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it with a toss of her hair which—if I didn't know any better—might have been considered
flirtatious. And I did know better…right? Suddenly, I wasn't sure.
He went on, but something in his eyes told me he'd noticed the hair, that he always noticed
everything about her. "People get these goofy looks on their faces when you talk to them. And
not just any people—you're able to do it to Moroi. Probably dhampirs, too. Now that's crazy. I
didn't even know that was possible. You're some kind of superstar. Some kind of evil,
compulsion-abusing superstar." It was an accusation, but his tone and presence radiated the
same flirtatiousness she had.
Lissa didn't know what to say. He was right. Everything he'd said was right. Her compulsion
was what had allowed us to dodge authority and get along in the world without adult help. It
was what had allowed us to convince the bank to let her tap into her inheritance.
And it was considered every bit as wrong as using magic as a weapon. Why not? It was a
weapon. A powerful one, one that could be abused very easily. Moroi children had it drilled
into them from an early age that compulsion was very, very wrong. No one was taught to use it,
though every Moroi technically had the ability. Lissa had just sort of stumbled into it—
deeply—and, as Christian had pointed out, she could wield it over Moroi, as well as humans
and dhampirs.
"What are you going to do then?" she asked. "You going to turn me in?”
He shook his head and smiled. "No. I think it's hot.”
She stared, eyes widening and heart racing. Something about the shape of his lips intrigued her.
"Rose thinks you're dangerous," she blurted out nervously. "She thinks you might have killed
the fox.”
I didn't know how I felt about being dragged into this bizarre conversation. Some people were
scared of me. Maybe he was too.
Judging from the amusement in his voice when he spoke, it appeared he wasn't. "People think
I'm unstable, but I tell you, Rose is ten times worse. Of course, that makes it harder for people
to fuck with you, so I'm all for it." Leaning back on his heels, he finally broke the intimate