You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
His eyes sparkled. "I can't believe you're holding back. I figured you'd have taken it and run by<br />
now."<br />
"Aren't you always teaching me to hold back?" I asked.<br />
"Not on everything."<br />
"But on some things."<br />
I heard the double meaning in my voice and wondered where it had come from. I'd accepted a<br />
while ago that there were too many reasons for me to even think about him romantically<br />
anymore. Every once in a while, I slipped a little and kind of wished he would too. It'd have<br />
been nice to know that he still wanted me, that I still drove him crazy. Studying him now, I<br />
realized he might not ever slip because I didn't drive him crazy anymore. It was a depressing<br />
thought.<br />
"Of course," he said, showing no indication we'd discussed anything other than class matters.<br />
"It's like everything else. Balance. Know which things to run forward with—and know which to<br />
leave alone." He placed a heavy emphasis on that last statement.<br />
Our eyes met briefly, and I felt electricity race through me. He did know what I was talking<br />
about. And like always, he was ignoring it and being my teacher—which is exactly what he<br />
should have been doing. With a sigh, I pushed my feelings for him out of my head and tried to<br />
remember that I was about to touch the weapon I'd been longing for since childhood. The<br />
memory of the Badica house came back to me yet again. The Strigoi were out there. I needed to<br />
focus.<br />
Hesitantly, almost reverentially, I reached out and curled my fingers around the hilt. The metal<br />
was cool and tingled against my skin. It was etched along the hilt for better grip, but in trailing<br />
my fingers over the rest of it, I found the surface to be as smooth as glass. I lifted it from his<br />
hand and brought it to me, taking a long time to study it and get used to its weight. An anxious<br />
part of me wanted to turn around and impale all of the dummies, but instead I looked up at<br />
Dimitri and asked, "What should I do first?"<br />
In his typical way, he covered basics first, honing the way I held and moved with the stake.<br />
Later on, he finally let me attack one of the dummies, at which point I did indeed discover it
Change language