ROYAL BANQUET
Later that day, Lissa invites Rose along to the royal banquet being held at the lodge that night. Rose doesn’t understand why she wouldn’t take Christian. You know, her boyfriend? The truth is, Christian’s currently not speaking to Lissa. He’s jealous she hung out in the gorgeous Adrian’s room that morning, falsely believing it to be more than a “just friends” situation—so Lissa needs someone else to accompany her while he cools off. And there’s clearly only one choice: Rose. Even though Rose hates formal Moroi events, she reluctantly agrees to go. When she’s Lissa’s official guardian, she’ll be going to a lot of these!
After the meal, they mingle with the other royals. Lissa’s in her element here: perfect, polished, and polite. A group of Moroi are discussing going on the offensive against the Strigoi: Is it the right thing to do? Or is it a suicide mission? Lissa raises the point that this isn’t an all-or-nothing decision. Those who wish to learn and fight can. Those who don’t want to don’t have to. But there should be a choice. In her opinion, defense should be part of the Moroi school curriculum right now. Surprisingly, everyone seems pleased with the Dragomir princess’s solution.
When Rose leaves Lissa to discuss Moroi politics with her fellow royals, she runs into Adrian. Even though the sexy and flirtatious guy annoys her on many levels, she feels an overwhelming urge to be near him. What’s up with that?
Well, he does look better in a tuxedo than any other guy there. There’s no question that Adrian would be extremely desirable to any girl—Moroi, dhampir, or human.
Unlike others at the party, Adrian’s not too interested in discussing whether or not Moroi should use their magic to fight.
“I’ve got better things to do.”
“Like stalk me,” I suggested. “And Lissa.” I still wanted to know why she’d been in his room.
He smiled again. “I told you, you’re the one following me.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Five times—” I stopped. “Five times?”
He nodded.
“No, it’s only been four.” With my free hand, I ticked them off. “There was the first time, the night at the spa, then when I came to your room, and now tonight.”
The smile turned secretive. “If you say so.”
—pages 227–228
The only other time Rose had spoken to Adrian was . . . in her dream—the one in which he’d mentioned the shadows all around her. She’s tempted to mention it. Was it really only a simple dream . . . or something else?
Before Rose can decide whether to speak up, her mother storms up to them. Shame on Rose for making a spectacle of herself by wearing a tight dress and flirting with Adrian, a Moroi lord. Who does she think she is? Janine’s accusation makes Rose mad, but she turns it around on her mother. Isn’t that what she’s supposed to do? Hook up with a Moroi in order to further her race? After all, that’s what Janine did. But Janine isn’t buying Rose’s logic—Rose is too young to get pregnant.
Oh boy. Not a subject Rose wants to deal with right now. She feels the sudden urge to escape and swiftly flees to the rooftop patio. The door to the patio opens a few minutes later and Dimitri joins her. He followed her from the party—he’d been watching her when she’d had the argument with her mother.
It’s clear to him that Janine’s just worried about Rose and trying to be protective of her daughter. But perhaps she was being a bit overprotective. And what she’d said about being too young to get pregnant . . . maybe that was aimed more at herself than at Rose.
Ah, Dimitri. So very insightful.
And suddenly, Rose realizes something important.
“We aren’t fighting right now,” I blurted out.
He gave me a sidelong look. “Do you want to fight?”
“No. I hate fighting with you. Verbally, I mean. I don’t mind in the gym.”
I thought I detected the hint of a smile. Always a half-smile for me. Rarely a full one. “I don’t like fighting with you either.”
Sitting next to him there, I marveled at the warm and happy emotions springing up inside of me. There was something about being around him that felt so good, that moved me in a way Mason couldn’t. You can’t force love, I realized. It’s either there or it isn’t. If it’s not there, you’ve got to be able to admit it. If it’s there, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.
—pages 235–236
Rose decides that she wants Dimitri to be happy. He should take the position as Tasha’s guardian—it’s a great opportunity for him and a chance to have children. No matter what happens, she knows she’ll always love him.
She also knows she has to talk to Mason—to apologize for how she’s treated him and to end things with him once and for all.
But she can’t find him anywhere.
MASON’S PLAN
It’s not long before Rose comes to a sickening realization: the reason she can’t find Mason is because he’s no longer at the ski lodge. Mason, his friend Eddie, and Mia must have all gone to Spokane so that he could fulfill his crazy dream of killing Strigoi. And it’s all Rose’s fault! The only reason Mason knows they’re in Spokane is because Rose told him.
She needs to stop them! She realizes that Mason, Eddie, and Mia must have used compulsion to get past the guards at the gates—but Rose, as a dhampir, doesn’t have that ability. She needs to find a Moroi to assist her. Lissa’s the obvious choice, but Rose does something surprising. She finds Christian instead and tells him everything. But even he knows Lissa’s much better at compulsion than he is.
“I know. But I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
He snorted. “But you don’t mind if I do?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
“You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“ Yeah, I do, actually.”
—page 242
Christian agrees to join Rose. They hitch a ride into town and head to the bus station, but there’s no sign of Mason and the others—they’ve already headed to Spokane. Crap.
