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and clenched it, nails digging deep into the flesh. She flinched at the pain, but through the bond,
I felt the shock of the pain distract her from Wade.
She let go of the compulsion, and he dropped the bat, suddenly looking confused. I let go of the
breath I'd been holding. In the hallway, footsteps sounded. I'd left the door open, and the crash
had attracted attention. A couple of dorm staff members burst into the room, freezing when they
saw the destruction in front of them.
"What happened?”
The rest of us looked at each other. Wade looked completely lost. He stared at the room, at the
bat, and then at Lissa and me. "I don't know…I can't…" He turned his full attention to me and
suddenly grew angry. "What the—it was you! You wouldn't let the feeder thing go.”
The dorm workers looked at me questioningly, and in a few seconds, I made up my mind.
You have to protect her. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get. Stop her, Rose. Stop her before
they notice, before they notice and take her away too. Get her out of here.
I could see Ms. Karp's face in my mind, pleading frantically. I gave Wade a haughty look,
knowing full well no one would question a confession I made or even suspect Lissa.
"Yeah, well, if you'd let her go," I told him, "I wouldn't have had to do this.”
Save her. Save her from herself.
After that night, I never drank again. I refused to let my guard down around Lissa. And two
days later, while I was supposed to be suspended for "destruction of property," I took Lissa and
broke out of the Academy.
Back in Lissa's room, with Xander's arm around me and her angry and upset eyes on us, I didn't
know if she'd do anything drastic again. But the situation reminded me too much of that one
from two years ago, and I knew I had to defuse it.