Adrian stared at me for several long seconds, and even in the midst of the casino’s movement and noise, it was like the world grew still and silent.
“Rose, that’s impossible.”
“It might not be.”
“If there was a way to do that, we would know.”
“It involves spirit users. And we only just found out about them.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s—oh. I see.” His deep green eyes flashed, and this time, they were angry. “It’s him, isn’t it? This is your last crazy attempt to get to him. To Dimitri.”
“Not just him,” I said vaguely. “It could save all Strigoi.”
“I thought this was over!” Adrian exclaimed. His voice was loud enough that a few people at nearby slot machines glanced over. “You told me it was over. You told me you could move on and be with me.”
“I meant it,” I said, surprised at the desperate note in my voice. “It’s something we only just found out about. We had to try.”
“And what then? What if this stupid fantasy works? You free Dimitri in some miraculous act, and you drop me like
that
.” He snapped his fingers.
“I don’t know,” I said wearily. “We’re just taking this one step at a time. I love being with you. Really. But I can’t ignore this.”
“Of course you can’t.” He turned his eyes heavenward. “Dreams, dreams. I walk them; I live them. I delude myself with them. It’s a wonder I can spot reality anymore.” The weird sound of his voice made me nervous. I could recognize one of his slightly crazy, spirit-induced lapses. Then, he turned from me with a sigh. “I need a drink.”
Whatever pity I’d felt for him turned to anger. “Oh, good. That’ll fix everything. I’m glad in a world gone mad, you’ve still got your old standbys.”
I flinched at his glare. He didn’t do it very often, and when he did, it was a powerful thing. “What do you expect me to do?” he asked.
“You could . . . you could . . .” Oh God. “Well, now that you’re here, you could help us. Plus, this guy we’re meeting. He’s another spirit user.”
Adrian didn’t betray his thoughts, but I had a feeling that I had piqued his interest. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I want. To help my girlfriend get her old boyfriend back.” He turned away again, and I heard him mutter, “I need
two
drinks.”
“Four thirty,” I called after him. “We’re meeting at four thirty.”
There was no response, and Adrian melted into the crowd.
I returned to the room in a dark cloud that had to be obvious to everyone. Lissa and Eddie were smart enough not to ask questions, but Victor, of course, had no such reserves.
“What? Mr. Ivashkov isn’t joining us? I’d so been looking forward to his company.”
“Shut up,” I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall near Eddie. “Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”
The next couple hours dragged by. I was convinced that any minute, Adrian would come back and reluctantly agree to help us. We could use his compulsion if things went bad, even though he couldn’t match Lissa. Surely . . . surely he loved me enough to come to my aid? He wouldn’t abandon me?
You’re an idiot, Rose.
It was my own voice that chastised me in my head, not Lissa’s.
You’ve given him no reason to help. You just hurt him again and again. Just like you did Mason.
When four fifteen came around, Eddie looked over at me. “Should we stake out a table?”
“Yeah.” I was restless and upset. I didn’t want to stay in this room any longer, trapped with dark feelings that wouldn’t go away. Victor rose from the bed, stretching as though getting up from a relaxing nap. Still, I could have sworn there was an eager glint hidden in the depths of his eyes. By all accounts, he and his half-brother were close, though I’d seen no indication that Victor displayed love or loyalty to anyone. Who knew? Maybe somewhere there was true affection for Robert.
We formed a sort of protective configuration with me in the front, Eddie in the back, and the two Moroi between us. I opened the room’s door and came face-to-face with Adrian. His hand was raised as though he’d been about to knock. He arched an eyebrow.
“Oh, hey,” he said. He had the standard laid-back Adrian expression on his face, though his voice was a bit strained. I knew he wasn’t happy about any of this. I could see it in the tight set of his jaw and agitation in his eyes. Nonetheless, he was putting on a good front for the others, for which I was grateful. Most importantly, he’d come back. That was what mattered, and I could ignore the scent of alcohol and smoke wreathing him. “So . . . I hear there’s some party going on. Mind if I join you?”
I gave him a weak, grateful smile. “Come on.”
