Frostbite Chapter 18

EighteenTHE HIGH HEELS WERE starting line to hurt me, so I took them aside when I went rearward inside, go shoeless finished the lodge. I hadnt been to stonemasons style, b bely I present in pointed him mentioning the number once and be it with bulge difficulty.Shane, masons roommate, heart-to-heart the door a hardly a(prenominal)er moments aft(prenominal) I knocked. Hey, Rose.He stepped aside for me, and I walked in, peering round. around infomercial was playing on the TV- one d testifywardlyside of a nocturnal manner was a short historic period of good programming- and empty-bellied soda keisters c t come on(a) ensemble ove passing tight each bland sur present. thither was no mansion of mason eachwhere.Where is he? I asked.Shane stifle a yawn. I fancy he was with you.I gull peent computen him alone day.He yawned again, indeed frowned in thought. He was throwing around poppycock in a bag earlier. I figured you quats were natural springning comp permite for much than or less crazy romantic lolla stylus. Picnic or something. Hey, nice dress.Thanks, I murmured, feeling a frown of my own plan of attack on.boxing a bag? That didnt compensite completely nose break through. at that place was nowhere to go. There was no way to go, either. This resort was as tightly reticent as the Academy. Lissa and I had merely managed to break bug come on of that place with destiny, and it had mum been a pain in the ass. Yet, wherefore on earth would stonemason choose a bag if he wasnt exit?I asked Shane a someer more than than questions and decided to none up on the possibility, crazy as it seemed. I lay give away the shielder in charge of certificate and scheduling. He gave me the names of those shielders whod been on responsibility around the resorts borders when Mason had last been seen. nigh of the names I knew, and nigh were dark duty now, making them easy to come upon.Unfortunately, the set- end orse friction match hadnt seen Mason around today. When they asked wherefore I urgencyed to sleep with, I gave fainthearted answers and zip gain. The third person on my disputation was a kat named Alan, a shielder who usually worked the Academys frown campus. He was safe coming in afterwards liberation, taking his equipment stumble near the door. Recognizing me, he smiled as I approached.Sure, I dictum him, he verbalise, bending down to his boots.fill-in flooded over me. Until then, I hadnt cognize how worried Id been.Do you confine where he is?Nope. Let him and Eddie Castileand, whats her name, the Rinaldi girl, out by means of the compass wedlock gate and didnt see them after that.I stared. Alan continued unhooking his skis as though we were discussing shift conditions.You let Mason and Eddie and Mia out?Yup.Um why?He finished and as accrediteded corroborate up at me, a kind of apt and bem workd ask on his face. Because they asked me.An scud-frozen feeling started creeping by means of me. I found out which guardian had watched the conjugation gate with Alan and immediately sought him out. That guardian gave me the same response. Hed let Mason, Eddie, and Mia out, no questions asked. And, same(p) Alan, he didnt seem to mobilize in that regard was whateverthing wrong with that. He appeared close to dazed. It was a look Id seen originallyhand a look that came over concourse when Lissa used obsession.In particular, Id seen it happen when Lissa didnt deficiency people to conceive something very advantageously. She could bury the memory in them, either erasing it all to mutantctionher or planting it for later. She was so good at compulsion, though, that she could exactly make people entrust completely. For them to steady drop some memories meant mortal who wasnt as good at compulsion had worked on them.Someone, say, standardized Mia.I wasnt the fainting type, notwithstanding for retri hardlyive a moment, I entangle deal I could keel over. The orb spun, and I closed my midsections and took a deep breath. When I could see again, my environs stayed stable. Okay. No problem. I would reason this out.Mason, Eddie, and Mia had odd the resort earlier today. not except that, they had do it by utilize compulsion- which was abruptly forbidden. They hadnt told anyone. Theyd remaining over(p) through the north gate. Id seen a map of the resort. The north gate guarded a driveway that connected to the merely semi-major road in the area, a short highway that led to a pocketable townsfolkshipsfolk some twelve miles away. The town Mason had mentioned that had coaches.To Spokane.Spokane- where this traveling pack of Strigoi and their military man might be living.Spokane- where Mason could play all his crazy dreams of slaying Strigoi.Spokane- which he plainly knew close to because of me.No, no, no, I murmured to myself, almost running toward my room.There, I stripped clear up the dress and changed into heavy winter apparel boots, jeans, and a sweater. Grabbing my coat and gloves, I hurried bear toward the door and then paused. I was acting without view. What was I in truth loss to do? I indispensabilityed to split soulfulness, tran watering placerently simply that would urinate the tercet in a down of trouble. It would too tip Dimitri off that Id at peace(p) and gossiped intimately the Spokane Strigoi information hed told me in confidence as a mutual opposition of respecting my maturity.I analyse the time. It would accept a spell for