第 10 页

My jaw dropped as I gestured around the drab room. "What, and this is it? This is where you're stashing me? I thought . . . I thought

there was something here. Something to help."

"It is helping," he said, in that damnably calm way of his. "Sydney and Abe researched this place and decided it was out of the way

enough to avoid detection."

I shot up from the bed. "Okay, comrade. There's one serious problem here with your logic. You guys keep acting like me staying out

of the way is helping."

"What′s a serious problem is us repeating this conversation over and over. The answers to who murdered Tatiana are at Court, and

that's where your friends are. They'll figure this out."

"I didn't just get in a high-speed chase and jump state lines to hole up in some crappy motel! How long are you planning on ‘staying

out of the way' here?"

Dimitri crossed his arms over his chest. "As long as it takes. We have the funds to stay here indefinitely."

"I probably have enough spare change in my pocket to stay here indefinitely! But it's not happening. I have to do something. I won't

just take the easy way out and sit around. "

"Surviving isn't as easy as you think."

"Oh God," I groaned. "You've been hanging out with Abe, haven't you? You know, when you were a Strigoi, you told me to stay away

from him. Maybe you should take your own advice."

I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips and saw in his eyes that I'd inflicted serious damage. He might have been acting

like the old Dimitri in this escape, but his time as a Strigoi still tormented him.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean—"

"We're done discussing this," he said harshly. "Lissa says we're staying here, so we're staying here."

Anger shoved aside my guilt. "That′s why you're doing this? Because Lissa told you to?"

"Of course. I swore I'd serve and help her."

That was when I snapped. It had been bad enough that when Lissa restored him to a dhampir, Dimitri had thought it was okay to

stick around Lissa while spurning me. Despite the fact that I 'd been the one who went to Siberia and that I was the one who learned

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about how Victor's brother Robert knew how to restore Strigoi . . . well, apparently those things didn't matter. Only Lissa wielding the

stake had seemed to matter, and Dimitri now held her up as some kind of angelic goddess, one he'd made an archaic, knight-like

vow to serve.

"Forget it," I said. "I am not staying here."

I made it to the door in three steps and managed to undo the chain, but in seconds, Dimitri was out of his chair and had thrown me

against the wall. Really, that was pretty slow reaction time. I would have expected him to stop me before I'd taken two steps.

"You are staying here," he said evenly, hands gripping my wrists. "Whether you like it or not."

Now, I had a few options. I could stay, of course. I could hang out for days—months, even—in this motel until Lissa cleared my

name. That was presuming Lissa could clear my name and that I didn't get food poisoning from the DINER diner. This was the safest

option. Also the most boring for me.

Another option was to fight my way through Dimitri. That was neither safe nor easy. It would also be particularly challenging because

I'd have to try to fight in such a way that would allow me to escape but wouldn't kill him or cause either of us serious injury.

Or, I could just throw caution away and not hold back. Hell, the guy had battled Strigoi and half the Court's guardians. He could

handle me giving everything I had. We'd certainly shared some pretty rough encounters back at St. Vladimir's. Would my best be

enough for me to escape? Time to find out.

I kneed him in the stomach, which he clearly hadn't expected. His eyes widened in shock—and a little pain—providing me with an

opening to break free of his grip. That opening was only long enough for me to yank out the door's bolt. Before I could reach for the

knob, Dimitri had a hold of me again. He gripped me hard and threw me onto the bed stomach first, both pinning me with his weight

and preventing my limbs from doing any more surprise kicking. This was always my biggest problem in fights: opponents—usually

men—with more strength and weight. My speed was my greatest asset in those situations, but being held down made dodging and

evasion a non-option. Still, every part of me struggled, making it difficult for him to keep me down.

"Stop this," he said in my ear, his lips nearly touching it. "Be reasonable for once. You can't get past me."

His body was warm and strong against mine, and I promised my own body a stern scolding later. Quit it, I thought. Focus on getting

out of here, not how he feels.

"I'm not the one being unreasonable," I growled, trying to turn my face toward him. "You're the one caught up in some noble promise

that makes no sense. And I know you don't like to sit out of the action any more than I do. Help me. Help me find the murderer and do

something useful." I stopped struggling and pretended our argument had distracted me.

"I don't like sitting around, but I also don't like rushing into an impossible situation!"

"Impossible situations are our specialty," I pointed out. Meanwhile, I tried to assess his hold on me. He hadn't relaxed his grip, but I

hoped maybe the conversation was distracting him. Normally, Dimitri was too good to lose his focus. But I knew he was tired. And

maybe, just maybe, he might be a little careless since it was me and not a Strigoi.

Nope.

I lashed out abruptly, trying to break away and scramble out from under him. The best I managed to do was roll myself over before

he had a hold of me again, now leaving me back-down on the bed. Being so close to him . . . his face, his lips . . . the warmth of his

skin on mine. Well. It appeared that all I'd accomplished was putting myself at a greater disadvantage. He certainly didn't seem to be

affected by our bodies' closeness. He wore that typical steel resolve of his, and even though it was stupid of me, even though I knew I

shouldn't care anymore that he was over me . . . well, I did care.

"One day," he said. "You can't even wait one day?"

"Maybe if we'd gone to a nicer hotel. With cable."

"This is no time for jokes, Rose."

"Then let me do something. Anything."

"I. Can't."

Saying the words obviously pained him, and I realized something. I was so mad at him, so furious that he'd try to make me sit

around and play it safe. But he didn't like any of this either. How could I have forgotten how alike we were? We both craved action. We

both wanted to be useful, to help those we cared about. It was only his self-resolve to help Lissa that was keeping him here with this

babysitting job. He claimed me rushing back to Court was reckless, but I had a feeling that if he hadn't been the one in charge of me

—or, well, thought he was—he would have run right back there too.

