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CONSIDERING THEIR EARLIER antagonism, I was a bit surprised to see Sonya and Robert combine their powers to create an illusion for the Dashkov brothers It obscured their appearances, and with the addition of souys were part of our increasingly bizarre entourage Considering the distress and upheaval already going on in the house, a couple more people seemed the least of the Mastranos’ worries
In playing good Moroi hosts, it wasn’t enough to just cook up dinner Eet a feeder to come by--a sort of "blood delivery service’ Norled a nearby Usually, these feeders had a keeper of sorts, a Moroi who made money off the service It was common for Moroi to simply show up at the home of the feeder’s "owner,’ but in this case, Eht to her house
She was doing it as a courtesy, the kind she’d do for any Moroi guests--even ones ere delivering news she’d dreaded receiving for most of her life Little did she know just how desperately welco I didn’ta little weakness, but Sonya definitely needed blood if she was going to continue her recovery
Indeed, when the feeder and her keeper showed, Sonya was the first to drink Diht upstairs Sonya and Robert could onlyRobert and Victor’s identities fro bothour most-wanted status, it was essential we not take any risks
Leaving the brothers unsupervised made Dimitri and me nervous, but the two of the Dimitri and I wanted to clean up anyways, since we hadn’t had tio first Only, when I finished and was ruh my clean "casual wear’ supply and was down to the dress Sydney had included in the backpack I griured it wouldn’t hurt to put the dress on for one night We wouldn’t be doingaround for tomorrow’s departure, and maybe Emily would letwith a blow dryer, I finally felt civilized again
Sydney and I had been given a guestroo to stay in Jill’s room, and Dimitri had been offered the couch I didn’t doubt for a second he’d be stalking the halls as the household slept and that I’d be trading shifts with hi, and I crept out into the hall and peered down over a railing to check out the first floor The Mastranos, Sonya, and the brothers were all gathered with the feeder and her keeper Nothing seemed amiss Relieved, I returned to my room and used the downtime to check on Lissa
After the initial excite her test, I’d felt her cal one to bed She’d taken Eddie and Christian over to Adrian’s, and I realized she was the one who’d woken him up fro of her recent ave me a replay of what had happened since the tiered to his door
"What’s going on?’ he asked, looking froood dream’
"I need you,’ said Lissa
"I hear that fro sound, but the faintest glimmer of a suardian- stance
"I’e fro important to tell us, andI don’t know I’ I want another set of eyes on him I want your opinion’
"That,’ Adrian said, "is not soet dressed, okay?’ ordered Christian
Honestly, it was a wonder anyone slept any how often ere all pulled out of sleep Adrian nonetheless did dress quickly, and despite his flippant co related to clearing my name What I was uncertain of hether he’d tell anyone about the otten myself into, now that I’d slipped and revealed some of my true activities
My friends hurried over to the building they’d visited before, the one where Ambrose lived and worked The Court had woken up, and people were out and about,to find out about the second ht of Lissa called out happy greetings
"I had another trial tonight,’ Lissa told Adrian Soratulated her "An unexpected one’
Adrian hesitated, and I waited for him to say he’d already heard that fro news about o?’ he asked instead
"I passed,’ she replied "That’s all thatherself to tell hi people, those who didn’t just simply support her because of the law but because they actually believed in her Tasha, Mia, and so the onlookers, grinning at her Even Daniella, there to wait for Rufus’s turn, had grudgingly congratulated Lissa, seeh The whole experience had been surreal, and Lissa had siotten pulled away to assist other guardians, despite his protests that he was Lissa’s escort So, Christian and Tasha had ended up having to take Lissa houardian named Ethan Moore joined theerated soht this tiuardian, but his kickass attitude occasionally faltered whenever he looked at Tasha He adored her She clearly liked hi the way--ht it was cute Soo near Tasha because of her scars It was nice to see someone who appreciated her for her character, no ht of anyonedating his aunt And I actually kind of liked seeing Christian so obviously torood for him
Ethan and Tasha left once Lissa was securely back in her roo about how they’d delayed his to do He’d apparently made such a fuss that they’d finally released him, so he could hurry back to Lissa’s side He made it just ten minutes before A Eddie would have freaked out if he’d cooi had kidnapped his charge in his absence
That was the series of events leading up to as happening now: Lissa and the three guys going off to A
"You’re early,’ he said, letting them in before Lissa could even knock a second time They stood inside Ambrose’s own room now, not a fancy parlor for clients It rese I’d endured Lissa’s attention was all on Ambrose, so she didn’t notice, out of the corner of her eye, Eddie quickly scanning the roouessed he didn’t trust Ambrose--or anyone not in our i on?’ asked Lissa, as soon as Aent visit?’
"Because I have to show you so,’ he said On his bed was a pile of papers, and he took the top one "Reings? Well now they’re inventorying and reain, only so I noticed "She had a safe where she kept important documents--secret ones, obviously And ’
"And?’ prompted Lissa
"And, I didn’t want anyone to find them,’ Ambrose continued "I didn’t knohat most of them were, but if she wanted them secretI just felt they should stay that way I knew the combination, and soI stole theuilt It was guilt for the theft
Lissa eyed the stack eagerly "And?’
