Victoria took the book from her sister
EIGHT
BURNING WITH ANGER, I FOUGHT harder and better that day than I ever had in any of my classes with the novices. So much so that I finally won my first hand-to-hand pairing, annihilating Shane Reyes. We'd always gotten along, and he took it good-naturedly, applauding my performance, as did a few others. "The comeback's starting," observed Mason after class.
Everyone but Tatiana smiled. Alberta and Dimitri were probably the happiest that Rose seemed to be catching up.
"So it would seem." He gently touched my arm. "How's Lissa?" It didn't surprise me that he knew. Gossip spread so fast around here sometimes, it felt like everyone had a psychic bond. "Okay. Coping." I didn't elaborate on how I knew that. Our bond was a secret from the student body.
"Well, that is surprising. Normally things like that would spread through the school like wildfire," Christian said amazed. Alberta nodded agreeing with him.
"Mase, you claim to know about Mia. You think she might have done that?" "Whoa, hey, I'm not an expert on her or anything. But honestly? No. Mia won't even do dissections in biology. I can't picture her actually catching a fox, let alone, um, killing it." "Any friends who might do it for her?"
"I didn't think about that," Abe said disappointed at himself for not thinking about that.
He shook his head. "Not really. They're not really the types to get their hands dirty either. But who knows?" Lissa was still shaken when I met her for lunch later, her mood made worse when Natalie and her crew wouldn't shut up about the fox. Apparently Natalie had overcome her disgust enough to enjoy the attention the spectacle had brought her.
Abe shook his head, just when he was starting to like a royal, they go and rune everything. Tatiana, on the other hand, was happy that Natalie seemed to be acting more like a royal should
Maybe she wasn't as content with her fringe status as I'd always believed. "And it was just there," she explained, waving her hands for emphasis. "Right in the middle of the bed. There was blood everywhere." Lissa looked as green as the sweater she wore, and I pulled her away before I even finished my food and immediately launched into a string of obscenities about Natalie's social skills. "She's nice," Lissa said automatically. "You were just telling me the other day how much you liked her." "I do like her, but she's just incompetent about certain things."
Even Tatiana couldn't help but nod agreeing with Rose
We stood outside our animal behavior class, and I noticed people giving us curious looks and whispering as they passed. I sighed. "How are you doing with all this?" A half-smile crossed her face. "Can't you already feel it?" "Yeah, but I want to hear it from you." "I don't know. I'll be okay. I wish everyone wouldn't keep staring at me like I'm some kind of freak." My anger exploded again. The fox was bad. People upsetting her made it worse, but at least I could do something about them. "Who's bothering you?" "Rose, you can't beat up everyone we have a problem with."
"Oh but she will," Alberta laughed. Abe and Janine smiled proudly at that. Dimitri looked at Ivan and he understood how Rose felt about protecting her best friend.
"Mia?" I guessed. "And others," she said evasively. "Look, it doesn't matter. What I want to know is how this could have…that is, I can't stop thinking about that time—" "Don't," I warned. "Why do you keep pretending that didn't happen? You of all people. You made fun of Natalie for going on and on, but it's not like you've got a good grip on your control switch. You'll normally talk about anything." "But not that. We need to forget about it. It was a long time ago. We don't even really know what happened." She stared at me with those big green eyes, calculating her next argument.
Everyone sat forward, they wanted to know about what they were talking about. But for some reason, everyone knew that they won't be finding out about it till a later time
"Hey, Rose." Our conversation dropped as Jesse strolled up to us. I turned on my best smile. "Hey." He nodded cordially to Lissa. "So hey, I'm going to be in your dorm tonight for a study group. You think…maybe…" Momentarily forgetting Lissa, I focused my full attention on Jesse. Suddenly, I so needed to do something wild and bad.
Dimitri tilted his head, he was shocked at the sudden change in Rose's behaviour. Dimitri looked at Alberts who looked just as shocked as him. The smiles faded off of Abe and Janine's face, Janine because she was disappointed in how Rose was behaving. While Abe simply hated the idea of Rose being romantic with a boy.
Too much had happened today. "Sure." He told me when he'd be there, and I told him I'd meet him in one of the common areas with "further instructions." Lissa stared at me when he left. "You're under house arrest. They won't let you hang out and talk to him." "I don't really want to "talk‟ to him. We'll slip away."
