The sun was starting to set and Ally could see the orange, yellow, pink and red sky through the thin openings of her window’s blinds.
The colour made her feel at ease and it was just the perfect temperature for running.
Tying her shoe laces before softly walking out of the dorm room she was sharing with her sister and Mia since Rose has been kicked out, back to the Dhampir dormitories.
As she walked down the hall she tried to gather all her curls into a bun and secured it with the elastic that was always around her wrist or in her hair.
As she walked out of the dormitories she saw her Guardian waiting for her in his sweatpants and hoodie, identical to her.
His hair was slightly messy, it looked like he just combed his finger through his hair.
Dimitri heard the door and looked around and saw Alina exiting the building.
“Good morning.” Alina approached and the both of them used the Mortal circle to greet each other at the same time. Pressing their finger against their foreheads and then waving it towards the person they wanted to greet.
Without saying anything they started to stretch and warm up before taking off on their run. They ran at a slow pace because Alina’s body was still fairly bruised after the Strigoi tackled her to the ground.
Dimitri knew about the bruises because Alina told him about them as he walked her back to her dorm the night before. And he saw her slowing the pace and slowed his own to stay next to her. He asked her if she wanted to stop and run back but she just stubbornly shook her head.
Alina slowed down to a stop after a while, the pain on her side and back started to get worse and she quietly decided to stop.
Alina leaned forward with a winch and rested one hand on her knee and the other on her side, where one of the bruises formed.
“Alina? Alina, how much pain are you in?” Dimitri asked worryingly, wrapping one of his arms around her front to keep her upright.
“It’s just my side that’s bothering me. Just give me a sec.” she replied while taking in a deep lungful of air and blowing the air out, hoping the pain would go with it.
“What do you want to do?” Dimitri asked her after a while as she stood straight again.
“Let’s just walk back.” Alina suggested and the both of them started to walk, at a relaxed pace, back to the Academy buildings.
“I haven’t said thank you.” Alina suddenly said and Dimitri was genuinely confused about what she meant.
She saw his confusion and elaborated more. “For covering for me, you and Logan.”
Dimitri was confused, no other Moroi that he had ever guarded, thanked him afterwards. To think that a Moroi saying thank you to a guardian was… was almost taboo.
He was so stunned, all that he could say was, “Of course.” And kept on walking in their simple silence.
They walked past one of the news monitors and a huge image of Lisa popped up. Alina quickly turned and read the black bold letters.
VASILISSA DRAGOMIR QUEEN’S PICK FOT THE THRONE
“What the -“
“Furthermore, I mean, how is this possible? How did my sister become the future queen overnight, or day? Whatever. I mean what does that make me? Nothing I hope. But what if I have to go to all those functions with all the royals. I mean Viktor already told me I have to attend my sister's Specialization ceremony as one of the Royals. But I’m not Royal, I’m barely Moroi. I eat human food for goodness sake.” Alina took a deep breath in at her last word.
“What do you think about all of this?” She asked Mikhail, who was busy dissecting a Strigoi. The Strigoi that attacked her.
“Oh. You're done. I thought your rambling would go on forever. Honestly, I think that was your longest ramble ever.” He said as he looked up from the Strigoi in front of him, lying on the table.
She gave him an unimpressed look and threw a mint sweetie at his head. He easily dodged it and laughed at her attempt.
“All I’m going to say is that I’m a Dhampir and my opinions doesn’t have any powers in this dominion.”
“But your opinion does matter to me.”
Mikhail sighed and turned in his chair to face her. “With how crazy the dominion has gotten after the death of Andre and your parents. I am not so shocked the Queen announced it at such a weird time and so early. And I think that you are about to become an official member of the Dragomir line. You might still, DNA wise, be a Hanley but you're also a Dragomir, DNA wise.” Mikhail gave his opinions and facts to her and he saw her listening and taking in what he was telling her. She has always been good at listening to everything that was being said to her.
Mikhail saw that she was processing what he just said to her so he turned back to the Strigoi in front of him but soon after he saw something interesting, something that he has only read about in the old books.
