When Sonya makes her move to break free, it takes both Dimitri and Rose to hold her down. Shockingly, the Dashkov brothers arrive with their own solution to make her talk—they’re going to stake her! Robert plunges a silver stake into the Strigoi’s heart—one that’s been charmed with spirit. A brilliant, blinding white light throws everyone back as spirit returns Sonya to her former self, just as it did Dimitri only recently.
The former Strigoi is in shock—being restored to a Moroi is something she never thought possible. And she’s not the only one who finds it miraculous. Sydney is staring, wide-eyed.
The Alchemist met my eyes wonderingly.
“I heard . . . but I didn’t believe.”
“Sometimes,” I told her, “I still don’t. It goes against every rule of the universe.”
To my surprise, she touched the small gold cross around her neck. “Some rules are bigger than the universe.”
—page 302
A now-protective Dimitri takes Sonya into another room where she can recover. Witnessing the spirit conversion for himself has made him understand that a gift like this—life emerging from death—is something that shouldn’t be wasted.
Through the bond, Rose sees that someone else is coming to a similarly inspired realization back at Court. Lissa has returned victorious from the test to be greeted by a mob of admirers who are treating the nominees like celebrities and whispering about the “return of the dragon,” the symbol of Lissa’s family. Even though this started as an act to buy more time to solve the queen’s murder, Lissa resolves to treat the election process with respect. Anything else would be an insult to her society.
Adrian brings Christian and Lissa to a local bar to meet Blake Lazar, the queen’s other lover. It doesn’t take them very long to determine that this guy is a total jerk. The initial pleasantries turn into a heated discussion about the queen’s murder and Ambrose’s other lovers, who could be suspects. They press for names and are stunned by what they learn. Among Ambrose’s lovers is Daniella Ivashkov, Adrian’s mother.
Adrian’s appalled by this possibility and storms out. To Lissa and Christian, however, it puts Daniella on the short list of potential murder suspects.
THE MISSING DRAGOMIR
While Dimitri gets some rest, the others go and sit in Sonya’s garden. Dimitri didn’t want Sonya grilled in her delicate state, but Rose knows they don’t have time to waste. She questions Sonya about her relative—the mother of Lissa’s brother or sister—but she’s resistant. Robert tries to compel her to talk, but this just pisses her off, and the spirit users attack each other. Rose calls Dimitri to help, and he’s angry they refuse to let Sonya recuperate.
Sydney is the one who finds a solution. Sonya doesn’t want to go back on her promise not to tell who her relative is—but she can show them where to find her, can’t she? It’s shaky logic at best, but it works. Sonya reluctantly agrees to lead the way.
Which means only one thing—another road trip! The six of them, the Dashkov brothers included, bundle into Sydney’s SUV and off they go.
On the way, Rose is able to watch through the bond as Lissa takes part in the second monarch test. She’s taken to a room where a very old Moroi woman—who Lissa will later learn is Ekaterina Zeklos, the queen prior to Tatiana—waits for her with a silver goblet filled with water. The goblet is charmed with magic from the four elements—and likely with spirit too, Lissa decides, when she finds herself in a spirit dream after drinking from it.
She quickly comes to the horrible realization that this is a test that will force her to face her darkest fears, starting with learning that Rose is dead. While Lissa is filled with grief over losing her dearest friend, dream-Christian announces that he too is leaving her. Lissa knows it’s only a dream—a nightmare—but she’s desperate for it to end. She can’t take the thought of being alone.
Would she give up over a dream? A dream about being alone? It seemed like such a minor thing, but that cold truth hit her again: I’ve never been alone. She didn’t know if she could carry on by herself, but then, she realized that if this wasn’t a dream—and dear God, did it feel real—there was no magic “stop” in real life. If she couldn’t deal with loneliness in a dream, she never would be able to while waking.
