'Frostbite Chapter 12\r'

'Twelve\r\nI WAS OUT OF buns in a flash. We found the entire charge abuzz with the news. citizenry clustered in lilliputian groups in the h each(prenominal)s. Family members sought each opposite(a) prohibited. some(prenominal)(prenominal) parleys were conducted in terrified whispers; nigh were loud and swell-heeled to overhear. I stopped a some people, hard to get the story straight. Every wiz had a unlike transformation of what had happened, though, and some wouldnt in time pause to conference. They hurried past, invariablyy set well-nighing off loved virtuosos or preparing to come out the resort, convinced t here(predicate)(predicate) competency be a safer place elsewhere.\r\nFrustrated with the differing stories, I finall(a)y- reluctantly- knew I had to seek out peer little of the twain sources who would make it me unfluctuating information. My scram or Dimitri. It was bid flipping a coin. I wasnt existingly thrilled with either ace of them rig ht-hand(a) right a focus. I debated milliampereentarily and finally decided on my convey, seeing as how she wasnt getting it on with Tasha Ozera.\r\nThe entry to my dumbfounds room was ajar, and as Lissa and I entered, I motto that a sort of makeshift headquarters had been naturalized here. Lots of guardians were milling around, moving in and out, and discussing strategy. A a couple of(prenominal) gave us odd pay heeds, very muchover no nonp aril stopped or questi whizzd us. Lissa and I slid onto a small sofa to listen to a conversition my mother was having.\r\nShe s in additiond with a group of guardians, one of whom was Dimitri. So much for avoiding him. His br protest eyes glanced at me soon and I averted my gaze. I didnt want to deal with my roily feelings for him right now.\r\nLissa and I soon discerned the details. Eight Moroi had been killed on with their five guardians. Three Moroi were missing, either dead or saturnine Strigoi. The attack hadnt rightfull y happened near here; it had been somewhere in northern California. nonetheless, a cataclysm like this couldnt help simply reverberate deep down the Moroi world, and for some, devil states a charge was far too close. People were terrified, and I soon learned what in token made this attack so notable.\r\nâ€Å" in that respect had to be more than last time,” said my mother.\r\nâ€Å"More?” exclaimed one of the other guardians. â€Å"That last group was unheard of. I in time hatfult believe nine Strigoi managed to work together- you reckon me to believe they managed to get more organized still?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes,” snapped my mother.\r\nâ€Å"Any register of humans?” someone else asked.\r\nMy mother he driveated, then: â€Å"Yes. More broken wards. And the itinerary it was all conducted…its identical to the Badica attack.”\r\nHer voice was hard, scarcely in that location was a miscellany of weariness in it, too. It wasnt physica l exhaustion, though. It was mental, I realized. Strain and hurt over what they were talking some. I always sight of my mother as some sort of unfeeling killing machine, erect now this was understandably hard for her. It was a hard, ugly matter to discuss- alone at the same(p) time, she was tackling it without hesitation. It was her duty.\r\nA lump organise in my throat that I quickly sw waiveed down. Humans. uniform to the Badica attack. Ever since that massacre, wed extensively analyzed the oddity of such a bounteous group of Strigoi teaming up and recruiting humans. Wed verbalize in vague terms close â€Å"if something like this ever happens again …” But no one had seriou artful talked about this group- the Badica killers- doing it again. One time was a fluke- maybe a bunch of Strigoi had happened to gather and impetuously decided to go on a raid. It was horrible, just now we could write that saturnine.\r\nBut now…now it sideed as though that grou p of Strigoi hadnt been a random occurrence. Theyd get together with purpose, utilized humans strategically, and had attacked again. We now had what could be a pattern: Strigoi actively seeking out large groups of prey. Serial killings. We could no longer trust the nurseing(prenominal) magic of the wards. We couldnt even trust sunlight. Humans could melt down around in the daytime, scouting and sabotaging. The light was no longer safe.