Blood Promise va-4 Page 11

  “That night,” I continued, “Dimitri rushed out to face the Strigoi. He and I were together when we realized they were attacking. I wanted to stay and help him, but he wouldn’t let me. He just told me to go, to run off and alert others. And he stayed behind-not knowing how many Strigoi he’d have to take on while I went for help. I still don’t know how many he fought-but there were a bunch. And he took them all down alone.”

  I dared to look up at the faces around me. Everyone was so quiet and still that I wondered if they were breathing. “It was so hard,” I told them.

  Without realizing it, my voice had dropped to a whisper. I had to repeat myself more loudly. “It was so hard. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew I had to. He taught me so much, but one of the biggest things was that we have to protect others. It was my duty to warn everyone else, even though I just wanted to stay with him. The whole time, my heart kept saying, ‘Turn around, turn around. Go to him!’ But I knew what I had to do and I also knew part of him was trying to keep me safe. And if the roles had been reversed… well, I would have made him run too.”

  I sighed, surprised I’d revealed so much of my heart. I switched back to business. “Even when the other guardians joined him, Dimitri never backed down. He took down more Strigoi than almost anyone.” Christian and I had actually killed the most. “He… he was amazing.”

  I told them the rest of the story that I’d told the Belikovs. Only I actually forced a little detail this time, telling them vividly just how brave and fierce he had been. The words hurt me as I spoke, and yet… it was almost a relief to get them out. I’d kept the memories of that night too close to me.

  But eventually, I had to tell them about the cave. And that… that was the worst.

  “We’d trapped the escaping Strigoi in a cave. It had two entrances, and we came at them from both sides. Some of our people got trapped, though, and there were more Strigoi than we’d expected. We lost people… but we would have lost a lot more if Dimitri hadn’t been there. He wouldn’t leave until everyone was out. He didn’t care about the risk to himself. He only knew he had to save others…”

  I’d seen it in his eyes, that determination. Our plan had finally been to retreat as soon as we were all out, but I’d had the feeling he would have stayed and killed every Strigoi he could find. But he’d followed orders too, finally beginning his retreat when the others were safe. And in those last moments, just before the Strigoi had bitten him, Dimitri had met my eyes with a look so full of love that it was like that whole cave filled with light.

  His expression had said what we’d talked about earlier: We can be together, Rose. Soon. We’re almost there. And nothing will ever keep us apart again…

  I didn’t mention that part, though. When I finished the rest of the tale, the faces of those gathered were grim but filled with awe and respect. Near the back of the crowd, I noticed Abe and his guardians listening as well. His expression was unreadable. Hard, but not angry or scary. Small cups began circulating through the group, and someone handed me one. A dhampir I didn’t know, one of the few men present, stood up and raised his cup in the air. He spoke loudly and reverently, and I heard Dimitri’s name mentioned several times. When he finished, he drank from the cup.

  Everyone else did too, so I followed suit.

  And nearly choked to death.

  It was like fire in liquid form. It took every ounce of strength I had to swallow it and not spray it on those around me. “Wh… what is this?” I asked, coughing.

  Viktoria grinned. “Vodka.”

  I peered at the glass. “No, it isn’t. I’ve had vodka before.”

  “Not Russian vodka.”

  Apparently not. I forced the rest of the cup down out of respect to Dimitri, even though I had a feeling that if he were here, he’d be shaking his head at me. I thought I was done being in the spotlight after my story, but apparently not. Everyone kept asking me questions. They wanted to know more about Dimitri, more about what his life had been like recently. They also wanted to know about me and Dimitri as a couple. They all seemed to have figured out that Dimitri and I had been in love-and they were okay with it. I was asked about how we’d met, how long we’d been together…

  And the whole time, people kept refilling my cup. Determined not to look like an idiot again, I kept drinking until I could finally take the vodka down without coughing or spitting. The more I drank, the louder and more animated my stories became. My limbs started to tingle, and part of me knew this was all probably a bad idea. Okay, all of me knew it.

