The harsh sound of Nathan's voice jerked me from my crystal gazing. He 'd been leaning against the wall opposite my door and straightened immediately upon seeing us. He had that same cruel expression on his face that was so characteristic of Strigoi, the one I occasionally saw on Dimitri, no matter how charming and kind he seemed sometimes.

Dimitri's posture turned rigid and defensive. "I'm taking her for a walk." He kind of sounded like he was talking about a dog, but my fear of Nathan trumped any offense I might take.

"That's against the rules," said Nathan. "Bad enough you've still got her here. Galina gave orders for you to keep her confined. We don't need some rogue dhampir running around."

Dimitri nodded toward me. "Does she look like she's a threat?"

Nathan's eyes flicked over at me. I wasn't entirely sure what he saw. I didn't think I looked that different, but a small smirk crossed his lips that promptly disappeared when he turned back to Dimitri. "No, but I was ordered to babysit this door, and I'm not going to get in trouble for you taking a field trip."

"I'll deal with Galina. I'll tell her I overpowered you." Dimitri gave a fang-filled grin. "It shouldn't be that hard for her to believe."

The look Nathan gave Dimitri made me unconsciously step back until I hit the wall. "You're so full of yourself. I didn't awaken you so that you could act like you're in charge around here. I did it so that we could use your strength and inside knowledge. You should be answering to me."

Dimitri shrugged. Taking my hand, he started to turn away. "Not my fault if you're not strong enough to make me do it."

That was when Nathan lunged at Dimitri. Dimitri responded so quickly to the attack that I think he knew it would happen. He instantly released my hand, turned to catch hold of Nathan, and tossed the other Strigoi against the wall. Nathan immediately got up -it took more than that kind of hit to faze someone like him-but Dimitri was ready. He punched Nathan in the nose-once, twice, and then a third time, all in rapid succession.

Nathan fell down, blood covering his face. Dimitri kicked him hard in the stomach and loomed over him.

"Don't try it," said Dimitri. "You'll lose." He wiped Nathan's blood off of his hand and then laced his fingers through mine again. "I told you, I'll deal with Galina. But thanks for your concern."

Dimitri turned away again, apparently feeling there'd be no more attacks. There weren't. But as I started to follow him, I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to where Nathan sat on the floor. His eyes shot daggers at Dimitri, and I was pretty sure I'd never seen a look of such pure hatred-at least until he turned his gaze on me. I felt cold all over and stumbled to keep up with Dimitri.

Nathan's voice rang out behind us. "You're not safe! Neither of you is. She's lunch, Belikov. Lunch."

Dimitri's hand tightened on mine, and he picked up the pace. I could feel the fury radiating off of him and suddenly wasn 't sure whom I should be more afraid of: Nathan or Dimitri. Dimitri was a bada.s.s, alive or undead. In the past, I 'd seen him attack foes without fear or hesitation. He'd always been magnificent, behaving just as bravely as I'd told his family. But in all those times, he'd always had a legitimate reason for fighting usually self defense. His confrontation with Nathan just then had been about more, though. It had been an a.s.sertion of dominance and a chance to draw blood. Dimitri had seemed to enjoy it. What if he decided to turn on me like that? What if my constant refusal pushed him into torture, and he hurt me until I finally agreed? "Nathan scares me," I said, not wanting Dimitri to know that I feared him too. I felt weak and utterly defenseless, something that didn't happen to me very often. Usually, I was ready to take on any challenge, no matter how desperate.

"He won't touch you," Dimitri said harshly. "You have nothing to worry about."

We reached a set of stairs. After a few steps, it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to handle four flights. Aside from the drugged stupor his bites kept me in, the frequent blood loss was weakening me and taking its toll. Without saying a word, Dimitri swept me up in his arms and carried me downstairs effortlessly, gently setting me down when we reached the staircase's bottom.

The main floor of the estate had the same grand feel as the upstairs hall. The entryway had a huge vaulted ceiling with an elaborate chandelier that dwarfed the little ones I'd seen. Ornate double doors faced us, set with stained-gla.s.s windows. What also faced us was another Strigoi, a man sitting in a chair and apparently on guard duty. Near him was a panel set into the wall with b.u.t.tons and flashing lights.

A modern security system set amongst all this old-world charm. His posture stiffened as we approached, and at first, I thought it was a natural bodyguard instinct-until I saw his face. It was the Strigoi I'd tortured that first night in Novosibirsk, the one I'd dispatched to tell Dimitri I was looking for him. His lips curled back slightly as he met my eyes.

"Rose Hathaway," said the Strigoi. "I remember your name-just like you told me."

He said no more than that, but I tightened my grip on Dimitri 's hand as we pa.s.sed. The Strigoi's eyes never left me until we'd stepped outside and shut the door behind us.

"He wants to kill me," I told Dimitri.

"All Strigoi want to kill you," Dimitri returned. "He really does... I tortured him."

"I know. He's been in disgrace ever since then and lost some of his status here."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

Dimitri seemed unconcerned. "Marlen is no one you need to worry about. You fighting him only proved to Galina that you 're a good addition around here. He's beneath you."