\r\nI remembered what Id said to Dimitri at the Badica provide: This changes everything, doesnt it?\r\nMy mother flipped by means of some papers on a clipboard. â€Å"They dont rich person forensic details yet, hardly the same number of Strigoi couldnt baffle done this. None of the Drozdovs or their staff escaped. With five guardians, seven Strigoi would capture been preoccupied- at least temporarily- for some to escape. Were looking at nine or ten, maybe.”\r\nâ€Å"Janines right,” said Dimitri. â€Å"And if you look at the ve nue…its too big. Seven couldnt take hold cover it.”\r\nThe Drozdovs were one of the twelve royal families. They were large and prosperous, not like Lissas dying clan. They had pot of family members to go around, but obviously, an attack like this was still horrible. Furthermore, something about them tickled my brain. There was something I should remember … something I should get laid about the Drozdovs.\r\nWhile part of my mind puzzled that out, I watched my mother with fascination. Id listened to her tell her stories. Id seen and felt her match. But really, truly, Id never seen her in action in a real- c arer crisis. She showed every bit of that hard control she did around me, but here, I could see how necessary it was. A completeice staff like this created panic. Even among the guardians, I could sense those who were so keyed up that they cherished to do something drastic. My mother was a voice of reason, a reminder that they had to flummox focused and f ully assess the situation. Her composure calmed everybody; her beefed-up manner enliven them. This, I realized, was how a drawing card be ownd.\r\nDimitri was just as collected as she was, but he deferred to her to run low things. I had to remind myself sometimes that he was young as far as guardians went. They discussed the attack more, how the Drozdovs had been having a belated Christmas party in a banquet student residence when they were attacked.\r\nâ€Å"First Badicas, now Drozdovs,” muttered one guardian. â€Å"Theyre loss later on royals.”\r\nâ€Å"Theyre going after Moroi,” said Dimitri flatly. â€Å"Royal. Non-royal. It doesnt matter.”\r\nRoyal. Non-royal. I suddenly knew why the Drozdovs were important. My extemporary instincts wanted me to jump up and ask a misgiving right now, but I knew better. This was the real deal. This was no time for irrational behavior. I wanted to be as strong as my mother and Dimitri, so I waited for the discu ssion to end.\r\nWhen the group started to get word up, I leapt up off the sofa and pushed my way toward my mother.\r\nâ€Å"Rose,” she said, surprised. standardized in Stans class, she hadnt detect me in the room. â€Å"What atomic number 18 you doing here?”\r\nIt was such a stupid question, I didnt try to answer it. What did she conceptualise I was doing here? This was one of the biggest things to happen to the Moroi.\r\nI pointed to her clipboard. â€Å"Who else was killed?”\r\nIrritation contract her forehead. â€Å"Drozdovs.”\r\nâ€Å"But who else?”\r\nâ€Å"Rose, we dont have time- â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"They had staff, right? Dimitri said non-royals. Who were they?”\r\nAgain, I saw the weariness in her. She took these deaths hard. â€Å"I dont know all the names.” Flipping through a few pages, she turned the clipboard toward me. â€Å"There.”\r\nI scanned the list. My heart sank.\r\nâ€Å"Okay,” I told her.  "Thanks.”\r\nLissa and I left-hand(a) them to go about their business. I wished I could have helped, but the guardians ran smoothly and efficiently on their own; they had no wish for novices underfoot.\r\nâ€Å"What was that about?” asked Lissa, once we were header posterior to the main part of the lodge.\r\nâ€Å"The Drozdovs staff,” I said. â€Å"Mias mom worked for them….”\r\nLissa gasped. â€Å"And?”\r\nI sighed. â€Å"And her name was on the list.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh God.” Lissa stopped whirling. She stared off into space, blinking anchor tears. â€Å"Oh God,” she repeated.\r\nI moved in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. She was shaking.\r\nâ€Å"Its okay,” I said. Her fear came to me in waves, but it was a numbed fear. Shock. â€Å"This is going to be okay.”\r\nâ€Å"You heard them,” she said. â€Å"Theres a band of Strigoi organizing and struggle us! How legion(predicate)? Are they coming here?”