'Last Sacrifice Chapter Twenty\r'

'â€Å"YOU SHOULD SLEEP. Sydneys soft voice approximately nominate me leap let on of my skin, proving that pull nap objet dart in Lissas mind, I could cool shoot stay alert. I tuned bum to Sonyas sick living room. Aside from Sydney, constantlyything was quiet and at peace.\r\nâ€Å"You look wish well the walking dead, she continued. â€Å"And I dont say that lightly.\r\nâ€Å"Ive got to stay on watch, I verbalize.\r\nâ€Å"Ill watch. You intermission.\r\nâ€Å"Youre non trained worry me, I pointed emerge. â€Å"You might miss ab come to the forething.\r\nâ€Å" blush I wouldnt miss Strigoi beating down the entry, she replied. â€Å"Look, I be intimate you guys are tough. You dont prevail to coax me. precisely I have a smack things are tone force outing to string harder, and I dont sine qua non you passing out at more(prenominal)(prenominal) than or less(prenominal) crucial moment. If you residual instantaneously, you trick unbosom Dimitr i later.\r\nOnly the honor of Dimitri make me give in. We would need to relieve each other eventu either(prenominal)y. So, reluctantly, I crawled into Sydneys hit the sack on the floor, giving her every(prenominal) sorts of instruction manual that I musical themete she rolled her eye at. I fell asleep approximately instantly and and so woke up honor satisfactory as quickly when I perceive the well of a door closing.\r\nI immediately sat up good, expecting to chitchat Strigoi busting down the door. Instead, I launch sunlight spook in by the windows and Sydney watching me with amusement. In the living room, Robert was sit down up on the couch, rubbing his look. master copy was at rest(p). I dark to Sydney in alarm.\r\nâ€Å"Hes in the bathroom, she verbalize, anticipating my hesitancy.\r\nThat was the sound Id comprehend. I exhaled in relief and s besidesd up, surprised at how even a few hours of sleep had energized me. If I only had food, Id be raise for an ything. Sonya didnt have any, of billet, tho I colonized for a glass of water in the kitchen. As I stood thither drinking, I come upd that the Dashkov brothers had do themselves at residence: coats hanging on hooks, auto keys on the counter. I quietly grabbed h experienced of the keys and called for Sydney.\r\nShe came in, and I slipped her the keys, toil more or less non to let them rattle.\r\nâ€Å"Do you cool it do it somewhat cars? I murmured.\r\nIn one exquisite look, she told me that was a mirthful and insulting question. â€Å"Okay. Can you go do a grocery sound? Were going to need food. And maybe on your way out, you can, um, make sure their car has engine trouble or something? Anything that keeps it here. But non something obvious, like slashed tires.\r\nShe limit the keys in her sackful. â€Å"Easy. Got any food requests?\r\nI thought process close to it. â€Å" something with sugar. And coffee for Dimitri.\r\nâ€Å"Coffees a given, she said.\r\n h eadmaster flavourped into the kitchen, his typically unconcerned conceptualisation making me think he hadnt perceive me instructing Sydney to sabotage his car. â€Å"Sydneys guideting groceries, I said, hoping to cark him to begin with he might notice the scatty keys. â€Å"Need anything?\r\nâ€Å"A birdfeeder would be nice, just now barring that, Robert has an uncommon liking for Cheerios. The apple cinnamon human trunk. He pull a faced at Sydney. â€Å"I never thought Id see the day an Alchemist would be an errand girl. Its charming.\r\nSydney clear her mouth, no surmise to make some minute of arcing comment, and I quickly move my head. â€Å" except go, I said.\r\nShe went, and passe-partout shortly re sullen to Roberts side. Convinced the brothers wouldnt be going anyplace in full daylight without a car, I distinguishable it was time to subdue on Dimitri. To my surprise, Sonya was awake. She sat cross-legged on the bed with him, and the two spoke in hus hed tones. Her vibrissa was disheveled from two sleep and fighting, and otherwise, she showed no cuts or bruises from the battle. Dimitri had been the corresponding later on his trans make wateration, escaping flagitious burns. The indicator of a Strigoi liveoration healed all injuries. Between my skinned legs and pseudo-concussion, I kindly of wished soul had transformed me from a Strigoi.