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Christian were chatting on in their own little world too. Sex appeared to have made them that much more in love, and I wondered if I'd get to spend any time with her at all on the ski trip. She did eventually break away from him to give me my Christmas present. I opened the box and stared inside. I saw a string of maroon-colored beads, and the scent of roses floated out. "What the …" I lifted the beads out, and a heavy gold crucifix swung from the end of them. She'd given me a chotki. It was similar to a rosary, only smaller. Bracelet-size. "Are you trying to convert me?" I asked wryly. Lissa wasn't a religious nut or anything, but she believed in God and attended church regularly. Like many Moroi families who'd come from Russia and Eastern Europe, she was an Orthodox Christian. Me? I was pretty much an Orthodox Agnostic. I figured God probably existed, but I didn't have the time or energy to investigate. Lissa respected that and never tried to push her faith on me, which made the gift that much weirder. "Flip it over," she said, clearly amused at my shock. I did. On the back of the cross, a dragon wreathed in flowers had been carved into the gold. The Dragomir crest. I looked up at her, puzzled. "It's a family heirloom," she said. "One of my dad's good friends has been saving boxes of his stuff. This was in it. It belonged to my great-grandmother's guardian." "Liss …" I said. The chotki took on a whole new meaning. "I can't… you can't give me something like this." "Well, I certainly can't keep it. It's meant for a guardian. My guardian." I wound the beads around one wrist. The cross felt cool against my skin. "You know," I teased, "there's a good possibility I'll get kicked out of school before I can become your guardian."
She grinned. "Well, then you can give it back." Everyone laughed. Tasha started to say something, then stopped when she looked up at the door. "Janine!" My mother stood there, looking as stiff and impassive as ever. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "I had business to take care of." Business. As always. Even on Christmas. I felt my stomach turn and heat rise to my cheeks as the details of our fight came rushing back to my mind. She'd never sent one word of communication since it had happened two days ago, not even when I was in the infirmary. No apologies. Nothing. I gritted my teeth. She sat down with us and soon joined in the conversation. I'd long since discovered she could really only talk about one subject: guardian business. I wondered if she had any hobbies. The Badica attack was on everyone's mind, and this drove her into a conversation about some similar fight she'd been in. To my horror, Mason was riveted by her every word. "Well, decapitations aren't as easy as they seem," she said in her matter-of-fact way. I'd never thought they were easy at all, but her tone suggested that she believed everyone thought they were cake. "You've got to get through the spinal cord and tendons." Through the bond, I felt Lissa grow queasy. She wasn't one for gruesome talk. Mason's eyes lit up. "What's the best weapon to do it with?" My mother considered. "An axe. You can get more weight behind it." She made a swinging motion by way of illustration. "Cool," he said. "Man, I hope they let me carry an axe." It was a comical and ludicrous idea, since axes were hardly convenient weapons to carry around. For half a second, the thought of Mason walking down the street with an axe over his shoulder lightened my mood a little. The moment quickly passed.
- 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 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 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
- Page 114 and 115: I looked between both their faces.
- Page 116 and 117: could look up and see the stars spi
- Page 118 and 119: Adrian leaned against the porch's r
- Page 120 and 121: TWELVE I WAS OUT OF BED in a flash.
- Page 122 and 123: My mother flipped through some pape
- Page 124 and 125: I moved in front of her and placed
- Page 126 and 127: was one of the ruling Moroi, and as
- Page 128 and 129: was pulled back into a ponytail, co
- Page 130 and 131: Tasha shrugged. "If that's what it
- Page 132 and 133: "I have my sources." Somehow, sayin
- Page 134 and 135: I remembered Adrian's arm was still
- Page 136 and 137: I looked at Mason questioningly. It
- Page 138 and 139: attle strategies. The fact that she
Christian were chatting on in their own little world too. Sex appeared to have made them that<br />
much more in love, and I wondered if I'd get to spend any time with her at all on the ski trip.<br />
She did eventually break away from him to give me my Christmas present.<br />
I opened the box and stared inside. I saw a string of maroon-colored beads, and the scent of<br />
roses floated out.<br />
"What the …"<br />
I lifted the beads out, and a heavy gold crucifix swung from the end of them. She'd given me a<br />
chotki. It was similar to a rosary, only smaller. Bracelet-size.<br />
"Are you trying to convert me?" I asked wryly. Lissa wasn't a religious nut or anything, but she<br />
believed in God and attended church regularly. Like many Moroi families who'd come from<br />
Russia and Eastern Europe, she was an Orthodox Christian.<br />
Me? I was pretty much an Orthodox Agnostic. I figured God probably existed, but I didn't have<br />
the time or energy to investigate. Lissa respected that and never tried to push her faith on me,<br />
which made the gift that much weirder.<br />
"Flip it over," she said, clearly amused at my shock.<br />
I did. On the back of the cross, a dragon wreathed in flowers had been carved into the gold. The<br />
Dragomir crest. I looked up at her, puzzled.<br />
"It's a family heirloom," she said. "One of my dad's good friends has been saving boxes of his<br />
stuff. This was in it. It belonged to my great-grandmother's guardian."<br />
"Liss …" I said. The chotki took on a whole new meaning. "I can't… you can't give me<br />
something like this."<br />
"Well, I certainly can't keep it. It's meant for a guardian. My guardian."<br />
I wound the beads around one wrist. The cross felt cool against my skin.<br />
"You know," I teased, "there's a good possibility I'll get kicked out of school before I can<br />
become your guardian."
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