“And did they mention why they didn't have any wards or other Guardians around?”
Ysabel narrowed her eyes as she glared at one of the Moroi that was there to claim the bodies to be taken back to the United States for the funeral. Byron seemed a bit uncomfortable to speak further and the young Moroi could already guess why. But as he was prodded for further information, he bowed his head respectfully and spoke in a low tone. “Miss Torres and her Guardian said that they were unable to attain any other Guardians for their home. They were also unable of finding any Moroi willing to ward their homes.” Though he had not said it exactly as such, his words implied to everyone around them that the two lovestruck teens were dead because of the fault of other Moroi. Dhampirs bowed their heads and Moroi sneered as the one speaking with the young Guardian gave her own small smirk before clicking her pen and putting it into her pocket. “That will be all, Guardian Masters.” She said no more as she turned and left, taking the others with her.
And that's all it was. They had come to see if any Strigoi remained to be killed. They attempted to persuade Ysa and the others to end their “foolishness of rebellion” and return to their family homes or live in Court where they'd be safe. They asked questions about Olive and Jeremy and inspected the bodies. They tried to assign more Guardians from Court to Ysa's home. But they were all gone soon, no new Guardians left behind.
Ysa was just as mentally exhausted as her friends even though the “clean up crew” had only remained for a few hours before leaving quickly. That's how it always was. It wasn't anything like the humans did when someone had been murdered; There was no full scale investigation, list of suspects, hours spent trying to avenge the untimely demise of the two teens. No. They came, found out what happened, wrote it down to store later, got the bodies, cleaned up the scene, and left. Ysa had never thought about it before because that's simply how things were. Just like the Dhampirs never really thought about how everything in their lives was decided by someone else. It seemed as though a lot of her views on the life lead by her people had changed the first time she had killed a Strigoi.
It felt great. She didn't know if that person was forced to be Strigoi or if they made the choice on their own but they did make that choice to jump innocent girls and to kill a man. A man that was a close friend of hers. It felt good to avenge his death. It was after that she began to study more about the past, using compulsion to access locked away books and scrolls. She still couldn't understand what had driven Moroi into being mere sheep, as she called them, nor why Dhampirs didn't put up a fight. She had read about Keepers, but the information was vague and when she asked about them she was scolded and the look on the faces of the Moroi was of disgust. They were called uncivilized and savage. But Ysa wanted to meet them.
Biting into flesh wasn't exactly as easy as it was made to seem in the media where vampires were portrayed. It wasn't like a warm knife slicing through butter at all. The blood didn't flow cleanly into your mouth at all. It was messy and you had to be careful not to hit any major veins or arteries. And that you didn't take a chunk out of their flesh. But it was something perfected at a young age in Moroi and hardly something anyone thought about. In truth, Ysa wasn't really thinking much about anything as she stared blankly at the wall, her teeth pressed gently against the flesh of one of the Feeders. The blood was warm and sticky in her mouth with a hint of blueberry taste. Madison had been her personal Feeder since she was a child. Her father had procured the female for her and Mad tended to keep a steady diet of blueberries because it was Ysa's favorite.
She didn't stir until she felt Guardian Masters' hand on her shoulder, bringing her from her daze. “Flight plans have been arranged for your visit to the Voda family home. They will be expecting you the night after tomorrow.” He gave a light smile but Ysa could tell that he was still shaken, feeling that bit of fear and dread seeping from him. “Thank you. Very much. Why don't you go ahead and take a break. Grab a snack and watch a movie. I'm going to go supervise the wards.” The young Guardian attempted to protest but Ysa held up a hand, not allowing it, indicating that her words were not a suggestion. She quickly motioned for him to go as she herself headed away from the kitchen and around the halls until she arrived in the backyard where four Moroi were putting up the wards. She observed from afar in silence, arms crossed over her chest.
She felt someone brush against her arm, looking up and over to see Adrian standing next to her. Neither of them spoke as they shared eye contact for a few brief minutes before turning to supervise the wards once more. Ysabel had always held a love/hate relationship with the notorious playboy Moroi, wanting him dead one minute and shopping with him the next. He did that to people. Sometimes you really wanted to hate him but you just couldn't when it came down to it. Not if you actually got to know him. He really was a good guy. She hated the cliche "misunderstood" card but that certainly was his case. She couldn't really find herself holding any right to chastise him about it either. Of course she could have before, but that was before she knew that he was afflicted by Spirit. Talking with him about it she found that it was Spirit that made her so out of it. It often made her think back to when she blew up on Leon.
Leon. Yet another complicated relationship in her life. It wasn't a love/hate relationship as it was with Adrian and her feelings for Adrian paled in comparison of what she felt with Leon. But there was so much seen wrong with even just their close friendship. He was almost ten years older than her, he was her Guardian, and he was Dhampir. She couldn't continue the Conta Moroi bloodline with him. Since having bonded to him their relationship had become more strained. They would tell each other and themselves that they couldn't feel that way for each other and they'd agree sometimes. They'd sometimes even avoid each other. But when the sun began to rise and they fell asleep, their dreams were their own and their hearts lead the way.
Just another complication on her plate.
RPG