When Rose and Christian reach Spokane, Rose feels a tug on the bond. She slips into Lissa’s head and sees that her friend is being questioned by Dimitri about Rose and the other students’ whereabouts. Lissa is frustrated and afraid—and upset that she wasn’t told about any plans to leave the lodge—but she has no idea where Rose is. She sadly reminds Dimitri that the bond only works one way. When Dimitri continues to press, Lissa snaps at him that she’d help if she could. But she can’t. Dimitri’s not the only one worried about Rose and the others.
The concern Rose sees in Dimitri’s eyes through the bond eats her up inside.
When Rose and Christian reach the shopping center, they find the missing trio looking dejected in the food court. The trip’s been a big fat failure, and Rose couldn’t be more relieved that her friends are safe.
“Did you kill any Strigoi? Did you even find any?”
“No, ” adm itted Eddie.
“Good, ” I said. “ You got lucky.”
“Why are you so against killing Strigoi?” asked Mia hotly. “Isn’t that what you train for?”
“I train for sane missions, not childish stunts like this.”
“It isn’t childish,” she cried. “They killed my mother. And the guardians weren’t doing anything. Even their information is bad. There weren’t any Strigoi in the tunnels. Probably none in the whole city.”
—page 250
While Mason, Eddie, and Mia didn’t find any Strigoi in their search, they did find the underground tunnels that are connected to the mall. The thought of checking them out again while they wait for the next bus appeals to Christian. Since he usually spends a lot of time in a cramped attic, Rose isn’t all that surprised that he’d think this would be fun.
Reluctantly, she agrees that they can take a peek. A quick one!
Rose and Christian follow the others to the far end of the mall and down a dirty, smelly set of stairs, leading into the tunnels below. Grime-caked cement, ugly fluore
scent lights, boxes of cleaning and electrical supplies . . .
But no Strigoi.
It’s kind of boring, really.
But then Rose spots some writing on the wall. It’s a list of twelve letters with an X next to a couple of them. Mia dismisses it as nothing, but Rose keeps studying the list until it clicks. The letters are the initials of the twelve royal Moroi families . . .
Rose has just found a checklist of the attacks.
Strigoi were here—and they might be back soon. Rose doesn’t share what she’s figured out with the others. All she knows is they need to get out of there. Right now.
THE KIDNAPPING
Rose is relieved that it’s still light out, which means they’re safe from Strigoi for the moment, but she needs to get back to the lodge and report what she’s found as soon as she can. Unfortunately, they get lost on their way back to the bus station.
And they’re not alone—someone is after them.
A van screeches to a halt and three big guys get out. The novices fight back, and these humans might lack dhampir strength, but they’ve managed to corner Rose and her friends. When one of the humans grabs Mia and presses a gun to her neck, the others are forced to get into the van so she isn’t killed.
Bound and scared, the five of them are taken to a house and put in a small room in the basement, tied to chairs. Their panic rises when a man and woman enter the room. They’re unfamiliar, but one thing’s for certain: they’re Strigoi. Very possibly, they’re the Strigoi that attacked and murdered the royal families.
The man’s name is Isaiah and his companion is Elena. Isaiah knew Christian’s parents, who had chosen to become Strigoi. He’d personally warned them not to go back to the Moroi world to reclaim their son so he could become Strigoi too. Christian’s aunt Tasha had fought hard against them—it’s how she was scarred—and guardians eventually killed Christian’s parents.
Isaiah wants to “awaken” the Moroi he’s just captured—both Mia and Christian. This way, he’s helping Christian’s parents fulfill their dream of having him join the ranks of the Strigoi.
But Mia and Christian must willingly choose to be awakened. Isaiah wants to make a game out of it. It’s big fun for him!
For Isaiah to grant Christian or Mia immortality, they need to kill one of their dhampir friends—something that they’d never agree to do.
Not yet, anyway.
“Easy to be brave when you aren’t hungry. Go a few days without any other sustenance . . . and yes, these three will start to look very good. And they are. Dhampirs are delicious. Some prefer them to Moroi, and while I myself have never shared such beliefs, I can certainly appreciate the variety.
Christian scowled.
“Don’t believe me?” asked Isaiah. “Then let me prove it.” He walked back over to my side of the room. I realized what he was going to do and spoke without fully thinking things through.
“Use me,” I blurted out. “Drink f rom me.”
—page 270
Rose wants desperately to protect her friends. She’s already experienced the bite—when she and Lissa had run away, her friend had regularly fed on her. Rose knows that it can be addictive and she’s strong enough to handle that—but Eddie and Mason haven’t. She wants to save them from having to experience that.
Isaiah disagrees. Why give her what she wants? He bites Eddie instead—cautioning that if the novice resists, he can make it very painful. Once Isaiah uses compulsion on Eddie, the dhampir offers up his neck freely.
Rose looks away—sickened that they’re at the mercy of this Strigoi.
When Isaiah leaves, the group is bruised, hungry, and terrified of what will happen next.
