richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

Except that she was awake now.
Slowly, her perceptions dominated mine once more. She lay on a couch in the cabin. One of
Victor's henchmen must have carried her there after she'd fainted. Victor himself—alive and
well now, thanks to his abuse of her—stood in the kitchen with the others as they all spoke in
low voices about their plans. Only one stood near Lissa, keeping watch. He'd be easy to take
down when Dimitri and the Badass Team burst inside.
Lissa studied the lone guardian and then glanced at a window beside the couch. Still dizzy from
the healing, she managed to sit up. The guardian turned around, watching her warily. She met
his eyes and smiled.
"You're going to stay quiet no matter what I do," she told him. "You aren't going to call for help
or tell anyone when I leave. Okay?”
The thrall of compulsion slid over him. He nodded in agreement.
Moving toward the window, she unlocked it and slid the glass up. As she did, a tumble of
considerations played through her mind. She was weak. She didn't know how far from the
Academy—from anything, really—she was. She had no clue how far she could get before
someone noticed.
But she also knew she might not get another chance at escape. She had no intention of spending
the rest of her life in this cabin in the woods.
At any other time, I would have cheered on her boldness, but not this time. Not when all those
guardians were about to save her. She needed to stay put. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear my
advice.
Lissa climbed out the window, and I swore out loud.
"What? What'd you see?" asked a voice behind me.
I jerked up from my reclining position in the car, banging my head on the ceiling. Glancing
behind me, I found Christian peering up from the cargo space behind the farthest backseats.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.