Abe and Dimitri both glared at the book in Victoria's hand. Yeva smiled at Dimitri a knowing look in her eyes.
She groaned. "I just don't know about you sometimes." "That's because you're the cautious one, and I'm the reckless one."
Alberta nodded agreeing with that full heartily
Once animal behavior started, I pondered the likelihood of Mia being responsible. From the smug look on her psycho-angel face, she certainly seemed to be enjoying the sensation caused by the bloody fox. But that didn't mean she was the culprit, and after observing her over the last couple of weeks, I knew she'd enjoy anything that upset Lissa and me. She didn't need to be the one who had done it.
"Why do I get the feeling this is not going to end well?" Victoria asked worriedly.
"I think we all can see this is not going to end well," Alberta shook her head. She didn't want Rose to get into any more trouble than she already was.
"Wolves, like many other species, differentiate their packs into alpha males and alpha females whom the others defer to. Alphas are almost always the strongest physically, though many times, confrontations turn out to be more a matter of willpower and personality. When an alpha is challenged and replaced, that wolf may find himself ostracized from the group or even attacked." I looked up from my daydreams and focused on Ms. Meissner.
Alberta smiled happy that Rose still seemed to love that class.
"Most challenges are likely to occur during mating season," she continued. This, naturally, brought snickers from the class. "In most packs, the alpha pair are the only ones who mate. If the alpha male is an older, seasoned wolf, a younger competitor may think he has a shot. Whether that is true works on a case-by-case basis. The young often don't realize how seriously outclassed they are by the more experienced."
Yeva looked between Dimitri and Adrian and smiled, oh how she was going to enjoy these books and the emotions that they were going to bring up.
The old-and-young-wolf thing notwithstanding, I thought the rest was pretty relevant. Certainly in the Academy's social structure, I decided bitterly, there seemed to be a lot of alphas and challenges. Mia raised her hand. "What about foxes? Do they have alphas too?" There was a collective intake of breath from the class, followed by a few nervous giggles. No one could believe Mia had gone there. Ms. Meissner flushed with what I suspected was anger.
"She should be careful, wouldn't want the wolves to devour her," Adrian smiled. Everyone nodded agreeing with him.
"We're discussing wolves today, Miss Rinaldi." Mia didn't seem to mind the subtle chastising, and when the class paired off to work on an assignment, she spent more time looking over at us and giggling. Through the bond, I could "Don't worry," I told her. "I've got a way—" "Hey, Lissa," someone interrupted. We both looked up as Ralf Sarcozy stopped by our desks. He wore his trademark stupid grin, and I had a feeling he'd come over here on a dare from his friends. "So, admit it," he said. "You killed the fox. You're trying to convince Kirova you're crazy so that you can get out of here again."
Tatiana glared at the book, Christian was also glaring at the book
"Screw you," I told him in a low voice. "Are you offering?" "From what I've heard, there isn't much to screw," I shot back. "Wow," he said mockingly. "You have changed. Last I remembered, you weren't too picky about who you got naked with." "And the last I remember, the only people you ever saw naked were on the Internet."
That got a few chuckles out of everyone
He cocked his head in an overly dramatic fashion. "Hey, I just got it: it was you, wasn't it?" He looked at Lissa, then back at me. "She got you to kill the fox, didn't she? Some weird kind of lesbian voo-ahhh!"
Oh how Christian wished he was there, he simply loves to set Ralf of fire
Ralf burst into flames. I jumped up and pushed Lissa out of the way—not easy to do, since we were sitting at our desks. We both ended up on the floor as screams—Ralf's in particular-filled the classroom and Ms. Meissner sprinted for the fire extinguisher. And then, just like that, the flames disappeared. Ralf was still screaming and patting himself down, but he didn't have a single singe mark on him.
Everyone but Tatiana was smiling happily that Ralf had gotten his just reward. Tatiana was happy that he got his just reward but she was getting the feeling that it had to smooth to do with Christian and she did not approve.
The only indication of what had happened was the lingering smell of smoke in the air. For several seconds, the entire classroom froze. Then, slowly, everyone put the pieces together. Moroi magical specializations were well known, and after scanning the room, I deduced three fire users: Ralf, his friend Jacob, and— Christian Ozera.
