Vampire Academy Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWOHEAL YOU? better him? My thoughts echoed hers.Youre the only commission, he said patiently. The only way to cure this disease. Ive been watching you for years, waiting until I was certain.Lissa shake her gallery. I cantno. I cant do whateverthing give care that.Your healing powers are incredible. No one has some(prenominal) idea just how powerful.I dont notice what youre talking approximately.Come now, Vasilisa. I know about the pig it Natalie saw you do it. Shed been fol small-scaleing you. And I know how you healed go.She realized the pointlessness of denying it. Thatwas different. Rose wasnt that hurt. just now youI cant do eachthing about Sandovskys Syndrome.not that hurt? he laughed. Im not talking about her articulatio talocruralis which was becalm impressive. Im talking about the car misfortune. Because youre by rights, you know. Rose didnt get ?that hurt. She died.He let the words happen in.Thatsno. She lived, Lissa finally managed.No. Well, yes, she did. nevertheless I read all the reports. There was no way she should drive survived especially with so many injuries. You healed her. You brought her back. He sighed, half wistful and half weary. Id venture you could do this for so long, and I tried so hard to repeat itto see how much you could instructionLissa caught on and gasped. The animals. It was you.With Natalies assist.Why would you do that? How could you?Because I had to know. I collect only a few to a greater extent weeks to live, Vasilisa. If you can truly bring back the dead, then you can cure Sandovskys. I had to know forrader I took you away(p) that you could heal at will and not just in moments of panic.Why ware me at all? A spark of anger flared up in her. Youre my near-uncle. If you wanted me to do this if you unfeignedly bet I can Her voice and feelings showed me she didnt really entirely believe she could heal him. Then wherefore rook me? Why didnt you just ask?Because its not a one period affa ir. It took a long time to figure out what you are, but I managed to acquire some of the old historiesscrolls kept out of Moroi museums. When I read about how wielding olfactory sensation works Wielding what?Spirit. Its what youve specialized in.I havent specialized in anything Youre crazy.Where else do you take these powers of yours have come from? Spirit is anformer(a) segment, one few people have any more.Lissas intellect was still reeling from the kidnapping and the possible truth that shed brought me back from the dead. That doesnt make any sense. Even if it wasnt common, I still would have heard of an another(prenominal) element Or of someone having it.No one knows about spirit anymore. Its been forgotten. When people do specialize in it, nobody realizes it. They think the person simply hasnt specialized at all.Look, if youre just trying to make me feel She abruptly cut herself off. She was angry and afraid, but shag those emotions, her high reasoning had been process ing what hed said about spirit users and specializing. It now caught up with her. Oh my God. Vladimir and Ms. Karp.He gave her a cognise look. Youve known about this all along.No I asseverate. Its just something Rose was looking intoShe said they were same me Lissa was starting to change from a little scared to all scared. The intelligence service was too shocking.They are athe likes of you. The books even say Vladimir was ?full of spirit. headmaster seemed to find that funny. Seeing that smile made me want to rigidly him.I thought Lissa still wanted him to be wrong. The idea of not specializing was safer than specializing in some eccentric element. I thought that meant, like, the Holy Spirit.So does e reallyone else, but no. Its something else entirely. An element thats within all of us. A master element that can give you indirect control over the others. Apparently my theory about her specializing in all the elements wasnt so far off.She worked hard to get a grip on this news and her own self-control. That doesnt answer my question. It doesnt question if I have this spirit thing or whatever. You didnt have to kidnap me.Spirit, as youve seen, can heal physical injuries. Unfortunately, its only good on acute injuries. unitytime things. Roses ankle. The casualty wounds. For something chronic say, a genetic disease like Sandovskys continual healings are required. Otherwise it will supporting approach shot back. Thats what would happen to me. I need you, Vasilisa. I need you to help me fight this and keep it away. So I can live.That still doesnt explain why you took me, she argued. I would have helped you if youd asked.They never would have let you do it. The school. The council. Once they got over the shock of finding a spirit user, theyd get hung up on ethics. After all, how does one choose who gets to be healed? Theyd say it wasnt fair. That it was like p take downing God. Or else theyd cephalalgia about the toll itd take on you.She flinched, knowing exactly what toll he referred to.Seeing her expression, he nodded. Yes. I wont lie to you. It will be hard. It will exhaust you mentally and physically. simply I es directial do it. I am sorry. Youll be provided with feeders and other entertainments for