Vampire Academy Chapter 5

FIVEOR RATHER, THEY HAD BEEN Strigoi. A regiment of guardians had hunted them dash off and killed them. If rumors were true, Christian had witnessed it either when he was genuinely young. And although he wasnt Strigoi himself, nearly people thought he wasnt far off, with the way he incessantly wore inexorable and kept to himself.Strigoi or non, I didnt hope him. He was a jerk, and I silently screamed at Lissa to charm prohibited of there not that my emit did much good. Stupid superstar-way bond.What are you doing here? she asked.Taking in the sights, of course. That ch mental strain with the tarp on it is snap officularly lovely this time of year. oer there, we have an old box full of the writings of the blessed and doddery St. Vladimir. And lets not forget that beautiful table with no legs in the recession.Whatever. She rolled her look and moved toward the door, hopeing to expire, save he blocked her way.Well, what nigh you? he taunted. wherefore are you up here? Dont you have parties to go to or lives to destroy? slightly of Lissas old spark re saturnine. Wow, thats hilarious. Am I a uniform(p) a rite of passage instantly? Go and send off if you can piss off Lissa to prove how cool you are? Some girl I dont even recognize yelled at me to mean solar day, and now Ive got to deal with you? What does it take to be left al integrity?Oh. So thats wherefore youre up here. For a blessing fellowship.This isnt a joke. Im serious. I could specialise Lissa was acquiring angry. It was trumping her earlier distress.He shrugged and leaned casu every(prenominal)y once morest the sloping w solely. So am I. I love pity parties. I wish Id brought the hats. What do you want to mope ab turn come on first? How its difference to take you a al atomic number 53 day to be popular and loved again? How youll have to endure a couple weeks earlier Hollister can ship out some new c look athing? If you spring for rush shipping, it might not be so long .Let me leave, she verbalise angrily, this time pushing him aside.Wait, he say, as she reached the door. The sarcasm disappeared from his voice. What?um, what was it like?What was what like? she snapped.organism out there. Away from the Academy.She hesitated for a signification before answering, caught off guard by what correspondmed like a genuine attempt at conversation. It was great. No atomic number 53(a) knew who I was. I was just an new(prenominal) face. Not Moroi. Not royal. Not anything. She looked pop up at the floor. Everyone here views they know who I am.Yeah. Its kind of terrible to outlive your past, he said acidicly.It occurred to Lissa at that moment and me to by default just how hard it might be to be Christian. Most of the time, people treated him like he didnt exist. Like he was a ghost. They didnt talk to or somewhat him. They just didnt notice him. The stigma of his parents crime was in like manner strong, casting its rump onto the entire Ozera fam ily.Still, hed pissed her off, and she wasnt almost to incur sorry for him.Wait is this your pity party now?He laughed, dear to approvingly. This room has been my pity party for a year now.Sorry, said Lissa snarkily. I was coming here before I left. Ive got a yearner claim.Squatters rights. Besides, I have to make original I expect near the chapel as much as possible so people know I havent gone Strigoi?yet. Again, the bitter tone rang out.I used to always see you at mass. Is that the only when reason you go? To look good? Strigoi couldnt enter holy ground. to a greater extent of that sinning-against-the-world thing.Sure, he said. Why else go? For the good of your soul?Whatever, said Lissa, who clearly had a different opinion. Ill leave you alone because.Wait, he said again. He didnt seem to want her to go. Ill make you a deal. You can feed up out here too if you guarantee me one thing.What? She glanced grit at him.He leaned forward. Of all the rumors I heard about you today and believe me, I heard plenty, even if no one actually told them to me there was one that didnt come up very much. They dissected everything else why you left, what you did out there, why you came back, the specialization, what go said to Mia, blah, blah, blah. And in all of that, no one, no one ever questioned that stupid story that Rose told about there macrocosm all sorts of fringe humans who let you take origin.She looked away, and I could feel her cheeks starting to burn. Its not stupid. Or a story.He laughed softly. Ive lived with humans. My aunt and I carry oned away later on my parents? kick eat upstairsd. Its not that easy to realize stock certificate. When she didnt answer, he laughed again. It was Rose, wasnt it? She provide you.A renewed fear shot by dint of both her and me. No one at school could know about that. Kirova and the guardians on the image knew, but theyd kept that knowledge to themselves.Well. If thats not friendship, I dont know what it is, he said.You cant tell anyone, she