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women often had short-term affairs with Moroi men and were looked down on for it—even though there wasn't really anything else they could have done, since Moroi men usually ended up marrying Moroi women. The "blood whore" term came from the fact that some dhampir women let men drink blood from them during sex. In our world, only humans gave blood. A dhampir doing it was dirty and kinky—especially during sex. I suspected only a few dhampir women actually did this, but unfairly, the term tended to get applied to all of them. I had given blood to Lissa when we had run away, and although it had been a necessary act, the stigma still stayed with me. "No. Of course I don't want to be a blood whore." My breathing was becoming heavy. "And they're not all like that. There're only a few that actually are." "They bring that reputation on themselves," she growled. I dodged her strike. "They should be doing their duty as guardians, not continuing to fool around and have flings with Moroi." "They're raising their children," I grunted. I wanted to yell but couldn't waste the oxygen. "Something you'd know nothing about. Besides, aren't you the same as they are? I don't see a ring on your finger. Wasn't my dad just a fling for you?" Her face turned hard, which is saying something when you're already beating up your daughter. "That," she said tightly, "is something you know nothing about. Point." I winced at the blow but was happy to see I'd struck a nerve. I had no clue who my dad was. The only bit of information I had was that he was Turkish. I might have my mom's curvy figure and pretty face—though I could smugly say mine was much prettier than hers nowadays—but the rest of my coloring was from him. Lightly tanned skin with dark hair and eyes. "How'd it happen?" I asked. "Were you on some assignment in Turkey? Meet him at a local bazaar? Or was it even cheaper than that? Did you go all Darwin and select the guy most likely to pass on warrior genes to your offspring? I mean, I know you only had me because it was your duty, so I suppose you had to make sure you could give the guardians the best specimen you could." "Rosemarie," she warned through gritted teeth, "for once in your life, shut up."
"Why? Am I tarnishing your precious reputation? It's just like you told me: you aren't any different from any other dhampir either. You just screwed him and—" There's a reason they say, "Pride goeth before a fall." I was so caught up in my own cocky triumph that I stopped paying attention to my feet. I was too close to the red line. Going outside of it was another point for her, so I scrambled to stay within and dodge her at the same time. Unfortunately, only one of those could work. Her fist came flying at me, fast and hard—and, perhaps most importantly, a bit higher than the permissable according to rules of this kind of exercise. It smacked me in the face with the power of a small truck, and I flew backward, hitting the hard gym floor back-first and head-second. And I was out of the lines. Damn it. Pain cracked through the back of my head, and my vision went blurry and sparkly. Within seconds, my mother was leaning over me. "Rose? Rose? Are you okay?" Her voice sounded hoarse and frantic. The world swam. At some point after that, other people came, and I somehow wound up in the Academy's med clinic. There, someone shone a light in my eyes and started asking me incredibly idiotic questions. "What's your name?" "What?" I asked, squinting at the light. "Your name." I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me. "You know my name." "I want you to tell me." "Rose. Rose Hathaway." "Do you know your birthday?" "Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?" Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. "I think she's fine," I heard her tell someone. "I want to keep her here for the school day, just to
- 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 60 and 61: "Russian's weird," In Russian, the
- Page 62 and 63: He'd technically been up all of the
- 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
- Page 110 and 111: ELEVEN LISSA WAS UP AND GONE before
- Page 112 and 113: Even I wouldn't want her face burne
"Why? Am I tarnishing your precious reputation? It's just like you told me: you aren't any<br />
different from any other dhampir either. You just screwed him and—"<br />
There's a reason they say, "Pride goeth before a fall." I was so caught up in my own cocky<br />
triumph that I stopped paying attention to my feet. I was too close to the red line. Going outside<br />
of it was another point for her, so I scrambled to stay within and dodge her at the same time.<br />
Unfortunately, only one of those could work. Her fist came flying at me, fast and hard—and,<br />
perhaps most importantly, a bit higher than the permissable according to rules of this kind of<br />
exercise. It smacked me in the face with the power of a small truck, and I flew backward,<br />
hitting the hard gym floor back-first and head-second. And I was out of the lines. Damn it.<br />
Pain cracked through the back of my head, and my vision went blurry and sparkly. Within<br />
seconds, my mother was leaning over me.<br />
"Rose? Rose? Are you okay?" Her voice sounded hoarse and frantic. The world swam.<br />
At some point after that, other people came, and I somehow wound up in the Academy's med<br />
clinic. There, someone shone a light in my eyes and started asking me incredibly idiotic<br />
questions.<br />
"What's your name?"<br />
"What?" I asked, squinting at the light.<br />
"Your name." I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me.<br />
"You know my name."<br />
"I want you to tell me."<br />
"Rose. Rose Hathaway."<br />
"Do you know your birthday?"<br />
"Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?"<br />
Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. "I<br />
think she's fine," I heard her tell someone. "I want to keep her here for the school day, just to
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