There was a collective «ew» from among the girls. Sex and blood with dhampirs was dirty; between Moroi, it was cannibalistic.
"You are such a liar, " said Camille.
"No, I'm serious. It was just a small bite. She didn't get high like the feeders. Didyou? " He put his free arm around my shoulder. "Did you like it?"
Lisa's face went still and pale. Alcohol muted the full force of her feelings, but I could read enough to know how she felt. Dark, scared thoughts trickled into me-underscored with anger. She usually had a good grip on her temper-unlike me-but I'd seen it flare up before. Once it had happened at a party very similar to this one, just a few weeks after Ms. Karp had been taken away.
Greg Dashkov-a distant cousin of Natalie's-had held the party in his room. His parents apparently knew someone who knew someone, because he had one of the biggest rooms in the dorm. He'd been friends with Lisa's brother before the accident and had been more than happy to take Andre's little sister into his social fold. Greg had also been happy to take me in, and the two of us had been all over each other that night. For a sophomore like me, being with a royal Moroi senior was a huge rush. I drank a lot that night but still managed to keep an eye on Lisa. She always wore an edge of anxiety around this many people, but no one really noticed, because she could interact with them so well. My heavy buzz kept a lot of her feelings from me, but as long as she looked okay, I didn't worry. Mid-kiss, Greg suddenly broke away and looked at something over my shoulder. We both sat in the same chair, with me on his lap, and I craned my neck to see. "What is it?" He shook his head with a sort of amused exasperation. "Wade brought a feeder."
I followed his gaze to where Wade Voda stood with his arm around a frail girl about my age. She was human and pretty, with wavy blond hair and porcelain skin pale from so much blood loss. A few other guys had homed on her and stood with Wade, laughing and touching her face and hair.
"She's already fed too much today, " I said, observing her coloring and complete look of confusion.
Greg slid his hand behind my neck and turned me back to him. "They won't hurt her."
We kissed a while longer and then I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Rose."
I looked up into Lisa's face. Her anxious expression startled me because I couldn't feel the emotions behind it.Too much beer for me. I climbed off of Greg's lap.
"Where are you going? " he asked.
"Be right back. " I pulled Lisa aside, suddenly wishing I was sober. "What's wrong?"
"Them."
She nodded toward the guys with the feeder girl. She still had a group around her, and when she shifted to look at one of them, I saw small red wounds scattered on her neck. They were doing a sort of group feeding, taking turns biting her and making gross suggestions. High and oblivious, she let them.
"They can't do that, " Lisa told me.
"She's a feeder. Nobody's going to stop them."
Lisa looked up at me with pleading eyes. Hurt, outrage, and anger filled them. "Willyou?"
I'd always been the aggressive one, looking after her ever since we were little. Seeing her there now, so upset and looking at me to fixthings, was more than I could stand. Giving her a shaky nod, I stumbled over to the group.
"You so desperate to get some that you've got to drug girls now, Wade? " I asked.
He glanced up from where he'd been running his lips over the human girl's neck. "Why? Are you done with Greg and looking for more?"
I put my hands on my hips and hoped I looked fierce. The truth was,I was actually starting to feel a little nauseous from all I'd drunk. "Aren't enough drugs in the world to get me near you, " I told him. A few of his friends laughed. "But maybe you can go make out with that lamp over there. It seems to be out of it enough to make even you happy. You don't needher anymore. " A few other people laughed.
"This isn't any of your business, " he hissed. "She's just lunch. " Referring to feeders as meals was about the only thing worse than calling dhampirs blood whores.
"This isn't a feeding room. Nobody wants to see this."
«Yeah,» agreed a senior girl. "It's gross. " A few of her friends agreed.
Wade glared at all of us, me the hardest. "Fine. None of you have to see it. Come on. " He grabbed the feeder girl's arm and jerked her away. Clumsily, she stumbled along with him out of the room, making soft whimpering noises.
"Best I could do, " I told Lisa.
She stared at me, shocked. "He's just going to take her to his room. He'll do even worse things to her."
