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"Coddle?" I asked. This woman had never coddled me in her life. I couldn't believe she even knew the word. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. From what I hear, you don't really know what 'duty' is." "I know exactly what it is," I retorted. My voice was intentionally haughty. "Better than most people." Her eyes widened in a sort of mock surprise. I used that sarcastic look on a lot of people and didn't appreciate having it directed toward me. "Oh really? Where were you for the last two years?" "Where were you for the last five?" I demanded. "Would you have known I was gone if someone hadn't told you?" "Don't turn this back on me. I was away because I had to be. You were away so you could go shopping and stay up late." My hurt and embarrassment morphed into pure fury. Apparently, I was never going to live down the consequences of running away with Lissa. "You have no idea why I left," I said, my voice's volume rising. "And you have no right to make assumptions about my life when you don't know anything about it." "I've read reports about what happened. You had reason for concern, but you acted incorrectly." Her words were formal and crisp. She could have been teaching one of my classes. "You should have gone to others for help." "There was no one I could go to—not when I didn't have hard proof. Besides, we've been learning that we're supposed to think independently." "Yes," she replied. "Emphasis on learning. Something you missed out on for two years. You're hardly in a position to lecture me about guardian protocol." I wound up in arguments all the time; something in my nature made that inevitable. So I was used to defending myself and having insults slammed at me. I had a tough skin. But somehow, around her—in the brief times I had been around her—I always felt like I was three years old.
Her attitude humiliated me, and touching on my missed training— already a prickly subject— only made me feel worse. I crossed my arms in a fair imitation of her own stance and managed a smug look. "Yeah? Well, that's not what my teachers think. Even after missing all that time, I've still caught up with everyone else in my class." She didn't answer right away. Finally, in a flat voice, she said, "If you hadn't left, you would have surpassed them." Turning military-style, she walked off down the hall. A minute later, the bell rang, and the rest of Stan's class spilled into the hall. Even Mason couldn't cheer me up after that. I spent the rest of the day angry and annoyed, sure that everyone was whispering about my mother and me. I skipped lunch and went to the library to read a book about physiology and anatomy. When it was time for my after-school training with Dimitri, I practically ran up to the practice dummy. With a curled fist, I slapped its chest, very slightly to the left but mostly in the center. "There," I told him. "The heart is there, and the sternum and ribs are in the way. Can I have the stake now?" Crossing my arms, I glanced up at him triumphantly, waiting for him to shower me with praise for my new cunning. Instead, he simply nodded in acknowledgment, like I should already have known that. And yeah, I should have. "And how do you get through the sternum and the ribs?" he asked. I sighed. I'd figured out the answer to one question, only to be given another. Typical. We spent a large part of the practice going over that, and he demonstrated several techniques that would yield the quickest kill. Every movement he made was both graceful and deadly. He made it look effortless, but I knew better. When he suddenly extended his hand and offered the stake to me, I didn't understand at first. "You're giving it to me?"
- Page 2 and 3: Frostbite Vampire Academy Book 2 Ri
- Page 4 and 5: PROLOGUE THINGS DIE. BUT THEY DON'T
- Page 6 and 7: And there's one Moroi I want to pro
- Page 8 and 9: By the way, my name's Rose Hathaway
- Page 10 and 11: "No, no," she said hastily. "I'm fi
- Page 12 and 13: down over the years. The older guar
- Page 14 and 15: Suddenly, five hours didn't seem as
- Page 16 and 17: Standing on the driveway, I glanced
- Page 18 and 19: I stared at Arthur's bloody throat.
- Page 20 and 21: TWO DIMITRI MADE ONE PHONE CALL, an
- Page 22 and 23: I hesitated. Guardians, as a genera
- Page 24 and 25: I faltered. I'd tangled briefly wit
- Page 26 and 27: "I thought you were taking your Qua
- Page 28 and 29: There was an intensely sensual note
- Page 30 and 31: THREE THE LOBBY OF MY DORM was abuz
- Page 32 and 33: who want to go. With everyone in on
- Page 34 and 35: Since he wasn't wearing a coat, I k
- Page 36 and 37: them—it was a man with blond hair
- Page 38 and 39: "You ever tried to feed those littl
- Page 40 and 41: FOUR I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. JANINE
- Page 42 and 43: incapable of having the imagination
- Page 44 and 45: "So, Guardian Hathaway," I began. "
- Page 48 and 49: His eyes sparkled. "I can't believe
- Page 50 and 51: "Only to those who bring it to you
- Page 52 and 53: FIVE I HAD NO IDEA WHAT Dimitri was
- Page 54 and 55: observed before, though, Strigoi we
- Page 56 and 57: "Hard to say," I said. Tasha crooke
- Page 58 and 59: "Me too," said Lissa. "Maybe we cou
- Page 60 and 61: "Russian's weird," In Russian, the
- Page 62 and 63: He'd technically been up all of the
- Page 64 and 65: women often had short-term affairs
- Page 66 and 67: make sure she doesn't have a concus
- Page 68 and 69: SEVEN I ANGRILY PUSHED THROUGH THE
- Page 70 and 71: Mia saw my hesitation, and it was l
- Page 72 and 73: "Whatever. I can tell when you're l
- Page 74 and 75: Before I could open my mouth, I fel
- Page 76 and 77: had been a long time since I'd kiss
- Page 78 and 79: EIGHT CHRISTIAN WAS KISSING HER, AN
- Page 80 and 81: "The truth, huh? No one wants to he
- Page 82 and 83: He rolled his eyes, still smiling.
- Page 84 and 85: "Look at me," he ordered. "Dimitri
- Page 86 and 87: shouting. "I swear, sometimes it's
- Page 88 and 89: NINE I DIDN'T SEE DIMITRI FOR a whi
- Page 90 and 91: Christian were chatting on in their
- Page 92 and 93: I honestly couldn't believe we were
- Page 94 and 95: "Good." She opened her mouth, and I
Her attitude humiliated me, and touching on my missed training— already a prickly subject—<br />
only made me feel worse. I crossed my arms in a fair imitation of her own stance and managed<br />
a smug look.<br />
"Yeah? Well, that's not what my teachers think. Even after missing all that time, I've still caught<br />
up with everyone else in my class."<br />
She didn't answer right away. Finally, in a flat voice, she said, "If you hadn't left, you would<br />
have surpassed them."<br />
Turning military-style, she walked off down the hall. A minute later, the bell rang, and the rest<br />
of Stan's class spilled into the hall.<br />
Even Mason couldn't cheer me up after that. I spent the rest of the day angry and annoyed, sure<br />
that everyone was whispering about my mother and me. I skipped lunch and went to the library<br />
to read a book about physiology and anatomy.<br />
When it was time for my after-school training with Dimitri, I practically ran up to the practice<br />
dummy. With a curled fist, I slapped its chest, very slightly to the left but mostly in the center.<br />
"There," I told him. "The heart is there, and the sternum and ribs are in the way. Can I have the<br />
stake now?"<br />
Crossing my arms, I glanced up at him triumphantly, waiting for him to shower me with praise<br />
for my new cunning. Instead, he simply nodded in acknowledgment, like I should already have<br />
known that. And yeah, I should have.<br />
"And how do you get through the sternum and the ribs?" he asked.<br />
I sighed. I'd figured out the answer to one question, only to be given another. Typical.<br />
We spent a large part of the practice going over that, and he demonstrated several techniques<br />
that would yield the quickest kill. Every movement he made was both graceful and deadly. He<br />
made it look effortless, but I knew better.<br />
When he suddenly extended his hand and offered the stake to me, I didn't understand at first.<br />
"You're giving it to me?"
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