your services.She leapt from the chair. Ben immediately stepped forward and pushed her back into it. And then what? be you exhalation to just make me a prisoner here? Your own private nurse?He made that annoying open-palmed gesture again. Im sorry. I have no choice.White-hot anger blasted away the fear inside of her. She spoke in a low voice. Yes. You dont have the choice, because this is me were talking about.Its better for you this way. You know how the others turned out. How Vladimir spent the last of his days stark, raving mad. How Sonya Karp had to be taken away. The trauma youve experienced since the accident comes from more than just your familys loss. Its from apply spirit. The accident woke the spirit in you yo ur fear over seeing Rose dead made it burst out, allowing you to heal her. It forged your bond. And once its out, you cant put it back. Its a powerful element but its also dangerous. Earth users get their power from the earth, air users from the air. provided spirit? Where do you think that comes from?She glared.It comes from you, from your own essence. To heal another, you must give part of yourself. The more you do that, the more it will demean you over time. You must be noticing that al desexualise. Ive seen how much certain things upset you, how fragile you are.Im not fragile, snapped Lissa. And Im not going to go crazy. Im going to bide using spirit ahead things get worse.He smiled. Stop using it? You might as well stop breathing. Spirit has its own agendaYoull always have the press to help and heal. Its part of you. You resisted the animals, but you didnt think twice about helping Rose. You cant even help essential which spirit also gives you special strength in. And t hats how it will always be. You cant avoid spirit. Better to baulk here, in isolation, away from further sources of stress. Youd either have become increasingly unstable at the Academy, or they would have put you on some pill that would have made you feel better but stunt your power.A calm core of confidence settled inside her, one very different from what Id observed over the last couple of years. I love you, Uncle Victor, but Im the one who has to deal with that and decide what to do. Not you. Youre making me give up my life for yours. Thats not fair.Its a matter of which life means more. I love you too. Very much. But the Moroi are falling apart. Our numbers are dropping as we let the Strigoi prey upon us. We used to actively seek them out. Now Tatiana and the other leaders hide away. They keep you and your peers isolated. In the old days, you were trained to fight alongside your guardians You were taught to use magic as a weapon. Not any longer. We wait. We are victims. As he stared off, both Lissa and I could see how caught up in his passion he was. I would have changed that if I were king. I would have brought about a revolution the likes of which neither Moroi nor Strigoi have ever seen. I should have been Tatianas heir. She was ready to name me before they discovered the disease, and then she would not. If I were of age(p)if I were cured, I could take my rightful place His words triggered something inside of Lissa, a sudden setting for the state of the Moroi. Shed never contemplated what hed said, about how different it might be if Moroi and their guardians fought side by side to liberate the world of the Strigoi and their evil. It reminded her of Christian and what hed said about using magic as a weapon too. But even if she did appreciate Victors convictions, neither of us thought it was worth what he wanted her to do.Im sorry, she whispered. Im sorry for you. But please dont make me do this.I have to.She looked him straight in the eye. I wont d o it.He inclined his head, and someone stepped forward from the corner. Another Moroi. No one I knew. Walking around behind Lissa, he untied her hands.This is Kenneth. Victor held his hands out toward her free ones. Please, Vasilisa. Take my hands. Send the magic done me just as you did with Rose.She shook her head. No.His voice was less kindly when he spoke again. Please. One way or another, you will heal me. Id rather it be on your terms, not ours.She shook her head again. He made a slight gesture toward Kenneth.And thats when the pain started.Lissa screamed. I screamed.In the SUV, Dimitris grip on the wheel jerked in surprise, making us veer. Casting me an alarmed look, he started to pull over.No, no reenforcement going I pressed my palms to my temples. We have to get thereFrom behind my rear, Alberta reached forward and rested a hand on my shoulder. Rose, whats happening?I blinked back tears. Theyre torturing herwith air. This guyKennethhes making it press against herinto her head. The pressures insane. It feels like my her skulls gonna explode. I started sobbing.Dimitri looked at me out of the corner of his eye and pressed the gas pedal down harder.Kenneth didnt stop with just the physical force of air. He also used it to affect her breathing. Sometimes hed smother her with it other times hed take it all away and leave her gasping. After enduring all that firsthand and it was speculative enough secondhand I felt pretty confident I would have done anything they wanted.And finally, she did. pain sensation and