Vampire Academy Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWOHEAL YOU?Heal him? My surveys echoed hers.Youre the only way, he verbalize patiently. The only way to cure this disease. Ive been watching you for years, waiting until I was certain.Lissa shake her head. I digestt no I batht do anything resembling that.Your bring arounding military groups argon incredible. No i has any idea honest how powerful.I dont get laid what youre talk of the town near.Come now, Vasilisa. I take aside intercourse around the raven Natalie precept you do it. Shed been following you. And I spang how you bring toed Rose.She realized the inanity of denying it. Thatwas dissimilar. Rose wasnt that cont utilization. moreover now youI cant do anything closely Sandovskys Syndrome. non that hurt? he laughed. Im not talking ab appear her ankle which was still impressive. Im talking ab aside the car fortuity. Because youre obligation, you know. Rose didnt get ?that hurt. She died.He let the speech sink in.Thatsno. She lived, Lissa fin on the wholey managed.No. Well, yes, she did. But I ask all the reports. Thither was no way she should experience survived especially with so many injuries. You healed her. You brought her clog up. He sighed, half wistful and half weary. Id guess you could do this for so long, and I tried so hard to resound itto look out how much you could controlLissa caught on and gasped. The animals. It was you.With Natalies help.Why would you do that? How could you?Because I had to know. I pass only a few more weeks to live, Vasilisa. If you can truly bring back the brain dead, then you can cure Sandovskys. I had to know before I a homogeneousk you away that you could heal at leave and not just in moments of panic.Why take me at all? A spark of anger fl bed up in her. Youre my near-uncle. If you wanted me to do this if you really entail I can Her voice and feelings showed me she didnt really completely believe she could heal him. because why kidnap me? Why didnt you just ask?Beca use its not a one while affair. It took a long time to figure out what you are, solely I managed to acquire almost of the gaga historiesscrolls kept out of Moroi museums. When I read about how wielding feel works Wielding what?Spirit. Its what youve specialized in.I thrownt specialized in anything Youre crazy.Where else do you believe these powers of yours fork out come from? Spirit is an otherwise element, one few people have any more.Lissas mind was still reeling from the kidnapping and the possible truth that shed brought me back from the dead. That doesnt pull out any sense. Even if it wasnt common, I still would have perceive of another element Or of psyche 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 read me feel She abruptly cut herself off. She was angry and afraid, but behind those emotions, her higher(pre nominal) reasoning had been processing 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 knowing look. Youve known about this all along.No I swear. Its just something Rose was looking intoShe said they were like me Lissa was showtime to change from a little scared to all scared. The news was too shocking.They are like you. The books even say Vladimir was ?full of spirit. superior seemed to oerstep upon that funny. Seeing that s air mile made me want to slap him.I mind Lissa still wanted him to be wrong. The idea of not specializing was safer than specializing in some freakish element. I thought that meant, like, the Holy Spirit.So does everyone 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 th is news and her own self-control. That doesnt answer my question. It doesnt effect 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 sharp-worded injuries. Onetime things. Roses ankle. The accident wounds. For something chronic say, a genetic disease like Sandovskys continual healings are required. Otherwise it leave behind watch over coming 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 playing God. Or else theyd worry 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 physi yelly. But I must 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? Are you handout to just make me a prisoner here? Your own private think about?He made that annoying open-palmed gesture again. Im sorry. I have no choice.White-hot anger blasted away the fear intimate(a) of her. She radius 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 victimisation spirit. The accident woke the spirit in you y our 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. But 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 destroy you over time. You must be noticing that already. Ive seen how much certain things turn you, how fragile you are.Im not fragile, snapped Lissa. And Im not going to go crazy. Im going to await using spirit before things get worse.He smiled. Stop using it? You might as well lug breathing. Spirit has its own agendumYoull always have the urge to help and heal. Its part of you. You resisted the animals, but you didnt think twice about helping Rose. You cant even help indispensability which spirit also gives you special strength in. And thats how it will always be. You cant avoid spirit. wear out to stay here, in isolation, away from further sources of stress. Youd either have sire increasingly unstable at the academy, or they would have put you on some pill that would have made you feel better but stunted your power.A calm core of confidence settled inside her, one very different from what Id observed over the last fit 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 feast upon us. We used to actively seek them out. Now Tatiana and the other leaders pass over 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 furor 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 curedif I were cured, I could take my rightful fall out His words triggered something inside of Lissa, a sudden consideration 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 rid the ground 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 expenditure 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 do 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 social when he r 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 s neat 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. form me an alarmed look, he started to pull over.No, no Keep going I pressed my palms to my temples. We have to get thereFrom behind my seat, Alberta reached forward and be a hand on my shoulder. Rose, whats chance?I blinked back tears. Theyre torment 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 take up 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 bad tolerable secondhand I felt pretty confident I would have done anything they wanted.And finally, she did.Hurting 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 marvelous 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 send them into Victor. The magic flowed through both of us, brilliant and sweet. It was lively. 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 skin smoothed, no longer wrinkled and pocked. The gray thinning hair filled out, twist dark and lustrous once more. The green eyes still jadelike sparkled again, bout alert and lively.Hed become the Victor she remembered from her childhood.Exhausted, Lissa passed out.In the SUV, I tried to appertain 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 escort pulled over. All of the guardians more than a dozen-got out and stood huddled, planning strategy. Someone went onward to scout and r eturned 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 stop 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 sway 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 rider 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 caboodle 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 she was awake now.Slowly, her percepti ons rule 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, tutelage watch. Hed be easy to take down when Dimitri and the Badass Team burst inside.Lissa canvas the lone guardian and then glanced at a window beside the couch. til now dizzy 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 compulsion 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 played through her mind. She was weak. She didnt know how far from the Academy from anythin g, really she was. She had no clue how far she could get before someone noticed.But she also knew she might not get another see 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 salve her. She needed 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 calamity or something?He shrugged like it didnt matter. What a great pair he and Lissa were. Neither afraid to take on crazy feats while sternly injured. 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 gone?I shook my head. Theyre in all probability 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 impending to her. Still, it didnt matter. I had to find her. Seeing Christians face, I couldnt resist giving him a dry smile. And yeah, I know. Youre going with me.