richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02
"Yeah…you too," I said. "I heard you talking about Anna. About how she was 'shadow-kissed.' What does that mean?” He frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. She lived a very long time ago. It was often common to refer to people by titles that reflected some of their traits. It might have been given to make her sound fierce.” I tried to hide my disappointment. "Oh. So who was she?” This time his frown was disapproving rather than thoughtful. "I mentioned it a number of times.” "Oh. I must have, um, missed that.” His disapproval grew, and he turned around. "Wait just a moment.” He disappeared through the door near the altar, the one Lissa had taken to the attic. I considered fleeing but thought God might strike me down for that. Less than a minute later, the priest returned with a book. He handed it to me. Moroi Saints. "You can learn about her in here. The next time I see you, I'd like to hear what you've learned.” I scowled as I walked away. Great. Homework from the priest. In the chapel's entry way, I found Lissa talking to Aaron. She smiled as she spoke, and the feelings coming off her were happy, though certainly not infatuated. "You're kidding," she exclaimed. He shook his head. "Nope.” Seeing me stroll over, she turned to me. "Rose, you're never going to believe this. "You know Abby Badica? And Xander? Their guardian wants to resign. And marry another guardian.” Now this was exciting gossip. A scandal, actually. "Seriously? Are they, like, going to run off together?” She nodded. "They're getting a house. Going to get jobs with humans, I guess.”
I glanced at Aaron, who had suddenly turned shy with me there. "How are Abby and Xander dealing with that?” "Okay. Embarrassed. They think it's stupid." Then he realized who he was speaking to. "Oh. I didn't mean—” "Whatever." I gave him a tight smile. "It is stupid.” Wow. I was stunned. The rebellious part me of loved any story where people "fought the system." Only, in this case, they were fighting my system, the one I'd been trained to believe in my entire life. Dhampirs and Moroi had a strange arrangement. Dhampirs had originally been born from Moroi mixing with humans. Unfortunately, dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other—or with humans. It was a weird genetic thing. Mules were the same way, I'd been told, though that wasn't a comparison I really liked hearing. Dhampirs and full Moroi could have children together, and, through another genetic oddity, their kids came out as standard dhampirs, with half human genes, half vampire genes. With Moroi being the only ones with whom dhampirs could reproduce, we had to stay close to them and intermingle with them. Likewise, it became important to us that the Moroi simply survived. Without them, we were done. And with the way Strigoi loved picking off Moroi, their survival became a legitimate concern for us. That was how the guardian system developed. Dhampirs couldn't work magic, but we made great warriors. We'd inherited enhanced senses and reflexes from our vampire genes and better strength and endurance from our human genes. We also weren't limited by a need for blood or trouble with sunlight. Sure, we weren't as powerful as the Strigoi, but we trained hard, and guardians did a kick-ass job at keeping Moroi safe. Most dhampirs felt it was worth risking their own lives to make sure our kind could still keep having children. Since Moroi usually wanted to have and raise Moroi children, you didn't find a lot of long-term Moroi-dhampir romances. You especially didn't find a lot of Moroi women hooking up with dhampir guys. But plenty of young Moroi men liked fooling around with dhampir women,
- Page 10 and 11: Two MY HATRED NOTWITHSTANDING, I HA
- Page 12 and 13: and there. After living on a colleg
- Page 14 and 15: "Vasilisa.” Startled, I realized
- Page 16 and 17: My cockiness dried up. "I…what?
- Page 18 and 19: he might very well keep me here wit
- Page 20 and 21: Three SENDING US STRAIGHT TO CLASS
- Page 22 and 23: "Oh yeah?" I retorted. "Huh. Well,
- Page 24 and 25: Our instructor was Stan Alto, whom
- Page 26 and 27: He walked back up to me and leaned
- Page 28 and 29: "Sure," I shrugged. "Now and then.