blurted out.This was all we needed. As Id just been reminded, feeders were vampire-bite addicts. We accepted that as part of life but withal looked down on them for it. For anyone else especially a dhampir letting a Moroi take blood from you was almost, well, dirty. In fact, one of the kinkiest, lots pornographic things a dhampir could do was let a Moroi drink blood during sex.Lissa and I hadnt had sex, of course, but wed both known what opposites would think of me feeding her.Dont tell anyone, Lissa repeated.He stuffed his workforce in his coat pockets and sat down on one of the crates. Who am I termination to tell? Look, go view the windowpane seat. You can have it today and accrue out for a while. If youre not ease afraid of me.She hesitated, studying him. He looked dark and surly, lips change surface in a sort of Im-such-a-rebel smirk. tho he didnt look too dangerous. He didnt look Strigoi. Gingerly, she sat back down in the wi ndow seat, unconsciously rubbing her arms against the cold.Christian watched her, and a moment later, the air warmed up considerably.Lissa met Christians eyes and pull a faced, surprised shed never sight how nippy blue they were before. You specialized in fire?He nodded and pulled up a broken chair. Now we have luxury accommodations.I snapped out of the vision.Rose? Rose?Blinking, I focused on Dimitris face. He was leaning toward me, his imparts gripping my shoulders. Id stopped walking we stood in the middle of the quad separating the speeding school buildings.Are you all right?I?yeah. I was?I was with Lissa? I put a hand to my forehead. Id never had such a long or clear experience like that. I was in her head.Her?head?Yeah. Its part of the bond. I didnt really feel like elaborating.Is she all right?Yeah, shes? I hesitated. Was she all right? Christian Ozera had just invited her to hang out with him. Not good. There was coasting through with(predicate) the middle, and then th ere was bend to the dark side. still the feelings humming through our bond were no longer scared or upset. She was almost content, though still a circumstantial nervous. Shes not in danger, I finally said. I hoped.Can you prevail going?The hard, stoic warrior Id met earlier was gone just for a moment and he actually looked concerned. Truly concerned. Feeling his eyes on me like that made something flutter inside of me which was stupid, of course. I had no reason to get all goofy, just because the man was too good- tone for his own good. afterwards all, he was an antisocial god, according to Mason. One who was divinatoryly going to leave me in all sorts of pain.Yeah. Im fine.I went into the gyms dressing room and changed into the workout clothes someone had finally thought to give me after a day of practicing in jeans and a T-shirt. Gross. Lissa hanging out with Christian troubled me, but I shoved that thought away for later as my muscles informed me they did not want to go through any much exercise today.So I suggested to Dimitri that maybe he should let me off this time.He laughed, and I was pretty sure it was at me and not with me.Why is that funny?Oh, he said, his smile dropping. You were serious.Of course I was Look, Ive technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this homework now? Let me go to bed, I whined. Its just one hour.He crossed his arms and looked down at me. His earlier concern was gone. He was all business now. hood love. How do you feel right now? subsequently the training youve do so far?I hurt like hell.Youll feel worsened tomorrow.So?So, better to jump in now while you still feel?not as bad.What kind of logic is that? I retorted. barely I didnt argue anymore as he led me into the clog room. He showed me the weights and reps he wanted me to do, then sprawled in a corner with a battered Western novel. Some god.When I finished, he stood beside me and present a few cool-down stretches.Howd you end up as Lissas g uardian? I asked. You werent here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school? He didnt answer right away. I got the feeling he didnt talk about himself very often. No. I attended the one in Siberia.Whoa. Thats got to be the only place worse than Montana.A glow of something maybe amusement sparked in his eyes, but he didnt acknowledge the joke. After I graduated, I was a guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently. His smile dropped, his face grew dark. They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assign me to her, since Id already be more or less. Not that it matters until she leaves campus.I thought about what hed said before. Some Strigoi killed the guy he was supposed to have been guarding? Did this lord die on your watch?No. He was with his other guardian. I was away.He fell silent, his mind obviously somewhere else. The Moroi expected a lot from us, but they did recognize that the guardians were more or less only human. So, guardians got comprise and time off like youd get in any other job. Some hard-core guardians like my mom refused vacations, vowing never to leave their Morois sides. looking at Dimitri now, I had a feeling he might very well turn into one of those. If hed been away on legitimate leave, he could hardly blame himself for what happened to that guy. Still, he probably did anyway. Id blame myself too if something happened to Lissa.Hey, I said, suddenly wanting to cheer him up, did you help come up with the externalise to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that.He arched an eyebrow curiously. Cool. Id always wished I could do that. Youre complimenting me on that?Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they time-tested.Last one?Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of psi-hounds.This was the first time we form you. In Portland.I sat up from my stretches and crossed my legs. Um, I dont think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it.Maybe, he said dismissively. I could tell by his face he didnt believe that.I returned to the novices dorm after that. The Moroi students lived on the other side of the quad, closer to the commons. The living arrangements were partly based on convenience. Being here kept us novices closer to the gym and training grounds. But we also lived separately to accommodate the differences in Moroi and dhampir lifestyles. Their dorm had almost no windows, aside from tinted ones that dimmed sunlight. They also had a special function where feeders always stayed on hand. The novices dorm was built in a more dedicate way, allowing for more light.I had my own room because there were so few novices, let alone girls. The room theyd habituated me was small and plain, with a twin bed and a desk with a computer. My few belongings had been merry out of Portland and now sat in boxes around the room. I rummaged through them, pulling out a T-shirt to sleep in. I shew a couple of pictures as I did, one of Lissa and me at a football game in Portland and another taken when Id gone on vacation with her family, a year before the accident.I set them on my desk and booted up the computer. Someone from tech support had helpfully given me a sheet with instructions for renewing my e-mail account and pose up a password. I did both, happy to disc over no one had realized that this would serve as a way for me to communicate with Lissa. besides tired to write to her now, I was about to turn everything off when I noticed I already had a message. From Janine Hathaway. It was shortIm glad youre back. What you did was inexcusable. hit the hay you too, Mom, I muttered, shutting it all down.When I went to bed afterward, I passed out before even hitting the pillow, and just as Dimitri had predicted, I matte up ten times worse when I woke up the next morning. be there in bed, I reconsidered the perks of running away. Then I reme mbered getting my ass kicked and figured the only way to prevent that from happening again was to go endure some more of it this morning.My soreness made it all that much worse, but I survived the before-school practice with Dimitri and my subsequent classes without passing out or fainting.At lunch, I dragged Lissa away from Natalies table early and gave her a Kirova-worthy lecture about Christian particularly chastising her for letting him know about our blood arrangement. If that got out, itd kill both of us socially and I didnt trust him not to tell.Lissa had other concerns.You were in my head again? she exclaimed. For that long?I didnt do it on purpose, I argued. It just happened. And thats not the point. How long did you hang out with him afterward?Not that long. It was kind of?fun.Well, you cant do it again. If people find out youre hanging out with him, theyll crucify you. I eyed her warily. You arent, like, into him, are you?She scoffed. No. Of course not.Good. Because if youre going to go after a guy, drop away Aaron back. He was boring, yes, but safe. Just like Natalie. How come all the guiltless people were so lame? Maybe that was the definition of safe.She laughed. Mia would claw my eyes out.We can take her. Besides, he deserves someone who doesnt shop at col Kids.Rose, youve got to stop saying things like that.Im just saying what you wont.Shes only a year younger, said Lissa. She laughed. I cant believe you think Im the one whos going to get us in trouble.Smiling as we strolled toward class, I gave her a sidelong glance. Aaron does look pretty good though, huh?She smiled back and avoided my eyes. Yeah. Pretty good.Ooh. You see? You should go after him.Whatever. Im fine being friends now.Friends who used to stick their tongues down each others throats.She rolled her eyes.Fine. I let my teasing go. Let Aaron stay in the nursery school. Just so long as you stay away from Christian. Hes dangerous.Youre overreacting. Hes not going Strigoi.Hes a ba d influence.She laughed. You think Im in danger of going Strigoi?She didnt wait for my answer, instead pushing ahead to open the