they assured me She would recover

Only she hadn’t

Back in the present, I stared at the books and tried to put it all together Lissa Ms Karp St Vladimir

What was I supposed to do?

Someone rapped at my door, and I jerked out of my memories No one had visited me, not even staff, since my suspension When I opened the door, I saw Mason in the hall

"Twice in one day?" I asked "And how’d you even get up here?"

He flashed his easy sarbage cans Damn sha you"

I shook n of affection Christian had done it and now Mason "Sorry, no saving ht - "

"Lissa’s orders"

I shut up and let hi He took ot me in and up to her roo bathroo too

Inside her roo Lissa, Cahing, listening to loudaround bottles of whiskey No Mia, no Jesse Natalie, I noticed a few roup, clearly unsure how to act around all of them Her aardness was totally obvious

Lissa stu she’d been drinking for a while "Rose!" She turned to Mason with a dazzling smile "You delivered"

He swept her an over-the-top bow "I’m at your command"

I hoped he’d done it for the thrill of it and not because of any co an arm around my waist and pulled me doith the others "Join the festivities"

"What are we celebrating?"

"I don’t know Your escape tonight?"

A few of the others held up plastic cups, cheering and toastingthem to Mason anduneasy about the night’s turn of events Not so long ago, I would have welcomed a party like this and would have downed my drink in thirty seconds Too h Like the fact that the royals were treating Lissa like a goddess Like how none of the a blood whore

Like how Lissa was cohter

"Where’d you get the whiskey?" I asked

"Mr Nagy," Aaron said He sat very close to Lissa

Everyone knew Mr Nagy drank all the time after school and kept a stash on ca places - and students continually found theainst Aaron’s shoulder "Aaron helped me break into his room and take them He had them hidden in the bottohed, and Aaron gazed at her with coly, I realized she hadn’t had to use any compulsion on him He was just that crazy for her He always had been

"Why aren’t you drinking?" Mason askedquietly into lanced down at uess I don’t think guardians should drink around their charges"

"She’s not your charge yet! You aren’t on duty You won’t be for a long tiet so responsible?"

I didn’t really think I was all that responsible But I was thinking about what Diation It just seeo hen Lissa was in such a vulnerable state lately Wiggling out of ht spot between her and Mason, I walked over and sat beside Natalie

"Hey Nat, you’re quiet tonight"

She held a cup as full as uess so"

She tilted her head, watching Mason and the royals like they were some sort of science experiment They’d consumed a lot more whiskey since I’d arrived, and the silliness had shot up considerably "Weird, huh? You used to be the center of attention Now she is"

I blinked in surprise I hadn’t considered it like that "I guess so"

"Hey, Rose," said Xander, nearly spilling his drink as he walked over to me "What was it like?"

"What hat like?"

"Letting someone feed off you?"

The others fell quiet, a sort of anticipation settling over them

"She didn’t do that," said Lissa in a warning voice "I told you"