richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"Willpower, I guess. Well . . ." He paused. "That and Anna.”
"Shadow-kissed Anna," I murmured. "His guardian.”
The priest nodded. "She stayed with him. When he grew weak, she was the one who held him
up. She urged him to stay strong and to never give in to his madness.”
I left the chapel in a daze. Anna had done it. Anna had let Vladimir walk that middle ground,
helping him to work miracles in the world without meeting a horrible end. Ms. Karp hadn't
been as lucky. She hadn't had a bound guardian. She hadn't had anyone to hold her up.
Lissa did.
Smiling, I cut across the quadrangle toward the commons. I felt better about life than I had in a
very long time. We could do this, Lissa and me. We could do it together.
Just then, I saw a dark figure out of the corner of my eye. It swooped past me and landed on a
nearby tree. I stopped walking. It was a raven, large and fierce-looking, with shining black
feathers.
A moment later, I realized it wasn't just a raven; it was the raven. The one Lissa had healed. No
other bird would land so close to a dhampir. And no other bird would be looking at me in such
an intelligent, familiar way. I couldn't believe he was still around. A chill ran down my spine,
and I started to back up. Then the truth hit me.
"You're bound to her too, aren't you?" I asked, fully aware that anyone who saw me would
think I was crazy. "She brought you back. You're shadow-kissed.”
That was actually pretty cool. I held out my arm to it, half hoping it'd come land on me in some
sort of dramatic, movie-worthy gesture. All it did was look at me like I was an idiot, spread its
wings, and fly off.
I glared as it flew off into the twilight. Then I turned around and headed off to find Lissa. From
far away, I heard the sound of cawing, almost like laughter.