Alina realised his change in demeanour, it looked like he found something and she was curious of what he found
“What is it?” She asked excitedly as she climbed off her chair and walked to his side.
As she stopped by his side she saw that he was half confused, half intrigued.
“Mikhail?”
“Um, yeah. Sorry, it's just, this is very interesting but also very unsettling.”
Alina gave him a questioning look and he started to explain to her what he found.
“Its neck is burned, I first thought that it was the wards but the elemental magic signature is different. The wards is made out of all four elements. But this burn was caused by just one element. Fire magic.”
Alina’s heart started to beat into overdrive. What would happen if Mikhail put all the puzzle pieces together? But it’s Mikhail, he has known her for almost five years. He wouldn’t do anything to put her in harm's way.
“This Strigoi only attacked you, correct?” Mikhail asked as he kept on inspecting the body and Alina just nodded, not trusting her voice to lie.
But her nod made him stop in his tracks, and his eyes made quick contact with her uncontrolled, scared ones.
“Alina… “ He mumbled her name as he started to place the last piece of the puzzle together and he saw the freighting look on her face. It made him feel sad, sad that she would think that he was capable of throwing her to the wolves, or more accurately, the vampires like that. “It was you, wasn’t it? Your fire magic?”
Alina just stood there, not taking the risk of trying to speak.
Mikhail stood up from his chair and stepped closer to her and almost whispered. “You don’t have to give me any details or say anything out loud. But I just need to know if this is what I think it is and if I need to keep this off the record.”
Knowing that she could trust him and cursing herself to think that he is a threat to her. She nodded at him, saying yes to what he was speculating. That it was her who burned the Strigoi and she felt the fear being washed away by the caring look in his eyes.
“Well Lina, I have a lot of work to do so I think it best if you go and get ready for school. I’ll see you in class.” Mikhail said louder with a teasing smile. Showing that he was her friend and he would do a lot more than the average friend to keep her safe.
“Goodbye, Mikhail, don’t get too lonely. But if you do, I’m pretty sure there is a curtain someone in the library who wouldn’t mind your company.” She said back to him with the same teasing smile
Alina’s first class for the night was Strigoi biology taught by none other than Guardian Mikhail Tanner. It was a very interesting subject for her because when she was human she wasn’t allowed to go to class with the Moroi, so she was home school with only the boring subjects. But the only thing that annoyed her was Jesse Zeklos.
She was sitting just behind him and his big head made it hard for her to see on the screen.
“Now, as you can see, the Strigoi’s eyeball has a high number of rods for better night vision. Like a cat. And the quadrate bone down here…” Mikhail turned to the screen to show them what he was talking about but once again Jesse’s big old head got in the way of Alina learning something. “Allow the Strigoi to unhinge its jaws like a snake. Now, their limbic system, the area in the brain responsible for behaviour is… is practically microscopic. So from this, we can deduce that they are incapable of possessing true conscience.”
“How do we know that for certain ?” Christian asked and everybody’s heads turned to him.
“Because we listen to science.” Mikhail said, wanting to finish but Christian was not. He definitely had an interesting curiosity for Strigoi.
“Okay, but has anyone ever actually… I don’t know, sat down and asked one?” Christian proposed and the whole class softly laughed. His argument made sense to Alina, she wouldn’t want to be the one to be in the room for the interrogation but it made sense, for her at least.
“I’m curious too,” Jesse spoke up, his voice already making Alina’s spine curl up from disgust. “Guardian Tanner, how does a Moroi become a Strigoi again?”
“There’s no need to repeat lessons taught in the lower schools, Jesse.” Mikhail tried to stop him going forward but there was just so much a Guardian could truly do to a Moroi to stop them from doing something childish without being punished himself.
“No, I-I think we could use a brush-up.” Jesse suggested and Mikhail just sighed as Jess went on. “One, a Strigoi turns you by feeding you their blood. Two, you accidently kill while you feed and must pay for the mistake with your soul… Does anyone know number three?” Jesse asked like he was illiterate. Finally be was showing his dumb true self, Alina thought.
