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TWENTY-TWO

"HEAL YOU?"

Heal hihts echoed hers

"You’re the only way," he said patiently "The only way to cure this disease I’ve been watching you for years, waiting until I was certain"

Lissa shook her head "I can’tno I can’t do anything like that"

"Your healing powers are incredible No one has any idea just hoerful"

"I don’t knohat you’re talking about"

"Come now, Vasilisa I know about the raven - Natalie saw you do it She’d been following you And I kno you healed Rose"

She realized the pointlessness of denying it "Thatwas different Rose wasn’t that hurt But youI can’t do anything about Sandovsky’s Syndrohed "I’ about her ankle - which was still i about the car accident Because you’re right, you know Rose didn’t get ¡®that hurt’ She died"

He let the words sink in

"That’sno She lived," Lissa finally ed

"No Well, yes, she did But I read all the reports There was no way she should have survived - especially with so hed, half wistful and half weary "I’d suspected you could do this for so long, and I tried so hard to repeat itto see how asped "The animals It was you"

"With Natalie’s help"

"Why would you do that? How could you?"

"Because I had to know I have only a fewback the dead, then you can cure Sandovsky’s I had to know before I took you away that you could heal at will and not just in moments of panic"

"Why take er flared up in her "You’re my near-uncle If you wanted me to do this - if you really think I can" Her voice and feelings showed me she didn’t really entirely believe she could heal him "Then why kidnap me? Why didn’t you just ask?"

"Because it’s not a onetiure out what you are, but I ed to acquire some of the old historiesscrolls kept out of Moroispirit works - "

"Wielding what?"

"Spirit It’s what you’ve specialized in"

"I haven’t specialized in anything! You’re crazy"

"Where else do you think these powers of yours have come from? Spirit is another element, one few people have anyfroht me back from the dead "That doesn’t make any sense Even if it wasn’t common, I still would have heard of another ele it"

"No one knows about spirit anyotten When people do specialize in it, nobody realizes it They think the person simply hasn’t specialized at all"

"Look, if you’re just trying to ry and afraid, but behind those e what he’d said about spirit users and specializing It now caught up with her "Oh ave her a knowing look "You’ve known about this all along"

"No! I swear It’s just so intoShe said they were like e fro

"They are like you The books even say Vladi;full of spirit’ " Victor see that sht" Lissa still wanted hi was safer than specializing in soht that meant, like, the Holy Spirit"

"So does everyone else, but no It’s so else entirely An eleive you indirect control over the others" Apparentlyin all the eleet a grip on this news and her own self-control "That doesn’t answeror whatever You didn’t have to kidnap me"

"Spirit, as you’ve seen, can heal physical injuries Unfortunately, it’s only good on acute injuries Onetis Rose’s ankle The accident wounds For soenetic disease like Sandovsky’s - continual healings are required Otherwise it will keep co back That’s ould happen to ht this and keep it away So I can live"

"That still doesn’t explain why you took ued "I would have helped you if you’d asked"

"They never would have let you do it The school The council Once they got over the shock of finding a spirit user, they’d get hung up on ethics After all, how does one choose who gets to be healed? They’d say it wasn’t fair That it was like playing God Or else they’d worry about the toll it’d take on you"

She flinched, knowing exactly what toll he referred to

Seeing her expression, he nodded "Yes I won’t lie to you It will be hard It will exhaust you - mentally and physically But I must do it I am sorry You’ll be provided with feeders and other entertainments for your services"

She leapt from the chair Ben immediately stepped forward and pushed her back into it "And then what? Are you going to just make me a prisoner here? Your own private nurse?"

He ain "I’er blasted away the fear inside of her She spoke in a low voice "Yes You don’t have the choice, because this isabout"

"It’s better for you this way You kno the others turned out How Vladi mad How Sonya Karp had to be taken away The trauma you’ve experienced since the accident comes fro spirit The accident woke the spirit in you; your fear over seeing Rose dead ed your bond And once it’s out, you can’t put it back It’s a powerful eleet their power from the earth, air users from the air But spirit? Where do you think that colared

"It comes froive part of yourself The more you do that, thethat already I’ve seen how ile you are"

"I’o crazy I’et worse"

He s Spirit has its own agendaYou’ll always have the urge to help and heal It’s part of you You resisted the ani Rose You can’t even help coth in And that’s hoill always be You can’t avoid spirit Better to stay here, in isolation, away from further sources of stress You’d either have becoly unstable at the Academy, or they would have put you on some pill that would have made you feel better but stunted your power"

A calm core of confidence settled inside her, one very different from what I’d observed over the last couple of years "I love you, Uncle Victor, but I’m the one who has to deal with that and decide what to do Not you You’re ive up my life for yours That’s not fair"

"It’s a matter of which life meansapart Our nuoi prey upon us We used to actively seek them out Now Tatiana and the other leaders hide away They keep you and your peers isolated In the old days, you were trained to fight alongside your guardians! You were taught to use er We wait We are victiht up in his passion he was "I would have changed that if I were king I would have brought about a revolution the likes of which neither Moroi nor Strigoi have ever seen I should have been Tatiana’s heir She was ready to name me before they discovered the disease, and then she would not If I were curedif I were cured, I could take ered so inside of Lissa, a sudden consideration for the state of the Moroi She’d never conteht be if Moroi and their guardians fought side by side to rid the world of the Strigoi and their evil It reic as a weapon too But even if she did appreciate Victor’s convictions, neither of us thought it orth what he wanted her to do