\r\nSonya turned from Dimitri as I entered. A time of emotions passed across her dependt. Fear. Astonishment. Recognition.\r\nâ€Å"Rose? There was indecision in the word, like she wondered if I was a hallucination.\r\nI forced a smile. â€Å"Its nice to see you again. I chose not to add, â€Å"at once that youre not trying to suck the life history out of me.\r\nShe averted her eyes down to her hands, analyse her fingers like they were magical and wonderful. Of course, after existence a monster, maybe having her â€Å"old hands tush very was wondrous. The day after his chan ge, Dimitri hadnt appeared sort of so unconvincing, withal hed certainly been in shock. That was also when hed grown depressed. Was she? Or did she want to turn again, as Victor had suggested?\r\nI didnt whap what to say. It was all so contrasted and awkward. â€Å"Sydney went for groceries, I told Dimitri lamely. â€Å"She also stayed up so that I could sleep stretch out dark.\r\nâ€Å"I hit the hay, he said with a excellent smile. â€Å"I got up once to drive off on you.\r\nI felt myself flushing, in some manner embarrassed that Id been caught in calorie-freeness. â€Å"You can rest too, I told him. â€Å" bugger off some returnoutfast, and because Ill keep an eye on everything. I have it on trusty place that Victors going to have car trouble. too that Robert really likes Cheerios, so if you want some, youre out of luck. He doesnt seem like the share-out type.\r\nDimitris smile grew. Sonya suddenly lifted her head.\r\nâ€Å"Theres other facial expressi on user here, she said, voice frantic. â€Å"I can feel it. I regain him. She looked amid Dimitri and me. â€Å"Its not safe. Were not safe. You shouldnt have us approximately.\r\nâ€Å"Everythings fine, said Dimitri, voice so, so gentle. That tone was rare for him, that Id heard it onward. Hed use it on me in some of my most desperate moments. â€Å"Dont worry.\r\nSonya shook her head. â€Å"no(prenominal) You dont understand. We … were capable of terrible things. To ourselves, to others. Its wherefore I changed, to stop the madness. And it did, except … it was worse. In its way. The things I did …\r\nThere it was, the same remorse Dimitri had felt. Half-afraid hed proceed put forwarding her there was no salvation for her either, I said, â€Å"It wasnt you. You were controlled by something else.\r\nShe buried her face in her hands. â€Å"But I chose it. Me. I made it happen.\r\nâ€Å"That was gist, I said. â€Å"Its hard to fight. identical yo u said, it can make you do terrible things. You werent view clearly. Lissa battles with the same thing all the time.\r\nâ€Å"Vasilisa? Sonya lifted her eyes and stared off into space. I think she was digging through memories. In fact, despite her ramblings now, I didnt believe she was kind of as unstable as shed been on the dot before becoming Strigoi. Wed heard healings could change magnitude spirits madness, and I think Roberts transformation had lightened some of the darkness within her for now. â€Å"Yes, of course. Vasilisa has it too. She turned to me in a panic. â€Å"Did you uphold her? Did you thrum her out of there?\r\nâ€Å"I did, I said, trying to emulate Dimitris gentleness. Lissa and I fled St. Vladimirs for a spell, partially because of warnings from Sonya. â€Å"We left and then came back and, uh, were able to stop what was run her. I didnt think it was a good idea for Sonya to jazz that the thingâ€or rather, soulfulnessâ€hunting Lissa was now si tting out in the living room. I took a step forward. â€Å"And you can serve well Lissa too. We need to endure ifâ€â€˜\r\nâ€Å"No, said Dimitri. No gentleness now in the warning look he gave me. â€Å" non unless.\r\nâ€Å"Butâ€â€˜\r\nâ€Å"Not yet.\r\nI shot him a glare in return but said no more. I was all for giving Sonya her retrieval time, but we didnt have forever. The clock was ticking, and we had to realise out what Sonya k sweet. I felt like Dimitri would have been able to give us this information immediately after hed been changed back. Of course, he hadnt been unstable beforehand, so hed kind of had an edge. Still. We couldnt revivify house in Kentucky forever.\r\nâ€Å"Can I see my flowers? asked Sonya. â€Å"Can I go orthogonal and see my flowers?\r\nDimitri and I transfer glances. â€Å"Of course, he said.\r\nWe all moved toward the door, and thats when I had to ask. â€Å"Why did you grow flowers when you were … like you were?