During the second day of captivity, Rose falls asleep and dreams about Adrian again. This time, he admits that just like last time, this isn’t a normal dream—it’s a shared dream. They’re both dreaming of the same place, and this is an actual conversation they’re having. One in which Adrian makes an observation about Rose’s shadow-kissed status that will come to be very important later.
“I need to know what you mean. About there being darkness around me. What does it mean?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Everyone has light around them, except for you. You have shadows. You take them from Lissa.”
—page 275
Rose tries to tell him where she is so the group can be rescued. But the dream fades away and she wakes up when the Strigoi arrive to taunt the Moroi about their growing hunger. Isaiah is ready to bite Eddie again, who’s become addicted to this act thanks to the drug-like endorphins in a Strigoi’s saliva, but Rose offers to let Isaiah bite her instead.
She’s very adamant and selfless about it—so much so that Isaiah guesses that she’s done this before . . . and liked it. He thinks Rose might be a blood whore in the making. But he’s not going to give her what she wants. He bites Eddie again and Rose feels envy this time instead of disgust. She hates to admit that part of her did become addicted to the bite. And yes, part of her does want to experience that again, even knowing the consequences.
Before he leaves, Isaiah sneeringly tells Christian that when the time comes, the Moroi will have a willing victim in Rose.
Later, Rose slips into Lissa’s mind. Adrian thinks Lissa holds the key to finding Rose. He insists that as a spirit user, Lissa should also be able to talk to her in her dreams—just like he can—and that Rose and Lissa’s connection would be stronger because of their bond. But Lissa’s still on the medication that cuts her off from her magic, so he can’t properly teach her to do this.
Rose finally understands why Adrian had so many questions for Lissa earlier. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Adrian’s questions. The dreams. It’s because he’s a spirit user too!
He threw his arms up in the air. “How can I teach you to walk through dreams then? How else are we going to find Rose?”
“Look,” she said angrily, “I don’t want to take the meds. But when I was off them . . . I did really crazy stuff. Dangerous stuff. That’s what spirit does to you.”
“I don’t take anything. I’m okay,” he said.
No, he wasn’t, I realized. Lissa realized it too.
—pages 283–284
Still, despite her reservations, Lissa finds herself being tempted more and more by Adrian’s offer. She wonders if she’d be okay—relatively speaking—if she went off her medication. Adrian can use spirit and seems fairly okay, other than some crazy talk now and then . . . (Although she’ll later come to realize that he’s far from okay. He self-medicates with cigarettes and alcohol.)
Rose reluctantly pulls out of Lissa’s head and finds herself back in the basement, tied up with her friends. Everybody’s in bad shape and things seem hopeless.
Suddenly, something occurs to her—the Moroi’s elemental magic! They aren’t completely helpless. But how can she let Christian know what she’s thinking? She tries to give him a signal that she wants him to burn through her wrist bindings.
Instead, he asks the guards to untie him: he’s ready to drink blood in order to save his own life, and he wants to drink from Rose. She’s not sure if she should play along or not—is he being serious?
“Christian,” I whispered, surprised at how easy it was to sound afraid. “Do n’t do this.”
His lips twisted into one of the bitter smiles he produced so well. “You and I have never liked each other, Rose. If I ’ve got to kill someone, it might as well be you.” His words were icy, precise. Believable. “Besides, I thought you wanted this.”
“Not this. Please, don’t—”
One of the guards shoved Christian. “Get it over with or get back to your chair.”
Still wearing that dark smile, Christian shrugged. “Sorry, Rose. You’re going to die anyway. Why not do it for a good cause?” He brought his face down to my neck. “ This is probably going to hurt,” he added.
—pages 288–289
Instantly, intense pain courses through Rose’s body. But it doesn’t start at her
neck . . . There’s a searing sensation at her wrists as he begins to burn through the plastic bindings that hold them together. Christian is on her side after all!
Rose breaks free and starts kicking butt. One guard has a gun, but Christian uses his magic to heat it up, so it’s too hot to hold. Then he snips Mason’s bindings so he can join the fight. After an intense battle, the three of them defeat the guards and release Eddie and Mia. Then they formulate their plan of escape. If they can get out of the house, the Strigoi won’t be able to follow them—they burn up when they come into direct contact with the sunlight. The five friends head up the stairs into the main living area of the house, which has an aquarium in it, and Rose instructs Mason to get the others out of there if something bad happens to her.
Just as Rose feels they’re going to make it out okay, Isaiah and Elena appear. Rose holds off the Strigoi while the others get to safety.
“Are you thinking you can take us both on by yourself?” He chuckled. Elena chuckled. I gritted my teeth.
No, I didn’t think I could take them both on. In fact, I was pretty sure I was going to die. But I was also pretty sure I could provide one hell of a distraction first.
—pages 297-298
The Strigoi drag Rose back into the shadows of the room as Mason gets the others outside just in time.
Isaiah is furious that his game has been ruined. To punish Rose, he plans to make her a real blood whore, since he’s aware she’s given blood before and enjoyed it. However, this time it won’t be pleasant for her. He’ll make it hurt every time she’s bitten . . . until she finally dies.
Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide Page 6