I studied him, the determined dark eyes and expression softened by the brown hair that had escaped its ponytail holder. It hung

around his face now, just barely touching mine. I could try to break free again but was losing hope of that working. He was too fierce

and too set on keeping me safe. I suspected pointing out my suspicion that he wanted to go back to Court too wouldn't do any good.

True or not, he would be expecting me to argue with Rose-logic. He was Dimitri, after all. He would be expecting everything.

Well, almost.

An idea hit me so fast that I didn't pause to analyze it. I just acted. My body might be constrained, but my head and neck had just

enough freedom to shift up—and kiss him.

My lips met his, and I learned a few things. One was that it was possible to catch him totally by surprise. His body froze and locked

up, shocked at the sudden turn of events. I also realized that he was just as good a kisser as I recalled. The last time we'd kissed had

been when he was Strigoi. There had been an eerie sexiness to that, but it didn't compare to the heat and energy of being alive. His

lips were just like I remembered from our time at St. Vladimir's, both soft and hungry at the same time. Electricity spread through the

rest of my body as he kissed me back. It was both comforting and exhilarating.

And that was the third thing I discovered. He was kissing me back. Maybe, just maybe, Dimitri wasn't as resolved as he claimed to

be. Maybe under all that guilt and certainty that he couldn't love again, he still wanted me. I would have liked to have found out. But I

didn't have the time.

Instead, I punched him.

It's true: I've punched lots of guys who were kissing me but never one I actually wanted to keep kissing. Dimitri still had a solid hold

on me, but the shock of the kiss had dropped his guard. My fist broke out and connected with the side of his face. Without missing a

beat, I shoved him off me as hard as I could and leapt away from the bed and toward the door. I heard him scramble to his feet as I

threw it open. I shot out of the room and slammed the door shut before I could see what he did next. Not that I needed to. He was

coming after me.

Without a moment's hesitation, I shoved the abandoned cleaning cart in front of the room's door and sprinted off down the hall. A

couple seconds later, the door opened, and I heard a cry of annoyance—as well as a very, very bad word in Russian—as he ran into

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the cart. It would only take him a few moments to push it aside, but that was all I needed. I was down the flight of stairs in a flash and

into the meager lobby where a bored desk clerk was reading a book. He nearly jumped out of his chair when I came tearing through.

"There's a guy chasing me!" I called as I headed out the door.

The clerk didn't really look like anyone who would try to stop Dimitri, and I had a feeling Dimitri wouldn't stop anyway if the guy asked

him to. In the most extreme case, the man would call the police. In this town, the POLICE probably consisted of one guy and a dog.

Regardless, it was no longer my concern. I had escaped the motel and was now in the middle of a sleepy mountain town, its streets

cast in shadows. Dimitri might be right behind me, but as I plunged into some woods nearby, I knew it was going to be easy for me to

lose him in the darkness.

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SEVEN SEVEN

SEVENSEVEN

THE PROBLEM WAS, OF COURSE, that I soon lost myself in the darkness.

After living in the wilds of Montana, I was used to how completely the night could swallow you once you stepped away from even the

tiniest hint of civilization. I was even used to wandering the twists and turns of dark forests. But the St. Vladimir's terrain had been

familiar. The woods of West Virginia were new and foreign, and I had completely lost my bearings.

Once I was pretty sure I'd put enough distance between me and the motel, I paused and looked around. Night insects hummed and

sang, and the oppressive summer humidity hung around me. Peering up through the leafy canopy of trees, I could see a brilliant sky of

stars, totally untouched by city lights. Feeling like a true wilderness survivor, I studied the stars until I spotted the Big Dipper and

figured out which direction was north. The mountains Sydney had driven us through had been to the east, so I certainly didn't want to

go in that direction. It seemed reasonable that if I hiked north, I'd eventually hit an interstate and either hitchhike or walk my way back to

civilization. It wasn't an airtight plan, but it wasn't the worst one I'd ever had, not by a long shot.

I wasn't really dressed for hiking, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I managed to avoid most trees and other obstacles.

Following the tiny road out of town would have been easier—but was also what Dimitri would expect me to do.

I fell into a steady, subconscious rhythm as I made my way north. I decided it was a good time to check in on Lissa, now that I had

time on my hands and no guardians trying to arrest me. I slipped into her mind and found her within the depths of the guardians'

headquarters, sitting in a hallway lined with chairs. Other Moroi sat nearby, including Christian and Tasha.

"They'll question you hard," Tasha murmured. "Especially you." That was to Christian. "You'd be my first choice if something illicitly

blew up." That seemed to be everyone's opinion. From the troubled look on her face, I could see Tasha had been as surprised by my

escape as I had. Even if my friends hadn't filled her in on the whole story yet, she had probably pieced most things together—at the

very least, who was behind it.

Christian gave her as charming a smile as he could manage, like a kid trying to dodge being grounded. "They'll know by now that it

wasn't caused by magic," he said. "The guardians will have scoured every inch of those statues." He didn't elaborate, not in public, but

Lissa's mind was working along the same lines as his. The guardians would know now the explosion hadn't been elemental. And even

if my friends were the primary suspects, the authorities would have to wonder—just as I had—how teenagers would get a hold of C4.

Lissa nodded her agreement and rested her hand on Christian's. "We'll be okay."

Her thoughts turned to both Dimitri and me, wondering if we'd made it out according to the plan. She couldn't focus on finding

Tatiana's killer until she knew we were safe. Like me, the breakout had been a hard choice: freeing me put me in more danger than

keeping me locked up. Her emotions were keyed up, prickly and a bit wilder than I would have liked. So much spirit, I realized. She's