Our group now up to five, we headed down the hall toward the elevator. “I was cleaning up at poker, you know,” Adrian added. “So this better be good.”
“I don’t know if it’ll be good,” I mused. The elevator doors opened. “But I think it’ll be memorable.”
We stepped inside, off to see Robert Doru. And what might be Dimitri’s only salvation.
NINE
R
OBERT DORU WAS EASY TO SPOT.
It wasn’t because he looked like Victor. It wasn’t even because of any dramatic running-toward-each-other reunion type thing between him and his brother. Rather, it was Lissa’s mind that tipped me off. I saw Robert through her eyes, the golden aura of a spirit user lighting up his corner of the restaurant like a star. It caught her by surprise, and she stumbled briefly. Spirit users were too rare a sight for her to be fully used to them. Seeing auras was something she could tune in or out, and just before “turning his off,” she noted that even though his had the brilliant gold she saw in Adrian, there was also a feel of instability to it. Sparks of other colors flashed there too, but they trembled and flickered. She wondered if it was a mark of spirit’s insanity setting in.
His eyes lit up as Victor approached the table, but the two didn’t hug or touch. Victor simply sat down beside his brother. The rest of us stood there awkwardly for a moment. The whole situation was too weird. But it was the reason we’d come, and after several more seconds, my friends and I joined the brothers at the table.
“Victor . . .” breathed Robert, eyes wide. Robert might have had some of the Dashkov facial features, but his eyes were brown, not green. His hands toyed with a napkin. “I can’t believe it. . . . I’ve wanted to see you for so long. . . .”
Victor’s voice was gentle, as it had been on the phone, as if he were talking to a child. “I know, Robert. I missed you too.”
“Are you staying? Can you come back and stay with me?” Part of me wanted to snap that that was a ridiculous idea, but the desperation in Robert’s voice sparked a tiny bit of pity in me. I remained silent, simply watching the drama before me unfold. “I’d hide you. It’d be great. Just the two of us.”
Victor hesitated. He wasn’t stupid. Despite my vague claims on the plane, he knew the odds of me letting him go were nonexistent. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I don’t know.”
The waiter’s arrival jolted us out of our haze, and we all ordered drinks. Adrian ordered a gin and tonic and wasn’t even carded. I wasn’t sure if it was because he looked twenty-one or was convincing enough with spirit. Regardless, I wasn’t thrilled about it. Alcohol muted spirit. We were in a precarious situation, and I would have liked him at full strength. Of course, considering he’d been drinking earlier, it probably didn’t matter now.
After the waiter left, Robert seemed to notice the rest of us. His eyes passed over Eddie quickly, sharpened at Lissa and Adrian, and lingered on me for a long time. I stiffened, not liking the scrutiny. He finally turned back to his brother.
“Who have you brought, Victor?” Robert still had that oblivious, scattered air to him but it was lit with suspicion now. Fear and paranoia. “Who are these children? Two spirit users and . . .” His gaze fell on me again. He was reading my aura. “One of the shadow-kissed?”
For a moment, I was astonished at his use of the term. Then I remembered what Mark, Oksana’s husband, had told me. Robert had once been bonded to a dhampir—and that dhampir had died, drastically speeding up the deterioration of Robert’s mind.
“They’re friends,” said Victor smoothly. “Friends who’d like to talk to you and ask you some questions.”
Robert frowned. “You’re lying. I can tell. And they don’t consider you a friend. They’re tense. They keep their distance from you.”
Victor didn’t deny the friend claim. “Nonetheless, they need your help, and I promised it to them. It was the price for me being allowed to visit you.”
“You shouldn’t have made promises for me.” Robert’s napkin was now in shreds. I kind of wanted to give him mine.
“But didn’t you want to see me?” asked Victor winningly. His tone was warm, his smile
almost
genuine.
Robert looked troubled. Confused. I was again reminded of a child and was starting to have my doubts that this guy had ever transformed a Strigoi.
He was spared an answer yet again when our drinks arrived. None of us had even picked up our menus, much to the waiter’s obvious annoyance. He left, and I opened mine without really seeing it.