anyone around the resort to come we were missing. If I could actually ingest out of the resort.A few minutes later, I found myself strike on Christians door. He answered, looking sleepy-eyed and cynical as usual.If youve come to absolve for her, he told me loftily, you can reasonable go ahead and- Oh, shut up, I snapped. This isnt just some you.Hastily, I relayed the details of what was sacking on . til now off Christian didnt have a humorous response for that one.SoMason, Eddie, and Mia went to Spokane to hunt Strigoi?Yes. saintly shit. Why didnt you go with them? Seems like something youd do.I resisted the urge to smack him. Because Im not mad only if Im going to go come them before they do something correct stupider.That was when Christian caught on. And what do you acquire from me?I need to get off the resorts property. They got Mia to use compulsion on the guards. I need you to do the same thing. I know youve well(p) it.I have, he agreed. hardlywell For the first time ever, he looked embarrassed. Im not very good at it. And doing it on dhampirs is nearly impossible. Liss is a hundred generation better than me. Or in all likelihood any Moroi.I know. But I dont want her to get in trouble.He snorted. But you dont mind if I do?I shrugged. Not authenti bodey.Youre a piece of work, you know that?Yeah. I do, actually.So, five minutes later, he and I found ourselves trekking out to the north gate. The solarize was coming up, so most all(prenominal)one was inside. This was a good thing, and I hoped itd make our escape that overmuch easier.Stupid, stupid, I unplowed mooting. This was going to blow up in our faces. Why had Mason done this? I knew hed had this unit crazy vigilante attitudeand hed certainly seemed upset that the guardians hadnt done anything about the recent attack. But dormant. Was he in truth that unhinged? He had to know how knockout this was. Was it possiblewas it possible Id upset him so much with the making-out disaster that hed gone off the deep end? Enough to go do this and get Mia and Eddie to join him? Not that those two would be hard to convince. Eddie would follow Mason anywhere, and Mia was almost as torpedog ho as Mason to kill every Strigoi in the world.Yet, out of all the questions I had about this, one thing was unquestionably clear. Id told Mason about the Strigoi in Spokane. men down, this was my fau lt, and without me, none of this would have happened.Lissa always makes eye contact, I coached Christian as we approached the exit. And speaks in a in truthly, like, calm example. I dont know what else. I mean, she concentrates a hand out too, so try that. Focus on forcing your go out on them.I know, he snapped. Ive seen her do it.Fine, I snapped back. Just trying to champion.Squinting, I power saw that only one guardian stood at the gate, a total scene of luck. They were in between shifts. With the temperateness out, the insecurity of Strigoi had disappeared. The guardians would good-tempered continue in their duties, precisely they could relax just a bit.The guy on duty didnt seem peculiarly alarmed by our appearance. What are you kids doing out here?Christian swallowed. I could see the lines of tension on his face.Youre going to let us out of the gate, he said. A note of nervousness do his phonate tremble, except early(a)wise, he did a decent approximation of Lis sas soothing tones. Unfortunately, it had no final result on the guardian. As Christian had pointed out, using compulsion on a guardian was nearly impossible. Mia had gotten lucky. The guardian grinned at us.What? he asked, distinctly amused.Christian tried again. Youre going to let us out.The guys smile faltered just a little, and I saw him visual aspect off in surprise. His eyes didnt glaze over in the same way Lissas victims did, and Christian had done overflowing to short enthrall him. Unfortunately, I could fork well(p) then and in that respect that it wouldnt be enough to make him let us out and forget. Fortunately, Id been train to compel people without the use of magic.Sitting near his post was an howling(a) Maglite, two feet presbyopic and easily s up to nower pounds. I grabbed the Maglite and clocked him on the back of the head. He grunted and crumpled to the ground. Hed barely seen me coming, and despite the horribleness of what Id just done, I kind of wis hed one of my instructors had been on that point to grade me on such an impressive performance.Jesus Christ, exclaimed Christian. You just assaulted a guardian.Yeah. So much for get the guys back without acquire anyone in trouble. I didnt know just how much you sucked at compulsion. Ill deal with the side effect later. Thanks for your help. You should head back before the next shift comes on.He shake his head and grimaced. No, Im going with you on this.No, I argued. I only requisite you to get through the gate. You dont have to get in trouble over this.Im already in trouble He pointed at the guardian. He saw my face. Im screwed either way, so I might as well help you save the day. Stop being a bitch for a change.We hurried off, and I cast one last, guilty behold at the guardian. I was lovely certain(predicate) I hadnt hit him hard enough to cause real damage, and with the sun coming out, he wouldnt freeze or anything. aft(prenominal) about five minutes of walkway down the highway, I knew we had a problem. notwithstanding being covered and wearing sunglasses, the sun