  Finally, people began to clear out. I had no idea what time it was, but I think it was the middle of the night. Maybe later. I stood as well, finding it much harder to do than I’d expected. The world wobbled, and my stomach wasn’t very happy with me. Someone caught a hold of my arm and steadied me.

  “Easy,” said Sydney. “Don’t push it.” Slowly, carefully, she led me toward the house.

  “God,” I moaned. “Do they use that stuff as rocket fuel?”

  “No one made you keep drinking it.”

  “Hey, don’t get preachy. Besides, I had to be polite.”

  “Sure,” she said.

  We made it inside and then had the impossible task of getting up the stairs to the room Olena had given me. Each step was agony.

  “They all knew about me and Dimitri,” I said, wondering if I’d be saying any of this sober. “But I never told them we were together.”

  “You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face.”

  “They acted like I was his widow or something.”

  “You might as well be.” We reached my room, and she helped me sit down on the bed. “Not a lot of people get married around here. If you’re with someone long enough, they figure it’s almost the same.”

  I sighed and stared off without any particular focus. “I miss him so much.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Will it ever get better?”

  The question seemed to catch her by surprise. “I… I don’t know.”

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  I wasn’t sure if that made her lucky or not. I wasn’t sure if all the bright days I’d had with Dimitri were worth the hurt I felt now. A moment later, I knew the truth. “Of course they were.”

  “Huh?” asked Sydney.

  I realized I’d spoken my thoughts out loud. “Nothing. Just talking to myself. I should get some sleep.”

  “Do you need anything else? Are you going to be sick?”

  I assessed my queasy stomach. “No, but thanks.”

  “Okay.” And in her typically brusque way, she left, turning off the lights and shutting the door.

  I would have thought I’d pass out right away. Honestly, I wanted to. My heart had been opened up to too much of Dimitri tonight, and I wanted that pain to go away. I wanted blackness and oblivion. Instead, maybe because I was a glutton for punishment, my heart decided to finish the job and rip itself completely open.

  I went to visit Lissa.

  CHAPTER 10

  Everyone had hit it off so well at lunch with Avery that the group had gotten together again that evening and had kind of a wild time. Lissa was thinking about that as she sat in her first-period English class the next morning. They’d stayed up late last night, sneaking out past curfew. The memory brought a smile to Lissa’s face, even as she stifled a yawn. I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of jealousy. I knew Avery was responsible for Lissa’s happiness, and that bothered me on a petty level. Yet… Avery’s new friendship was also making me feel less guilty about leaving Lissa.

  Lissa yawned again. It was hard to concentrate on The Scarlet Letter while fighting a slight hangover. Avery seemed to have a never-ending supply of liquor. Adrian had taken to this right away, but Lissa had been a little more hesitant. She’d abandoned her partying days a long time ago, but she’d finally succumbed last night and drunk more glasses of wine than she really should have. It wa
sn’t unlike my situation with the vodka, ironically enough. Both of us overindulging, despite being miles and miles apart.

  Suddenly, a high-pitched wail pierced the air. Lissa’s head shot up, along with everyone else’s in the class. In a corner of the room, a small fire alarm flashed and shrieked its warning. Naturally, some students started cheering while some pretended to be scared. The rest just looked surprised and waited.

  Lissa’s instructor also looked a little caught off guard, and after a quick examination, Lissa decided this wasn’t a planned alarm. Teachers usually had a heads-up when there were drills, and Ms. Malloy didn’t wear the usual weary expression teachers had when trying to figure out how much time the drill would cut from their lessons.

  “Up and at ’em,” said Ms. Malloy in annoyance, grabbing a clipboard. “You know where to go.” Fire drill procedure was pretty standard.

  Lissa followed the others and fell in step with Christian. “Did you set this up?” she teased.

  “Nope. Wish I had, though. This class is killing me.”

  “You? I have the worst headache ever.”

