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Dimitri and I rounded the corner of the building, coming up on a surprising scene. A small<br />
frozen pond lay there, and Christian and Lissa were ice skating on it. A woman I didn't know<br />
was with them, but her back was to me. All I could see was a wave of jet-black hair that arced<br />
around her when she skated to a graceful stop.<br />
Lissa grinned when she saw me. "Rose!" Christian glanced over at me as she spoke, and I got<br />
the distinct impression he felt I was intruding on their romantic moment.<br />
Lissa moved in awkward strides to the pond's edge. She wasn't so adept at skating.<br />
I could only stare in bewilderment—and jealousy. "Thanks for inviting me to the party."<br />
"I figured you were busy," she said. "And this is secret anyway. We aren't supposed to be here."<br />
I could have told them that.<br />
Christian skated up beside her, and the strange woman soon followed. "You bringing party<br />
crashers, Dimka?" she asked.<br />
I wondered who she was talking to, until I heard Dimitri laugh. He didn't do it that often, and<br />
my surprise increased. "It's impossible to keep Rose away from places she shouldn't be. She<br />
always finds them eventually."<br />
The woman grinned and turned around, flipping her long hair over one shoulder, so that I<br />
suddenly saw her face full-on. It took every ounce of my already dubiously held self-control not<br />
to react. Her heart-shaped face had large eyes exactly the same shade as Christian's, a pale<br />
wintry blue. The lips that smiled at me were delicate and lovely, glossed in a shade of pink that<br />
set off the rest of her features.<br />
But across her left cheek, marring what would have otherwise been smooth, white skin were<br />
raised, purplish scars. Their shape and formation looked very much like someone had bitten<br />
into and torn out part of her cheek. Which, I realized, was exactly what had happened.<br />
I swallowed. I suddenly knew who this was. It was Christian's aunt. When his parents had<br />
turned Strigoi, they'd come back for him, hoping to hide him away and turn him Strigoi when<br />
he was older. I didn't know all the details, but I knew his aunt had fended them off. As I'd
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