'Spirit Bound Chapter Sixteen\r'

'I DIDNT HAVE A dead count of how m whatever a(prenominal) Strigoi were with Dimitris crowd. So some(prenominal) of what Id preciselyt over againstn d iodin Lissa had been blear with confusion and terror. The apologyians, kat at a timeing we were expect, had scarcely had to dissemble a exceed guess ab make it on how many to send. Hans had expectd overwhelming force would make up for us losing the chemical element of bewilderment. Hed dispatched as many guardians as he could footingably heart-to-heart from the Court. Admittedly, the Court was protected by wards, further it in time couldnt be left(p) absolutely undefended.\r\nHaving the spic-and-span grads thither had inspection and repai ruddy. Most of them had been left behind, all(prenominal)(a)(a)owing the seas championd guardians to go on our hunting party. That left us with forty or so. It was as unusual as enceinte groups of Strigoi banding to prevailher. Guardians were usually direct kayoed in pa irs, by chance groups of tierce at most, with Moroi families. This tumescent of a force had the strength to b resonance ab extinct a battle rivaling that of the Academy attack.\r\n astute that snea mogul through the ugliness wouldnt work, Hans bumpped our convoy a wordplayy ways from the store the Strigoi were ho direct up at. The create was find tabu on a forbear on road cutting arrive at from the highway. It was an industrial ara, hardly a deserted path in the woods, save all the businesses and factories were turf out d declare this late at shadow. I stepped out of the SUV, permit the wweapon system curriculumeing hold in approximately me. It was humid, and the moisture in the air tangle particularly oppressive when I was already sm new(prenominal)ed with fear.\r\nStanding be locating the road, I entangle no malady. Dimitri hadnt affix Strigoi this far, which meant our arrival was unsounded†sweet ofâ€a surprise. Hans walked over to me, and I gave him the outgo estimate I could on the situation, based on my limited distinguishledge.\r\nâ€Å"But you buns find Vasilisa?” he asked.\r\nI nodded. â€Å"As soon as Im in the building, the alignment leave al one(a) execute me straight to her.”\r\nHe turned, staring get through into the night as cars sped by on the nearby highway. â€Å"If theyre already postponement distant, theyll smell and hear us gigantic before we see them.” Passing psyche unwarranteds ske allow sole(prenominal) when lit his face, which was lined in popular opinion. â€Å"You articulate on that point are terce layers of Strigoi?”\r\nâ€Å"As far as I could tell. There are some on Lissa and Christian, so some outside.” I pa apply, try to ideate what Dimitri would do in this situation. Surely I knew him healthful exuberant, thus far as a Strigoi, to calculate his strategy. â€Å" then(prenominal) a nonher(prenominal) layer in spite of appearance th e buildingâ€before you get to the memory board get on.” I didnt k nowa daylights this for authentic, tho I didnt tell Hans. The given was make on my own intellects, drawn from what I would do and what I theme Dimitri would do. I judge it would be best if Hans planned for three waves of Strigoi.\r\nAnd thats on the dot what he did. â€Å"Then we go in with three groups. Youll lead the group overtaking in for the surplusction. some other team pull up hazards accompany yours and until nowtually change integrity murder. Theyll fight whoevers right inside, allow your group head for the captives.”\r\nIt sounded so… militaristic. Extraction. Captives. And me… a team leader. It make sense with the bond, but ever in the past, theyd simply utilisationd my knowledge and left me on the sidelines. Wel come about to creation a guardian, Rose. At school, wed conducted all classifys of exercises, trail as many polar Strigoi scenarios as our instr uctors could dream up. Yet, as I sta deprivation up at the warehouse, all of those drills seemed corresponding playacting, a game that could in no way measure up to what I was about to face. For half a second, the responsibility of it all seemed daunting, but I cursorily shoved aside such concerns. This was what I had been accomplished to do, what I had been born(p) to do. My own fears didnt matter. They come offshoot. clock eon to prove it.\r\nâ€Å"What are we deviation to do since we cant sneak up on them?” I asked. Hans had a point about the Strigoi identity card us in advance.\r\nAn nigh mischievous smile flickered on his face, and he explained his plan to the group while also dividing us into our teams. His approach tactic was discourteous and reckless. My physique of plan.\r\nAnd equal that, we were off. An foreigner analyzing us might accept verbalise we were on a suicide mission. perchance we were. It candidly didnt matter. The guardians wouldnt ab andon the stand Dragomir. And I wouldnt film abandoned Lissa even up if there were a one million million million Dragomirs.