richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

He blinked. "What?”
"Uh, nothing." Hastily, I tried to change the subject. "How old were you?”
He still seemed to be puzzling out the god comment. "Thirteen.”
Whoa. Definitely a god. "You beat up your dad when you were thirteen?”
"It wasn't that hard. I was stronger than he was, almost as tall. I couldn't let him keep doing that.
He had to learn that being royal and Moroi doesn't mean you can do anything you want to other
people—even blood whores.”
I stared. I couldn't believe he'd just said that about his mother. "I'm sorry.”
"It's all right.”
Pieces clicked into place for me. "That's why you got so upset about Jesse, isn't it? He was
another royal, trying to take advantage of a dhampir girl.”
Dimitri averted his eyes. "I got upset over that for a lot of reasons. After all, you were breaking
the rules, and…”
He didn't finish, but he looked back into my eyes in a way that made warmth build between us.
Thinking about Jesse soon darkened my mood, unfortunately. I looked down. "I know you
heard what people are saying, that I—”
"I know it's not true," he interrupted.
His immediate, certain answer surprised me, and I stupidly found myself questioning it. "Yeah,
but how do you—”
"Because I know you," he replied firmly. "I know your character. I know you're going to be a
great guardian.”
His confidence made that warm feeling return. "I'm glad someone does. Everyone else thinks
I'm totally irresponsible.”