Christian smiled evilly. While Tatiana just glared at him
Since neither Jacob nor Ralf would have set Ralf on fire, it sort of made the culprit obvious. The fact that Christian was laughing hysterically sort of gave it away too. Ms. Meissner changed from red to deep purple. "Mr. Ozera!" she screamed. "How dare you—do you have any idea—report to Headmistress Kirova's office now!" Christian, completely unfazed, stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder. That smirk stayed on his face. "Sure thing, Ms. Meissner." He went out of his way to walk past Ralf, who quickly backed away as he passed.
"Well now they won't be talking about Lissa and the fox," Christian smiled looking proud of his future deeds.
The rest of the class stared, open-mouthed. After that, Ms. Meissner attempted to return the class to normal, but it was a lost cause. No one could stop talking about what had happened. It was shocking on a few different levels. First, no one had ever seen that kind of spell: a massive fire that didn't actually burn anything. Second, Christian had used it offensively. He had attacked another person. Moroi never did that.
"And that's why we are being picked off one for one," Abe said glaring at Tatiana who in turn just shook her head
They believed magic was meant to take care of the earth, to help people live better lives. It was never, ever used as a weapon. Magic instructors never taught those kinds of spells; I don't think they even knew any. Finally, craziest of all, Christian had done it. Christian, whom no one ever noticed or gave a damn about. Well, they'd noticed him now. It appeared someone still knew offensive spells after all, and as much as I had enjoyed the look of terror on Ralf's face, it suddenly occurred to me that Christian might really and truly be a psycho.
"Agreed," Tatiana, Dimitri looked at Christian he knew that Christian most probably had learned that spell form, Tasha
"Liss," I said as we walked out of class, "please tell me you haven't hung out with him again." The guilt that flickered through the bond told me more than any explanation could. "Liss!" I grabbed her arm. "Not that much," she said uneasily. "He's really okay—" "Okay? Okay?" People in the hall stared at us. I realized I was practically shouting. "He's out of his mind. He set Ralf on fire. I thought we decided you weren't going to see him anymore."
"Last we checked Rose decided that not Lissa," Christian crossed his arms defensively
"You decided, Rose. Not me." There was an edge in her voice I hadn't heard in a while. "What's going on here? Are you guys…you know?…" "No!" she insisted. "I told you that already. God." She shot me a look of disgust. "Not everyone thinks—and acts—like you." I flinched at the words. Then we noticed that Mia was passing by. She hadn't heard the conversation but had caught the tone. A snide smile spread over her face. "Trouble in paradise?" "Go find your pacifier, and shut the hell up," I told her, not waiting to hear her response. Her mouth dropped open, then tightened into a scowl. Lissa and I walked on in silence, and then Lissa burst out laughing.
Alberta let out a breath, glad that their fight was over.
Like that, our fight diffused. "Rose…" Her tone was softer now. "Lissa, he's dangerous. I don't like him. Please be careful." She touched my arm. "I am. I'm the cautious one, remember? You're the reckless one." I hoped that was still true. But later, after school, I had my doubts. I was in my room doing homework when I felt a trickle of what could only be called sneakiness coming from Lissa.
Tatiana frowned, she did not like the sound of that. Everyone less was worried as well. Most of them looked at Christian
Losing track of my work, I stared off into space, trying to get a more detailed understanding of what was happening to her. If ever there was a time for me to slip into her mind, it was now, but I didn't know how to control that. Frowning, I tried to think what normally made that connection occur. Usually she was experiencing some strong emotion, an emotion so powerful it tried to blast into my mind. I had to work hard to fight against that; I always sort of kept a mental wall up. Focusing on her now, I tried to remove the wall. I steadied my breathing and cleared my mind. My thoughts didn't matter, only hers did. I needed to open myself to her and let us connect. I'd never done anything like this before; I didn't have the patience for meditation. My need was so strong, however, that I forced myself into an intense, focused relaxation. I needed to know what was going on with her, and after a few more moments, my effort paid off. I was in.
Everyone let out a breath, happy that Rose was able to open the bond. Dimitri felt strangely proud of her. Everyone was happy that Rose would be able to find out what was wrong with Lissa whenever.
"Okay, I'm done. Who would like to be next?" Victoria asked holding up the book.
~~~~
"I will," Adrian smiled flirtier at Victoria who simply smiled shyly at him before handing him the book. Dimitri and Ivan glared at Adrian who was smiling at Victoria.
