Vampire Academy Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONEID NEVER BEEN COMPLETELY NAKED around a guy before. It panic-stricken the hell forth of me unconstipated though it excited me, too. Lying on the covers, we clung to each other and kept kissing and kissing and kissing and kissing. His hands and lips took obstinance of my body, and every touch was like fire on my skin.After yearning for him for so long, I could barely believe this was happening. And while the physical stuff entangle great, I also simply liked being close to him. I liked the way he looked at me, like I was the sexiest, most marvellous thing in the world. I liked the way he would say my name in Russian, murmured like a prayer Roza, RozaAnd somewhere, somewhere in tot solelyy of this, was that same urging voice that had driven me up to his room, a voice that didnt sound like my own tho that I was powerless to ignore. Stay with him, stick out with him. Dont think about anything else except him. Keep touching him. For turn about everything else.I liste ned not that I really invite any extra convincing.The fire in his eyeball told me he deficiencyed to do a lot to a greater extent than we were, but he took things slow, maybe because he knew I was nervous. His pajama pants stayed on. At one point, I shifted so that I hovered over him, my hair hanging around him. He tilted his head slightly, and I just barely caught atomic pile of the sticker of his neck. I brushed my fingertips over the six tiny marks tattooed there.Did you really kill six Strigoi? He nodded. Wow.He brought my own neck vanquish to his mouth and kissed me. His teeth gently grazed my skin, different from a vampire but every bit as thrilling. Dont worry. Youll have a lot more than me someday.Do you feel guilty about it?Hmm?Killing them. You said in the van that it was the right thing to do, but it still bothers you. Its why you go to church, isnt it? I see you there, but you arent really into the services.He smiled, surprised and amused Id guessed some other( prenominal) secret about him. How do you know these things? Im not guilty exactlyjust sad sometimes. All of them used to be human or dhampir or Moroi. Its a waste, thats all, but as I said before, its something I have to do. Something we all have to do. Sometimes it bothers me, and the chapel is a good place to think about those kinds of things. Sometimes I find peace there, but not often. I find more peace with you.He rolled me transfer of him and moved on top of me again. The kissing picked up once more, harder this time. More urgent. Oh God, I thought. Im lastly going to do it. This is it. I can feel it.He essential have seen the decision in my eyes. Smiling, he slid his hands behind my neck and opened professionals necklace.He set it on the bedside table. As soon as the chain left his fingers, I felt like Id been slapped in the face. I blinked in surprise.Dimitri must have felt the same way. What happened? he asked.I-I dont know. I felt like I was trying to wake up, like Id b een asleep for two days. I needed to remember something.Lissa. Something with Lissa.My head felt funny. no(prenominal) pain or dizziness, butthe voice, I realized. The voice urging me toward Dimitri was gone. That wasnt to say I didnt want him anymore because hey, see him there in those sexy pajama bottoms, with that brown hair spilling over the side of face was pretty fine. But I no longer had that outside wreak pushing me to him. Weird.He frowned, no longer turned on. After several moments of thought, he reached over and picked up the necklace. The instant his fingers touched it, I saw believe sweep over him again. He slid his other hand onto my hip, and suddenly, that burning lust slammed back into me. My stomach went queasy while my skin started to prickle and grow impregnable again. My breathing became heavy. His lips moved toward mine again.Some inner part of me fought through.Lissa, I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. I have to tell you something about Lissa. But I cantr ememberI feel so strangeI know. Still holding onto me, he rested his cheek against my forehead. Theres somethingsomething here He pulled his face away, and I opened my eyes. This necklace. Thats the one Prince Victor gave you?I nodded and could see the sluggish thought process trying to wake up behind his eyes. Taking a wakeless breath, he removed his hand from my hip and pushed himself away.What are you doing? I exclaimed. Come backHe looked like he wanted to very badly but instead he climbed out of the bed. He and the necklace moved away from me. I felt like hed ripped part of me away, but at the same time, I had that shock sensation of waking up, like I could think clearly once more without my body making all the decisions.On the other hand, Dimitri still wore a look of animal passion on him, and it seemed to take a great deal of effort for him to walk across the room. He reached the window and managed to open it one-handed. insensate air blasted in, and I rubbed my hands ov er my arms for warmth.What are you going to ? The answer hit me, and I sprang out of bed, just as the necklace flew out the window. No Do you know how much that must have ?The necklace disappeared, and I no longer felt like I was waking up. I was awake. Painfully, startlingly so.I took in my surroundings. Dimitris room. Me naked. The rumpled bed.But all that was nothing compared to what hit me next.Lissa I gasped out. It all came back, the memories and the emotions. And, in fact, her held-back emotions suddenly poured into me at staggering levels. More terror. vehement terror. Those feelings wanted to suck me back into her body, but I couldnt let them. Not quite yet. I fought against her, needing to stay here. With the words coming out in a rush, I told Dimitri everything that had happened.He was in motion before I finished, putting on clothes and looking every bit like a badass god. monastic order me to get dressed, he tossed me a sweatshirt with Cyrillic writing on it to wear over the skimpy dress.I had a hard time following him beneath he made no effort to slow for me this time. Calls were made when we got there. Orders shouted. Before long, I ended up in the guardians main office with him. Kirova