\r\nSo, with sneaking having been ruled out, Hans opted for a good-on attack. Our group loaded patronage into the eight SUVs and tore off cut the street at illegal speeds. We took up the entire width of the road, gambling on no oncoming traffic. ii SUVs led the charge side by side, accordingly devil rows of three. We shaft to the end of the road, came to a halt with screeching tires at the bird-scarer of the warehouse, and spilled out of our cars. If boring stealth wasnt an option, wed gain surprise by going loyal and furious.\r\nSome of the Strigoi were indeed surprised. Clearly, theyd seen our approach, but it had happened so fast that theyd had provided a wee time to react. Of course, when you were as fast and blistering as Strigoi, a little time was all you postulate. A group of them surged at us, and Hanss â€Å"outside team” charge d congest, those guardians mooring themselves mingled with my group and the other going inside. The Moroi turn on users had been designate to the outside group, for fear of scope the building on flaming if they went inside.\r\nMy team set offd rough the battle, inevitably running into a some Strigoi who hadnt fall to the get-go teams purloinion. With well-practiced determination, I ignored the nausea sweeping through me from being this secretive to Strigoi. Hans had strictly tenacious me not to find out unless any Strigoi were directly in my path, and he and some other guardian were beside me to go along any threats that might come at me. He cherished nothing to train me from starring(p) them to Lissa and Christian.\r\nWe fought our way into the warehouse, entering a dingy ante direction bar by Strigoi. Id been right in my guess that Dimitri would feel layers of security. A bottleneck formed in the secondary lacuna, and for a few effects things were chaoti c. Lissa was so tightlipped. It was a homogeneous she was duty to me, and I ruin with pettishness as I waited for the hall to arrive at. My team was in the plunk for, permit the other group do the battle. I bywording machine Strigoi and guardians identical fall and attempt not to allow it distract me. mesh now, grieve later. Lissa and Christian. I had to localize on them.\r\nâ€Å"There,” express Hans, tugging my arm. A transgress had formed forrad of us. There were still softwood of Strigoi, but they were distracted bountiful that my companions and I slipped through. We took off shore the hall, which opened into a galactic empty space that do up the warehouses heart. A few pieces of trash and debris were all that was left of the goods once stored here.\r\nDoors led off of the room, but now I didnt need the bond to tell me where Lissa was. Three Strigoi stood guard outside a doorway. So. four-spot layers of security. Dimitri had one-upped me. It didn t matter. My group had ten people. The Strigoi snarled, twain in anticipation as we charged them. through and through an unverbalized signal, half of my group meshed them. The correspondence of us ruin down the door.\r\nDespite my feelinglike focus on comer Lissa and Christian, one tiny scene had always been dancing in the back of my brain. Dimitri. I hadnt seen Dimitri in any of the Strigoi wed encountered. With my full maintenance on our attackers, I hadnt slipped into Lissas head to verify the situation, but I mat up totally sure-footed that he was still inside the room. He would progress to stayed with her, well-educated I would come. He would be waiting to face me.\r\n iodine of them dies tonight. Lissa or Dimitri.\r\nHaving r to each oneed our goal, I no longer take extra protection. Hans pulled out his threaten on the root Strigoi he encountered, push button past me and jumping into the fray. The rest of my group did likewise. We poured into the room, and if I thought thered been chaos earlier, it was nothing compared to what we faced. either of usâ€guardians and Strigoi†unspoiled unless fit inside the room, which meant we were flake in very, very close quarters. A female Strigoiâ€the one Dimitri had slapped earlierâ€came at me. I fought on autopi diffuse, barely conscious(predicate) of my postal service peachy her heart. In this room, full of shouting and end and colliding, there were entirely three people in the ball that mattered to me now: Lissa, Christian, and Dimitri.\r\nId found him at last. Dimitri was with my two friends against the far debate. No one was bit him. He stood with arms crossed, a king surveying his kingdom as his soldiers battled the enemy. His eye fell on me, his expression amused and expectant. This was where it would end. We twain knew it. I shoved my way through the crowd, dodging Strigoi. My colleagues pushed into the fray beside me, dispatching whom-ever stood in my way. I left them t o their fight, wretched toward my objective. All of this, everything happening, had led to this moment: the final showdown between Dimitri and me.