  He gave her a knowing grin. “Let that be a lesson to you, Little Miss Lush.”

  She made a face in return and gave him a light punch. They reached their class’s meeting spot out on the quad and joined in the semblance of a line the others were trying to form. Ms. Malloy arrived and checked everyone off on her clipboard, satisfied no one had been left behind.

  “I don’t think this was planned,” said Lissa.

  “Agreed,” said Christian. “Which means even if there’s no fire, it might take a while.”

  “Well, then. No use waiting around, huh?”

  Christian and Lissa turned around in surprise at the voice behind them and saw Avery. She wore a purple sweater dress and black heels that seemed totally out of place on the wet grass.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Lissa. “Figured you’d be in your room.”

  “Whatever. It’s so boring there. I had to come liberate you guys.”

  “You did this?” asked Christian, slightly impressed.

  Avery shrugged. “I told you, I was bored. Now, come on while it’s still chaotic.”

  Christian and Lissa exchanged glances. “Well,” said Lissa slowly, “I suppose they did already take attendance…”

  “Hurry!” said Avery. Her excitement was contagious, and, feeling bold, Lissa hurried after her, Christian in tow. With all the milling students, no one noticed them cutting across the campus-until they reached the outside of guest housing. Simon stood leaning against the door, and Lissa stiffened. They were busted.

  “Everything set?” Avery asked him.

  Simon, definitely the strong-and-silent type, gave a swift nod as his only answer before straightening up. He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and walked off. Lissa stared in amazement.

  “He just… he just let us go? And is he in on it?” Simon wasn’t on campus as a teacher, but still… that didn’t necessarily mean he’d let students skip out on class because of a faked fire drill.

  Avery grinned mischievously, watching him go. “We’ve been together for a while. He’s got better things to do than babysit us.”

  She led them inside, but instead of going to her room, they cut off to a different section of the building and went somewhere I knew well: Adrian’s room.

  Avery beat on the door. “Hey, Ivashkov! Open up.”

  Lissa slapped a hand over her mouth to smother her giggles. “So much for stealth. Everyone’s going to hear you.”

  “I need him to hear me,” Avery argued.

  She kept pounding on the door and yelling, and finally, Adrian answered. His hair stuck up at odd angles, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

  He’d drunk twice as much as Lissa last night.

  “What…?” He blinked. “Shouldn’t you guys be in class? Oh God. I didn’t sleep that much, did I?”

  “Let us in,” said Avery, pushing past. “We’ve got refugees from a fire here.”

  She flounced onto his couch, making herself at home while he continued staring. Lissa and Christian joined her.

  “Avery sprang the fire alarm,” explained Lissa.

  “Nice work,” said Adrian, collapsing into a fluffy chair. “But why’d you have to come here? Is this the only place that’s not burning down?”

  Avery batted her eyelashes at him. “Aren’t you happy to see us?”

  He eyed her speculatively for a moment. “Always happy to see you.”

  Lissa was normally pretty straitlaced about this kind of thing, but something about it amused her. It was so wild, so silly… it was a break from all her recent worries. “It’s not going to take them that long to figure it out, you know. They could be letting everyone in right now.”

  “They could be,” agreed Avery, putting her feet up on the coffee table. “But I have it on good authority that another alarm is going to go off in the school once they open the doors.”

  “How the hell did you manage that?” asked Christian.

  “Top secret.”

  Adrian rubbed his eyes and was clearly amused by this, despite the abrupt wake-up. “You can’t pull fire alarms all day, Lazar.”

  “Actually, I have it on good authority that once they give the all-clear on a second alarm, a third’s going to go off.”

  Lissa laughed out loud, though a lot of it was due more to the guys’ reactions and less to Avery’s announcement. Christian, in fits of antisocial rebellion, had set people on fire. Adrian spent most of his days drunk and chain-smoking. For a cute society girl like Avery to astonish them, something truly remarkable had to happen. Avery looked very pleased at having outdone them.