NINE
I SNAPPED INTO HER MIND, once again seeing and directly experiencing what went on around her.
She was sneaking into the chapel's attic again, confirming my worst fears. Like last time, she met no resistance. Good God, I thought, could that priest be any worse about securing his own chapel?
Christian smiled as Tatiana glared at him.
Sunrise lit up the stained-glass window, and Christian's silhouette was framed against it: he was sitting in the window seat. "You‟re late," he told her. "Been waiting a while." Lissa pulled up one of the rickety chairs, brushing dust off it. "I figured you'd be tied up with Headmistress Kirova." He shook his head. "Not much to it. They suspended me for a week, that's all. Not like it's hard to sneak out."
Christian smiled nodded thinking back to the times he had gotten into trouble
He waved his hands around. "As you can see." "I'm surprised you didn't get more time." A patch of sunlight lit up his crystal-blue eyes. "Disappointed?" She looked shocked. "You set someone on fire!" "No, I didn't. Did you see any burns on him?" "He was covered in flames." "I had them under control. I kept them off of him." She sighed. "You shouldn't have done that."
"Agreed," Tatiana nodded not looking at Christian, she just couldn't understand why Lissa was hanging out with Christian and not one of the acceptable royals.
Straightening out of his lounging position, he sat up and leaned toward her. "I did it for you." "You attacked someone for me?" "Sure. He was giving you and Rose a hard time. She was doing an okay job against him, I guess, but I figured she could use the backup. Besides, this'll shut anyone else up about the whole fox thing, too."
Everyone but Tatiana nodded at that
"You shouldn't have done that," she repeated, looking away. She didn't know how to feel about this "generosity." "And don't act like it was all for me. You liked doing it. Part of you wanted to—just because."
Christian huffed and shook his head, was it really so hard for people to believe that he sometimes did things for the better.
Christian's smug expression dropped, replaced by one of uncharacteristic surprise. Lissa might not be psychic, but she had a startling ability to read people. Seeing him off guard, she continued. "Attacking someone else with magic is forbidden—and that's exactly why you wanted to do it. You got a thrill out of it." "Those rules are stupid. If we used magic as a weapon instead of just for warm and fuzzy shit, Strigoi wouldn't keep killing so many of us."
Abe and the dhampirs nodded agreeing with Christian. Tatiana just shook her head and glared at him, she did not like the idea of magic being used like that.
"It's wrong," she said firmly. "Magic is a gift. It's peaceful." "Only because they say it is. You're repeating the party line we've been fed our whole lives." He stood up and paced the small space of the attic. "It wasn't always that way, you know. We used to fight, right along with the guardians—centuries ago. Then people started getting scared and stopped. Figured it was safer to just hide. They forgot the attack spells."
"True," Abe said looking accused at Tatiana who was glaring at Christian, she did not want him planting those ideas into Lissa's head.
"Then how did you know that one?" He crooked her a smile. "Not everyone forgot." "Like your family? Like your parents?" The smile disappeared. "You don't know anything about my parents." His face darkened, his eyes grew hard. To most people, he might have appeared scary and intimidating, but as Lissa studied and admired his features, he suddenly seemed very, very vulnerable.
Christian blushed and looked away from everyone.
"You're right," she admitted softly, after a moment. "I don't. I'm sorry." For the second time in this meeting, Christian looked astonished. Probably no one apologized to him that often. Hell, no one even talked to him that often. Certainly no one ever listened.
Christian looked down and nodded, Olena looked sadly at the boy suddenly remembering that he was only a child.
Like usual, he quickly turned into his cocky self. "Forget it." Abruptly, he stopped pacing and knelt in front of her so they could look each other in the eye. Feeling him so close made her hold her breath. A dangerous smile curled his lips. "And really, I don't get why you of all people should act so outraged that I used "forbidden‟ magic." "Me "of all people‟? What's that supposed to mean?" "You can play all innocent if you want—and you do a pretty good job—but I know the truth." "What truth is that?" She couldn't hide her uneasiness from me or Christian. He leaned even closer. "That you use compulsion. All the time."
Christian and Adrian smiled, Tatiana faked looking disappointed, but she was secretly happy that Lissa was using her powers to control people.