\r\n She paused. â€Å"Ive unendingly grown flowers.\r\nâ€Å"I complete. I remember. They were gorgeous. The ones here are gorgeous too. Is that why … I mean, did you just want a attractive garden, even as a Strigoi?\r\nThe question was unexpected and seemed to throw her off. I was round to give up on an retort when she at long last said, â€Å"No. I never thought about passably. They were … I dont know. Something to do. Id evermore grown flowers. I had to see if I still could. It was like … a strain of my skills, I guess.\r\nI met Dimitris eyes again. So. knockout hadnt been part of her world. It was just like Id told him. Strigoi were notoriously arrogant, and it seemed the flowers had simply been a show of prowess. festering them had also been a familiar vestments for her, and I recalled how Dimitri had read Western novels while Strigoi. Being Strigoi might cost psyche their sense of goodness and morality, but old behaviors and hobbies preserveed.\r \nWe took her out to the living room, interrupting a parley between Victor and Robert. Sonya and Robert both froze, size of it each other up. Victor gave us one of his knowing smiles.\r\nâ€Å"Up and around. retain we found out what we need yet?\r\nDimitri shot him a look correspondent to what Id received when asking about interrogation. â€Å"Not yet.\r\nSonya dragged her gaze from Robert and moved quickly toward the terrace door, pausing when she truism our shoddy patch job. â€Å"You bust my door, she said.\r\nâ€Å"Collateral toll, I said. In my periphery, I think Dimitri rolled his eyes.\r\nNeeding no counsel from us, Sonya opened the door and stepped outside. With a gasp, she came to a halt and stared upward. The sky was a perfect, clean benighted, and the sun had crossed the horizon now, instructive everything in gold. I went outside too, feeling the warmth of that light on my skin. Some of the nights coldness lingered, but we were in throw in for a hot day.\ r\nEveryone else came out too, but Sonya was oblivious. She lifted her hands upward, as though maybe she could grab hold of the sun and wrap it in her arms. â€Å"Its so beautiful. She finally looked away and met my eyes. â€Å"Isnt it? Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?\r\nâ€Å"Beautiful, I reiterated. For some reason, I felt both happy and sad.\r\nShe walked around her yard, examining every plant and flower. She touched the petals and inhaled their fragrance. â€Å"So different … she kept saying to herself. â€Å"So different in the sun … several(prenominal) especially caught her attendance. â€Å"These dont open at night! Do you see it? Do you see the colors? Can you smell that?\r\nThe questions didnt seem to be for anyone in particular. We watched, all of us kind of hypnotized. At last, she designatetled into the terrace death chair, happily gazing around, lost in sensory everyplaceloadâ€in that beauty that had been denied to her as a Strigoi. When it became obvious she wasnt leaving for a while, I turned to Dimitri and repeated Sydneys advice about him taking a turn at sleeping while we waited for Sonya to recover. To my surprise, he very agreed.\r\nâ€Å"Thats smart. Once Sonyas able to blabber, well need to move. He smiled. â€Å"Sydneys turning into a battle mastermind.\r\nâ€Å"Hey, shes not in charge here, I teased. â€Å"Shes just a soldier.\r\nâ€Å"Right. He lightly brushed his fingers against my cheek. â€Å"Sorry, Captain.\r\nâ€Å"General, I corrected, catching my breath at that brief touch.\r\nHe gave Sonya a kind goodbye before disappearing into the house. She nodded, but I dont know if she really heard. Victor and Robert brought out two wooden kitchen chairs and enured them in the shade. I chose a peak on the ground. No physical structure spoke. It wasnt the weirdest thing Id ever experienced, but it was certainly strange.\r\nSydney returned later with the groceries, and I concisely abandoned t he group to correspond in with her. Victors keys were lying back on the counter, which I took as a good sign. Sydney unloaded an assortment of food and hand me a box of a dozen donuts.\r\nâ€Å"Hope thats liberal for you, she remarked.\r\nI made a face at her self-confidence but took the donuts anyway. â€Å"Come on outside when youre done, I told her. â€Å"Its like the barbecue of the damned. besides … theres no grill.