—page 355
Pulling out of the dream would mean failing the test. She forces herself to hang on, and the dream shifts to one in which she’s a Council member unable to properly represent the Dragomir family name due to her lack of confidence in this intimidating setting. She gropes for words when faced with the strong speakers and personalities from other royal representatives. They mock and jeer at her, calling for a removal of this “tongue-tied child” from Council. It isn’t until the Dragomir family seal is pulled off the wall that she finds her courage—and her voice. She snatches the seal back. It’s hers. Just like the seat on Council is hers. And no one has the right to take that away from her!
The Council room and members disappear and silence falls. Next she finds herself in the St. Vladimir medical examining room. Her spirit darkness has taken over, causing her to become a danger to herself and to others. They’re threatening to lock her up in the criminally insane wing of the Tarasov Prison. Rose bravely volunteers to take all of Lissa’s darkness and be driven mad in her place. But no—Lissa can’t let her make such a sacrifice. She will accept this fate and be sent away in order to protect her best friend.
And that’s when the dream ends, and with it, the test. Lissa has faced her fears and passed the test. She exits the room to the enthusiastic crowd shouting for the “dragon.”
Happy her friend is doing so well, Rose drifts off to sleep and finds herself in a spirit dream of her own with Adrian. They’re in a location picked by Rose’s subconscious—Sonya’s beautiful garden. When Rose accidentally lets it slip where they are, Adrian finally clues in that his girlfriend is not safely tucked away in the original motel, she’s been on a mission to find a dangerous Strigoi with Victor Dashkov as one of her allies. Adrian’s furious—staying at the motel was the only way to ensure Rose’s safety. When she’s anywhere else, she’s putting her life at great risk. She assures Adrian that her quest is worth it, but she can’t fill him in on the details . . . he just has to trust her. As the dream fades, she begs him not to say anything to the others. It’ll just worry them.
In the morning, they finally arrive at the house Sonya has directed them to. The face that greets them is a familiar one. Rose is completely shocked to realize that the missing Dragomir is someone they’ve known all along—it’s Jill Mastrano!
Jill’s mother, Emily, is scared when she sees her cousin Sonya. After all, Sonya’s supposed to be a Strigoi. It takes a bit of explaining before they’re allowed in the house, especially since Rose is a wanted fugitive.
The gravity of the situation is not lost on Rose.
I’d rushed into this, ready to find Lissa’s sibling—her sister, we now knew—with little thought of the implications. I should have known this would be a secret from everyone—including the child in question. I hadn’t considered what a shock this would be to her. And this wasn’t just some random stranger. This was Jill. Jill. My friend. The girl who was like a little sister to all of us, the one we looked out for. What was I about to do to her?
—pages 378-379
The truth is hard to tell and even harder to take for Emily, who’s tried to shield her daughter from anything royal for her entire life. But Jill, while young and fearful, understands what’s at stake and wants to help. Finally, after much debate, Emily relents. Jill can go to Court. For now, the others are allowed to spend the night in the Mastrano home.
Meanwhile, Lissa’s been sent word that Ambrose wants to talk. He’s gone through Tatiana’s belongings and stolen some documents from her safe, including a letter from someone chastising her for both the age law and for the secret group of royal Moroi she had arranged to practice defense. Tatiana definitely had enemies. The writer of this letter could be the murderer.
On their way back from this meeting, a man heads directly for Lissa—with a knife in his hand! Christian jerks her back as Eddie leaps to her defense and forces the guy to the ground. Even restrained, he’s able to aim his blade for Eddie’s neck. Eddie deflects the blow, but there’s no doubt that this man is out to kill. Before the man can get a death blow in, Eddie takes his shot and stakes him.
Other guardians arrive and take one look at the scene—there’s a dead Moroi and someone holding a bloody weapon. They throw Eddie against the wall and pry his weapon away. Lissa’s shouts that he saved her life fall on deaf ears. Eddie has killed a Moroi. Guardians are supposed to protect them. Killing one is unimaginable.
A frantic Rose is brought back to her reality, desperate to help her friends at Court. Dimitri assures her all will be okay—Lissa is protected even without Rose by her side. The Dragomir they need to worry about is Jill. And Dimitri praises Rose for the single-minded determination she’s shown thus far—it’s only because of it that they were able to find Jill.