bleary-eyed, Lissa took Victors hands. Id never been in her head when she worked magic and didnt know what to expect. At first, I felt nothing. Just a sense of concentration. Thenit was likeI dont even know how to describe it. Color and light and music and life and joy and loveso many wonderful things, all the lovely things that make up the world and make it worth living in.Lissa summoned up all of those things, as many as she could, and sent them into Victor. The magic flowed through both of us, brilliant and sweet. It was alive. It was her life. And as wonderful as it all felt, she was growing weaker and weaker. But as all of those elements bound by the mysterious spirit element flowed into Victor, he grew stronger and stronger.The change was startling. His shinny smoothed, no longer wrinkled and pocked. The gray thinning hair filled out, turning dark and promising once more. The green eyes still jadelike sparkled again, turning alert and lively.Hed become the Victor she remembered from her childhood.Exhausted, Lissa passed out.In the SUV, I tried to relate what was happening. Dimitris face grew darker and darker, and he spat out a string of Russian swear words he still hadnt taught me the meanings of.When we were a quarter mile from the cabin, Alberta made a call on her cell phone, and our whole convoy pulled over. All of the guardians more than a dozen-got out and stood huddled, planning strategy. Someone went ahead(predicate) to scout and returned with a report on the number of people inside and outside of the cabin. When the group seemed ready to disperse, I started to get out of the car. Dimitri stopped me.No, Roza. You stay here.The hell with that. I have to go help her.He cupped my chin with his hands, fixing me with his eyes. You have helped her. Your job is done. You did it well. But this isnt any place for you. She and I both need you to stay safe.Only the realization that arguing would delay the rescue kept me quiet. Swallowing back any protests, I nodded. He nodded back and joined the others. All of them slipped off into the woods, blending with the trees.Sighing, I kicked the passenger seat back and lay down. I was so tired. Even though the sun poured through the windshield, it was night for me. Id been up for most of it, and a lot had happened in that time. Between the adrenaline of my own role and sharing Lissas pain, I could have passed out just like she had.Except that sh e was awake now.Slowly, her perceptions dominated mine once more. She lay on a couch in the cabin. One of Victors henchmen must have carried her there after shed fainted. Victor himself alive and well now, thanks to his abuse of her stood in the kitchen with the others as they all spoke in low voices about their plans. Only one stood near Lissa, keeping watch. Hed be easy to take down when Dimitri and the Badass aggroup burst inside.Lissa studied the lone guardian and then glanced at a window beside the couch. Still empty-headed from the healing, she managed to sit up. The guardian turned around, watching her warily. She met his eyes and smiled.Youre going to stay quiet no matter what I do, she told him. You arent going to call for help or tell anyone when I leave. Okay?The thrall of irresistible impulse slid over him. He nodded in agreement.Moving toward the window, she unlocked it and slid the glass up. As she did, a tumble of considerations contend through her mind. She was weak. She didnt know how far from the Academy from anything, really she was. She had no clue how far she could get before someone noticed.But she also knew she might not get another chance at escape. She had no intention of spending the rest of her life in this cabin in the woods.At any other time, I would have cheered on her boldness, but not this time. Not when all those guardians were about to save her. She unavoidable to stay put. Unfortunately, she couldnt hear my advice.Lissa climbed out the window, and I swore out loud.What? Whatd you see? asked a voice behind me.I jerked up from my reclining position in the car, banging my head on the ceiling. Glancing behind me, I found Christian peering up from the cargo space behind the farthest backseats.What are you doing here? I asked.Whats it look like? Im a stowaway.Dont you have a concussion or something?He shrugged like it didnt matter. What a great duad he and Lissa were. Neither afraid to take on crazy feats while seriously in jured. Still, if Kirova had made me stay behind, I would have been right beside him in the back.Whats happening? he asked. Did you see something new?Hastily, I told him. I also got out of the car as I spoke. He followed.She doesnt know our guys are already coming for her. Im going to go get her before she kills herself with exhaustion.What about the guardians? The schools, I mean. Are you going to tell them shes at peace(p)?I shook my head. Theyre probably already busting down the cabins door. Im going after her. She was somewhere off to the right side of the cabin. I could head in that direction but wouldnt be able to get very precise until I was much closer to her. Still, it didnt matter. I had to find her. Seeing Christians face, I couldnt resist braggart(a) him a dry smile. And yeah, I know. Youre going with me.