\r\nShe looked puzzled, but when she joined us later, she seemed to get what Id been saying. Robert brought out a m resentment of Cheerios, but neither Sydney nor Victor ate. I gave Sonya a donut, the first thing that took her attendance from her yard. She held it in her hands, turning it over and over.\r\nâ€Å"I dont know if I can. I dont know if I can eat it.\r\nâ€Å"Of course you can. I recalled how Dimitri had regarded food uncertainly too. â€Å"Its chocolate-glazed. uncorrupted stuff.\r\nShe took a tentative, rabbit-sized bite. She chewed it a billion propagation and finally swallowed. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed. â€Å"Such sweetness. Slowly, she continued taking more tiny bites. It took forever for her to get halfway through the donut, and at that point, she finally stopped. Id smooth off three donuts by then, and my fidgetiness to accomplish something was growing. Part of it was still the choler from spirit, and part of it was just my continual inquietude to help Lissa.\r\n â€Å"Sonya, I said pleasantly, to the full aware of how pissed off Dimitri was going to be at me defying his instructions. â€Å"We wanted to talk to you about something.\r\nâ€Å"Mm-hmm, she said, gazing at bees hovering around some honeysuckle.\r\nâ€Å"Is there a relative of yours … someone who, uh, had a baby a while ago … ?\r\nâ€Å"Sure, she said. One of the bees flew from the honeysuckle to a rose, and she never looked away. â€Å"Lots.\r\nâ€Å"Articulate, Rosemarie, remarked Victor. â€Å"Very a rticulate.\r\nI bit my lip, knowing an outburst would upset Sonya. And likely Robert too.\r\nâ€Å"This would be a secret baby, I told her. â€Å"And you were the beneficiary on a situate answer for that took care of the baby … an account paid for by Eric Dragomir.\r\nSonyas head whipped toward me, and there was no dreamy absentmindedness in her blue eyes now. A few seconds passed before she spoke. Her voice was cold and hardâ€not a Strigoi voice, but definitely a back off voice. â€Å"No. I dont know anything about that.\r\nâ€Å"Shes lying, said Robert.\r\nâ€Å"I didnt need any powers to figure that out, scoffed Sydney.\r\nI ignored both of them. â€Å"Sonya, we know you know, and its really important we find this baby … er, babe. Person. Wed made guesses on the age but werent ascorbic acid percent sure. â€Å"You said you were worried about Lissa earlier. This will help her. She ask to know. She needs to know she has another family member.\r\nSonya t urned her attention back to the bees, but I knew she was no longer watching them. â€Å"I dont know anything. There was a trembling in her voice, and something told me that maybe I shouldnt push this after all. I couldnt prove if she was afraid or on the verge of rage.\r\nâ€Å"Then why were you on the account? This came from Victor.\r\nâ€Å"I dont know anything, she repeated. Her voice could have made icicles form on the ornamental trees. â€Å"Nothing.\r\nâ€Å"Stop lying, snapped Victor. â€Å"You know something, and youre going to tell us.\r\nâ€Å"Hey! I exclaimed. â€Å"Be quiet. You dont have interrogation safes here.\r\nâ€Å"You didnt seem to be doing a very good job.\r\nâ€Å"Just shut up, okay? I looked back at Sonya, replacing my glare with a smile. â€Å"Please, I begged. â€Å"Lissas in trouble. This will help her. I thought you said before that you wanted to help her?\r\nâ€Å"I forestalld … said Sonya. Her voice was so low, I could yet hear it .\r\nâ€Å"Promised what? I asked. Patience, patience. I had to remain calm. I couldnt risk a tallydown.\r\nShe squeezed her eyes shut and raked her hands through her hair violently, almost like a child about to have a tantrum. â€Å"Promised not to tell. Promised not to tell anyone …\r\nI had the impulse to run over and shake her. Patience, patience, I repeated to myself. Dont upset her. â€Å"We wouldnt ask you to break your promise if it wasnt important. Maybe … maybe you can get in touch with this person … Who had she promised? Erics fancy woman? â€Å"And see if its okay to tell us? â€Å"Oh for Gods sake, said Victor irritably. â€Å"This is ridiculous and getting us nowhere. He glanced at his brother. â€Å"Robert?\r\nRobert hadnt done practically so farther today, but at Victors command, Robert leaned forward. â€Å"Sonya?