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"Russian's weird," In Russian, the nickname for Vasilisa was Vasya, which made no sense to me. "So is English." I gave him a sly look. "If you'd teach me to swear in Russian, I might have a new appreciation for it." "You swear too much already." "I just want to express myself." "Oh, Roza…" He sighed, and I felt a thrill tickle me. "Roza" was my name in Russian. He rarely used it. "You express yourself more than anyone else I know." I smiled and walked on a bit without saying anything else. My heart skipped a beat, I was so happy to be around him. There was something warm and right about us being together. Even as I floated along, my mind churned over something else that I'd been thinking about. "You know, there's something funny about Tasha's scars." "What's that?" he asked. "The scars…they mess up her face," I began slowly. I was having trouble putting my thoughts into words. "I mean, it's obvious she used to be really pretty. But even with the scars now … I don't know. She's pretty in a different way. It's like…like they're part of her. They complete her." It sounded silly, but it was true. Dimitri didn't say anything, but he gave me a sidelong glance. I returned it, and as our eyes met, I saw the briefest glimpse of the old attraction. It was fleeting and gone too soon, but I'd seen it. Pride and approval replaced it, and they were almost as good. When he spoke, it was to echo his earlier thoughts. "You're a fast learner, Roza."
SIX I WAS FEELING PRETTY GOOD about life when I headed to my before-school practice the next day. The secret gathering last night had been super fun, and I felt proudly responsible for fighting the system and encouraging Dimitri to go with Tasha. Better still, I'd gotten my first crack at a silver stake yesterday and had proven I could handle one. High on myself, I couldn't wait to practice even more. Once I was dressed in my usual workout attire, I practically skipped down to the gym. But when I stuck my head inside the practice room from the day before, I found it dark and quiet. Flipping on the light, I peered around just in case Dimitri was conducting some kind of weird, covert training exercise. Nope. Empty. No staking today. "Shit," I muttered. "He's not here." I yelped and nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Turning around, I looked straight into my mother's narrowed brown eyes. "What are you doing here?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, her appearance registered with me. A stretchy spandex shirt with short sleeves. Loose, drawstring workout pants similar to the ones I wore. "Shit," I said again. "Watch your mouth," she snapped. "You might behave like you have no manners, but at least try not to sound that way." "Where's Dimitri?" "Guardian Belikov is in bed. He just got back a couple of hours ago and needed to sleep." Another expletive was on my lips, and I bit it back. Of course Dimitri was asleep. He'd had to drive with Tasha to Missoula during daylight in order to be there during human shopping hours.
- 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 46 and 47: "Coddle?" I asked. This woman had n
- 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 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
- Page 96 and 97: "I'm really tired," I repeated. I c
- Page 98 and 99: TEN THE SKI TRIP COULDN'T HAVE come
- Page 100 and 101: Inside, all sorts of arrangements h
- Page 102 and 103: "Ah," he said triumphantly. "She fi
- Page 104 and 105: leather dress shoes he wore indicat
- Page 106 and 107: "And you think I'm trouble," I mutt
- Page 108 and 109: get a couple of guys to tell everyo
SIX<br />
I WAS FEELING PRETTY GOOD about life when I headed to my before-school practice the<br />
next day. The secret gathering last night had been super fun, and I felt proudly responsible for<br />
fighting the system and encouraging Dimitri to go with Tasha. Better still, I'd gotten my first<br />
crack at a silver stake yesterday and had proven I could handle one. High on myself, I couldn't<br />
wait to practice even more.<br />
Once I was dressed in my usual workout attire, I practically skipped down to the gym. But<br />
when I stuck my head inside the practice room from the day before, I found it dark and quiet.<br />
Flipping on the light, I peered around just in case Dimitri was conducting some kind of weird,<br />
covert training exercise. Nope. Empty. No staking today.<br />
"Shit," I muttered.<br />
"He's not here."<br />
I yelped and nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Turning around, I looked straight into my<br />
mother's narrowed brown eyes.<br />
"What are you doing here?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, her appearance<br />
registered with me. A stretchy spandex shirt with short sleeves. Loose, drawstring workout<br />
pants similar to the ones I wore. "Shit," I said again.<br />
"Watch your mouth," she snapped. "You might behave like you have no manners, but at least<br />
try not to sound that way."<br />
"Where's Dimitri?"<br />
"Guardian Belikov is in bed. He just got back a couple of hours ago and needed to sleep."<br />
Another expletive was on my lips, and I bit it back. Of course Dimitri was asleep. He'd had to<br />
drive with Tasha to Missoula during daylight in order to be there during human shopping hours.
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