Free Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide by Richelle Mead, Michelle Rowen

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    Rose tries to tell him where she is so the group can be rescued. But the dream fades away and she wakes up when the Strigoi arrive to taunt the Moroi about their growing hunger. Isaiah is ready to bite Eddie again, who’s become addicted to this act thanks to the drug-like endorphins in a Strigoi’s saliva, but Rose offers to let Isaiah bite her instead.
    She’s very adamant and selfless about it—so much so that Isaiah guesses that she’s done this before . . . and liked it. He thinks Rose might be a blood whore in the making. But he’s not going to give her what she wants. He bites Eddie again and Rose feels envy this time instead of disgust. She hates to admit that part of her did become addicted to the bite. And yes, part of her does want to experience that again, even knowing the consequences.
    Before he leaves, Isaiah sneeringly tells Christian that when the time comes, the Moroi will have a willing victim in Rose.
    Later, Rose slips into Lissa’s mind. Adrian thinks Lissa holds the key to finding Rose. He insists that as a spirit user, Lissa should also be able to talk to her in her dreams—just like he can—and that Rose and Lissa’s connection would be stronger because of their bond. But Lissa’s still on the medication that cuts her off from her magic, so he can’t properly teach her to do this.
    Rose finally understands why Adrian had so many questions for Lissa earlier. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Adrian’s questions. The dreams. It’s because he’s a spirit user too!
    He threw his arms up in the air. “How can I teach you to walk through dreams then? How else are we going to find Rose?”
    “Look,” she said angrily, “I don’t want to take the meds. But when I was off them . . . I did really crazy stuff. Dangerous stuff. That’s what spirit does to you.”
    “I don’t take anything. I’m okay,” he said.
    No, he wasn’t, I realized. Lissa realized it too.
    —pages 283–284
     
     
    Still, despite her reservations, Lissa finds herself being tempted more and more by Adrian’s offer. She wonders if she’d be okay—relatively speaking—if she went off her medication. Adrian can use spirit and seems fairly okay, other than some crazy talk now and then . . . (Although she’ll later come to realize that he’s far from okay. He self-medicates with cigarettes and alcohol.)
    Rose reluctantly pulls out of Lissa’s head and finds herself back in the basement, tied up with her friends. Everybody’s in bad shape and things seem hopeless.
    Suddenly, something occurs to her—the Moroi’s elemental magic! They aren’t completely helpless. But how can she let Christian know what she’s thinking? She tries to give him a signal that she wants him to burn through her wrist bindings.
    Instead, he asks the guards to untie him: he’s ready to drink blood in order to save his own life, and he wants to drink from Rose . She’s not sure if she should play along or not—is he being serious?
    “Christian,” I whispered, surprised at how easy it was to sound afraid. “Do n’t do this.”
    His lips twisted into one of the bitter smiles he produced so well. “You and I have never liked each other, Rose. If I ’ve got to kill someone, it might as well be you.” His words were icy, precise. Believable. “Besides, I thought you wanted this.”
    “Not this . Please, don’t—”
    One of the guards shoved Christian. “Get it over with or get back to your chair.”
    Still wearing that dark smile, Christian shrugged. “Sorry, Rose. You’re going to die anyway. Why not do it for a good cause?” He brought his face down to my neck. “ This is probably going to hurt,” he added.
    —pages 288–289
     
     
    Instantly, intense pain courses through Rose’s body. But it doesn’t start at her neck . . . There’s a searing sensation at her wrists as he begins to burn through the plastic bindings that hold them together. Christian is on her side after all!
    Rose breaks free and starts