Rose wonders if Adrian, who was so angry with her in their last dream, will feel the same. The mention of her current boyfriend definitely spoils the mood.
“Do you love him?”
There were only a few people in the world who could ask me such insanely personal questions without getting punched. Dimitri was one of them. With us, there were no walls, but our complicated relationship made this topic surreal. How could I describe loving someone else to a man I’d once loved? A man you still love, a voice whispered inside my head. Maybe. Probably. Again, I reminded myself that it was natural to carry lingering feelings for Dimitri. They would fade. They had to fade, just like his had. He was the past. Adrian was my future.
“Yeah,” I said, taking longer than I probably should have. “I . . . I do love him.”
—page 403
Even though Rose has admitted she loves Adrian, it’s impossible to ignore the connection between her and Dimitri. Being this close to him makes her dizzy. The attraction to each other hasn’t vanished—if anything, this trip has only made it stronger.
“What?” I asked uneasily. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He shook his head, the smile rueful now. “Because sometimes, a person can get so caught up in the details that they miss the whole. It’s not just the dress or the hair. It’s you. You’re beautiful. So beautiful, it hurts me.”
—page 404
Rose is reminded of how it was between them before Dimitri was turned Strigoi and everything went horribly wrong. Back when they were in the cabin in the woods . . . He’d looked at her the same way then, only with less sadness than there is now. He still thinks she’s beautiful—the confirmation helps free all the feelings for him she’d locked away—and feels that sense of oneness they’d shared. It’s as if they’re bound . . . but not in the way Lissa and Rose were, by a bond forced on them.
The moment—and it was most definitely a moment—is broken by Sydney’s appearance. The Alchemist would much rather hang out with the evil creatures upstairs that she knows than the ones downstairs that she doesn’t.
But then, suddenly, guardians are raiding the house! Rose and Dimitri must escape or else they’ll be killed, and in doing so they must leave everyone else behind. Rose only has enough time to shout at Sydney that she has to get Jill to Court before she and Dimitri jump out of the window to the ground below. Racing to get away from the gun-wielding guardians hot on their heels, Rose and Dimitri steal a car and finally manage to give their pursuers the slip. All their plans have fallen apart, but at least they’re still alive.
Dimitri picks up some supplies, and he and Rose head to a campground to pitch a tent for the night. They each take turns keeping watch while the other sleeps. Rose sleeps first and is pulled into a spirit dream. And this is a first—it’s with Sonya. She has some bad news to break to Rose. Everything that Rose worked for may have been for nothing—Victor and Robert took Jill from the house during the chaos earlier. Victor’s always wanted power and control—well, now he’s got a major bargaining chip in the form of a certain missing Dragomir. Sonya promises that she’ll help Rose get Jill back. She is a spirit user, after all. She’ll visit Jill in a dream and then from there determine her location.
Before the dream ends, Sonya comments on Rose and Dimitri’s auras—since her powers are the same as Adrian’s, she can also see them. She was surprised to hear Rose had another boyfriend, one who wasn’t Dimitri. Sonya doesn’t believe in soul mates, but she believes in souls being in sync—which is exactly what Rose and Dimitri’s auras show.
She also warns of the darkness she sees in Rose’s aura—Rose carries that dangerous darkness with her. One spark could be enough to make it explode.
Rose recounts the dream to Dimitri—minus the romantic soul-sync stuff. She’s deeply disturbed that Victor has innocent Jill in his nasty clutches.
While Dimitri sleeps, Rose visits Lissa. She finds her with Eddie, as Hans questions them about the Moroi staking. Everyone sticks to the truth—Eddie protected her from an attack. There was something weird about the Moroi’s hand—Lissa wonders if it’s the same Moroi who paid off Joe the janitor to give false testimony about Rose.
