“Rose?” he asked. There was so much pain in his voice. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling on the verge of tears. Lissa. I had to get to Lissa. “This isn’t real. You’re gone. You and I can never be together, but I can still help her.”
“You love her more than me?”
Lissa had asked me almost the same thing when I’d left to hunt Dimitri. My life was doomed to always be about choosing between them.
“I love you both,” I replied.
And with that, I used all of my will to push myself back to Lissa, wherever she was, and tear away from this fantasy. Honestly, I could have spent the rest of my days in that make-believe world, being with Dimitri in that house, waking up with him each morning like he’d said. But it wasn’t real. It was too easy, and if I was learning anything, it was that life wasn’t easy.
The effort was excruciating, but suddenly, I found myself looking back at the room at St. Vladimir’s. I focused on Avery who was staring me and Lissa down. She’d pulled out the memory that tormented me most, attempting to confuse me and tear me from Lissa with a fantasy of what I wanted more than anything else in the world. I’d fought Avery’s mind trap and felt pretty smug about it—despite the ache in my heart. I wished I could communicate directly with her and make a few comments about what I thought of her and her game. That was out of the question, so instead, I threw my will in with Lissa’s once more, and together, we stepped down off the ledge and onto the room’s floor.
Avery was visibly sweating, and when she realized she’d lost the psychic tug of war, her pretty face turned very ugly. “Fine,” she said. “There are easier ways of killing you off.”
Reed suddenly entered the room, looking as hostile as ever. I had no idea where he’d come from or how he’d known to show up right then, but he headed straight toward Lissa, hands reaching out. That open window loomed behind her, and it didn’t take a genius to guess his intentions. Avery had tried to get Lissa to jump by using compulsion. Reed was just going to push her.
A mental conversation flew between Lissa and me in the space of a heartbeat.
Okay,
I told her.
Here’s the situation. We’re going to have to do a little role reversal.
What are you talking about?
Fear flooded her, which was understandable, seeing as Reed’s hands were seconds away from grabbing her.
Well,
I said,
I just did the psychic power struggle. Which means you’ve got to do the fighting. And I’m going to show you how.
TWENTY-EIGHT
L
ISSA DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING to express her shock. The feelings of utter astonishment pouring into me said more than any words could have. I, however, had one important word for her:
Duck!
I think it was her surprise that made her respond so quickly. She dropped to the floor. The movement was clumsy, but it removed her body from Reed’s direct attack and put her (mostly) out of range of the window. He still collided with her shoulder and the side of her head, but it only bumped her and caused a little pain.
Of course, “a little pain” meant totally different things to us. Lissa had been tortured a couple of times, but most of her battles were mental. She’d never been in a one-on-one physical confrontation. Getting thrown against walls was an average occurrence for me, but for her, a small swipe to the head was monumental.
Crawl awa
y, I ordered.
Get away from him and the window. Head for the door if possible.
Lissa started moving on her hands and feet, but she was too slow. Reed caught hold of her hair. I kind of felt like we were playing a game of telephone. With the delay in me giving direction and her figuring out how to respond, I might as well have been passing the message through five people before it got to her. I wished I could control her body like a puppeteer, but I was no spirit user.
It’s going to hurt, but turn around as best you can and hit him.
Oh, it did hurt. Trying to turn her body meant his hold on her hair tugged that much more painfully. She managed it reasonably well, though, and flailed out at Reed. Her hits weren’t that coordinated, but they surprised him enough that he let go of her hair and tried to fend her off. That’s when I noticed he wasn’t overly coordinated either. He was stronger than her, true, but he obviously had no combat training short of basic hits and throwing his weight around. He hadn’t come here for a true fight; he’d come to just push her out the window and be done with it.
Get away if you can; get away if you can.
She scrambled across the floor, but unfortunately her escape path didn’t give her access to the door. Instead, she backed further into the room until her back hit a rolling desk chair.
Grab it. Hit him with it
.