\r\nâ€Å"No,” I said firmly. I had no evidence of that, of course. â€Å"Were safe here.”\r\nâ€Å"Poor Mia …”\r\nThere was nothing I could say to that. I thought Mia was an absolute bitch, but I wouldnt wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy- which, technically, she was. Immediately, I corrected that thought. Mia wasnt my worst enemy.\r\nI couldnt bear to leave Lissas side for the rest of the day. I knew there were no Strigoi lurking in the lodge, but my preventive instincts ran too strong. Guardians protected their Moroi. deal usual, I also worried about her being anxious and upset, so I did my best to diffuse those feelings.\r\nThe other guardians provided reassurance for Moroi too. They didnt walk side by side with the Moroi, but they reinforced lodge security and stayed in constant discourse with guardians at the scene of the attack. Information flowed in all day about the grisly specifics, as well as speculation ab out where the band of Strigoi was. lilliputian of this was shared with novices, of course.\r\nWhile the guardians did what they did best, the Moroi also did what they- unfortunately- did best: talk.\r\n With so many royals and other important Moroi at the lodge, a meeting was organized that night to discuss what had happened and what might be done in the futurity. Nothing official would be decided here; the Moroi had a queen mole rat and a governing council elsewhere for those types of decisions. Everyone knew, though, that opinions gathered here would make their way up the chain of command. Our future safety could very well depend on what was discussed in this meeting.\r\nIt was held in an enormous banquet hall inside the lodge, one with a podium and plenty of seating. Despite the businesslike atmosphere, you could tell this room had been designed for things other than meetings about massacres and defense. The carpet had the texture of velvet and showed an ornate floral design in dark glasses of silver and black. The death chairs were made of black polished woodwind instrument and had high backs, clear intended for fancy dining. Paintings of long-dead Moroi royal line hung on the walls. I stared briefly at one of a queen whose name I didnt know. She wore an ancient dress- too heavy on lace for my tastes- and had nauseated hair like Lissas.\r\nSome guy I didnt know was in charge of moderating and stood at the podium. just about of the royals on hand gathered at the front of the room. Everyone else, including students, took seats wherever they could. Christian and mason had found Lissa and me by that point, and we all started to sit in the back when Lissa suddenly shook her head.\r\nâ€Å"Im going to sit in the front.”\r\nThe three of us stared at her. I was too dumbfounded to probe her mind.\r\nâ€Å"Look.” She pointed. â€Å"The royals are school term up there, sitting by family.”\r\nIt was true. Members of the same clans had cl ustered near each other: Badicas, Ivashkovs, Zekloses, etc. Tasha sat there as well, but she was by herself. Christian was the single other Ozera there.\r\nâ€Å"I need to be up there,” said Lissa.\r\nâ€Å"No one expects you to be there,” I told her.\r\nâ€Å"I have to represent the Dragomirs.”\r\nChristian scoffed. â€Å"Its all a bunch of royal bullshit.”\r\nHer feeling set into a determined case. â€Å"I need to be up there.”\r\nI opened myself up to Lissas feelings and like what I found. Shed spent most of the day quiet and afraid, much as she had when wed found out about Mias mom. That fear was within her still, but it was overpowered by a steady confidence and determination. She recognized that she was one of the ruling Moroi, and as much as the conception of roving bands of Strigoi scared her, she wanted to do her part.\r\nâ€Å"You should do it,” I said softly. I also liked the idea of her defying Christian.\r\nLissa met my eye s and smiled. She knew what I had sensed. A importation later, she turned to Christian. â€Å"You should join your aunt.”\r\nChristian opened his communicate to protest. If not for the horribleness of the situation, seeing Lissa order him around would have been funny. He was always stubborn and difficult; those who well-tried to push him didnt succeed. Watching his face, I saw the same realization Id had about Lissa come over him. He liked seeing her strong too. He press his lips together in a grimace.