o_18vdqvms01tdp1ck54q91frg17mg2d.pdf

TEN
THE SKI TRIP COULDN'T HAVE come a moment too soon. It was impossible to get the
Dimitri and Tasha thing out of my head, but at least packing and getting ready made sure I
didn't devote 100 percent of my brain power to him. More like 95 percent.
I had other things to distract me, too. The Academy might—rightfully—be overprotective when
it came to us, but sometimes that translated into pretty cool stuff. Example: The Academy had
access to a couple of private jets. This meant no Strigoi could attack us at an airport, and it also
meant we got to travel in style. Each jet was smaller than a commercial plane, but the seats
were cushy and had lots of leg room. They extended far enough back that you could practically
lie down to sleep. On long flights, we had little consoles in the seats that gave us TV movie
options. Sometimes they'd even break out fancy meals. I was betting this flight, however, would
be too short for any movies or substantial food.
We left late on the twenty-sixth. When I boarded the jet, I looked around for Lissa, wanting to
talk to her. We hadn't really spoken after the Christmas brunch. I wasn't surprised to see her
sitting with Christian, and they didn't look like they wanted to be interrupted. I couldn't hear
their conversation, but he'd put his arm around her and had that relaxed, flirty expression that
only she could bring out. I remained fully convinced that he could never do as good a job as me
of taking care of her, but he clearly made her happy. I put on a smile and nodded at them as I
passed down the aisle toward where Mason was waving at me. As I did, I also walked by
Dimitri and Tasha sitting together. I pointedly ignored them.
"Hey," I said sliding into the seat beside Mason.
He smiled at me. "Hey. You ready for the ski challenge?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll go easy on you."