"No, I don't," she said immediately. "Of course you do. I've been lying awake at night, trying to figure out how in the world you two were able to rent out a place and go to high school without anyone ever wanting to meet your parents. Then I figured it out. You had to be using compulsion. That's probably how you broke out of here in the first place." "I see. You just figured it out. Without any proof." "I've got all the proof I need, just from watching you." "You've been watching me—spying on me—to prove I'm using compulsion?" He shrugged.
Adrian smiled at Christian
"Sure that was why you will be following her around," Adrian smiled at Christian
"No. Actually, I've been watching you just because I like it. The compulsion thing was a bonus. I saw you use it the other day to get an extension on that math assignment. And you used it on Ms. Carmack when she wanted to make you go through more testing."
That got all the teens in the room to laugh. Adrian had a look of nostalgia in his eyes. Remembering all the times he had used compulsion to get out of trouble.
"So you assume it's compulsion? Maybe I'm just really good at convincing people." There was a defiant note in her voice: understandable, considering her fear and anger. Only she delivered it with a toss of her hair which—if I didn't know any better—might have been considered flirtatious. And I did know better…right? Suddenly, I wasn't sure. He went on, but something in his eyes told me he'd noticed the hair, that he always noticed everything about her.
Christian blushed and looked away from everyone, he could feel all the eyes on him
"People get these goofy looks on their faces when you talk to them. And not just any people—you're able to do it to Moroi. Probably dhampirs, too. Now that's crazy. I didn't even know that was possible. You're some kind of superstar. Some kind of evil, compulsion-abusing superstar." It was an accusation, but his tone and presence radiated the same flirtatiousness she had.
"You two are probably going to be the strangest couple at that school," Adrian laughed looking at Christian. Tatiana glared Christian and Adrian.
Lissa didn't know what to say. He was right. Everything he'd said was right. Her compulsion was what had allowed us to dodge authority and get along in the world without adult help. It was what had allowed us to convince the bank to let her tap into her inheritance. And it was considered every bit as wrong as using magic as a weapon. Why not? It was a weapon. A powerful one, one that could be abused very easily.
Everyone in the room nodded agreeing.
"But she was using it to help her friend and protect herself," Olena said not understanding why it was so bad that she was using her powers.
"But she shouldn't be using it," Tatiana stated, but she left the rest of the sentence out, the part about how she shouldn't be using it when people were able to see her use it.
Moroi children had it drilled into them from an early age that compulsion was very, very wrong. No one was taught to use it, though every Moroi technically had the ability. Lissa had just sort of stumbled into it—deeply—and, as Christian had pointed out, she could wield it over Moroi, as well as humans and dhampirs. "What are you going to do then?" she asked. "You going to turn me in?" He shook his head and smiled. "No. I think it's hot."
Christian blushed, as Adrian nugget him with his elbow.
She stared, eyes widening and heart racing. Something about the shape of his lips intrigued her. "Rose thinks you're dangerous," she blurted out nervously. "She thinks you might have killed the fox." I didn't know how I felt about being dragged into this bizarre conversation. Some people were scared of me. Maybe he was too. Judging from the amusement in his voice when he spoke, it appeared he wasn't.
"Why aren't you afraid of her?" Abe asked
"Rose only ever harms people who threaten Lissa, and I think the books so far have shown my intentions," Christian explained
"People think I'm unstable, but I tell you, Rose is ten times worse. Of course, that makes it harder for people to fuck with you, so I'm all for it." Leaning back on his heels, he finally broke the intimate space between them. "And I sure as hell didn't do that. Find out who did, though…and what I did to Ralf won't seem like anything."
"I'm starting to feel sorry for the person who did that," Alberta shook her head, whoever had done it better start running.
His gallant offer of creepy vengeance didn't exactly reassure Lissa…but it did thrill her a little. "I don't want you doing anything like that. And I still don't know who did it." He leaned back toward her and caught her wrists in his hands. He started to say something, then stopped and looked down in surprise, running his thumbs over faint, barely there scars.
Everyone in the room froze, never in their wildest dreams did they think that Lissa would do something like that,
"Oh when this is all over I'm going to talk with Kirova," Tatiana all but growled.
Looking back up at her, he had a strange—for him—kindness in his face. "You might not know who did it. But you know something. Something you aren't talking about." She stared at him, a swirl of emotions playing in her chest. "You can't know all my secrets," she murmured.
"But I have a feeling he is going to find them out now," Adrian laughed.
