richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"I hate him," she said. Her voice was uncharacteristically sharp. "I'm on the committee with
him for that fund-raiser, and I hate hearing him run his fat mouth every day and seeing him flirt
with anything female that walks by. You shouldn't be punished for what he did. He needs to
pay.”
My mouth went dry. "It's okay…I don't care. Calm down, Liss.”
"I care," she snapped, turning her anger on me. "I wish there was a way I could get back at him.
Some way to hurt him like he hurt you." She put her hands behind her back and paced back and
forth furiously, her steps hard and purposeful.
The hatred and anger boiled within her. I could feel it in the bond. It felt like a storm, and it
scared the hell out of me. Wrapped around it all was an uncertainty, an instability that said
Lissa didn't know what to do but that she wanted desperately to do something. Anything. My
mind flashed to the night with the baseball bat. And then I thought about Ms. Karp. She became
a Strigoi, Rose.
It was the scariest moment of my life. Scarier than seeing her in Wade's room. Scarier than
seeing her heal that raven. Scarier than my capture by the guardians would be. Because just
then, I didn't know my best friend. I didn't know what she was capable of. A year earlier, I
would have laughed at anyone who said she'd want to go Strigoi. But a year earlier, I also
would have laughed at anyone who said she'd want to cut her wrists or make someone "pay.”
In that moment, I suddenly believed she might do the impossible. And I had to make sure she
didn't. Save her. Save her from herself.
"We're leaving," I said, taking her arm and steering her down the hall. "Right now.”
Confusion momentarily replaced her anger. "What do you mean? You want to go to the woods
or something?”
I didn't answer. Something in my attitude or words must have startled her, because she didn't
question me as I led us out of the commons, cutting across campus toward the parking lot
where visitors came. It was filled with cars belonging to tonight's guests. One of them was a
large Lincoln Town Car, and I watched as its chauffeur started it up.