Easier said than done. He was right there, still trying to grab her and jerk her to her feet. She caught hold of the chair and tried to roll it into him. I’d wanted her to pick it up and hit him with it, but that wasn’t quite so easy for her. She did, however, manage to get to her feet and get the chair between them. I directed her to keep hitting him with it in an effort to get him to retreat. It worked a little, but she didn’t quite have the force to truly damage him.
Meanwhile, I half expected Avery to join in the fight. It wouldn’t have taken much effort to assist Reed in subduing Lissa. Instead, out of the corner of Lissa’s eye, I saw Avery sitting perfectly still, her eyes unfocused and slightly glazed over. Okay. That was weird, but I had no complaints about her being out of the conflict.
As it was, Lissa and Reed were in a stalemate, one I had to get her out of.
You’re on the defensive,
I said.
You need to take the attack to him.
I finally got a direct answer back.
What? I can’t do anything like that! I have no clue how!
I’ll show you. Kick him—preferably between the legs. That’ll take down most guys.
Without words, I tried to send the feelings into her, teaching her the right way to tense muscles and strike out. Steeling herself, she pushed the chair away so that there was nothing between her and Reed. It caught him by surprise, giving her a brief opening. Her leg struck out. It missed the golden spot, but it did hit his knee. That was almost as good. He stumbled back as his leg collapsed underneath him and just managed to grab the chair for support. It tried to roll, which didn’t help him any.
Lissa didn’t need any urging to sprint for the door at that point—except it was blocked. Simon had just entered. For a moment, both Lissa and I felt relief. A guardian! Guardians were safe. Guardians protected us. The thing was,
this
guardian worked for Avery, and it soon became clear his services went beyond merely keeping Strigoi away from her. He strode in, and with no hesitation grabbed Lissa and dragged her harshly back to the window.
My direction faltered at that moment. I’d been an okay coach at showing her how to fend off a surly teenage boy. But a guardian? And that surly teenage boy had recovered himself and joined Simon to finish the job.
Compel him!
It was my last desperate bid. That was Lissa’s strength. Unfortunately, while her earlier drinking had metabolized enough to improve her coordination, it was still affecting her control of spirit. She could touch the power—but not very much of it. Her control was clumsy too. Nonetheless, her resolve was strong. She drew as much of the spirit as she could, channeling it into compulsion. Nothing happened. Then, I felt that weird tickling in my head. At first I thought Avery was back on the scene, only rather than someone reaching into me, it was like they reached
through
me.
The power in Lissa surged, and I realized what had happened. Oksana was still there, somewhere in the background, and she was lending her strength again, channeling it through me and into Lissa. Simon froze, and it was almost amusing. He twitched slightly, rocking back and forth as he tried to advance on her and finish the lethal task. It was like he was suspended in Jell-O.
Lissa was hesitant to move, for fear of breaking her control. There was also the issue that Reed was not being compelled, but for the moment, he seemed too confused about what was happening to Simon to react.
“You can’t just kill me!” Lissa blurted out. “Don’t you think people are going to ask questions when they find my body shoved out a window?
“They won’t notice,” said Simon stiffly. Even the words required effort. “Not when you’re resurrected. And if you can’t be, then it was just a tragic accident that befell a troubled girl.”
Slowly, slowly, he began breaking out of her compulsion. Her power, while still there, was weakening a little—there was a leak somewhere, and it was dripping out. I suspected it might be Avery’s influence or simply Lissa’s mental fatigue. Maybe both. A supreme look of satisfaction crossed Simon’s features as he lunged forward, and then—
He froze again.
A blazing gold aura lit up in Lissa’s periphery. She glanced over just enough to see Adrian in the doorway. The look on his face was comical, but shocked or not, he’d picked up enough to target Simon. It was Adrian’s compulsion holding the guardian in place now. Lissa squirmed away, yet again trying to keep out of that damned window’s opening.
“Hold him!” Lissa cried.
Adrian grimaced. “I . . . can’t. What the hell? It’s like there’s someone else there. . . .”