He glanced back down at her wrists and then released them, that dry smile of his back on his face. "No. I guess not." A feeling of peace settled over her, a feeling I thought only I could bring.
Alberta shook her head, but she had a small smile on her face, she was happy that Lissa seemed to be getting someone other than Rose to depend on.
Returning to my own head and my room, I sat on the floor staring at my math book. Then, for reasons I didn't really get, I slammed it shut and threw it against the wall.
That got everyone attention, they didn't understand why Rose's emotions seemed to be all over the place.
I spent the rest of the night brooding until the time I was supposed to meet Jesse came around. Slipping downstairs, I went into the kitchen—a place I could visit so long as I kept things brief—and caught his eye when I cut through the main visiting area. Moving past him, I paused and whispered, "There's a lounge on the fourth floor that nobody uses. Take the stairs on the other side of the bathrooms and meet me there in five minutes. The lock on the door is broken."
Abe and Dimitri were glaring at the book. Adrian just hoped that he didn't have to read any nasty business.
He complied to the second, and we found the lounge dark, dusty, and deserted. The drop in guardian numbers over the years meant a lot of the dorm stayed empty, a sad sign for Moroi society but terribly convenient right now. He sat down on the couch, and I lay back on it, putting my feet in his lap. I was still annoyed after Lissa and Christian's bizarre attic romance and wanted nothing more than to forget about it for a while.
Janine took deep breaths she didn't know how to feel. And she as well didn't want to read about her daughter getting naked with anyone.
"You really here to study, or was it just an excuse?" I asked. "No. It was real. Had to do an assignment with Meredith." The tone in his voice indicated he wasn't happy about that. "Pooh," I teased. "Is working with a dhampir beneath your royal blood? Should I be offended?" He smiled, showing a mouth full of perfect white teeth and fangs.
Olena was getting worried, she had a very bad feeling about that whole situation
"You're a lot hotter than she is." "Glad I make the cut." There was a sort of a heat in his eyes that was turning me on, as was his hand sliding up my leg. But I needed to do something first. It was time for some vengeance.
"I do approve of vengeance, but I do not like this," Abe shook his head.
"Mia must too, since you guys let her hang out with you. She's not royal."
"Okay I approve that," Abe smiled
His finger playfully poked me in the calf. "She's with Aaron. And I've got lots of friends who aren't royal. And friends who are dhampirs. I'm not a total asshole." "Yeah, but did you know her parents are practically custodians for the Drozdovs?" The hand on my leg stopped.
"Okay you told him now please get out of there," Janine al but begged. Adrian swallowed before continuing
I'd exaggerated, but he was a sucker for gossip—and he was notorious for spreading it. "Seriously?" "Yeah. Scrubbing floors and stuff like that." "Huh." I could see the wheels turning in his dark blue eyes and had to hide a smile. The seed was planted. Sitting up, I moved closer to him and draped a leg over his lap. I wrapped my arms around him, and without further delay, thoughts of Mia disappeared as his testosterone kicked in.
"Not good," Alberta started looking at everyone's faces,
He kissed me eagerly—sloppily, even—pushing me against the back of the couch, and I relaxed into what had to be the first enjoyable physical activity I'd had in weeks. We kissed like that for a long time, and I didn't stop him when he pulled off my shirt. "I'm not having sex," I warned between kisses.
"Oh thank god," Abe and Adrian all but said at the same time. Dimitri also let out a breath he didn't know he was holding
I had no intention of losing my virginity on a couch in a lounge. He paused, thinking about this, and finally decided not to push it. "Okay." But he pushed me onto the couch, lying over me, still kissing with that same fierceness. His lips traveled down to my neck, and when the sharp points of his fangs brushed against my skin,
Olena shivered, she shook her head she really hoped that Rose wouldn't let him bite her.
I couldn't help an excited gasp. He raised himself up, looking into my face with open surprise. For a moment, I could barely breathe, recalling that rush of pleasure that a vampire bite could fill me with, wondering what it'd be like to feel that while making out. Then the old taboos kicked in. Even if we didn't have sex, giving blood while we did this was still wrong, still dirty.
"Please no," Janine and Abe begged at the same time. Dimitri was about ready to kill this Jesse.
