Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy 6)

"I already did,' she said simply. Dimitri and I exchanged astonished looks.

"But I don't know how useful it'll be.'

"Anything'll be useful,' I proclaimed. "What did you find?'

"After trying to track down all those bank records and transactions--and let me tell you, that is not fun at all--I finally found a small piece of info. The bank account we have now is a newer one. It was moved from another bank about five years ago. The old account was still a Jane Doe, but it did have a next-of-kin reference in the event something happened to the account holder.'

I could hardly breathe. Financial transactions were lost on me, but we were about to get something solid. "A real name?'

Sydney nodded. "Sonya Karp.'

Chapter Twelve

DIMITRI AND I BOTH FROZE as the shock of that name hit us. Sydney, glancing between our faces, gave us a dry smile.

"I take it you know who that is?'

"Of course,' I exclaimed. "She was my teacher. She went crazy and turned Strigoi.'

Sydney nodded. "I know.'

My eyes widened further. "Shes not ... she's not the one who had an affair with Lissa's dad, is she?' Oh dear God. That would be one of the most unexpected developments in the rollercoaster that was my life. I couldn't even begin to process the effects of that.

"Not likely,' she said. "The account was opened several years before she was added as the beneficiary--which was right when she turned eighteen. So, if we're assuming the account was created around the time the baby was born, then she would have been way too young. Sonya's probably a relative.'

My earlier astonishment was giving way to excitement, and I could see the same thing happening to Dimitri. "You must have records about her family,' he said. "Or if not, some Moroi probably does. Who's close to Sonya? Does she have a sister?'

Sydney shook her head. "No. That'd be an obvious choice, though. Unfortunately, she has other family--tons of it. Her parents both came from giant families, so she has lots of cousins. Even some of her aunts are the right age.'

"We can look them up, right?' I asked. A thrill of anticipation was running through me. I honestly hadn't expected this much information. True, it was small, but it was something. If Sonya Karp was related to Eric's mistress, that had to be something we could track.

"There's a lot of them.' Sydney shrugged. "I mean, yeah, we could. It'd take a long time to find everyone's life history, and even then--especially if this was covered up enough--we'd have a hard time finding out if any of them is the woman we're looking for. Or even if any of them know who she is.'

Dimitri's voice was low and thoughtful when he spoke. "One person knows who Jane Doe is.' Sydney and I both looked at him expectantly.

"Sonya Karp,' he replied.

I threw up my hands. "Yeah, but we can't talk to her. She's a lost cause. Mikhail Tanner spent over a year hunting her and couldn't find her. If he can't, then we're not going to be able to.'

Dimitri turned away from me and stared out the window. His brown eyes filled with sorrow, his thoughts momentarily far away from us. I didn't entirely understand what was happening, but that peaceful moment in the library--where Dimitri had smiled and shared in the daydream of an ordinary life--had vanished. And not just the moment. That Dimitri had vanished. He was back in his fierce mode, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders again. At last, he sighed and looked back at me. "That's because Mikhail didn't have the right connections.'

"Mikhail was her boyfriend,' I pointed out. "He had more connections than anyone else.'

Dimitri didn't acknowledge my comment. Instead, he grew pensive again. I could see turmoil behind his eyes, some inner war. At last, it must have been decided.

"Does your phone have reception out here?' he asked her.

She nodded, reaching into her purse and handing him her phone. He held it a moment, looking like it caused him total agony to touch it. At last, with another sigh, he stood up and headed for the door. Sydney and I exchanged questioning looks and then both followed him. She lagged behind me, having to toss cash on the table and grab her laptop. I emerged outside just as Dimitri finished dialing a number and put the phone to his ear. Sydney joined us, and a moment later, the person on the other end of the line must have answered.

"Boris?' asked Dimitri.

That was all I understood because the rest was a string of rapid Russian. A strange sensation spread over me as he spoke. I was confused, lost because of the language ... but there was more than that. I felt chilled. My pulse raced with fear. That voice ... I knew that voice. It was his voice and yet not his voice. It was the voice of my nightmares, a voice of coldness and cruelty.

Dimitri was playing Strigoi.

Well, "playing' was really too gentle of a word. Pretending was a better way to describe it. Whatever it was, it was pretty damned convincing.

Beside me, Sydney frowned, but I didn't think she was experiencing what I was. She had never known him as Strigoi. She didn't have those horrible memories. His change in demeanor had to be obvious, but as I glanced at her face, I realized she was focused on following the conversation. I'd forgotten she knew Russian.

"What's he saying?' I whispered.

Her frowned deepened, either from the conversation or me distracting her. "He ... he sounds like he's talking to someone he hasn't spoken to in a while. Dimitri's accusing this person of slacking off while he's been away.' She fell silent, continuing her own mental translation. At one point, Dimitri's voice rose in anger, and both Sydney and I flinched. I turned to her questioningly. "He's mad about having his authority questioned. I can't tell, but now ... it sounds like the other person's groveling.' I wanted to know every word, but it had to be hard for her to translate to me and listen at the same time. Dimitri's voice returned to normal levels--though still filled with that terrible menace--and among the flurry of words, I heard "Sonya Karp' and "Montana.'

"He's asking about Ms. Kar--Sonya?' I murmured. She hadn't been my teacher for a long time. I might as well call her Sonya now.

"Yeah,' said Sydney, eyes still on Dimitri. "He's asking--er, telling--this person to locate someone else and see if he can find Sonya. This person ...' She paused to listen again. "This person he's asking about sounds like he knows a lot of people in the area she was last seen in.'

I knew "people' in this context meant "Strigoi.' Dimitri had risen quickly in their ranks, asserting his will and power over others. Most Strigoi operated solo, rarely working in groups, but even the lone ones recognized threats and more dominant Strigoi. Dimitri was working his contacts, just as he'd said earlier. If any Strigoi had heard about his transformation--and believed it--they wouldn't have been able to pass the news quickly, not with their disorganization. As it was, Dimitri was already having to play leapfrog to find sources who knew other sources who might know Sonya's location.