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too close. People were terrified, and I soon learned what in particular made this attack so<br />
notable.<br />
"There had to be more than last time," said my mother.<br />
"More?" exclaimed one of the other guardians. "That last group was unheard of. I still can't<br />
believe nine Strigoi managed to work together—you expect me to believe they managed to get<br />
more organized still?"<br />
"Yes," snapped my mother.<br />
"Any evidence of humans?" someone else asked.<br />
My mother hesitated, then: "Yes. More broken wards. And the way it was all conducted…it's<br />
identical to the Badica attack."<br />
Her voice was hard, but there was a kind of weariness in it, too. It wasn't physical exhaustion,<br />
though. It was mental, I realized. Strain and hurt over what they were talking about. I always<br />
thought of my mother as some sort of unfeeling killing machine, but this was clearly hard for<br />
her. It was a hard, ugly matter to discuss—but at the same time, she was tackling it without<br />
hesitation. It was her duty.<br />
A lump formed in my throat that I quickly swallowed down. Humans. Identical to the Badica<br />
attack. Ever since that massacre, we'd extensively analyzed the oddity of such a large group of<br />
Strigoi teaming up and recruiting humans. We'd spoken in vague terms about "if something like<br />
this ever happens again …" But no one had seriously talked about this group—the Badica<br />
killers—doing it again. One time was a fluke—maybe a bunch of Strigoi had happened to<br />
gather and impulsively decided to go on a raid. It was horrible, but we could write that off.<br />
But now…now it looked as though that group of Strigoi hadn't been a random occurrence.<br />
They'd united with purpose, utilized humans strategically, and had attacked again. We now had<br />
what could be a pattern: Strigoi actively seeking out large groups of prey. Serial killings. We<br />
could no longer trust the protective magic of the wards. We couldn't even trust sunlight.<br />
Humans could move around in the day, scouting and sabotaging. The light was no longer safe.<br />
I remembered what I'd said to Dimitri at the Badica house: This changes everything, doesn't it?
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