doubts were confirmed: Lissa didn't need me anymore... and yet, I still had that feeling that there was something odd going on that I couldn't quite put a finger on. I supposed her guilt over Mia's comment or spirit side effects could be affecting her, but still... she wasn't the same Lissa.
Footsteps on the pavement made me look up. Of all the people who might have found me, I would have expected Abe or maybe Viktoria. But it wasn't.
It was Yeva.
The old woman stood there, a shawl draped over her narrow shoulders, and her sharp, cunning eyes looking down at me disapprovingly. I sighed.
"What happened? Did a house fall on your sister?" I asked. Maybe there was a benefit to our language barrier. She pursed her lips.
"You can't stay here any longer," she said.
My mouth dropped open.
"You... you speak English?"
She snorted. "Of course."
I shot up. "All this time you've been pretending not to? You've been making Paul play translator?"
"It's easier," she said simply. "You avoid a lot of annoying conversation when you don't speak the language. And I've found that Americans make the most annoying conversation of all."
I was still aghast. "You don't even know me! But from the first day, you've been giving me hell. Why? Why do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you. But I am disappointed."
"Disappointed? How?"
"I dreamed you would come."
"I heard that. You dream a lot?"
"Sometimes," she said. The moonlight glinted in her eyes, enhancing her otherworldly appearance. A chill ran down my spine. "Sometimes my dreams are true. Sometimes not. I dreamed Dimka was dead, but I didn't want to believe it, not until I had proof. You were my proof."
"And that's why you were disappointed?"
Yeva drew the shawl more tightly around her. "No. In my dreams, you shone. You burned like a star, and I saw you as a warrior, someone who could do great deeds. Instead? You've sat around and moped. You've done nothing. You haven't done what you came to do."
I studied her, wondering if she really knew what she was talking about. "And what is that exactly?"
"You know what it is. I dreamed that, too."
I waited for more. When it didn't come, I laughed. "Nice vague answer. You're as bad as any scam fortune-teller."
Even in the darkness, I could see the anger kindle in her eyes. "You've come to search for Dimka. To try to kill him. You must find him."
"What do you mean 'try'?" I didn't want to believe her, didn't want to believe she might actually know my future. Nonetheless, I found myself getting hooked in. "Have you seen what happens? Do I kill him?"
"I can't see everything."
"Oh. Fantastic."
"I only saw that you must find him."
"But that's all you've got? I already knew that!"
"It's what I saw."
I groaned. "Damn it, I don't have time for these cryptic clues. If you can't help me, then don't say anything."
She stayed quiet.
I slung my bag over my shoulder. "Fine. I'm leaving then." And like that, I knew where I would go. "Tell the others... well, tell them thank you for everything. And that I'm sorry."
"You're doing the right thing," she said. "This isn't where you should be."
"So I've heard," I muttered, walking away.
I wondered if she'd say anything else: chastise me, curse me, give me more mysterious words of "wisdom." But she stayed silent, and I didn't look back.
I had no home, not here and not in America. The only thing left for me was to do what I'd come to do. I had told Abe I kept my promises. I would.
I'd leave Baia like I told him. And I'd kill Dimitri, as I'd promised myself I would.
I knew where to go now. The address had never left my mind: 83 Kasakova. I didn't know where it was, but once I reached the town's center, I found a guy walking down the street who gave me directions. The address was close by, only about a mile, and I headed out at a brisk pace.
When I reached the house, I was glad to see that the lights were still on. Even as pissed off and raging as I was, I didn't want to wake anyone up.
I also didn't want to speak to Nikolai and was relieved when Denis opened the door.
His expression was all astonishment when he saw me. Despite his bold words back at the church earlier, I don't think he'd really believed I'd join him and the other unpromised ones. He was speechless, so I did the talking.
"I changed my mind.