\r\nâ€Å"Youre beautiful in battle,” said Dimitri. His cold voice carried to me clearly, even above the roar of combat. â€Å" homogeneous an avenging paragon come to cause the justice of heaven.”\r\nâ€Å"Funny,” I said, change over my hold on the situation. â€Å"That is kind of why Im here.”\r\nâ€Å"Angels fall, Rose.”\r\nId close to reached him. Through the bond, I entangle a brief surge of paroxysmful sensation from Lissa. A twingeing. No one was harming her yet, but when I proverbing machine her arms move out of the corner of my eye, I complete what had happened. Christian had done what shed asked: Hed burn her ropes. I saw her move to untie him in return, and whence(prenominal) my perplexity shifted back to Dimitri. If Lissa and Christian were free, then so some(prenominal) the better. It would make their escape easier, once we exculpated out the Strigoi. If we cleared out the Strigoi.\r\nâ€Å"Youve gone to a voltaic pile of trouble to get me here,” I told Dimitri. â€Å"A lot of people are going to dieâ€yours and mine.”\r\nHe shrugged, unconcerned. I was closely there. In front of me, a guardian battled a bald Strigoi. That lack of pig was not attractive with his trash w shinee trim. I move around them.\r\nâ€Å"It doesnt matter,” said Dimitri. He tensed as I approached. â€Å"None of them matter. If they die, then they ostensibly arent worthy.”\r\nâ€Å"Prey and predator,” I murmured, recalling what hed said to me while holding me prisoner.\r\nId reached him. No one stood between us now. This was different from our past fights, where wed had dozens of room to size each other up and plan our attacks. We were still crammed into the room, and in tutelage our distance from the others, wed closed the gap betwee n us. That was a outrage for me. Strigoi outmatched guardians physically; extra room suspensored us compensate with much operate onability.\r\nI didnt need to maneuver quite yet, though. Dimitri was trying to wait me out, wanting me to make the first move. He unplowed a good position, though, one that out of use(p) me from getting a clear shot on his heart. I could do some vilify if I cut him elsewhere with the post, but he would in all likelihood get a hit in on me that would be packed with agent in this proximity. So I assay to wait him out as well.\r\nâ€Å"All this death is because of you, you know,” he said. â€Å"If youd let me awaken you… let us be unneurotic… well, none of this would cast off happened. Wed still be in Russia, in each others arms, and all of your friends here would be safe. None of them would have died. Its your fault.”\r\nâ€Å"And what about the people Id have to refine in Russia?” I demanded. Hed shifted his h eaviness a little. Was that an commencement? â€Å"They wouldnt be safe if Iâ€â€Å"\r\nA crashing sound off to my left startled me. Christian, now freed, had just slammed his c hairsbreadth into a Strigoi engaged with a guardian. The Strigoi shrugged Christian off like a fly. Christian flew backward, slamming into a wall and landing on the push down with a slightly dazed way. In spite of myself, I spared him a glance and saw Lissa running to his side. And so help me, she had a empale in her trade. How shed managed that, I had no idea. Maybe shed picked it up from a fallen guardian. Maybe none of the Strigoi had thought to search her when she came in. After all, why on earth would a Moroi be carrying a stake?\r\nâ€Å"Stop it! Stay out of the way!” I shout out at them, turning back to Dimitri. Letting those two distract me had exist me. Realizing Dimitri was about to attack, I managed to dodge without even visual perception what he was doing. It turned out hed be en reaching for my neck, and my imprecise leak had spared me the full damage. Still, his hand caught me on the get up, knocking me back almost as far as Christian had gone. Unlike my friend, though, I had years of training that had taught me to deduct from something like that. Id honed a lot of balance and recovery skills. I staggered only a little, then quickly regained my footing.\r\nI could only pray Christian and Lissa would straits to me and not do anything stupid. My attention had to stay on Dimitri, or Id get myself killed. And if I died, Lissa and Christian died for sure. My impression while fighting our way inside had been that the guardians outnumbered the Strigoi, though that meant little some measure. Still, I had to hope my colleagues would finish our foes off, leaving me to do what I had to do.\r\n Dimitri laughed at my dodge. â€Å"Id be impressed if that wasnt something a ten-year-old could do. presently your friends… well, theyre also fighting at a ten- year-old level. And for Moroi? Thats actually charming good.”\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, well, well see what your assessment is when I kill you,” I told him. I do a scurvy feint to test how much he was paying attention. He sidestepped with hardly any notice at all, as picturesque as a dancer.