Someone you trust."
"Lisa wouldn't like that. " I considered. "Neither would I."
"Yeah, well, we all have to do things we don't like. That's life."
My snarky switch flipped on. "What are you, an after-school special?"
A ghostly smile flickered across his face. "If you weren't so psychotic, you'd be fun to hang around."
"Funny, I feel that way about you too."
He didn't say anything else, but the smile grew, and he walked away.
CHAPTER 17
Afew days later, Lisa found me outside the commons and delivered the most astonishing news.
"Uncle Victor's getting Natalie off campus this weekend to go shopping inMissoula.For the dance. They said I could come along."
I didn't say anything. She looked surprised at my silence.
"Isn't that cool?"
"Foryou, I guess. No malls or dances in my future."
She smiled excitedly. "He told Natalie she could bring two other people besides me. I convinced her to bring you and Camille."
I threw up my hands. "Well, thanks, but I'm not even supposed to go to the library after school. No one's going to let me go toMissoula."
"Uncle Victor thinks he can get Headmistress Kirova to let you go. Dimitri's trying too."
"Dimitri?"
"Yeah.He has to go with me if I leave campus. " She grinned, taking my interest in Dimitri as interest in the mall. "They figured out my account finally-I got my allowance back. So we can buy other stuff along with dresses. And you know if they let you go to the mall, they'll have to let you go to the dance."
"Do we go to dances now? " I said. We never had before.School-sponsored social events? No way.
"Of course not.But you know there'll be all kinds of secret parties. We'll start at the dance and sneak off. " She sighed happily. "Mia's so jealous she can barely stand it."
She went on about all the stores we'd go to, all the things we'd buy. I admit,I was kind of excited at the thought of getting some new clothes, but I doubted I'd actually get this mythical release.
"Oh hey, " she said excitedly. "You should see these shoes Camille let me borrow. I never knew we wore the same size. Hang on. " She opened her backpack and began rifling through it.
Suddenly, she screamed and threw it down. Books and shoes spilled out. So did a dead dove.
It was one of the pale brown mourning doves that sat on wires along the freeway and under trees on campus. It had so much blood on it that I couldn't figure out where the wound was. Who knew
something so small even had that much blood? Regardless, the bird was definitely dead.
Covering her mouth, Lisa stared wordlessly, eyes wide.
"Son of a bitch, " I swore. Without hesitating, I grabbed a stick and pushed the little feathered body aside. When it was out of the way, I started shoving her stuff back into the backpack, trying not to think about dead-bird germs. "Why the hell does this keep-Lis'!"
I leapt over and grabbed her, pulling her away. She had been kneeling on the ground, with her hand outstretched to the dove. I don't think she'd even realized what she was about to do. The instinct in her was sostrong, it acted on its own.
«Lisa,» I said, tightening my hand around hers. She was still leaning toward the bird. "Don't. Don't do it."
"I can save it."
"No, you can't. You promised, remember? Some things have to stay dead. Let this one go. " Still feeling her tension, I pleaded. "Please, Lis'. You promised. No more healings. You said you wouldn't. You promised me."
After a few more moments, I felt her hand relax and her body slump against mine. "I hate this, Rose. I hate all of this."
Natalie walked outside then, oblivious to the gruesome sight awaiting her.
"Hey, do you guys-oh my God! " she squealed, seeing the dove. "What is that?"
I helped Lisa as we rose to our feet. "Another, um, prank."
"Is it…dead? " She scrunched up her face in disgust.
«Yes,» I said firmly.
Natalie, picking up on our tension, looked between the two of us. "What else is wrong?"
"Nothing. "I handed Lisa her backpack. "This is just someone's stupid, sick joke, and I'm going to tell Kirova so they can clean this up."
Natalie turned away, looking a little green. "Why do people keep doing this to you? It's horrible."
Lisa and I exchanged looks.
"I have no idea, " I said. Yet as I walked to Kirova's office, I started to wonder.
When we'd found the fox, Lisa had hinted that someone must know about the raven. I hadn't believed that. We'd been alone in the woods that night, and Ms. Karp wouldn't have told anyone. But what if someone actually had seen? What if someone kept doing this not to scare her, but to see if she'd heal again? What had the rabbit note said?Iknow what you are.
I didn't mention any of this to Lisa; I figured there were only so many of my conspiracy theories she could handle. Besides, when I saw her the next day, she'd practically forgotten the dove in light of other news: Kirova had given me permission to go on the trip that weekend. The prospect of shopping can brighten a lot of dark situations-even animal murder-and I put my own worries on hold.
Only, when the time came, I discovered my release came with strings attached.
"Headmistress Kirova thinks you've done well since coming back, " Dimitri told me.
"Aside from starting a fight in Mr. Nagy's class?"
"She doesn't blame you for that. Not entirely. I convinced her you needed a break…and that you could use this as a training exercise."
"Training exercise?"
He gave me a brief explanation as we walked out to meet the others going with us. Victor Dashkov, as sickly as ever, was there with his guardians, and Natalie practically barreled into him. He smiled and gave her a careful hug, one that ended when a coughing fit took over. Natalie's eyes went wide with concern as she waited for it to pass.
He claimed he was fine to accompany us, and while I admired his resolve, I thought he'd be putting himself through a lot just to shop with a bunch of teenage girls.
We rode out the two-hour trip toMissoula in a large school van, leaving just after sunrise. Many Moroi lived separately from humans, but many also lived among them, and when shopping at their malls, you had to go during their hours. The back windows of the van had tinted glass to filter the light and keep the worst of it away from the vampires.
We had nine people in our group: Lisa, Victor, Natalie, Camille, Dimitri, me, and three other guardians. Two of the guardians, Ben and Spiridon, always traveled with Victor. The third was one of the school's guardians: Stan, the jerk who'd humiliated me on my first day back.
"Camille and Natalie don't have personal guardians yet, " Dimitri explained to me. "They're both under the protection of their families' guardians. Since they are Academy students leaving campus, a school guardian accompanies them-Stan. I go because I'm Lisa's assigned guardian. Most girls her age wouldn't have a personal guardian yet, but circumstances make her unusual."
I sat in the back of the van with him and Spiridon, so they could dispense guardian wisdom to me as part of the "training exercise. " Ben and Stan sat up front, while the others sat in the middle. Lisa and Victor talked to each other a lot, catching up on news. Camille, raised to be polite among older royals, smiled and nodded along. Natalie, on the other hand, looked left out and kept trying to shift her father's attention from Lisa. It didn't work. He'd apparently learned to tune out her chatter.