\r\nâ€Å"Okay.” He caught her hand, and the two of them walked off toward the front.\r\nMason and I sat down. right before things started, Dimitri sat down on the other side of me, hair tied behind his cope and the leather coat draping around him as he settled in the chair. I glanced at him in surprise but said nothing. There were few guardians at this gathering; most were too bad-tempered doing damage control. It would figure. There I was, stuck between both of my men.\r\nThe meeting kicked off shortly thereafter. Everyone was eager to talk about how they thought the Moroi should be saved, but really, two theories got the most attention.\r\nâ€Å"The answers all around us,” said one royal, once hed been given leave to speak. He stood by his chair and looked around the room. â€Å"Here. In places like this lodge. And St. Vladimirs. We dispatch our children to safe places, places where they have safety in verse and can be easily guarded. And look how many of us made it here, children and adults alike. Why dont we live this way all the time?”\r\nâ€Å"Plenty of us already do,” someone shouted back.\r\nThe man waved that off. â€Å"A bridge of families here and there. Or a town with a large Moroi population. But those Moroi are still decentralized. roughly dont pool their resources- their guardians, their magic. If we could emulate this model…” He riddle his hands out. â€Å"… wed never have to worry about Strigoi again.”\r\nâ€Å"And Moroi could never interact with the rest of the world again,” I muttered. â€Å"Well, until humans discovered secret vampire cities grow up in the wilderness. Then wed have split of interactions.”\r\nThe other theory about how to protect the Moroi convolute fewer logistical problems but had greater personalized impact- particularly for me.\r\nâ€Å"The problem is simply that we dont have complete guardians.” This figures advocate was some fair sex from the Szelsky clan. â€Å"And so, the answer is bare(a): get more. The Drozdovs had five guardians, and that wasnt enough. Only six to protect over a dozen Moroi! Thats unacceptable. Its no interview these kinds of things keep happening.”\r\nâ€Å"Where do you propose getting more guardians from?” asked the man whod been in favor of Moroi banding together. â€Å"Theyre kind of a limited resource.”\r\nShe pointed to where I and a few other novic es sat. â€Å"Weve got plenty already. Ive watched them train. Theyre deadly. Why are we wait until they turn eighteen? If we accelerated the nurture plan and focused more on combat training than bookwork, we could turn out new guardians when theyre sixteen.”\r\nDimitri made a sound low in his throat that didnt see happy. Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees and rest his chin in his hands, eyes narrowed in thought.\r\nâ€Å"Not only that, we have plenty of strength guardians going to waste. Where are all the dhampir women? Our races are intertwined. The Moroi are doing their part to help the dhampirs survive. Why arent these women doing theirs? Why arent they here?”\r\nA long, sultry laugh came as an answer. all eyes turned toward Tasha Ozera. Whereas many of the other royals had milled up, she was easy and casual. She wore her usual jeans, a white store top that showed a bit of midriff, and a blue, lacy knit cardigan that came to her knees.\r\nG lancing at the moderator, she asked, â€Å"May I?”\r\nHe nodded. The Szelsky woman sat down; Tasha stood up. Unlike the other speakers, she strode right up to the podium, so she could be clearly seen by everyone. Her glossy black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, completely exposing her scars in a way I suspected was intentional. Her face was bold and defiant. Beautiful.\r\nâ€Å"Those women arent here, Monica, because theyre too busy raising their children- you know, the ones you want to start send out to the fronts as soon as they can walk. And please dont insult us all by acting like the Moroi do a gigantic favor to the dhampirs by helping them reproduce. Maybe its different in your family, but for the rest of us, sex is fun. The Moroi doing it with dhampirs arent really making that big of a sacrifice.”\r\nDimitri had straightened up now, his expression no longer angry. Probably he was frenetic that his new girlfriend had mentioned sex. Irritation shot through me, and I hoped that if I had a homicidal look on my face, people would assume it was for Strigoi and not the woman currently addressing us.