When Lissa visits, Rose makes a stunning realization. She can feel her own happiness surging through her at the sight of her best friend . . . but she had absolutely no idea how Lissa felt.
The bond is gone.
It isn’t just muted; there is literally nothing there. Rose is alone in her mind for the first time in years. How is this possible?
Lissa isn’t certain, but she thinks she knows. The bond was created when Lissa brought Rose back from the dead with spirit—and it was spirit that kept them tied together all this time. But when Rose used her own strength—rather than spirit—to pull herself back from death, she freed herself from Lissa.
It’s so surreal to Rose. Something like this is going to take
a lot
of time to process.
As she recovers from this news, she notices the lush room she’s in. Lissa tells her it’s palace housing.
Palace?
Lissa shares her other major news with Rose: she was elected queen. It’s not something she ever wanted, but she’s going to give it her all. She’ll find a way to deal with the spirit darkness without burdening Rose with it. They still have a bond—one of love and loyalty. They’ll still get through everything that awaits them together.
But it can’t be all good news. Rose needs to deal with someone else who has hard questions for her—Adrian. When he comes to see her in private, he’s clearly not happy and smells of cigarettes and alcohol. This
so
isn’t going to go well.
Rose tries to apologize—she honestly did
want
things to work between her and Adrian. But Dimitri is the one she’s meant to be with.
Adrian’s pain over her betrayal is palpable. He isn’t willing to let her off the hook. He reminds her of the path of destruction she’s left behind—he’s only one of her victims. That he thinks of himself as a victim and is unwilling to take control of his life is only another reason Rose knows they can’t be together. He can’t give up his destructive habits for someone else. It needs to be for himself.
When he leaves, Rose wonders sadly if she’ll ever see him again.
THE FUTURE AWAITS
On the day of the coronation, a few familiar people are in attendance whom Rose makes a point of speaking to.
“Well, well, well,” I said. “If it isn’t the people responsible for unleashing Rose Hathaway on the world. You’ve got a lot to answer for.”. . .
“Don’t blame us,” said my mother. “We didn’t blow up half of Court, steal a dozen cars, call out a murderer in the middle of a crowd, or get our teenage friend crowned queen.”
“Actually,” said Abe, “I did blow up half of Court.”
—pages 586–587
They’re proud of their daughter, despite (or in Abe’s case, because of) her extreme means of getting what she wants. However, Dimitri gets a very chilly reception from the two. Abe’s got a few pressing questions for the man seven years older than his still-teenage daughter. But Dimitri’s willing to take some heat in order to be with Rose. She’s worth it.
POP QUIZ:
Last Sacrifice
1. Why does Dimitri say he agreed to help Rose escape from Court and protect her while her friends stay behind to try to prove her innocence?
2. At which fast-food restaurant do Rose and Dimitri meet up with Sydney?
3. Who paid off Joe the janitor to help give Adrian his alibi the night of the queen’s murder?
4. What do “Keepers” call Moroi who’ve abandoned the old ways in favor of the modern world?
5. What is the name of the Keeper who asks Rose to marry him?
6. Who are the three Moroi who nominate Lissa as a candidate for queen?
7. How many “monarch tests” are there to help weed out the competition?
8. What relation are Emily Mastrano and Sonya Karp?
9. Complete Dimitri’s quote about Rose:
“You’re beautiful. So beautiful, it ___ me.”
10. Who does Tasha grab as a hostage when she’s accused of the queen’s murder?
* For quiz answers, see p.299.
They watch as Lissa is crowned Queen Vasilisa Sabina Rhea Dragomir, first of her name, and it’s a glorious moment. While they no longer share the psychic bond, Rose tells Dimitri she knows exactly what Lissa would say to her right now.
“I think she’d ask, ‘What have we gotten ourselves into?’”
“What’s the answer?” His warmth was all around me, as was his love, and again, I felt that completeness. I had that missing piece of my world back. The soul that complemented
mine. My match. My equal. Not only that, I had my life back—my own life. I would protect Lissa, I would serve, but I was finally my own person.
“I don’t know,” I said, leaning against his chest. “But I think it’s going to be good.”
—page 594
PART TWO:
THE WORLD OF VAMPIRE ACADEMY
Q&A WITH RICHELLE MEAD
WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER TO WRITE AND WHY?
I loved writing Rose in this series. Of course, when you’re writing in first person POV, it’s easy to fall in love with your narrator. You almost have to, since you’re in that person’s head so much! But Rose is wonderfully complex, and that’s a joy for any writer. She has a wry, witty outlook on the world that makes a nice contrast for the darkness that so often pops up in the series. She’s not afraid to point out the ludicrous, and I had a lot of fun putting in her asides and observations. At the same time, behind this humor, Rose has a depth and vulnerability that I think really speak to a lot of people. She’s larger than life in many ways, but at her heart, she shares the same kind of love and yearning we all do. Those qualities are what readers really love about her and are the reason I enjoyed writing her so much.
I’m amazed how, in all of my series, there are always a few side characters that readers absolutely adore—to the extent that I start seeing fan clubs and T-shirts made up in honor of those characters! For the VA series, Abe definitely wins the prize in this category. I get a lot of comments from readers who are excited to hear about his next wardrobe choice, be it scarves or fedoras. The more outlandish, the better! He’s a great character because most of his lines are completely absurd, but at the same time, you never doubt for an instant that he’s pretty fierce when push comes to shove. One of my most memorable moments as a writer was being contacted by a reader from Saudi Arabia who was happy to see someone of Middle Eastern descent on the side of the good guys. This comment meant so much to me, especially because despite all his layers of intrigue and questionable motives, we never doubt that Abe has a heart of gold.
