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Lissa summoned up all of those things, as many as she could, and sent them into Victor. The
magic flowed through both of us, brilliant and sweet. It was alive. It was her life. And as
wonderful as it all felt, she was growing weaker and weaker. But as all of those elements—
bound by the mysterious spirit element—flowed into Victor, he grew stronger and stronger.
The change was startling. His skin smoothed, no longer wrinkled and pocked. The gray
thinning hair filled out, turning dark and lustrous once more. The green eyes—still jadelike—
sparkled again, turning alert and lively.
He'd become the Victor she remembered from her childhood.
Exhausted, Lissa passed out.
In the SUV, I tried to relate what was happening. Dimitri's face grew darker and darker, and he
spat out a string of Russian swear words he still hadn't taught me the meanings of.
When we were a quarter mile from the cabin, Alberta made a call on her cell phone, and our
whole convoy pulled over. All of the guardians—more than a dozen—got out and stood
huddled, planning strategy. Someone went ahead to scout and returned with a report on the
number of people inside and outside of the cabin. When the group seemed ready to disperse, I
started to get out of the car. Dimitri stopped me.
"No, Roza. You stay here.”
"The hell with that. I have to go help her.”
He cupped my chin with his hands, fixing me with his eyes. "You have helped her. Your job is
done. You did it well. But this isn't any place for you. She and I both need you to stay safe.”
Only the realization that arguing would delay the rescue kept me quiet. Swallowing back any
protests, I nodded. He nodded back and joined the others. All of them slipped off into the
woods, blending with the trees.
Sighing, I kicked the passenger seat back and lay down. I was so tired. Even though the sun
poured through the windshield, it was night for me. I'd been up for most of it, and a lot had
happened in that time. Between the adrenaline of my own role and sharing Lissa's pain, I could
have passed out just like she had.