Victor then introduced us to Robert, as formally as he might at any diplomatic function. Prison hadn’t dulled his sense of royal etiquette. Victor gave first names only. Robert turned back to me, that frown still on his face, and glanced between Lissa and me. Adrian had said that whenever we were together, our auras showed that we were linked.
“A bond . . . I’ve almost forgotten what it was like . . . but Alden. I’ve never forgotten Alden . . .” His eyes grew dreamy and almost vacant. He was reliving a memory.
“I’m sorry,” I said, surprised to hear the sympathy in my words. This was hardly the harsh interrogation I’d envisioned. “I can only imagine what it must have been like . . . losing him. . . .”
The dreamy eyes grew sharp and hard. “No. You cannot. It’s like nothing you can imagine.
Nothing
. Right now . . . right now . . . you have the world. A universe of senses beyond those of others, an understanding of another person that no one can have. To lose that . . . to have that ripped away . . . it would make you wish for death.”
Wow. Robert was pretty good at killing conversation, and we all kind of sat there hoping the waiter would return this time. When he did, we all made halfhearted attempts at ordering food—except Robert—most of us deciding on the spot. The restaurant served Asian cuisine, and I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu: an egg roll sampler.
With food ordered, Victor continued taking the firm hand with Robert that I seemed incapable of managing.
“Will you help them? Will you answer their questions?”
I had a feeling that Victor was pushing Robert on this not so much as a way to pay back us rescuing him, but rather because Victor’s scheming nature was dying to know everyone’s secrets and motivations.
Robert sighed. Whenever he looked at Victor, there was such a strong expression of devotion and even idol worship. Robert probably couldn’t refuse his brother anything. He was the perfect type to play into Victor’s plans, and I realized I should possibly be grateful that Robert had grown unstable. If he’d been in full control of his powers, Victor would never have bothered with Lissa last time. He would have already had his own private spirit wielder to use however he wanted.
“What do you want to know?” asked Robert blearily. He addressed me, apparently recognizing my leadership.
I glanced at my friends for moral support and received none. Neither Lissa nor Adrian approved of this mission in the first place, and Eddie still didn’t know its purpose. I swallowed, steeling myself, and directed my full attention to Robert.
“We heard you freed a Strigoi once. That you were able to convert him—or her—back to their original state.”
Surprise flashed on Victor’s usually composed face. He certainly hadn’t expected this.
“Where did you hear this?” demanded Robert.
“From a couple I met in Russia. Their names are Mark and Oksana.”
“Mark and Oksana . . .” Again, Robert’s gaze slipped away for a moment. I had a feeling this happened a lot, that he didn’t spend much time in reality. “I didn’t know they were still together.”
“They are. They’re doing really great.” I needed him back in the present. “Is it true? Did you do what they said? Is it possible?”
Robert’s responses were always preceded by a pause. “Her.”
“Huh?”
“It was a woman. I freed her.”
I gasped in spite of myself, hardly daring to process his words.
“You’re lying.” It was Adrian who spoke, his tone harsh.
Robert glanced at him with an expression amused and scornful. “And who are you to say that? How can you tell? You’ve bruised and abused your powers so much, it’s a wonder you can even touch the magic anymore. And all these things you do to yourself . . . it doesn’t truly help, does it? Spirit’s punishment still affects you . . . soon you won’t be able to tell reality from dream. . . .”
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. “I don’t need any physical signs to see that you’re lying. I know you are because what you’re describing is impossible. There’s no way to save a Strigoi. When they’re gone, they’re gone. They’re dead. Undead. Forever .”
“That which is dead doesn’t always stay dead. . . .” Robert’s words weren’t directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. I shivered.
“How? How did you do it?”
“With a stake. She was killed with a stake, and in doing so, was brought back to life.”
“Okay,” I said. “That
is
a lie. I’ve killed plenty of Strigoi with stakes, and believe me, they stay dead.”
“Not just any stake.” Robert’s fingers danced along the edge of his glass. “A special stake.”
“A stake charmed with spirit,” said Lissa suddenly.
He lifted his eyes to her and smiled. It was a creepy smile. “Yes. You are a clever, clever girl. A clever, gentle girl. Gentle and kind. I can see it in your aura.”