Hans tells Lissa the latest—her pal Rose has kidnapped Jill Mastrano. This is a complete shock for Lissa. Last she heard, Rose was safely tucked away at the original motel. And what would Rose want with Jill? It doesn’t make any sense.
Three Alchemists are brought into the room, including Sydney, who’d been taken into custody by the guardians who raided the Mastrano house. She denies she played any part in Rose’s escape from Court. Still, the guardians aren’t exactly convinced. The Alchemists will be kept under guardian surveillance at a hotel close to Court. As they’re leaving, an Alchemist named Ian spots the picture of the bad-handed Moroi and seems to recognize who it is. Rose mentally logs this for later reference.
Eddie’s detained, but Lissa needs to get to her last monarch test. This one is also presided over by Ekaterina. It’s a question that Lissa will be given time to consider: “What must a queen possess in order to truly rule her people?”
Rose snaps back to the reality of the tent when she senses movement. It’s Dimitri, who, in his sleep, has rolled up against her. The contact brings forth a flood of emotions she can’t control. The smart thing to do would be to push him away. She doesn’t. Instead, she pulls him closer.
His eyes opened, instantly alert. I expected him to jump away from me, but instead, he only assessed the situation—and didn’t move. I left my hand where it was on the side of his face, still stroking his hair. Our gazes locked, so much passing between us. In those moments, I wasn’t in a tent with him, on the run from those who regarded us as villains. There was no murderer to catch, no Strigoi trauma to overcome. There was just him and me and the feelings that had burned between us for so long.
—page 446
They come close to kissing, but at the last second Dimitri pulls away from her, seemingly frustrated.
Sonya arrives. She knows where Jill is. They head as a group to the motel where Victor and Robert have her. As the three of them close in, Rose tries to talk about what happened in the tent. They almost kissed! How could he stop something like that? But he knows it would be wrong—he refuses to try to take Rose away from Adrian, a man she’s admitted to loving. He’s very focused on doing the right thing after being Strigoi. Stealing Rose from another man would be wrong.
Their conversation is cut short when the brothers exit the motel with Jill in tow. Rose doesn’t wait for an invitation—she takes Victor down to the pavement hard.
“Well done,” he gasped out.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a very long time,” I growled.
Victor smiled through the pain and the blood. “Of course you have. I used to think Belikov was the savage one, but it’s really you, isn’t it? You’re the animal with no control, no higher reasoning except to fight and kill.”
—page 45
4
Victor summons his earth magic to create a mini-earthquake centered around Rose. But it’s not his magic that throws her off balance the most—it’s his threats toward Jill and Lissa and his claims that he can control them both now.
At the thought of the Dragomirs being in danger, Rose loses it. That darkness Sonya saw in her aura overwhelms her and suddenly, Victor becomes the epitome of every evil in the world. She lashes out at him with violence and strength, slamming him into a concrete wall like the uncontrollable animal he just accused her of being.
The strength of the blow is enough to kill Victor Dashkov. Robert is grief stricken, and Dimitri has to restrain him before he can try to work his spirit magic to bring his brother back to life. Meanwhile, Sonya directs Rose back to the car. She’s a murderer now—stunned, distraught, and talking crazy. The darkness that has always been at the edges, waiting to destroy her, has taken over.
Sonya takes Jill’s silver bracelet and charms it with healing magic to help Rose think a bit clearer. After disposing of Victor’s body, they head toward a hotel, where they can gather themselves and prepare for the next day. It should be a momentous one: they plan to head to Court with Jill.
Trying to escape herself, Rose visits Lissa through the bond. Adrian has located Serena, Lissa’s previous guardian. They want to question her about the secret Moroi training sessions—the ones mentioned in the threatening letter to the queen. She agrees to provide a list of names as soon as she can.
At the hotel, Sonya and Jill take a separate room so that Dimitri can talk to Rose alone. It’s a good thing too—Rose is destroyed over what she’s done. Victor was a villain, a bad guy, but he wasn’t really a threat to her. She murdered him without even a second thought. And her spirit darkness is no excuse.
Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide Page 18