Blood Promise (Vampire Academy 4)

One of the girls spotted Lissa and grinned. She extended a hand. "Hey, come on up."

Lissa had met her once but couldn't recall her name. Dancing suddenly seemed like a great idea. Lissa finished the sandwich and, drink in hand, allowed herself to be pulled up. This got a few cheers from people gathered around. Lissa discovered that the crappy music was irrelevant and found herself getting into it. Her and the other girls' moves varied from overtly sexual to mockeries of disco. It was all fun, and Lissa wondered if Avery would claim this would haunt her in ten years too.

After a while, she and the others actually attempted some synchronized moves. They started by swaying their arms in the air and then moved on to some chorus line kicks. Those kicks proved disastrous. A misstep-Lissa was wearing heels-suddenly sent her over the table's edge. She lost the drink and nearly collapsed before a pair of arms caught her and kept her upright. "My hero," she muttered. Then she got a good look at her savior's face. "Aaron?"

Lissa's ex-boyfriend-and the first guy she'd ever slept with-looked down at her with a smile and released her once he seemed certain she could stand. Blond-haired and blue-eyed, Aaron was handsome in a surfer kind of way. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Mia had seen him. She, Aaron, and Lissa had once been involved in a triangle worthy of any soap opera.

"What are you doing here? We thought you disappeared," Lissa said. Aaron had left the Academy a few months ago.

"I'm going to school out in New Hampshire," he replied. "We're here visiting family."

"Well, it's great to see you," said Lissa. Things hadn't ended well between them, but in her current state, she meant her words. She'd had enough booze to think it was great to see everyone at the party.

"You too," he said. "You look amazing."

His words struck her more than she would have expected, probably because everyone else here had implied that she looked trashed and irresponsible. And breakup or no, she couldn't help but recall how attractive she'd once found him. Honestly, she still found him attractive. She just didn't love him anymore.

"You should stay in touch," she said. "Let us know what's going on." For a moment, she wondered if she should have said that, in light of having a boyfriend. Then she dismissed her worries. There was nothing wrong with hanging out with other guys-particularly since Christian hadn't cared enough to come with her on this trip.

"I'd like that," Aaron said. There was something in his eyes she found pleasurably disconcerting. "I don't suppose, though, that I could get a goodbye kiss, seeing as I rescued you and all?"

The idea was preposterous-then, after a moment, Lissa laughed. What did it matter? Christian was the one she loved, and a kiss between friends would mean nothing. Looking up, she let Aaron lean down and cup her face. Their lips met, and there was no denying it: The kiss lasted a bit longer than a friendly one. When it ended, Lissa found herself smiling like a dazed schoolgirl-which, technically, she was.

"See you around," she said, heading back toward her friends.

Avery wore a chastising look, but it wasn't over Aaron and the kiss. "Are you crazy? You nearly broke your leg. You can't do that kind of thing."

"You're supposed to be the fun one," pointed out Lissa. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Fun isn't the same as stupid," Avery retorted, face serious. "You can't go do stupid shit like that. I think we should get you home."

"I'm fine," said Lissa. She stubbornly looked away from Avery and instead focused on some guys who were doing shots of tequila. They were having some sort of competition-and half of them looked ready to pass out.

"Define 'fine,'" said Adrian wryly. Yet he looked concerned too.

"I'm fine," Lissa repeated. Her gaze snapped back to Avery. "I didn't get hurt at all." She'd expected grief about Aaron and was surprised they hadn't given it to her-which made it even more surprising when it came from another source.

"You kissed that guy!" exclaimed Jill, leaning forward. Her face was aghast, and she displayed none of her usual reticence.

"It was nothing," said Lissa, who was irked to have Jill reprimanding her of all people. "Certainly none of your business."

"But you're with Christian! How could you do that to him?"

"Relax, Jailbait," said Avery. "A drunken kiss is nothing compared to a drunken fall. God knows I've kissed plenty of guys drunk."

"And yet, I remain unkissed tonight," mused Adrian, with a shake of his head.

"It doesn't matter." Jill was really worked up. She'd grown to like and respect Christian. "You cheated on him."

With those words, Jill might as well have practiced her right hook on Lissa. "I did not!" Lissa exclaimed. "Don't drag your crush on him into this and imagine things that aren't there."

"I didn't imagine that kiss," said Jill, flushing.

"That kiss is the least of our worries," sighed Avery. "I'm serious-just let it go for now, you guys. We'll talk in the morning."

"But-" began Jill.

"You heard her. Let it go," a new voice growled. Reed Lazar had appeared out of nowhere and was looming over Jill, face as hard and scary as ever.

Jill's eyes went wide. "I'm just telling the truth..." I had to admire her courage here, considering her normally timid nature.

"You're pissing everyone off," said Reed, leaning closer and clenching his fists. "And you're pissing me off." I was pretty sure this was the most I'd ever heard him say. I tended to kind of think of him as a caveman, stringing three-word sentences together.

"Whoa." Adrian leapt up and rushed to Jill's side. "You need to let this go. What, are you going to start a fight with some girl?"

Reed turned his glare on Adrian. "Stay out of this."

"The hell I will! You're crazy."

If anyone had asked me to make up a list of people most likely to risk a fight in defense of a lady's honor, Adrian Ivashkov would have been low on that list. Yet there he stood, face hard and hand sitting protectively on Jill's shoulder. I was in awe. And impressed.

"Reed," cried Avery. She too had risen and now stood on Jill's other side. "She didn't mean anything. Back off."

The two siblings stood there, eyes locked in some kind of silent showdown. Avery wore the harshest look I'd ever seen on her, and at last, he glowered and stepped back. "Fine. Whatever."

The group stared in amazement as he walked abruptly away. The music was so loud that only a few of the partygoers had overhead the argument.

They stopped and stared, and Avery looked embarrassed as she sank back in her chair. Adrian still stood by Jill. "What the hell was that?" Adrian demanded.

"I don't know," Avery admitted. "He gets weird and overprotective sometimes." She gave Jill an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry."

Adrian shook his head. "I think it's time for us to go."

Even in her drunken state, Lissa had to agree. The confrontation with Reed had shocked her into soberness, and she was suddenly uneasily evaluating her actions tonight. The glittering lights and fancy cocktails of the party had lost their charm. The drunken antics of the other royals seemed clumsy and stupid. She had a feeling she might regret this party tomorrow.

Once back in my own head, I felt fear set in. Okay. Something was very wrong with Lissa, and no one else seemed to notice it-well, not to the extent they should have. Adrian and Avery did seem concerned, but I had the feeling they were blaming her behavior on the drinking. Lissa was still reminding me a lot of how she'd been when we'd first returned to St. Vladimir's, when spirit had been seizing her and messing with her mind.

Except... I knew enough about myself now to realize that my anger and fixation on punishing Strigoi was being influenced by spirit's dark side too. That meant I was draining it away from her. It should have been leaving Lissa, not building up. So what was wrong with her? Where was this short-tempered, crazy, and jealous persona coming from? Was spirit's darkness simply growing in intensity so that it spread to both of us? Were we splitting it? "Rose?"

"Huh?" I glanced up from where I'd been staring blankly at the TV. Denis was looking down at me, his cell phone in his hand.

"Tamara had to work late. She's ready to go now, but..."