“Just a demo, please,” called the guardian wearily. “We don’t need to wipe out our supply of dummies yet.”
“Sorry,” called a cheerful voice I recognized. Christian Ozera was standing there among the red-clad fire users, and he vanquished the flames with a glance.
After the separate demonstrations of elemental power, the warriors then showed how they might use the elements together. Air users helped freeze water summoned by water users. Earth users trapped dummies in the ground, letting fire users swoop in for the kill. (This resulted in another near destruction of a dummy when Christian again got too zealous with his flames. “Sorry,” he repeated, not sounding sorry in the least.)
Finally, they concluded with a demonstration of the hand-to-hand maneuvers I’d seen them practicing when I arrived. Moroi weren’t as physically strong as dhampirs, but it was clear this group had put in a lot of training. I wouldn’t have wanted to go up against any of them in a fight. They demonstrated moves any guardian would’ve been proud to master and even showed how to work in elemental attacks. All in all, it was a stunning display.
“Well?” demanded Christian afterward. He came striding over to us on the sidelines when the display finished. “Think that’ll win them over?”
A small blond girl in blue walked beside him, and I was pleased—though not surprised—that Mia Rinaldi was a leader among the water users. “That was flawless,” she agreed. “There’s no way they can’t approve a program now.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“This was just a warm-up,” Christian explained. “No pun intended. We’re going to show this to the Moroi Council in the hopes they’ll approve a program we can take to all the Moroi schools, in order to recruit and train more people for the cause.”
Mia’s blue eyes gleamed. “We also want to get approval to launch some private Strigoi hunting parties.”
“Well, you’d have my vote,” I said honestly. “You seem like you might put the guardians out of business.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” teased Rose. “But you’re right—they’ve come a long way. Now we just have to get the council to agree. Lissa’s already on board.”
“Of course she is,” I said. “Because she’s young and progressive. The others . . . might be more resistant to change. Even with a display as impressive as this.”
Rose nodded, perfectly understanding how even the most well-intentioned Moroi clung to tradition. “I’d hoped Sydney might have some logical arguments we could use to plead our case.”
I chuckled at that. “I’m sure she would.”
“Where is Sydney anyway?” asked Christian.
“Asleep,” Rose and I said in unison.
As fascinating as these Moroi warriors were, I feared more questions about Sydney were coming my way. That and a glance at my watch told me it’d soon be time to go dream walking with Nina. “I should head back,” I said. “Thanks for letting me see this.”
“Happy to,” said Rose, steering me back toward the main part of Court. “Find out what would be a good day for Sydney, and we’ll set this up again—at a more human-friendly time.”
I gritted my teeth, hating the lies. “I’ll talk to her and get back to you.”
Rose walked me back, and I could tell she thought it was strange that I made a point of keeping her out of the suite. I blamed it on Sydney being a light sleeper, which Rose mostly seemed to accept. When she finally left, I found the excitement of the demo and the further deepening of lies had me restless and uneasy, making it difficult to fall asleep when I crawled into bed. It was also the middle of the vampiric day for me, further muddling things, but Nina had said Olive was on a human schedule, so she would be asleep now. When thirty minutes went by of tossing and turning in bed, I received a text from Nina, saying she couldn’t reach me in a dream.
Having trouble sleeping, I wrote back.
I’ve got plenty of sedatives from Sonya if you need one, came the joking response. Happy to share.
I smiled, wistful for a moment of the easy friendship I used to have with Nina. No thanks. Just give me a little more time.
Eventually, I managed to relax and drift off to sleep on my own. It had been a while since any spirit user pulled me into a dream. Usually, I was the dream’s creator, calling the shots and inviting others to join me with spirit’s power. My surroundings materialized around me, solidifying into a pastoral setting in front of a cute white house. Beyond it, a fence enclosed a pasture where horses idly grazed in the purple and orange light of a setting sun. Birds sang evening songs, and a warm breeze brushed my skin.
“My dad’s house in Wisconsin,” a voice behind me said.
I turned and found Nina approaching me through the long grass of the house’s front yard. She looked a million times better than the last time I’d seen her, with her curly hair pulled into a loose bun and a lavender sundress on her slim frame. I hoped this reflected some improvement in the waking world and wasn’t simply an illusion of the dream.
“It’s nice,” I said honestly. “The kind of place kids dream of growing up.”
She smiled at that. “We could only come in the summer. We had some family friends who were minor royals, and they’d join us with their guardians. Otherwise, it would’ve been too dangerous out here. It’s pretty remote . . . but you never know.”
She didn’t have to finish that thought. Nina and Olive were half sisters, sharing their Moroi father. Because he wasn’t royal, he’d received no guardian protection, so dhampir Olive had made herself his protection—and gotten herself turned Strigoi during an attack. Nina’s spirit magic had brought her back. It was a rare distinction Olive shared with only a couple of others—Dimitri and Sonya, to be precise.
“Shall we bring Olive here?” I asked, not wanting Nina to dwell on ugly topics from the past. At my question, though, her frown grew.
“It’s not quite that simple . . . you’ll see. I mean, maybe it’ll be different with you here. I hope so.”
I still didn’t entirely understand what the problem was but decided to wait and see what happened. Really, if Olive was asleep, this should’ve been a piece of cake. Nina should’ve been able to use spirit to bring Olive to this country house, just as she’d brought me. Nina grew still, gazing off at the horse pasture, and I sensed the spirit magic welling up in her as she attempted a dream connection with her sister. So far, so good.