"Don't," I warned. "You want to." His voice held excited wonder. "I can tell." "No, I don't." His eyes lit up. "You do. How—hey, have you done it before?" "No," I scoffed. "Of course not." Those gorgeous blue eyes watched me, and I could see the wheels spinning behind them. Jesse might flirt a lot and have a big mouth, but he wasn't stupid.
"Not good," Olena shook her head, if Rose was not able to lie believably that boy could harm her a lot.
"You act like you have. You got excited when I was by your neck." "You're a good kisser," I countered, though it wasn't entirely true. He drooled a little more than I would have preferred. "Don't you think everyone would know if I was giving blood?" The realization seized him. "Unless you weren't doing it before you left. You did it while you were gone, didn't you? You fed Lissa." "Of course not," I repeated. But he was on to something, and he knew it. "It was the only way. You didn't have feeders. Oh, man." "She found some," I lied. It was the same line we'd fed Natalie, the one she'd spread around and that no one—except Christian—had ever questioned. "Plenty of humans are into it." "Sure," he said with a smile.
Janine closed her eyes and hid her face in Abe's chest. Abe and Dimitri looked about ready to go and kill him. Tatiana was the only one who didn't look fazed at what they were reading.
He leaned his mouth back to my neck. "I'm not a blood whore," I snapped, pulling away from him. "But you want to. You like it. All you dhampir girls do." His teeth were on my skin again. Sharp. Wonderful. I had a feeling hostility would only make things worse, so I defused the situation with teasing. "Stop it," I said gently, running a fingertip over his lips. "I told you, I'm not like that. But if you want something to do with your mouth, I can give you some ideas." That peaked his interest. "Yeah? Like wha—?" And that was when the door opened. We sprang apart. I was ready to handle a fellow student or even possibly the matron. What I was not ready for was Dimitri.
"Thank you," Abe and Janine said at the same time. Dimitri let out his breath and smiled happy that he had been able to stop them.
He burst in the door like he'd expected to find us, and in that horrible moment, with him raging like a storm, I knew why Mason had called him a god. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the room and jerked Jesse up by his shirt, nearly holding the Moroi off the ground. "What's your name?" barked Dimitri. "J-Jesse, sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir."
"oh, why did he have to be in my family," Ivan groaned shaking his head.
"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?" "No, sir." "Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?" "Yes, sir." "Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again"—Dimitri pointed to where I cowered, half-dressed, on the couch—"I will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?"
Abe and Janine all nodded thankfully at Dimitri. Olena and her daughters all smiled proudly at him,
Jesse swallowed, eyes wide. None of the bravado he usually showed was there. I guess there was "usually" and then there was being held in the grip of a really ripped, really tall, and really pissed-off Russian guy "Yes, sir!" "Then go." Dimitri released him, and, if possible, Jesse got out of there faster than Dimitri had burst in. My mentor then turned to me, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but the angry, disapproving message came through loud and clear.
Alberts sighed, she knew that Rose hated it when someone she looked up to felt disappointed of her.
And then it shifted. It was almost like he'd been taken by surprise, like he'd never noticed me before. Had it been any other guy, I would have said he was checking me out.
Abe and Adrian looked at Dimitri with a raised eyebrow. Yeva smiled at her grandson who had frozen.
As it was, he was definitely studying me. Studying my face, my body. And I suddenly realized I was only in jeans and a bra—a black bra at that. I knew perfectly well that there weren't a lot of girls at this school who looked as good in a bra as I did. Even a guy like Dimitri, one who seemed so focused on duty and training and all of that, had to appreciate that. And, finally, I noticed that a hot flush was spreading over me, and that the look in his eyes was doing more to me than Jesse's kisses had.
"Oh this is not going to end well for you," Alberta tried not to laugh as she looked at Dimitri who was still frozen and had gone pale.
Dimitri was quiet and distant sometimes, but he also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in any other person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into…well, sex. I wondered what it'd be like for him to touch me and—shit! What was I thinking? Was I out of my mind?
"Yes," Abe and Janine said at the same time.
Embarrassed, I covered my feelings with attitude. "You see something you like?" I asked. "Get dressed." The set of his mouth hardened, and whatever he'd just felt was gone.
Ivan smiled and nudged Dimitri. Ivan knew how Dimitri hid his emotions and he was getting the feeling that something was going to happen between his best friend and this Rose.
That fierceness sobered me up and made me forget about my own troubling reaction. I immediately pulled my shirt back on, uneasy at seeing his badass side. "How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away?" "Be quiet," he snapped, leaning down so that we were at eye level.