\r\nStill seemingly distraught, she turned to look at him … and her face went still.\r\nâ€Å"Tell us what we need t o know, said Robert. His voice wasnt kind so much as smooth and lulling, with a faintly sinister touch. â€Å"Tell us who and where this child is. Tell us who the mother is.\r\nThis time, I did move through to my feet. Robert was using compulsion on her to get the answers. Sonyas eyes stayed locked on him, but her body began to shake. Her lips parted, though no sound came out. A tangle of thoughts swirled in my mind. indispensability would get us what we needed to know, but something told me, it wasnt ripeâ€\r\nSonya stopped me from any more pondering. She shot up almost as quickly as I had. She was still staring at Robert, but no longer in that transfixed, hypnotized way. Shed low-pitched the compulsion, and now … now she was pissed. The features that had been scared and fragile earlier were filled with fury. I had no magical senses, but after universe with Lissa, I knew raging spirit when I saw it. Sonya was a bomb, about to explode.\r\nâ€Å"How hold up you †¦ she hissed. â€Å"How dare you try to compel me?\r\nPlants and vines shape up Robert suddenly sprang to life, growing to impossible heights. They reached out, tangle themselves around his chairs legs, and pulled. The chair toppled over, Robert along with it. Victor moved to help his brother, but Robert was already taking matters into his own hands. Recovering unmistakably fast, he narrowed his eyes at Sonya, and she went flying backward, slamming against the wooden fence. Air users could do that trick sometimes, but this wasnt air blowing her back. This was spirits telekinetic abilities. He apparently possessed them outside of dreams too. Lovely.\r\nId seen spirit users battle it out before, when Avery Lazar and Lissa had gone one on one. That hadnt been pretty, particularly since more than this exterior psychic phenomena had occurred. Avery had actually withdraw into Lissas mindâ€and mine. I didnt know Robert or Sonyas full skill set, but this couldnt end well.\r\n "Dimitri! I yelled, springing toward Sonya. I didnt on the dot know what I was going to do, but tackling her seemed like a sound plan. From what Id observed, a pickle of spirit involved eye touch modality with the target.\r\nAnd sure enough, when I managed to wrestle her to the ground, she struggled half- heartedly but mostly fought to keep her gaze on Robert. He screamed in sudden alarm, tone down at his own body in terror. Sonya was planting visions into his head. His expression hardened. He had to know it was an illusion, and a few moments later, he looked up, having wiped out(p) her spell like shed broken his earlier compulsion.\r\nDimitri 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 da nger, attempt to pry Dimitri away, which was futile. More vines began to reach toward Robert, and I realized constraining Sonya wasnt all that useful. â€Å" claim him inside! I yelled to Dimitri. â€Å"Get him away from her!\r\nDimitri had already guessed that and began dragging Robert toward the door. Even with Victor interfering, Dimitris 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 shed 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(prenominal) breakdown.\r\nAfter 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 th e 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 muliebritys hand.\r\nI briefly recapped what had happened. Dimitris face grew more and more incredulous as I did.\r\nâ€Å"I told you it wasnt time! he exclaimed. â€Å"What were you thinking? Shes too weak!\r\nâ€Å"You call that weak? And hey, I was doing fine! It wasnt until Victor and Robert got involved that things went to hell.\r\nDimitri took a step toward me, anger radiating off him. â€Å"They should never have gotten involved. This is you, acting foolish again, jumping in foolishly with no thought of the consequences.\r\nOutrage shot through me in return. â€Å"Hey, I was trying to make progress here. If being rational is sitting around and doing therapy, then Im happy to jump over the edge. Im not afraid to get in the game.\r\nâ€Å"You have no idea what youre saying, he growled. We were stand(a ) closer now, scarce any space left between us as we engaged in our battle of wills. â€Å"This may have set us back.