I didn't find that overly rea.s.suring. I was making too many personal Strigoi enemies -but then, it wasn't like I could really expect to be making Strigoi friends.

It was nighttime, of course. Dimitri wouldn't have taken me out otherwise. The foyer had made me think we were at the front of the house, but the extensive gardens that spread out around us made me wonder if we were in the back now. Or maybe the entire house was wrapped in this kind of greenery. We were surrounded in a hedge maze cut with beautiful detail. Within the maze were small courtyards, decorated with fountains or statues. And everywhere were flowers and more flowers. The air was heavy with their scent, and I realized that someone had gone to an awful lot of trouble to find night -blooming ones. The only type I immediately recognized was jasmine, its long, white-flowered vines climbing up trellises and statues in the maze.

We walked in silence for a bit, and I found myself lost in the romance of it all. The whole time Dimitri and I had been together at school, I'd been consumed with the fears of how we would juggle our relationship and our duty. A moment like this, walking in a garden on a spring night lit with stars, had seemed like a fantasy too crazy to even start to consider.

Even without the difficulty of stairs, too much walking grew exhausting in my state. I came to a halt and sighed. "I'm tired," I said.

Dimitri stopped too and helped me sit down. The gra.s.s was dry and tickly against my skin. I lay back against it, and a moment later, he joined me.

I had an eerie moment of deja vu, recalling the afternoon we'd made snow angels.

"This is amazing," I said, staring up at the sky. It was clear, no clouds in sight. "What's it like for you?"

"Hmm?"

"There's enough light that I can see pretty clearly, but it's still dim compared to day. Your eyes are better than mine. What do you see?"

"For me, it's as bright as day." When I didn't respond, he added, "It could be like that for you, too."

I tried to picture that. Would the shadows seem as mysterious? Would the moon and stars shine so brightly? "I don't know. I kind of like the darkness."

"Only because you don't know any better."

I sighed. "So you keep telling me."

He turned toward me and pushed the hair away from my face. "Rose, this is driving me crazy. I'm tired of this waiting. I want us to be together.

Don't you like this? What we have? It could be even better." His words sounded romantic, but not the tone.

I did like this. I loved the haze I lived in, the haze in which all worries disappeared. I loved being close to him, loved the way he kissed me and told me he wanted me...

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?" He sounded puzzled, something I hadn't heard yet in a Strigoi.

"Why do you want me?" I had no idea why I even asked that. He apparently didn't know either.

"Why wouldn't I want you?"

He spoke in such an obvious way, like it was the stupidest question in the world. It probably was, I realized, and yet... I'd somehow been expecting another answer.

Just then, my stomach twisted. With all the time I'd spent with Dimitri, I really had managed to push the Strigoi nausea off my radar. The presence of other Strigoi increased it, though. I'd felt it around Nathan, and I felt it now. I sat up, and Dimitri did too, almost at the same time. He'd likely been alerted by his superior hearing.

A dark shape loomed over us, blotting out the stars. It was a woman, and Dimitri shot up. I stayed where I was, on the ground.

She was strikingly beautiful, in a hard and terrible way. Her build was similar to mine, indicating she hadn 't been a Moroi when turned.

Isaiah, the Strigoi who'd captured me, had been very old, and power had radiated from him. This woman hadn't been around nearly so long, but I could sense that she was older than Dimitri and much stronger.

She said something in Russian to him, and her voice was as cold as her beauty. Dimitri answered back, his tone confident yet polite. I heard Nathan's name mentioned a couple of times as they spoke. Dimitri reached down and helped me up, and I felt embarra.s.sed at how often I needed his a.s.sistance, when I used to almost be a match for him.

"Rose," he said, "this is Galina. She's the one who has been kind enough to let you stay."

Galina's face didn't look so kind. It was devoid of all emotion, and I felt like my entire soul was exposed to her. While I was uncertain of a lot of things around here, I'd picked up enough to realize that my continual residence here was a rare and fragile thing. I swallowed.

"Spasibo," I said. I didn't know how to tell her it was nice to meet her-and honestly, I wasn't sure if it was-but I figured a simple thank-you was good enough. If she'd been his former instructor and trained at a normal Academy, she probably knew English and was faking it like Yeva. I had no clue why she'd do that, but if you could snap a teen dhampir's neck, you were ent.i.tled to do whatever you wanted.

Galina's expression-or lack thereof-didn't change with my thanks, and she turned her attention back to Dimitri. They conversed over me, and Dimitri gestured to me a couple of times. I recognized the word for strong.

Finally, Galina issued something that sounded final and left us without any sort of goodbye. Neither Dimitri nor I moved until I felt the nausea dissipate. "Come on," he said. "We should get back."

We walked back through the maze, though I had no idea how he knew where to go. It was funny. When I 'd first arrived, my dream had been to get outside and escape. Now that I was here... well, it didn't seem that important. Galina's anger did.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She doesn't like that you're still here. She wants me to awaken you or kill you."

"Oh. Um, what are you going to do?"

