“You… you can do that thing… where you actively go in someone’s mind and touch their thoughts, right? Like you did to me?”

She grimaced slightly. “Yes, but it’s not something I like to do. I don’t think it’s right.”

“Can you compel them once you’re in there?”

She looked even more disgusted. “Well, yes, of course… the two things are actually very similar. But reaching in someone’s mind is one thing and forcing them into some unwanted behavior is an entirely different matter.”

“My friend is about to do something dangerous,” I said. “It could kill her. She’s being compelled, but I can’t do anything about it. The bond won’t let me actively reach her. I can only watch. If you could reach inside my friend’s head and compel her out of danger…”

Oksana shook her head. “Supposing morals weren’t an issue, I can’t reach into someone who’s not actually here-let alone someone I’ve never met.”

I raked a hand through my hair, panic setting in. I wished Oksana knew how to walk dreams. That would at least give her the long-distance capability. All of these spirit powers seemed to be one off from each other, each having some additional nuance. Someone who could dream walk might be able to take the next step and visit someone awake.

An even crazier idea came to me. This was a groundbreaking day. “Oksana… you can reach into my mind, right?”

“Yes,” she reaffirmed.

“If I… if I was in my bondmate’s head at the time, could you reach into me and then reach into her mind? Could I, like, be the link between you guys?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” murmured Mark.

“That’s because we’ve never had this many spirit users and shadow-kissed around before,” I pointed out.

Abe, understandably, looked completely lost.

A shadow fell over Oksana’s face. “I don’t know…”

“Either it works or it doesn’t,” I said. “If it doesn’t, then there’s no harm done. But if you can reach her through me… you can compel her.” She started to speak, and I cut her off. “I know, I know… you think it’s wrong. But this other spirit user? She’s the one who’s wrong. All you have to do is compel Lissa out of danger. She’s ready to jump out a window! Stop her now; then I’ll get to her in another day or so and fix things.”

And by fix things, I meant ruin Avery’s pretty face with a black eye.

In my bizarre life, I’d grown pretty used to people-especially adults-rejecting my outlandish ideas and proclamations. I’d had a hell of a time convincing people that Victor had kidnapped Lissa and an equally hard time making the guardians believe the school was under attack. So when situations like this happened, part of me almost expected resistance. But the thing was, as stable as they were, Oksana and Mark had been fighting with spirit for most of their lives. Crazy was kind of par for the course for them, and after a moment, she didn’t argue any further.

“All right,” she said. “Give me your hands.”

“What’s going on?” asked Abe, still totally clueless. I took a small amount of satisfaction in seeing him out of his league for a change.

Mark murmured something to Oksana in Russian and kissed her on the cheek. He was warning her to be careful, not condemning her for her choice. I knew he’d want the same thing if she were in Lissa’s place. The love that flashed between them was so deep and so strong that I nearly lost my resolve to do this. That kind of love reminded me of Dimitri, and if I allowed myself to think about him for even a moment more, I was going to relive last night…

I clasped Oksana’s hands, a knot of fear coiling in my stomach. I didn’t like the idea of someone being in my head, even though that was a hypocritical sentiment for someone who was constantly traveling into her best friend’s mind. Oksana gave me a small smile, though it was obvious she was as nervous as me.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I hate doing this to people…”

And then I felt it, the same thing that had happened when Avery pushed me out. It was like the actual physical sensation of someone touching my brain. I gasped, looking into Oksana’s eyes as waves of heat and cold ran through me. Oksana was in my head.

“Now go to your friend,” she said.

I did. I focused my thoughts into Lissa and found her still standing on the window’s ledge. Better she was there than on the ground, but I still wanted her off and back in the room before something bad happened. That wasn’t for me to do, however. I was the taxi, so to speak. Oksana was the one who had to literally talk Lissa off the ledge. Only I had no indication the other woman had come with me. When I’d jumped to Lissa’s mind, I’d lost that sense of Oksana. No more tickling of the mind.

Oksana? I thought. Are you there?

There was no response-not from Oksana, at least. The answer came from a very unexpected source.

Rose?

It was Lissa’s voice that spoke in my mind. She froze her position in the window and abruptly cut off whatever she’d been laughing about with Avery. I felt Lissa’s terror and confusion as she wondered if she was imagining me. She peered around the room, her eyes passing over Avery.

Avery recognized something was going on, and her face hardened. I felt the familiar sense of her presence in Lissa’s mind and wasn’t surprised when Avery tried to shove me out again.

Except-it didn’t work.

Avery kicking me out in the past had always felt like an actual shove. I got the impression that when she tried it now, it felt like hitting a brick wall to her. I wasn’t so easy to push around anymore. Oksana was with me somehow, lending her strength. Avery was still in Lissa’s line of sight, and I saw those adorable blue-gray eyes go wide with shock that she couldn’t control me.

Oh, I thought. It’s on, bitch!

Rose? Lissa’s voice was there again. Am I going crazy?

Not yet. But you have to get down, right now. I think Avery’s trying to kill you.

Kill me? I could feel and hear Lissa’s incredulity. She’d never do that.

Look, let’s not argue it for now. Just get out of the window and call it good.

I felt the impulse in Lissa, felt her shift and start to put one foot down. Then it was like some core part of herself stopped her. Her foot stayed where it was… and slowly began to grow unsteady…

That was Avery at work. I wondered if Oksana, lurking in the background of this bond, could overpower that compulsion. No, Oksana wasn’t active here. Her spirit powers had somehow gotten me into actively communicating with Lissa, but she was remaining passive. I’d expected to be the bridge and thought Oksana would jump to Lissa’s mind and compel her. The situation was reversed, though, and I didn’t actually have compulsion powers. All I had was legendary wit and powers of persuasion.

Lissa, you have to fight Avery, I said. She’s a spirit user, and she’s compelling you. You’re one of the strongest compulsion users I know. You should be able to fight her.

Fear answered me. I can’t… I can’t compel right now.

Why not?

Because I’ve been drinking.

I mentally groaned. Of course. That was why Avery was always so quick to supply Lissa with alcohol. It numbed spirit, as demonstrated in Adrian’s frequent indulgences. Avery had encouraged the drinking so that Lissa’s spirit abilities would weaken and give her less resistance. There were a number of times Lissa hadn’t been able to gauge exactly how much Avery was drinking; in retrospect, Avery must have been doing a fair amount of faking.

Then use ordinary willpower, I told her. It’s possible to resist compulsion.

It was true. Compulsion wasn’t an automatic ticket to world domination. Some people were better at resisting it than others, though a Strigoi or spirit user certainly complicated matters.

I felt Lissa build up her resolve, felt her repeat my words over and over, that she had to be strong and step back off the ledge. She worked to push away that impulse Avery had implanted, and without knowing how, I suddenly found myself pushing on it as well. Lissa and I joined our strength together and started shoving Avery out.