Blood Promise by Richelle Mead Read Free Book Online Page B

everything there was to know about it from Reed Lazar. He had the same good looks and features as Avery, but they were marred by a grimace that seemed permanently attached to his face. Mr. Lazar introduced the others to Reed. Reed’s only response was a guttural, “Hey.”
    “And this is Simon, Avery’s guardian,” continued Mr. Lazar. “Of course, while on campus, he doesn’t need to be with her all the time. You know how it goes. Still, I’m sure you’ll see him around.”
    I hoped not. He didn’t look as completely unpleasant as Reed, but he had a certain dour nature that seemed extreme even among guardians. Suddenly, I kind of felt sorry for Avery. If this was her only company, I’d want to befriend someone like Lissa pretty badly. Lissa, however, made it clear that she wouldn’t be part of Tatiana’s schemes. With little conversation, she and Christian escorted Avery to guest housing and promptly left. Normally, Lissa would have stayed to help Avery get settled and offered to eat with her later. Not this time. Not with ulterior motives afoot.
     
    I came back to my own body, back in the hotel. I knew I shouldn’t care about Academy life anymore and that I should even feel bad for Avery. Yet lying there and staring into the darkness, I couldn’t help but take some smug—and yes, very selfish—satisfaction out of this encounter: Lissa wouldn’t be shopping for a new best friend anytime soon.

FOUR
    A T ANY OTHER TIME IN my life, I would have loved exploring Moscow. Sydney had planned our trip so that when our train arrived there, we’d have a few hours before we had to board the next one to Siberia. This gave us some time to wander around and grab dinner, though she wanted to make sure we were safely inside the station before it grew too dark out. Despite my badass claims or my molnija marks, she didn’t want to take any chances.
    It made no difference to me how we spent our downtime. So long as I was getting closer to Dimitri, that was all that mattered. So Sydney and I walked aimlessly, taking in the sights and saying very little. I had never been to Moscow. It was a beautiful city, thriving and full of people and commerce. I could have spent days there just shopping and trying out the restaurants. Places I’d heard about all my life—the Kremlin, Red Square, the Bolshoi Theatre—were all at my fingertips. Despite how cool it all was, I actually tried to tune out the city’s sights and sounds after a while because it reminded me of . . . well, Dimitri.
    He used to talk to me about Russia all the time and had sworn up and down that I’d love it here.
    “To you, it’d be like a fairy tale,” he’d told me once. It was during a before-school practice late last autumn, just before the first snowfall. The air had been misty, and dew coated everything.
    “Sorry, comrade,” I’d replied, reaching back to tie my hair into a ponytail. Dimitri had always loved my hair down, but in combat practice? Long hair was a total liability. “Borg and out-of-date music aren’t part of any happy ending I’ve ever imagined.”
    He’d given me one of his rare, easy grins then, the kind that just slightly crinkled up the corners of his eyes. “Borscht, not borg. And I’ve seen your appetite. If you were hungry enough, you’d eat it.”
    “So starvation’s necessary for this fairy tale to work out?” There was nothing I loved more than teasing Dimitri. Well, aside from maybe kissing him.
    “I’m talking about the land. The buildings. Go to one of the big cities—it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. Everyone in the U.S. tends to build the same—always in big, chunky blocks. They do what’s fast and easy. But in Russia, there are buildings that are like pieces of art. They are art—even a lot of the ordinary, everyday buildings. And places like the Winter Palace and Troitsky Church in Saint Petersburg? Those will take your breath away.”
    His face had been aglow with the memory of sites he’d