“Avery,” said Lissa, sparing a brief glance at the other girl. Avery’s face had gone pale even for a Moroi. Her breathing was heavy, and her sweating had increased. She was fighting Adrian’s compulsion. A few seconds later, Simon broke free yet again. He advanced on Lissa and Adrian, though his movements seemed sluggish.
Son of a bitch,
I thought.
Now what?
demanded Lissa.
Reed. Go for Reed. Get him out of the picture.
Reed had been frozen during the struggle with Simon, watching with fascination. And like those of the guardian, Reed’s actions seemed a little sluggish. Still, he was moving toward Lissa again. Simon had apparently decided Adrian was the immediate threat and was heading that way. Time to see if dividing and conquering would work.
What about Adrian?
Lissa asked.
We’re going to have to leave him on his own for a minute. Get to Reed. Knock him out.
What???
But she advanced on him anyway, moving with a determination that warmed me with pride. His face curled into a snarl. He was frantic and overconfident, though—not thinking clearly and still moving in an ungainly way. Once more, I attempted to teach Lissa without words. I couldn’t make her do anything, but I tried to make her feel what it was like to punch someone. How to draw back her arm, curl her fingers in the proper way, build up the strength. After what I’d seen her do earlier, the best I could hope for was a decent approximation of a punch, enough to keep him off her and create further delay.
And that’s when something truly beautiful happened.
Lissa socked him in the nose. And I mean,
socked.
We both heard the impact, heard the nose break. Blood came out. He flew backward, both he and Lissa staring wide-eyed. Never, never would I have thought Lissa capable of something like that. Not sweet, delicate, beautiful Lissa.
I wanted to whoop and dance with joy. But this wasn’t over yet.
Don’t stop! Hit him again. You’ve got to knock him out!
I did!
she cried, horrified at what she’d done. Her fist was also in agonizing pain. I hadn’t really mentioned that part during my coaching.
No, you’ve got to incapacitate him,
I told her.
I think he and Avery are bonded, and I think she’s taking her strength from him.
It made sense now, why he’d frozen when Avery drew power to use compulsion, why he’d known to show up when he had. She’d used their bond to summon him.
And so Lissa went after Reed again. She got in two more punches, one of which knocked his head against the wall. His lips parted and his features went slack. He dropped to the floor, eyes staring vacantly. I wasn’t sure if he was entirely unconscious, but he was out of this for the moment. Off to the side, I heard a small cry from Avery.
Lissa turned to Adrian and Simon. Adrian had ceased any attempts at compulsion, because Simon was engaged in a full-on attack. Adrian’s face showed he’d taken a few hits of his own, and I figured that, like Lissa, he’d never engaged in this kind of physical combat. Without any need for direction from me, Lissa strode over and turned on her compulsion. Simon jerked in surprise, not stopping his attack, but caught off guard. Lissa was still weak, but the walls around him had dropped a little, just as I’d suspected they would.
“Help me!” cried Lissa.
With the momentary lapse on Simon’s part, Adrian tried to wield his spirit too. Lissa felt and saw the change in his aura as the magic flowed through him. She felt him join her in their psychic attack on Simon, and a moment later, I sensed Oksana joining the fray. I wanted to play general and shout orders, but this wasn’t my battle anymore.
Simon’s eyes went wide, and he fell to his knees. Lissa could sense the other two spirit users—and was a bit surprised by Oksana’s presence—and had the vague impression that they were all doing slightly different things to Simon. Lissa was trying to compel him to stop his attack, to simply sit still. Her brief brush with Adrian’s magic told her he was trying to make the guardian sleep, and Oksana was attempting to get Simon to run out of the room.
The conflicting messages and all that power were too much. The last of Simon’s defenses fell as all those mixed messages blasted into him, creating a tidal wave of spirit. He collapsed to the floor. With all of their magic combined, the spirit users had knocked him unconscious. Lissa and Adrian turned to Avery, bracing themselves, but there was no need.