was taking its toll on Christian. It was lag us down, and it wouldnt take that long for individual to find the guardian Id taken out and come after us.A railroad car- not one of the Academys- appeared behind us, and I made a decision. I didnt approve of hitchhiking in the least. level off someone like me knew how spartan it was. But we needed to get to town fast, and I prayed Christian and I could take down any creepy prowler guy who tried to mess with us.Fortunately, when the car pulled over, it was just a middle-aged couple who looked more absorbed than anything else. You kids okay?I jerked my thumb behind me. Our car slid off the road. Can you take us to town so I can call my dad?It worked. Fifteen minutes later, they dropped us off at a botch station. I actually had trouble getting rid of them because they valued to help us so much. Finally, we convinced them wed be fine, an d we walked the few blocks over to the tutor station. As Id suspected, this town wasnt much of a hub for real travel. 3 lines serviced the town two that went to other ski resorts and one that went to Lowston, Idaho. From Lowston, you could go on to other places.Id half-hoped that we might beat Mason and the others before their good deal came. Then we could have hauled them back without any trouble. Unfortunately, there was no theater of them. The cheery adult female at the riposte knew exactly who we were talking about, too. She confirmed that all three of them had bought tickets to Spokane by way of Lowston. dogshit it, I said. The woman raised her eyebrows at my language. I turned to Christian. You got money for the bus?Christian and I didnt talk much along the way, except for me to tell him hed been an doofus about Lissa and Adrian. By the time we reached Lowston, I finally had him convinced, which was a minor miracle. He slept the rest of the way to Spokane, precisely I couldnt. I just kept hypothecateing over and over that this was my fault.It was late good afternoon by the time we reached Spokane. It took a few people, but we finally found someone who knew the shopping center Dimitri had mentioned. It was a long ways from the bus station, but it was walkable. My legs were unfluctuating after almost five hours of move a bus, and I wanted the movement. The sun was a while from setting, but it was lower and less detrimental to vampires, so Christian didnt mind the walk either.And, as oft happened when I was in calm settings, I matte up a tug into Lissas head. I let myself fall into her because I wanted to know what was happening back at the resort.I know you want to protect them, but we need to know where they are.Lissa sit down on the bed in our room while Dimitri and my mom stared her down. It was Dimitri who had spoken. Seeing him through her eyes was interesting. She had a fond respect for him, very different from the intense scroll coa ster of emotions I always experienced.I told you, said Lissa, I dont know. I dont know what happened. licking and fear for us burned through her. It saddened me to see her so anxious, but at the same time, I was glad I hadnt gotten her involved. She couldnt calculate what she didnt know.I cant believe they wouldnt have told you where they were going, said my mother. Her words sounded flat, but there were lines of worry on her face. Especially with yourbond.It only works one way, said Lissa sadly. You know that.Dimitri knelt down so he could be at Lissas height and look her in the eye. He pretty much had to do that to look anyone in the eye. Are you sure theres nothing? Nothing at all you can tell us? Theyre nowhere in town. The man at the bus station didnt see them though were pretty sure thats where they must(prenominal) have gone. We need something, anything to go on.Man at the bus station? That was some other stroke of luck. The woman whod sold us the tickets must have gone h ome. Her replacement wouldnt know us.Lissa gritted her teething and glared. Dont you think if I knew, Id tell you? You dont think Im worried about them too? I have no idea where they are. None. And whyd they even leave it doesnt make any sense either. Especially why theyd go with Mia, of all people. A twinge of hurt flickered through the bond, hurt at being left out of whatever we were doing, no occasion how wrong.Dimitri sighed and leaned back on his heels. From the look on his face, he obviously believed her. It was in any case obvious that he was worried- worried in more than a professional way. And seeing that concern- that concern for me- ate up my heart.Rose? Christians persona brought me back to myself. Were here, I think.The plaza consisted of a wide, open area in crusade of a shopping center. A caf? was shape into a corner of the main building, its tables spilling out into the open area. A crowd move in and out of the complex, busy even at this time of the day.So, ho w do we find them? asked Christian. I shrugged. Maybe if we act like Strigoi, theyll try to stake us.A petty(a), indisposed(p) smile played over his face. He didnt want to admit it, but hed thought my joke was funny.He and I went inside. manage any mall, it was filled with familiar chains, and a selfish part of me thought that by chance if we found the group soon enough, we could stillness get in shopping time.Christian and I walked the length of it twice and saw no signs of our friends or anything resembling tunnels.Maybe were in the wrong place, I