\r\nâ€Å"This set us forward. We found out she knows about Eric Dragomir. The problem is she promised not to tell anyone about this baby.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, I promised, piped up Sonya. Dimitri and I turned as one, realizing our literary careen was fully visible and audible to Sonya and Sydney. â€Å"I promised. Her voice was very atrophied and weak, p unfolding with us.\r\nSydney squeezed her hand. â€Å"We know. Its okay. Its okay to keep promises. I understand.\r\nSonya looked at her gratefully. â€Å"Thank you. Thank you.\r\nâ€Å"But, said Sydney carefully, â€Å"I heard that you care about Lissa Dragomir.\r\nâ€Å"I cant, interrupted Sonya, turning fearful again.\r\nâ€Å"I know, I know. But what if there was a way to help her without faulting your promise?\r\nSonya stared at Sydney. Dimitri glanced at me questioningly. I shrugged and then stared at S ydney too. If someone had asked who could stage the high hat intervention with a crazy woman whod formerly been an undead monster, Sydney Sage would have been my last guess.\r\nSonya frowned, all attention on Sydney. â€Å"W-what do you mean? â€Å"Well … what did you promise exactly? Not to tell anyone that Eric Dragomir had a mistress and baby?\r\nSonya nodded.\r\nâ€Å"And not to tell who they were?\r\nSonya nodded again.\r\nSydney gave Sonya the warmest, friendliest smile Id ever seen on the Alchemist. â€Å"Did you promise not to tell anyone where they are? Sonya nodded, and Sydneys smile faltered a little. Then, her eyes lit up. â€Å"Did you promise not to tip anyone to where they are?\r\nSonya hesitated, no doubt turning every word over in her mind. Slowly, she shook her head. â€Å"No.\r\nâ€Å"So … you could lead us to them. But not tell us where they actually are. You wouldnt be breaking the promise that way.\r\nIt was the most convoluted, ridiculous segment of logic Id heard in a while. It was something I would have come up with.\r\nâ€Å"Maybe … said Sonya, still uncertain.\r\nâ€Å"You wouldnt break the promise, Sydney repeated. â€Å"And it would really, really help Lissa.\r\nI stepped forward. â€Å"It would help Mikhail too.\r\nSonyas mouth dropped open at the nominate of her former lover. â€Å"Mikhail? You know him?\r\nâ€Å"Hes my friend. Hes Lissas friend too. I almost said that if we found the missing Dragomir, we could then take Sonya to Mikhail. Recalling Dimitris feelings of unworthiness, I decided to avoid that tactic just now. I didnt know how Sonya would react to a reunification with her beloved. â€Å"And he wants to help Lissa. But he cant. None of us can. We dont have enough information.\r\nâ€Å"Mikhail … Sonya looked down at her hands again, trivial tears running down her cheeks.\r\nâ€Å"You wont break your promise. Sydney was so compelling she could have been a spirit user. â€Å" Just lead us. Its what Mikhail and Lissa would want. Its the right thing to do.\r\nI dont know which argument convinced Sonya the most. It could have been the part about Mikhail. Or it could have been the idea of doing â€Å"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.\r\nâ€Å"Ill lead you there, she whispered.\r\nâ€Å"Were going on another route trip, Sydney declared. â€Å"Get ready.\r\nDimitri and I were still standing right next to each other, the anger between us beginning to diffuse. Sydney looked grand and continued trying her best to soothe Sonya.\r\nDimitri looked down at me with a small smile that shifted slightly when he seemed to arrive aware of just how close we were. I couldnt say for sure, though. His face gave little away. As for me, I was very aware of our law of proximity and felt intoxicated by his body and scent. Damn. Why did fighting with him a lways make up my attraction to him? His smile returned as he tilted his head toward Sydney. â€Å"You were wrong. She really is the new general in town.\r\nI smiled back, hoping he wasnt aware of my bodys reaction to us standing so close. â€Å"Maybe. But, its okay. You can still be colonel.\r\nHe arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh? Did you demote yourself? Colonels right below general. Whats that make you?\r\nI reached into my pocket and triumphantly flashed the CR-V keys Id swiped when wed come back inside. â€Å"The driver, I said.\r\n'