"None of the forexcept maybe this one’ He handed her the piece of paper Adrian and Christian crowded around her
Darling Tatiana,
I’m a bit surprised to see how these latest develop that the safety of our people required uardians We have let too o to waste, particularly the women If you took actions to force theuardian ranks would swell This current law is co how your "training’ experiment failed
I’ Diuards I don’t understand exactly what happened, but you cannot trusta monster--or at the very least, a spy--in our uard than he currently is In fact, your continued support of the study of spirit is troubling altogether and no doubt led to this unnatural situation I believe there is a reason this ele: our ancestors realized its danger and stamped it out Avery Lazar stands as proof of that, and your prodigy, Vasilisa Drago Vasilisa, you encourage the degradation of the Dragomir line, a line that should be allowed to fade into history with honor and not the disgrace of insanity Your support of herneither of us would like to see happen
I’m sorry to burden you with so ard and have nothing but respect for the way you have so skillfully governed our people these long years I’m certain you will soon coh I worry others ht attempt to take matters into their own hands, and I fear for what nature For a moment, Lissa couldn’t process it as a whole She was co into disgrace It hit too close to the vision she’d seen in the test
It was Christian who pulled her back "Well It would seeuess that’s kind of obvious at this point in the game’
"Who’s this from?’ demanded Adrian His face was dark, furious at this thinly veiled threat to his aunt
"I don’t know,’ said Ambrose "This is exactly the way I found it Maybe she didn’t even knoho the sender was’
Lissa nodded her agreement "There’s certainly an anonymous feel to itand yet, at the same time, I feel like it’s soave Ambrose a suspicious look "Hoe know you didn’t just type this yourself to throw us off?’
"Adrian,’ chastised Lissa She didn’t say it but was hoping to urge Adrian to feel out Aht not be able to detect
"This is crazy,’ said Christian, tapping the piece of paper "The part about rounding up dhauardians What do you think that means--the "actions’ that Tatiana knows about?’
I knew because I’d been tipped off about a lot of this earlier Compulsion, Tatiana’s note had said
"I’m not sure,’ said Lissa She reread the letter to herself "What about the "experi sessions Grant did with Moroi?’
"That hat I thought,’ said Ambrose "But I’m not sure’
"Can we see the rest?’ asked Adrian, gesturing to the stack of papers I couldn’t tell if his suspicion was legitimate distrust of Ambrose or just the result of how upset his aunt’s murder made hioing through the pages, Lissa agreed: there was nothing of use in thealese and personal correspondence It occurred to Lissa--as it had tohe’d found There was no way to prove that for now Stifling a yawn, she thanked hi for sleep, but her mind couldn’t help but analyze the letter’s possibilities If it was legitimate
"That letter’s evidence that someone had a lot more reason to be pissed off at Tatiana than Rose did,’ observed Christian as they wound their way back upstairs toward the building’s exit "Aunt Tasha once said that anger based on calculated reason is er based on blind hate’
"Your aunt’s a regular philosopher,’ said Adrian wearily "But everything we’ve got is still circumstantial’
Ambrose had let Lissa keep the letter, and she’d folded it and put it in her jeans pocket "I’m curious what Tasha will have to say about this And Abe too’ She sighed "I wish Grant was still alive He was a good ht into this’
They reached a side exit on the main floor, and Eddie pushed the door open for thelanced over at Lissa as they stepped outside "How close were Grant and Serena--’
Eddie moved a fraction of a second before Lissa saw the proble for proble trees in the courtyard that separated A one It wasn’t exactly a secluded spot, but it was far enough off of the main paths that it often stayed deserted
Thetoward hiht in a way Lissa couldn’t Judging by thefor Lissa--with a knife in his hand Lissa froze in fear, an expected reaction for someone not trained to react in this situation But when Christian jerked her back, she came to life and quickly retreated with him and Adrian
The attacker and Eddie were deadlocked for ato take the other down I heard Lissa yell for help, butfor a Moroi and his ht I doubted, however, that he’d been trained since elementary school, nor did he have the h, Eddie broke through and forced the guy to the ground Eddie reached out to pin the et the knife out of the equation Moroi or not, the man was actually quite skilled with the blade, particularly when I (and probably Eddie too) noticed scarring and what looked like a bent finger on his left hand The guy had probably gone to great extents to hone his knife-hand’s reflexes Even restrained, he was still able to snake up with the blade, aily for Eddie’s neck Eddie was too fast to let that happen and blocked the bloith his arave the Moroi a bitEddie off Without uy was iain There could be no doubt about theback He was there to kill That blade was out for blood Guardians kne to subdue and take prisoners, but we’d also been trained that when things weretoo fast, when it was an us-or-them situation--well, we made sure it was the driven by instincts pounded into us for years: stop as trying to kill you Eddie had no gun or knife, not at Court When the ht at Eddie’s neck, Eddie used the only weapon left that he could be sure would save his life