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Twenty-eight

THE NEXT TWELVE HOURS were the longest in roup h most of it was done at a run - which was hard with so many injured The entire tioi were near If they were, they never caught up to us, and it’s possible I was si that had happened in the caves

Once back behind the wards, the other novices and I were forgotten We were safe, and the adults now had a lot of other things to concern themselves with All of the captives had been rescued - all the ones that were alive As I’d feared, the Strigoi had decided to ot there ThatDimitri - had been lost Those weren’t bad nuoi we’d faced, but when you took the difference, it really meant we’d only saved six lives Had the loss of all those guardians’ lives been worth it?

"You can’t look at it that way," Eddie told me as alked toward the clinic Everyone, prisoners and raiders, had been ordered to get checked out "You didn’t just save those lives You guys killed aloi, plus the ones on campus Think about all the people they would have killed You essentially saved all those people’s lives too"

A rational part of ht But what did rationality have to do with anything when Diht be dead? It was petty and selfish, but in that moment, I wanted to trade all those lives for his He wouldn’t have wanted that, though I knew hih the tiniest, sh the bite had looked pretty serious, that Strigoi could have incapacitated hiht now, dying and in need ofof hio back, however Not until dayti back our dead so that we could bury theave me a quick check, decided I didn’t have a concussion, and then sent e ht noere in far worse condition

I knew the so to h the bond, I felt her calling to me She orried She was afraid I knew she’d find out the news soon, though She didn’t need me, and I didn’t want to see her I didn’t want to see anyone So rather than go tountil the caves could be checked out Praying was as good an option as any

The chapel was usually empty in the middle of the day, but not this ti the death and tragedy of the last twenty-four hours, it was only natural that people would seek coroups They cried They knelt They prayed Some simply stared off into space, clearly unable to believe what had happened Father Andrewto many of them

I found an e my knees up to me, I wrapped my arms around theels watched over all of us

Dimitri couldn’t be dead There was no way he could be Surely, if he was, I would know No one could take a life like that from the world No one who had held one We had been too war like that

Lissa’s chotki was around ers over the cross and the beads I tried desperately to put hts into the forms of prayers, but I didn’t kno If God was real, I figured He was powerful enough to knohat I wanted without ht words

Hours passed People ca and eventually stretched old-painted ceiling, els stared down at ood were they really doing?

I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep until Lissa wokelong and loose around her face Her eyes were as gentle and compassionate as those of the saints

"Rose," she said "We’ve been looking all over for you Have you been here the entire ti tired and bleary-eyed Considering I hadn’t slept the night before and had then gone on a ue was understandable

"Pretty much," I told her

She shook her head "That was hours ago You should go eat soo I clutched her arm "What time is it? Has the sun come up?"

"No It’s still about, oh, five hours away"

Five hours How could I wait that long?

Lissa touched h our bond, and then the warh my own skin Bruises and cuts disappeared

"You shouldn’t do that," I said

A faint s it all day I’ve been helping Dr Olendzki"

"I heard that, butIt just feels so strange We’ve always kept it hidden, you know?"

"It doesn’t"After everything that’s happened, I had to help Sooutwell, it had to happen sooner or later Adrian’s been helping too, though he can’t do as htened up

"Oh my God, Liss You can save him You can help Dimitri"

Deep sorrow filled her face and the bond "Rose," she said quietly "They say Dimitri’s dead"

"No," I said "He can’t be You don’t understandI think he was just injured Probably badly But if you’re there when they bring hiht of all ca out "You could bring him back! Just like with rew even sadder Sorrow - forpeople back froe power drainand besides, I don’t think I could do it on so I think it has to be recent"

I could hear the crazy desperation in my own voice "But you have to try"

"I can’t" She sed "You heard what I said to the queen Ievery dead person back to life That gets into the kind of abuse Victor wanted It’s e kept this secret"

"You’d let him die? You wouldn’t do this? You wouldn’t do this for , but my voice was definitely too loud for a church Most everyone was gone now, and with the level of grief around here, I doubted anyone thought toofor you You know that And you won’t do this for

Lissa studiedin her mind She assessed ot it She finally realized what I felt for Dimitri, that it was ht up in her ether for her: comments I’d made, ways that Dimitri and I acted around each otherit all s she’d been too blind to notice Questions i up too, but she didn’t ask any of them or even mention what she’d realized Instead, she just took my hand in hers and pulled me close

"I’m so sorry, Rose I’ et food But when I sat at the cafeteria table and stared at the tray in front ofaround the Strigoi had She gave up after that, realizing nothing was going to happen until I knehat had happened to Dimitri We went up to her room, and I lay down on the bed She sat near ain

The next time I woke up, it wasto check the caves You can’t go into them, but you can come to the school’s borders with us if you want"

It was the best I could get If it meant I could find out what had happened to Dimitri a moment sooner than if I stayed here, I’d do it Lissa cauardian party I was still hurt by her refusal to heal Diht she wouldn’t be able to hold back once she saw hiroup to check the caves, just in case We were pretty sure the Strigoi were gone, however They’d lost their advantage and had to know that if we came back for the dead, it would be with renewed nuone