richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

Ms. Meissner changed from red to deep purple. "Mr. Ozera!" she screamed. "How dare you—
do you have any idea—report to Headmistress Kirova's office now!”
Christian, completely unfazed, stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder. That smirk
stayed on his face. "Sure thing, Ms. Meissner.”
He went out of his way to walk past Ralf, who quickly backed away as he passed. The rest of
the class stared, open-mouthed.
After that, Ms. Meissner attempted to return the class to normal, but it was a lost cause. No one
could stop talking about what had happened. It was shocking on a few different levels. First, no
one had ever seen that kind of spell: a massive fire that didn't actually burn anything. Second,
Christian had used it offensively. He had attacked another person. Moroi never did that. They
believed magic was meant to take care of the earth, to help people live better lives. It was never,
ever used as a weapon. Magic instructors never taught those kinds of spells; I don't think they
even knew any. Finally, craziest of all, Christian had done it. Christian, whom no one ever
noticed or gave a damn about. Well, they'd noticed him now.
It appeared someone still knew offensive spells after all, and as much as I had enjoyed the look
of terror on Ralf's face, it suddenly occurred to me that Christian might really and truly be a
psycho.
"Liss," I said as we walked out of class, "please tell me you haven't hung out with him again.”
The guilt that flickered through the bond told me more than any explanation could.
"Liss!" I grabbed her arm.
"Not that much," she said uneasily. "He's really okay—”
"Okay? Okay?" People in the hall stared at us. I realized I was practically shouting. "He's out of
his mind. He set Ralf on fire. I thought we decided you weren't going to see him anymore.”
"You decided, Rose. Not me." There was an edge in her voice I hadn't heard in a while.
"What's going on here? Are you guys…you know?…”