richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

He walked back up to me and leaned toward my face. "Because you got lucky.”
"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," I shot back. "It's not like what we've been
taught. It's safer than you guys make it sound.”
"Safer? Safer? We are at war with the Strigoi!" he yelled. I could smell coffee on his breath, he
was so close. "One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before
you even noticed him—and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more speed and
strength than a Moroi or a human, but you are nothing, nothing, compared to a Strigoi. They are
deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?”
No way was I going to let this jerk make me cry. Looking away from him, I tried to focus on
something else. My eyes rested on Dimitri and the other guardians. They were watching my
humiliation, stone-faced.
"Moroi blood," I whispered.
"What was that?" asked Stan loudly. "I didn't catch it.”
I spun back around to face him. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger.”
He nodded in satisfaction and took a few steps back. "Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and
harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want Moroi blood
more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and
they want to do whatever they can to keep that immortality. Desperate Strigoi have attacked
Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided academies exactly like this one. There are
Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi. They're almost
impossible to kill. And that is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough—
even with guardians— to protect themselves. Some Moroi don't even see the point of running
anymore and are simply turning Strigoi by choice. And as the Moroi disappear…”
"…so do the dhampirs," I finished.
"Well," he said, licking sprayed spit off his lips. "It looks like you learned something after all.
Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field
experience next semester.”