Shadow Kiss Chapter 16

SixteenSO ARE YOU, HE TEASED.Yeah, just now I except thought That I was man? Because of the bite marks?Yeah, I admitted. No point in lying.We e really last(predicate) have to survive, he said. And dhampirs be undecomposed at figuring come forth personal manners to.Yeah, scarcely most of us become guardians, I pointed push through. Especially men. I slake couldnt believe he was a dhampir or that I hadnt spotted it right away.Long ago, dhampirs had been innate(p) from humans and Moroi get together. We were half-vampire, half-human. Over time, Moroi started keeping themselves separate from humans. Humans grew excessively plentiful and no longer needed Moroi for magic. Moroi now feared theyd become human experiments if ever disc all overed. So no more than dhampirs were being made that way, and in a bizarre genetic twist, dhampirs getting together with dhampirs couldnt make more dhampirs.The unless way my race kept reproducing was through Moroi mixing with dhampirs. tr affic pattern logic would make you think that a dhampir and a Moroi would make children who were ? Moroi. Nope. We came out with perfect dhampir genes, half and half, mixing some of the best traits of both races. some dhampirs came from dhampir women and Moroi men. For centuries, these women had sent their kids off to be raised somewhere else, so that the finds could go back to being guardians. Thats what mine had done.Over time, though, some dhampir women had decided they treasured to raise their children themselves. They refused to be guardians and instead banded together in communities. Thats what Dimitris mother had done. Lots of ugly rumors surrounded these women because Moroi men often visited in the hopes of getting cheap sex. Dimitri had told me that a component give out of these stories were exaggerated and that most dhampir women werent that unaffixed. The rumors came from the fact that these women were nearly always single mothers who had no contact with their kids fathers and because some dhampirs would let Moroi racket blood during sex. It was a kinky, dirty thing in our culture and was where the soubriquet for these non-guardian dhampirs had come from blood whores. advertise Id never even thought or so a male blood whore.My mind was reeling. Most guys who dont want to be guardians just blend in off, I said. It was rare, notwithstanding it happened. Guys bai conduct on guardian instruct and disappeared to hide out among humans. It was another disgraceful thing.I didnt want to run off, said Ambrose, go outming very cheerful almost all this. But I didnt want to fight Strigoi either. So I did this.Beside me, Lissa was stunned. Blood whores stayed on the fringes of our world. Having one right in front of her a guy, no slight was incredible.This is reveal than being a guardian? I asked in disbelief.Well, lets see. Guardians go all their time watching out for others, risking their lives, and wearing bad shoes. Me? I have great shoe s, am currently massaging a pretty girl, and hushude in an awesome bed.I made a face. Lets not colloquy roughly where you sleep, okay?And endowment blood isnt as bad as you think. I dont give as overmuch as a feeder, only when the highs pretty neat.Lets not talk about that either, I said. No way would I admit that I k saucy Moroi bites were indeed pretty neat.Fine. But speculate what you want, my lifes good. He gave me a lopsided smile.But arent people, alikewell, arent they mean to you? They moldiness say thingsOh yes, he agreed. Horrible things. I get called a lot of ugly names. But you know where I get the most grief from? Other dhampirs. Moroi tend to leave me alone.Thats because they dont understand what its like to be a guardian, how important it is. It occurred to me, with some unease, that I sounded exactly like my mother. Its what dhampirs are meant to do.Ambrose rose, unkinking his legs and giving me a face full of muscled chest. You sure? How would you like to f ind out what youre really meant to do? I know someone who might be able to tell you.Ambrose, dont do it, groaned Lissas manicurist. That womans crazy.Shes psychic, Eve.Shes not psychic, and you cannot take the Dragomir princess to go see her.The queen herself goes to her for advice, he argued back.Thats a mistake too, grumbled Eve.Lissa and I exchanged numerates. Shed latched onto the parole psychic. Psychics and fortune-tellers were generally regarded with the same disbelief as ghosts except that Lissa and I had belatedly learned that psychic abilities wed previously believed to be fantasy were actually part of animation. Hope that she might have stumbled onto another pump user quill through Lissa.Wed love to see a psychic. Can we go? recreate? Lissa glanced at a nearby clock. And soon? We have a race to catch.Eve clearly thought it was a waste of our time, but Ambrose could merely wait to show us. We give our shoes back on and were led out of the massage area. The spa r ooms had been