- Page 30 and 31: "Lucky, I think. It turns out I'm r
- Page 32 and 33: She didn't see me, though. Neither
- Page 34 and 35: "Hey, Aaron," I said cheerfully, re
- Page 36 and 37: "No—it's fine." The emotions comi
- Page 38 and 39: Natalie's friends eyed us with a qu
- Page 40 and 41: "Yes," I said, smiling. "It certain
- Page 42 and 43: "Huh? Nothing. Just thinking." I si
- Page 44 and 45: She nodded. "Rose?” We both looke
- Page 46 and 47: Five OR RATHER, THEY HAD BEEN Strig
- Page 48 and 49: "Sure," he said. "Why else go? For
- Page 50 and 51: dark side. But the feelings humming
- Page 52 and 53: "Hey," I said, suddenly wanting to
- Page 54 and 55: She laughed. "Mia would claw my eye
- Page 56 and 57: I'd been climbing out of my dorm wi
- Page 58 and 59: Six AS MUCH AS LISSA AND Christian'
- Page 62 and 63: although those guys usually went on
- Page 64 and 65: "Nothing to me. But Ms. Kirova will
- Page 66 and 67: "I'm sick of it too. We missed you
- Page 68 and 69: She wandered off, still eyeing us.
- Page 70 and 71: Mason had noticed my startled react
- Page 72 and 73: Three weeks after my return to the
- Page 74 and 75: Something about that bothered me; I
- Page 76 and 77: stared upward, glazed, over with a
- Page 78 and 79: I spun around, taking my anger over
- Page 80 and 81: "And it was just there," she explai
- Page 82 and 83: "Wolves, like many other species, d
- Page 84 and 85: Ms. Meissner changed from red to de
- Page 86 and 87: Nine I SNAPPED INTO HER MIND, once
- Page 88 and 89: "You're right," she admitted softly
- Page 90 and 91: space between them. "And I sure as
- Page 92 and 93: Sitting up, I moved closer to him a
- Page 94 and 95: "No, sir.” "Do you know the rules
- Page 96 and 97: "Is that your subtle way of calling
- Page 98 and 99: He studied me hard, like he was sti
- Page 100 and 101: More snickers ensued. Straightening
- Page 102 and 103: We had been out in the woods near c
- Page 104 and 105: "Is it dead?" asked Lissa. I peered
- Page 106 and 107: He looked away angrily. "You made i
- Page 108 and 109: Eleven "YOU NEED SOMETHING TO WEAR?
"Yeah…you too," I said. "I heard you talking about Anna. About how she was 'shadow-kissed.'<br />
What does that mean?”<br />
He frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. She lived a very long time ago. It was often common to<br />
refer to people by titles that reflected some of their traits. It might have been given to make her<br />
sound fierce.”<br />
I tried to hide my disappointment. "Oh. So who was she?”<br />
This time his frown was disapproving rather than thoughtful. "I mentioned it a number of<br />
times.”<br />
"Oh. I must have, um, missed that.”<br />
His disapproval grew, and he turned around. "Wait just a moment.”<br />
He disappeared through the door near the altar, the one Lissa had taken to the attic. I considered<br />
fleeing but thought God might strike me down for that. Less than a minute later, the priest<br />
returned with a book. He handed it to me. Moroi Saints.<br />
"You can learn about her in here. The next time I see you, I'd like to hear what you've learned.”<br />
I scowled as I walked away. Great. Homework from the priest.<br />
In the chapel's entry way, I found Lissa talking to Aaron. She smiled as she spoke, and the<br />
feelings coming off her were happy, though certainly not infatuated.<br />
"You're kidding," she exclaimed.<br />
He shook his head. "Nope.”<br />
Seeing me stroll over, she turned to me. "Rose, you're never going to believe this. "You know<br />
Abby Badica? And Xander? Their guardian wants to resign. And marry another guardian.”<br />
Now this was exciting gossip. A scandal, actually. "Seriously? Are they, like, going to run off<br />
together?”<br />
She nodded. "They're getting a house. Going to get jobs with humans, I guess.”
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