richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"Lissa's orders.”
I shut up and let him smuggle me out of the building. He took me over to the Moroi dorm and
miraculously got me in and up to her room unseen. I wondered if there was a distracting
bathroom fire in this building too.
Inside her room, I found a party in full swing. Lissa, Camille, Carly, Aaron, and a few other
royals sat around laughing, listening to loud music, and passing around bottles of whiskey. No
Mia, no Jesse. Natalie, I noticed a few moments later, sat apart from the group, clearly unsure
how to act around all of them. Her awkwardness was totally obvious.
Lissa stumbled to her feet, the fuzzy feelings in our bond indicating she'd been drinking for a
while. "Rose!" She turned to Mason with a dazzling smile. "You delivered.”
He swept her an over-the-top bow. "I'm at your command.”
I hoped he'd done it for the thrill of it and not because of any compulsion. Lissa slung an arm
around my waist and pulled me down with the others. "Join the festivities.”
"What are we celebrating?”
"I don't know. Your escape tonight?”
A few of the others held up plastic cups, cheering and toasting me. Xander Badica poured two
more cups, handing them to Mason and me. I took mine with a smile, all the while feeling
uneasy about the night's turn of events. Not so long ago, I would have welcomed a party like
this and would have downed my drink in thirty seconds. Too much bothered me this time,
though. Like the fact that the royals were treating Lissa like a goddess. Like how none of them
seemed to remember that I had been accused of being a blood whore.
Like how Lissa was completely unhappy despite her smiles and laughter.
"Where'd you get the whiskey?" I asked.
"Mr. Nagy," Aaron said. He sat very close to Lissa.