\r\nBeyond Dimitri, I suddenly noticed Mia sitting by herself, farther down the row. I hadnt realized she was here. She was slumped in her seat. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face paler than usual. A funny ache burned in my chest, one Id never expected her to bring about.\r\nâ€Å"And the reason were postponement for these guardians to turn eighteen is so that we can allow them to enjoy some pretense of a life before forcing them to spend the rest of their days in constant danger. They need those extra years to extend mentally as well as physically. twirl them out before theyre ready, treat them like theyre separate on an assembly line- and youre just creating Strigoi sustenance.”\r\nA few people gasped at Tashas callous choice of words, but she succeeded in getting everyones attention.\r\nâ€Å"You create more fodder still if you t ry making the other dhampir women give out guardians. You cant force them into that life if they dont want it. This entire plan of yours to get more guardians relies on throwing children and the unwilling into harms way, just so you can- barely- stay one step ahead of the enemy. I would have said its the stupidest plan Ive ever heard, if I hadnt already had to listen to his.”\r\nShe pointed at the counterbalance speaker, the one who had wanted Moroi compounds. Embarrassment clouded his features.\r\nâ€Å" tidy us then, Natasha,” he said. â€Å"Tell us what you think we should do, seeing as you have so much experience with Strigoi.”\r\nA thin smile contend on Tashas lips, but she didnt rise to the insult. â€Å"What do I think?” She strode closer to the stages front, gazing at us as she answered his question. â€Å"I think we should stop coming up with plans that involve us relying on someone or something to protect us. You think there are too few guar dians? Thats not the problem. The problem is there are too many Strigoi. And weve let them multiply and arrive more powerful because we do nothing about them except have stupid arguments like this. We run and hide behind the dhampirs and let the Strigoi go unchecked. Its our fault. We are the reason those Drozdovs died. You want an army? Well, here we are. Dhampirs arent the only ones who can learn to skin. The question, Monica, isnt where the dhampir women are in this fight. The question is: Where are we?”\r\nTasha was shouting by now, and the exertion turned her cheeks pink. Her eyes shone with her impassioned feelings, and when combined with the rest of her fair features- and even with the scar- she made a striking figure. Most people couldnt take their eyes off her. Lissa watched Tasha with wonder, inspired by her words. Mason looked hypnotized. Dimitri looked impressed. And farther past him …\r\n farther past him was Mia. Mia no longer hunched in her chair. She w as sitting up straight, straight as a stick, her eyes as wide as they could go. She stared at Tasha as though she alone held all the answers to life.\r\nMonica Szelsky looked less awed, and she fixed her gaze on Tasha. â€Å"Surely you arent suggesting the Moroi fight alongside the guardians when the Strigoi come?”\r\nTasha regarded her levelly. â€Å"No. Im suggesting the Moroi and the guardians go fight the Strigoi before they come.”\r\nA guy in his twenties who looked like a Ralph Lauren spokesmodel shot up. I would have wagered money he was royal. No one else could have afforded blond highlights that perfect. He untied an expensive pinafore from around his waist and draped it over the back of his chair. â€Å"Oh,” he said in a mock voice, speaking out of turn. â€Å"So, youre going to just give us clubs and stakes and send us off to do battle?”\r\nTasha shrugged. â€Å"If thats what it takes, Andrew, then sure.” A sly smile crossed her pretty lips. â€Å"But there are other weapons we can learn to use, too. Ones the guardians cant.”\r\nThe look on his face showed how insane he thought that idea was. He rolled his eyes. â€Å"Oh yeah? Like what?”\r\nHer smile turned into a full-fledged grin. â€Å"Like this.”\r\nShe waved her hand, and the sweater hed placed on the back of his chair burst into flames.\r\nHe yelped in surprise and knocked it to the floor, stamping it out with his feet.\r\nThere was a brief, collective intake of speck throughout the room. And then … chaos broke out.\r\n'