He stayed silent for a few seconds. "I'll wait a little longer and then... I will make the choice for you."

He didn't specify which choice he'd be making, and I almost began my earlier pleas to die before becoming Strigoi. But suddenly, instead, I said, "How long?"

"Not long, Roza. You need to choose. And make the right choice."

"Which is?"

He held up his hands. "All of this. A life together."

We'd emerged from the maze. I stared at the house-which was crazy enormous when viewed from the outside-and at the beautiful gardens around us. It was like something from a dream. Beyond that, endless countryside rolled away, eventually becoming lost in the darkness and blending into the black sky-except for one tiny part that had a soft purple glow on the horizon. I frowned, studying it, then turned my attention back to Dimitri.

"And what then? Then I work for Galina too?"

"For a while."

"How long is a while?"

We came to a stop outside the house. Dimitri looked down into my eyes, his face alight with a look that made me take a step back.

"Until we kill her, Rose. Until we kill her and take all of this for ourselves."

Chapter Twenty-One

Dimitri didn't elaborate. I was too startled by his words and the rest of the night's events to even know how to begin to address them. He took me back inside, past the Strigoi on guard duty, and upstairs to my suite. Nathan was no longer outside.

For a few brief moments, that nagging voice in my head spoke loudly enough to break through my addled thoughts. If I had no guard in the hall and Inna returned soon, I had a very good chance of threatening her enough to get out of here. Admittedly, that would mean I 'd have to deal with a house of G.o.d only knew how many Strigoi, but my escape odds were better in the house than in this room.

Then, almost as soon as those thoughts appeared, they vanished. Dimitri snaked his arm around me and pulled me to him. It had been chilly outside, and even if his body was cold, his clothes and jacket provided some warmth. I snuggled closer to him as his hands ran all over me.

I thought he was going to bite me, but it was our mouths that met, hard and furious. I wrapped my fingers in his hair, trying to pull him closer to me. Meanwhile, his fingers were running against my bare leg, pushing my skirt up almost to my hip. Antic.i.p.ation and eagerness lit every part of my body. I had dreamed about the cabin for so long, remembering it with so much longing. I 'd never expected anything like that to happen again, but now it could, and I was astonished at how badly I wanted it.

My hands moved down to his shirt, undoing all the b.u.t.tons so that I could touch his chest. His skin still felt like ice, a startling contrast to the burning within me. He moved his lips from mine, down to my neck and shoulder, pushing down the dress 's strap as he covered my flesh with hungry kisses. His hand was still on the side of my bare hip, and I frantically tried to pull his shirt off altogether.

Suddenly, with a surprising abruptness, he jerked away and shoved me down. At first, I thought it was just more of the foreplay between us, until I realized he was purposely pushing me away.

"No," he said, voice hard. "Not yet. Not until you're awakened."

"Why?" I asked desperately. I couldn't think of anything except him touching me-and, well, another bite. "Why does it matter? Is there... is there a reason we can't?" Until I'd come here, s.e.x with a Strigoi had never occurred to me...maybe it just wasn't possible.

He leaned toward me, putting his lips near my ear. "No, but it'll be so much better if you're awakened. Let me do it... let me do it, and then we can do anything we want..."

It was a bargaining chip, I realized vaguely. He wanted me-it was written all over him-but he was using the lure of s.e.x to get me to give in.

And honestly? I was this close to accepting. My body was overriding my mind-nearly.

"No," I whimpered. "I... I'm scared..."

That dangerous look softened, and while he didn't exactly look like the Dimitri from before, there was something a little less Strigoi about him.

"Rose, do you think I'd do anything that would hurt you?" Somewhere, hadn't there been a discussion about how my options were to turn or die?

The latter seemed like it might hurt, but I didn't mention that just now.

"The bite... the turning would hurt..."

"I told you: It'll be just like what we've already done. You'll enjoy it. It won't hurt, I swear it."

I looked away. d.a.m.n it. Why couldn't he still be sinister and scary? It was so much easier to put my foot down and resist. Even in the heat of pa.s.sion, I was able to resist. But somehow... seeing him like this, calm and reasonable... well, it was too close to the Dimitri I'd loved.

And that was hard to turn away from. For the first time, it made turning Strigoi seem... not so bad.

"I don't know," I said lamely. He released me and sat up, frustration filling his features. It was almost a relief. "Galina's patience is running out. So is mine."

"You said we still have time... I just need to think more..." How long could I use that excuse? The narrowing of his eyes told me not much longer.

"I have to go," he said harshly. There would be no more touching or kissing, I could tell. "I need to deal with some things."

"I'm sorry," I said, both confused and afraid. I didn't know which Dimitri I wanted. The terrifying one, the sensual one, or the almost-but still not quite-gentle one.

He said nothing. Without any other warning, he leaned down and bit into the tender skin of my throat. Whatever feeble escape strategies I had were gone. I closed my eyes, nearly falling over, and only his arm wrapped firmly around me kept me upright. Just like when we kissed, his mouth was warm against my flesh, and the feel of his tongue and teeth sent electricity through me.