"Oh now she's in trouble," Victoria said recognizing the stance Dimitri was taking in the book, it was one he had used on her when she had done something wrong.
"A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid this was?" "I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?" "Not just that. I'm talking about the stupidity of getting in that kind of situation in the first place." "I get in that kind of situation all the time, Comrade. It's not a big deal." Anger replaced my fear. I didn't like being treated like a child. "Stop calling me that. You don't know even know what you're talking about." "Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and the R.S.S.R. last year."
"U.S.S.R," All the Russians in the room said at the same time.
"U.S.S.R. And it is a big deal for a Moroi to be with a dhampir girl. They like to brag." "So?" "So?" he looked disgusted. "So don't you have any respect? Think about Lissa. You make yourself look cheap. You live up to what a lot of people already think about dhampir girls, and it reflects back on her. And me." "Oh, I see. Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?" "My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you do with yours remains to be seen." His voice hardened again. "Now get back to your room—if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else."
Abe glared at Dimitri who didn't feel ashamed at how he had handled the situation.
"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?" "I hear the stories you guys tell. I've heard stories about you." Ouch. I wanted to yell back that it was none of his business what I did with my body, but something about the anger and disappointment on his face made me falter. I didn't know what it was. "Disappointing" someone like Kirova was a non-event, but Dimitri?…I remembered how proud I'd felt when he praised me the last few times in our practices. Seeing that disappear from him…well, it suddenly made me feel as cheap as he'd implied I was.
Alberta sighed sadly, she hated it when Rose felt like that,
Something broke inside of me. Blinking back tears, I said, "Why is it wrong to…I don't know, have fun? I'm seventeen, you know. I should be able to enjoy it." "You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life and death will be in your hands." His voice still sounded firm, but there was a gentleness there too.
Olena let out her breath, she hated it whenever Dmitri was hard on anyone, and with the glares, Abe was sending her son she was worried for his life
"If you were human or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could." "But you're saying I can't." He glanced away, and his dark eyes went unfocused. He was thinking about something far away from here. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa, but we became friends, and he requested me as his guardian when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction…" He sighed.
"Hey it won't be your fault," Ivan said looking at Dimitri who again had looked ashamed
"And it's too late." A lump formed in my throat as I thought about one slip or one distraction costing Lissa her life. "Jesse's a Zeklos," I said, suddenly realizing Dimitri had just thrown around a relative of his former friend and charge. "I know." "Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?" "It doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel."
The dhampirs in the room sighed,
"That's why I choose not to be a guardian," Olena said shaking her head.
"But it does bother you." It suddenly became very obvious to me. I could read his pain, though he clearly worked hard to hide it. "You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him." Dimitri looked surprised, like he didn't want me to know that, like I'd uncovered some secret part of him.
Dimitri and his family looked shocked, no-one had been able to read him so easily or fast, hell it had taken Ivan a while as well.
I'd been thinking he was some aloof, antisocial tough guy, but maybe he kept himself apart from other people so he wouldn't get hurt if he lost them.
"True," Ivan and his family said at the same time.
Ivan's death had clearly left a permanent mark. I wondered if Dimitri was lonely. The surprised look vanished, and his standard serious one returned. "It doesn't matter how I feel. They come first. Protecting them." I thought about Lissa again. "Yeah. They do." A long silence fell before he spoke again. "You told me you want to fight, to really fight. Is that still true?" "Yes. Absolutely." "Rose…I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I can't have you distracted by things like this." He gestured around the lounge. "Can I trust you?" Again, I felt like crying under that gaze, under the seriousness of what he asked. I didn't get how he could have such a powerful effect on me.
Truth be told neither did Abe or Janine. Ivan smiled, oh he couldn't wait to see how they fell for each other.
I'd never cared so much about what one person thought. "Yes. I promise." "All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast…well, you can't even imagine. So I can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much left for your homework
"You don't have to worry about that. She really doesn't like homework," Alberta shook her head.
or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot." I thought about it, about him, and about Lissa. "It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it." He studied me hard, like he was still trying to decide if he could believe me. Finally satisfied, he gave me a sharp nod. "We'll start tomorrow."
"And done, who is next?' Adrian said happily, he was so grateful that he didn't need to read about anyone getting downright dirty