A Vampire's Academy (Book 1)

CHAPTER THREE

It was a decent one, among Kirova's best, which was quite an accomplishment. She was a master at them. I promise you that she only entered school administration for that reason; I had not yet seen any indication that she genuinely enjoyed working with children.

The rant covered the usual topics: responsibility reckless behavior, self- centeredness.... Bleh.

Not ten minutes later, I was dozing off or planning my escape through her office window. However, I immediately tuned back in when the rant turned toward me.

"You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust.A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it."

"Rose didn't kidnap me." Lissa spoke before I could, her voice and face calm, despite her uneasy feelings. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her." Ms. Kirova tsk ed at us both and paced the office, hands folded behind her narrow back.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the entire plan for all I know, but it was still her responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out.

If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safe." I snapped.

"I did do my duty!" I shouted, jumping up from my chair. Dimitri and Alberta both flinched but left me alone since I wasn't trying to hit anyone. Yet. "I did keep her safe! I gestured around the room and said, "I kept her safe when none of you could." I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to." Through the bond, I felt Lissa trying to send me calming messages, again urging me not to let anger get the best of me.

Too late.

Kirova stared at me, her face blank. "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?" I bit my lip.

"I see. Well, then. By my estimation, the only reason you left aside from the novelty of it, no doubt-was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance."

"No, that's not-"

"And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you.

You will be sent away as soon as possible."

My cockiness dried up."I...what?" Lissa stood up beside me. "You can't do that! She's my guardian."

"She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all. She's still a novice."

"But my parents-"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave." I stared at Kirova, unable to believe what I was hearing.

"Where are you going to send me?To my mom in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll send me off to my father?" Her eyes narrowed at the bite in that last word.

When I spoke again, my voice was so cold, I barely recognized it.

"Or maybe you're going to try to send me off to be a blood wh*r*. Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day."

"Miss Hathaway," she hissed, "you are out of line."

"They have a bond." Dimitri's low, accented voice broke the heavy tension, and we all turned toward him. I think Kirova had forgotten he was there, but I hadn't.

His influence was simply too strong to ignore. Still hunched over against the wall in that ridiculously long coat of his, he looked like some kind of cowboy sentry.

His dark eyes were staring right through me as he turned to face me rather than Lissa.

"Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?" I at least had the satisfaction of seeing Kirova caught off guard as she glanced between us and Dimitri.

"No...that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"It's obvious," he said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them." Neither Lissa nor I responded, and I averted my eyes from his.

"That is a gift," murmured Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing."

"The best guardians always had that bond," added Dimitri. "In the stories." Kirova's outrage returned.

"Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed.

"Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?" He shrugged.

"She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential-"

"Wild and disrespectful?"I interrupted. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?"

"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova.

"Her sanctioned guardian."

"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?" That was pretty mean of me to say-particularly since most Moroi and their guardians were of Russian or Romanian descent-but the comment seemed cleverer at the time than it really was.

And it wasn't like I was one to talk.

I might have been raised in theU.S., but my parents were foreign-born.

My dhampir mother was Scottish-red-haired, with a ridiculous accent- and I'd been told my Moroi dad was Turkish.

My skin tone was the same as the inside of an almond due to a genetic combination that also gave me what I liked to think were semi-exotic desert princess features, like large, dark eyes and hair that was usually so dark brown as to look black.

As it is, we make do with what we have. I would not have minded inheriting the red hair. Exasperated, Kirova raised her hands and turned to face him.

"You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can't make up for that.

A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian."

"So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again."

"Impossible. She'll still be hopelessly behind her peers."

"No, I won't," I argued. No one listened to me.

"Then give her extra training sessions," he said. They continued on while the rest of us watched the exchange like it was a Ping-Pong game.

Though I was still a little embarrassed by how easily Dimitri had duped us, it dawned on me that he might very well keep me here with Lissa. Better to stay at this hellhole than be without her.

Through our bond, I could feel her trickle of hope. "Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded Kirova. "You?" Dimitri's argument came to an abrupt stop.

"Well, that's not what I-" Kirova crossed her arms with satisfaction.

"Yes. That's what I thought." Clearly at a loss, he frowned. His eyes flicked toward Lissa and me, and I wondered what he saw.

Two pitiful girls, gazing at him with large, beseeching eyes? Or two runaways who'd broken out of a high-security school and swiped half of Lissa's inheritance?

"Yes," he said finally. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."

"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily. "She goes unpunished?"

"Find some other way to punish her," answered Dimitri. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another.A girl, in particular." His unspoken words made me shudder, reminding me of my earlier statement about "blood whores."

Few dhampir girls became guardians anymore. Victor suddenly spoke up from his corner.

"I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent." Ms. Kirova stared out her window. It was completely black outside.

With the Academy's nocturnal schedule, morning and afternoon were relative terms.In addition, they maintained the windows tinted to exclude excessive light.

When she turned back around, Lissa met her eyes.

"Please, Ms. Kirova. Let Rose stay." Oh, Lissa, I thought. Be careful. Using compulsion on another Moroi was dangerous-particularly in front of witnesses.

But Lissa was only using a tiny bit, and we needed all the help we could get.

Fortunately, no one seemed to realize what was happening. Kirova finally sighed, though I am not even sure if the compulsion helped. "If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it will be." She turned to me.

"Your continued enrollment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line once, and you're gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikov in every spare moment you have-before and after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent...away."

I gave a harsh laugh.

"Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep us apart?" I nodded toward Lissa. "Afraid we'll run away again?"

"I'm taking precautions. As I'm sure you recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for." Her thin lips tightened into a straight line.

"You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it."

I started to say it wasn't generous at all, but then I caught Dimitri's gaze.

It was hard to read. He might have been telling me he believed in me. He might have been telling me I was an i***t to keep fighting with Kirova. I didn't know.

During the meeting, I turned my head away from him for the second time and gazed at the ground. I was aware of Lissa standing next to me, our friendship burning with her support.

At long last, I exhaled and glanced back up at the headmistress.

"Fine.I accept."