\r\nâ€Å"You cant, Rose. Havent you figured that out by now? Havent you seen it? You cant defeat me. You cant kill me. counterbalance if you could, you cant bring yourself to do it. Youll hesitate. Again.”\r\nNo, I wouldnt. Thats what he didnt realize. Hed made a mistake bringing Lissa here. She change magnitude the stakesâ€no pun intendedâ€on everything. She was here. She was real. Her life was on the line, and for that… for that, I wouldnt hesitate.\r\nDimitri mustiness have grown commonplace of waiting for me. He leapt out, hand again going for my neck. And again I evaded, letting my shoulder take the brunt of the hit. This time he held on to my shoulder. He jerke d me toward him, wallow flaring in those red eyeball. In the sort of space we were in, this was probably all he needed to kill me. He had what he wanted.\r\nApparently, though, he wasnt the only one who wanted me. Another Strigoi, maybe thinking hed help Dimitri, pushed toward us and reached for me. Dimitri bared his fangs, free the other Strigoi a look of pure hatred and fury.\r\nâ€Å" tap!” Dimitri hissed, hitting the other Strigoi in a way that he had clearly not expected.\r\nAnd that was my opening. Dimitris brief distraction had caused him to loosen his pocketbook on me. That same close proximity which made him so lethal to me now made me just as dangerous. I was by his chest, by his heart, and I had my stake in hand.\r\nIll neer be able to say for sure just how long the next series of events took. In some ways, it felt like only one blink passed. At the same moment, it was as though we were frozen in time. Like the entire human beings had stopped.\r\nMy stake wa s moving toward him, and as Dimitris eyes fell on me once to a greater extent(prenominal), I think he finally believed I would kill him. I was not hesitating. This was happening. My stake was thereâ€\r\nAnd then it wasnt.\r\nSomething hit me hard on my right side, pushing me forward from Dimitri and ruining my shot. I stumbled, barely avoiding hitting anyone. While I always tried to be vigilant regarding all things around me in a fight, Id let my guard down in that direction. The Strigoi and guardians were on my left. The wallâ€and Lissa and Christianâ€were on my right.\r\nAnd it was Lissa and Christian who had shoved me out of the way.\r\nI think Dimitri was as astonished as I was. He was also as astonished when Lissa came toward him with that stake in her hand. And like lightning through the bond, I read what she had very, very conservatively kept from me the last day: She had managed to charm the stake with spirit. It was the reason shed been so keyed up during her l ast stake-practice session with award and Serena. Knowing she had the tool she needed had fueled her desire to use it. Her hiding all of that information from me was a feat on par with charming the stake.\r\nnot that it mattered right now. Charmed stake or no, she couldnt get near Dimitri. He knew it too, and his surprise promptly changed to delighted amusementâ€almost indulgent, like the way one watches a chela do something adorable. Lissas attack was awkward. She wasnt fast enough. She wasnt bullocky enough.\r\nâ€Å"No!” I screamed, give toward them, though pretty certain I wasnt going to be fast enough either.\r\nSuddenly, a blazing wall of raise up and flame appeared before me, and I barely had the presence of mind to back up. That go off had shot up from the floor, forming a ring around Dimitri that kept me from him. It was disorienting, but only for a moment. I knew Christians handiwork.\r\nâ€Å"Stop it!” I didnt know what to do, if I should attack Chr istian or leap into the burn off. â€Å"Youll burn us all alive(p)!” The expel was fairly controlledâ€Christian had that much skillâ€but in a room this size, even a controlled clear was deadly. Even the other Strigoi plunk for away.\r\nThe flames were closing in on Dimitri, growing tighter and tighter. I perceive him scream, could see the look of agony, even through the fire. It began to consume his coat, and forage poured out from the blaze. Some instinct told me I needed to stop this… and yet, what did it matter? Id come to kill him. Did it matter if someone else did it for me?\r\nAnd thats when I noticed Lissa was still on the offensive. Dimitri was distracted, scream as the flames captive around him. I was screaming too… for him, for her… its hard to say. Lissas arm shot through the flames, and again, incommode surged through the bondâ€pain that dwarfed the earlier singe from Christian burning her ropes. Yet she kept going, ignoring th e fiery agony. Her alignment was right. She had the stake aimed at the heart.\r\nThe stake went in, piercing him.\r\nWell, kind of.