“Anyone? Ozera?” Jesse asked directly towards Christian and Guardian Tanner stepped in. “That’s enough, Jesse.”
But like most Royals, he ignored Mikhail. “Three, you choose to kill. You chose to suck all of the blood out of their body while you feed, to be a monster. Just like mommy and Daddy, Ozera!”
“But let’s not forget the abomination sitting behind me.” Jesse said as he pointed behind him at Alina and slowly turned around to look at her. “We all know it but I would say your… unnatural revival makes you about just as bad at Strigoi-‘
“That's enough! Class dismissed.” Mikhail ordered.
Jesse gave Alina an evil smile before he stood up from his chair with the rest of the class and walked out.
She started to pack up her things when she felt a gentle hand around her wrist, she looked up and saw Christian standing next to her with an empathic look. With her other hand she wrapped it around his wrist that was holding hers. She gave it a generous squeeze before they let go and he walked out.
She didn’t want to pry in what Jesse meant and if he wanted her to know he can tell her himself on his own time
Just as she was about to walk out, Mikhail called for her. She stopped at the door and he walked up to her. “Don’t listen to him, or anyone else. You’re not an Abomination or…”
“I know.” She interrupted him. “I mean it might have been a little heart ripping to hear what everyone is actually thinking about me. But I mean, if I were anything but myself, I would be the first person to lock myself in a psychiatric ward… or prison.”
“Good because I was one second away from beating up a Childish Royal.” Mikhail said and both giggled.
“But what I actually wanted to talk about was… the other thing.” Mikhail whispered and Alina immediately realised he was talking about her magic and the Strigoi she burned. She nodded and they walked back into the classroom where they could have their private discussion.
“How did you feel when the Strigoi attacked you?” he asked as they both sat down.
“I didn’t really feel anything but terror, all my other emotions got turned off. I just went off instinct. I didn’t even know what I was doing until after I did it.” Alina explained.
“I read a book long ago from the Library. And I think, what I read about and what happened to you are one of the same. You said you went on instinct and then I did some tests and… well it's a long process , but the short version is that Fire magic leaves a curtain essence after it burns something. But your fire magic essence is a lot stronger, almost as strong as Moroi who used fire magic long ago. They called it Instinct. But slowly after they stopped using their magic as weapons and Instinct disappeared with it. But it’s impressive that somehow you have this Instinct, this power."
With the information overload, all she could say was a “thanks” before she stood up and walked out of the class, leaving a confused Mikhail behind.
As she took some time for herself and processed all the information, it lit a spark of curiosity for her about the Moroi Instinct Mikhail was talking about. So she decided to go to the library to see if she could find the book he was talking about or anything related to Instinct.
She opened her dorm room door and walked into a solid wall of muscle. Alina stepped away and saw the large body of Dimitri.
“Oh. Your shift started early.” She said with an uncontrolled high voice, trying to not make it obvious that she was sneaking out.
He lifted his eyebrows at her. “As did your evening, apparently.” He said almost bored but inside he was happy to see her again and to be around her free spirited soul.
He looked bored, just standing there and waiting, keeping guard. It sounded like a boring part of his job. So maybe she shouldn’t try to sneak out and let him come with her to have some fun.
“Alina”. He greeted her as he used the Mortal Circle greeting.
She greeted him back. “I was actually- actually going to have, what others would call a boring evening. I was just heading to the library.” She stated with an inviting smile
He just nodded and followed after her. When they walked into the library he stopped at the entrance as Alina walked in further.
She saw a woman with a cute blue sweater and instantly knew it was Sonya. Alina called out her name and the young woman looked up at Alina. She smiled and walked towards her with open arms and the two women hugged each other.
“What are you doing in the library at this hour?” Sonya asked sweetly as they stepped out of their hug.
Alina smiled at her. “Urgh, who am I kidding, you’ve either spent most of your childhood in here or the museum. Who am I to think that anything has changed?” Sonya told herself and Alina giggled at her sarcasm.
