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Isaiah smoothed his shirt—not that it had been wrinkled. His voice took on the cold<br />
pleasantness he'd affected earlier. "You clearly have opinions here, Elena, and I welcome you<br />
voicing them in a civilized manner. What do you think we should do with these cubs?"<br />
"You should—that is, I think we should just take them now. Especially the Moroi." She was<br />
clearly working hard not to whine again and annoy him. "Unless…you aren't going to throw<br />
another dinner party, are you? It's a complete waste. We'll have to share, and you know the<br />
others won't be grateful. They never are."<br />
"I'm not making a dinner party out of them," he declared loftily. Dinner party? "But I'm not<br />
killing them yet either. You're young, Elena. You only think about immediate gratification.<br />
When you're as old as me, you won't be so … impatient."<br />
She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking.<br />
Turning, he swept his gaze over me, Mason, and Eddie. "You three, I'm afraid, are going to die.<br />
There's no avoiding it. I'd like to say I'm sorry, but, well, I'm not. Such is the way of the world.<br />
You do have a choice in how you die, however, and that will be dictated by your behavior." His<br />
eyes lingered on me. I didn't really get why everyone seemed to be singling me out as the<br />
troublemaker here. Well, maybe I did. "Some of you will die more painfully than others."<br />
I didn't need to see Mason and Eddie to know their fear mirrored mine. I was pretty sure I even<br />
heard Eddie whimper.<br />
Isaiah abruptly turned on his heels, military-style, and faced Mia and Christian. "You two,<br />
fortunately, have options. Only one of you will die. The other will live on in glorious<br />
immortality. I'll even be kind enough to take you under my wing until you're a little older. Such<br />
is my charity."<br />
I couldn't help it. I choked on a laugh.<br />
Isaiah spun around and stared at me. I fell silent and waited for him to throw me across the<br />
room like he had Elena, but he did nothing else but stare. It was enough. My heart raced, and I<br />
felt tears brim in my eyes. My fear shamed me. I wanted to be like Dimitri. Maybe even like<br />
my mother. After several long, agonizing moments, Isaiah turned back to the Moroi.
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