"How?" I asked. Lissa was full of surprises today.
"I was there. Last fall when we took that van into Missoula. The shopping trip? You and Dimitri were talking about Strigoi, about how becoming one makes you something twisted and evil...how it destroys the person you used to be and makes you do horrible things. And I heard ..." She had trouble saying it. I had trouble hearing it, and my eyes grew wet. The memory was too harsh, thinking of sitting with him that day, back when we were first falling in love. Lissa swallowed and continued. "I heard you both say you'd rather die than become a monster like that."
Silence fell between us. The wind picked up and blew our hair around, dark and light.
"I have to do this, Liss. I have to do it for him."
"No," she said firmly. "You don't have to. You didn't promise him anything."
"Not in words, no. But you ... you don't understand."
"I understand that you're trying to cope and that this is as good a way as any. You need to find another way to let him go."
I shook my head. "I have to do this."
"Even if it means leaving me?"
The way she said it, the way she looked at me ... oh God. A flood of memories flitted through my mind. We'd been together since childhood. Inseparable. Bound. And yet...Dimitri and I had been connected too. Damn it. I'd never wanted to have to choose between them.
"I have to do this," I said yet again. "I'm sorry."
"You're supposed to be my guardian and go with me to college," she argued. "You're shadow-kissed. We're supposed to be together. If you leave me ..."
The ugly coil of darkness was starting to raise its head in my chest. My voice was tight when I spoke. "If I leave you, they'll get you another guardian. Two of them. You're the last Dragomir. They'll keep you safe."
"But they won't be you, Rose," she said. Those luminous green eyes held mine, and the anger in me cooled. She was so beautiful, so sweet... and she seemed so reasonable. She was right. I owed it to her. I needed to -
"Stop it!" I yelled, turning away. She'd been using her magic. "Do not use compulsion on me. You're my friend. Friends don't use their powers on each other."
"Friends don't abandon each other," she snapped back. "If you were my friend, you wouldn't do it."
I spun back toward her, careful not to look too closely into her eyes, in case she tried compulsion on me again. The rage in me exploded.
"It's not about you, okay? This time, it's about me. Not you. All my life, Lissa ... all my life, it's been the same. They come first. I've lived my life for you. I've trained to be your shadow, but you know what? I want to come first. I need to take care of myself for once. I'm tired of looking out for everyone else and having to put aside what I want. Dimitri and I did that, and look what happened. He's gone. I will never hold him again. Now I owe it to him to do this. I'm sorry if it hurts you, but it's my choice!"
I'd shouted the words, not even pausing for a breath, and I hoped my voice hadn't carried to the guardians on duty at the gate. Lissa was staring at me, shocked and hurt. Tears ran down her cheeks, and part of me shriveled up at hurting the person I'd sworn to protect.
"You love him more than me," she said in a small voice, sounding very young.
"He needs me right now."
"I need you. He's gone, Rose."
"No," I said. "But he will be soon." I reached up my sleeve and took off the chotki she'd given me for Christmas. I held it out to her. She hesitated and then took it.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"I can't wear it. It's for a Dragomir guardian. I'll take it again when I ..." I had almost said if, not when. I think she knew that. "When I get back."
Her hands closed around the beads. "Please, Rose. Please don't leave me."
"I'm sorry," I said. There were no other words to offer up. "I'm sorry."
I left her there crying as I walked toward the gate. A piece of my soul had died when Dimitri had fallen. Turning my back on her now, I felt another piece die as well. Soon there wouldn't be anything left inside of me.
The guardians at the gate were as shocked as the secretary and Kirova had been, but there was nothing they could do. Happy birthday to me, I thought bitterly. Eighteen at last. It was nothing like I had expected.
They opened the gates and I stepped through, outside of the school's grounds and over the wards. The lines were invisible, but I felt strangely vulnerable and exposed, as if I'd leapt a great chasm. And yet, at the same time, I felt free and in control. I started walking down the narrow road. The sun was nearly gone; I'd have to rely on moonlight soon.
When I was out of earshot of the guardians, I stopped and spoke. "Mason."
I had to wait a long time. When he appeared, I could barely see him at all. He was almost completely transparent.