CHAPTER 7
Characters
MAIN CHARACTERS
ROSEMARIE“ROSE” HATHAWAY
DHAMPIR | Novice guardian | AGE: 17 | HEIGHT: 5’7”
HAIR: Very dark brown | EYES: Brown
FAMILY: Janine Hathaway, mother; Ibrahim “Abe” Mazur, father
NICKNAMES: Roza, little dhampir, ghost girl
She had no idea what it was like to be filled with a love so strong that it made your chest ache—a love you could only feel and not express. Keeping love buried was a lot like keeping anger pent up, I’d learned. It just ate you up inside until you wanted to scream or kick something.
—Shadow Kiss, page 5
With the beauty of a semi-exotic desert princess and the butt-kicking ability of a fierce warrior, half-human/half-vampire Rose Hathaway has been raised to believe that “they come first.” They being the Moroi that dhampirs protect from evil Strigoi.
The one Moroi who Rose has always put first is her best friend, Lissa, with whom she shares a one-sided bond. The bond was formed when Lissa used spirit to bring Rose back to life after she died in the same car accident that killed Lissa’s parents and brother.
This act made Rose “shadow-kissed,” allowing her to sense Lissa’s thoughts and emotions and to see events through her eyes. Being shadow-kissed also gives Rose the ability to summon ghosts and sense the presence of Strigoi. In addition, it enables Rose to take some of Lissa’s spirit darkness into herself—something that has serious consequences.
Two years after running away from St. Vladimir’s in an attempt to keep Lissa safe, the girls are found and returned to the school. Even after missing two years of training, Rose is a natural when it comes to being a guardian, something that is clearly seen by Dimitri Belikov, a guardian and instructor at the school who is part of the initial Lissa-Rose rescue operation. He agrees to tutor Rose after she and Lissa are brought back to the Academy.
The sarcastic, quick-witted, and extremely stubborn Rose falls hard for Dimitri. Even though Dimitri’s her older mentor and a relationship between the two is prohibited, they’re drawn to each other, and it’s not long before they begin a roller coaster of a forbidden romance. When a future with Dimitri seems impossible, Rose is also briefly romantically involved with Mason, a friend who is murdered by Strigoi, and later Adrian, a Moroi royal.
Rose has a strained relationship with her mother, Janine, a famed guardian who Rose feels abandoned her in favor of pursuing her own career goals. Over time, Rose and Janine slowly become closer and more understanding of each other. At eighteen, Rose finally meets her father, Abe Mazur, a Turkish Moroi who, despite not being royal, is powerful, influential, extremely dangerous, and fiercely protective of his equally dangerous daughter.
When Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi, Rose travels to Russia to find and kill him, just as she had promised. Ultimately, however, she fails, having missed his heart at the time of staking him. This turns out to be a good thing when she discovers that it’s possible to restore Strigoi to their former life. Rose breaks laws and hearts in her single-minded quest to bring Dimitri back to her. She finally succeeds in restoring him to a dhampir with Lissa’s spirit-infused help.
Rose puts “they come first” to the ultimate test when she saves Lissa’s life as Tasha Ozera, just accused of the murder of Queen Tatiana, turns her gun on the Dragomir princess. Rose throws herself in front of her friend and ends up getting shot instead. Because she uses her own healing abilities this time, rather than the magic of her friend, Rose permanently loses her psychic bond with Lissa—bittersweet since the girls are happy with their newfound privacy from each other but sad to lose the closeness of their unusual and often helpful connection.
While her questionable and risky—but well-intentioned—decisions have left a great deal of damage in her wake, Rose gets what she most wanted in the end—the chance to be Lissa’s official guardian and the love and devotion of Dimitri.
VASILISA “LISSA” SABINA RHEA DRAGOMIR
MOROI ROYAL | ELEMENT: Spirit | AGE: 17
HAIR: Pale blond | EYES: Jade green
FAMILY: Rhea Daniels, mother; Eric Dragomir, father; Andre, brother; Frederick, grandfather (all deceased); Jill, half-sister
Those fangs contrasted oddly with the rest of her features. With her pretty face and pale blond hair, she looked more like an angel than a vampire.
—Vampire Academy, page 3
A Moroi royal, Lissa is the last of the Dragomir line. A car accident tragically took the lives of her parents and brother, and she relies on her best friend, novice guardian Rose, to keep her safe in a dangerous world. Lissa comes to realize that she wields “spirit,”a mysterious fifth element that allows her to heal injuries and use very strong compulsion.
When Lissa uses too much spirit, she’s taken over by darkness, which manifests itself in anger and insanity. Fortunately, Rose is there to help her through this by taking away some of that darkness through their bond. Christian, a school outcast whom Lissa finds herself romantically drawn to, also lends his support. Adrian, another spirit user, helps Lissa get a handle on her ability and keep it from overwhelming her.
Lissa is naturally kind and generous and has a warm heart. If Rose is the risk taker, Lissa tries to stay cautious—to a point. She discovers that she holds the key to restoring a Strigoi to life—all it takes is a spirit-charmed silver stake wielded by a spirit user. She learns how to fight and use a stake, so she can help restore Dimitri to his former self, something viewed by others as a saint-like miracle.