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A feeling of heartache and sympathy beat through to me from the bond.
"She can't do this to you," she argued.
I laughed bitterly, half surprised at my own hopelessness. "She already did. She said she'd get
back at me, that I wouldn't be able to protect you. She did it. When I go back to classes…" A
sickening feeling settled in my stomach. I thought about the friends and respect I'd managed to
eke out, despite our low profile. That would be gone. You couldn't come back from something
like this. Not among the Moroi. Once a blood whore, always a blood whore. What made it
worse was that some dark, secret part of me did like being bitten.
"You shouldn't have to keep protecting me," she said.
I laughed. "That's my job. I'm going to be your guardian.”
"I know, but I meant like this. You shouldn't suffer because of me. You shouldn't always have
to look after me. And yet you always do. You got me out of here. You took care of everything
when we were on our own. Even since coming back…you've always been the one who does all
the work. Every time I break down—like last night—you're always there. Me, I'm weak. I'm not
like you.”
I shook my head. "That doesn't matter. It's what I do. I don't mind.”
"Yeah, but look what happened. I'm the one she really has a grudge against—even though I still
don't know why. Whatever. It's going to stop. I'm going to protect you from now on.”
There was a determination in her expression, a wonderful confidence radiating off of her that
reminded me of the Lissa I'd known before the accident. At the same time, I could feel
something else in her—something darker, a sense of deeply buried anger. I'd seen this side of
her before too, and I didn't like it. I didn't want her tapping into it. I just wanted her to be safe.
"Lissa, you can't protect me.”
"I can," she said fiercely. "There's one thing Mia wants more than to destroy you and me. She
wants to be accepted. She wants to hang out with the royals and feel like she's one of them. I
can take that away from her." She smiled. "I can turn them against her.”