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Odd sounds came from the detention center's entrance, and I glanced toward where I'd come in.
The guardians who had let me in were gone. From around the corner, I heard a few grunts and
thumps. I frowned and craned my head to get a better look.
Victor stood up. "Finally.”
Fear spiked down my spine—at least until I saw Natalie round the corner.
Mixed sympathy and anger flitted through me, but I forced a kind smile. She probably wouldn't
see her father again once they took him. Villain or no, they should be allowed to say goodbye.
"Hey," I said, watching her stride toward me. There was an unusual purpose in her movements
that some part of me whispered wasn't right. "I didn't think they'd let you in." Of course, they
weren't supposed to have let me in either.
She walked right up to me and—no exaggeration—launched me against the far wall. My body
hit it hard, and black star-bursts danced across my vision.
"What?…" I put a hand to my forehead and tried to get up.
Unconcerned about me now, Natalie unlocked Victor's cell with a set of keys I'd seen on one of
the guardian's belts. Staggering to my feet, I approached her.
"What are you doing?”
She glanced up at me, and that's when I saw it. The faint ring of red around her pupils. Skin too
pale, even for a Moroi. Blood smudged around her mouth. And most telling of all, the look in
her eyes. A look so cold and so evil, my heart nearly came to a standstill. It was a look that said
she no longer walked among the living—a look that said she was now one of the Strigoi.