“Yeah I was actually looking for something particular this time. It might sound weird but I’m looking for something that has anything to do with an old Moroi thing they called Instincts.” Alina requested and it made Sonya’s gears turn.
“I can think of a couple of book at the top of my head, I’ll show you the section then you can look through it and see if you find what you’re looking for.” Sonya disclosed as she started to walk to a certain area of the library.
“Thank you, you’re the best.” Alina sang as she followed the kind Moroi.
Sonya showed her the section and Alina immediately started her search.
She started by just reading the titles to see if any piqued her interest and she realised that some of the books were so high up, she couldn’t reach the one that she wanted to read.
Alina looked around to look for the stepping stool but it was nowhere to be found. She walked back to where Sonya was to ask her if she knew where it could be but then she saw Sonya and Mikhail having an awkward but very cute moment. But what was more interesting was Lissa hiding behind a bookshelf, spying on them.
Alina sneaked closer to Lissa and whispered yelled Lissa's name. She looked behind her and saw Alina.
“What are you doing?” She asked her sister, excited to learn why Lissa was on her own spy mission.
“I’m trying to get some information. If I actually find something, I promise I’ll tell you all about it but first I need to make sure that my theory is correct. Love you.” Lissa kissed Alina's cheek before walking off beeper into the library.
Alina looked back at Sonya and Mikhail, she didn't want to get in the middle of their sorta sweet moment to ask Sonya about the stepping stool so she decided on the next best thing.
She walked back to the entrance where Dimitri was waiting for her.
“Dimitri.” she whisper-yelled at him as she leaned around the corner. He turned his head towards her and she waved him towards her. He took three curious steps towards her and gave her a questioning look.
“Can you help me with reaching for a book, please.” She whispered and he gave her another questioning look but this time there was a ‘are you serious’ combined with it.
“I know you’re not my personal assistant but everyone is busy.” She added but he still didn't answer her until she added another please with sad eyes and it immediately broke him.
“Fine, show me which book.” He told her and she made a little success dance before she turned around to show him the book she needed.
He followed close behind her, his chest was almost against her back and as they got to her section, she realised that with his huge body in the space, it was quite a small walkway in-between the bookshelves.
She cleared her throat and pointed at the book high up that she needed. “That one, third from the right. Please.”
Dimitri nodded and easily reached out for the book and pulled it out. His scent of leather and mint embraced all of her senses and it made her feel safe and relaxed.
He placed the book in front of her and she immediately opened it and started to read through the index of the book.
“What exactly are you looking for?” He asked her as he rested his hands on the shelves to his right and left, blocking the entire walkway with his body as his breath blew against the back of her neck.
But she was so focused on the book that she didn't notice until she looked back up at him to answer his question.
She took a small, unnoticed step back and started to explain. “Today in class, Guardian Tanner told me a story about way back in the days when Moroi actually fought alongside the Dhampirs. When their magic was very powerful. It was called Instinct. He said that it was most likely the reason why I could burn that Strigoi so easily when it attacked us. So my hypothesis is that I could probably have Instinct because he picked up a curtain essence that can only be found when Moroi used Instinct. I know it's far-fetched but Mikhail started a curiosity in me and I want to know more about it.” Alina explained.
Dimitri’s whole face got drained of colour as Alina started talking. “Wait, wait, wait. Guarding Tanner knows about what you did? How?”
“He found out when he was dissecting the Strigoi that attacked me but he would never report it?” She stated quickly and confidently but Dimitri still looked concerned, he knew that Mikhail and Alina had a close friendship and Guardian Tanner didn’t look like someone who would try to do any damage to her.
Alina kept on reading as Dimitri ran through all the unlikely scenarios and saw that there wasn’t really anything said about Instinct in the book. Dimitri saw her disappointment.
“And?”
“They don’t really talk about it. I think this was written in the time when Instinct became taboo so they don’t really mention it, like at all.”
“Then we go to an older book.” Dimitri suggested as he leaned over Alina to reach for another book on the high shelf. And Alina was glad that he wanted to help her on her silly search for something that sounded like a myth