and other teachers were there. or so of the campuss guardians. Everyone seemed to speak at once. All the while, I felt Lissas fear, felt her moving farther and farther away.I yelled at them to hurry up and do something, but no one except Dimitri would believe my story about her abduction until someone retrieved Christian from the chapel and then verified Lissa really wasnt on campus.Christian staggered in, supported by two guardians. Dr. Olendzki appeared shortly thereafter, checking him out and wiping blood away from the back of his head.Finally, I thought, something would happen.How many Strigoi were there? one of the guardians asked me.How in the world did they get in? muttered someone else.I stared. Wh ? There werent any Strigoi.Several sets of eyes st ared at me. Who else would have taken her? asked Ms. Kirova primly. You must have seen it wrong through thevision.No. Im positive. It wasthey wereguardians.Shes right, mumbled Christian, still under the doctors ministrations. He winced as she did something to the back of his head. Guardians.Thats impossible, someone said.They werent school guardians. I rubbed my forehead, fighting hard to keep from leaving the conversation and going back to Lissa. My irritation grew. Will you guys get moving? Shes getting farther awayYoure saying a group of privately retained guardians came in and kidnapped her? The tone in Kirovas voice implied I was playing some kind of joke.Yes, I replied through gritted teeth. TheySlowly, carefully, I slipped my mental restraint and flew into Lissas body. I sat in a car, an costly car with tinted windows to keep out most of the light. It might be night here, but it was full day for the rest of the world. angiotensin converting enzyme of the guardians from the chapel drove another sat beside him in the front one I recognized. Spiridon. In the back, Lissa sat with tied hands, another guardian beside her, and on the other side They work for Victor Dashkov, I gasped out, focusing back on Kirova and the others. Theyre his.Prince Victor Dashkov? asked one of the guardians with a snort. Like there was any other freaking Victor Dashkov.Please, I moaned, hands clutching my head. Do something. Theyre getting so far away. Theyre on A brief image, seen outside the car window, flared in my vision. Eighty-three. Headed south.Eighty-three already? How long ago did they leave? why didnt you come sooner?My eyes turned anxiously to Dimitri.A compulsion good luck charm, he said slowly. A compulsion spell put into a necklace he gave her. It made her attack me.No one can use that kind of compulsion, exclaimed Kirova. No ones done that in ages.Well, someone did. By the time Id restrained her and taken the necklace, a lot of time had passed, Dimitri continu ed, face perfectly controlled. No one questioned the story.Finally, finally, the group moved into action. No one wanted to bring me, but Dimitri insisted when he realized I could lead them to her. Three details of guardians set out in sinister black SUVs. I rode in the first one, sitting in the passenger seat while Dimitri drove. Minutes passed. The only times we spoke was when I gave a report.Theyre still on Eighty-threebut their turn is coming. They arent speeding. They dont want to get pulled over.He nodded, not looking at me. He most definitely was speeding.Giving him a sidelong glance, I replayed tonights earlier events. In my minds eye, I could see it all again, the way hed looked at me and kissed me.But what had it been? An illusion? A trick? On the way to the car, hed told me there really had been a compulsion spell in the necklace, a lust one. I had never heard of such a thing, but when Id asked for more information, he just said it was a typesetters case of magic earth us ers once practiced but never did anymore.Theyre turning, I said suddenly. I cant see the road name, but Ill know when were close.Dimitri grunted in acknowledgment, and I sank further into my seat.What had it all meant? Had it meant anything to him? It had definitely meant a lot to me.There, I said about twenty minutes later, indicating the rough road Victors car had turned off on. It was unpaved gravel, and the SUV gave us an edge over his luxury car.We drove on in silence, the only sound coming from the crunching of the gravel under the tires. Dust kicked up outside the windows, swirling around us.Theyre turning again.Farther and farther off the main routes they went, and we followed the whole time, led by my instructions. Finally, I felt Victors car come to a stop.Theyre outside a small cabin, I said. Theyre taking her Why are you doing this? Whats going on?Lissa. Cringing and scared. Her feelings had pulled me into her.Come, child, said Victor, moving into the cabin, unsteady on his cane. One of his guardians held the door open. Another pushed Lissa along and settled her into a chair near a small table inside. It was cold in here, especially in the knock dress. Victor sat across from her. When she started to get up, a guardian gave her a warning look. Do you think Id seriously hurt you?What did you do to Christian? she cried, ignoring the question. Is he dead?The Ozera boy? I didnt mean for that to happen. We didnt expect him to be there. Wed hoped to catch you alone, to convince others youd run away again. Wed made sure rumors already circulated about that.We? I recalled how the stories had resurfaced this weekfrom Natalie.Now? He sighed, spreading his hands wide in a helpless gesture. I dont know. I doubt anyone will connect it to us, even if they dont believe you ran away. Rose is the biggest liability. Wed intended todispatch her, letting others think shed run away as well. The spectacle she created at your dance made that impossible, but I had anothe r plan in place to make sure she stays occupied for some timeprobably until tomorrow. We will have to contend with her later.He hadnt counted on Dimitri figuring out the spell. Hed figured wed be too busy getting it on all night.Why? asked Lissa. Why are you doing all this?His green eyes widened, reminding her of her fathers.They might be distant relatives, but that jade-green color ran in both the Dragomirs and the Dashkovs. Im surprised you even have to ask, my dear. I need you. I need you to heal me.