"Lis', I don't like it either, but it's not like I can go chase him down or anything. " I rubbed my forehead.
"I could go punch him or something, but I feel like I'm going to throw up as it is."
Her face grew dark, and she bit her lip. "He can't do that."
"I'm sorry."
I returned to the chair with Greg, feeling a little bad about what had happened. I didn't want to see the feeder get taken advantage of anymore than Lisa did-it reminded me too much of what a lot of Moroi guys thought they cold do to dhampir girls. But I also couldn't win this battle, not tonight.
Greg had shifted me around to get a better angle on my neck when I noticed Lisa was gone a few minutes later. Practically falling, I clambered off his lap and looked around. "Where's Lisa?"
He reached for me. "Probably the bathroom."
I couldn't feel a thing through the bond. The alcohol had numbed it. Stepping out into the hallway, I breathed a sigh of relief at escaping the loud music and voices. It was quiet out here-except for a crashing sound a couple rooms down. The door was ajar, and I pushed my way inside.
The feeder girl cowered in a corner, terrified. Lisa stood with arms crossed, her face angry and terrible.
She was staring at Wade intently, and he stared back, enchanted. He also held a baseball bat, and it looked like he'd used it already, because the room was trashed: bookshelves, the stereo, the mirror….
"Break the window too, " Lisa told him smoothly. "Come on. It doesn't matter."
Hypnotized, he walked over to the large, tinted window. I stared, my mouth nearly hitting the floor, as he pulled back and slammed the bat into the glass. It shattered, sending shards everywhere and letting in the early morning light it normally kept blocked out. He winced as it shone in his eyes, but he didn't move away.
«Lisa,» I exclaimed. "Stop it. Make him stop."
"He should have stopped earlier."
I barely recognized the look on her face. I'd never seen her so upset, and I'd certainly never seen her do anything like this. I knew what it was, of course. I knew right away.Compulsion. For all I knew, she was seconds away from having him turn the bat on himself.
"Please, Lisa. Don't do it anymore. Please."
Through the fuzzy, alcoholic buzz, I felt a trickle of her emotions. They were strong enough to practically knock me over.Black.Angry.Merciless.Startling feelings to be coming from sweet and steady Lisa. I'd known her since kindergarten, but in that moment, I barely knew her.
And I was afraid.
"Please, Lisa, " I repeated. "He's not worth it. Let him go."
She didn't look at me. Her stormy eyes were focused entirely on Wade. Slowly carefully, he lifted up the bat, tilting it so that it lined up with his own skull.
"Lis', " I begged. Oh God. I was going to have to tackle her or something to make her stop. "Don't do it."
"He should have stopped, " Lisa said evenly. The bat quit moving. It was now at exactly the right distance to gain momentum and strike. "He shouldn't have done that to her. People can't treat other people like that-even feeders."
"But you're scaring her, " I said softly. "Look at her."
Nothing happened at first,then Lisa let her gaze flick toward the feeder. The human girl still sat huddled in a corner, arms wrapped aroundherself protectively. Her blue eyes were enormous, and light reflected off her wet, tear-streaked face. She gave a choked, terrified sob.
Lisa's face stayed impassive. Inside her, I could feel the battle sh
e was waging for control. Some part of her didn't want to hurt Wade, despite the blinding anger that otherwise filled her. Her face crumpled, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her right hand reached out to her left wrist and clenched it, nails digging deep into the flesh. She flinched at the pain, but through the bond, I felt the shock of the pain distract her from Wade.
She let go of the compulsion, and he dropped the bat, suddenly looking confused. I let go of the breath I'd been holding. In the hallway, footsteps sounded. I'd left the door open, and the crash had attracted attention. A couple of dorm staff members burst into the room, freezing when they saw the destruction in front of them.
"What happened?"
The rest of us looked at each other. Wade looked completely lost. He stared at the room, at the bat, and then at Lisa and me. "I don't know…I can't… " He turned his full attention to me and suddenly grew angry. "What the-it was you! You wouldn't let the feeder thing go."