  “If the interrogation’s over now,” she said, “aren’t you going to offer your guests any refreshments?”

  Adrian stood up and yawned. “Fine, fine, you insolent girl. I’ll make coffee.”

  “With a kick?” She inclined her head toward Adrian’s liquor cabinet.

  “You have got to be kidding,” said Christian. “Do you even have a liver left?”

  Avery wandered over to the cabinet and picked up a bottle of something. She held it out to Lissa. “You game?”

  Even Lissa’s morning rebelliousness had limits. The wine headache still throbbed in her skull. “Ugh, no.”

  “Cowards,” said Avery. She turned back to Adrian. “Well then, Mr. Ivashkov, you’d best put on the pot. I always like a little coffee with my brandy.”

  Not long after that, I faded away from Lissa’s head and drifted back into my own, returning to the blackness of sleep and ordinary dreams. It was short-lived, however, seeing as a loud pounding soon jerked me into consciousness.

  My eyes flew open, and a deep, searing pain shot through the back of my skull-the aftereffects of that toxic vodka, no doubt. Lissa’s hangover had nothing on mine. I started to close my eyes, wanting to sink back under and let sleep heal the worst of my pain. Then, I heard the pounding again — and worse, my whole bed shook violently. Someone was kicking it.

  Opening my eyes again, I turned and found myself staring into Yeva’s shrewd dark eyes. If Sydney had met many dhampirs like Yeva, I could understand why she thought our race were minions of hell. Pursing her lips, Yeva kicked the bed again.

  “Hey,” I cried. “I’m awake, okay?”

  Yeva muttered something in Russian, and Paul peered around from behind her, translating. “She says you’re not awake until you’re actually out of bed and standing up.”

  And with no more warning, that sadistic old woman continued kicking the bed. I jerked upright, and the world spun around me. I’d said this before, but this time, I really meant it: I was never going to drink again. No good ever came from it. The covers looked awfully tempting to my agonized body, but a few more kicks from Yeva’s pointy-toed boots made me shoot up off the bed.

  “Okay, okay. Are you happy now? I’m up.” Yeva’s expression didn’t change, but at least she stopped with the kicking. I turned
to Paul. “What’s going on?”

  “Grandmother says you have to go with her.”

  “Where?”

  “She says you don’t need to know.”

  I started to say that I wasn’t following that crazy old wench anywhere, but after one look at her scary face, I thought better of it. I didn’t put it past her to be able to turn people into toads.

  “Fine,” I said. “I’ll be ready to go once I shower and change.”

  Paul translated my words, but Yeva shook her head and spoke again. “She says there’s no time,” he explained. “We have to go now.”

  “Can I at least brush my teeth?”

  She allowed that small concession, but a change of clothes was apparently out of the question. It was just as well. Each step I took made me feel woozy, and I probably would have passed out doing something as complicated as dressing and undressing. The clothes didn’t smell or anything either; they were mostly just wrinkled from where I’d fallen asleep in them.

  When I got downstairs, I saw that no one else was awake except Olena. She was washing leftover dishes from last night and seemed surprised to see me up. That made two of us.

  “It’s early for you, isn’t it?” she asked.

  I turned and caught sight of the kitchen clock. I gasped. It was only about four hours after I’d gone to bed. “Good God. Is the sun even up?”

  Amazingly, it was. Olena offered to make me breakfast, but again, Yeva reiterated our time crunch. My stomach seemed to simultaneously want and loathe food, so I couldn’t say if abstaining was a good thing or not.

  “Whatever,” I said. “Let’s just go and get this over with.”

  Yeva walked into the living room and returned a few moments later with a large satchel. She handed it to me expectantly. I shrugged and took it, hanging it over one shoulder. It clearly had stuff in it, but it wasn’t that heavy. She went back out to the other room and returned with another tote bag. I took this one too and hung it over the same shoulder, balancing both of them. This one was heavier, but my back didn’t complain too much.