Last Sacrifice

'I need you,' said Lissa.

'I hear that from women a lot,' said Adrian. Christian made a gagging sound, but the faintest glimmer of a smile crossed Eddie's lips, despite his otherwise tough guardian-stance.

'I'm serious,' she told him. 'I just got a message from Ambrose. He's got something important to tell us, and . . . I don't know. I'm still not certain of his role in everything. I want another set of eyes on him. I want your opinion.'

'That,' Adrian said, 'is not something I hear a lot.'

'Just hurry up and get dressed, okay?' ordered Christian.

Honestly, it was a wonder anyone slept anymore, considering how often we were all pulled out of sleep. Adrian nonetheless did dress quickly, and despite his flippant comments, I knew he was interested in anything related to clearing my name. What I was uncertain of was whether he'd tell anyone about the mess I'd gotten myself into, now that I'd slipped and revealed some of my true activities.

My friends hurried over to the building they'd visited before, the one where Ambrose lived and worked. The Court had woken up, and people were out and about, many undoubtedly wanting to find out about the second monarch test. In fact, a few people catching sight of Lissa called out happy greetings.

'I had another trial tonight,' Lissa told Adrian. Someone had just congratulated her. 'An unexpected one.'

Adrian hesitated, and I waited for him to say he'd already heard that from me. I also waited for him to deliver the shocking news about my current company and whereabouts. 'How'd it go?' he asked instead.

'I passed,' she replied. 'That's all that matters.'

She couldn't bring herself to tell him about the cheering people, those who didn't just simply support her because of the law but because they actually believed in her. Tasha, Mia, and some surprise friends from school had been among the onlookers, grinning at her. Even Daniella, there to wait for Rufus's turn, had grudgingly congratulated Lissa, seeming surprised Lissa had made it through. The whole experience had been surreal, and Lissa had simply wanted to get out of there.

Eddie had gotten pulled away to assist other guardians, despite his protests that he was Lissa's escort. So, Christian and Tasha had ended up having to take Lissa home alone. Well, almost alone. A guardian named Ethan Moore joined them, the one Abe had teased Tasha about. Abe exaggerated some things, but he'd been right this time. Ethan looked as tough as any guardian, but his kickass attitude occasionally faltered whenever he looked at Tasha. He adored her. She clearly liked him too and flirted along the way—much to Christian's discomfort. I thought it was cute. Some guys probably wouldn't go near Tasha because of her scars. It was nice to see someone who appreciated her for her character, no matter how disgusted Christian was by the thought of anyone dating his aunt. And I actually kind of liked seeing Christian so obviously tormented. It was good for him.

Ethan and Tasha left once Lissa was securely back in her room. Within minutes, Eddie showed back up, grumbling about how they'd delayed him with some 'crap task' when they knew he had better things to do. He'd apparently made such a fuss that they'd finally released him, so he could hurry back to Lissa's side. He made it just ten minutes before Ambrose's note arrived, which was lucky timing. Eddie would have freaked out if he'd come to her room and found her gone. He would have thought Strigoi had kidnapped his charge in his absence.

That was the series of events leading up to what was happening now: Lissa and the three guys going off to Ambrose's secret meeting.

'You're early,' he said, letting them in before Lissa could even knock a second time. They stood inside Ambrose's own room now, not a fancy parlor for clients. It resembled a dorm room—a very nice one. Much nicer than anything I'd endured. Lissa's attention was all on Ambrose, so she didn't notice, out of the corner of her eye, Eddie quickly scanning the room. I was glad he was on his game and guessed he didn't trust Ambrose—or anyone not in our immediate circle.

'What's going on?' asked Lissa, as soon as Ambrose shut the door. 'Why the urgent visit?'

'Because I have to show you something,' he said. On his bed was a pile of papers, and he took the top one. 'Remember when I said they were locking off Tatiana's belongings? Well now they're inventorying and removing them.' Adrian shifted uncomfortably—again, only something I noticed. 'She had a safe where she kept important documents—secret ones, obviously. And . . .'

'And?' prompted Lissa.

'And, I didn't want anyone to find them,' Ambrose continued. 'I didn't know what most of them were, but if she wanted them secret . . . I just felt they should stay that way. I knew the combination, and so . . . I stole them.' Guilt shone on his face, but it wasn't murderous guilt. It was guilt for the theft.

Lissa eyed the stack eagerly. 'And?'

'None of them have anything to do with what you're looking for . . . except maybe this one.' He handed her the piece of paper. Adrian and Christian crowded around her.

Darling Tatiana,

I'm a bit surprised to see how these latest developments have unfolded. I thought we had an understanding that the safety of our people required more than just bringing in a younger crop of guardians. We have let too many of them go to waste, particularly the women. If you took actions to force them back—and you know what I'm talking about—the guardian ranks would swell. This current law is completely inadequate, particularly after seeing how your 'training' experiment failed.

I'm equally shocked to hear that you are considering releasing Dimitri Belikov from his guards. I don't understand exactly what happened, but you cannot trust mere appearances. You may be unleashing a monster—or at the very least, a spy—in our midst, and he needs to be under much stricter guard than he currently is. In fact, your continued support of the study of spirit is troubling altogether and no doubt led to this unnatural situation. I believe there is a reason this element was lost to us for so long: our ancestors realized its danger and stamped it out. Avery Lazar stands as proof of that, and your prodigy, Vasilisa Dragomir, is certain to follow. In encouraging Vasilisa, you encourage the degradation of the Dragomir line, a line that should be allowed to fade into history with honor and not the disgrace of insanity. Your support of her may also put your own great-nephew at risk, something neither of us would like to see happen.

I'm sorry to burden you with so much condemnation. I hold you in the highest regard and have nothing but respect for the way you have so skillfully governed our people these long years. I'm certain you will soon come to the appropriate decisions—though I worry others may not share my confidence in you. Said people might attempt to take matters into their own hands, and I fear for what may follow.

The letter was typed, with no signature. For a moment, Lissa couldn't process it as a whole. She was completely consumed by the part about the Dragomir line fading into disgrace. It hit too close to the vision she'd seen in the test.

It was Christian who pulled her back. 'Well. It would seem Tatiana had enemies. But I guess that's kind of obvious at this point in the game.'

'Who's this from?' demanded Adrian. His face was dark, furious at this thinly veiled threat to his aunt.

'I don't know,' said Ambrose. 'This is exactly the way I found it. Maybe she didn't even know who the sender was.'

Lissa nodded her agreement. 'There's certainly an anonymous feel to it . . . and yet, at the same time, I feel like it's someone Tatiana must have known well.'

Adrian gave Ambrose a suspicious look. 'How do we know you didn't just type this yourself to throw us off?'

'Adrian,' chastised Lissa. She didn't say it but was hoping to urge Adrian to feel out Ambrose's aura for anything she might not be able to detect.

'This is crazy,' said Christian, tapping the piece of paper. 'The part about rounding up dhampirs and forcing them to be guardians. What do you think that means—the 'actions' that Tatiana knows about?'

I knew because I'd been tipped off about a lot of this earlier. Compulsion, Tatiana's note had said.

'I'm not sure,' said Lissa. She reread the letter to herself. 'What about the ‘experiments' part? Do you think that's the training sessions Grant did with Moroi?'

'That was what I thought,' said Ambrose. 'But I'm not sure.'

'Can we see the rest?' asked Adrian, gesturing to the stack of papers. I couldn't tell if his suspicion was legitimate distrust of Ambrose or just the result of how upset his aunt's murder made him.