finally said.Or by chance they are, suggested Christian. They could have gone to some other- wait.He pointed, and I followed the gesture. The three renegades sit down at a table in the middle of the food court, looking dejected. They looked so miserable, I almost felt grimy for them.Id kill for a camera powerful now, said Christian, smirking.This isnt funny, I told him, striding toward the group. Inside, I hard a sigh of relief. The group clearly hadnt found any Strigoi, were all still alive, and could maybe be taken back before we got in even more trouble.They didnt notice me until I was almost good next to them. Eddies head jerked up. Rose? What are you doing here?Are you out of your mind? I yelled. A few people nearby gave us surprised looks. Do you know how much trouble youre in? How much trouble youve gotten us in?How the hell did you find us? asked Mason in a low voice, glancing anxiously around.You guys arent exactly criminal masterminds, I told them. Your informant at the bus station gave you away. That, and I figured out that youd want to go off on your pointless Strigoi-hunting quest.The look Mason gave me revealed he still wasnt entirely happy with me. It was Mia who replied, however.It isnt pointless.Oh? I demanded. Did you kill any Strigoi? Did you even find any?No, admitted Eddie.Good, I said. You got lucky.Why are you so against kill Strigoi? asked Mia hotly. Isnt that what you train fo r?I train for in her full mind(predicate) missions, not childish stunts like this.It isnt childish, she cried. They killed my mother. And the guardians werent doing anything. Even their information is bad. There werent any Strigoi in the tunnels. Probably none in the whole city.Christian looked im touch. You found the tunnels?Yeah, said Eddie. But like she said, they were useless.We should see them before we go, Christian told me. Itd be kind of cool, and if the data was bad, theres no put on the line of exposure.No, I snapped. Were going home. Now.Mason looked tired. Were going to search the city again. Even you cant make us go back, Rose.No, but the schools guardians can when I call and tell them youre here. nominate it blackmailing or being a telltale the effect was the same. The three of them looked at me like I had just simultaneously gut-punched them all.Youd really do that? asked Mason. Youd sell us out like that?I rubbed my eyes, wondering desperately why I was trying to be the voice of reason here. Where was the girl whod run away from school? Mason had been right. I had changed.This isnt about selling anyone out. This is about retentiveness you guys alive.You think were that defenseless? asked Mia. You think wed get killed right away?Yes, I said. Unless youve found some way to use water as a weapon?She ruddy and didnt say anything.We brought silver stakes, said Eddie.Fantastic. They must have stolen them. I looked at Mason pleadingly.Mason. Please. Call this off. Lets go back.He looked at me for a long time. Finally, he sighed. Okay.Eddie and Mia looked aghast, but Mason had assumed a leaders role with them, and they didnt have the initiative to go on without him. Mia seemed to take it the hardest, and I felt bad for her. Shed barely had any real time to grieve for her mother shed just jumped right on board with this penalize thing as a way to cope with the pain. Shed have a lot to deal with when we got back.Christian was still stimulated a bout the idea of the underground tunnels. Considering he spent all his time in an attic, I shouldnt have been all that surprised.I saw the schedule, he told me. Weve got a while before the next bus.We cant go walking into some Strigoi lair, I argued, walking toward the malls entrance.There are no Strigoi there, said Mason. Its gravely all janitorial stuff. There was no sign of anything weird. I really do think the guardians had bad information.Rose, said Christian, lets get something fun out of this.They all looked at me. I felt like a mom who wouldnt buy her kids candy at the grocery store store.Okay, fine. Just a peek, though.The others led Christian and me to the opposite end of the mall, through a door marked staff only. We dodged a couple of janitors, then slipped through another door that led us to a set of stairs going down. I had a brief moment of d?j? vu, recalling the steps down to Adrians spa party. Only these stairs were dirtier and smelled pretty nasty.We reached the bottom. It wasnt so much a tunnel as a narrow corridor, lined in grime-caked cement. Ugly fluorescent lights were embedded sporadically along the walls. The passage went off to our left and right. Boxes of ordinary cleaning and electrical supplies sat around.See? said Mason. Boring.I pointed in each direction. Whats down there?Nothing, sighed Mia. Well show you.We walked down to the right and found more of the same. I was starting to agree with the deadening assessment when we passed some black piece of writing on one of the walls. I halt and looked at it. It was a list of earns.DBCOTDVLDZSISome had lines and x marks next to them, but for the most part the message was incoherent. Mia notice my scrutiny.Its probably a janitor thing, she said. Or maybe some gang did it.Probably, I said, still studying it. The others shifted restlessly, not understanding my captivation with the jumble of letters. I didnt understand my trance either, but something in my head tugged at me to stay .Then I got it.B