Strigoi was the half-brother of my greatest living enemy, Victor Dashkov. And the only person who might know where Robert was was Victor himself. Victor had known a lot about spirit, and now I had a good idea where he'd first learned about it.
Not that it mattered. None of this mattered anymore. Victor himself could have been able to convert Strigoi for all the good it would have done me.
Dimitri was dead by my hand. He was gone, saved in the only way I knew how. I'd had to choose between him and Lissa once before, and I'd chosen him. Now there could be no question. I'd chosen her. She was real. She was alive. Dimitri was the past.
I'd been staring absentmindedly at the wall, and now I looked up and met Abe squarely in the eyes. "All right, old man," I said. "Pack me up and send me home."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The flight was more like thirty hours.
Getting from the middle of Siberia to the middle of Montana wasn't easy. I flew from Novosibirsk to Moscow to Amsterdam to Seattle to Missoula.
Four different flights. Five different airports. A lot of running around. It was exhausting, yet when I handed over my passport to get back into the U.S. in Seattle, I felt a strange surge of emotion in me... joy and relief.
Before leaving Russia, I had thought Abe might come back with me and finish his task himself, hand-delivering me to whomever had hired him.
"You really are going back now, aren't you?" he asked at the airport. "To the school? You aren't going to get off at one of your stops and disappear?"
I smiled. "No. I'm going back to St. Vladimir's."
"And you'll stay there?" he pressed. He didn't quite look as dangerous as he had in Baia, but I could see a glint of hardness in his eyes.
My smile slipped. "I don't know what's going to happen. I don't have a place there anymore."
"Rose-"
I held up a hand to stop him, surprised at my own determination. "Enough. No after-school specials. You said you were hired to get me back there.
It isn't your job to say what I do after that." At least, I hoped not. Whoever wanted me back had to be someone at the Academy. I'd be there soon.
They had won. Abe's services were no longer required.
Despite his victory, he didn't look happy about relinquishing me. Glancing up at one of the departure boards, he sighed. "You need to go through security, or you'll miss your flight."
I nodded. "Thanks for..." What exactly? His help? "... For everything."
I started to turn away, but he touched my shoulder. "Is that all you're wearing?"
Most of my clothing had been scattered around Russia. One of the other Alchemists had located shoes, jeans, and a sweater, but otherwise, I was winging it until I got back to the U.S. "I don't really need anything else," I told him.
Abe arched an eyebrow. Turning to one of his guardians, he made a small gesture toward me. Immediately, the guardian took off his coat and handed it over. The guy was lanky, but the coat was still too big for me.
"No, I don't need-"
"Take it," ordered Abe.
I took it, and then to my further shock, Abe began unwinding the scarf from around his neck. It was one of his nicer ones, too: cashmere, woven with an array of brilliant colors, more suited to the Caribbean than here or Montana. I started to protest this as well, but the look on his face silenced me. I put the scarf around my neck and thanked him, wondering if I'd ever see him again. I didn't bother asking because I had a feeling he wouldn't tell me anyway.
When I finally landed in Missoula thirty hours later, I was pretty sure I didn't want to fly in a plane anytime soon-as in, like, the next five years.
Maybe ten. Without any luggage, getting out of the airport was easy. Abe had sent word ahead of my arrival, but I had no idea who they'd send to get me. Alberta, who ran the guardians at St. Vladimir's, seemed a likely choice. Or maybe it would be my mother. I never knew where she was at any given moment, and suddenly, I really, really wanted to see her. She would be a logical choice too.
So it was with some surprise that I saw that the person waiting for me at the airport's exit was Adrian.
A grin spread over my face, and I picked up