You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
some of the other campus guardians thought so too. They often stopped by our classes, but they<br />
were present today in a larger-than-usual number. Dimitri stood among them in the back.<br />
The old guy went first. He launched into his story, and I found myself getting hooked in. It<br />
described a time when the youngest son of the family he guarded had wandered off in a public<br />
place that Strigoi were lurking in.<br />
"The sun was about to set," he told us in a gravelly voice. He swept his hands in a downward<br />
motion, apparently to demonstrate how a sunset worked. "There were only two of us, and we<br />
had to make a snap decision on how to proceed."<br />
I leaned forward, elbows propped up on my desk. Guardians often worked in pairs. One—the<br />
near guard—usually stayed close to those being guarded while the other—the far guard—<br />
scouted the area. The far guard still usually stayed within eye contact, so I recognized the<br />
dilemma here. Thinking about it, I decided that if I were in that situation, I'd have the near<br />
guardian take the rest of the family to a secure location while the other guardian searched for<br />
the boy.<br />
"We had the family stay inside a restaurant with my partner while I swept the rest of the area,"<br />
continued the old guardian. He spread his hands out in a sweeping motion, and I felt smug over<br />
having made the correct call. The story ended happily, with a found boy and no Strigoi<br />
encounters.<br />
The second guy's anecdote talked about how he'd gotten the drop on a Strigoi stalking some<br />
Moroi.<br />
"I wasn't even technically on duty," he said. He was the really cute one, and a girl sitting near<br />
me stared at him with wide, adoring eyes. "I was visiting a friend and the family he guarded. As<br />
I was leaving their apartment, I saw a Strigoi lurking in the shadows. He never expected a<br />
guardian to be out there. I circled the block, came up behind him, and …" The man made a<br />
staking motion, far more dramatic than the old guy's hand gestures had been. The storyteller<br />
even went so far as to mimic twisting the stake into the Strigoi's heart.<br />
And then it was my mother's turn. A scowl spread over my face before she even said a word, a<br />
scowl that grew worse once she actually launched into the story. I swear, if I didn't believe her
Change language