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I stopped talking as I saw Christian slip past us, moving down the path we'd just come from. I
hadn't seen him at the reception, but if Kirova had released me to come tonight, I suppose she
would have done the same for him.
"You going to see Lissa?" I demanded, shifting my Mia rage to him.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave me that look of bad-boy indifference. "What if I
am?”
"Rose, this isn't the time," said Dimitri.
But it was so the time. Lissa had ignored my warnings about Christian for weeks. It was time to
go to the source and stop their ridiculous flirtation once and for all.
"Why don't you just leave her alone? Are you so messed up and desperate for attention that you
can't tell when someone doesn't like you?" He scowled. "You're some crazy stalker, and she
knows it. She's told me all about your weird obsession—how you're always hanging out in the
attic together, how you set Ralf on fire to impress her. She thinks you're a freak, but she's too
nice to say anything.”
His face had paled, and something dark churned in his eyes. "But you aren't too nice?”
"No. Not when I feel sorry for someone.”
"Enough," said Dimitri, steering me away.
"Thanks for 'helping,' then," snapped Christian, his voice dripping with animosity.
"No problem," I called back over my shoulder.
When we'd gone a little ways, I stole a glance behind me and saw Christian standing just
outside the garden. He'd stopped walking and now stood staring down the path that led to Lissa
in the courtyard. Shadows covered his face as he thought, and then, after a few moments, he
turned around and headed back toward the Moroi dorms.