Dimitri came tearing out the door at that point, just as Robert used his mind to fling one of the chairs toward Sonya. Of course, I was on top of her, so the chair hit me in the back. Dimitri picked up pretty quickly what was going on and ran toward Robert, attempting the same tactic as me. Victor, possibly thinking his brother was in physical danger, tried to pry Dimitri away, which was futile. More vines began to reach toward Robert, and I realized constraining Sonya wasn't all that useful. "Get him inside!' I yelled to Dimitri. "Get him away from her!'
Dimitri had already guessed that and began dragging Robert toward the door. Even with Victor interfering, Dimitri's strength was enough to get Robert out of there and back into the house. As soon as her target was gone, all the energy seemed to fade out of Sonya. She made no more efforts to fight me and collapsed to the ground. I was relieved, having feared she'd turn on me once Robert was gone. Tentatively, still on guard, I helped Sonya sit up. She leaned against me, weak as a rag doll, and cried into my shoulder. Another breakdown.
After that, it was a matter of damage control. In order to keep the spirit users apart, Dimitri had taken Robert to the bedroom and left Victor with him. Robert seemed as worn out as Sonya, and Dimitri deemed the brothers safe enough to leave alone. Sonya collapsed on the couch, and after both Dimitri and I had tried to calm her down, we stepped away while Sydney held the Moroi woman's hand.
I briefly recapped what had happened. Dimitri's face grew more and more incredulous as I did.
"I told you it wasn't time!' he exclaimed. "What were you thinking? She's too weak!'
"You call that weak? And hey, I was doing fine! It wasn't until Victor and Robert got involved that things went to hell.'
Dimitri took a step toward me, anger radiating off him. "They should never have gotten involved. This is you, acting irrational again, jumping in foolishly with no thought of the consequences.'
Outrage shot through me in return. "Hey, I was trying to make progress here. If being rational is sitting around and doing therapy, then I'm happy to jump over the edge. I'm not afraid to get in the game.'
"You have no idea what you're saying,' he growled. We were standing closer now, hardly any space left between us as we engaged in our battle of wills. "This may have set us back.'
"This set us forward. We found out she knows about Eric Dragomir. The problem is she promised not to tell anyone about this baby.'
"Yes, I promised,' piped up Sonya. Dimitri and I turned as one, realizing our argument was fully visible and audible to Sonya and Sydney. "I promised.' Her voice was very small and weak, pleading with us.
Sydney squeezed her hand. "We know. It's okay. It's okay to keep promises. I understand.'
Sonya looked at her gratefully. "Thank you. Thank you.'
"But,' said Sydney carefully, "I heard that you care about Lissa Dragomir.'
"I can't,' interrupted Sonya, turning fearful again.
"I know, I know. But what if there was a way to help her without breaking your promise?'
Sonya stared at Sydney. Dimitri glanced at me questioningly. I shrugged and then stared at Sydney too. If someone had asked who could stage the best intervention with a crazy woman who'd formerly been an undead monster, Sydney Sage would have been my last guess.
Sonya frowned, all attention on Sydney. "W-what do you mean?' "Well ... what did you promise exactly? Not to tell anyone that Eric Dragomir had a mistress and baby?'
Sonya nodded.
"And not to tell who they were?'
Sonya nodded again.
Sydney gave Sonya the warmest, friendliest smile I'd ever seen on the Alchemist. "Did you promise not to tell anyone where they are?' Sonya nodded, and Sydney's smile faltered a little. Then, her eyes lit up. "Did you promise not to lead anyone to where they are?'
Sonya hesitated, no doubt turning every word over in her mind. Slowly, she shook her head. "No.'
"So ... you could lead us to them. But not tell us where they actually are. You wouldn't be breaking the promise that way.'
It was the most convoluted, ridiculous piece of logic I'd heard in a while. It was something I would have come up with.
"Maybe ...' said Sonya, still uncertain.
"You wouldn't break the promise,' Sydney repeated. "And it would really, really help Lissa.'
I stepped forward. "It would help Mikhail too.'
Sonya's mouth dropped open at the mention of her former lover. "Mikhail? You know him?'
"He's my friend. He's Lissa's friend too.' I almost said that if we found the missing Dragomir, we could then take Sonya to Mikhail. Recalling Dimitri's feelings of unworthiness, I decided to avoid that tactic just now. I didn't know how Sonya would react to a reunion with her beloved. "And he wants to help Lissa. But he can't. None of us can. We don't have enough information.'
"Mikhail ...' Sonya looked down at her hands again, small tears running down her cheeks.
"You won't break your promise.' Sydney was so compelling she could have been a spirit user. "Just lead us. It's what Mikhail and Lissa would want. It's the right thing to do.'
I don't know which argument convinced Sonya the most. It could have been the part about Mikhail. Or it could have been the idea of doing "the right thing.' Maybe, like Dimitri, Sonya wanted redemption for her Strigoi crimes and saw this as a chance. Looking up, she swallowed and met my eyes.
"I'll lead you there,' she whispered.
"We're going on another road trip,' Sydney declared. "Get ready.'
Dimitri and I were still standing right next to each other, the anger between us beginning to diffuse. Sydney looked proud and continued trying her best to soothe Sonya.
Dimitri looked down at me with a small smile that shifted slightly when he seemed to become aware of just how close we were. I couldn't say for sure, though. His face gave little away. As for me, I was very aware of our proximity and felt intoxicated by his body and scent. Damn. Why did fighting with him always increase my attraction to him? His smile returned as he tilted his head toward Sydney. "You were wrong. She really is the new general in town.'
I smiled back, hoping he wasn't aware of my body's reaction to us standing so close. "Maybe. But, it's okay. You can still be colonel.'
He arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you demote yourself? Colonel's right below general. What's that make you?'
I reached into my pocket and triumphantly flashed the CR-V keys I'd swiped when we'd come back inside. "The driver,' I said.
Chapter Twenty-one
I DIDN'T GET TO DRIVE.
"General' Sydney didn't either, much to her outrage, though Dimitri did some fast- talking to explain why.