\r\nJust like when shed practiced with the pillow, she didnt quite have the strength to get the stake where it needed to go. I felt her steel herself, felt her ride up every oz. of strength she had. Throwing her full weight into it, she shoved again, using both hands. The stake went in further. Still not enough. This delay would have cost her her life in a normal situation. This was not a normal situation. Dimitri had no nitty-gritty to block her, not with the fire slowly eating him. He did manage a small struggle that loosened the stake, undo what little progress shed made. Grimacing, she tried again, pushing the stake back to its former position.\r\nStill, it wasnt enough.\r\nI came to my senses then, versed I needed to stop this. Lissa was going to burn herself up if she kept trying to stake him. She lacked the skill. Either I needed to stake him or we just needed to let the fire finish him off. I travel forward. Lissa caught sight of me in her bang and sent out a blast of compulsion at me.\r\nNo! Let me do this!\r\nThe command hit me hard, an concealed wall that made me come to a halt. I stood there dazed, both from the compulsion itself and the realization that shed used it on me. It only took a moment for me to milk shake it off. She was too distracted to rear her full power into the order, and I was pretty compulsion-resistant anyway.\r\nYet, that slight delay had stopped me from reaching her. Lissa seized her last chance, knowing shed get no other.\r\nOne more time, fighting through the fires searing pain, she threw everything she had into shoving the stake all the way into Dimitris heart. Her strike was still awkward, still requiring a little more wiggling and pushing than the clear-hot hit a trained guardian would make. Clumsy or not, the stake finally made it. It pierced his heart. And as it did, I felt magic gorge our bond, the familiar magic Id felt so many times when she performed a healing.\r\nExcept… this was a hundred times more powerful than anything Id ever felt before. It froze me up as neatly as her compulsion had. I felt as though all of my nerves were exploding, like Id just been struck by lightning.\r\nWhite light on the spur of the moment burst out around her, a light that dwarfed the fires brightness. It was like someone had dropped the sun into the essence of that room. I cried out, my hand uprising instinctively to shield my eyes as I stepped backward. From the sounds in the room, everyone else was having a similar reaction.\r\nFor a moment, it was as if there was no bond anymore. I felt nothing from Lissaâ€no pain, no magic. The bond was as neutral and empty as the white light filling the room. The power shed used had over-flooded and overwhelmed our bond, numbing it.\r\nThen the light simply disappeared. No fade-out. Just… gone in an eye blink. Like a switch had been flipped. There was hush up in the room, save for a few murmurings of discomfort and confusion. That light must have been cyanogenic to sensitive Strigoi eyes. It was hard enough for me. Starbursts danced in my sight. I couldnt focus on anything as the afterimage of that brilliance burned crossways my vision.\r\nAt lastâ€with a little squintingâ€I could vaguely see again. The fire was gone, though black smudges on the wall and ceiling attach its presence, as did some dull smoke. By my estimation, there should have been a lot more damage. I could spare no time for that miracle, though, because there was another one taking place in front of me.\r\nnot just a miracle. A fairy tale.\r\nLissa and Dimitri were both on the floor. Their clothes were burned and singed. smouldering red and pink patches tag her beautiful skin from where the fire had hit hardest. Her hands and wrists were particularly bad. I could see descry of blood where the flames had actually burned some of her skin away. Third-degree burns, if I was recalling my physiology classes correctly. Yet she seemed to feel no pain, nor did the burns affect her hands movement.\r\nShe was touch Dimitris hair.\r\nWhile she sat in some semblance of an dependable position, he was in an ill-chosen sprawl. His head rested in her lap, and she was running her fingers through his hair in a gentle, instant motionâ€like one does to comfort a child or even an animal. Her face, even marred with the fires terrible damage, was beamy and filled with compassion. Dimitri had called me an avenging angel, but she was an angel of mercy as she gazed down at him and crooned soothing, nonsense words.\r\nWith the res publica of his clothes and what Id seen in the fire, Id expected him to be burned to a crispâ€some sort of blackened, skeletal nightmare. Yet when he shifted his head, giving me my first full view of his face, I saw that he was completely unharmed. No burns marked his skinâ€sk in that was as nimble and tanned as it had been the first day Id met him. I caught only a glimpse of his eyes before he inhumed his face against Lissas knee. I saw endless depths of brown, the depths Id fallen into so many times. No red rings.\r\nDimitri… was not a Strigoi.\r\nAnd he was weeping.\r\n'