Dimitri's Point of View in Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy) (Book 3)

Part 15

Chapter 15:

“Why are we doing this?” Rose whispered as we walked down the hall toward Victor’s cell. The place was designed with marble floors and stark white walls. There were no windows and it felt more like a hospital than an actual prison. “You think we can talk him out of it?”

That had been my plan originally but, unfortunately given Victor’s stubbornness, it wasn’t likely. I shook my head. “If victor wanted to take revenge on us, he’d just do it without any warning. He doesn’t do things without a reason. The fact that he told you first means he wants something, and now we’re going to find out what it is.”

We reached Victors cell. He was the only prisoner currently being held. And like the rest of the facility, his room reminded me more of a hospital. Everything was clean, bright, and sterile---and very bare. It was a place without any sort of stimulus or distraction whatsoever. The cell had silver bars that looked very hard to break, which was the most important part.

Victor sat in a chair, idly examining his nails. It had been three months since our last meeting, and seeing him again made my hands ache for a weapon. And for the first time I wasn’t surprised at that feeling, in fact I welcomed it because it was the one thing I wanted most.

One of the hardest things of all was seeing him look so healthy and young. He’d bought that health by torturing Lissa. If his disease had run its normal course, he might be dead by now.

He had receding black hair, with only the slightest touch of silver. He was in his forties and had a regal, almost handsome cut to his face. He glanced up at our approach. Eyes the same pale jade as Lissa’s. The Dragomir and Dashkov families had a lot of intertwined history. A smile lit his face.

“Oh my. This is a treat. Lovely Rosemarie, practically an adult now.” His eyes flicked in my direction. “Of course, some have been treating you that way for quite a while.”

I could feel her tense at my side as she pressed her face to the bars. “Stop screwing with us, you son of a bitch. What do you want?”

I put a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. I didn’t need guardians to come down and “eavesdrop” on our conversation. “Easy, Rose.”

She took a deep breath and then slowly stepped backward. Victor straightened up in his chair and laughed.

“After all this time, your cub still hasn’t learned ay control. But then, maybe you never wanted her to.” His eyes were piercing as he stared at me like I was a huge threat.

“We aren’t here to banter,” I said as calmly as I could. “You wanted to lure Rose over, and now we need to know why.”

“Does there have to be some sinister reason? I just wanted to know how she was doing, and something tells me we aren’t going to have a chance for any friendly chats tomorrow.” The smirk that stayed on his face made me want to strangle him. And I deeply wished I had the chance like I did when my rescue team and I had saved Lissa.

“We’re not going to have a friendly chat now,” Rose growled. I knew her to be ruthless and cruel. But never before had I heard her voice take that deep of a tone.

Victor wasn’t moved by her threat. “You think I’m joking, but I’m not. I really do want to know how you’re doing. You’ve always been a fascinating subject to me, Rosemarie. The only Shadow-kissed person we know of. I told you before, that isn’t the kind of thing you walk away from unscathed. There’s no way you can quietly sink into the regimented routine of academic life. People like you aren’t meant to blend in.”

“I’m not some kind of science experiment.”

Victor continued, acting as if Rose hadn’t said a word. “What’s it been like? What have you noticed?”