richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

then it snaked forward—into her heart. He yanked it out and stepped back, his face impassive
as she screamed and fell to the floor. After a few horrible moments, she stopped moving.
Just as quickly, he was leaning over me, slipping his arms under my body. He stood up,
carrying me like he had when I hurt my ankle.
"Hey, Comrade," I murmured, my own voice sounding sleepy. "You were right about Strigoi."
The world started to darken, and my eyelids drooped.
"Rose. Roza. Open your eyes." I'd never heard his voice so strained, so frantic. "Don't go to
sleep on me. Not yet.”
I squinted up at him as he carried me out of the building, practically running toward the clinic.
"Was he right?”
"Who?”
"Victor…he said it couldn't have worked. The necklace.”
I started to drift off, lost in the blackness of my mind, but Dimitri prompted me back to
consciousness.
"What do you mean?”
"The spell. Victor said you had to want me…to care about me…for it to work." When he didn't
say anything, I tried to grip his shirt, but my fingers were too weak. "Did you? Did you want
me?”
His words came out thickly. "Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish…we could be
together.”
"Then why did you lie to me?”
We reached the clinic, and he managed to open the door while still holding me. As soon as he
stepped inside, he began yelling for help.
"Why did you lie?" I murmured again.