The dorm workers looked at me questioningly, and in a few seconds, I made up my mind.
You have to protect her. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get. Stop her, Rose. Stop her before they notice, before they notice and take her away too. Get her out of here.
I could see Ms. Karp's face in my mind, pleading frantically. I gave Wade a haughty look, knowing full well no one would question a confession I made or even suspect Lisa.
"Yeah, well, if you'd let her go, " I told him, "I wouldn't have had to do this."
Save her. Save her from herself.
After that night, I never drank again. I refused to let my guard down around Lisa. And two days later, while I was supposed to be suspended for "destruction of property, " I took Lisa and broke out of the Academy.
Back in Lisa's room, with Xander's arm around me and her angry and upset eyes on us, I didn't know if she'd do anything drastic again. But the situation reminded me too much of that one from two years ago, and I knew I had to defuse it.
"Just a little blood, " Xander was saying. "I won't take much. I just want to see what dhampir tastes like. Nobody here cares."
«Xander,» growled Lisa, "leave her alone."
I slipped out from under his arm and smiled, looking for a funny retort rather than one that might start a fight. "Come on, " I teased. "I had to hit the last guy who asked me that, and you're a hell of a lot prettier than Jesse. It'd be a waste."
«Pretty?» he asked. "I'm stunningly sexy but notpretty."
Carly laughed. "No, you're pretty. Todd told me you buy some kind of French hair gel."
Xander, distracted as so manydrunk people easily are, turned around to defend his honor, forgetting me.
The tension disappeared, and he took the teasing about his hair with a good attitude.
Across the room, Lisa met my eyes with relief. She smiled and gave me a small nod of thanks before she returned her attention to Aaron.
CHAPTER 16
The next day, it fully hit me how much things had changed since the Jesse-and-Ralf rumors first started. For some people, I remained a nonstop source of whispers and laughter. From Lisa's converts, I received friendliness and occasional defense. Overall, I realized, our classmates actually gave me very little of their attention anymore. This became especially true when something new distracted everyone. Lisa and Aaron.
Apparently, Mia had found about the party and had blown up when she learned that Aaron had been there without her. She'd bitched at him and told him that if he wanted to be with her, he couldn't run around and hang out with Lisa. So Aaron had decided he didn't want to be with her. He'd broken up with her that morning…and moved on.
Now he and Lisa were all over each other. They stood around in the hall and at lunch, arms wrapped around one another, laughing and talking. Lisa's bond feelings showed only mild interest, despite her gazing at him as though he was the most fascinating thing on the planet. Most of this was for show, unbeknownst to him. He looked as though he could have built a shrine at her feet at any moment.
And me?I felt ill.
My feelings were nothing, however, compared to Mia's. At lunch, she sat on the far side of the room from us, eyes fixed pointedly ahead, ignoring the consolations of the friends near her. She had blotchy pink patches on her pale, round cheeks, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She said nothing mean when I walked past. No smug jokes. No mocking glares. Lisa had destroyed her, just as Mia had vowed to do us.
The only person more miserable than Mia was Christian.Unlike her, he had no qualms about studying the happy couple while wearing an open look of hatred on his face. As usual, no one except me even noticed.
After watching Lisa and Aaron make out for the tenth time, I left lunch early and went to see Ms.
Carmack, the teacher who taught elemental basics. I'dbeen wanting to ask her something for a while.
"Rose, right? "She seemed surprised to see me but not angry or annoyed like half the other teachers did lately.
"Yeah.I have a question about, um, magic."
She raised an eyebrow. Novices didn't take magic classes. "Sure. What do you want to know?"
"I was listening to the priest talk about St. Vladimir the other day…Do you know what element he specialized in?Vladimir, I mean. Not the priest."
She frowned. "Odd. As famous as he is around here, I'm surprised it never comes up. I'm no expert, but in all the stories I've heard, he never did anything that I'd say connects to any one of the elements. Either that or no one ever recorded it."