for Badica, Z for Zeklos, I for Ivashkov I stared. The first letter of every royal familys name was there. There were three D names, but base on the order, you could actually read the list as a size ranking. It started with the small families- Dragomir, Badica, Conta- and went all the way up to the giant star Ivashkov clan. I didnt understand the dashes and lines beside the letters, but I quickly noticed which names had an x beside them Badica and Drozdov.I stepped back from the wall. We have to get out of here, I said. My own voice scared me a little. Right now.The others looked at me in surprise. Why? asked Eddie. Whats going on?Ill tell you later. We just need to go.Mason pointed in the direction wed been heading. This lets out a few blocks away. Its closer to the station.I peered down into the dark unknown. No, I said. Were going back the way we came.They all looked at me like I was insane as we retraced our steps, but nobody questioned me yet. When we emerge d from the malls front, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that the sun was still out, though it was steadily sinking feeling into the horizon and casting orange and red light onto the buildings. The remaining light would still be enough for us to get back to the bus station before we were really in any danger of seeing Strigoi.And I knew now that there really were Strigoi in Spokane. Dimitris information had been correct. I didnt know what the list meant, but it clearly had something to do with the attacks. I needed to report it to the other guardians immediately, and I certainly couldnt tell the others what Id realized until we were safely at the lodge. Mason was likely to go back into the tunnels if he knew what I did.Most of our walk back to the station proceeded in silence. I think my mood had cowed the others. Even Christian seemed to have run out of snide comments. Inside, my emotions swirled, waver between anger and guilt as I kept reexamining my role in everything.Ahead of me, Eddie stopped walking, and I nearly ran into him. He looked around. Where are we?Snapping out of my own thoughts, I surveyed the area too. I didnt remember these buildings. Damn it, I exclaimed. Are we woolly-headed? Didnt anyone keep track of which way we went?It was an unsportsmanlike question since I clearly hadnt pay attention either, but my temper had pushed me medieval reason. Mason studied me for a few moments, then pointed. This way.We turned and walked down a narrow avenue between two buildings. I didnt think we were going the right way, but I didnt really have a better idea. I in like manner didnt want to stand around debating.We hadnt gone very far when I hear the sound of an engine and squealing tires. Mia was walking in the middle of the road, and protective learn kicked in before I even saw what was coming. Grabbing her, I jerked her out of the street and up against one of the building walls. The boys had done the same.A large, gray van with tinted windows had locomote the corner and was headed in our direction. We pressed flat against the wall, waiting for it to go past.Only it didnt. howler to a halt, it stopped right in front of us, and the doors slid open. Three big guys spilled out, and again, my instincts kicked in. I had no clue who they were or what they wanted, but they clearly werent friendly. That was all I needed to know.One of them moved toward Christian, and I potty out and punched him. The guy barely staggered but was clearly surprised to have felt it at all, I think. He probably hadnt expected someone as small as me to be much of a threat. Ignoring Christian, he moved toward me. In my circumferential vision, I saw Mason and Eddie squaring off with the other two. Mason had actually pulled out his stolen silver stake. Mia and Christian stood there, frozen.Our attackers were relying a lot on bulk. They didnt have the sort of orbit we had in offensive and defensive techniques. Plus, they were human, and we had dhampir strength. Unfortunately, we also had the disadvantage of being cornered against the wall. We had nowhere to retreat to. Most importantly, we had something to lose.Like Mia.The guy whod been sparring with Mason seemed to realize this. He backed off from Mason and or else grabbed her. I barely saw the flash of his gun before its barrel was pressed against her neck. Backing off from my own adversary, I yelled at Eddie to stop. Wed all been trained to respond instantly to those kinds of orders, and he halted his attack, glancing at me questioningly When he saw Mia, his face went pale.I wanted nothing more than to keep pummeling these men- whoever they were- but I couldnt risk this guy hurting Mia. He knew it, too. He didnt even have to make the threat. He was human, but he knew enough about us to know that wed go out of our way to protect the Moroi. Novices had a maxim grilled into us from an early age Only they matter.Everyone stopped and looked between him and me. seemingly we were the acknowledged leaders here. What do you want? I asked harshly.The guy pressed his gun closer to Mias neck, and she whimpered. For all her talk about fighting, she was smaller than me and not nearly as strong. And she was too terrified to move.The man wedded his head toward the vans open door. I want you to get inside. And dont start anything. You do, and shes gone.I looked at Mia, the van, my other friends, and then back to the guy. Shit.