Feeling a little guilty, I shifted my conversation to a more flirty style and watched Mason's glow increase. I leaned beside him on the wall so our arms just touched and gave him a lazy smile. "You know, I still don't approve of your whole hero thing, but you did scare them. That was almost worth it."

"But you don't approve?"

I trailed fingers up his arm. "No. I mean, it's hot in principle but not in practice."

He laughed. "The hell it isn't. " He caught hold of my hand and gave me a knowing look. "Sometimes you need to be saved. I think you like being saved sometimes and just can't admit it."

"And I thinkyou get off on saving people and just can't admit it."

"I don't think you know what gets me off. Saving damsels like you is just the honorable thing to do, " he declared loftily.

I repressed the urge to smack him over the use ofdamsels. "Then prove it. Do me a favor just because it's 'the right thing to do. "

«Sure,» he said immediately. "Name it."

"I need you to get a message to Christian Ozera."

His eagerness faltered. "What the-? You aren't serious."

"Yes.Completely."

"Rose…I can't talk to him. You know that."

"I thought you said you'd help. I thought you said helping 'damsels' is the honorable thing to do."

"I don't really see howhonor's involved here. " I gave him the most smoldering look I could manage. He caved. "What do you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him I need St. Vladimir's books.The ones in storage. He needs to sneak them to me soon. Tell him it's for Lisa. And tell him…tell him I lied the night of the reception. " I hesitated. "Tell him I'm sorry."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't have to. Just do it. Please? " I turned on the beauty queen smile again.

With hasty assurances that he'd see what he could do, he left for lunch, and I went off to practice.

CHAPTER 15

Mason delivered.

He found me the next day before school. He was carrying a box of books.

"I got them, " he said. "Hurry and take them before you get in trouble for talking to me."

He handed them over, and I grunted. They were heavy. "Christian gave you these?"

"Yeah.Managed to talk to him without anyone noticing.He's got kind of an attitude, did you ever notice that?"

"Yeah, I noticed. " I rewarded Mason with a smile that he ate up. "Thanks. This means a lot."

I hauled the loot up to my room, fully aware of how weird it was that someone who hated to study as much as I did was about to get buried in dusty crap from the fourteenth century. When I opened the first book, though, I saw that these must be reprints of reprints of reprints, probably because anything that old would have long since fallen apart.

Sifting through the books, I discovered they fell into three categories: books written by people after St. Vladimir had died, books written by other people when he was still alive, and one diary of sorts written by him. What had Mason said about primary and secondary sources? Those last two groups were the ones I wanted.

Whoever had reprinted these had reworded the books enough so that I didn't have to read Ye Olde English or anything. Or rather, Russian, I supposed. St. Vladimir had lived in the old country.

Today I healed the mother of Sava who has long since suffered from sharp pains within her stomach. Her malady is now gone, but God has not allowed me to do such a thing lightly. I am weak and dizzy, and the madness is trying to leak into my head. I thank God every day for shadow-kissed Anna, for without her, I would surely not be able to endure.

Anna again.And "shadow-kissed. "He talked about her a lot, among other things.Most of the time he wrote long sermons, just like what I'd hear in church.Super boring. But other times, the book read just like a diary, recapping what he did each day. And if it really wasn't just a load of crap, he healed all the time.Sick people.Injured people.Even plants. He brought dead crops back to life when people were starving. Sometimes he would make flowers bloom just for the hell of it.

Reading on, I found out that it was a good thing old Vlad had Anna around, because he was pretty messed up. The more he used his powers, the more they started to get to him. He'd get irrationally angry and sad. He blamed it on demons and stupid stuff like that, but it was obvious he suffered from depression. Once, he admitted in his diary, he tried to kill himself. Anna stopped him.

Later, browsing through the book written by the guy who knewVladimir, I read:

And many think it miraculous too, the power the blessedVladimir shows over others. Moroi and dhampirs flock to him and listen to his words, happy just to be near him. Some say it is madness that touches him and not spirit, but most adore him and would do anything he asked. Such is the way God marks his favorites, and if such moments are followed by hallucinations and despair, it is a small sacrifice for the amount of good and leadership he can show among the people.

It sounded a lot like what the priest had said, but I sensed more than just a "winning personality " People adored him, would do anything he asked. Yes,Vladimir had used compulsion on his followers, I was certain. A lot of Moroi had in those days, before it was banned, but they didn't use it on Moroi or dhampirs. They couldn't. Only Lisa could.

I shut the book and leaned back against my bed.Vladimir healed plants and animals. He could use compulsion on a massive scale. And by all accounts, using those sorts of powers had made him crazy and depressed.

Added into it all, making it that much weirder was that everyone kept describing his guardian as

«shadow-kissed.» That expression had bugged me ever since I first heard it….

"You'reshadow-kissed! You have to take care of her!"

Ms. Karp had shouted those words at me, her hands clenching my shirt and jerking me toward her. It had happened on a night two years ago when I'd been inside the main part of the upper school to return a book. It was nearly past curfew, and the halls were empty. I'd heard a loud commotion, and then Ms. Karp had come tearing around the corner, looking frantic and wild-eyed.

She shoved me into a wall, still gripping me. "Do you understand?"

I knew enough self-defense that I could have probably pushed her away, but my shock kept me frozen.

"No."

"They're coming for me. They'll come for her."

"Who?"

"Lisa.You have to protect her. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get. Stop her, Rose. Stop her before they notice, before they notice and take her away too. Get her out of here."

"I…what do you mean? Get her out of…you mean the Academy?"

"Yes! You have to leave. You're bound. It's up to you. Take her away from this place."

Her words were crazy. No one left the Academy. Yet as she held me there and stared into my eyes, I began to feel strange. A fuzzy feeling clouded my mind. What she said suddenly sounded very reasonable, like the most reasonable thing in the world. Yes. I needed to take Lisa away, take her-

Feet pounded in the hallway, and a group of guardians rounded the corner. I didn't recognize them; they weren't from the school. They pried her off of me, restraining her wild thrashing. Someone asked me if I was okay, but I could only keep staring at Ms. Karp.

"Don't let her use the power! " she screamed. "Save her. Save her from herself!"

The guardians had later explained to me that she wasn't well and had been taken to a place where she could recover. She would be safe and cared for, they assured me. She would recover.

Only she hadn't.

Back in the present, I stared at the books and tried to put it all together.Lisa. Ms. Karp. St. Vladimir. What was I supposed to do?

Someone rapped at my door, and I jerked out of my memories. No one had visited me, not even staff, since my suspension. When I opened the door, I saw Mason in the hall.