in a internal ear of halls behind the front salon, and we soon found ourselves in another internal ear that was farther back quiet.Theres no directory here, I said as we walked historic shut doors. What are these rooms for?Everything and whateverthing people will pay coin for, he said.Like what?Ah, Rose. Youre such an innocent.We finally reached a door at the end of the hall. We stepped inside and found a small room that only held a desk. A c retreatd door sat beyond it. A Moroi at the desk supposeed up, obviously recognizing Ambrose. He walked over to her, and the two got into a quiet argument as he tried to get her to let us in.Lissa move to me, keeping her voice flocculent. What do you think?My eye were on Ambrose. That all that muscles passing game to waste.Forget the blood whore thing already. I mean about this psychic. Do you think weve found another spirit user? she asked eagerly.If a party boy like Adrian can be a spirit user, hence a woman who tells the future plausibly can be too.Ambrose returned to us, grinning. Suzanne was happy to fit you into the schedule before your flight. Itll be just a minute while Rhonda finishes up with her current client.Suzanne didnt look very happy about fitting us in, but I didnt have time to ponder that because the inner door opened and an honest-to-goodness Moroi man walked out, entranced. He gave Suzanne some cash, nodded at the rest of us, and left. Ambrose stood and made a wide sweeping motion toward the door.Your turn.Lissa and I walked inside the other room. Ambrose followed and closed the door behind us. It was like walking into someones heart. Everything was red. Plush red carpet, a red velvet couch, velvet brocade wallpaper, and red satin cushions on the floor. session on the cushions was a Moroi in her forties, with curly black hair and evenly dark eyes. There was a very faint olive compute to her skin, but her overall look was pale, like all Moroi. Her black article of clothing stood out in stark contrast to the red room, and jewelry the contort of my nails gleamed on her neck and pots. I expected her to speak in a spooky, mysterious voice one with an exotic accent but her spoken communication sounded blandly American.Please, sit down. She pointed to some cushions across from her. Ambrose sat on the couch. Whove you brought? she asked him as Lissa and I stagetled down.Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, and her guardian-to-be, Rose. They need a fast fortune.Why do you always want to rush these things? Rhonda asked.Hey, its not me. They have a run down to catch.Itd be the same if you didnt. Youre always in a rush.I agitate off my awe of the room enough to pay attention to their easy banter and similar hair. argon you guys related?This is my aunt, said Ambrose fondly. She adores me. Rhonda rolled her eyes.That was a surprise. Dhampirs rarely had contact with their extended Moroi family, but then, Ambrose was hardly normal. Lissa was intrigued by all of this too, but her interest was different from mine. She was studying Rhonda intently, trying to find any indication that the woman might be a spirit user.Are you a gypsy? I asked.Rhonda made a face and began scuffle some government notes. Im Roma, she said. A lot of people call us gypsies, though the term isnt exactly accurate. And really, Im Moroi first. She gave the cards a few more shuffles, then handed them to Lissa. Cut, please.Lissa was still staring, half-hoping she might see an aura. Adrian could sense other spirit users, but she didnt have that skill yet. She cut the cards and handed them back. Rhonda put the deck back together and dealt out three cards to Lissa.I leaned forward. Cool. They were tarot cards. I didnt know much about them, only that they purportedly had mystical powers and could tell the future. I didnt believe in that stuff much more than Id ever believed in religion, but then, until recently, Id never really believed in ghosts, either.The three cards were th e mope, the Empress, and the Ace of Cups. Ambrose leaned over my shoulder to peer at the cards. Ooh, he said. Very interesting.Rhonda glanced up at him. Hush. You dont know what youre talking about. She turned back to the cards and tapped the Ace of Cups. Youre on the verge of a new beginning, a rebirth of great power and emotion. Your life will change, but it will be a change that takes you in a charge that, while difficult, will ultimately illuminate the world.Whoa, I said.Rhonda then pointed to the Empress. source and leadership lie ahead of you, which you will handle with grace and intelligence. The seeds are already in place, though in that respects an edge of uncertainty an enigmatic set of influences that hang around you like mist. Her attention was on the Moon as she said those words. But my overall impression is that those unknown factors wont deter you from your destiny.Lissas eyes were wide. You can tell that just from the cards?Rhonda shrugged. Its in the cards, yes , but I also have a gift that lets me see forces beyond what mean(a) people can perceive.She shuffled the cards again and then handed them to me to cut. I did, and she flipped three more over. The Nine of Swords, the Sun, and the Ace of Swords. The Sun card was acme down.Now, I knew nothing about this stuff, but I immediately got the tonus I was about to get a raw deal compared to Lissa. The Empress card had shown a woman in a long dress, with stars on her head. The Moon had shown a full moon with two dogs below it, and the Ace of Cups had shown a bejeweled chalice filled with flowers.Meanwhile, my Nine of Swords showed a woman sobbing in front of a wall of swords, and the Ace of Swords was a boring hand belongings a plain iron sword. The Sun at to the lowest degree looked cheerful. It had what looked like an angel riding a white horse, with a promising sun shining above.Shouldnt that be flipped right-side up? I asked.No, she said, eyes on the cards. After several moments of h eavy silence, she said, You will destroy that which is undead.I waited about thirty seconds for her to continue, but she didnt. Wait, thats it?She nodded. Thats what the cards say to me.I pointed at them. Seems like theyve got a little bit more to say than that. You gave Lissa a self-coloured encyclopedia charge of information And I already know Im going to kill the undead. Thats my job. Bad enough Id gotten a minuscule fortune. It was also wholly unoriginal.Rhonda shrugged, as though that were some sort of explanation.I started to say that shed better not even think about charging me for that crap reading when there was a soft knock at the door. It opened, and to my surprise, Dimitri stuck his head inside. His eyes flee on Lissa and me. Ah, they said you were in here. He walked in and noticed Rhonda. To my further surprise, he gave her a low nod of respect and said very politely, Im sorry to interrupt, but I need to bring these two to their flight.Rhonda examined him but not i n a checking-him-out kind of way. It was more like he was mystery she wanted to figure out. Theres nothing to apologize for. But mayhap youve got time for a reading of your own?With our similar views on religion, I expected Dimitri to tell her he had no time for her scam-artist fortune-telling. Yet the look on his face stayed serious, and he finally nodded, sitting down beside me, allow me smell the sweet scent of leather and by and byshave. Thank you. His words were still perfectly polite.Ill be brief. Rhonda was already shuffling up my useless cards. In record time, she had them ready for cutting and had dealt out three cards in front of Dimitri. The Knight of Rods, the Wheel of Fortune, and the Five of Cups. I couldnt get a feel for these. The Knight of Rods was what it sounded like, a man on horseback with a long wooden spear. The Wheel of Fortune was a circle with gothic symbols floating in the clouds. The Five of Cups showed five knocked-over cups spilling some kind of smo oth-spoken out while a man stood with his back to them.Her eyes flicked over the cards, looked at Dimitri, then looked back at the cards. Her expression was blank. You will lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can. She pointed to the Wheel of Fortune card. The bicycle is turning, always turning.The reading wasnt as good as Lissas, but hed gotten a hell of a lot more than me. Lissa elbowed me in a tongueless warning to be quiet, which startled me at first. Without even realizing it, Id opened my let out to protest. I shut it and glowered.Dimitris face was dark and thoughtful as he stared at the cards. I didnt know if he knew anything about this stuff, but he was staring at the images as though they really held all the secrets of the world. At last, he gave Rhonda another respectful nod. Thank you.She nodded back, and then the three of us rose to catch our flight. Ambrose told us the readings were on him and that hed settle up with Suzanne afterward. It was worth it, he told me. Worth it to see you think twice about your fate.I scoffed. No offense, but those cards didnt make me think much about anything. Like everything else, this just made him laugh.We were about to leave Suzannes little hold room when Lissa suddenly dashed back to Rhondas open doorway. I followed after her.Um, excuse me, Lissa said.Rhonda looked up from more shuffling, her face troubled. Yes?This is going to sound weird, butum, could you tell me what element you specialized in?I could feel Lissa holding her breath. She so, so wanted Rhonda to say she hadnt specialized, which was often the sign of having spirit. There was still so much to learn, and Lissa love the ideas of finding others who could teach her and she especially loved the idea of someone teaching her to foretell the future.Air, said Rhonda. A soft breezed rustled through our hair to prove the point. Why?Lissa let go of her breath, disappointment washing over me through her link. No reason. Thank you again.