door to our science class. Standing there, I uneasily replayed her words and then followed a moment later. When I did, I got to see royal spring in action. A few guys with giggling, watching girls were messing with a gangly-looking Moroi. I didnt know him very well, but I knew he was poor and certainly not royal. A couple of his tormentors were air-magic users, and theyd blown the papers off his desk and were pushing them around the room on currents of air while the guy tried to incur them.My instincts urged me to do something, maybe go smack one of the air users. But I couldnt pick a fight with everyone who annoyed me, and certainly not a group of royals especially when Lissa needed to stay off their radar. So I could only give them a look of disgust as I walked to my desk. As I did, a hand caught my arm. Jesse.Hey, I said jokingly. Fortunately, he d idnt appear to be participating in the torture session. men off the merchandise.He flashed me a smile but kept his hand on me. Rose, tell Paul about the time you started the fight in Ms. Karps class.I cocked my head toward him, giving him a playful smile. I started a lot of fights in her class.The one with the hermit crab. And the gerbil.I laughed, recalling it. Oh yeah. It was a hamster, I think. I just dropped it into the crabs tank, and they were both worked up from being so close to me, so they went at it.Paul, a guy sitting nearby whom I didnt really know, chuckled too. Hed transferred last year, apparently, and hadnt heard of this. Who won?I looked at Jesse quizzically. I dont remember. Do you?No. I just remember Karp freaking out. He turned toward Paul. Man, you should have seen this messed-up teacher we used to have. utilise to think people were after her and would go off on stuff that didnt make any sense. She was nuts. Used to wander campus while everyone was asleep.I sm iled tightly, like I thought it was funny. Instead, I thought back to Ms. Karp again, surprised to be thinking about her for the stake time in two days. Jesse was right she had wandered campus a lot when she still worked here. It was pretty creepy. Id run into her once unexpectedly.Id been climbing out of my dorm window to go hang out with some people. It was after hours, and we were all supposed to be in our rooms, fast asleep. Such escape tactics were a regular practice for me. I was good at them.But I fell that time. I had a second-floor room, and I lost my grip about halfway down. Sensing the ground rush up toward me, I tried desperately to grab hold of something and slow my fall. The buildings rough stone separate into my skin, causing cuts I was too preoccupied to feel. I slammed into the grassy earth, back first, getting the wind knocked out of me.Bad form, Rosemarie. You should be more careful. Your instructors would be disappointed.Peering through the tangle of my hair, I saw Ms. Karp looking down at me, a bemused look on her face. Pain, in the meantime, shot through every part of my body.Ignoring it as best I could, I clambered to my feet. Being in class with Crazy Karp while surrounded by other students was one thing. Standing outside alone with her was an entirely different matter. She always had an eerie, distracted gleam in her eye that made my skin intermission out in goose bumps.There was also now a high likelihood shed drag me off to Kirova for a detention. Scarier still.Instead, she just smiled and reached for my hands. I flinched but let her take them. She tsked when she saw the scrapes. Tightening her grip on them, she frowned slightly. A tingle burned my skin, laced with a sort of agreeable buzz, and then the wounds closed up. I had a brief sense of dizziness. My temperature spiked. The blood disappeared, as did the pain in my hip and leg.Gasping, I jerked my hands away. Id seen a lot of Moroi magic, but never anything like that.What ?what did you do?She gave me that weird smile again. Go back to your dorm, Rose. There are bad things out here. You never know whats following you.I was still staring at my hands. But?I looked back up at her and for the first time noticed scars on the sides of her forehead. Like nails had dug into them. She winked. I wont tell on you if you dont tell on me.I jumped back to the present, unsettled by the memory of that ludicrous night. Jesse, in the meantime, was telling me about a party.Youve got to slip your leash tonight. Were going up to that spot in the woods around eight thirty. visage got some weed.I sighed wistfully, regret replacing the chill Id felt over the memory of Ms. Karp. Cant slip that leash. Im with my Russian jailer.He let go of my arm, looking disappointed, and ran a hand through his bronze-colored hair. Yeah. Not being able to hang out with him was a damned shame. I really would have to guarantee that someday. Cant you ever get off for good behavior? he joked.I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile as I embed my seat. Sure, I called over my shoulder. If I was ever good.