"What about his healings? " I pushed further. "Is there an element that lets you perform those?"
"No, not that I know of. "Her lips quirked into a small smile. "People of faith would say he healed through the power of God, not any sort of elemental magic. After all, one thing the stories are certain about is that he was 'full of spirit. "
"Is it possible he didn't specialize?"
Her smile faded. "Rose, is this really about St. Vladimir? Or is it about Lisa?"
"Not exactly… " I stammered.
"I know it's hard on her-especially in front of all her classmates-but she has to be patient, " she explained gently. "It will happen. It always happens."
"But sometimes it doesn't."
"Rarely.But I don't think she'll be one of those. She's got a higher-than-average aptitude in all four, even if she hasn't hit specialized levels. One of them will shoot up any day now."
That gave me an idea. "Is it possible to specialize in more than one element?"
She laughed and shook her head. "No.Too much power. No one could handle all that magic, not without losing her mind."
Oh.Great.
"Okay. Thanks. " I started to leave,then thought of something else. "Hey, do you remember Ms. Karp? What did she specialize in?"
Ms. Carmack got that uncomfortable look other teachers did whenever anyone mentioned Ms. Karp.
"Actually-"
"What?"
"I almost forgot. I think she really was one of the rare ones who never specialized. She just always kept a very low control over all four.»
I spent the rest of my afternoon classes thinking about Ms. Carmack's words, trying to work them into my unified Lisa-Karp-Vladimir theory. I also watched Lisa. So many people wanted to talk to her now that she barely noticed my silence. Every so often, though, I'd see her glance at me andsmile, a tired look in her eyes. Laughing and gossiping all day with people she only sort of liked was taking its toll on her.
"The mission's accomplished, " I told her after school. "We can stop Project Brainwash."
We sat on benches in the courtyard, and she swung her legs back and forth. "What do you mean?"
"You've done it. You stopped people from making my life horrible. You destroyed Mia. You stole Aaron. Play with him for another couple weeks,then drop him and the other royals. You'll be happier."
"You don't think I'm happy now?"
"I know you aren't. Some of the parties are fun, but you hate pretending to be friends with people you don't like-and you don't like most of them. I know how much
Xander pissed you off the other night."
"He's a jerk, but I can deal with that. If I stop hanging out with them, everything'll go back to the way it was. Mia will just start up again. This way, she can't bother us."
"It's not worth it if everything else is bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me. " She sounded a little defensive.
"Yeah? "I asked meanly. "Because you're so in love with Aaron?Because you can't wait to have sex with him again?"
She glared at me. "Have I mentioned you can be a huge bitch sometimes?"
I ignored that. "I'm just saying you've got enough shit to worry about without all this. You're burning yourself out with all the compulsion you're using."
«Rose!» She glanced anxiously around. "Be quiet!"
"But it's true. Using it all the time is going to screw with your head.For real."
"Don't you think you're getting carried away?"
"What about Ms. Karp?"
Lisa's expression went very still. "What about her?"
"You.You're just like her."
"No, I'm not! " Outrage flashed in those green eyes.
"She healed too."
Hearing me talk about this shocked her. This topic had weighed us down for so long, but we'd almost never spoken about it.
"That doesn't mean anything."
"You don't think it does? Do you know anyone else who can do that? Or can use compulsion on dhampirsand Moroi?"
"She never used compulsion like that, " she argued.
"She did. She tried to use it on me the night she left. It started to work, but then they took her away before she finished. " Or had they? After all, it was only a month later that Lisa and I had run away from the Academy. I'd always thought that was my own idea, but maybe Ms. Karp's suggestion had been the true force behind it.
Lisa crossed her arms. Her face looked defiant, but her emotions felt uneasy. "Fine. So what? So she's a freak like me. That doesn't mean anything. She went crazy because…well, that was just the way she was. That's got nothing to do with anything else."
"But it's not just her, " I said slowly. "There's someone else like you guys, too. Someone I found. " I hesitated. "You know St. Vladimir…."
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