CHAPTER 29

The flight was more like thirty hours.

Getting from the middle of Siberia to the middle of Montana wasn’t easy. I flew from Novosibirsk to Moscow to Amsterdam to Seattle to Missoula.

Four different flights. Five different airports. A lot of running around. It was exhausting, yet when I handed over my passport to get back into the U.S. in Seattle, I felt a strange surge of emotion in me… joy and relief.

Before leaving Russia, I had thought Abe might come back with me and finish his task himself, hand-delivering me to whomever had hired him.

“You really are going back now, aren’t you?” he asked at the airport. “To the school? You aren’t going to get off at one of your stops and disappear?”

I smiled. “No. I’m going back to St. Vladimir’s.”

“And you’ll stay there?” he pressed. He didn’t quite look as dangerous as he had in Baia, but I could see a glint of hardness in his eyes.

My smile slipped. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t have a place there anymore.”

“Rose-”

I held up a hand to stop him, surprised at my own determination. “Enough. No after-school specials. You said you were hired to get me back there.

It isn’t your job to say what I do after that.” At least, I hoped not. Whoever wanted me back had to be someone at the Academy. I’d be there soon.

They had won. Abe’s services were no longer required.

Despite his victory, he didn’t look happy about relinquishing me. Glancing up at one of the departure boards, he sighed. “You need to go through security, or you’ll miss your flight.”

I nodded. “Thanks for…” What exactly? His help? “… For everything.”

I started to turn away, but he touched my shoulder. “Is that all you’re wearing?”

Most of my clothing had been scattered around Russia. One of the other Alchemists had located shoes, jeans, and a sweater, but otherwise, I was winging it until I got back to the U.S. “I don’t really need anything else,” I told him.

Abe arched an eyebrow. Turning to one of his guardians, he made a small gesture toward me. Immediately, the guardian took off his coat and handed it over. The guy was lanky, but the coat was still too big for me.

“No, I don’t need-”

“Take it,” ordered Abe.

I took it, and then to my further shock, Abe began unwinding the scarf from around his neck. It was one of his nicer ones, too: cashmere, woven with an array of brilliant colors, more suited to the Caribbean than here or Montana. I started to protest this as well, but the look on his face silenced me. I put the scarf around my neck and thanked him, wondering if I’d ever see him again. I didn’t bother asking because I had a feeling he wouldn’t tell me anyway.

When I finally landed in Missoula thirty hours later, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to fly in a plane anytime soon-as in, like, the next five years.

Maybe ten. Without any luggage, getting out of the airport was easy. Abe had sent word ahead of my arrival, but I had no idea who they’d send to get me. Alberta, who ran the guardians at St. Vladimir’s, seemed a likely choice. Or maybe it would be my mother. I never knew where she was at any given moment, and suddenly, I really, really wanted to see her. She would be a logical choice too.

So it was with some surprise that I saw that the person waiting for me at the airport’s exit was Adrian.

A grin spread over my face, and I picked up the pace. I threw my arms around him, astonishing both of us. “I have never been happier to see you in my life,” I said.

He squeezed me tightly and then let me go, regarding me admiringly. “The dreams never do justice to real life, little dhampir. You look amazing.” I’d cleaned up after the ordeal with the Strigoi, and Oksana had continued healing me in spite of my protests-even the bruises on my neck, which she had never asked about. I didn’t want anyone else to know about those.

“And you look…” I studied him. He was dressed as nicely as always, with a three-quarter-length wool coat and green scarf that matched his eyes.

His dark brown hair had that crafted messiness he liked, but his face-ah, well. As I’d noted before, Simon had gotten a few good punches on him.

One of Adrian’s eyes was swollen and ringed with bruises. Nonetheless, thinking about him and everything he’d done… well, none of the flaws mattered. “… Gorgeous.”

“Liar,” he said.

“Couldn’t Lissa have healed that black eye away?”

“It’s a badge of honor. Makes me seem manly. Come on, your carriage awaits.”

“Why’d they send you?” I asked as we walked toward the parking lot. “You are sober, aren’t you?”

Adrian didn’t dignify that with an answer. “Well, the school has no official responsibility to you, seeing as you’re a dropout and everything. So they weren’t really obligated to come get you. None of your other friends can leave campus… but me? I’m just a free spirit, hanging out. So I borrowed a car, and here I am.”

His words sparked mixed reactions in me. I was touched that he’d taken the trouble to come out here but was bothered by the part about the school having no responsibility to me. Throughout all my travels, I’d gone back and forth in thinking of St. Vladimir’s as home… yet, in the most technical terms, it truly wasn’t anymore. I would just be a visitor.

As we settled into the drive, Adrian caught me up on the aftermath at the school. After the big psychic showdown, I hadn’t delved much into Lissa’s mind. Oksana had healed my body, but mentally, I was still exhausted and grieving. Even though I’d accomplished what I set out to do, that image of Dimitri falling and falling still haunted me.

“It turns out you were right about Avery bonding Simon and Reed,” Adrian said. “From what information we could gather, it sounds like Simon was killed in a fight that Avery witnessed years ago. Everyone thought it was a miracle he survived, not actually realizing the truth.”

“She kept her powers hidden like the rest of you,” I mused. “And then Reed died later?”

“Well, that’s the weird thing,” said Adrian, frowning. “No one can really tell when he died. I mean, he’s royal. He’s been pampered his whole life, right? But based on what we could get out of him-which wasn’t much, since they’re all pretty messed up now-it sounds like Avery may have intentionally killed him and then brought him back.”

“Just like with Lissa,” I said, recalling Simon’s words during the fight. “Avery wanted to kill her, bring her back, and bond her. But why Lissa of all people?”

“My guess? Because she’s a spirit user. Now that spirit’s not a secret anymore, it was only a matter of time before Avery heard about Lissa and me.

I think Avery thought bonding Lissa would increase her own power. As it was, she was sucking up a lot of energy from those other two.” Adrian shook his head. “I wasn’t kidding about sensing that spirit all the way across campus. The amounts Avery had to wield to compel so many people, mask her aura, and who knows what else… well, it was staggering.”

I stared off at the freeway ahead of us, considering the consequences of Avery’s actions. “And that’s why Reed was so messed up-why he was so angry and ready for a fight. He and Simon were absorbing all that darkness she was producing by using spirit. Just like I do with Lissa.”

“Yeah, except you were nothing like these guys. It wasn’t so obvious with Simon-he was better at keeping a straight face-but both of them were totally on the edge. And now? They’re over the edge. All three of them are.”

I recalled Simon staring at nothing and Avery screaming. I shivered. “When you say over the edge…?”

“I mean totally and completely insane. Those three are going to be institutionalized for the rest of their lives.”

“From what you… we all did?” I asked, aghast.

“Partly,” he agreed. “Avery was throwing all that power at us, and when we threw it back and then some… well, I think it was like an overload to their minds. And to be honest, considering how Reed and Simon already were, the stage was probably set for this. With Avery too.”